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FROM TlIK PR»S OF WILSON, HUMPHRRVS 
 FOURTH ST., LOCANSPOBT, IKD. 
 
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 THE importance of placing in botik form biographical history of representative 
 citizens — both for its immediate worth and for its value to coming generations 
 — is admitted by all thinking people; and within the past decade there has 
 been a growing interest in this commendable means of perpetuating biography 
 and family genealogy. 
 
 That the public is entitled to the privileges afforded by a work of this nature 
 needs no assertion at our hands; for one of our greatest Americans has said that the 
 history of any country resolves itself into the biographies of its stout, earnest and 
 representative citizens. This medium, then, serves more than a single purpose: 
 while it perpetuates biography and funiily genealogy, it records history, much of 
 which would be preserved in no other way. 
 
 In presenting the Commemorative Biographical Record to its patrons, the 
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 enterprise has received, and the willing assistance rendered in enabling them to sur- 
 mount the many unforeseen obstacles to be met with in the production of a work of 
 this character. In nearly every instance the material composing the sketches was 
 gathered from those immediately interested, and then submitted in type-written form 
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 placed in the hands of the public with the belief that it will be found a valuable addi- 
 ticjn tc) the library, as well as an invaluable contribution to the historical literature of 
 the Fo.\ Ri\er \'alley. 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 
 •ir 
 
 r 
 
 ARTIN, HON. MOR- 
 ^^v, flkTJ 1*> CAN LEWIS, * was 
 ^^*^- (J9 B^ifl [y ' ' one of the most 
 conspicuous and dis- 
 tinguished among the 
 band of pioneer settlers 
 who early gave a nation- 
 al reputation to Wiscon- 
 sin. " He was mainly 
 instrumental — chiefly by 
 his influence in both Sen- 
 ate and Congress — in se- 
 curing the Fox River Val- 
 ley improvement, and his name 
 is indissolubly linked with the 
 early history of a great portion of north- 
 ern Wisconsin. 
 
 Judge Martin, for by that title he is 
 more generally referred to, came of good 
 lineage, the family being of eminence and 
 antiquity in Hertfordshire, England, and 
 Tours, France. The name of his imme- 
 diate ancestor, Thomas Martin, is borne 
 on the list of colonists who emigrated to 
 America in 1693, and he became one of 
 the proprietors of the Ockoocangansett 
 plantation in Marlborough, Mass., land 
 
 * For much of the personal sketch of Judge Martin we 
 are indebted to " Reminiscences of Morgan L. Martin. 1827- 
 1887." edited and annotated, with biographical sketch, by 
 Reuben G Thwaites. Secretary State Historical Society of 
 Wisconsin. — Ed. 
 
 having been granted him there. Aaron 
 Martin, his grandson (son of Adam, who 
 died April 25, 1716), born January 21, 
 171 2, was in Salem, Mass., where the 
 colonists first settled, the Martins a few 
 years later moving to Sturbridge, in that 
 State, where the original homestead was 
 built, and which is still in a fair state of 
 preservation. This Aaron Martin, who 
 was the great-grandfather of Morgan 
 Lewis Martin, was one of the first manu- 
 facturers in New England, holding large 
 domains of land on the various river 
 courses; and, while yet in middle life, was 
 drowned in one of his own mill streams, 
 the Quenebang river, when crossing over 
 to the mill on a cold March morning. 
 
 Adam Martin, his son, who was born 
 August 5, 1 7 16, owned, in 1763, a valua- 
 ble estate, with water power and sawmills. 
 He was an officer in the Provincial army 
 during the French and Indian wars, sub- 
 sequently captain in a Massachusetts regi- 
 ment during the Revolution, his commis- 
 sions dating April 24, 1770, and August 
 ■7. '797. respectively. Like his father, 
 from whom he inherited extensive landed 
 property, he was largely interested in 
 lumber, woolen and grain mills in Lewis 
 county, N. Y., whither he had emigrated 
 at an early day, while the country was 
 
8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 yet a wilderness. He purchased a town- 
 ship in Lewis county (which was named 
 after Governor Morgan Lewis, of New 
 York), naming the chief town " Martins- 
 burg," after himself. 
 
 His only son, Walter, father of Hon. 
 Morgan L. Atartin, while yet a young 
 man, came into the inheritance, and was 
 considered the patron of northern New 
 York, ^^'hile yet a lad he served under 
 his father in 1788, and at the close of the 
 war of 181 2 Col. Martin was commis- 
 sioned by Gov. George Clinton, of New 
 York, quartermaster No. i of militia 
 in which his father had been commis- 
 sioned lieutenant-colonel. These com- 
 missions are still intact, the heading of 
 Col. Walter Martin's reading as fol- 
 lows: " The People of the State of New 
 York, by the grace of God free and inde- 
 pendent, to Walter Martin, gentleman, 
 greeting." 
 
 Morgan Lewis Martin, son of Gen. 
 Walter Martin, was born in Martinsburgh, 
 Lewis Co., N. Y., March 31, 1805. In 
 1824 he graduated from Hamilton Col- 
 lege, at Clinton, N. Y., and for two years 
 he studied law with Collins & Parish in 
 Lowville, N. Y. In 1826 he went to 
 Detroit (then the chief city of the North- 
 west), where he entered the law office of 
 Henry S. Cole, and was soon afterward 
 admitted to the bar. But he did not 
 long remain in Detroit, for in May, 1827, 
 acting under the advice of his cousin, 
 James Duane Doty — who was then seek- 
 ing to have the Territory of Huron erected 
 by Congress, with Green Bay as the seat 
 of government — he took up his home in 
 Green Bay, and here resided until his 
 death which occurred December 10, 18S7 
 — a most interesting period of si.xty 
 years. 
 
 Judge Martin landed in Green Bay 
 May 20, 1827, the voyage from Detroit 
 having been made on the "La Grange," 
 a chance sailer, loaded with provisions 
 for the garrison at Fort Howard, and 
 having on board several army officers, 
 among whom were Brig-Gen. Hugh 
 
 Brady and Paymaster Maj. Benjamin F. 
 Larned. Of the civilians, who were also 
 passengers on the "La Grange," was 
 Father Fau\el, the first of his Church, it 
 is said, to land in Green Bay after the 
 close of the early missions. At Shanty 
 Town, in those days the commercial em- 
 porium of the Bay Settlement, our sub- 
 ject established his law office, which con- 
 sisted of a room in a story-and-a-half 
 frame building occupied by a branch of 
 the Ducharme family. At that time there 
 were not more than one hundred ci\ilians 
 at the Bay Settlement, in the main con- 
 sisting of French and mixed-blood " voy- 
 ageurs,"and Indians of various tribes — 
 Pottawattamies, Ottawas, &c. — were 
 numerous. There were a few clearings 
 and cultivated fields surrounding the set- 
 tlement, Lawe, Porlier and Grignon be- 
 ing the leading agriculturists, the latter 
 having, probably, the most pretentious 
 farm, which same was located at the 
 Kaukauna rapids, on the north side, be- 
 low the present city of Kaukauna. 
 
 In 1828 Judge Martin took a canoe 
 voyage from Green Bay to Prairie du 
 Chien, up the Fox river and down the 
 Wisconsin, and enjoyed a very interesting 
 experience. The year before had occur- 
 red the \\'innebago outbreak at Prairie 
 du Chien, and the murderer Red Bird 
 and his friends were now to be tried at a 
 special term of court. Judge Doty had 
 appointed our subject United States dis- 
 trict attorney, pro ton, hence the latter's 
 presence with the judicial part)-. On his 
 arrival at Prairie du Chien he met Lucius 
 Lyon (whom he had previously known in 
 Detroit), at that time a United States sur- 
 veyor, who had just completed his survey 
 of the private French land claims there, 
 and our subject finding that, after all, 
 his services in the Red Bird case would 
 not be needed, he and Lyon planned to 
 make a tour through the lead mines. 
 "There were no maps of this country 
 then," writes Judge Martin, "but Lyon 
 had a small pocket compass with him, 
 and took the courses and distances of the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Fox-Wisconsin route, and made the first 
 approximately correct map of that water 
 highway; later, on my return from Galena 
 to Prairie du Chien, I did the same for 
 the Mississippi; we then put our notes to- 
 gether and gave the result to a prominent 
 eastern map-maker who adopted it as part 
 of the geography of the country. It was 
 published in 1829 or 1 830, and was the 
 first real map of the country between 
 Green Bay and Galena. I was much 
 gratified, afterward, to see that later 
 official surveys of the Mississippi corres- 
 ponded exactly with mine. Lyon and I 
 started down the Mississippi from Prairie 
 du Chien on a very primitive sort of 
 steamer; there were two vessels like 
 Mackinaw boats, with a platform between 
 and a shed built on that — it was, in fact, 
 a steam catamaran. During the entire 
 time court was in session at the Prairie, 
 we staid at Galena, and then Judge Doty 
 and Rowland came down and joined us 
 there. After a few days, Lyon and I went 
 on what was then a decidedly novel trip, 
 an expedition through the mining region 
 north of Galena," which they found over- 
 flowing with prospectors, miners; and a 
 certain nondescript class that might be 
 catalogued as " camp followers," in all 
 fully two thousand men. After their in- 
 spection of the mining country, the party 
 returned home from Galena the way they 
 had gone, meeting with no special ad- 
 venture. 
 
 In the spring of 1829, in company 
 with Wistweaw, a Menomonee Indian, 
 and Alexander Grignon, a young half- 
 blood Menomonee, as assistants. Judge 
 Martin and Judge Doty, starting from 
 Green Bay on horseback, traversed the, 
 up to that time little known, region south 
 of the Fox and Wisconsix rivers, and are 
 believed to have been the first party to 
 make the trip by land between the ex- 
 treme outposts of this section — Green 
 Bay and Prairie du Chien. At the latter 
 place Judge Doty held a term of court, 
 and Judge Martin officiated as United 
 States district attorney, pro tern. Their 
 
 return trip was also by overland, but with 
 some change of trail, and on both jour- 
 neys they were greatly struck with the 
 beauty of the lake country and its adapta- 
 bility for becoming the abode of civilized 
 life. They passed along the north bank 
 of Fourth lake, where eight years after- 
 ward, in 1836, Judge Martin laid out the 
 " City of the Four Lakes," and the, coun- 
 try they traversed on this novel journey 
 was (in the words of Judge Martin him- 
 self), "after reaching a distance of thirty 
 miles from Green Bay, more charming 
 than any we had ever beheld, with its ex- 
 tensive oak openings and almost unlimited 
 prairies. There was not, however, a 
 trace of occupancy or any indication that 
 it had ever before been traversed by white 
 men." 
 
 In October, 1829, the first public 
 meeting in the history of Green Bay was 
 held there, Louis Grignon being chair- 
 man, and Judge Martin, secretary. Con- 
 gress was petitioned to build a road from 
 Green Bay to Chicago, and also to im- 
 prove the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. In 
 1833 the Judge paid his first visit to Mil- 
 waukee, while on a horse-back tour of 
 exploration, on which occasion he was 
 accompanied by Daniel Le Roy and P. 
 B. Grignon, and as far as Fond du Lac 
 their course lay on the same trail our sub- 
 ject and Judge Doty had made in 1829. 
 After that they struck southeast to the 
 shore of Lake Michigan, following it 
 closely until the Milwaukee river was 
 reached. At their destination they met 
 Solomon Juneau, the trader, w^hose home 
 was the "old trading house," and he and 
 Judge Martin became fast friends, their 
 business relations continuing many years 
 — in fact they were joint owners of the 
 original plat of Milwaukee; and such con- 
 fidence had they in each other, that no 
 written memorandum of the terms of 
 their partnership was ever made between 
 them; yet at the end of three years ac- 
 counts between them were adjusted, and 
 "property valued at hundreds of thous- 
 ands divided with as little difficulty as 
 
lO 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 you would settle a trifling store bill," the 
 Judge's own words. Such in brief is an 
 outline of the life of Judge Martin as a 
 pioneer of northern Wisconsin; and the 
 early history of the city of Green Bay, as 
 well as of the entire Fox River Valley, is 
 so intervolved with the active period of 
 his life, that a record of the one is essen- 
 tially a record of the other. 
 
 From the "Reminiscences" we ex- 
 cerpt the following, illustrative of the 
 early efforts toward the improvement of 
 the Fox-Wisconsin river highway, an im- 
 portant feature in the development of 
 this portion of the State. The statement 
 is substantially in the Judge's own words: 
 "The first movement by the general gov- 
 ernment toward the improvement of the 
 Fox- Wisconsin river highway — with a 
 view to making a continuous line of navi- 
 gation from Lake Michigan to the Missis- 
 sippi river — was made in 1839, while I 
 was in the Territorial council. Capt. 
 Thomas J. Cram, of the topographical 
 engineers, made, under the direction of 
 the War Department, a preliminary sur- 
 vey of the rivers and an estimate of the 
 cost of their improvement. In 1846, 
 while a delegate in Congress, I secured, 
 by dint of very hard work, the passage of 
 an Act (approved August 8) making a 
 grant of land to the State, upon its ad- 
 mission into the Union, for the improve- 
 ment of the Fox river alone, and the build- 
 ing of a canal across the portage between 
 the two rivers. The grant covered every 
 odd- numbered section within three miles 
 of the canal, the river and the lake, en 
 route from the portage to the mouth. 
 When the second Constitutional Conven- 
 tion was held, this proposition on the 
 part of Congress was endorsed, and, at 
 the first session of the State Legislature, 
 the latter body passed an Act, approved 
 August 8, 1848, appointing a board of 
 public works consisting of five persons 
 and providing for the improvement of the 
 river. * * * On January i, 185 1, the 
 board reported to the Legislature that 
 the work would have to stop unless some 
 
 device for a more rapid sale of land could 
 be originated. While the affair was in 
 this condition, I made a proposition to 
 the Legislature, through Gov. Dewej', to 
 do the work from Green Bay to Lake 
 Winnebago, except what the board of 
 public works had finished or was already 
 under contract for. The board had dug 
 the canal at Portage, before there was 
 any steam navigation possible on the 
 Lower Fox. * * * The Legislature of 
 1 85 1 accepted my proposition, and I 
 went to work with about five hundred 
 men, commencing at Kaukauna. Oper- 
 ations were carried on throughout that 
 season, along the entire distance from 
 Green Bay to Lake Winnebago." The 
 Improvement Company went on with the 
 work until 1856, in which year the first 
 boat, the " Aquilla," passed through the 
 works — from Pittsburg to Green Bay. 
 
 From 1 83 1 to 1835 Judge Martin was 
 a member of the legislative council of 
 Michigan Territory, and from 1838 to 
 1 844 he was one of the Territorial council 
 of Wisconsin. In 1845-47 he represented 
 his Territory in Congress with marked 
 ability; was president of the State Con- 
 stitutional Convention of 1847-48, and 
 both in the chair and on the floor was 
 one of the guiding spirits of the body 
 which framed the charter under which 
 the Commonwealth of Wisconsin still 
 operates. In 1855 he was elected a 
 member of the State Assembly, and three 
 years later was sent up to the Senate. 
 Throughout the entire period of the Civil 
 war he served as an army paymaster. In 
 1866 he was appointed Indian agent, 
 holding the position until 1 869, when the 
 War Department took charge of Indian 
 affairs. In 1866 he was the candidate 
 (under the Johnson movement) for Con- 
 gress, from the Fifth District, in which 
 campaign he was defeated by Philetus 
 Sawyer. In 1870 he resumed the prac- 
 tice of law which he had temporarily laid 
 aside, and in 1873 he was again elected 
 to the Assembly. From 1875 until his 
 decease he served as county judge of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 II 
 
 Brown county, and from its organization 
 was one of the most active of the vice- 
 presidents of the State Historical Society 
 of Wisconsin. 
 
 On July 25, 1837, Judge Martin was 
 united in marriage, at Green Bay, with 
 Miss Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Col. 
 Melancthon Smith, U. S. A. , and grand- 
 daughter of Judge Melancthon Smith, 
 who was a delegate from New York, in 
 Congress, in 1782-84, prior to the period 
 of the Constitution. To this marriage 
 were born six children, namely: Leonard 
 Martin; Annie, who died in 1861; Me- 
 lancthon, deceased in infancy; Sarah, 
 Morgan L. , Jr., and Debbie. Judge 
 Martin was a man of generous impulses, 
 kindly manner, keen wit, fine literary 
 tastes, and greatly enjoyed the comforts 
 of his beautiful home in Green Bay, 
 "Hazelwood," where he was surrounded 
 by a loving and accomplished family. He 
 died December 10, 18S7. 
 
 JOHN L. JORGENSEN, proprietor 
 of the largest dry-goods and carpet 
 establishment in northern Wiscon- 
 sin, the same being located in the 
 thriving and wide-awake city of Green 
 Bay, Brown county, is a native of Den- 
 mark, born of German ancestry May 27, 
 1849, in the city of Nakskov, Laaland. 
 
 Grandfather Jorgensen (who spelled 
 his name "Juergens"), a highly educated 
 man, resided in Schleswig, where he was 
 a minister of the Lutheran Church. He 
 was possessed of great force of character, 
 interesting himself deeply in the politics 
 of his country, and, being both pro- 
 gressive and aggressive, he took an active 
 part in the revolutionary risings of 1848, 
 shortly after which he was removed to 
 Denmark, the language of which country 
 he spoke fluently. 
 
 J. A. Jorgensen, father of our subject, 
 who was one of a family of six children, 
 received his education at the public 
 schools of Denmark, which was supple- 
 mented with a course of study at a 
 
 college, his intention at first being to 
 enter some profession. Preferring, how- 
 ever, a mercantile career, he prepared 
 himself for such in some business house 
 of Nakskov, Denmark, where he re- 
 mained, and he has been prominently 
 and successfully engaged in mercantile 
 pursuits for the past fifty years or more, 
 being now one of the oldest and 
 wealthiest merchants in that city, where 
 he is highly esteemed for his integrity, 
 and recognized as a man of influence and 
 ability, and as a leading churchman. He 
 married Miss Sophia Mortensen, a native 
 of Denmark, who died in middle life, the 
 mother of one son, John L. , the subject 
 of this sketch. 
 
 John L. Jorgensen received his educa- 
 tion in his native town, and was reared 
 to mercantile pursuits. At the age of 
 sixteen years (in 1865), having decided to 
 try his fortune in the New World, he set 
 sail from his native land, and after an 
 uneventful transatlantic voyage landed at 
 Boston, whence he at once proceeded 
 westward, arriving at Chicago, a stranger 
 in a strange land. After a short sojourn 
 in the metropolis of the West, he set 
 out for Wisconsin, Neenah, Winnebago 
 county, being his objective point, and 
 here attended school for a short time in 
 order to become conversant with the 
 English language. Securing now a 
 position in Mr. Pettibone's dry-goods 
 store in Neenah, he remained there a year 
 and a half, after which he was sent by 
 Mr. Pettibone to Green Bay, where he 
 clerked for him a long time in his store 
 in that city; also was in the employ of 
 D. Butler & Son for a brief period. 
 Having by this time saved some money, 
 he commenced the dry-goods business 
 May 27, 1876, at Fort Howard, in part- 
 nership with A. Gray, of that place, in 
 which they continued two and one-half 
 years, when they divided the stock, and 
 Mr. Jorgensen opened out a similar busi- 
 ness for his own account in Fort Howard, 
 commencing on a small scale, with but 
 two clerks; but he soon found he had to 
 
12 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 enlarge his store by adding to it from 
 time to time. The business at last had 
 grown to such proportions in 1887 that 
 he was compelled to open a branch store 
 in Green Bay, and form a joint-stock 
 company composed of himself and his 
 two brothers-in-law, G. A. and F. T. 
 Blesch, under the firm name of Jorgen- 
 sen, Blesch & Co. Soon the branch 
 store became the chief one, and Mr. 
 Jorgensen found himself under the neces- 
 sity of building a new store on the same 
 street, opposite the old one, which he 
 fitted with all modern improvements, and 
 to-day it is without exception the largest 
 dry-goods and carpet store in northern 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 In 1877 John L. Jorgensen was mar- 
 ried at Fort Howard, Wis., to Miss 
 Sophia Blesch, daughter of Francis and 
 Antoinette (Schneider) Blesch, natives, 
 the father of Bingen-on-the-Rhine, Ger- 
 many, the mother of Brussels, Belgium. 
 Mrs. Jorgensen was born and educated at 
 Fort Howard, is a lady of refined tastes, 
 a great reader, a lover of home, flowers 
 and home influences, and, withal, special- 
 ly excelling as a musician. Our subject 
 in his political preferences is a Republi- 
 can, and in social affiliations is a member 
 of the I. O. O. F., A. O. U. W. and 
 Royal Arcanum; in the I. O. O. F. he is 
 grand master for the State of Wisconsin, 
 and he was instrumental in having the I. 
 O. O. F. Home established in Green Bay, 
 where at present some thirty members 
 find a home and shelter, and he has been 
 general manager and superintendent of 
 this institution since its establishment. 
 
 WILLIAM LUEKE, the able and 
 efficient county treasurer of 
 Brown county, stands promi- 
 nent among the German-Ameri- 
 can citizens of northern Wisconsin, by 
 reason of his popularity, his administra- 
 tive abilities and his long-established 
 reputation for honesty and loyalty. 
 
 He was born December 24, 1850, in 
 
 Fahlenverder, Province of Brandenburg, 
 Prussia, Germany, of which province, in 
 the city of Nauen, Potsdam, his ancestors, 
 who were for the most part millers by oc- 
 cupation, as far back as can be traced, 
 had "a local habitation and a name." 
 Here his father, Charles F. Lueke, was 
 born December 4. 1822, and here he was 
 reared and taught the trade of miller in 
 the ancestral mills. After serving his ap- 
 prenticeship he became a journeyman in 
 the business, traveling from place to place 
 (as is the custom in the Fatherland), 
 finally settling in Fahlenverder, where he 
 married Miss Amelia Hordlemann, young- 
 est daughter of one of the prosperous 
 farmers of that locality. Here to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Lueke were born two children, 
 William (our subject) and Louisa, the lat- 
 ter of whom died in Milwaukee, Wis., 
 shortly after the family's arrival in the 
 Western World, in the fall of 1854, the 
 then village of Green Bay being their ob- 
 jective point. Here the father first found 
 employment with G. T. Kyber, in the 
 construction of the old military plank 
 road running from Green Bay to Fond du 
 Lac, next spring moving to De Pere, 
 where he found employment as a miller, 
 his legitimate vocation, and so continued 
 until i860, in which year he bought a 
 mill on Cedar creek, near Green Bay. In 
 the following year, however, he abandoned 
 this and, returning to De Pere, made his 
 home there till the spring of 1867, at 
 which time he moved to Wrightstown, 
 where he built a gristmill, on the East 
 river, more frequently called "Devil 
 river, "which mill he successfully operated 
 till July 4, 1880, when it was destroyed 
 by fire; he also owned a fine farm of 160 
 acres of land. Selling out this property 
 in the fall of i 880, he removed to Mani- 
 ' towoc, and here remained till the spring 
 of 1 883, the year of his taking up his resi- 
 dence in Greenleaf, Brown county, where, 
 in association with his son William, he es- 
 tablished a grain and general mercantile 
 business, which they successfully con- 
 ducted till April 7, 1890, when they dis- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 13 
 
 solved partnership, the father taking the 
 store, the son retaining sole control of the 
 grain branch of the concern. Charles F. 
 Lueke continued the store up to his death, 
 which occurred March 23, 1891, when he 
 was sixty-seven 3'ears old, the county los- 
 ing one of its best-known and most highly- 
 respected citizens, esteemed by all for his 
 sterling honesty and manly qualities of 
 head and heart. He was an active and 
 consistent member of the Lutheran 
 Church, and in his political affiliations 
 was a lifelong Democrat, although no 
 partisan. In Wisconsin were born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lueke children as follows: 
 Mary, now Mrs. Gehrke; Albert; Emma, 
 now Mrs. Alten; Charles, Minnie and 
 Fred — eight children in all. The mother 
 is still living in Greenleaf, Brown county. 
 William Lueke, the subject proper of 
 this memoir, secured a liberal education, 
 in part at the schools of De Pere, in part 
 at the North Western University of 
 Watertown, Wis. Learning the trade of 
 miller under his father's instruction, he 
 followed same till the summer of 1874, 
 when he embarked in the hotel business 
 in Greenleaf, erecting the "Greenleaf 
 Hotel," now operated by Albert Lueke, 
 who purchased it in 1887. Our subject 
 then devoted his entire attention to the 
 mercantile and grain businesses in the same 
 village, retiring from the former in 1890, 
 as already recorded, and from the latter 
 at the time of his moving to Green Bay, 
 May 14, 1 89 1, renting his warehouses to 
 other parties. 
 
 In the fall of 1890 he received the 
 Democratic nomination for county treas- 
 urer, and was elected by a majority of 
 1,200, his unquestioned popularity being 
 proven by his re-election in the fall of 
 1892, and he is yet filling the incumbency 
 with characteristic ability and fidelity. 
 
 On July 12, 1 87 1, Mr. Lueke was 
 married to Miss Augusta Wuerger, a na- 
 tive of Germany, and their union has been 
 blessed with a family of seven children, 
 named respectively: Charles, Flora, Clara, 
 William, Anna, Nora and Lillie. Mr. and 
 
 Mrs. Lueke are members of the Lutheran 
 Church, and are in the enjoyment of the 
 well-merited esteem and regard of the 
 communitv at large. 
 
 JOHN BETH, senior member of the 
 widely-known wholesale and retail 
 grocery firm of John Beth & Sons, 
 is one of those successful merchants 
 who in early life acquired a knowledge of 
 the value of time and money, and who had 
 been early trained to possess patience, 
 qualified with perseverance; to remember 
 that time is money, and that there are 
 just sixt}- minutes in one hour; and to 
 never forget that whatever is worth doing 
 at all is worth doing well. 
 
 Mr. Beth is a native of Bruttig, Ger- 
 many, born on the river Moselle, Rhein 
 Province, January 25, 1840, a son of 
 Theodore and Catherine (Goebel) Beth; 
 also of German nativity, who in 1852, 
 with their little family of children, emi- 
 grated to the United States, making their 
 first New-World home in Milwaukee. 
 Here the father, who was a shoemaker, 
 followed his trade until 1855, when he 
 came to Green Bay, where he continued 
 his trade up to about the time of his death, 
 which occurred May 3, 1857; his wife had 
 died October 24, 1852. They were the 
 parents of six children, viz. : Jacob, 
 Joseph, John and Frank, who all reside 
 in Green Bay; Maggie, who is the wife 
 of Thomas Hubert, of Menominee, Mich. ; 
 and Katie, who died November i, 1852, 
 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
 
 As will be seen, the subject of this 
 sketch was twelve years old when the 
 family came to the United States, so his 
 education had alreadj- been secured in 
 Germany, he having attended school 
 there between the ages of seven and 
 twelve. At thirteen he commenced work- 
 ing from home, in Wisconsin, engaging 
 in various occupations for the next few 
 years, or until 1861, when, the Civil war 
 having burst over the land, his ardor to 
 fight for his adopted countr}- prompted 
 
H 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 him to enlist for service in the Union 
 army. Accordingly, on June 14, that 
 year, he set out on foot for Appleton, 
 Wis., and the following day entered the 
 Appleton Light Infantry, being the third 
 recruit in it from Green Bay. The quota 
 of this company, however, was not filled 
 at that time, and our subject, not to be 
 thwarted in his intentions, proceeded by 
 rail to Alton, 111., where he enlisted in 
 Company K, Twenty-fourth Illinois In- 
 fantry, three-years' service. This regi- 
 ment was attached to the Army of the 
 Cumberland June 30, 1861, and partici- 
 pated in the battles of Perry ville (Ky.)i 
 Stone River and Chickamauga, at which 
 latter engagement he received a gunshot 
 wound in the left elbow, which confined 
 him to hospital for some time. On July 
 30, 1864, Mr. Beth received an honorable 
 discharge, and returned home to Green 
 Bay. He then commenced clerking in a 
 grocery store, and so continued until 
 March i, 1870, when he embarked in the 
 wholesale and retail crockery and glass- 
 ware trade, which for eight years he con- 
 ducted with encouraging success. In 
 April, 1878, he combined general gro- 
 ceries, also wholesale and retail, and 
 carried on these departments until 1891, 
 when he closed out the crockery and 
 glassware, substituting flour and feed. In 
 1886 he put up his present substantial 
 brick building, two stories and basement, 
 53 X 100 feet, on Washington street. 
 
 On January 10, 1865, Mr. Beth was 
 married in Green Bay to Miss Elizabeth 
 Knapp, a native of St. Louis, Mo. Her 
 parents resided in Monroe, Wis., for sev- 
 eral years, but are both now deceased, the 
 father having died in St. Louis, Mo. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Beth were born eleven 
 children, nine of whom are yet living, a 
 brief record of them being as follows: 
 Leonard was married September 24, 1 890, 
 to Miss Mary Mahn, who was born in 
 Green Bay, daughter of Theodore Mahn, 
 an early pioneer of the city, and they have 
 two children, Laura E. and Aaron (he is 
 a member of the Modern Woodmen); 
 
 John Valentine was married October 10, 
 1893, to Mary Dennis, who was b(jrn in 
 Belgium, daughter of Da\id Dennis, of 
 Green Bay; Maggie was married in 1889 
 to Benjamin Smith, of Green Bay, and 
 they have two children, Clarence and 
 Chester; Elizabeth is married to Joseph 
 Dennis, and has two children, Louie and 
 Raymond; and Anna, Fred, Enmia 
 Charley, and Louie. 
 
 Mr. Beth is a representative self-made 
 man, having by his own industry and 
 sound judgment, commencing on a bor- 
 rowed capital of thirty dollars, risen to 
 his present commercial standing, doing a 
 business to the amount of one hundred 
 and twenty thousand dollars per annum. 
 Outside of members of his own family, he 
 gives employment to eight hands, and 
 three of his sons are now associated with 
 him in business. Politically he is a Re- 
 publican, and has served as supervisor. 
 Socially, he is a member of T. O. Howe 
 Post No. 124, G. A. R., of which he was 
 commander two years; president of the 
 Peninsular \'eteran Association, and a 
 member of the Catholic Knights of 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 M 
 
 RS. ROSAMOND (BROWN) 
 FOLLETT, deceased. This 
 lady, who for so many years 
 was editor and proprietor of 
 the Gar.cltc, Green Bay, was a native of 
 New York State, born at Dansville, Jan- 
 uary I, 1847. Her early life was happy 
 and abounded in good influences, while 
 the jirivileges of excellent schools were 
 enjoyed by her, which by degrees brought 
 her into a beautiful womanhood, thor- 
 oughly equipped in purpose and prepara- 
 tion for a useful career. Her education 
 for the most part was received at the 
 public schools and seminary of the place 
 of her birth, also at Auburn, N. Y. , and 
 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
 
 On May 29, 1873, she was united in 
 marriage, at Bath, N. Y., with Dwight I. 
 Follett, one of the founders and proprie- 
 
.Ao c/^^^^^-^v^y^'^^^CA^ ^^1 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '7 
 
 tors of the Green Bay (Wis.) Gaaettc, 
 which had been estabhshed by him and 
 Col. George C. Ginty early in 1866. In 
 September of the same year, however, 
 Mr. Follett sold his interest to Col. Ginty, 
 but reconnected himself in May, 1868, 
 with the paper by purchase of the 
 Colonel's interest (who in the meantime 
 had associated himself with William B. 
 Taple}', of Racine), the firm name be- 
 coming Tapley & Follett. This arrange- 
 ment continued about eighteen months, 
 or until January i, 1870, when Mr. Tap- 
 ley sold <jut to George E. Hoskinson, and 
 the new firm of Hoskinson & Follett then 
 changed the name of the paper to The 
 S/ir/r Ga::cttc, commencing a daily issue 
 in November, 1871, and in 1.882 Mr. Fol- 
 lett assumed sole ownership and control. 
 The Gazette has always stood in the front 
 rank of the Republican political journals 
 of the State of Wisconsin. 
 
 The home which Mr. and Mrs. Fol- 
 lett created by their marriage was ideal 
 in its happiness, till the young wife saw, 
 with unspeakable sorrow, that an incura- 
 ble malady would soon take her husband 
 from her. After much painful suffering 
 he was called from earth June 24, 1888, 
 deeply mourned by a wide circle of 
 friends. He was a man of perfect recti- 
 tude, just and honorable, and possessed 
 of a good mind and a true heart — a lover 
 of things beautiful in nature, literature 
 and art. After his death the responsi- 
 bility of the extensive business, which he 
 had wisely planned, but which, owing to 
 ill-health, he had never been able to 
 bring to its best possibilities, were laid 
 upon his sorrowing widow. She rose to 
 her new duties, however, with a strength 
 and capacity which astonished even those 
 who knew her best. The necessities of 
 the situation, and, doubtless, the des- 
 peration of her grief, stimulated her every 
 energy into activity. Discouragements 
 that seemed almost paralyzing yielded to 
 her unconquerable determination, and she 
 persevered till success was complete. 
 But the shadow of death was upon her. 
 
 and the bright, useful and beautiful life 
 was doomed to total eclipse. Early in 
 the spring of 1894 Mrs. Follett began to 
 realize that her health, which she had 
 thought to be almost faultless, was rap- 
 idly failing, and in searching for a cause 
 it was found that she was suffering from 
 an internal cancer, from which it was 
 early seen there was no possible cure. 
 How this knowledge moved her brave, 
 resolute soul can never be known, for she 
 made no sign of either fear or regret, 
 though her sufferings were intense. She 
 bore all with uncomplaining fortitude, 
 responding to the faithful and tender 
 ministrations of friends with loving grati- 
 tude, while her thoughts were of others 
 rather than of herself, even to the last 
 hour of consciousness. 
 
 The end came at last, death releasing 
 her from her sufferings August 27, 1894, 
 and three days later all that was mortal 
 of the departed was laid beside the re- 
 mains of her husband amid the peace and 
 silence of Woodlawn cemetery. Green 
 Bay. A great concourse of the people of 
 the city where for twenty years she had 
 lived and wrought — old and young, rich 
 and poor — citizens from other places, 
 officials, representatives of the Press 
 Association, and man}- friends from even 
 greater distance, followed the remains to 
 their last resting-place. The funeral took 
 place from the Presbyterian Church, of 
 which she was a member. Rev. J. L. 
 Hewitt officiating, assisted by Revs. F. R. 
 Haff and H. W. Thompson. Among 
 those assembled to pay their last respects 
 to their loving friend were members of 
 the Press Association, as just mentioned, 
 with which organization early in her 
 newspaper life she had identified herself, 
 becoming after the death of her husband 
 a constant attendant at its sessions. 
 Eulogies in the Press were numerous, and 
 from the Green Bay Gazette we glean 
 the following: * * * " Simple and touch- 
 ing were the ceremonies at the funeral; 
 grief and sorrow were the emotions of al. 
 who had come to bid her a last farewelll 
 
i8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 There were those who had known her 
 long and intimately, and who will miss 
 her greatly, and there were those who 
 thought they had stood farther from her, 
 yet had often felt the touch of her 
 friendly hand, had frequently heard from 
 her words of sympathy and of cheer, and 
 who had come to see in her a sister, 
 friend and mother." The Green Bay 
 Advocate also paid a beautiful tribute to 
 the memory of her whose life had left the 
 world the better for her having lived, and 
 we quote the following : " It is with 
 deep sadness that we realize that the 
 vital spark has fled from the suffering 
 body of our long kind friend, high!}' 
 respected citizen and co-laborer in 
 the newspaper field, Mrs. Rosamond 
 Follett. We grieve at the severance 
 of those early ties of friendship and 
 almost kindred feeling that long years 
 of harmonious work in a common cause, 
 without a jar or discord, had cemented. 
 We grieve that we shall nevermore see 
 the kindly face, animated by its cheerful, 
 benevolent spirit. At the same time we 
 feel thankful that the inevitable parting 
 is over, and the free spirit has risen from 
 the tortured clay, unhampered with cares 
 and griefs of earthly life, to unending 
 peace and blessed rest in the mansions 
 that the Master went before to prepare. 
 
 * * * Her work was well done from the 
 cradle to the grave. In the years that we 
 have known her, from the time that she 
 came here as a bride until she finally laid 
 down the pen and entered the chamber of 
 suffering, we have found nothing in her to 
 criticise, and everything to commend. 
 We recall her sturdy step, as with strong 
 frame she supported the failing energies 
 and wasting frame of her late husband, 
 Dwight I. Follett, shouldering the weight 
 of the cares of his business as he entered 
 the dark valley, and assuming the busi- 
 ness altogether when he passed away. 
 
 * * " A perfectly healthy and whole- 
 some childhood and youth laid the foun- 
 dation of those powers of endurance so 
 valuable to her. She was a ready writer, 
 
 with a faculty of pleasing: was always 
 courteous, and made friends of all with 
 whom she had dealings or acquaintance. 
 There was no false pride about her, and 
 she was careful never to assume a dig- 
 nity that would drive away the humble. 
 She was sympathetic for the woes of oth- 
 ers, and always ready to relieve the dis- 
 tressed. " Mrs. Follett left one son, John 
 C. Follett, to mourn the loss of a loving 
 mother. — [In compiling the above sketch, 
 the writer is indebted for many sugges- 
 tions to a beautiful article from the pen 
 of Edwin D. Coe, which appears in the 
 "National Printer-Journalist," of Octo- 
 ber, 1894. — Ed. 
 
 AUSTIN F. OLMSTED, M. D., 
 for over twenty years a highly 
 respected citizen of Green Bay, 
 enjoying an unchallenged reputa- 
 tion as a successful physician and surgeon, 
 is a native of Middlebury, Vt., born July 
 20, 1843. 
 
 Erastus Olmsted, grandfather of our 
 subject, was of Welsh descent, and was 
 born in Middlebury, Vt., of which locality 
 his ancestry, in this country, were pioneers. 
 By trade Erastus was a chair-maker, 
 which he carried on at his home in the 
 countrj', near Middlebury, becoming pros- 
 perous. He had a numerous family of 
 children, of whom Juba Olmsted, father 
 of our subject, was born August 15, 1807, 
 in Middlebury, Vt. He learned his 
 father's trade, and followed it for a time, 
 but eventually took up farming, which he 
 made his life work for the rest of his days, 
 in 1850 moving with his family from Ver- 
 mont to Wisconsin, and settling on a 
 farm in Fond du Lac county, four miles 
 south of the city of that name. Here, by 
 industry and judicious thrift, he accumu- 
 lated a comfortable competence, and by his 
 exemplary life, sincerity of heart, genuine 
 charity and elevation of character, won 
 the highest esteem and respect in the com- 
 munity in which he lived. He died in 
 1854, at the early age of forty-seven 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 years, deeply regretted by all who knew 
 him. In religious faith he was a member 
 of the M. E. Church, in politics a stanch 
 Whig. In 1829, he was married to Miss 
 Sarah K. Huston, daughter of Robert 
 Huston, an honored pioneer of Middle- 
 bury, Vt., and three children, all sons, 
 were born to this union, viz. : Wallace 
 Juba, a minister in the M. E. Church, at 
 present stationed at West Bend, Wis. ; 
 Charles Cook, a practicing physician at 
 Kansas City (he studied medicine under 
 Dr. Patchen, of Fond du Lac, and gradu- 
 ated at Cleveland, Ohio); and Austin F. , 
 the subject of this sketch. The mother 
 of these was married, the second time, to 
 Hiram Edgerton, and is now living at 
 Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. 
 
 Austin F. Olmsted received his liter- 
 ary education at the Fond du Lac high 
 school and Lawrence University, Apple- 
 ton, which latter institution he left at the 
 end of two years, for a time thereafter 
 clerking in a store. Deciding on making 
 the noble profession of medicine his life- 
 work, he during these years, as circum- 
 stances permitted, studied the science, and 
 in 1 87 1 entered Cleveland (Ohio) Home- 
 opathic Hospital College, where he grad- 
 uated in the spring of 1874, immediately 
 thereafter settling in Green Bay, where 
 he has since remained in the active prac- 
 tice of his profession. He now ranks 
 second to none in the county among the 
 followers of /Esculapius and Galen, his 
 specialty, perhaps, being obstetrics, in 
 which he has had a wide and uniformly 
 successful experience, which can be also 
 truly said of his general practice; and this, 
 coupled with his well-known professional 
 zeal, as well as attentiveness to his 
 patients, has established for him an en- 
 viable reputation throughout the length 
 and breadth of the Fox River Valley. He 
 is associated with the American Institute 
 of Homeopathy, and is an active member 
 of the State Homeopathic Medical Society 
 of Wisconsin. 
 
 On October 21, 1863, Dr. Olmsted 
 was married to Miss Harriet Sylvester, 
 
 daughter of Seth and Rachel (Young) Syl- 
 vester, and three children have been born 
 to them, named respectively: Minnie 
 Edna, Clara K. and Austin O. Dr. and 
 Mrs. Olmsted are active workers in the 
 Presbyterian Church at Green Bay (form- 
 erly connected with the Congregational 
 Society), of which she is a member. So- 
 cially, he is affiliated with the Knights of 
 Pythias, Independent Order of Foresters 
 and Royal Arcanum, and in his political 
 preferences casts his vote in the interests 
 of the Republican party. Public-spirited, 
 and in all things progressive, he has iden- 
 tified himself with every civic movement 
 tending to the advancement and prosperity 
 of the city and county of his adoption, 
 where, as a useful, loyal and intelligent 
 citizen, he is held in the highest regard. 
 
 PH. MARTIN. This gentleman, 
 who has been prosecuting attor- 
 ney for Brown county since 1888, 
 is a native of the county, born in 
 Rockland township April 21, 1862. Ed- 
 ward and Bridget (Farrell) Martin, 
 natives of Ireland, parents of subject, 
 came to the United States when young, 
 settling in Rockland township, where 
 they engaged in farming, and are still 
 living. 
 
 P. H. Martin, whose name opens this 
 brief sketch, received his education at the 
 schools of Rockland and in the city of 
 De Pere. He was reared on the farm, 
 but at the age of eighteen he commenced 
 teaching school in Brown county, a voca- 
 tion he followed some five years. In 
 1885 he came to the city of Green Bay, 
 and for some time was in the United 
 States railway mail service as postal 
 clerk on the Chicago, Milwaukee & 
 St. Paul railroad, running between 
 Green Bay and Milwaukee. In 1883 
 he commenced reading law in the 
 office of Hudd & Wigman, attorneys- 
 at-law. Green Bay, and in 18S7 he 
 was admitted to the bar. In 1889 he 
 entered into partnership with Mr. Wig- 
 
20 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 man, under the firm name of Wigman & 
 Martin, and has since been engaged in 
 regular practice. In the fall of 1888 he 
 was elected to his present incumbency, 
 that of prosecuting attorney for Brown 
 county, which he fills with eminent 
 ability, and to the complete satisfaction 
 of the people. 
 
 In 1886 P. H. Martin and Miss Mary 
 Wigman were united in marriage. She 
 is a daughter of J. H. M. Wigman, senior 
 member of the firm, and an early pioneer 
 of Hrown county. To this marriage four 
 children have been born, viz. : Marie, 
 Agnes, John Edward and Patrick Jerome. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Martin are members of St. 
 John's Catholic Church. In politics he 
 is a Democrat. 
 
 ADAM SPUHLER, of the firm of A. 
 Spuhler tS: Co. (limited), whole- 
 sale and retail dealers in dry 
 goods, clothing, carpets, hats, 
 caps, notions, etc., in (ireen Bay, has 
 been a prominent resident of that city 
 since i 879, and an enterprising merchant 
 of several years standing. 
 
 Mr. Spuhler is a native of Wisconsin, 
 born in Washington county, in 1846, of 
 German parents. Henry Spuhler, his 
 father, was born in Bavaria, where he 
 married Miss Sarah Zcpp, of the same 
 country, the young couple soon afterward 
 emigrating to the United States, making 
 their first home in Washington county. 
 Wis., where they took up a farm. In 
 I 867 they moved to Dodge county, same 
 State, settling at Beaver Dam, where they 
 passed the rest of their busy lives, the 
 father dying in 1870, the mother in 1880. 
 Their family numbered seven children, 
 five of whom are yet living, namely; Mol- 
 lic, wife of Benjamin Fifield, a farmer of 
 Lake county, Ind. ; Mary, wife of Charles 
 Schuette, of Beaver Dam, Wis. ; Lizzie, 
 wife of Andrew Schluckebier, also of 
 Beaver Dam; Adam, of whom we write; 
 and John, a cigar manufacturer, in Wi- 
 nona, Minnesota. 
 
 The subject of this notice was reared 
 on his father's farm in Washington county. 
 Wis., receiving his education at the win- 
 ter schools of the neighborhood of his 
 home. In 1861, then fifteen years old, 
 he entered the dry-goods store of Newton 
 & Willard, in Beaver Dam, remaining 
 with them till they sold out in 1865 to 
 Hebgen tS: Lehrkund. With the latter 
 firm he clerked till 1867, in which year he 
 commenced business in the same town, 
 in partnership with a Mr. Schluckebier, 
 carrying on a prt)sperous drj'-goods trade 
 till 1873, when the firm dissolved and our 
 subject moved to Wrightstown, in Brown 
 county. Here he was associated with a 
 Mr. Mueller in the same line of trade from 
 1873 to 1S79, the style of the firm being 
 Mueller cS: Spuhler, and in that year they 
 transferred their business to the more 
 thriving town of Green Bay, here remain- 
 ing in partnership till 1886, the year of 
 Mr. Mueller's death. After that event 
 Mr. Spuhler continued the retail business 
 alone till 1 889, when, having established 
 a wide connection and an enviable repu- 
 tation for fair and square dealing, he ex- 
 panded his business by combining the 
 wholesale trade with the retail, changing 
 the style of the house to the A. Spuhler & 
 Co. (limited). 
 
 In 1867, in Dodge county. Wis., Mr. 
 Spuhler was married to Miss Jennie Far- 
 dell, a native of England, but reared to 
 womanhood in Dodge county. Wis., and 
 daughter of Matthew and Sarah (Bishop) 
 Fardell, highly respectable English 
 people who immigrated to the United 
 States several years ago, settling in 
 Dodge county. Wis., where Mr. Fardell 
 died in 18S7, and his widow is yet living. 
 To our subject and wife have been born 
 seven children, to wit: Sarah, Nellie 
 (wife of D. Lucas, a boiler manufacturer 
 in Ft. Howard, Wis.); Fred (assisting in 
 his father's store), Alice, Mabel, Jennie 
 and Louise. In his political predilections 
 Mr. Spuhler is a Democrat; in 1S81-S2 
 he served his city as alderman of the 
 First ward, and is now a member of the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 21 
 
 town council and of the county board, 
 and was chairman of tiie Finance commit- 
 tee of that board some years. Socially 
 he is affiliated with the F. & A. M., at 
 Green Bay, Washington Lodge No. 2 i , 
 Warren Chapter No. 8, Council No. 13, 
 and Palestine Cominandery No. 20, K. 
 T. ; is a member of the I. O. O. F. , 
 A. O. U. W. , and of Pochequette Lodge, 
 K. of P., Uniformed Rank. In religious 
 faith he and his wife are members of the 
 M. E. Church. Mr. Spuhler is one of 
 those men of business to whom success is 
 bound to come, a success that is the re- 
 sult of his own individual exertions, and 
 not of that "luck" which the world 
 (little understanding what the word im- 
 ports) so often ascribes to those who rise 
 unaided to distinction. No man knows 
 better how to time his efforts, and while 
 he has never wasted his force on worth- 
 less and unattainable objects, he well 
 knows how to take advantage of opportu- 
 nities promising advantages to his busi- 
 ness. 
 
 HON. JAMES HENRY ELMORE. 
 the efficient, progressive and pop- 
 ular mayor of the city of Green 
 Bay, is a native of Wisconsin, 
 born in Mukwonago, Waukesha county, 
 January 6, 1843. The first of the Elmore 
 family in the United States, of whom our 
 subject is a worthy representative, were 
 three brothers who came from England, 
 one settling in New York State, one in 
 Connecticut, and the third in South Caro- 
 lina, the first of the three being the im- 
 mediate progenitor of Mayor Elmore. 
 
 Our subject received his elementary 
 education at the common schools of his 
 native town, whi:h was supplemented 
 with a course of study at the East Troy 
 school taught by Mr. Markham, who after- 
 ward became principal of the " Markham 
 Academy," Milwaukee. At the age of 
 fifteen he entered Racine College, which 
 he attended two years, and we then find 
 him connected with his father's mercan- 
 
 tile business in Mukwonago, later in the 
 capacity of reporter for various news- 
 papers, being stationed, during the winter 
 of 1862-63, at Madison, Wis. In the 
 spring of 1 863 he came to Green Bay, 
 and engaged in the grain elevator and for- 
 warding business, in which he remained 
 until 1877, removing then to Milwaukee, 
 where, for a year, he was interested in 
 the commission trade, after which he 
 spent several years in traveling and 
 employing his time at various occupa- 
 tions. Two summers he spent in New 
 York; was in the Black Hills and in 
 Arizona; at Crystal Falls, Mich., where, 
 for one year (1882), he was superintend- 
 ent of the Crystal Falls Iron Company. 
 Returning to Green Bay, he received the 
 appointment. May, 1884, of receiver for 
 Strong's bank, the mi.\ed-up affairs of 
 which institution he succeeded in unravel- 
 ing and clearing up in such a highly credit- 
 able and satisfactory manner as to receive 
 from all concerned, including the judge of 
 the court, the highest encomiums, the 
 upshot being his appointment at different 
 times as assignee to various estates. Mr. 
 Elmore's next occupation was in the 
 manufacture of and dealing in cedar poles, 
 ties, piling posts, shingles, etc., in which 
 line he has since done a remarkably large 
 business, and at the present time he is in 
 partnership with James Delaney, of Fort 
 Howard. 
 
 Mr. Elmore has at various times had 
 abundant proof of his popularity by elec- 
 tion to various positions of honor and 
 trust, including, more than once, the 
 highest civic office in the gift of the 
 people. In 1873 he was elected, without 
 opposition, the first mayor of Fort How- 
 ard; also served as alderman of the same 
 borough, and after coming to Green Bay, 
 in 1 883, he was elected mayor of that city 
 in 1890, which incumbency he has since 
 filled continuously, having been elected 
 twice without opposition, and once (1892) 
 over an opponent who succeeded in cap- 
 turing only about one-fourth of the votes. 
 Mr. Elmore was again elected in 1895. 
 
22 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Although known to be a stanch Demo- 
 crat, still he has always had the support 
 of all parties, regardless of political bias, 
 the general feeling being that the chief 
 magistrate of a city should be a man pro 
 bono publico, and not a politician. 
 
 Since assuming the reins of civic gov- 
 ernment in Green Bay, Mayor Elmore 
 has had the pleasure of seeing vast im- 
 provements in the fast rising city, among 
 which may be mentioned a couple of miles 
 of cedar block paving; several miles of 
 sewers; two old bridges rebuilt, and a new 
 one erected; the reorganization of the 
 Fire Department, which is now in all re- 
 spects a model one, equipped with the 
 Ganiewell fire-alarm telegraph system, 
 besides many other improvements, all 
 tending to place Green Bay among the 
 model cities of the State. The latest 
 project, in the way of public progressive- 
 ness, is the new high school, which, it is 
 intended, is to be built of Lake Superior 
 red sandstone, and which will be an orna- 
 ment to the city. To his efforts, also. 
 Green Bay is indebted for the best system 
 of street railroads in the United States, 
 everything pertaining to it being of the 
 most modern design. 
 
 On January 19, 1876, Mayor Elmore 
 was married to Miss Anna Leola Chap- 
 man, daughter of Col. William Chapman, 
 U. S. A. , and one child has been born to 
 them, named William Chapman. Mrs. 
 Elmore is a prominent member of the 
 Daughters of the Revolution, of which 
 she was appointed regent for the State of 
 Wisconsin. Mayor Elmore is a member 
 of the F. & A. M., and is a Knight Temp- 
 lar; he is also affiliated with the Order of 
 Elks. 
 
 GUSTAV KUSTERMANN. This 
 well-known, popular and promi- 
 nent citizen of Green Bay, of 
 which flourishing city he has 
 been postmaster since 1892, is a native 
 of Detmold, Germany, born May 24, 
 1850. 
 
 Carl Ludwig Kustermann, grandfather 
 of our subject, was a farmer and mechanic 
 (as was his father before him) in Schoet- 
 mar (Lippe-Detmoldj, and died there in 
 advanced life, the parent of a large 
 family of children, one of whom, Carl 
 (father of our subject), was born in 1820, 
 also in Schoetmar. He (Carl) was reared 
 to the trade of gunsmith, and was em- 
 ployed as such in the German army for 
 nearly thirty years, also serving in the 
 Schleswig-Holstein campaign and the 
 Prussian-Austrian war of 1S66. In 1846 
 he married Julia Wolleben, daughter of 
 Gustav Wolleben, by which union four 
 children were born — all sons — to-wit: 
 Carl, Gustav, Robert and Otto, the last 
 named dying at the age of fourteen years; 
 Robert was in partnership with his 
 brother Gustav in the book and music 
 business at Green Bay until 1894; Carl 
 and Gustav will be more fully spoken of 
 farther on. The mother of this family 
 died in 1886, the father in 1894. 
 
 Gustav Kustermann, whose name in- 
 troduces this sketch, received his educa- 
 tion at the gymnasium or high school in 
 Detmold, graduating therefrom, and when 
 fourteen years old went to the city of 
 Hamburg, where he served a three-years' 
 apprenticeship to the wholesale dry-goods 
 business. At the age of eighteen, in 
 1868, he emigrated to America, from the 
 port of debarkation coming direct to 
 Wisconsin and Green Bay, whither, not 
 long before, two of his old schoolmates 
 had come and settled. Here he clerked 
 in the hardware store of St. Louis 
 Case & Co., but at the end of about si.\ 
 months secured the position of. book- 
 keeper in the office of the Green Bay 
 Advocate, at that time owned by Robin- 
 son & Bro., and filled the incumbency 
 with the utmost satisfaction for three 
 years, or until 1S72. On March 15 of 
 that year, in company with Louis Neese 
 and Erastus Root, he established in 
 Green Bay a stationery and job-printing 
 business, the style of the firm being 
 "Neese, Kustermann & Root"; but De- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 23 
 
 cember 15, 1873, the firm experienced a 
 change, Mr. Root and a Mr. Kimball tak- 
 ing the job-printing branch, our subject 
 and Mr. Neese retaining the stationery de- 
 partment, adding thereto music and 
 musical instruments, the name of the 
 firm being Neese & Kustermann until 
 May I, 1876, when Mr. Kustermann 
 bought out Mr. Neese's share, and from 
 that time until 1880 carried on the con- 
 cern alone. In that year his brother 
 Robert became associated with him in 
 the business, the partnership existing till 
 1894, when the latter retired from the 
 firm (as already statedj, since when our 
 subject has continued the business alone. 
 He carries a well-assorted line of sta- 
 tionery and all its adjuncts, as well as 
 a complete assortment of musical instru- 
 ments, his trade in these particular lines 
 not being surpassed by any similar enter- 
 prise in northern Wisconsin. In all his 
 business obligations he is prompt and 
 reliable, and his innate courtesy and 
 obliging disposition have brought him 
 hosts of friends and customers. 
 
 Mr. Kustermann is a ready writer, as 
 well as a clear, forcible speaker, in either 
 English, German or French, and his 
 trenchant pen has contributed not a few 
 interesting articles to one or other of the 
 standard European journals, among which 
 may be mentioned Die Gartodauhc, pub- 
 lished in Leipzig, besides political articles 
 during election campaigns, to home jour- 
 nals, especially the leading newspapers of 
 Milwaukee. Recently he compiled a high- 
 ly-interesting work on the ' ' World's Fair " 
 or " Columbian Exposition," being a col- 
 lection of articles written by him for a 
 newspaper published in his native town. 
 In oratory he has secured a wide repiuta- 
 tion as a good, reliable all-round political 
 speaker, whether on the "stump" or on 
 the platform, and he has always been 
 affiliated with the Republican party, 
 wherein he has never failed to exert a 
 substantial influence. Nor have his 
 efforts for the cause remained altogether 
 unrewarded. Twice was he nominated 
 
 for Congress, although through no fault 
 of his own on each occasion he had the 
 minority; but, by his pure, yet forcible 
 language, clear and concise reasoning, he 
 left upon the minds of his auditors a last- 
 ing impression that there was a man 
 among them worthy not only of the metal 
 of any political foe, but also of the respect 
 and esteem of the community at large — a 
 citizen, in truth, of whom the State might 
 well feel proud. During the last political 
 campaign he was urged by some of the 
 leading spirits of his party to become a 
 candidate for the highest State office in 
 the gift of the people; but he resolutely 
 declined to "listen to the song of the 
 Siren." Indeed, it has been said, and in 
 no spirit of mere flattery, that, without 
 doubt, Mr. Kustermann, in point of edu- 
 cation and natural abilit}', is one of the 
 most representative German-American 
 citizens in the State of Wisconsin. In 
 February, 1892, he was appointed post- 
 master at Green Bay by President Harri- 
 son, and is still holding the office, his 
 term expiring in 1 S96. In civic affairs he 
 has served in the city council of Green 
 Bay, also as city treasurer, and has been 
 a member of the county board. 
 
 On June 12, 1875, our subject was 
 united in marriage with Miss Emma Schel- 
 lenbeck, of Green Bay, and four children, 
 all daughters, named respectively: Tillie, 
 Alma, Olga and Emma, have come to 
 bless their home. 
 
 Carl Kustermann, eldest son of Carl 
 and Julia (Wolleben) Kustermann has 
 been assistant postmaster at Green Bay 
 since 1 892. He was born in Detmold, Ger- 
 many, October 29. 1847, and in 1868 
 came to Green Bay, where he first found 
 employment as clerk in the dry-goods 
 store of D. Butler. At the end of a year 
 he entered the office of the register of 
 deeds, where he clerked some twelve 
 months, his next employment being as 
 bookkeeper for a lumber company at Lit- 
 tle Sturgeon Bay, an incumbency he filled 
 three years. In 1873 he paid a six- 
 months' visit to Europe, and on his return 
 
H 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 to Green Bay engaged for his own ac- 
 count in a white-goods and shirt-factory 
 business; but finding the same unprofit- 
 able, he accepted a position as manager 
 of the shoe and clothing store of B. Fol- 
 lett, holding the same for two years, at 
 the end of which time he entered the 
 Green Bay Savings Bank as assistant 
 cashier. In 1878 the bank affairs were 
 wound up, and Mr. Kustermann removed 
 to Helenville, Jefferson Co., Wis., where 
 for six years he conducted a general store; 
 then returned to Green Bay to fill the 
 position of bookkeeper for Anson Eldred 
 & Son, lumber merchants, but, in 1892, 
 he left this to accept his present position 
 in the postoffice. 
 
 In 1873 Carl Kustermann was married 
 to Miss Margaret Grimm, who was born 
 in Jefferson, Wis., daughter of Adam 
 Grimm, the celebrated apiarist, who died 
 in 1876. To Mr. and Mrs. Kustermann 
 were born two children, Julia and Agnes, 
 who lost their mother in 1882, and in 
 1884 their father was married to Miss 
 Anna Haubert, of White Water, Wis., 
 daughter of Joseph and Marie (Rust) 
 Haubert, natives of Bavaria, Germany. 
 By this marriage there are three children: 
 Otto, Erna and Herbert. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Kustermann are members of St. Paul's 
 German Lutheran Church, and in his 
 political preferences he is a Republican 
 in national affairs, but independent in 
 local issues. 
 
 ALONZO KIMIMLL. The family 
 in America, of which the subject 
 of this sketch is a worthy mem- 
 ber, dates back to one Richard 
 Kimball, who in 1634 came from Ipswich, 
 county of Suffolk, England, to America. 
 It is presumed that he settled in Ipswich, 
 Essex Co., Mass., for his son Henry is 
 known to have been a resident of that 
 town in 1640, while another son, Thomas, 
 was in Charlestown, Suffolk county, 
 in 1653. 
 
 Boyce Kimball, a lineal descendant of 
 the immigrant Richard, was born June 
 26, 1 73 1, in Ipswich, Mass., where he 
 married, and the children born to him 
 were as follows: Boyce, Rebecca, Jona- 
 than, Ebenezer, Mary, Susanna, Pris- 
 cilla, Timothy, Richard, Amasa and Ruel. 
 Of these, Ruel Kimball was married Jan- 
 uary I, 1799, to Hannah Mather, and 
 settled in Marlboro, \'t., where he was a 
 Presbyterian minister. The children born 
 to this union were Ruel, Amanda, Cotton, 
 Hulda, Alonzo, David M., Lucy (who 
 married Rev. Henry Bannister, of Evans- 
 ton, 111.), Mary, Harriet and Martin L. , 
 Alonzo, our subject, being the onl}' sur- 
 vivor; Amanda, the second in the family, 
 married Alanson Merwin, and they cele- 
 brated their golden wedding in 1875. 
 Ruel Kimball was for the most part self- 
 educated, and was a man of strong con- 
 victions, one who represented the true 
 type of orthodo.x Presbyterianism. He 
 was a very useful man, svas beloved for 
 his many good qualities of head and 
 heart, and was possessed of sound com- 
 mon sense and judgment. He could 
 draw a deed or contract of any kind, and 
 was an adviser and friend to all. He died 
 at East Hampton, Mass., October i, 
 1847. Mrs. Hannah (Mather) Kimball, 
 mother of our subject, was a daughter of 
 Timothy Mather, who was a descendant 
 of Increase Mather, the father of Cotton 
 Mather. She was a woman of great 
 force of character, and may be said to 
 have inherited much of the spirit of her 
 noble ancestors. She died in Leyden, 
 N. Y. , at the age of seventy-eight years, 
 eight months and eight days. 
 
 Alonzo Kimball, the subject proper of 
 these lines, was born November 20, 1808, 
 in the town of Le Ray, Jefferson county, 
 N. Y. , and received his primary educa- 
 tion at various schools, which was sup- 
 plemented with a course at Union 
 College, Schenectady, N. Y. , where he 
 graduated in 1836, while Dr. Nott was 
 president. After this he taught school 
 about ten years, and then engaged in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 business, conducting a general store in 
 Green Bay several years, whither he 
 came Maj- 22, 1849; in 1S54 he com- 
 menced the hardware business. From 
 the time of his first entering the arena of 
 commercial trade success followed his 
 efforts, and his reputation for honesty 
 and veracity became as a household word 
 in the Fox Ri\er Valley. On October i, 
 1840, Mr. Kimball married Miss Sarah 
 Weston, daughter of Rev. Isaiah Weston, 
 who, during the war of 1812, was revenue 
 collector at New Bedford, Mass., and 
 later lived in Dalton, same State, where 
 he was engaged in business, and preached 
 the Gospel of love to the people. He 
 died there of paralysis February 17, 1821, 
 aged forty-eight years and sixteen days, 
 deeply lamented. Six children blessed 
 the union of Mr. and Mrs. Kimball, viz. : 
 Mary C., A. Weston, Charles T. , Mather 
 D., Sarah and William Dwight; of whom 
 A. Weston is general agent of Illinois for 
 the Northwestern Life Insurance Com- 
 pany of Milwaukee, and has made an 
 enviable record; Mather D. is in the em- 
 ploy of the same company; Charles T. 
 conducts his father's business; Mary C. 
 is the wife of M. H. Walker, and Sarah 
 married L. B. Sale, who was drowned 
 in the Fox river with his two sons, 
 Richard and Robert; William Dwight 
 died at the age of two years. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Kimball lived a happy life together 
 of over half a centur}', having celebrated 
 their golden wedding October i, 1890. 
 She died in Green Bay June 27, 1891, 
 aged nearly ninety years, an active mem- 
 ber of the Presbyterian Church. Charity 
 was her twin sister. Rich and poor 
 alike, she called them all her friends, and 
 her name and deeds _of benevolence will 
 long be held in blessed remembrance by 
 the people. Mr. Kimball is a member 
 of the Presb\terian Church at Green Bay, 
 and was appointed an elder in 1858. His 
 venerable appearance on the streets, 
 bearing on his snowy head the winter of 
 over eighty-six years, reminds the passers- 
 by of the patriarchs of old, and the 
 
 respect shown is evidence sufficient of 
 the high esteem in which he is held 
 by all. 
 
 WALTER THOMAS HAGEN, M. 
 D. . who is fast making his way 
 to the front rank of his profes- 
 sion, not only as a physician in 
 general practice, but also as an oculist and 
 aurist, as a specialist, is yet a young man, 
 with the promise of a brilliant future before 
 him. 
 
 He is a native of Green Baj', Wis., 
 born October 19, 1868, a son of Frank 
 and Nellie (Magher) Hagen, the former 
 of whom was born in Frankfort, Germany, 
 and when a seven-year-old lad came to 
 the United States with his parents. For 
 a time they made their home in Fond du 
 Lac, W^is., finally removing to Winona, 
 Minn., where Frank grew to manhood, 
 after which he returned to Wisconsin and 
 was engaged in business in Oshkosh till 
 1865, the year of his coming to Green 
 Bay. Here he established a livery-stable 
 business, which he carried on successfully 
 some twenty-seven 3'ears, eventually 
 becoming actively interested in a stone 
 quarry and in a steamboat line; he also 
 takes government contracts for the build- 
 ing of piers, breakwaters, etc. His wife 
 is a native of Ireland, and, coming to this 
 country when young, was reared to woman- 
 hood in Cleveland, Ohio ; she is the 
 mother of four children, viz. : Frank, 
 Walter T. , William and Mary. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch 
 received his elementary education at the 
 common and high schools of Green Bay, 
 and learned the trade of printer in Eras- 
 tus Root's office. When seventeen years 
 old he entered a drug store in Green Bay, 
 subsequently clerking in one at Stephen- 
 son, Mich., prior to which, fuly i, 1885, 
 he had commenced the studs' of medicine 
 under the preceptorship of Dr. J. R. 
 Brandt, formerly a well-known physician, 
 of Brown county. Wis., now of Chicago. 
 Being now fully prepared for college, our 
 
2S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 subject entered the University of Michi- 
 gan, at Ann Arbor, October i, 1885; but 
 ill health prevented him from completing 
 his course, and at the end of two years he 
 had to return home. In October, 1889, 
 he entered Jefferson Medical College, 
 Philadelphia, where, after two years' 
 attendance, he graduated April 15, 1S91, 
 during which time he made a special study 
 of the eye and ear. Along with some 
 friends he took the State (Pennsylvania) 
 examination, which he passed satisfactor- 
 ily, and he is also registered in the State 
 of Illinois. In July, 1891, he returned to 
 Green Bay, where he opened an oi^ce, 
 and after about one month's general 
 practice became assistant to Dr. E. W. 
 Bartlett, the eminent eye and ear special- 
 ist, of Milwaukee. At the end of six 
 months he returned to Philadelphia, and 
 took a private course in general medicine 
 and literature, at the same time holding 
 the position of assistant in the Eye and 
 Ear Department of Jefferson Medical 
 College Hospital. 
 
 On December 10, 1892, he again 
 returned to Green Bay, and at once com- 
 menced the practice of his chosen pro- 
 fession, in which he has met with emi- 
 nent success, particularly in his specialty — 
 eye, ear and throat treatment — in which, 
 as an ardent student, thoroughly read-up 
 in all the details, he has no superior and 
 but few peers in the State. Socially the 
 Doctor is a member of the I. O. O. F. , 
 and in politics he is an active Republican. 
 
 CAPTAIN JOSEPH G. LAWTON. 
 But few men have come more 
 directly in contact with the mone- 
 tary institutions, and the business 
 men of the country, and none have com- 
 manded more completely their respect 
 and confidence than this gentleman. His 
 ancestors in this country were not only 
 early English colonists of the educated 
 and wealthy class, but were active in the 
 affairs of the colony of New York, Massa- 
 chusetts and Connecticut — men of high 
 
 standing in professional, commercial, poli- 
 tical and also military affairs of those 
 early days in New England. 
 
 The name Lawton was original spelled 
 and pronounced Layton, by some simple 
 metamorphosis becoming, during the life- 
 time of the eldest born in this country, 
 what it now is. Capt. Lawton traces his 
 ancestry to one John Layton, who was 
 born in 1630, and who, in 1652, at the 
 age of twenty-two years, in company with 
 others, mostly from Connecticut and other 
 portions of New England cojonies, settled 
 in Newtown, Long Island, N. Y. Twenty- 
 eight members of this colony, John Lay- 
 ton being of their number, purchased 
 farms direct from the Indian owners, 
 although also purchasing titles from the 
 government of New Netherlands, of which 
 Peter Stuyvesant was then governor: and 
 it is worth}' of record that this purchase 
 from the Indians was the only one of 
 that kind made, excepting a similiar 
 transaction effected by William Penn, in 
 Pennsylvania. During John Layton's resi- 
 dence in New Netherlands, that colony 
 fell into the hands of the Duke of York, 
 and on account of the active and promin- 
 ent part he took against Governor Stuy- 
 vesant, Layton made many enemies among 
 the Dutch colonists. Consequently he 
 moved with his family to Suffield, Conn. , 
 where he died September 17, 1690, and 
 was buried in the Presbyterian graveyard 
 by the side of his wife, Benedicta. Their 
 gravestones are still (1894) extant, and 
 the name inscribed thereon is plainly 
 "Lawton," so that the change of the 
 spelling of the name presumably nnist 
 have taken place some time in the latter 
 part of the seventeenth century. John 
 Layton was married twice; the first time 
 September 2 1, 1659,' to Johanna Williams, 
 by whom he had one daughter, Mary. 
 His second marriage occurred at Ports- 
 mouth, R. I., in 1665, the lady of his 
 choice being Benedicta, and to this union 
 were born three children ('perhaps more) 
 as follows: Benedicta, born October 13, 
 1666, married in 1683; William, born 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 April 15, 1669, died May 8, 1677; and 
 James, born April 5, 1673, married 
 November 9, 1693, to Abigail Lamb, who 
 bore him two children, both dying young; 
 the mother passed away November 14, 
 1696. For his second wife James married 
 Faith Newell, who bore him five children, 
 their names and dates of birth being as 
 follows: Christopher Jacob, July 20, 1701; 
 Charity, November 8, 1703; Mercy, 
 November 23, 1705; John, April 26, 170S, 
 and died August 22, 17 14. 
 
 Christopher Jacob Lawton, the eldest 
 of this family, was the great-great-grand- 
 father of Capt. Joseph G. Lawton. He 
 was married in 1 731 to Abigail Kellogg, 
 who was born in Leicester, Mass., in 
 1702, and died in 1734. He was a law- 
 yer of considerable note, spoken of in 
 Washburn's History as an honor and or- 
 nament to his profession. In 1735 he 
 moved to Leicester, Mass., where he 
 served as a member of the general court 
 of Massachusetts during the years 1736, 
 •739. 1740 and 1741, and as moderator 
 of the court in 1739. He had one child, 
 Pliny, born in 1732, in Suffield, Conn., 
 and married, in 1750, to Lucretia Sar- 
 gent, a great-granddaughter of William 
 Sargent who came from England in 1638. 
 By this marriage there was but one child 
 who did not die young — William, born 
 April 9, 1759. Pliny Lawton was a phy- 
 sician, becoming prominent in his pro- 
 fession at Leicester, Mass. ; he died from 
 small-po.x, and was buried in one of his 
 own fields. William Lawton, his son, 
 who also became a physician and sur- 
 geon, served during the war of the Rev- 
 olution, in the Fifth Regiment Massachu- 
 setts infantry, and in 1794 was appointed 
 by President George Washington as sur- 
 geon at West Point. In 1784 he was 
 married in the Presbyterian Church at 
 Flushing, L. I., by Rev. Matthias Bur- 
 net, to Abigail Farrington, who died 
 about the year 1800, and was buried at 
 Flushing. To this marriage were born 
 four children, viz. : Charles (father of the 
 subject proper of this sketch, and of 
 
 whom further mention will presently be 
 made); Mary, born October 23, 1789, 
 married John Ogilvie Roorbach (had six 
 children: William, Benjamin, Charles L., 
 Mary, John Ogilvie, -Jr., and Sarah); 
 Amelia, born in 1792; and William, born 
 at West Point, N. Y. , in 1795, married 
 January 17, 1S17, to Maria R. Guion 
 (had six children: Frederick, Franklin, 
 Julia, Cornelia, Maria and J. Warrenj. 
 
 Charles Lawton, eldest son of . Dr. 
 William and Abigail (Farrington) Lawton 
 was born at Leicester, Mass., in 17S7. 
 On January 17, 1809, he was married in 
 New York City to Miss Sophia Dobson 
 Willson. In the war of 1812-14 he was 
 commissioned a captain, and served as 
 such to the close of the struggle, after 
 which he returned to New York where he 
 became actively engaged in business for 
 some years. In 1826 he and his brother 
 William, and others, organized what is 
 known as the "Board of Brokers, " the 
 nucleus of the present New York Stock Ex- 
 change. At one time he served as treasurer 
 of the City of New York. In 1827 he 
 moved to Ogdensburg, N. Y. , and was 
 there engaged in the lumber business until 
 1S30 when he decided to move to Potts- 
 ville, Penn., where there were extensive 
 mining operations, and the following brief 
 account of their trip may not be uninter- 
 esting to the reader: 
 
 The family and servants, all told, com- 
 prised nineteen persons, of whom the two 
 eldest sons had gone on before, the coach- 
 man and cook, traveling the entire dis- 
 tance in the family carriage. That left 
 fifteen persons to go by steamboat from 
 Ogdensburg to Oswego. They left their 
 own home for a hotel, there to await the 
 departure of the steamer which was de- 
 layed in starting. At last, about 9 o'clock 
 p. M., all was ready to "get aboard," but 
 before starting the captain of the steamer 
 recommended Mr. Charles Lawton. as 
 his party was a pretty large one, to 
 "count noses," to make sure that all 
 were on the steamer. This being done, 
 to their surprise one was missing; a search 
 
3° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was made, and on returning to the hotel, 
 behold! a young son was discovered sound 
 asleep across the foot of the bed, so well 
 covered up with the bed clothes that he 
 had been overlooked. This young son 
 was Joseph G. Lawton, eight years old, 
 the subject of this biographical sketch. 
 From Oswego the family proceeded by 
 canal to Albany, N. Y. , thence by steam- 
 boat to New York, from which city a 
 chartered stage-coach conveyed them to 
 Philadelphia, while from that point another 
 chartered stage-coach carried them to their 
 destination, Pottsville, Penn., one hun- 
 dred miles distant, the family arriving 
 October 4, 1S30. Until a residence which 
 Mr. Lawton had engaged was prepared 
 for their reception, they took up their 
 quarters at a new hotel at Port Carbon; 
 but as soon as possible moved into the 
 house. In this they made their home one 
 year, and then removed into a more com- 
 modious residence which Mr. Lawton 
 bought, and this comparatively elegant 
 home the family occupied many years. 
 
 Charles Lawton ere long took a very 
 prominent and active part in business mat- 
 ters and other affairs of Pottsville, becom- 
 ing one of the most extensive miners and 
 shippers of coal at that place. He died 
 there July 21, 1.S5.S; his wife passed from 
 earth April ig, 1844, while on a visit to 
 New York City, and they rest side by side 
 in the cemeterj' at Pottsville. Fourteen 
 children were born to them as follows: 
 John Willsi^n, liorn April 22, 18 10 (never 
 married); Alfred Tom, born August 16, 
 181 1, married October 16, 1834, to Mary 
 Kern Nichols, daughter of Francis B. 
 Nichols, who was on board the U. S. 
 frigate "Chesapeake" in her memorable 
 fight with the British frigate "Shannon," 
 on which occasion he was wounded b}' a 
 ball which entered his left side below the 
 heart, passed thence down into the groin, 
 causing lameness for many years; Mary 
 Willson. born March 28, 1813, married 
 May 10, 1832, to William H. Mann, of 
 Pottsville, and died November 12, 1879; 
 Sophia Matilda, born September 15, 181 5, 
 
 married Charles Warder Bacon May 10, 
 1832, and died December 22, 1839; 
 Charles, born April 27, 181 7, married at 
 Pottsville, Penn., April 7, 1842, to Eliza- 
 beth Evans Ridgeway, and died April 17, 
 1 891; Catherine Dobson, born Decem- 
 ber 31, 1 81 8, married April 11, 1843, at 
 Pottsville, Penn., to John Charles Neville, 
 now of Green Bay, Wis., and died April 
 16, 1876; William, born April 15, 1820, 
 died August 5, 1820; Joseph Grellet, sub- 
 ject proper of sketch, whose personal 
 biograph}- is given further on; Sarah Ha\i- 
 land, born Maj- i, 1823, twice married, 
 first time October 5, 1847, to Alfred Sab- 
 baton (who died), second time June 28, 
 1858, to William Henry Bruce Gilbert, 
 and now lives at De Pere, Wis. ; Walter 
 Van Wagener, born October 8, 1824, 
 married to Julia Willis, who died June 5, 
 1 88 1, and for his second wife wedded 
 Elizabeth E. Eustis, and died September 
 30, 1888, at Boston, Mass.; Amelia, born 
 December 6, 1825, married May 13, 
 1848, to John Ogilvie Roorbach, and now 
 lives at Mystic, Conn. ; William Thorn- 
 ton, born December 6, 182S, died Octo- 
 ber 14, 1833; George Augustus, born De- 
 cember 6, 1829, married April 18, 1853, 
 at Green Bay, Wis., to Sophie Pauline 
 Mitchell, and now lives at Afton, Rock 
 Co., Wis.; and .\nna Maria, born August 
 9, 1834, married at Erie, Penn., March 
 4, 1858, to George Selden, and died 
 March 2, 1871, at Erie. 
 
 Capt. Joseph G. Lawton, whose name 
 introduces this sketch, was born February 
 14, 1822, in New York City, where, on 
 Broome street, his father had erected 
 four tine dwelling houses, in one of which 
 it was destined our subject should first see 
 the light. He safely passed through the 
 years of his childhood and earlier boy- 
 hood, and was in his ninth year when the 
 family made their memorable trip from 
 Ogdensburg, N. Y., to Pottsville, Penn. 
 At the latter city he was placed in a pri- 
 vate school kept by one Silas Hough, 
 where he received his elementary instruc- 
 tion, and then at the end of one year 
 
COMMEMORATIVE' BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 enterei-1 the his^h school of the place. In 
 this educatinnal institution he remained 
 until he was was about fourteen years old, 
 after which he became a student at the 
 Pennsylvania University at Philadelphia, 
 leaving at the close of one year to enter 
 upon his first business training. This was 
 in a fruit and wine importing house, in 
 Philadelphia, in which he remained until 
 1840, when he returned to Potts\ille, and 
 soon afterward, in company with his 
 brother John, and assisted by his father, 
 purchased the Mammoth Vein Coal ^line, 
 on Mill creek, at the foot of Broad moun- 
 tain, which they operated until 1849, also 
 conducting in connection a general store. 
 In that same year onr subject began the 
 study of law. 
 
 Having heard and read much of the 
 brilliant opportunities awaiting men of 
 energy in the West, he on March 1, 1851, 
 set out on a prospecting tour, to Green 
 Bay., arriving there on the 17th of the 
 same month. So favorably was he im- 
 pressed with the country and its surround- 
 ings, that he at once returned to Potts- 
 ville, and made preparations to move his 
 family to the new Wisconsin Eldorado. 
 Accordingly, a party — consisting of his 
 wife and four children; his brother-in-law, 
 W. H. Mann, wife and two children; his 
 brother, G. A. Lawton, and sister, Anna 
 Maria Lawton — set out with their effects, 
 arriving at Green Bay August 4, 1851. 
 In 1852 J. G. Lawton formed a partner- 
 ship with Otto Tank, for the purpose of 
 operating a foundry and machine shoji at 
 Fort Howard, and same year purchased 
 Private Claim 12 and 13, 450 acres on 
 the west side of Fox river. Hereon he 
 built a commodious house, into which the 
 family moved December 14, 1852. In 
 the spring of the following year he organ- 
 ized in Green Bay, under State charter, 
 the Fox River Bank, of which he was 
 elected president and his brother, G. A., 
 cashier. In June, same year, the partner- 
 ship between him and Mr. Tank was dis- 
 solved. During all these years Mr. Law- 
 ton, busy as he was, still f(5und time to 
 
 prosecute his law studies, and could have 
 been admitted to the bar, had he not, at 
 the request of Morgan I^. Martin, pro- 
 ceeded to New York for the purpose of 
 selling the bonds which he received for 
 carrying on the improvements on Fox 
 river, under contract with the State. Mr. 
 Lawton succeeded in his mission, and in 
 December, 1S53, proceeded to Madison, 
 Wis., to attend the Legislative .Assembly, 
 in the interest of Morgan L. Martin, to 
 endeavor to secure the issue of bonds by 
 the governor, as per contract with the 
 State. After no little tlelay and consid- 
 erable effort, this important mission sub- 
 stantially was successful. Mr. Lawton's 
 success depended in a great measure on the 
 interpretation of the laws already passed, 
 which laws the opponents of the improve- 
 ment refused to execute. Then the friends 
 of the improvement suggested to Mr. 
 Lawton that he should form a company 
 to complete the improvement, and prom- 
 ised that they would give himself and 
 friends a liberal charter. Having secured 
 the consent of Morgan L. Martin, Mr. 
 Lawton himself drew up a charter which 
 was presented to that session of the Leg- 
 islature. At that time, however, there 
 was great excitement over the impeach- 
 ment of Judge Hubbell, and the Legisla- 
 ture decided to try the impeachment at 
 an adjourned meeting to be held in June 
 following, when, after the acquittal of 
 judge Hubbell, the Legislature took up 
 the subject of the Fox and Wisconsin im- 
 provement, and granted a charter to 
 Morgan I^. Martin, Dr. Darling, Otto 
 Tank, Joseph G. Lawton, Edward Conk- 
 lin and Dr. U. H. Peak (who were incor- 
 porated as the Fox and Wisconsin Im- 
 provement Company) conditional that they 
 each enter into a bond of $10,000 for the 
 faithful performance of their part of the 
 contract. Prior to the meeting of the 
 adjourned session of the Legislature in 
 June, 1854, Mr. Lawton had purchased 
 from the executor of the estate of Joshua 
 F. Cox, the undivided half interest in the 
 town plat of De Pcre as well as of the 
 
32 
 
 COMMEMORATH'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 water power of the De Pere dam on both 
 sides of the Fox river at De Pere. Iiiinie- 
 diatel)' after receipt of the charter of the 
 Fox and Wisconsin Itnprovement Com- 
 pany they organized, executed the requisite 
 bonds to the State, and appointed a com- 
 mittee consisting- of Morgan L. Martin, 
 Dr. Dariing and Joseph G. Lawton, to 
 proceed to New York in order to negotiate 
 requisite funds for the company. This 
 the committee succeeded in doing, and 
 while in New York Mr. Lawton arranged 
 with John & A. H. Lowery, owners of 
 the other undivided half of the Joshua F. 
 Cox estate, to deed the whole estate to a 
 company called the " De Pere Company," 
 and to issue bonds for the improvement of 
 same. 
 
 Early in 1855 Mr. Lawton purchased 
 the stock of the Erie City Bank, at Erie, 
 Penn., and in June of the same year 
 moved with his family to that city in or- 
 der to fill the position of cashier of that 
 institution, an incumbency he filled until 
 1857. In 1858 he sold the Erie City 
 Bank to C. B. Wright, then of Philadel- 
 phia, Penn., and on June 7, that year, 
 returned to Wisconsin with his family, 
 locating at De Pere. In 1856 he had 
 founded the Brown County Bank of De- 
 Pere with a capital of $25,000, appoint- 
 ing G. A. Lawton, president, and J. O. 
 Roorbach, cashier. On August 4, 185S, 
 he commenced the erection of a stone 
 dwelling in De Pere, on the north end of 
 Broadway, on Private Claim 28, into 
 which he moved with his family on the 
 last day of that year. New Year's Eve be- 
 ing celebrated within the new and elegant 
 structure. After leaving the army in 1863 
 (an account of his military experience ap- 
 pears farther on), and recovering some- 
 what from an illness brought on by ex- 
 posure in the service, he set out east on 
 December 3 1 , that year, to arrange for the 
 erection of a stave factory at West De- 
 Pere, also for the erecting of a smelting 
 furnace and flax factory. Succeeding in 
 his mission, these enterprises were at 
 once commenced. In Ma\', 1863, he 
 
 laid out and platted all that part of West 
 De Pere lying on Private Claim 28. In 
 tiie same \ear he built a wing dam on the 
 west side of the river, and dug a canal 
 200 feet long, which in 1867 was extend- 
 ed 600 feet farther. In 1864 he built a 
 new bridge 1,500 feet long between East 
 and West De Pere; also built a sash and 
 door factory — 80 x 40 feet — in West De- 
 Pere; and it ma\- be here noted that his 
 work here during the two years, 1863-64, 
 increased the population of West De- 
 Pere from 1 50 to 2,500. From 1858 to 
 1 88 1 the family lived in the stone house 
 he had built at the north end of Broad- 
 way, East De Pere, and cleared and 
 farmed a 200-acre tract of land, and in 
 1889 he moved into his present residence. 
 No. 610, Broadway. Since 1881 the 
 Captain has lived a retired life. 
 
 On February 19, 1844, Capt. Joseph 
 G. Lawton was married to Miss Ellen V. 
 Baird, daughter of Capt. Thomas J. 
 Baird of the U. S. army, and grand-daugh- 
 ter of Mathew Carey, the Philadelphia 
 publisher and philanthropist, who pub- 
 lished the first Bible printed from mova- 
 ble type in the United States, a copy of 
 which, dated 181 2, is now owned by Capt. 
 Lawton. Henry C. Carey, an uncle of 
 Mrs. Ellen V. Lawton, was a well-known 
 author of standard works on political econ- 
 omy. To the marriage of Capt. Lawton 
 and Ellen \. (Baird) Lawton were born 
 children as follows: Charles Augustus, 
 December 16, 1844, Fannie Augusta, 
 August 30, 1846, Henry Carey, May 23, 
 1848 (died February 3, 1858), and Caro- 
 line Virginia, May 13, 1850, all born in 
 St. Clair, Penn. ; Sophie Willson, August 
 2, 1852, in Green Bay, Wis. ; Ellen Jose- 
 phine, August I, 1854, in Fort Howard, 
 Wis., died February 3, 1888. Of these, 
 Charles Augustus was married September 
 5, 1866, in De Pere, Wis., to Elcey Mor- 
 gan Arndt, who was born November 27, 
 1846; they have two children, Edward 
 Wallace, born October 20, 1867, and 
 Ellen Baird, born April 9, 1869. Fannie 
 Augusta was married at De Pere Septem- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 33 
 
 ber 26, 1867, to Jeremiah S. Dunham, 
 and they also have two children: Lewis 
 Augustus, born February 10, 1869; and 
 Edith Virginia, born May 17, 1872. Caro- 
 line \'irginia was married in De Pere, Oc- 
 tober 4, 1876, to Archie Lynn Gowey, 
 and they have six children: Archie Lynn, 
 Eliza Carey, Paul Eugene, Pauline 
 Eugenie, Ellen Virginia and Clarence 
 Parish. Ellen Josephine married, June 
 25, 1879, Erwin A. Thompson, and they 
 have two children: Nanine M., born Aug- 
 ust 2, 1 88 1, and Bessie D., born March 
 28, 1885. On February 19, 1894, Capt. 
 and Mrs. Lawton celebrated their "golden 
 wedding," amid many congratulations 
 and much rejoicing. Capt. Lawton was 
 by birth a member of the Society of 
 Friends; but having been married by a 
 " hireling Priest " he was " disowned." In 
 1 842 he united with the Episcopal Church, 
 afterward, in 1887, becoming a member 
 of the Presbyterian Church, with which 
 he is still associated. In T843 he joined 
 the F. & A. M. and the I. O. O. F. 
 
 Military Record of Capt. Joscpli G. 
 Lawton. — On August 20, 1861, Joseph 
 G. Lawton was authorized, by Governor 
 Harvey, of Wisconsin, to raise a com- 
 pany for service in the war of the Rebell- 
 ion. By September 22 he had enlisted 
 forty men, and soon thereafter received a 
 commission as first lieutenant, dated Sep- 
 tember 27, 1861; later was commissioned 
 captain, and by October 2 i recruited his 
 company to one hundred men. On No- 
 vember 12 the}' were ordered into camp 
 at Camp Wood, Fond du Lac, arrived 
 there on the i 5th, and were assigned to 
 the Fourteenth Regiment Wis. V. I. 
 The first night they passed at Camp 
 Wood, the thermometer registered twenty- 
 six degrees below zero. At six A. M., 
 March 8, 1862, the Fourteenth regiment 
 left Fond du Lac and arrived two days 
 later at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., 
 and there were cheered with the view of 
 green fields and dry land instead of a 
 countrj- covered with snow a foot deep, 
 as in Camp Wood. On March 23 they 
 
 left Benton Barracks on steamer " Minne- 
 ha-ha " for seat of war; left Cairo, 111., 
 March 25, and Paducah, Ky. , 26th, arriv- 
 ing at Savannah, Ga., 27th, and disem- 
 barking from steamer 28th. Encamped at 
 Savannah until April 6, on which day 
 they embarked on steamer for Pittsburg 
 Landing; disembarked 1 1 p. M. same day, 
 and by daylight of following mofning 
 had occupied the right of the left wing of 
 General Smith's division. The regiment, 
 including Captain Lawton and his com- 
 pany, participated in the battle of Pitts- 
 burg Landing April 7, 1862, and in a 
 charge captured a Rebel battery of three 
 guns, which, by Captain Lawton's orders 
 and in his presence, were spiked. Dur- 
 ing a slight lull in the firing, after the 
 spiking of the guns. Captain Lawton ob- 
 served a number of soldiers retreating, 
 and supposing they were of his company, 
 hastened to rally them, and gave them 
 orders to get under cover in the woods. 
 They obeyed, and then Captain Lawton 
 discovered that they were chiefly mem- 
 bers of an Illinois regiment who had 
 passed through the ranks of his regiment; 
 soon afterward an officer of that regiment 
 came up and requested Captain Lawton's 
 assistance in re-forming the men. This 
 was soon accomplished, and their Colonel 
 gave the order to march and "fire at 
 will." At this the Lieutenant-Colonel 
 rode up and asked the Colonel why the 
 men should fire when there was no 
 enemy in sight; to which he replied: 
 "Only to make a noise and let them 
 know we are here." Captain Lawton 
 fearing that his own regiment would be 
 in the line of their fire, unless the}' had 
 retreated, went in search of them and 
 meeting a lieutenant of cavalry, the latter 
 suggested that the Captain should rally a 
 large number of soldiers who had become 
 separated from their regiments. This he 
 proceeded to do, and on looking arouna 
 perceived the color-bearer of his own 
 regiment and a corporal guard. Asking 
 them where the regiment was, he received 
 the reply that "the regiment was all cut 
 
34 
 
 COMMEMORATIVK BIOGHAPUICAL HECORD. 
 
 to pieces. " [To do the color-hearer jus- 
 tice, it should be added that afterward, 
 when he was put on oatli b\ pension ex- 
 aminers, he swore that it was not he who 
 gave that answer, but thi' icirporal.] 
 Capt. Lawton ordered tlicui to halt, 
 and then rallied the retreating soldiers 
 around the flag, about a dozen of them 
 responding. He was also endeavoring to 
 get other soldiers to join the little squad, 
 which took him some 1 50 yards away, 
 and on his return he found that the color- 
 bearer and the rest of the rallied soldiers 
 had disappeared. The cavalry lieuten- 
 ant said they had ' ' gone of? into the 
 woods to the left;" and while they were 
 yet talking a lieutenant of infantry came 
 up, and rejiorted to the cavalry lieuten- 
 ant that the eneni)' were in full retreat. 
 This being the case, Capt. Lawton re- 
 paired to the regimental surgeon's head- 
 quarters, which were in sight, and while 
 talking with Surgeon Walker, the latter, 
 looking over his shoulder, exclaimed to 
 Capt. Lawton: "There is your regi- 
 ment nuirching by." (~)f course, the re- 
 port of the regiment being cut to pieces 
 was false or imaginary, as it had been 
 ordered to this part of the fielil to guard 
 a battery. The Captain then rejoined 
 his regiment, which was marcheii back to 
 place of bivouac, formed in line and or- 
 dered to " rest " for the night. During 
 the 8th, 9th, loth and iith of .\pril, 
 after the fight, the regiment w'as w ithout 
 tents, and every night it rained. 
 
 Capt. Lawton relates some interest- 
 ing incidents illustrative of the bravery 
 and coolness of the men, among which 
 may be here recorded the following: A 
 sixtoen-jear-old soldier, named Philip 
 Duirr, had in his excitement loaded his 
 rifle ball-end of cartridge down, instead 
 of powder-end, rendering the rifle tempo- 
 rarily useless as a firearm. The young 
 soldier, running to the Captain, reported 
 his mistake, and asked what he should 
 do. "Throw away your gun and pick 
 up another." "But it's numbered, and 
 the boys will say I lost it." "Then take 
 
 your rod and draw the load." So, in 
 spite i)f the enemy's bullets flying thick 
 around him, he deliberately extracted the 
 charge from the barrel and reloaded his 
 rifle, then ran to his captain and reported 
 his "gnu all right," but he could not 
 " retiun ranuoil." as the wormer had 
 been screwed too tight on the rod. So 
 the captain and he put their united 
 strength to the job, but even then could 
 not unscrew it. The rod was then 
 thrown away and another picked up, and 
 he regained the ranks. .Another inci- 
 dent: .After the battle, when the 
 wounded were being cared for, Capt. 
 Lawton, iibserving a wounded soldier 
 lying (in the ground in the hospital tent, 
 stopped to talk to him. He found the 
 man had been wountled thirtj'-six hours 
 before, and tc all appearance a bullet 
 had passed through his body, entering 
 his breast near the heart and coming out 
 at the back. The unfortunate soldier 
 had been given up by one or two of the 
 surgeons; but Capt. Lawton, thinking 
 that as he had lived so long after being 
 wounded there might yet be some chance 
 of saving his life, called to his assistance 
 a surgeon who had just amputated both 
 legs of a soldier at the thighs. This 
 surgeon, after carefully examining the 
 wound, said to the apparently dying man: 
 ' • You are a good deal better than a dead 
 man yet; what \i)u want most is some- 
 thing to eat; tiie ball has not passed 
 through your body, but has simply 
 entered here in your breast, broken a rib, 
 glanced off, and run clear around under 
 the skin, and come out at the back." 
 The soldier iunnediately arose, and, 
 although weak, walked off in search of 
 his company as if nothing had happened; 
 he had been lying on the ground nearly 
 two days imder the impression that he 
 had received a fatal wound — such is the 
 force of imagination! 
 
 On April 10, Col. Wood, who had 
 been appointed provost-marshal of the 
 camp, appointed Capt. Lawton officer of 
 the dav, gi\ing him at the same time the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 35 
 
 use of his horse, and he had to remain in 
 the saddle all day long, from early morn- 
 ing until night. On the i 5th Gov. Harvey 
 and staff arri\cd, and one of the latter, 
 Commissary-Gen. E. Wadsv^'orth, called 
 on Capt. Lawton to inform him that 
 before starting for the seat of war he had 
 been at De Pere and there learned that 
 his (Capt. Lawton's) wife was very sick, 
 and that the attending physician had said 
 that her husband's return home was the 
 only hope for her life being saved. Con- 
 sequently, on the 1 8th he sent in his 
 resignation, which Gen. Wadsworth pre- 
 vailed on Col. Wood to accept, and Gov. 
 Harvey to approve. On the 19th Capt. 
 Lawton accompanied Gov. Harvey to 
 Gen. Grant's headquarters, and the Gov- 
 ernor induced the General to accept the 
 resignation, and grant Capt. Lawton lea\'e 
 of absence and transportation home jiend- 
 ing its approval by Gen. Halleck. The 
 Captain accompanied Gov. Harvey to the 
 steamboat, on which they were to go to 
 Cairo on their way to Wisconsin, and 
 just as they arrived at the gangway to the 
 upper cabin, some one told the Governor 
 that "a man wished to see him." There- 
 upon Gov. Harvey requested Capt. Law- 
 ton to take up to the cabin a Rebel gun 
 and some other relics he was taking home, 
 saying he would "be back in a minute." 
 The Captain took the articles from him, 
 carried them into the cabin, and had just 
 laid them on the table when some one 
 came on board exclaiming, ' • the Governor 
 is drowned; " he had made a mis-step and 
 had fallen off the gang-plank. Capt. 
 Lawton left on the evening of the 19th 
 and arrived home, a very sick man, on 
 the afternoon of April 23, 1863. 
 
 HENRY WATERMOLEN, clerk 
 of the circuit court of Brown 
 county, is a native of Belgium, 
 born Octtjber 28, 1836, a son of 
 Chri.stopher and Mary (Demuylder) Water- 
 molen. The family immigrated to the 
 United States in 1S56, settling in Belle- 
 
 vue townshi]). Brown Co., Wis., where 
 the father died three weeks afterward; 
 the mother passed from earth in Febru- 
 ary, i860. They were the parents of 
 three children, namely: Christopher, 
 who resides on the old homestead in 
 Bellevue township; Francis, retired, hav- 
 ing his residence in Green Bay, and 
 Henry, the subject of this sketch. 
 
 Henry Wutermolen was reared and 
 educated in his native land, and, as will 
 be seen, was twenty years old when he 
 came to the New World. For a time, in 
 ■ order to become conversant with the Eng- 
 lish language, he attended school at 
 Henry, 111., subseejuently (1861) taking a 
 course at Munn's Business College, Chi- 
 cago. In that city he was employed in a 
 warehouse and commission business, 
 through the day, in the evenings attend- 
 ing school, until the age of twenty-six, at 
 which time he returned to Green Bay. 
 Here he engaged in the stave and shingle 
 business two }'ears, after which he moved 
 to De Pere, same county, and in Febru- 
 ary, 1865, embarked in general mercan- 
 tile trade, continuing in same till 1882. 
 In that year he returned to Green Bay, 
 having recei\ed the appointment of deputy 
 sheriff, an incumbency he filled four years, 
 at the end of which time he was elected 
 sheriff, ser\ing as such until 1SS8. when 
 he was elected to his present official posi- 
 tion. 
 
 On September 5, 1865, Mr. Water- 
 molen was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elizabeth Tuyls, also a native of Bel- 
 gium, daughter of John and Anna Marie 
 (Van Op. den Bosch) Tuyls, of. the same 
 country, who came with their family to 
 America and to Brown county. Wis., in 
 1855; they died in Preble township. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wateruiolen were born 
 eight children, four of whom are yet liv- 
 ing, to-wit: Isabella, a school teacher in 
 Milwaukee, Wis.; Frances A. , a student 
 in the law office of Ellis & Merrill, Green 
 Bay; Louise and Dora. The deceased 
 are Charles F., who died in infancy, 
 Josephine, at the age of seven and a half 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 years, Louie F., in infancy, and Octavie, 
 at the af^e of four years. The parents 
 are members of St. Willebrord's (Catho- 
 lic) Church. Mr. Watermoleu in politics 
 is an ardent Democrat, and in addition to 
 the pubhc offices above mentioned he 
 served as a member of the board of trus- 
 tees of De Pere; as clerk of Lawrence 
 township; assessor for De Pere eight 
 years, and for several years was county 
 poor commissioner. 
 
 JR. M IN AH AN, M. D. Among the 
 eminent physicians and surgeons of 
 Brown county, the more prominent 
 of whom find place in this volume, 
 none enjoys to a greater extent the con- 
 fidence and esteem of the community at 
 large than the gentleman, although yet a 
 young man, whose name is here recorded. 
 Dr. J. R. Minahan is a native of Wis- 
 consin, born September 6, 1862, in Calu- 
 met county, a son of William B. and 
 Mary fShaughnessy) Minahan, natives of 
 Ireland, who immigrated thence in single 
 life to this country, settling in New York 
 State. In New York they were married, 
 and in 1850 they came west to Wisconsin, 
 locating first in Manitowoc county and 
 later in Calumet county, for the most part 
 making their home in the town of Chilton. 
 
 REV. PROSPER GOEPFERT, C. 
 S. Sp. Emerson, the great Amer- 
 ican writer, has said that ' ' society 
 is a troop of thinkers, and the best 
 heads among them take the best places," 
 an epigram peculiarly applicable to the 
 reverend gentleman whose name is here 
 recorded. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born 
 a little over fifty years ago, in a suburban 
 parish of Colmar, in the (then) French 
 Province of Alsace. At an early age he 
 began his classical studies in the flourish- 
 ing college of that town, where year after 
 year he distinguished himself in all his 
 classes, and won the esteem and affection 
 
 of his masters and fellow-students. At 
 the age of eighteen he felt himself called 
 to enter the arena of foreign missions, 
 and with that purpose in view entered the 
 Society of the Holy Ghost, whose mem- 
 bers, though laboring in every part of the 
 earth, are chiefly devoted to the conver- 
 sion of the heathen in Africa, where they 
 have established numerous Christian set- 
 tlements. After spending three years at 
 the College of Langonnet, in Brittany, 
 where he finished his literary studies, he 
 took a five-3'ears' philosophical and theo- 
 logical course at the seminary of the So- 
 ciety in Paris. Here, always crowned 
 with marked success, he eagerly availed 
 himself of every opportunity to "drink 
 deep of the Pierian spring." 
 
 In 1866 he was raised to the priest- 
 hood by Prince Cardinal Chigi, then Papal 
 nuncio at the court of Napoleon III. In 
 the following year his superiors, instead 
 of complying with his desires to devote 
 his life to the conversion of the unen- 
 lightened natives of the dark continent, 
 sent him to Rockwell College, Cashel, 
 Ireland, where he remained for twenty- 
 two years as master of novices, and pro- 
 fessor of almost every branch of educa- 
 tion. During the last ten years of Father 
 Goepfert's stay in Erin he filled with dis- 
 tinction the position of president of Rock- 
 well College, which has always ranked 
 among the foremost educational institu- 
 tions of the countrj'. 
 
 In 1 890 our subject came to Michigan, 
 and at Dearborn, Wayne county, he was 
 for three years the beloved pastor of a 
 parish under the direction of the Congre- 
 gation of the Holy Ghost, and although 
 but a limited field for so eminent a scholar 
 and prominent a priest of the Congrega- 
 tion, he was the same hard worker in his 
 Master's vineyard, and when he was sent 
 to his present charge in Green Bay, W'is. , 
 he left a record of Christian charity, genial 
 characteristics, hospitality, and last, not 
 least, hard work in the comforting of the 
 unfortunate and the salvation of souls. 
 Early in the yeeir 1893 he came to Green 
 
COMMKMOUAriVE BlOaitAPlIICAL RECORD. 
 
 37 
 
 Bay to take charge of the thri\inf;' parish 
 of St. John. 
 
 Besides his many other accomphsh- 
 ments, Father Goepfert has attained no 
 httle distinction as an author, having writ- 
 ten and pubHshed, during his sojourn in 
 Ireland, a work of much celebrity, en- 
 titled ' ' Life of the V' enerable Libermann, 
 Founder of the Congregation of the Holy 
 Ghost;" he also founded and edited till 
 his departure from Ireland the popular 
 monthly maga;?ine, "The Messenger of 
 St. Joseph." In spite of his hard studies 
 and harder teaching, as well as the great 
 responsibility confided to him, Father 
 Goepfert is still active, hale and vigorous, 
 and his healthy appearance predicts for 
 him a long period yet of energetic useful- 
 ness and success as a minister in his new 
 field of labor. 
 
 Be. BRETT, M. D., is the oldest 
 active practitioner in the city of 
 Green Bay. He is a native of 
 tlie State of Maine, born in 
 Franklin county in 1835, a son of C. H. 
 and Mary (Hunter) Brett, also of Maine 
 nativity, the mother born in Franklin 
 county. About the year 1 862 the family 
 came west, locating in Minnesota, the 
 parents shortly afterward moving to and 
 settling in the town of Henry, S. Dak. 
 They were quiet, unassuming, farming- 
 people, in their honorable pursuit, desir- 
 ing to live " far from the madding crowd's 
 ignoble strife. " They were the parents 
 of nine children, as follows: B. C., of 
 whom this sketch chiefly relates; Mrs. 
 Luc}' A. Baker (a widow), residing in St. 
 Paul, Minn. ; Mrs. E. P. Baker, in Henry, 
 S. Dak.; George E., in Mankato, Minn.; 
 Frank R. and Mrs. G. F. Piper, both 
 also in Henry, S. Dak., and Jennie M., 
 Maud, and Mrs. Sarah Jordan, deceased. 
 B. C. Brett received his elementary 
 education in the schools of Franklin 
 county and Augusta, Maine, and in 1S57 
 entered the medical department of Bow- 
 doin College, Brunswick, same State, 
 
 whence, in 1859, he went to the medical 
 department of Dartmouth College, Han- 
 over, N. H. , where he graduated in the 
 class of '60. He then commenced hospi- 
 tal and dispensary practice in New York 
 City, diligently devoting to it his entire 
 time and attention until 1862, in which 
 year he came to Highland, Iowa Co., 
 Wis. Here, the Civil war being in pro- 
 gress, he was offered a commission as 
 assistant-surgeon to the Sixteenth Wis. 
 \. I., which he, however, declined; but 
 later (same year) was commissioned as- 
 sistant-surgeon to the Twenty-first Wis. 
 V. I., which position he accepted. He 
 joined the regiment at Mitchellville, 
 Tenn., and served with it throughout the 
 campaign in which it participated in the 
 battles of Stone River, Chickamauga and 
 minor engagements, as well as those 
 which occurred during ' ' Sherman's march 
 to the sea." In January, 1865, the Doc- 
 tor was commissioned surgeon in the 
 Seventeenth Wis. V. I., but on account 
 of the illness of his wife was obliged to 
 decline. In 1865 he was honorably dis- 
 charged from the service at Savannah, 
 Ga. , and returned to Wisconsin. In 
 1 866 he commenced the general practice 
 of his profession in the town of Brodhead, 
 Green county, remaining there until July, 
 1872, when he came to Green Bay. In 
 addition to his regular practice Dr. Brett 
 is A. A. Surgeon in the U. S. Marine 
 Hospital Service, has been Health Officer 
 of Green Bay fifteen years, and for nine 
 years was U. S. Examining Surgeon for 
 Pensions. 
 
 On April 19, i860, Dr. B. C. Brett 
 was united in marriage with Miss Lucy 
 Wilson Eastman, daughter of William H. 
 and Eliza Eastman, all of the State of 
 Maine, who after the war of the Rebellion 
 came to Green Bay; the parents arc both 
 deceased, the father having died Januar)' 
 10, 1887, the mother July 17, 1884. To 
 Dr. and Mrs. Brett were born children as 
 follows: Frank, who died in Green Bay 
 August 2, 1879, at the age of nineteen; 
 Fred N. (married), attending Rush Medi- 
 
38 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 cal College, Chicago; Anna E., Jennie 
 M., and James R., all at home. The 
 parents are members of the Presbyterian 
 Church. Dr. Brett is president of the 
 Wisconsin State Medical Society, presi- 
 dent of the Brown County Medical So- 
 ciety, a member of the Fox River Valley 
 Medical Society, of the Brainerd Medical 
 Society, and of the Menomonee River 
 Medical Society. Socially he is a mem- 
 ber of Washington Lodge, No. 21, F. & 
 A. M., and of Warren Chapter; is Sur- 
 geon of T. O. Howe Post, G. A. R. ; and 
 is a member of the Wisconsin Command- 
 ery of the Loyal Legion of the United 
 States. Politically he is an active Re- 
 publican. 
 
 X 
 
 A\"IER MARTIN was born Janu- 
 ary 10, 1832, in the commune of 
 Grez-Doiceau, Province of Bra- 
 bant, Kingdom of Belgium, emi- 
 grating to the United States with his 
 father and mother, brothers and sisters, 
 and landing in New York, July 5, 1853, 
 from which city he proceeded at once to 
 Philadelphia. Here his father and mother 
 remained about a year, whence they 
 moved to Brown county. Wis., locating 
 in the Belgium settlement, where they 
 bought government land, and there they 
 lived, with their children, by farming and 
 making shingles. They were honest. 
 God-fearing people, and members of the 
 French Presbyterian Church. The family 
 trace their ancestry to the year 1665, and, 
 originally, to the city of Paris, France. 
 John Martin, father of Xavier, was 
 born in the Parish of Dion-le-val, Depart- 
 ment of the Dyle, on the 21st Brumaire, 
 in the year XHI of the French Republic, 
 which date corresponds with the 12th of 
 November, 1804. He died on his farm 
 in 1 870. 
 
 Aseline Bosel, mother of Xavier, was 
 born in the city of Brussels, Belgium, in 
 October, 1805, and died in the city of 
 Green Bay, Wis., in 1874. John Martin, 
 by his wife Aseline, raised a family of 
 
 nine children, their names and births 
 being as follows: Constant, born May 
 II, 1830, lived in the city of Green Bay, 
 engaged in the real-estate and insurance 
 business until his death, which occurred 
 June 16, 1894; Xavier, born January 10, 
 1832, now living in the city of Green Bay, 
 engaged in the real-estate and insurance 
 business; Martin Leon, born June 28, 
 1834, died July 2, 1863, and until his 
 death was engaged in farming and lum- 
 bering; Pierre Joseph, born November 24, 
 1836, died February 3, 1840; Desire, 
 born August 23, 1839, died August 16, 
 1855; Mary Eleonore (now Mrs. Joseph 
 Dhynej, born November 23, 1841, is 
 residing in the city of Green Bay; Alex- 
 ander, born December 6, 1843, now 
 residing at Bayfield, Wis. ; Elie, born 
 August 12, 1848, is now residing in the 
 city of Green Bay, engaged in the real- 
 estate and insurance business, and is also 
 a popular justice of the peace; Celina 
 (now Mrs. Francois Hannon), born Janu- 
 ary 29, 1852, is living on their farm in the 
 town of Scott, Brown Co.. Wisconsin. 
 
 Xavier Martin came from Belgium to 
 Philadelphia, Penn., in 1853, where he 
 remained four years, and there studied 
 the English language and literature under 
 Prof. Gardner, a professor of languages 
 and literature in that city. In 1857 he 
 left Philadelphia and came to Brown 
 county. Wis., visiting the Belgian settle- 
 ment, where his people lived. Here he 
 was induced to locate, there being no one 
 in the settlement who could speak, read 
 or write the English language, and for 
 five years Mr. Martin labored among the 
 people of the settlement in the capacity 
 of school teacher, justice of the peace, 
 town clerk, school superintendent and 
 postmaster, and, in a great measure, 
 through him, his energy and his influence 
 in his official capacity, new highwa\s were 
 laid out, new school districts were formed, 
 new school-houses were built, and teachers 
 provided. In the fall of 1862, at the 
 general election, he was elected register 
 of deeds for Brown county, consequently 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 39 
 
 on the 1st of Januarj', 1863, he had to 
 leave the Belgian settlement and move 
 with his family to the city of Green Bay, 
 there to assume the duties of register of 
 deeds, to which he was elected for four 
 consecutive terms (eight years). In 1871 
 he established his present business, that 
 of real-estate and insurance agent, in 
 which he has been engaged up to the pres- 
 ent time, and he has been closely identi- 
 fied with the business interests of the 
 city of Green Bay for over thirty- 
 one years. He has served his city 
 in various official capacities. In 1875 
 and 1876 he was an active member of the 
 city council; was president of same dur- 
 ing the last year, and was chairman of the 
 Finance Committee both years. In 1882 
 he was elected city assessor by the city 
 council, an office he has continued to fill 
 with credit to himself and satisfaction of 
 his constituents, having been elected and 
 re-elected to that important office thirteen 
 times, and is still occupying that position. 
 Mr. Martin has been thrice married: 
 First time, in 1855, in Philadelphia, 
 Peon., to Miss Mary R. Gray, the second 
 time in 1873 to Miss Augusta Bliske, who 
 bore him eight children, six of whom are 
 living, as follows: Rudolph, Albert, Paul- 
 ine, Frederick, Evelynn and Richard. 
 The mother of these children died in 
 Green Bay in 1887, and in 1888 Mr. 
 Martin married Mrs. Amelia Dendoven 
 («rV Amelia Gosin), daughter of Dieudon- 
 nez Gosin, who, in 1858, came from Bel- 
 gium to one of the Belgian settlements in 
 Kewaunee county, Wis. In his political 
 preferments Mr. Martin is an active Re- 
 publican. He is one of the founders of 
 the Wisconsin Society for the Prevention 
 of Cruelty to Animals, organized in 1874 
 and incorporated in 1882; was elected its 
 first president, and has filled that office 
 ever since. Socially he is a member of 
 the Knights of Honor, and of the Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He is 
 also a member of Washington Lodge No. 
 21, of Free and Accepted Masons, and in 
 Masonrv has been elected and served as 
 
 senior deacon, and junior and senior 
 warden; in the chapter of Royal Arch 
 Masons he has been elected and served as 
 scribe one year, king two years, and is 
 now a royal and select master in the 
 Council of Royal and Select Masters. 
 
 CONSTANT MARTIN, late dealer 
 in real estate, and insurance and 
 general collection agent, was a 
 native of the Province of Brabant, 
 Belgium, born May 11, 1830, a son of 
 John and Aseline (Bosel) Martin. 
 
 Our subject was reared and educated 
 in his native land, and followed the rest 
 of the family to the United States. Im- 
 mediately on his arrival in Philadelphia 
 he commenced the study of the English 
 language. In Belgium he had been en- 
 gaged as clerk, but in this country he at 
 once commenced buying and selling land, 
 and became one af the most extensive 
 real-estate dealers in northern Wisconsin, 
 largel}- interested in town property. In 
 1853 Mr. Martin was united in marriage, 
 in Philadelphia, with Miss Fannie Gillon, 
 a native of Brussels, Belgium, by whom 
 there were two children, viz. : Clotilde 
 and Joseph, who both died in 1870 (as 
 did also their motherj, the girl at the age 
 of fourteen years, the boy when two 
 months old. In 1870 Mr. Martin was 
 married, in Green Bay, to Mary Louisa 
 Rosenberg, a native of Johnstown, N. Y. , 
 daughter of Peter and Louisa (Isham) 
 Rosenberg, who came from New York 
 State to Clinton, Wis. , and from there in 
 1867 to Green Bay, where both died. To 
 this second marriage of Mr. Martin were 
 born two children, viz. : James C. , engaged 
 in the insurance business with his father, 
 and George, deceased in infancy. In his 
 political preferences our subject was an 
 Independent. In 1866 he was a member 
 of the Assembly; in 1867 he was deputy 
 United States assessor; in 1870 he was 
 deputy marshal for the Northern District 
 of Wisconsin; also, same year, postmaster 
 at Red River, and was a member and 
 
■<o 
 
 VUMMKMOUATIVK BJOHUAPUJVAL HBVOHD. 
 
 cliairiiKin of the Ixiiinl. For five yoars 
 he was town riork ol \\vA Kivcr; served 
 as a justice of tin; peace live years; ami 
 (or two years was school superintendent 
 loi i\ewainiee county. Mr. Martin was a 
 resident of that connty from 185910 KS74, 
 and of (ireen l?ay from 1S74 nntil his 
 tleath, which occurred |ime i(>, 181)4. 
 From 1S85 till iS<)2 he was an active 
 member of the hoard of eilncation in the 
 city of (ireen Hay. 'I'his family trace 
 their ancestry to the year i6()5, and ori;;- 
 inally to the City of Paris, France. 
 
 Wl liSTi:]-: .\. lilN(;il,\M. I're- 
 siMiting as it does a worthy ex- 
 ample to the risin;^ fj;eneration, 
 the life of thisjjenlleman, which 
 from early boylu>od lias been one of as- 
 siduous industry, untiring enerj^y and un- 
 (piestioned intejjrity, is well dcscrvini; of 
 being sketciied, however brielly, in I he 
 pages of this vdlnme. 
 
 Mr. Hingham was lunn March .'5, 
 1844, in t)gle count \, 111., a son of Hol- 
 land Weeks and Sar.di S. (fioodrich) 
 Hingham, both natives of Cornwall, \'t., 
 the father born in 1S04, the mother in 
 1810. Tliey were married in the liast, 
 in 1836; moved, in 1838, to a farm in 
 Ogle county. 111., and from there, in 1849, 
 to W'att'rtown, Wis., one daughter, aged 
 eight years, and one son (our subject), 
 aged five years, accompanying then>. The 
 latter was educated at the Watertown 
 (Wis.) High School, and at the age of 
 fourteen conunenced the battle of life by 
 carrying brick at twenty-tive cents per 
 day. He also during the sinnmer vaca- 
 tit>ns workeil in a machine shop; a |iart of 
 tlu' time, up to the agi> of seventeen, ran 
 a statii>nary engine, and when he was but 
 sixteen years old he taught a country 
 school near Watertown; by which it will 
 be seen that his early life experience was 
 of a ilecidedly \ersatile character. But 
 he was always equal to the occasion. He 
 was possessed of vigorous natural abiUties, 
 and although his opportunities for aC(]uir- 
 
 ing knowledge were hut few, yet he ap- 
 plied his jiowers of observation upon the 
 things which were nearest to him, and the 
 bt)y bi-came father to the man. In 1861, 
 at the age of si'venteen, he eidisted in the 
 First Wis. \'. t"., in whicii rugnnent he 
 experienced thri.;e years of constant active 
 service in the Civil war, never being absent 
 from his post of duty during any engage- 
 ment in which the" h'irst " participated. 
 He received sligiit promotions in the non- 
 connnissioned line, and in 1864, at the 
 age of twenty, by reason of expiration of 
 term of ser\ice, was mustered out as regi- 
 mental (]uarterniaster-sergeant. Return- 
 ing to Wisconsin, he entered upon a 
 course of study at the Spencerian Business 
 College, Milwaukee, and when his course 
 was nearly completed secured a position 
 in one of the departments of the college 
 as teacher, which he held for a short time 
 until a situation was i>pen to him in a cer- 
 tain large wholesale hardware house in 
 Milwaukee, at that time one of the most 
 prominent firms in the West. In this 
 business he remained as salesman eight 
 years, advancing ixo\n a salarj- of five 
 hundred ilollars to twenty-five hutulreil 
 dollars per anmiin, and becoming very 
 popular with the trade. In the fall of 
 1S72 he engaged in a general merchandise 
 business in West De Pere, Brown C\-)., 
 Wis., on a small capital, which was more 
 than donl>led the first two years, the sales 
 having been pushed up to ninety thousand 
 dollars the first year, in an ordinary coun- 
 try store, and for several successive years 
 increased until a steady ami pertnanent 
 trade was established, which has been al- 
 most i^henomenally successful from its 
 commencement to the present time. The 
 business has been conducted on the best 
 and most secure business priciples, aiul 
 no firm in Brown county stands higher 
 either with customers or creditors. 
 
 In 1887 Mr. Bingham made a trip to 
 California, in reality for recreation; Init 
 an opening for manufacturing presenting 
 itself strongly, he became one of the 
 members of a large corporation organized 
 
fJOMMEMOHATIVIC DIOORAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 4' 
 
 for the purpose of manufacturing fire-clay 
 products, principally vitrified pipe for ir- 
 rigation purposes, city sewers, etc. The 
 full management of this company was 
 soon placed in his hands, and for several 
 years he has been the president and man- 
 ager of the "Pacific Clay Manufacturing 
 Company," of I^os Angeles, Cal. The 
 concern is in a most prosperous condi- 
 tion, and has paid regular dividends to the 
 stockholders each year, under his manage- 
 ment. He retains his business interests 
 in De Pere (which is really his homej, and 
 gives them as much personal attention as 
 is needed. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Bingham was married in 
 Milwaukee to Miss I'annie H. I3ird, of 
 Cambridge, Mass., and three children 
 have blessed their union, named respect- 
 ively: Mary Homer, Arthur Walter and 
 Susan Abbott. In religious faith he has 
 fjeen an active member of the Congrega- 
 tional Church from the age of sixteen; in 
 political predilections he is a Republican, 
 but not an active politician, and has 
 served on the board of education of West 
 De Pere, ten years, and as mayor of that 
 city, one year. Now at the age of fifty 
 years, and in the prime of life, Mr. Bing- 
 ham is in perfect health, with some of Iha 
 best years before him, as he believes, and 
 he deserves to take pride in a substantial, 
 though modest, business record which 
 stahds without a blemish. 
 
 IVI 
 
 AiaiN VAN 13EEK, owner of 
 one of the finest farms in 
 Preble township. Brown coun- 
 ty, is well-known as one of the 
 most industrious and progressive farmers 
 of his .section. 
 
 He was born October 29, 1842, in 
 Holland, son of John Van Beek, who 
 was a carpenter by trade, at which he 
 workcfl in his native country, being also 
 employed as a plow maker. In 1850 
 John Van Beek emigrated from Holland, 
 on June 24, that year, landing in Green 
 Bay, Wis., with his family of five chil- 
 
 dren — three sons and two daughters. On 
 arriving here he had but ten guilders '^four 
 dollars) left, and immediately went to 
 work for Judge Ellis (at a place near 
 where Hagemeister's brewery now isj, 
 repairing a sawmill, and also at his trade. 
 So limited were their circumstances at 
 first that the family lived in a stable, and 
 later for four months in a blacksmith 
 shop, after which they removed to a house 
 owned by Joshua Whitney's father. Thus 
 Mr. Van Beek struggled along, and after 
 some years was able to purchase a house 
 and lot, and still later 120 acres of land 
 in Preble township, Brown county, part 
 of which is now incorporated in the farm 
 of our subject. John Van Beek passed 
 from earth in 1883, at Bay Settlement; 
 his wife died May 23, 1880, at the same 
 place, and they now lie buried in Bay Set- 
 tlement cemetery. After coming here 
 Mr. Van Beek visited his native countrj' 
 once, but was not content to remain 
 there. From being a poor man he had, 
 by hard work and honest industrj-, ac- 
 cumulated a comfortable competence, 
 and he was highly respected in his lo- 
 cality. 
 
 Martin Van Beek was deprived of 
 educational advantages in his youth by 
 the limited circumstances of his parents, 
 who needed his help; but he was anxious 
 to learn, and attended night school even 
 after his marriage. During his later years 
 he has been a great reader, and in this 
 manner, and by observation, he has se- 
 cured a practical education. When but 
 a boy he was initiated into the details of 
 the lumber business, becoming quite 
 skilled in the care of saws, and was also 
 expert at manufacturing shingles b\' hand. 
 When a little older he did some sailing on 
 the lakes and ocean. At New Franken, 
 Wis., he found work as head sawyer in a 
 shingle mill. He was completely at home 
 in the lumber business, and during fifteen 
 springs he "rode logs," at which he had 
 few equals, for which hazardous labor he 
 has been paid as much as seven dollars per 
 day. But being of a roving disposition. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he has not been content to remain at 
 home all the time, and, especially as a 
 sailor, has probably traveled more than 
 any other farmer in his neighborhood. 
 
 On January 2. 1867, Mr. Van Beak 
 was married to Miss Catharine Bomber, 
 who was born April iS, 1843, in Bel- 
 gium, a daughter of Agelius Bomber, and 
 came to the United States when thirteen 
 years old; her parents resided in Green 
 Bay. To this inarriaije have been born 
 thirteen children, three of whom — Mar- 
 garet A., Joseph and William — are de- 
 ceased. The others are named as fol- 
 lows: Mary, Henry, John, Josephine, 
 Joseph, (lertrude, Eli;;abeth, Samuel, 
 Aloysius and William. At the time of 
 his marriage Mr. \'an Beek located in 
 Green Bay, and shortly after went with a 
 surveying corps, who were laying out the 
 course of the Green Bay, Winona & St. 
 Paul railroad. Upon his return home he 
 again engaged in the lumber business, 
 remaining with one firm, Clouse tS: 
 Featherly, for five years, during which 
 time his work was such that he gained 
 some knowledge of the blacksmith and 
 machinist trades. For two summers he 
 was in the emploj' of Earl & Case, and 
 received good wages, scaling lumber and 
 "booming logs." He also commenced 
 to learn the printer's trade in the Gazette 
 office at Green Bay, but gave it up on 
 account of his health. During these 
 years he had saved some money, and 
 built a home in Green Bay, which he 
 subsequently traded for forty acres of 
 land where he now lives, and to which 
 he has added other forty acres. When 
 he took up his residence on this land it 
 was covered with stumps, was very 
 swampy, and, altogether, in such poor 
 condition that he found it necessary to 
 tile almost the whole farm. But his 
 labor has been well repaid, for to-daj' he 
 has one of the best farms in Preble town- 
 ship, the result of years of hard work and 
 systematic management. \\''hile not a 
 life-long farmer, he has, during his resi- 
 dence here, proven himself capable and 
 
 progressive in the agricultural depart- 
 ment, paying special attention to the 
 raising of garden truck. 
 
 During the Civil war Mr. Van Beek 
 enlisted in the United States service, at 
 Oconto, Wis., but was rejected on ac- 
 count of his youth. He afterward en- 
 listed at Berlin, Wis., and was again 
 rejected, this time on account of injuries 
 received in a fall. Politically he is a 
 stanch Republican, and a strong sup- 
 porter of the principles of. that party, but 
 he gives no time to party affairs, his own 
 interests requiring all his attention. In 
 religious connection he and his wife are 
 members of the Catholic Church, in 
 which he has been councilor some years. 
 
 EDWARD DECKER was born 
 May 2, 1827, in Casco, Cumber- 
 land Co., Maine, son of David 
 and Eliza (Dunham) Decker. 
 The progenitor of the Decker family in 
 America was the great-great-grandfather 
 of our subject, coming from England, and 
 settling on the Kennebec river, in Maine, 
 where he became a prominent and pros- 
 perous citizen. His grandson, David 
 Decker, removed to Cumberland county, 
 Maine, in an early day, married Jemima 
 Decker, a cousin, and they became the 
 parents of the following children: Mary, 
 David, John, William, Eunice, Charles, 
 Nathan and Spencer. Of these, David 
 Decker, was a well-known character in 
 his community, was a Jacksonian Demo- 
 crat, and had considerable influence in 
 local and State politics. By occupation 
 he was a merchant and miller, his mill 
 property being situated on the Kennebec 
 river; and as he was a capable business 
 man he prospered, but he also met with 
 man\' reverses. About 1857 he was in- 
 duced by his son, Edward, to come west 
 to Wisconsin, where he purchased a half 
 section of land in Kewaunee county, near 
 Casco, so named by his son, Edward, in 
 honor of his birthplace. Here David 
 Decker died in 1S65 at the age of sixt)-- 
 
J^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 45 
 
 four years. His wife, Eliza (Uunhain), 
 was a daughter of Jesse Dunham, a na- 
 tive of Boston, Mass., who resided in 
 Otisfield, Maine. Domestic, kind-hearted, 
 charitable, and possessed of many en- 
 dearing qualities of head and heart, she 
 had hosts of friends. To her and her 
 husband were born eight cliildren, name- 
 ly: Edward, Eliza Ann, Stillman, Levi, 
 Lucy, Adeline, Jesse and Lizzie. She 
 died in 1S89, at the age of eighty years. 
 Her family, the Dunhams, were generally 
 noted for stability in business and social 
 circles. 
 
 Edward Decker received in his boy- 
 hood but few advantages, even of the 
 public schools, and at the age of fourteen 
 he left home and proceeding to Portland, 
 Maine, there obtained a position, working 
 for eight dollars per month. When six- 
 teen years old he went to Boston, where 
 he clerked for his uncle in a general store 
 two years. During his stay in that city 
 Mr. Decker heard a good deal about 
 Iowa, enough to induce him to set out for 
 that State; but while in Milwaukee he was 
 persuaded to locate with a large part}' in 
 Wisconsin, and thus the State gained a 
 valuable citizen. He landed in Milwau- 
 kee, May 2, 1845, and after one year's 
 residence in Watertown, Wis., moved to 
 Oshkosh, where he embarked in the lum- 
 ber business, being the first man to run 
 logs to that place, in which connection he 
 became well known. Under a treat}' 
 with the Indians, Robert Grignon had 
 permission to build a sawmill on Indian 
 lands along the Little Wolf river, and 
 Mr. Decker contracted to stock the mill 
 with logs, he receiving half of the lumber. 
 This lumber was rafted and run down the 
 river, where it was disposed of among the 
 early settlers of Winnebago county, and 
 pieces of same are still to be found in the 
 old houses of that section. Mr. Decker 
 continued in the lumber business three 
 years, and then built a hotel in Menasha, 
 which he conducted for a short time. 
 Selling this and other property he re- 
 moved in 1855 to Kewaunee county. Wis. 
 
 (where he entered a large amount of land 
 with the intention of establishing a set- 
 tlement), opened a store and cleared 
 some land. In 1856 the county was or- 
 ganized and county officers elected, but 
 Mr. Decker declined to have anything to 
 do with the organization. The county 
 officers being inexperienced, however, all 
 failed to qualify in the following January, 
 and he was requested by prominent busi- 
 ness men in the county to organize the 
 affairs and establish the different offices. 
 Having set the machinery going, and hav- 
 ing been deputized by the treasurer and 
 clerk, he set to work to put things in run- 
 ning order, and the business was soon in 
 proper condition. At the end of two 
 years he was elected clerk, and continued 
 to serve as such many years, being re- 
 elected often against his wish; he held the 
 office until January i, 1869. In the fall 
 of 1859 Mr. Decker was elected State 
 senator, in which capacity he served one 
 term. At the next convention his name 
 was again used, but he refused to be a 
 candidate, and when tendered the nomi- 
 nation declined to accept it. In the same 
 fall the Republicans and Democrats called 
 a mass convention, and again offered him 
 the nomination, which he, as before, re- 
 fused. 
 
 Regardless of party politics, he per- 
 formed some deeds of daring and acts of 
 charity that are entitled to honorable 
 mention in the history of the State. Dur- 
 ing the Civil war the draft was inevitable 
 in many counties in Wisconsin, and in 
 some armed resistance was feared. The 
 principal population of Kewaunee county 
 was foreign, and resisted the draft; armed 
 bodies of men discussed the situation, and 
 excitement ran high. Troops had been 
 ordered to the scene of trouble, blood- 
 shed seemed unavoidable, and the feeling 
 was bitter against the government. At 
 this critical stage the cooler heads of the 
 representative men of the State proposed 
 Edward Decker as the only man who in 
 all probability could act as United States 
 deputy provost marshal, and a\ert blood- 
 
46 
 
 COMMBJifOEATIVB BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 shed and the dire consequences attending 
 it. He reahzed to the full the difficult 
 task before him, but finally was persuaded 
 to accept it. His record as county officer, 
 friend, business man and neighbor, all 
 combined to aid him, but it was weeks 
 after accepting the office before any im- 
 pression could be made on the wrathful 
 inhabitants, who regarded him as an 
 enemy to their rights and privileges. 
 Many of his acquaintances refused to 
 speak to him on meeting, and manifested 
 marked hostilit}'. He had stipulated that 
 no armed force should be sent into the 
 Territory, and had secured other rights 
 and privileges which he could make use 
 of if occasion demanded; so by degrees 
 the hostility subsided, and his influence 
 with the people was felt. The cooler 
 heads saw the wisdom of his counsel, 
 and eventually the obnoxious draft was 
 avoided, money was subscribed liberally, 
 and bounties were paid. Mr. Decker's 
 full share in bringing this about will never 
 be fully learned, but many an old farmer 
 and father remembers the aid he received 
 in that trying time. 
 
 During all these years, besides attend- 
 ing to his public duties, he looked after 
 his settlement on Decker creek, which, 
 as before mentioned, was named " Casco " 
 in honor of his birthplace. He eventually 
 established a lumber mill, which is still in 
 operation; owns 1,500 acres in a body at 
 Casco, and 1,500 acres in the vicinity. 
 His long service in the county office made 
 him familiar with every acre of land in 
 Kewaunee and Door counties, where he 
 owns, altogether, over ten thousand acres, 
 this land being accumulated by degrees, 
 excepting the old homestead at Casco, 
 where he bought three thousand acres at 
 one time. After withdrawing from the 
 county offices Mr. Decker intended to go 
 into the railroad business, starting a road 
 from Green Bay to St. Paul, and a com- 
 pany was organized which obtained a 
 charter. Associated with Mr. Decker 
 were Col. C. B. Robinson, editor of the 
 Green Bay Advocate, and Anton Klaus, 
 
 a merchant and liunbernian. The pro- 
 ject was a bold one, and there is no doubt 
 that, had it been carried out, it would 
 have been a success, and the road would 
 probably have been the first through the 
 Northwest to the Pacific coast; but al- 
 though aid was voted, no material pro- 
 gress was made. In 1868 Mr. Decker 
 concluded to embark in the undertaking 
 in earnest; new directors were elected, 
 and he was made president, but Provi- 
 dence had ordered it otherwise. He was 
 injured in a runaway, his left arm being 
 so mangled as to necessitate amputation, 
 he was disabled for over a year, and he 
 consequently resigned the presidency, and 
 the road was subsequently built b}' others 
 to Winona, Minn., instead of St. Paul. 
 Always active in business affairs, he has 
 been interested in man}' deals, and has 
 been a silent partner in various concerns. 
 
 While residing in ICewaunee he had 
 an interest in the large lumber mills there, 
 which he subsequently sold to good ad- 
 vantage. In 1872 he took up his resi- 
 dence in Green Ba\-, and purchased a 
 controlling interest in the Bank of Com- 
 merce, of which he became one of the 
 officers, and with which he retained his 
 connection several years. Removing 
 again to Casco, he built up quite an ex- 
 tensive business there, also conducting 
 from that place his interest in various 
 enterprises with which he was identified. 
 He became one of the main stockholders 
 of the Kewaunee Exchange Bank, which 
 has since been incorporated as one of the 
 State Banks of Wisconsin, and of which 
 he is now president. In 1S81 he started 
 a private bank at Ahnapee, called the 
 Bank of Ahnapse, of which he is president 
 and owns the entire stock. In 1888, in 
 company with James Keogh, he founded 
 the Bank of Sturgeon Bay, of which he is 
 also president. In Feliruary, 1891, Mr. 
 Decker and his son David organized the 
 Bank of Two Rivers, Wis. , of which he 
 is president and David Decker cashier. 
 
 Though ever engaged with the many 
 duties of the various commercial enter- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 47 
 
 prises with which he was connected, Mr. 
 Decker still found time to devote to news- 
 paper work. In June, 1859, he brought 
 to Kewaunee a printing press, which he 
 had purchased at Menasha, where it had 
 been used to print a small weekly. None 
 of the Kewaunee citizens knew of this 
 enterprise till its arrival, and having a 
 cousin who acted as his clerk, and who 
 was a professional printer, Mr. Decker 
 got him to set it up and started the Ke- 
 waunee Enterprise, a paper politically 
 Democratic; in January, 1869, it was 
 sold to John M. Reed. In 1885 Mr. 
 Decker bought a half interest in the Green 
 Bay Advocate, which has since been in- 
 corporated as the Green Bay Advocate 
 Company, of which he is president and 
 principal stockholder. This paper is pub- 
 lished both daily and weekly and is also 
 Democratic. Mr. Decker has just com- 
 pleted the building of a railroad from Casco 
 Junction to Sturgeon Bay, called the 
 Ahnapee & Western railway, of which he 
 is president. The road, which is practically 
 his own conception, is thirty-four miles in 
 length, and is operated as a general freight 
 and passenger line. 
 
 Mr. Decker is the father of six chil- 
 dren, \\z. : George A. (of California), 
 Mrs. Anna Curtin, David B., Edward, 
 Nathan and Libbie, the latter of whom is 
 a student at Grafton Hall. 
 
 Although Mr. Decker's position in life 
 makes him a conspicuous figure in this 
 part of the State of Wisconsin, he is yet 
 the most companionable and approach- 
 able of men, and has an ever ready ear 
 and a helping hand for those in distress or 
 seeking advice in business matters. In 
 summing up his life sketch it is but just to 
 speak more fully of his relation to the 
 business world of the State, for the men 
 that compose it have universally a high 
 respect for his integrity and moral worth. 
 His success in life has led to many in- 
 quiries regarding his methods in business, 
 which are sound and safe, and peculiarly 
 free from the vortex of speculation which 
 has made a few wealthy men, but which 
 
 has ruined so many of the really progres- 
 sive and enterprising. Aside from his 
 proverbial square-dealing with rich and 
 poor, it is his attention to details that has 
 been the foundation and rock of all his suc- 
 cesses. The services he has rendered in 
 developing the resources of the State, and 
 more especially those of Kewaunee and 
 Door counties, will best be appreciated 
 by a new and thinking generation, who 
 will be more able, as time gives opportun- 
 ity for reflection, to truly comprehend and 
 revere the memory of its pioneers who 
 were its best benefactors. 
 
 JH. EBELING, one of the most 
 prominent millers in Green Bay, was 
 born in 1836 in Holstein, German}-, 
 a son of J. H. and Anna Dorothea 
 (Winert) Ebeling. The father, who was 
 also a miller, died in Germany in 1851, 
 the mother surviving until about 1887. 
 Of their eighteen children, Henry N. and 
 J. H. (our subject) now reside in Green 
 Bay. 
 
 In 1864 J. H. Ebeling came to the 
 United States, and in Mishicot, Mani- 
 towoc Co., Wis., was engaged, in part- 
 nership with Mr. Soenksen, in milling 
 until 1866, when he came to Green Bay. 
 Here he worked as a miller for a Mr. 
 Hoeffel two years; then, in 1868, went to 
 New Franken, Brown county, built a 
 flour mill, and under the firm name of 
 Smith & Ebeling carried on the business 
 until 1876, when the mill was destroyed 
 by fire. In 1877 the present flour mills 
 were erected, Mr. Ebeling and H. A. 
 Straubel being then the proprietors. The 
 mills were built with four run of buhrs, 
 and later rebuilt to the roller system and 
 enlarged to a capacity of 300 barrels of 
 flour per day, with an elevator attached, 
 of 45,000 bushels capacity. The mills 
 were run under the firm name of Ebeling 
 & Straubel's mill until March, 1894, when 
 Mr. Ebeling bought his partner's interest, 
 and has since conducted the business on 
 his sole account. Mr. Ebeling is presi- 
 
48 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGHAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 dent of the Columbian Bakerj' Company, 
 is a stockholder in the Brown County Fair 
 & Park Association, and holds various 
 other important business interests. 
 
 He was married, in 1865, in Mishicot, 
 to Miss Mary, daughter of Carl Frederic 
 and Augusta (Kunze) Altmann, all natives 
 of Dresden, Germany. To this union 
 were born four children, viz.: J. H., Jr., 
 engineer at the mills; Frederic Charles, 
 traveling salesman for the same; Marie 
 C; and William Theodore, shipping clerk 
 for the mills. Mr. Ebeling is in politics a 
 Republican. His business qualifications 
 are universally recognized, and it may be 
 mentioned, to his great credit, that he 
 started in his present lucrative trade with 
 a cash capital of only one thousand dollars. 
 
 CHARLES WEST DAY, of the 
 city of Dc Pere, was born July i, 
 1836, in the town of Limerick, 
 Jefferson Co., N. Y. , and is a son 
 of Otis and Elmira (Scribner) Day, both 
 also natives of New York State, the for- 
 mer of whom was a farmer by occupa- 
 tion. Three children were born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Day in New York State, as fol- 
 lows: Charles W., our subject; Philander 
 L, a butcher and farmer, of Wrightstown, 
 Wis. , and Frances, who died in Wrights- 
 town at the age of seven years. 
 
 In November, 1849, Otis Day sold his 
 farm and decided to come to Wisconsin, 
 then the "Far West," which State was 
 offering cheap homes at the time men- 
 tioned. Accompanied by his famil}', he 
 journeyed to Buffalo, N. Y. ; and thence 
 via the lakes to Manitowoc; thence to 
 Green Bay, in January, 1850, reaching 
 Wrightstown, Brown count}', where he 
 entered a tract of eighty acres of land. 
 The route from Green Bay to this land 
 led through an unbroken wilderness, and 
 from De Pere down was only a trail, which 
 had to be cut through to form a road for 
 the passage of his team. On his eighty 
 acres Mr. Day erected the first habitation 
 ever occupied by a white man in that re- 
 
 jion- 
 
 -a cabin of logs covered with bass- 
 
 wood boughs, which was occupied by the 
 Day family seven or eight years before a 
 more substantial and pretentious residence 
 was substituted. The sufferings of the 
 family from sickness at that earl)' day 
 were terrible in the extreme, and at one 
 time Charles W. was the only member of 
 the household able to be on his feet. He 
 brought supplies from De Pere on his 
 back, often through knee-deep snow, and 
 on one occasion, returning from one of 
 these trips, found his only sister a corpse. 
 The growth of timber was very dense, 
 and great labor was required in felling it. 
 Shingles made by hand were the only 
 source of revenue, and it required two 
 days' hard work to secure a load, that is 
 a thousand, which after being hauled to 
 De Pere, the nearest market, by ox-team, 
 brought but seventy-five cents in trade in 
 goods at the store. As the timber was 
 felled, an axe was used to make incisions 
 in the ground, into which seed corn was 
 dropped, and the natural fertility of the 
 soil producing good crops, a comfortable 
 living was gradually derived from this 
 cereal. The death of Otis Day occurred on 
 this farm June 20, 1S82, and that of Mrs. 
 Day May 7, 1S90, and their remains now 
 lie in Greenleaf cemeter\-. 
 
 Charles West Day received such an 
 education as the schools of his early days 
 afforded, and has lived to see great changes 
 in the conduct of these institutions, the 
 advantages of which he has fully availed 
 himself of for the benefit, at least, of his 
 own children. He of course began life on 
 a farm, but was early initiated into the 
 mysteries of lumbering, the general voca- 
 tion of his neighborhood. At the age of 
 twenty he left his old home to begin the 
 battle of life for himself, and has made' a 
 good fight. The first summer of his ca- 
 reer was passed in compan\' with Reuben 
 Thompson in making shingles b\' hand; 
 the following j'ear he worked for a Mr. 
 Blake, of De Pere, who was building cor- 
 duroy roads, and the next winter received 
 his first real start in life by clearing five 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPHICAL liECORD. 
 
 49 
 
 hundred dollars with a team of oxen he 
 had purchased the year previous. 
 
 C3n July 3, i860, Mr. Day was mar- 
 ried to Miss Juliette Chase, who was born 
 June 14, 1S40, in the town of Charleston, 
 Kalamazoo Co., Mich. Her parents, 
 Henry and Persis (Averill) Chase, were 
 New Englanders, but came from Canada 
 to Michigan, and later, in 1856, moved to 
 De Pere via Green Ba}', four years after- 
 ward removing to Wrightstown. The 
 marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Day was sol- 
 emnized by Squire Brown on the site of 
 the "Old Agency House," a short dis- 
 tance north of De Pere. After his mar- 
 riage Mr. Day located on eighty acres of 
 timberland bought of Lucien Wright, in 
 partnership with H. S. Wright, whereon 
 he built .a log shanty, and the tasty man- 
 ner in which Mrs. Day kept the humble 
 abode was the comment of all the neigh- 
 bors round about. All the timber was 
 cut from the land, which Mr. Day sold 
 after passing one winter thereon, and 
 he then moved to Greenleaf, the follow- 
 ing winter locating on the old homestead, 
 where he continued lumbering. Here a 
 water-mill had been erected by Otis Day, 
 which Charles W. converted into a steam- 
 mill — something of a novelty in its day — 
 which in later years was enlarged and im- 
 proved. Mr. Day, in his time, has bought 
 and sold thousands of acres of timberland, 
 which he has resold after cutting off the 
 timber, and to-day owns a tract of 500 
 acres, of which 400 are under cultivation. 
 In August, 1884, he removed to De Pere, 
 where he has ever since resided, although 
 his business interests lie entirely in 
 Wrightstown, in and around Greenleaf. 
 
 Politically a Republican, Mr. Day cast 
 his first Presidential vote for Abraham 
 Lincoln. He has never been an office- 
 seeker, but has always been one of the 
 advisers and counselors of his party in his 
 section, and has filled various local offices, 
 though on two occasions, when elected 
 township trustee, he dechned to serve. 
 For twenty-nine years he was school 
 treasurer of his township, four years of 
 
 which he served after leaving the District, 
 and was, in fact, legally disqualified from 
 serving. In 18S6 he was elected to the 
 State Senate, and served the term to the 
 gratification of all concerned. In all his 
 monetary transactions, involving thou- 
 sands upon thousands of dollars, he has 
 never had a lawsuit, which fact is in itself 
 sufficient demonstration of the rectitude 
 of his conduct. To the foresight, skill, 
 industry and indomitable energy of such 
 citizens does Brown county owe much of 
 her prosperit}'. Mr. Day is not a mem- 
 ber of a secret lodge or secret society of 
 any kind, preferring to spend his leisure 
 time in the home circle of his interesting 
 family, which is a true type of an ideal 
 American home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Day have had born to 
 them seven children, as follows: Ed- 
 ward B., of Greenleaf; Persis E., now 
 the wife of W. H. Earles, M. D., of Mil- 
 waukee; Mary E., married to B. I. Bray- 
 ten, of St. Paul; Alma E., who died in 
 infancy; Carlton A., at home; Frederick 
 E., who also died in infanc}'; and Lillian 
 M., at home. 
 
 HON. JOHN M. HOGAN. This 
 gentleman is a well-known prom- 
 inent farmer, of Preble township, 
 Brown county, in whose career 
 as a successful merchant and financier 
 we find one of the best examples of safe 
 conservative enterprise. 
 
 Patrick Hogan, his father, was a na- 
 tive of County Clare, Ireland, where he 
 received a liberal education. When little 
 more than a lad he emigrated to the 
 United States, and in New York City 
 learned the trade of hatter, which he fol- 
 lowed for some time there. In that city 
 he married Miss Isabella McGillan, a na- 
 tive of Tyrone, Ireland, who came to 
 America with a sister, both being then in 
 their young womanhood, and to this 
 union were born two children: John M., 
 and Mary. When our subject was yet 
 an infant his parents came west, and 
 
5° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 landing in Detroit, Mich., the mother 
 and child were left there while the father 
 proceeded farther westward to Milwaukee, 
 Wis., where he purchased land in the 
 neighborhood, situated in Town I2, 
 Washington county. Later the family 
 joined him, and on this farm they lived 
 three years, at the end of which time they 
 moved to Green Bay, residing there un- 
 til March, iS6o, when they came to 
 Preble township and settled on the farm 
 now owned by our subject. Very little 
 clearing had been done on this piece of 
 land at the time the family came to it, 
 but hard work and industrious persever- 
 ance soon converted it into a productive 
 farm. The father resided here at vari- 
 ous times, occasionally in Green Bay, 
 where he died July 17, 1887, his remains 
 being interred in Allouez township ceme- 
 tery. His widow, now sevent\'-four years 
 of age, is living with our subject; she is a 
 member of the Church of St. John the 
 Evangelist, at Green Bay. The daughter, 
 Mary, died when four and one-half years 
 old, and is also buried in Allouez town- 
 ship cemetery. Mr. Hogan was a typ- 
 ical self-made man, one who climbed from 
 the bottom rung of the ladder of success 
 to the top, totally unaided, and by his 
 own indefatigable exertions and labor. 
 John M. Hogan, the subject proper of 
 these lines, was born, in 1S48, in New 
 York City, whence when an infant he was 
 brought b)' his parents to Wisconsin, as 
 above related. At the common schools 
 of his boyhood period he received a fair 
 education, and was reared to agricultural 
 pursuits, in which he was thoroughly 
 trained. In 1882, in company with 
 Peter Tuyls, he embarked in general 
 merchandising in Green Bay, their store 
 being located on Main street, where they 
 met with encouraging success, but failing 
 health compelled his retirement. Selling 
 his interest in the store, he for a time 
 lived comparatively retired, occasionall}' 
 bu3ing and sellingreal estate, in which he 
 also made a success. Two years after 
 the death of his father he purchased the 
 
 home farm, and believing it would im- 
 prove his health, in the spring of 1890 
 returned to it, and has remained there 
 ever since, not doing any active work, 
 however, as the farm, which now com- 
 prises eighty acres, is looked after by 
 others. In politics he is a Republican, 
 but no partisan, as in county and town- 
 ship matters he votes for the individual 
 he considers best suited to the office, while 
 in State and National affairs he invariably 
 supports his party ticket. He has been 
 called upon to serve his township in var- 
 ious capacities, such as chairman of the 
 board of supervisors some seven years, 
 justice of the peace and treasurer of the 
 school board, at all times acquitting him- 
 self with credit and honor, and to the sat- 
 isfaction of his constituents. In the fall 
 of 1880 he was elected representative to 
 the State Legislature, in which he served 
 one term with marked ability. Much 
 credit is due to Mr. Hogan for the envia- 
 ble position in society he has elevated 
 himself to, he being recognized as a lead- 
 ing man in the county, and a wise coun- 
 selor. At the breaking out of the war of 
 the Rebellion Mr. Hogan was "too young 
 to enlist, being then but twelve years of 
 age, but on Maj' 26, 1864, when not quite 
 sixteen years old, he enlisted at Green 
 Bay without the knowledge of his par- 
 ents, becoming a member of Company G, 
 Forty-first Wis. V. I. He served with 
 his command at Memphis, Tenn., and 
 was on picket duty there when the Con- 
 federate general Forrest made the attack 
 on that place in i S64. Mr. Hogan com- 
 pleted his term of enlistment, and on 
 September 23, 1864, was honorably dis- 
 charged from the service, in Milwaukee. 
 
 PHILIPP MULLER. In the life 
 of this well-known gentleman there 
 is presented a lesson for the youth 
 of anvland; something to be found 
 in it of a nature encouraging to the young 
 aspirant, who, without friends or fortune, 
 is struggling to overcome obstacles in his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 efforts to acquire a comfortable compe- 
 tence, if not absolute wealth. 
 
 Mr. Muller was born in Prussia, Sep- 
 tember 6, 1831, in one of the vvine-grow- 
 \iv^ districts that lu.xuriate along the fer- 
 tile banks of the beautiful river Moselle, 
 and distant some eighteen miles from the 
 city of Trier. He is the second child and 
 eldest son of Matthias Muller, a well-to-do 
 landowner in Germany, also a wine-grower 
 and cooper, making his own casks for use 
 in his business. Young Philipp was brought 
 up to this industry, working steadily at it 
 after leaving school, until he was nine- 
 teen years old, when he decided to emi- 
 grate to America, here to seek his fortune. 
 
 On May i, 1850, in company with a 
 cousin, Matthias Hoffman, he set sail 
 from the port of .Antwerp, Belgium, in the 
 American ship "Edwina," and after a 
 quick passage of thirty days, landed at 
 New York, where he found his funds 
 completely exhausted. His cousin, how- 
 ever, kindly came to his assistance, sup- 
 plying him with sufficient money to bring 
 him on to Wisconsin, and after landing in 
 Milwaukee, he and his cousin (for they 
 were still companions in their journey) 
 proceeded to Sheboygan, thence by foot 
 to Manitowoc, where our subject found 
 his first employment on American soil, 
 commencing, as will be seen, in debt. 
 His employer was one Richter, who kept 
 several cows a short distance from Mani- 
 towoc, and young Muller's duties were 
 to attend to them, receiving the sum 
 of eight dollars per month for his serv- 
 ices, boarding all this time in Mani- 
 towoc with John Raymer, a fellow-coun- 
 tryman. On leaving Richter he went to 
 Two Rivers and commenced work in the 
 sawmill of H. H. Smith, at the same 
 wages as he had previously got; but in 
 two short weeks the terrible scourge, 
 cholera, broke out, paralyzing work, and 
 people fleeing from the place, one of the 
 fugitives allowing our subject to occupy 
 his deserted home, and here the latter re- 
 mained, living as best he could. When 
 the plague had abated, people began to re- 
 
 turn to their homes, the sawmill was once 
 more started up, and Mr. Muller found 
 work until the fall of the year, at which 
 time the mill was closed. Purchasing a 
 strong pair of boots and an a.xe, he ne.xt 
 tried his hand at chopping cordwood at two 
 shillings and sixpence per cord, but at 
 the end of winter he found on settling up 
 that he owed his employer eight dollars 
 after giving him his axe, which was not a 
 very encouraging transaction. In the 
 spring he again engaged to work in Smith's 
 sawmill at eight dollars per month, and 
 found himself at the end of the season 
 with just thirteen dollars in cash. From 
 that he again went to lumbering in the 
 woods for a short time; then, purchasing 
 an axe and a cross-cut saw, cut cordwood 
 for a time, after which for the remainder 
 of the winter he made shingles, and on 
 settling up in the spring he found that, 
 after surrendering his tools to his em- 
 ployer, he was enabled to begin the sum- 
 mer of 1852 simply out of debt. Work- 
 ing again in a sawmill at nine dollars per 
 month, he succeeded in saving by the 
 commencement of winter about twenty- 
 five dollars, and for the next few months 
 he found various kinds of employment for 
 no more than his board. 
 
 Next year, leaving Two Rivers, he 
 hired out at Neshoto at sixteen dollars 
 per month, and at the end of something 
 over a year he had saved $160, with 
 which sum he proceeded to New York in 
 order to meet his parents, brothers and 
 sisters and an old uncle, all of whom had 
 just landed from Germany, and were 
 without money to take them westward. 
 Mr. Muller, however, brought them all 
 to Wisconsin, thirteen in number, and 
 when they reached Two Rivers there was 
 not a penny left in the party, so Mr. 
 Muller had to borrow two shillings where- 
 with to pay the wharfage on the chattels. 
 The family then went to live with a rela- 
 tive in Two Rivers, but the junior mem- 
 bers soon found work, the boys at peeling 
 bark, the girls as domestics. A farm was 
 rented for the parents and the old uncle. 
 
5^ 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the youngest child going with them. In 
 the following spring, in Mishicot town- 
 ship, Manitowoc county, the father 
 bought eighty acres of uncleared land, 
 paying on account $35, which money was 
 supplied by Philipp, saved by him out of 
 his earnings in the lumber woods, where 
 he worked at $18 per month. Later on, 
 finding themselves unable to meet pay- 
 ments falling due on this land, forty acres 
 had to be sold in order to clear them- 
 selves. There was not a single stick cut 
 on the remaining forty acres, so there 
 was a vast amount of work to be done to 
 make a clearing. A log house, 16x24 
 feet, was first built, and this was the only 
 shelter for the family, at that time seven 
 in number, for a long time. By i860 
 sufficient improvements were made, our 
 subject furnishing out of his hard-earned 
 wages all the necessary means; and, in- 
 deed, it may be said he was the mainstay 
 of the family until they were able to sup- 
 port themselves from the product of the 
 farm, and then he began for himself. 
 
 On December 7, 1861, Mr. Muller 
 was married to Miss Magdalene Flem- 
 ming, who was born May 5, 1842, in 
 Lu.xemburg, Germany, a daughter of 
 Frank Flemming, who in 1S56 came from 
 Antwerp, Belgium, to New York, bring- 
 ing his family, from there traveling west- 
 ward to Wisconsin, and settling in Ne- 
 shoto, Manitowoc county, where the 
 marriage took place, 'Squire Jacob King 
 performing the ceremony. In Neshoto 
 the young people commenced housekeep- 
 ing, and after a five-years' residence there 
 moved to Two Rivers, Mr. Muller work- 
 ing there in sawmills; thence proceeded 
 to Kewaunee, where he was emploj'ed in 
 the same line of work, his wages being 
 now $3 per day, for eight years working 
 in the mill summers and "scaling" logs 
 winters, after which for nineteen years 
 he was employed in sawmills only — a 
 total of twenty-seven years, eight years 
 under one employer, the remainder with 
 three different companies, never being 
 discharged from any one of them, and not 
 
 leaving Kewaunee until the last log in the 
 neighborhood was sawed. 
 
 From there Mr. Muller came to the 
 city of Green Bay, owning some lots 
 there, but after a short sojourn re- 
 moved into the country. In the fall of 
 1877 he came to his present farm of 
 ninety-three acres in Preble township, 
 Brown county, situated four miles south- 
 east of Green Bay, and here he has since 
 resided, prosperously engaged in agricul- 
 tural pursuits, including stock-raising. 
 When he came to this farm it was in a 
 very wild condition, covered with under- 
 brush and fallen timber, but by dint of 
 assiduous labor and untiring energy he 
 has converted it into a luxuriant farm of 
 fertile fields. Two sons and two daugh- 
 ters complete the happy family circle, 
 VIZ. : Jacob, born February 6, 1 863, in Ne- 
 shoto; George, born March 18, 1866, also 
 in Neshoto; Catherine, born June 15, 
 1875, in Kewaunee, and Elizabeth, born 
 August 21, 1877, also in Kewaunee. 
 They are all on the farm, the sons assist- 
 ing the father in the general work thereon. 
 Politically our subject is a Democrat, his 
 first vote being cast for Franklin Pierce, 
 and has served his township in various 
 offices, such as road overseer for District 
 No. 5, two terms. The family are wor- 
 thy members of the Catholic Church, and 
 enjoy the respect and esteem of all who 
 know them. 
 
 HON. S. D. HASTINGS, Jr., Cir- 
 cuit Judge of the District com- 
 prising Brown, Oconto, Marinette 
 and Door counties, was born 
 June 19, 1841, in Philadelphia, a son of 
 Samuel D. and Margaretta (Schubert) 
 Hastings, the former a native of Massa- 
 chusetts, the latter of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Samuel D. Hastings was reared in his 
 native State, and as a representative of a 
 business house was sent to Philadelphia, 
 where he resided until 1845, when he 
 came to Wisconsin and located in Wal- 
 worth county, where he was an earnest 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 53 
 
 worker in the cause of temperance, until 
 1 85 1, at whicii time he removed to La- 
 Crosse, Wis. In the fall of 1857 he was 
 elected State Treasurer of Wisconsin, and 
 filled the office eight years. On his elec- 
 tion to this responsible office he removed 
 to Madison, the capital of the State, and 
 there he and his wife still reside. Since 
 the expiration of his office as State 
 Treasurer, in 1865, he has devoted all 
 his attention to the cause of temperance. 
 His children are three in number, 
 namely: S. D., our subject; EmmaM., 
 H. R. Hobart, editor of the 
 Age, of Chicago, 111., and Flor- 
 married to H. W. Ho3-t, princi- 
 the Gates Iron Works, of 
 
 wife of 
 Raik^'ay 
 ence L. , 
 pal owner of 
 the same city. 
 Hon. S. D 
 county in August, 1867, 
 where for two years 
 in the practice of law; 
 
 Hastings came to 
 
 Brown 
 from Madison, 
 he had been 
 in 1883 he was 
 
 elected to his present high position, and 
 was re-elected in 1889 — each term being 
 for six years. He was a graduate of 
 Beloit College and of the Albany (N. Y.) 
 Law C'-illege; was admitted to the bar of 
 New York in 1865, and, with his eighteen- 
 years' experience at the bar, was full}' 
 prepared for the duties of the circuit 
 judgeship, taking his seat on the bench 
 January i, 1884. The Judge was first 
 married, in 1863, at Beloit, Wis., to Miss 
 Mar}- C. Kendall, a native of Milwaukee, 
 and a daughter of the late J. G. Kendall, 
 a pioneer of Beloit. Mrs. Hastings be- 
 came the mother of three daughters, 
 Lillias M. (the only one now living), 
 and in 1868 passed to the other side of 
 Life's river. In 1872 the Judge chose for 
 his second wife Miss Hetta Sue Clapp, 
 whom he married in her native city, 
 Kenosha, Wis. Her parents were Na- 
 thaniel P. and Sarah (McCoy) Clapp, 
 natives of New York, and pioneers of 
 Kenosha before Wisconsin was admitted 
 to the sisterhood of States. The father, 
 who was prominent as a stock dealer, 
 was accidentally killed, while in New York 
 with a shipment of cattle: the mother 
 
 died in Green Bay in 1889. To this 
 second marriage of Judge Hastings have 
 been born five children — Florence N., 
 now aged fourteen; S. D., Jr., now aged 
 eleven, and three sons who died in in- 
 fancy. Mrs. Hastings has one living 
 sister, the wife of George G. Greene, of 
 the firm of Greene & V'rooman, attor- 
 neys-at-law. 
 
 Judge Hastings is a Republican in 
 politics; he was president of the Green 
 Bay school board for years, and has 
 been president of the board of directors 
 of the city library since its organization 
 in 1890; he is a member of the board of 
 directors of the Electric Light Company 
 of Green Bay, of the Kellogg National 
 Bank of Green Bay, and of the Oconto 
 National Bank of Oconto. For several 
 years he has been lecturer in the law de- 
 partment of the Wisconsin University at 
 Madison. He has filled all these positions 
 of usefulness with marked ability, and 
 few men of his years in the State of 
 Wisconsin stand higher in the esteem of 
 its citizens. 
 
 EDWIN HART was one of the 
 early pioneers of Brown county, 
 Wis., having come here in 1830, 
 in the employ of the United States 
 Government, to assist in the rebuilding of 
 Fort Howard, and in other public works. 
 He was employed by the government 
 some years, having charge, part of the 
 time, of the surveying force on the con- 
 struction of military roads from Green 
 Bay to Manitowoc and Calumet, as well 
 as a lighthouse and fort at Mackinac 
 straits. Later he took up his residence 
 in Green Bay — in that portion of it known 
 as Navarino — as a carpenter and con- 
 tractor. During his active life he took 
 many large contracts, and nearly all the 
 old landmarks in and about Brown county 
 are his handiwork. In 1829, prior to 
 coming to Green Bay, he erected a Mission 
 church on Mackinac Island, but in the 
 
54 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 fall of that year he returned to Cleve- 
 land. 
 
 Mr. Hart was born May 5, 1^07, in 
 Griswold, New London Co., Conn., a son 
 of Judah and Abi<,'ail (Hclden) Hart, both 
 also natives of Connecticut, in which 
 State they were married. In 1822 they 
 moved westward to Ohio, first locatinj.; in 
 Cleveland, and in 1S24 settling on a farm 
 in l^rownhelni township, Lorain county, 
 same State, where they died within three 
 days of each other. Piu' father slinhiI in 
 the war of 181 2. 
 
 Edwin Hart, of whrnn this sketch 
 more particularly relates, was fifteen 
 years old when the family moved from 
 Connecticut to Ohio, and in Cleveland he 
 learned carpentry (which was his rej^ular 
 trade), there remaining;; until coming to 
 Wisconsin in the employ of the govern- 
 ment, as related at the commencement 
 of the sketch. In 1832 he was married 
 in Green Bay to Miss Eliza J. Glass, a 
 native of Clarksville, Ohio, and daughter 
 of Joseph and Effie (Roger) Glass, who 
 were married in Ohio, and came to (^.reen 
 Bay in 1S28; the father, wiio was a fur 
 trader, died in Green Ba_\', the mother 
 passing away in 1856 in Oconto. After 
 marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Hart con- 
 tinued to reside in Green Bay until 1852, 
 removing then to Oconto, same State, 
 where he embarketl in the lumber, mill- 
 ing and steamboat business, and where 
 they still reside. This old pioneer couple 
 had a family of eight children, a brief 
 record of whom is as follows: (i) George 
 E. resides in California. (2) Levi W. was 
 killed in the railroad accident at Ashta- 
 bula, Ohio, in December, 1876, when 
 about forty years of age; he was a travel- 
 ing salesman at the time, with residence 
 in Akron, Ohio, and on hearing of the ac- 
 cident his wife, Mrs. Susie (May) Hart, 
 having some foreboding as to his fate, 
 drove all the way to Cleveland in a cut- 
 ter, to find her fears were only too well 
 founded; when his remains were dis- 
 covered in the wreck both arms and the 
 right leg had been burned off, but the rest 
 
 of the bt)dy, especiall}' the face, was com- 
 parati\ely uninjured. (3) Mary A. is the 
 wife of Ur. S. A. Coleman, of Cleveland, 
 Ohio. (4) Clifford B. is a member of the 
 firm of H. W. & C. B. Hart, owners and 
 managers of Hart's Steamboat Line, 
 Green Bay. (5) Eli/a Jane is the wife of 
 B. J. Brown, of Menominee, Mich. (6) 
 Cyrus S. is editor of the Oconto County 
 Reporter. (7) Capt. H. W. is in partner- 
 ship with his brother C. B., as above 
 nientioned. (8) Franklin died at Oconto, 
 Wis., in 1863. Mr. Hart in politics was 
 originally a Whig, and since the formation 
 of the party has lieen a stanch Repub- 
 lican. Socially he is a member of the 
 I. O. O. F. 
 
 CAPTAIN H. W. HART, senior 
 member of the firm of H. W. 
 & C. B. Hart, owners and mana- 
 gers of Hart's Steamboat Line, 
 Green Bay, is a native of the town, born 
 January 8, 1846, a son of Edwin and 
 Eli/a J. (Glass) Hart. 
 
 At the age of six years he moved with 
 his parents to Oconto, Wis., w^here he 
 received his education. In early life, 
 when a mere boy of fourteen years, he 
 shippeil on board a lake vessel in the 
 capacity of cook, from which humble 
 position, by energy and perseverance, he 
 rose step by step, in the various ex- 
 periences of a sailor's life, at the age of 
 eighteen years becoming captain of his own 
 ship, the steamer ■■Eagle"; this vessel 
 was built in Oshkosh and was rechristened 
 in Oconto, running between the latter 
 city and Green Bay for two seasons, after 
 which it carried both freight and passen- 
 gers for a time, and was then turned into 
 a tugboat for raft towing. Hart's Steam- 
 boat Line was founded in 1873, with a 
 capital of $140,000, by Capts. H. W. 
 and C. B. Hart, both able and ex- 
 perienced steamboat men. They built 
 the ■• May Queen " in Green Bay, and ran 
 her on the old line for two seasons, after- 
 ward building the "Northwest" and re- 
 
COMMKMOliATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 55 
 
 building the "Ma}' Oueen, " \\hich was 
 tnirned at tlie dock in Green Bay in 1877. 
 In the spring of 1 87S they launched the 
 steamer "Welcome," and some time 
 afterward the " C. W. Moore," which our 
 subject ran between Green Baj* and 
 Manistique until 1888, when the " Fannie 
 C. Hart" was built, which he has since 
 run between Green ISay and Cheboygan, 
 Mich. The last-named boat was re- 
 modeled in 1890; the "Eugene C. Hart" 
 was built in 1890, and run on the same 
 route with the "Fannie C. Hart," the 
 company ncjw owning fcnir propellers — 
 the "Fannie C. Hart," "Eugene C. 
 Hart," "C. W. Moore" and the "Wel- 
 come " — all stanch, speedy, safe and re- 
 liable boats. The two brothers take 
 great pride in the "Fannie" and 
 "Eugene," which they command in 
 person. 
 
 In June, 1868, Capt. H. W. Hart 
 was married to Miss Hattie A. Wagner, 
 a native of Ogdensburg, N. Y. , daughter 
 of Stephen H. Wagner, now a resident of 
 Green Bay, and to this union six children 
 were born, viz. : F"annie C. , wife of 
 Frederick Brett, of Green Bay; Edwin 
 W. ; Katie and Eliza J., who died of scar- 
 let fever at the ages of six and four years 
 respectively; Hattie A. and Julia B. 
 Capt. H. W. Hart in politics is an active 
 Republican; socially he is a member of 
 the F. & A. M., Washington Lodge No. 
 21, Warren Chapter, and Palestine Com- 
 mandery, all of Green Bay. 
 
 ELEAZER HOLMES ELLIS was 
 born August 26, 1826, in Brown 
 county. Wis., at or near Green 
 Bay. His Grandfather Ellis was 
 a native of Connecticut, and was of Welsh 
 extraction. He and his wife, who was 
 also a native of Connecticut, removed to 
 Herkimer county, N. Y. , where Mr. El- 
 lis died when still young; his widow pass- 
 ed away at the age of about seventy-seven 
 years, the mother of two children, Albert 
 Gallatin, and Sophronia (Mrs. Holmes). 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Holmes removed to Brown 
 county. Wis., in 1841; both have since 
 died leaving many descendants, Albert G. 
 E. Holmes, a merchant of Green Bay, 
 being their eldest son. 
 
 Albert G. Ellis, the father of Judge 
 Ellis, was born August 24, 1800, in Ver- 
 ona, N. Y. He received a common- 
 school education, and at the age of four- 
 teen years entered a printing office in old 
 Herkimer, N. Y., there laying the founda- 
 tion of a thoroughly practical education, 
 which proved of immense value to him in 
 after life. He was full of ambition, and 
 at the age of twenty-five sought a wider 
 field of usefulness in what were then the 
 wilds of Brown county. Wis. His first 
 visit to this country was made about 
 1 82 1, when he came with the Oneida In- 
 dians, who were removed to Wisconsin 
 from Oneida county, N. Y. He was em- 
 ployed as a surveyor, and assisted in lay- 
 ing out the land of the Indian Reserva- 
 tion in Brown county, which then includ- 
 ed the greater part of northern Wiscon- 
 sin. He was familiar with Indian cus- 
 toms, and after the survey was completed 
 remained as a permanent citizen and soon 
 became a valuable acquisition to the new 
 settlements, being a man of more than 
 ordinary ability, and of great force of 
 character. He taught school at three 
 different places in the neighborhood 
 of Fort Howard and Green Bay. In 1824 
 Mr. Ellis returned to Oneida county; 
 N. Y., where he married Miss Pamela, 
 daughter of Elijah Holmes, of West 
 Winfield, N. Y. , and the young couple 
 came to Green Bay, Brown county, then 
 called La Baye Verte by the French and 
 the old settlers. They began housekeep- 
 ing at or near Shantytown, three miles 
 south of Green Bay. Mr. Ellis taught 
 school for some time, and later engaged 
 in various occupations until he became 
 identified with the (Irccn Bay Intclligcncir. 
 He was a practical printer, became asso- 
 ciated with John V. Suydam in the estab- 
 lishing of the paper, and with him shares 
 the honor of founding the first newspaper 
 
56 
 
 COMMEMORATIVK BIOORAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 in the Northwest territory. Soon after 
 he severed his connection witii the Green 
 Bay lntelli!:;eneer he was elected a mem- 
 ber of the Second Session of the Third 
 Territorial House nf Representatives, 
 which convened at Madison December 6, 
 1 84 1. In 1842 he was re-elected, and 
 had the honor of beinj^ elected speaker of 
 the House : he was again re-elected in 
 1843. In 1 84 1 or 1842 Mr. Ellis was 
 appointed, by the I'nited States Govern- 
 ment, Surveyor-i;encral for Wisconsin and 
 Iowa, the office then being located at 
 Dubuque, Iowa, whither he was accus- 
 tomed to travel on horseback; he still 
 made his home, liowever, at Green Bay, 
 and he rendered the government valuable 
 services in both Territories. He also 
 surveyed and subdivided many townships 
 and sections in Wisconsin, embracing 
 Manitowoc, Kewaunee, Door, Oconto, 
 Brown and Outagamie counties. An un- 
 tiring worker, he often, in running his lines, 
 tired out even his hardy French-Canadian 
 assistants. lie also rendered valuable 
 service in this counts', and as his surveys 
 were rcnuirkably correct, he was consid- 
 ered c]uite an expert in his profession. 
 He was no speculator, or he could have 
 become wealthy, for he knew every valu- 
 able foot of land in the surrounding 
 country. In 1838 he removed with his 
 family to Hill Creek, one and a half miles 
 east of Green Bay, where he carried on the 
 business of milling and farming, and he 
 there owned a sawmill, a gristmill, and a 
 cabinet shop, all of which, with the farm, 
 he successfully operated for many years. 
 He was familiar with mechanics' tools and 
 machinery, and ct)uld turn his hand to 
 almost every kind of work — a \aluable 
 accomplishment indeed. He was moder- 
 ately successful from a financial point of 
 \ icw , but sold much of his land at $3 
 an acre, before values in land were on 
 the increase. He also made some Gov- 
 ernment surveys north of Stevens Point, 
 to which place he removed in 1853, 
 making investments there in town lots. 
 Shortly after his arrival there he was ap- 
 
 pointed receiver of the United States 
 Land Office at that place, and he held the 
 position seNeral _\ears, .\mong the prop- 
 erties he bought there was a flouring mill, 
 which he conducted for some time. He 
 also started the Wisconsin l''iiur)\ a 
 paj^er Democratic in politics, which ex- 
 isted until within a short time of this writ- 
 ing; he \\as editor of the same for many 
 years, but finally sold his interest. He 
 was a ver}' enterprising, puplic-spirited 
 man, and at one time served as mayor of 
 Ste\ens Point. He was an ardent mem- 
 ber of the Episcopal Church, to which he 
 gave liberal support, and he helped to 
 build the churches at Stevens Point and 
 Green Baj'; he was one of the incorporat- 
 ors and a vestryman in the church at the 
 latter place. Mr. Ellis was not a member 
 of any secret organization. Having the 
 M'elfare of the comunmity always at heart, 
 his many acts of charity and brotherly 
 affection toward humanity in general en- 
 deared hi'in to every one, and he died De- 
 cember 23, 1885, honored and respected 
 by all who knew him, at the advanced age 
 of eighty-five j'ears. He was a man of 
 regular habits and good principles, and his 
 whole life is a lesson to posterity. Mrs. 
 Pamela Ellis was also an active member 
 of the Episcopal Church, and was beloved 
 by all, old and yt)ung. She died at Green 
 Bay, March 18, 1847, aged forty-three 
 years, the mother of six children, of whom 
 Judge E. H. l-'.llis is the eldest, and the 
 only survivor. 
 
 Judge Ellis was educated in the pio- 
 neer schools of Green Bay, and his father 
 being anxious for him to study French 
 and Latin, he procured good private 
 teachers, some of whom resided in his 
 family at the Hill Creek Mills for several 
 years. Young Ellis entered the law office 
 of Hon. Heurj- S. Baird, a well-known 
 attorney in Green Ba}' and vicinity, who 
 was the president of the first Legislative 
 Assembly of the Territory of Wisconsin, 
 and after studying for three and a half 
 years was admitted to the bar by Judge 
 Andrew G. Miller, in October, 1847. The 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BlOUllArUWAL liECOllD. 
 
 57 
 
 same iiutuiiin he set out, on horseback, 
 to look up a suitable location, and at the 
 age of twenty-one years "hung out his 
 shingle" at Manitowoc Rapids, then the 
 county seat of Manitowoc county. Here 
 he practiced for three and a half years 
 with good success, and in the spring of 
 185 1 returned to Green Bay, where he 
 opened an office and met with good suc- 
 cess from the start. For many years he 
 practiced alone, and was uniformly suc- 
 cessful. As his business increased he en- 
 tered into co-partnerships at different 
 times with the well-known attorneys, S. 
 D. Hastings, Jr., now circuit judge, 
 William H. Norris, George G. Greene 
 and Carlton Merrill, the names of the 
 firms being Ellis, Hastings & Greene, 
 Norris & Ellis, Ellis, Greene & Merrill, 
 and Ellis & Merrill; at present Mr. Ellis 
 is practicing with Mr. Merrill. In 1869 
 our subject was elected circuit judge, his 
 circuit including the counties of Brown, 
 Outagamie, Shawano, Oconto and Door. 
 He was twice elected without opposition, 
 and held the office for eight successive 
 years, when he resigned and resumed the 
 pri\ate practice of his profession. Judge 
 Ellis has gained an enviable reputation as 
 a member of the bench and bar of the 
 State of Wisconsin, being looked upon as 
 an able, conscientious and careful prac- 
 titioner. His whole career has been a 
 most honorable one, well worthy the em- 
 ulation of the 3'outh of our nation. Our 
 subject is a member of the Episcopal 
 Church, and has been connected with the 
 same for more than forty years. His pri- 
 vate character is above reproach. 
 
 JM. SMITH. The late J. M. Smith, 
 of Green Bay, was born in Morris- 
 town, N. J., December 13, 1820, 
 and was the eldest son of Jonathan 
 Smith, who was at that time one of the 
 most progressive farmers in that region. 
 He was a subscriber to the first volume 
 of the first agricultural paper printed in 
 the United States, \\\ft Albaiiv Cultivator, 
 
 a full file of which was seen in the old 
 home at Morristown a few years ago; and 
 was also the first man, so far as is known, to 
 put down an underdrain in the United 
 Statefe. It was made bj- digging a deep 
 ditch and putting large stones in the bot- 
 tom, then filling in with smaller ones, 
 and covering with sods and dirt. This 
 drain, sixty-five years later, is still doing 
 good work. Under the training of such 
 a father Mr. Smith naturally acquired 
 habits of industry and forethought, and 
 being a close student of everything that 
 came in his way, he naturally did a good 
 deal of independent thinking on his own 
 account, and looked forward to a time 
 when he would have land of his own, and 
 test its capacity to grow crops. 
 
 He enjoyed the benefit of as good 
 schools as were within his reach; but as 
 he grew older, he became earnestly desir- 
 ous for something better, and finally en- 
 tered the nearest academy, to prepare for 
 college, hoping also to enter a law school 
 when he should reach that point. But 
 when ready to enter college, a dangerous 
 accident to his father called him home, 
 and changed the whole course of his life. 
 He remained at home until he became of 
 age, and made diligent use of his spare 
 time in study of different kinds. Then, 
 after a few months of teaching, he com- 
 menced business for himself as a lumber- 
 man and wood dealer in a small way, 
 with such success that on the 14th of 
 March, 1844, he felt qualified to take a 
 partner, and was married, at Sparta, N. 
 J., to Miss Emily B. Torrey. Two are 
 better than one, if well mated, and cheer- 
 ily they worked on for ten years together, 
 with varying success, taking their full 
 share of such disappointments as are 
 common to those working their way, 
 often under difficulties. But with sun- 
 shine in the home, all sorts of things may 
 be borne. 
 
 In the spring of 1854, ten years after 
 their marriage, they came with four sons 
 to Wisconsin, and in July located in 
 Green Bay, little thinking it was to be 
 
5S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 their home for the balance of their hves. 
 The chief productions of the place at that 
 time were pine lumber and icebergs; and 
 for a few years Mr. Smith was principally 
 engaged in lumbering; but in 1857, when 
 the bottom fell out of the lumber market, 
 he turned his attention to whatever he 
 could get to do, to afTord a living for his 
 family, until 1S61, and then came the 
 terrible war. 
 
 Ten children had been born to them 
 (two were sleeping in the silent city), the 
 eldest being at that time si.xteen years 
 old and the youngest ten months; but the 
 country must have soldiers, and in Sep- 
 tember of 1 86 1 Mr. Smith and the eldest 
 son left the home in the care of the wife 
 with her seven children, the eldest of the 
 seven being but twelve years old, and 
 went to help save the country. In five 
 months he came home to die, as he 
 thought; but he gradually improved in 
 health until the fall of 1864, when he was 
 drafted to serve another year, and again 
 he joined the army, remaining therein 
 until August, 1865, when the war was 
 over, and he was honorably discharged. 
 While he was absent, the mother and her 
 sons did what they could at gardening, and 
 soon after his return the market in the 
 towns north of Green Bay was opened 
 for the sale of vegetables, and as his 
 health was not equal to any arduous labor, 
 he went to work with his sons to try 
 what might be done in that direction. A 
 few acres of land were purchased at a 
 hgh price, to begin on; but the demand 
 for vegetables increased so rapidlj' that 
 more was soon needed, and the garden 
 increased in area from time to time, until 
 it contained forty acres. By the help of 
 true and loyal sons, the garden was 
 finally paid for, and improved by under- 
 draining and in other ways, until, if there 
 is another forty-acre piece of land in Wis- 
 consin of equal value and productiveness, 
 and as favorably situated for a market 
 garden, it would be hard to find it. 
 
 But it must not be imagined that all 
 of Mr. Smith's time or energy was spent 
 
 on the garden. He was, during nearly 
 all of these years, very largely identified 
 with the agricultural and horticultural de- 
 velopment of the State, and did much in 
 other ways, not only by personal work, 
 but with his pen, having been a regular 
 contributor to several agricultural papers 
 for several years; and was also an earnest 
 worker in farmers' Conventions and Insti- 
 tutes. He also, by special invitation, de- 
 livered addresses before the American 
 Pomological Society at Boston, and 
 at the dinner at the celebrated Shaw's 
 garden at St. Louis, as well as in many 
 other places. He was one of the com- 
 missioners from Wisconsin to the Cotton 
 Exposition at New Orleans, and also a 
 delegate from the Wisconsin Horticultural 
 Society to the Convention of the Ameri- 
 can Horticultural Society held in Cali- 
 fornia. He was twenty-two years presi- 
 dent of the Brown County Horticultural 
 and Agricultural Society; four years pres- 
 ident of the Northern Wisconsin Agricul- 
 tural and Mechanical Association, located 
 at Oshkosh; and fifteen years president of 
 the Wisconsin State Horticultural So- 
 ciety, in which he was largely instru- 
 mental in introducing among its workers 
 many educated women whose valuable 
 papers have helped to make our horticul- 
 tural volume one of the best, if not the 
 very best, published in the United States. 
 Mr. Smith was not a politician in the 
 common acceptance of the term, never 
 having been a seeker after office; but he 
 was thoroughl}' versed in political affairs, 
 and acquainted by reputation with all the 
 prominent men in the nation who have 
 figured in political affairs since his early 
 manhood. He was proud to call himself 
 a Henry Clay ^^ hig in his boj-hood, and 
 was one of the men who helped to or- 
 ganize the first Republican party in Green 
 Bay. He claimed the right to hold and 
 enjoy his own opinions, but accorded to 
 every other man the same right. He 
 was a member of the Episcopal Church, 
 but very broad in his views, and honored 
 every man and woman who showed in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 59 
 
 their lives, and in their deaUngs with 
 their fellowmen, the spirit of Chris- 
 tianity, by whatever name they were 
 called. He was extremely fond of music, 
 having been a leader in church choirs in 
 his early manhood, and also in his later 
 years, and a great many of his particular 
 friends through life have been musical 
 people. He was never better pleased 
 than when he could gather a company of 
 good singers around the organ in his own 
 home, and wake the echoes with the 
 ringing of the grand old anthems which 
 were his particular favorites. Of little 
 children he was very fond, and during his 
 long illness often asked to have some of 
 the little grandchildren brought in to see 
 him. Having himself felt the pressure of 
 hard times when he had a large family 
 dependent on his efforts, he was sympa- 
 thetic toward those who were trying to 
 do their best, and still finding it hard to 
 keep those dependent on them comfort- 
 able, and always ready to lend a helping 
 hand to lighten their burdens. 
 
 He did not amass a large amount of 
 money to leave to his children, but left 
 them the heritage of an honorable name, 
 unstained by any smirch of dishonor or 
 treachery to any one, and his death, which 
 occurred February 20, 1894, was felt in 
 many homes whose inmates he had be- 
 friended, as the departure of a near per- 
 sonal friend. Not long after his death a 
 farmer, who had often come to him for 
 advice about agricultural matters, was 
 heard to say: " I am worth thousands of 
 dollars more than I should have been if I 
 had never known J. M. Smith." He rests 
 from his labors, but his memory lives in 
 the hearts of many friends outside of his 
 own home. 
 
 Mrs. J. M. Smith was born in Bethany, 
 Penn., January 31, 1821. Her father died 
 before she was old enough to appreciate 
 his worth, but her mother was a woman 
 of such rare qualities of mind and heart 
 that she was able to govern a large family 
 with great firmness, and yet with such 
 loving gentleness that the desire to dis- 
 
 obey her was a rare thing among her flock 
 of children. Mrs. Smith was early thrown 
 upon her own resources, but managed to 
 acquire what was considered in those 
 days as a good common-school education, 
 and at the early age of sixteen was given 
 charge of a district school. The next 
 four years were spent alternately in teach- 
 ing and attending school, when she set- 
 tled down to the steady business of teach- 
 ing, until March 14, 1844, when she be- 
 came the wife of J. M. Smith. Like her 
 husband, she had grown up with habits of 
 industry and economy, and always thought 
 it worth while to learn how to perform 
 the many sorts of work that are likely to 
 fall to the lot of women in the common 
 walks of life. Consequently in the many 
 seasons of trial through which she has 
 been called to pass, the knowledge, thus 
 carefully stored away, has been a golden 
 treasury from which she has often been 
 able to draw for the benefit of others, as 
 well as herself. 
 
 The marriage proved to be a most 
 happy one; the love plighted at the altar 
 grew with the passing years, and was 
 strengthened and intensified by the joys 
 and sorrows which nearly fifty years must 
 inevitably bring. Nine sons and two 
 daughters were given to cheer and brighten 
 the home, of whom seven sons and one 
 daughter still remain. The children were 
 always considered by both parents as 
 God's best gift, and stood nobly by them 
 through storm and sunshine; and are 
 making, or we should say have already 
 made, for themselves honorable places 
 amone their fellowmen. 
 
 FRANK T. SMITH, now a resident 
 of the town of Suamico, Brown 
 county, is the third son of the late 
 J. M. Smith, of Green Bay. He 
 was born in Morristovvn, N. J., October 
 27, 1849, and came with his parents to 
 Green Bay, Wis., in 1854, where be 
 lived until he removed to his present 
 home. 
 
6o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 He enjoyed such advantages as were 
 possible in the common schools to which 
 he had access at that time, but bore his 
 full share in the hardships incident to the 
 times from 1857 until the close of the 
 war. He was too young for a soldier in 
 the army, or he would doubtless have 
 been there; but all the heroism was not 
 shown on the battlefields, and he with 
 younger brothers bravely stood by the 
 mother while the father and older brother 
 were at the front, helping to save the 
 country. After his father came home 
 broken in health, Frank T. , with his 
 brothers, worked faithfully at whatever 
 they could do, not only in the summer, 
 but during the winter, to help to support 
 the family,- and to pay for the garden, 
 until he came of age. After that time he 
 worked on with his father on a salary, 
 gaining much practical knowledge in 
 methods of culti\-ating land. 
 
 On June 9, 1S73, he married Miss 
 Clara Taylor, a native of Susquehanna 
 count}', Penn. , and daughter of Samuel 
 and Mary (Bruce) Taylor, the latter of 
 whom died when her daughter Clara was 
 twelve years old. From the union of 
 Frank T. and Clara Smith have been 
 born si.\ children, namely: Clifford I., 
 born April 15, 1875; Elsie M., May 2, 
 1877; liessie R. , July 25, 1879; Emrie 
 B., September 22, 1881; Celia T., Sep- 
 tember 17, 1883, and Stanley B., June 
 16, 1887. Seven years (1880) after his 
 marriage, Frank T. , preferring farming 
 to gardening, left the employ of his father, 
 and purchased one hundred acres of land 
 in the town of Suamico, where he now 
 lives. Only a small part of the land was 
 adapted for the growing of crops when 
 purchased, but most of it is now in fairly 
 good condition, while some of it is highly 
 manured, and from now on he will find 
 much plainer sailing than in some of the 
 past years. He has always led a strictly 
 temperate life, following in this particular 
 the example of his father and grandfather 
 before him. He and his wife and older 
 children are members of the Methodist 
 
 Episcopal Church, and are also faithful 
 workers in the cause of temperance. In 
 his political faith he is a Republican, and 
 cast his first presidential vote for U. S. 
 Grant, on the occasion of that warrior's 
 second candidacy for that office. But 
 believing earnestly in Prohibition, and 
 having an unfailing faith in the principles 
 he advocates, he has since 1888 cast his 
 vote in accordance therewith. 
 
 DAVID McCartney. The stand- 
 ard by which to judge a commu- 
 nity is the character of its promi- 
 nent citizens. Progress is rarely, 
 if ever, the result of chance, but always 
 the e.xecution of well-laid plans based on 
 a thorough comprehension of the laws of 
 business. It is only by keeping in view 
 the lives of men who are ever associated 
 in the busy marts of commerce that we 
 can judge of the importance of develop- 
 ment, and the pos.,ibilities of progress. 
 Thus it is, that from the commercial, 
 more than the literary or political side, 
 the most valuable lessons of life are to be 
 extracted. In this connection, as a gen- 
 tleman whose business qualifications have 
 proven of the best, as indicated by the 
 numerous enterprises he has brought to 
 a successful issue, a brief biographical 
 sketch is given of David McCartney. 
 
 Some writer has said that the most 
 prominent characteristics of the Scotch- 
 Irish are stern integrity, the defense of 
 liberty, and the love of God. Of such a 
 grand old race is the subject of this 
 sketch, who is a native of County Down, 
 Ireland, born near the city of Belfast, 
 September 14, 18 14, of hardy, stalwart 
 Scotch-Irish ancestry, from whom he in- 
 herits, no doubt, his wonderful vitality, 
 strong individuality, courage and deter- 
 mination. He is a son of William and 
 Isabella (McCreary) McCartney, who 
 about the year 1820, deciding to seek a 
 new home in the New World, set sail 
 from the shores of Erin with their little 
 family, consisting of one son (the subject 
 
.ifjm> 
 
 ^^s-f' 
 
 .^. 
 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BlOOllAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 63 
 
 of these lines) and one daughter. From 
 the port of debarkation they made their 
 way to Ohio, where for some years in 
 Guernsey county, later in Belmont county, 
 the father followed ai^ricnltural pursuits, 
 which had been his vocation in the mother 
 country. He died on the farm he last 
 conducted, his widow passing away some 
 years later at Monmouth, Warren Co., 
 111. The blood runninj^' in their veins of 
 that stern and rugged race of Covenanters 
 who left their Scottish mountains and 
 glens for the North of Ireland, where re- 
 ligious persecution could not follow them, 
 the)' lived and died in that Presbyterian 
 faith for which their forefathers had 
 fought and bled. 
 
 In Guernsey county, Ohio, David Mc- 
 Cartney received such education as could 
 be acquired at the primitive pioneer 
 schools of the period, at the same time 
 learning the trade of stone-cutter. His 
 father had two brothers in this countr}-, 
 both builders and contractors, and with 
 one of these, John McCartney, he was 
 employed at the commencement of the 
 construction of the Baltimore & Ohio 
 railroad, his uncle having a contract 
 thereon; and later he was given employ- 
 ment by his other uncle, James McCart- 
 ney, who had a contract for earlier work 
 on the Philadelphia & Columbia railroad, 
 afterwartl known as the Penn.s_\-lvania Cen- 
 tral railroad. (At that time G. A. Thomp- 
 son was civil engineer for the companj', 
 and by merit rose to be president of the 
 same road). Subsequently Mr. McCart- 
 ney was employed on the construction of 
 the Lake Erie & Pittsburg canal. In 1 836, 
 at the age of twenty-two years, he was 
 married in Coshocton count}, Ohio, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Heslip, and the young couple 
 then took up farming pursuits in that 
 county, where and on other farms owned 
 by him thej' resided for about eight years. 
 Abandoning agriculture, Mr. McCartney 
 now embarked in the milling and mercan- 
 tile businesses at Hendrysburg, Belmont 
 Co., Ohio, in connection therewith en- 
 gaging in stock buying and general trad- 
 
 ing. But his natural enterprising spirit 
 was soaring jet higher, and in search of 
 fortune he sought other fields, turning his 
 attention naturally to railroad contract- 
 ing. Among the new roads on which he 
 secured contracts may be mentioned the 
 Baltimore (S: Ohio, Central Ohio and the 
 Hempfield railroad (now part of the Bal- 
 timore & Ohio; this raih'oad was built 
 about 1854-55, and the failure of the 
 company resulted in a loss to Mr. McCart- 
 ney of $80,000). Moving about the year 
 1855 to Barnesville, Ohio, he there oper- 
 ated a steam gristmill and a sawmill, 
 which he owned in connection therewith, 
 conducting other business, and at the end 
 often years, in the spring of 1865, he 
 came to Wisconsin. First locating in 
 Oshkosh, he operated two steam sawmills 
 there, but at the expiration of two j'ears 
 sold his interests and removed to Ft. 
 Howard, where he became largely inter- 
 ested in lumbering, sa\\inilling and other 
 enterprises, involving the utilization of 
 thousands of acres of pine land. In 1882 
 Mr. McCartney retired from these inter- 
 ests and established the McCartney's Ex- 
 change Bank (a private institution) at 
 Ft. Howard, which in 1892 was organized 
 as a National Bank with a capital of 
 $50,000, and is recognized as one of the 
 safe and solid financial institutions of the 
 State. 
 
 In 1884, while visiting the Cotton 
 Exposition at New Orleans, his attention 
 was attracted to the State of Georgia and 
 its resources; and judging that there was 
 a good field for the profitable investment 
 of capital, he in the year following pur- 
 chased a tract of 3,500 acres of land, 
 comprising three plantations, subsequently 
 buying other tracts, consisting of 3,900 
 acres, making a total of 7,400 acres. At 
 Thomasville, the county town of Thomas 
 C(junty, Ga., he built a comfortable resi- 
 dence, where in the luxury of balmy 
 breezes and cheerful sunbeams he passes 
 his winter months, in the enjoyment of 
 that ease and comfort which comes as 
 the reward of years of industry and toil. 
 
64 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 The land he rents chiefly to negroes, who 
 raise for the most part cotton, but por- 
 tions of the estate are covered with valu- 
 able timber, mostly pine. 
 
 During the Civil war Mr. McCartney 
 was appointed a brigadier-general in the 
 Ohio State militia, and also a United 
 States provost-marshal, serving in the 
 last-named office one and one-half years. 
 During the famous raid into Ohio made 
 by the Confederate general Morgan, our 
 subject was in command of a thousand 
 militiamen at Barnesville, in Belmont 
 county, Ohio, guarding a long railroad 
 trestle, over which were carried daily 
 supplies for the Union army, as well as 
 drafts of soldiers on their way to the seat 
 of war. An attack on this trestle by 
 Morgan was daily expected, and to further 
 his ends he resorted to the following ruse: 
 In order to learn what force there was 
 guarding this work, from which he was but^ 
 eight miles distant, he cut the telegraph 
 wire, and instructed his own operator to 
 telegraph to Gen. McCartney asking how 
 many troops he had to defend the trestle, 
 at the end of the message placing the 
 name of Gen. Burnside, who was in com- 
 mand of the Union troops at Cincinnati. 
 ^^^len the message reached Gen. McCart- 
 ney, he happened to be in the telegraph 
 office at Barnesville, reclining on a couch, 
 and on reading over the dispatch he at 
 once suspected it was a " bogus" message. 
 With the presence of mind which was ever 
 ready to him, especially in moments of 
 danger or seeming perplexity, he tele- 
 graphed back that he had "sufficient 
 force to guard the trestle, and enough 
 men to capture Morgan's entire command 
 should he come this way. " This clever 
 thought of Gen. McCartney, crystallized 
 in the return message he sent, and which 
 of course was received by Morgan, was 
 no doubt the cause of the latter abandon- 
 ing his intended attack on the trestle, and 
 making a detour to the north. Who can 
 calculate of what inestimable value this 
 act alone proved to the Union cause! But 
 for the coolness, courage and presence of 
 
 mind of this one man. Gen. McCartney, 
 who can tell what terrible disaster might 
 have ensued .' The sequel is a matter of 
 the history of the war. Shortly afterward 
 Morgan and his entire command were 
 captured, and he and his fellow prisoners 
 passed through Barnesville, where they 
 halted and were fed. Throughout the 
 entire war the General was a stanch sup- 
 porter of the government, giving liberally 
 both of his means and influence. 
 
 Twice married, our subject had, by 
 his first wife, three children, namely: 
 William, now of Guernsey count}-, Ohio; 
 Ellen, deceased wife of William Hum- 
 phrey ville; and Thomas Jefterson. in 
 business at Golden, Colo. The mother 
 of these died Februarj' 17, 1845, snd in 
 1847 Mr. McCartney married Miss Lena 
 Eliza Harris, a native of Ohio, by which 
 union there were three children as follows: 
 Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Whelan, 
 and now a resident of Fort Howard; 
 Emma Belle, unmarried and living at 
 home, and Laney \'iola, who died un- 
 married. The mother of these passed 
 from earth June 3, 1884. A lifelong 
 Presbyterian, Mr. McCartney has been a 
 liberal contributor toward its support, 
 as well as to all beneficent institutit)ns, 
 particularly in his own city and in Green 
 Bay. At his own expense he built the 
 First Presbyterian Church of Fort How- 
 ard, at a cost of about eight thousand 
 dollars, and presented it to the congrega- 
 tion. He is a member and trustee of 
 same. In his political sympathies he was 
 a Whig until the organization of the Re- 
 publican party, when he enrolled himself 
 under its banner, as a zealous and loyal 
 supporter of its principles. 
 
 Before closing this sketch, there is to 
 be added yet another to the record of Mr. 
 McCartney's many gigantic undertakings; 
 for although more than an octogenarian, 
 he is as enterprising as he was twenty- 
 years ago, and he feels that he has not 
 yet completed his task of doing good to 
 his fellowmen. As an individual enter- 
 prise, he is building at Fort Howard an 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWUHAPinCAL RECORD. 
 
 electric railroad, and also putting in an 
 electric system for lighting the city, all of 
 which will be completed ere long. Self- 
 reliance is and has been one of his strong- 
 est characteristics, and in his business 
 enterprises he has alwa3's relied upon his 
 own judgment for results rather than the 
 opinion and advice of others. He is a 
 man of fine as well as forcible intellectual 
 qualities, an extensive reader and close 
 thinker, of a remarkably practical cast of 
 mind. He is cautious, but firm in his 
 judgments, and reliable; in manner he is 
 social and friendly, and possesses quali- 
 ties that readily win admiration and re- 
 spect. His mental faculties to-day, when 
 he has passed fourscore milestones on the 
 highway of life, are as clear as ever, and 
 with seeming unabated energy he is man- 
 aging his far-away Georgia plantation of 
 over seven thousand acres; at the same 
 time is the head of a bank doing a large 
 business, and moreover is conducting the 
 construction of the important and com- 
 plicated work connected with the putting 
 into operation the electric railroad and 
 electric lighting already referred to. For 
 some thirty years he has been promi- 
 nently connected with the public and pri- 
 vate enterprises of Ft. Howard, and with 
 its social, educational and mercantile in- 
 terests. In brief, Mr. McCartney is a 
 man of sound common sense, of great 
 courage and resolution, and executive 
 ability; a Christian gentleman, generous 
 and liberal toward all beneficent institu- 
 tions that he believes to be for the good 
 of his city and the public at large; just to 
 a fault, and ever thoughtful of those con- 
 nected with him in social and business re- 
 lations. May he live on in the enjoy- 
 ment of life, the admiration of his many 
 friends. 
 
 CAPTAIN CLIFFORD BELDON 
 HART, junior member of the firm 
 of H. W. & C. B. Hart, owners 
 and managers of Hart's Steam- 
 boat Line, Green Bav, is a native of the 
 
 town, born November 13, 1839, a son of 
 Edwin and Eliza J. (Glass) Hart. 
 
 In Green Bay and Oconto our subject 
 received his education, attending the com- 
 mon schools up to the age of twelve years, 
 when he commenced sailing on the lakes 
 between Oconto and Green Bay, and by 
 his ability as a mariner, and close atten- 
 tion to his duties, rose by degrees from a 
 comparatively humble position to be cap- 
 tain of his own steamboat. Hart's Steam- 
 boat Line was founded in 1873, with a 
 capital of $140,000, by Capts. H. W. 
 and C. B. Hart, both able and experi- 
 enced steamboat men. They have now 
 four propellers — the " Fannie C. Hart, " 
 the "Eugene C. Hart," the " C. W. 
 Moore," and the "Welcome" — all as 
 stanch, safe and reliable as their com- 
 manders. The two brothers Hart are 
 captains of the ' ' Fannie " and ' ' Eugene '* 
 in person, taking great pride in their boats. 
 They run chiefly between Green Bay, 
 Wis., and Cheboygan, Mich., and during 
 the season give employment to about one 
 hundred men. Capt. C. B. Hart was 
 also part owner of the schooners "Eva 
 M. Cone" and "Union," both in their 
 day plying between Green Bay and 
 Chicago, and was captain of the ' ' Eva 
 M. Cone" from 1857 to 1863, and of the 
 "Union" from 1863 to 1865. From 
 1865 to 1883 he was steamboating on the 
 Oconto river, returning to Green Bay in 
 the latter year. 
 
 On December 25, 1862, Capt. C. B. 
 Hart was united in marriage with Miss 
 Hattie Ellen St. Ores, a native of Illinois, 
 but reared in Oconto, Wis., daughter of 
 Lewis and Maryette St. Ores, who in an 
 early day came from the East to Oconto, 
 where the father was engaged in the lum- 
 ber business till 1862; he died November 
 13. 1893, preceded to the grave by his 
 wife, who died in 1876 of heart disease. 
 To Captain and Mrs. Hart has come one 
 son, Eugene C, born December 7, 1880, 
 who is at home with his parents. Politic- 
 ally our subject is a Republican. In the 
 fall of 1888 he joined Washington Lodge 
 
66 
 
 COMMEMORA TIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 No. 21, F. & A. M., and at once became 
 deeply interested in the workings of that 
 fraternity, rising rapidly in the order 
 until he attained thirty-second degree, 
 being connected with Warren Chapter 
 No. 8, Palestine Cominandery, K. T. , 
 and Wisconsin Consistory. He is also a 
 member of Green Bay Lodge No. 259, 
 B. P. O. E., and of the I. O. O. F., 
 Lodge No. 19, Green Bay, where he was 
 initiated. 
 
 J 
 
 H. LE KOY. Among the promi- 
 nent agriculturists of De Pere town- 
 ship. Brown county, none is more 
 deserving of mention than this gen- 
 tleman, who is a worthy member of one 
 of the early pioneer families of same. He 
 is descended from hardy New England 
 stock. 
 
 Jonas Le Roy, father of our subject, 
 was born August 12, 1819, in West Troy, 
 N. Y., son of Isaac Le Roy, a native of 
 Poughkeepsie, who was a fisherman by 
 occupation, following same along the 
 banks of the Hudson river. His family 
 consisted of four sons, John, William, 
 Jonas and Henry. Jonas received a 
 limited education in the subscription 
 schools of the home neighborhood, left 
 home at the age of nineteen, after his 
 mother's death, and went to Cheapside, 
 Decrficld, Mass., where he learned the 
 traile of cabinet maker under Capt. 
 Thayer, and some time later removed to 
 Greenfield, same State, where he was 
 emploj-ed in the cutlery factory of John 
 Russell & Co. On September 10, 1840, 
 he was married in Greenfield to Miss 
 Edith .\. King, who was born January 
 29, 1 82 1, in Sunderland, Vt., daughter 
 of James H. and I^illy (Willcnt) Iving, 
 the former of whom was a shoemaker by 
 trade. In April, 1824, the King family 
 moved to Massachusetts, and they were 
 residing in Greenfield at the time of the 
 daughter's marriage. The young couple 
 immediately settled in Greenfield, and 
 there remained about fourteen years, Mr. 
 
 Le Roy continuing to work in the cutlery 
 establishment. Two sons were born to 
 them in Greenfield, viz.: John M., who 
 enlisted in September, 1861, at De Pere, 
 Wis., in Company F, Fourteenth Wis. 
 V. I. , and was killed at Vicksburg May 
 22, 1863 (his body was never recovered), 
 and David S. J., who died when five 
 years old. From Greenfield the family 
 removed to Deerfield, where one child, 
 J. H., was born, and later to Conway, 
 same State, where they also had one 
 child, Edith A., now Mrs. W. R. Mat- 
 thews, of De Pere, Wis. In May, 1856, 
 the family came westward to Wisconsin, 
 journeying by stage to Adams, Mass., 
 thence by rail via West Troy to Buffalo, 
 N. Y. , at the latter place taking the 
 steamer "Michigan" for Green Bay, 
 where they landed May 28. The trip 
 from Green Bay to De Pere was made by 
 boat. 
 
 James S. King, a brother-in-law of 
 Mr. Le Roy, had preceded them to Wis- 
 consin, where, with money the latter had 
 sent, he had purchased eighty acres of 
 land in Section 32, De Pere township, 
 along the Dickinson road. Some of the 
 timber had been cut from this land during 
 two winters of lumbering on it, but other- 
 wise it was still in its primitive state, and 
 they immediately set to work to clear a 
 small space, where a log cabin, the first 
 building on the farm, was erected. On 
 this place was born one child, William S., 
 now of De Pere. They resided here for 
 eight years, and then, in 1865, sold the 
 place, and purchased the farm our sub- 
 ject now owns and resides upon, of which, 
 at that time but fifteen acres were cleared. 
 Another child was born on this farm, a 
 daughter, who died in infancy. In Octo- 
 ber, 1887, Mr. Le Roy removed to De- 
 Pere on account of failing health, and 
 there lived until his death, which oc- 
 curred September 8, 1892; he was buried 
 in Woodlawn cemetery. He was origin- 
 ally a Whig, afterward a Republican, in 
 politics, and for twelve years held the of- 
 fice of clerk of De Pere township, a 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 67 
 
 record which speaks for itself; for two 
 years he was justice of the peace in the 
 city of De Pere. but his failing health 
 compelled him to give this up. In religious 
 connection he was a member of the M. 
 E. Church, with which his widow is also 
 identified. Since his death she has con- 
 tinued to reside in De Pere. They had 
 lived a happy wedded life of over fift\' 
 years, and the golden anniversary of 
 their marriage was appropriately cele- 
 brated by the famih'. When they came 
 to Brown count}' bears, deer and wolves 
 still roamed the forests, and almost the 
 entire country was yet in its primitive 
 condition. Bears were often seen even 
 on the farm, and frequently carried off 
 the pigs. A portion of the journey to 
 their new home was made in an ox-cart, 
 and for several years oxen were the only 
 beasts of burden the pioneers had. The 
 land was covered with white and red oak, 
 beech, pine and maple trees: in those 
 days not only the men, but the women 
 assisted in the clearing, and many were 
 the hardships and pri\'ations endured by 
 those early settlers before they had hewn 
 for themselves a comfortable home from 
 the dense forest. 
 
 J. H. Le Roy was born February 7, 
 1 85 1, in Deerfield, Mass., and in May, 
 1856, came with his parents to De Pere 
 township. Brown Co., Wis., where he 
 received such education as the district 
 schools of that time afforded. His older 
 brother having enlisted in the Civil war, 
 he was early put to work on the farm, 
 and thus his attendance at even those 
 primitive schools was limited to a few 
 months each year. He was thoroughly 
 trained to farming, and resided on the 
 home place until 1872, in the fall of 
 which year he entered the employ of 
 James S. Scott as clerk in a grocery store 
 in De Pere, remaining there two years. 
 He then attended Lawrence University, 
 at Appleton, three months, after which 
 he returned to his present farm. The 
 following winter he acted as bookkeeper 
 and measurer for Henry Graves, at the 
 
 Morrison Coal Kilns, in Glenmore town- 
 ship. Brown county, but he has since al- 
 wa\s made his home on the farm. He 
 successfully conducts a general farming 
 and stock-raising business, and in connec- 
 tion with his agricultural operations runs 
 a threshing machine. 
 
 Mr. Le Roy was married, September 5, 
 1878, in De Pere township, to Miss Susan 
 A. Winton, who was born in De Pere, 
 daughter of Charles A. Winton, a native 
 of Pennsylvania, who came to Brown 
 county in an early day. The young 
 couple immediateh' took up their resi- 
 dence on the farm, and here children as 
 follows have been born to them: Edith 
 A. (who is attending school at De Pere), 
 Ellsworth G., Eva W'., Ada P., J. H., 
 Jr., and Charles A., all living. Politic- 
 ally Mr. Le Roy is a stanch Republican, 
 and keeps himself well informed in the 
 movements of his party, in whose welfare 
 he takes great interest. He has been 
 elected to various oi^ces in his township, 
 having served as assessor (two terms), 
 school director, school treasurer, town- 
 ship clerk (eight years). United States 
 census enumerator for his town in 1890, 
 State census enumerator in 1885, and in 
 each capacity discharging his duties with 
 credit to himself and satisfaction to his 
 fellow citizens. He has also been called 
 upon to act as representative to county 
 conventions and assemblies, and he is one 
 of the " wheel horses" of the Republican , 
 party in his section. Socially he is a 
 member of De Pere Lodge No. 222, I. O. 
 O. F., and Maple Leaf Lodge No. 107, 
 K. of P. , De Pere. Mrs. Le Roy, in re- 
 ligious connection, is a member of the 
 Methodist Church. 
 
 THOMAS ELDER SHARP, the 
 well-known furniture dealer and 
 cabinet manufacturer of De Pere, 
 was born five miles northeast of 
 Newville, Cumberland Co., Penn., in 
 August, 1 82 I, a son of James and Martha 
 (Hanna) Sharp, of Scotch and Irish de- 
 
68 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 scent respectively. The father was a 
 fanner, and also a captain in the Penn- 
 sylvania militia, and both parents died in 
 the Keystone State. 
 
 Thomas E. Sharp lived on the home 
 farm until sixteen or seventeen years of 
 age, when he went to Logansport, Ind., 
 where an uncle and friends of the family 
 resided, and began learning carpentry and 
 cabinet making at a point about five or 
 si.x miles north of that cit}'. His mother 
 and the rest of the family accompanied 
 him (his father having died when subject 
 was but an infant), but the mother sub- 
 sequentl}- returned to Pennsylvania. 
 Thomas E. progressed rapidl}' at his trade, 
 and was but a little over seventeen when 
 he built a school house near Logansport, 
 and also had manufactured several ar- 
 ticles of furniture. When twenty-one 
 or twenty-two he returned east, and for 
 eleven months worked in Pittsburg, four 
 months in Philadelphia, three in New 
 York, Philadelphia and Newcastle, Penn. ; 
 thence he went to Cincinnati, and in 
 1848-49, the cholera year, was in Louis- 
 ville, I\y. He then returned, via Indian- 
 apolis, to Logansport, and started a 
 cabinet shop, remaining about six months. 
 In 1850, about the month of May, he set 
 out west with a horse and buggy, reach- 
 ing Chicago in the latter part of the same 
 month, and there shot at a mark on 
 stumps that would now be in the heart of 
 the city, if they were still in existence. 
 He then drove on to Milwaukee and thence 
 to Fond du Lac, where he disposed of his 
 rig; then went to Green Bay and thence 
 came to De Pere, where he built a resi 
 dence and also did some cabinet work. 
 He had first intended to enter the build- 
 ing and cabinet-making business, but 
 finally drifted into cabinet making onl}-, 
 and in 1854 built a shop. He has also 
 done something at boat building, pattern 
 making, painting and other kinds of work, 
 and has always been an industrious man 
 and a skillful mechanic. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Sharp took place 
 in De Pere, October 4, 1853, to Miss 
 
 Harriet Stewart, a daughter of Robert D. 
 and Sarah (Carpenter) Stewart, who were 
 among the earliest settlers of the city. No 
 children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sharp, although a neice of Mrs. Sharp — 
 Alice A. Stewart — lived with them many 
 years, and is now married to Dr. Porter, 
 of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Sharp are 
 members of the Congregational Church, 
 and in politics he is a Republican. He 
 has served as city treasurer of De Pere, 
 and is considered to be one of the most 
 solid inhabitants of the place. 
 
 ROBERT D. STEWART (de- 
 ceased), born at Stewartsville, 
 Warren Co., N. J., March 5, 
 1779, was of Scotch descent. He 
 was married to Sarah Carpenter, October 
 20, 1807, and died May 10, 1848; the 
 death of his wife occurred May i, 1855. 
 He landed at Green Bay June 14, 1836, 
 lived in a house at Shantytown, three 
 miles distant, and was employed as super- 
 intendent of the hydraulic works at De- 
 Pere, at three dollars per day. In 1837 
 he moved his family to De Pere, and 
 bought a claim of 160 acres on the west 
 side of the Fox river, erected the first 
 house in West De Pere, and was the first 
 white man to make his permanent home 
 there. He was supervisor for many years 
 and also chairman of the board. He took 
 much interest in schools, was an elder in 
 the Presbyterian Church, and it was his 
 constant habit to take his family and 
 neighbers six miles to church at Green 
 Bay on the Sabbath, by means of his 
 sailboat. 
 
 Rcjbert D. and Sarah Stewart had a 
 family of thirteen children, three of whom 
 died in New Jersey. The ten who came 
 with him to De Pere were William Max- 
 well, who married Rachel Carpenter, and 
 is now deceased; Elizabeth, who became 
 the wife of W. W. Matthews, both now 
 deceased ; Caroline M. , widow of Godfrey 
 Miller, residing in De Pere; Mary, de- 
 ceased; Joseph (deceased), who married 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 69 
 
 Lora Lessey; Theodore (deceased), who 
 married Mary J. Haininond, who now 
 lives in Chicago, III. ; Ellen, who married 
 Fred W. Newhall, and lives in Chicago; 
 Harriet, born December 28, 1830, mar- 
 ried Thomas E. Sharp; Charles A., mar- 
 ried to Maggie McFarland, and residing 
 in Chicago; Matilda, who married Will- 
 iam J. Green, of Nyack, N. Y. , and is 
 now deceased. 
 
 Mrs. William Maxwell Stewart, widow 
 of the eldest son of Robert D., narrates: 
 '•Mr. R. D. Stewart, in 1836, beside 
 farming, established a ferry across the 
 Fox river at his house, situate at that 
 time about a half mile south of the pres- 
 ent dam at De Pere, and during the ab- 
 sence of the father and brothers Mrs. T. 
 E. Sharp and others of the children would 
 often take passengers across the stream 
 in canoes, occasionally in the large scowe 
 and, to tell the truth, the young ladies 
 did not regret the absence of father or 
 brothers on such occasions, as the passage 
 money was applied by the girls to their 
 own use for pin money. When the family 
 arrived at De Pere Indians were quite 
 numerous. " 
 
 Thomas Stewart, the father of Robert 
 D., was a native of Scotland, and settled 
 in Warren count}-, N. J., in 1739; he was 
 a fanner, owned 360 acres of land, and 
 built a stone dwelling, around which after- 
 ward clustered the village named Stewarts- 
 ville, in his honor. He served as judge 
 of the court of common pleas, five years, 
 and also as justice of the peace. He died 
 in his stone dwelling at the age of eighty- 
 three years. His wife bore the maiden 
 name of Rachel Devvees. When Robert 
 D. , his son, started for the West, he was 
 accompanied by thirty others, including 
 his own family, in their own boat, on the 
 Delaware and Raritan canal, and so onto 
 Philadelphia, New York and Buffalo 
 (where he sold his boat), and thence by 
 the steamer "Daniel Webster" to Green 
 Bay, the trip from Easton, Penn., occupy- 
 ing just three weeks. The half-mile front- 
 age he purchased on the west side of Fox 
 
 river, and on which the larger part of 
 West De Pere has since been built, is 
 known as Stewart's addition. 
 
 The extraordinary career of this re- 
 markable man extends beyond the limits 
 of comprehensive conunent. With a heart 
 filled with love and charity for his fellow 
 creatures, his ear was ever open to the 
 plaint of those in distress, and his hand 
 ever extended in aid of the suffering. His 
 intuitive knowledge of the laws of trade 
 and the sequence of demand and supply 
 led him to adapt the means at hand in the 
 primitive country in which he lived to the 
 precise wants of the hour, as well as to a 
 permanent development of a prosperous 
 future. His death was a severe blow to 
 the community, and was indeed sincerely 
 deplored. 
 
 WILLIAM MAXWELL STEW- 
 ART preceded his father, Rob- 
 ' ert D. Stewart, in his de- 
 parture from New Jersey for 
 Wisconsin, in 1835, and on his arrival at 
 Green Bay acted as foreman for his uncle, 
 John P. Arndt, in getting out lumber, 
 and afterward had charge of a vessel be- 
 longing to the same gentleman, freighting 
 lumber and stone. 
 
 W. M. Stewart was married at what 
 is known as Carpentersville, N. J., in 
 June, 1834, to Rachel Carpenter, daugh- 
 ter of Joseph A. and Sarah (Stewart) 
 Carpenter. The Carpenters were of 
 German origin, and descendants of the 
 earliest settlers of New Jersey. When 
 William M. came west he left his wife in 
 New Jersey, and the following year, 1836, 
 she followed in company with Robert D. 
 Stewart's family. W. M. Stewart had 
 always been a farmer. In politics he 
 was a Republican, and served as super- 
 visor, besides filling several minor offices; 
 he was an elder in the Presbyterian 
 Church for a number of years. He died 
 in September, 1881. He and his wife 
 were the parents of ten children, as fol- 
 lows: Thomas, who married Augusta 
 
70 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Sheean; John P.. who was a Union sol- 
 dier in the Civil war, and died at home of 
 disease contracted in the service; Lyman, 
 who married Annie E. Malone; Winslow, 
 who married Julia Bene; Luella, who 
 died in infancy; Ellen, who was married 
 to James C. Ritchie; Elsie, single, at 
 home; Robert D., who married Helen 
 Hodgeson; and Joseph Carpenter, who 
 married Matilda Stickles; Edward died at 
 the age of ten years. 
 
 WJ. FISK. This gentleman is 
 president of the Kellogg National 
 Bank at Green Bay, which in 
 1S74 was organized out of the 
 City National Bank, and he has been 
 actively identified with the bank since 
 1 865 ; he is also one of the largest railroad 
 contractors in the State of Wisconsin. 
 
 Mr. Fisk was born in Brunswick, 
 Ohio, in 1833, a son of Joel S. and Char- 
 lotte (Green) Fisk, natives of New York, 
 who in the year 1835 came to ^^''isconsin, 
 landing at Sheboygan, whence he pro- 
 ceeded on foot to Green Bay. From there 
 he traveled, again on foot, by an Indian 
 trail to Chicago, 111., returned east, and 
 in 1836 came to Green Bay with his 
 family. Here Joel S. Fisk found his first 
 employment, in his new western home, 
 in the general store of Mr. Whitney, 
 afterward conducting a similiar establish- 
 ment for his own account, and for a long 
 time was a prominent figure in the mer- 
 cantile and lumbering interests of this 
 section of Wisconsin. But he did not 
 confine himself to these lines of business 
 (which were of necessity the leading ones 
 in the earl)' days of a new country), for we 
 find him in 1848 filling the position of 
 register of deeds in the Land Office, and 
 he it was who in 1850 platted what is now 
 the thriving city of Fort Howard. He 
 also served as postmaster at Green Bay 
 for some considerable time. He died in 
 1876, his wife preceding him to the grave 
 by just six weeks. They were the parents 
 
 of seven children, of whom the following is 
 a brief record: (i) W. J. is the subject of 
 this sketch. (2) Valentine S. enlisted in 
 Kansas, at commencement of the war 
 of the Rebellion, in the Eighth Kansas 
 Infantrj-, served throughout the entire 
 struggle, and died at \\'ashington, D. C. , 
 in 1872. (3) Elizabeth is the wife of 
 Albert Johnson, and resides in Idaho. 
 (4) Fannie C. died in 1875. (5) Kate P. 
 died in 1863. (6) M. H. graduated in 
 medicine at Ann Arbor Medical College; 
 enlisted at Ann Arbor in the ninety-days' 
 service; is now practicing medicine at 
 Wauwatosa,^^'is. (7) One son, unnamed, 
 died in infancy. 
 
 W. J. Fisk received his elementary 
 education at the schools of Green Baj', 
 proving an apt scholar and diligent 
 student. In his boyhood he e\inced 
 talent as a draughtsman, and at the earl}' 
 age of fifteen (in i S48) he made the maps 
 for the Reservation of Lands for the im- 
 provement of the Fox and Wisconsin 
 rivers. For two years' thereafter he 
 served as clerk at Fort Howard, and 
 then, being desirous of improving his 
 education, attended college at Appleton, 
 Wis. Returning to Fort Howard, Mr. 
 Fisk here commenced trading in shingles — 
 buying and selling; and as a natural tran- 
 sition he soon embarked in the manufac- 
 ture of that article, in course of time, 
 however, abandoning that line for the 
 lumber trade, in which he has since con- 
 tinued, from day to day expanding his 
 already vast interests. He began to sup- 
 ply railroads, and his first contract \\'as 
 with the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- 
 way Company to supply them with ties 
 and timber for the construction of some 
 fifteen miles of their road. The business 
 was established in 1862 by W. J. Fisk, 
 and in 1877, admitting two sons, the firm 
 name became W. D. Fisk & Co., the 
 business consisting in the supplying of 
 wood, ties, telegraph poles, etc., to rail- 
 way companies. Quite an army of 
 laborers and teams find employment in 
 the vast operations of the firm. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 71 
 
 In 1855 Mr. Fisk was united in mar- 
 riage at Fond du Lac, Wis., with Miss 
 Mary J. Driggs, daughter of John J. 
 Driggs, a native of New York, who in 1836 
 came to Green Bay, where he carried on 
 a mercantile business. He died some 
 years ago. To Mr. and Mrs. Fisk four 
 children have been born, viz.: Frank S., 
 who died in 1881; Wilbur D. and Harry 
 W. , both married and residing in Fort 
 Howard, being members of the firm of 
 W. D. Fisk & Co., of that place; and G. 
 Wallace, also married and living in Fort 
 Howard, where he is bookkeeper for the 
 Kellogg National Bank. In politics W. 
 J. Fisk is a Republican. From 1862 to 
 1865 he served as postmaster at Fort 
 Howard; during the term 1875-76-77 he 
 represented Brown county in the Assem- 
 bly, and was chairman of the Railroad 
 Committee when the famous Granger- 
 Potter railway law was repealed. 
 
 REV. FATHER ANTHONY JOS- 
 EPH VERBEKK. Where emi- 
 nent abilities and unblemished in- 
 tegrity, combined with unimpeach- 
 able virtue, derivable from the daily 
 practice of religion and piety, contribute 
 to adorn the character of an individual, 
 then it is most proper to be prominently 
 set forth as an example to those who 
 would make themselves useful to the rest 
 of mankind. And the writer cherishes 
 the belief that he will perform this ac- 
 ceptable service in giving a brief sketch of 
 the reverend gentleman whose name here 
 appears. 
 
 Our subject was born in Holland Jan- 
 uary 17, 1832, a son of Martin \'erberk, 
 a cabinet-maker and painter by trade in 
 the same country, where he was born 
 February 2, 1800. He (the father) was 
 educated for a teacher of French, during 
 the time of Napoleon's control of Hol- 
 land, but after the fall of Napoleon aban- 
 doned that profession for a trade. In his 
 family there were originally ten children 
 
 — five sons and five daughters — which by 
 1853 was reduced to two sons — Gerhard 
 and Anthony Joseph — and three daugh- 
 ters — Mary (now Mrs. H. Bremer, of 
 Cleveland, Ohio), Joanna (who married 
 John Rolder, and died in De Pere, Wis.), 
 and Dora (now Mrs. Anthony Meulen- 
 dyke, of Menominee. Mich.). In the 
 spring of the year just named the family, 
 resolving to seek a new home in the West- 
 ern World, sailed for New York via 
 Rotterdam and Liverpool. From their 
 port of debarkation the party came west 
 to Cleveland, Ohio, whither some of their 
 friends had already migrated, and from 
 here, in 1856, part of the family, amongst 
 them the subject of this sketch, came to 
 Green Baj'; but becoming dissatisfied with 
 the locality they returned to Cleveland in 
 July, 1857. In after years the parents, 
 in care of their son Gerhard, again came 
 to Wisconsin, both dying in De Pere, 
 Brown county, the mother on April 10, 
 1874, the father on May 6, 1878. 
 
 Rev. A. J. Verberk received his ele- 
 mentary education at the parish schools 
 of his native town, proving himself an 
 apt and diligent scholar, studious and re- 
 flective. At the age of fourteen he entered 
 college, where for si.x years he was a no 
 less diligent student of the languages — 
 both ancient and modern — and studied 
 philosophy until he was about twenty-one 
 years old, when owing to his father's 
 physical affliction, his studies were inter- 
 rupted, and he had to assist in many 
 ways at home till 1861, in September of 
 which year he came to Little Chute, Wis., 
 to visit an old Holland acquaintance, 
 Father Spierings. Having been persuaded 
 by this gentleman to resume his studies, 
 Mr. Verberk on January 29, 1862, entered 
 St. Francis Seminary, near Milwaukee, 
 where he completed his philosophical and 
 theological course. On December 27, 
 1863, he was ordained to the priesthood, 
 by Bishop Henni, in the Cathedral at 
 ^Iilwaukee, and appointed to his first pas- 
 toral duties at Theresa, Dodge Co. , Wis., 
 as assistant to the priest stationed there, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 who was sick at the time. In September, 
 1864, he was given charge of his first con- 
 gregation, which was in Freedom, Outa- 
 gamie county, and here he remained until 
 March, 1865, at which time he was trans- 
 ferred to Little Chute, where his old friend 
 Father Spierings had been stationed. 
 Here our subject labored among his flock 
 till October, 1869, during which time he 
 built a new house for the priest, and the 
 new church building, of which for several 
 years nothing had been standing except 
 the foundation, was through his efforts 
 and labor completed, with the exception 
 of the work on the interior. From Little 
 Chute he was sent to St. Mary's Church 
 at Appleton, at which time the parishion- 
 ers, who were of several nationalities, all 
 attended the same church, and it was dur- 
 ing his incumbency here than the separa- 
 tion took place. While in Appleton 
 Father Verberk decided to pay a visit to 
 his native land, and set out on his journey 
 in June, 1872, proceeding to New York, 
 visiting en route friends in Cleveland, 
 Ohio, and Fort Lee, N. J. The voyage 
 from New York to Liverpool occupied 
 twelve days, and in August he arrived in 
 Holland, where he met with an affection- 
 ate reception, and lingered long and 
 fondly about the hallowed spot of his 
 happy childhood and boyhood days. His 
 first intention was to travel through- 
 out the continent and visit the Holy Land, 
 but, a sickness that might be called ' ' in- 
 digenous " to Holland having seized him, 
 he had to forego the anticipated pleasure, 
 and return to the United States after a 
 brief sojourn in his nati\e country of 
 about three months. 
 
 On November 25, he started on his 
 westward journey to resume his clerical 
 duties in the Far West, and after a 
 twenty-five days' passage from Liverpool 
 landed in New York, the voyage having 
 been protracted by an accident which oc- 
 curred when they were four days out, 
 necessitating return to port. Tarrying for 
 some weeks in New York and New Jersey, 
 ,he then visited relatives in Cleveland, 
 
 Ohio, and in the spring of 1873 arrived 
 once more at Green Bay, Wis. , whence 
 he proceeded to the diocese at Lacrosse, 
 and for two years and a half had charge 
 of the congregations at Baraboo, Sauk 
 county, and Eagle Point, Chippewa 
 county. Being claimed by the bishop of 
 Green Bay * as belonging to his diocese, 
 he in November, 1875, was called to the 
 temporary care of Wrightstown and other 
 charges, and later, in February, 1876, 
 was transferred to Chilton, Calumet 
 county, where was built under his pastor- 
 ate a new church costing some twelve 
 thousand dollars, and another for the 
 Germans, costing from six to seven thous- 
 and. In May, 1881, from the fact of his 
 speaking the language of Holland, best 
 understood by the Catholic congregation 
 at Little Chute, he was recalled thither, 
 remaining from 1881 to 1889. From that 
 parish, where during his stay he com- 
 pleted the yet unfinished church building 
 and erected a new parish school, he re- 
 moved in October, 1889. to his old charge 
 at Chilton, remaining until 1892, when 
 on account of failing health he resigned, 
 in September taking up his residence in 
 De Pere, where he made his home about 
 nine months, during which period of re- 
 pose he employed a portion of his' time 
 writing for a Dutch paper called De Pere 
 Staiiiiard, and the English Ec/io of tlie 
 Valley. By the advice, however, of his 
 physician, who recommended him to live 
 more into the country, he came in May, 
 1893, to the town of Holland, in Holland 
 township. Brown county, where he has 
 since led a retired life, at the same time 
 filling the charge of St. Mary's Church, 
 Hilbert Junction, by regular weekly visits 
 and religious services whenever required. 
 
 '^ The Hrst resident inisionaiy priest at Green Bay was 
 Fatlier Van den Broek, and Father Verberk is the only Hol- 
 land priest in Wisconsin to see that venerable divine in life. 
 This liappened during the winter of 1847-48. when Father Van- 
 den Broek. after years of missionary work among the Indians 
 in the Fox River Valley, was on a visit to his native country. 
 Father Verberk. at that time ntaking his college course, went 
 to see the aged missionary for advise about joining the colony 
 of Hollanders just then preparing to emigrate with Father 
 \'an den Broek. Strange, that the college boy in after years 
 should build a new church on the very spot, where the Pio- 
 neer was laid to rest ! 
 
COMMKMOliATIVE BIOGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 73 
 
 HON. PATRICK FINNERTY, a 
 leading representative citizen and 
 prosperous farmer of Holland 
 township, Brown county, by vir- 
 tue of his popularit}- and usefulness in his 
 county, deserves prominent place in 
 this Biographical Record. 
 
 He is a native of Brown county. Wis. , 
 born October 22, [856, on the farm 
 whereon he now lives in Section 14, Hol- 
 land township, the eldest son of Thomas 
 and Catherine (Keatonj Finnerty, natives 
 of Ireland. Thomas Finnerty was born 
 in County Sligo in 1820, the eldest in the 
 family of Patrick Finnerty, a tenant 
 farmer, who had by his wife, Catherine 
 (Cagginj, a family of ten children — seven 
 sons and three daughters. In the spring 
 of 1848 the family emigrated to the United 
 States, crossing the ocean from Liver- 
 pool in the sailing ship "Lord Elgin," 
 the voyage occupying seven weeks. Land- 
 ing in Boston, they proceeded from there 
 to \'ermont, locating for a time in Rut- 
 land county. In November, 1849, the 
 entire family came to Wisconsin via Buf- 
 falo to Sheboygan, and in Holland (at 
 that time Kaukauna) township, Brown 
 county, settled in the dense wildwoods on 
 160 acres government land in Section 14, 
 for which he paid ten shillings per acre, 
 and entered in the name of Thomas, the 
 eldest son. To reach this property the 
 party traveled from Fond du Lac along 
 the military road to a point south of 
 Wrightstown, and from there had to lit- 
 erally hew their way through the unbroken 
 forest, there being neither road nor even 
 path, the one they had to cut being the 
 first. Here they built them a rude cabin 
 and commenced to make a clearing for a 
 farm. Patrick Finnerty, the head of this 
 immigrant family, died in 1871, his wife 
 passing away later at the home of their 
 son Thomas. 
 
 Thomas Finnerty, just mentioned, 
 soon after their arrival here, in fact in the 
 fall of the same year (i848),had to return 
 to Ireland for some purpose, but in the 
 following spring rejoined his parents and 
 
 was one of the hardest workers in the 
 clearing of the land. For two summers, 
 however, after coming here, Thomas Fin- 
 nerty worked at Kaukauna, for the Fox 
 River Improvement Company, as a com- 
 mon laborer, in order to earn means for the 
 support of his parents and younger broth- 
 ers and sisters, after which he commenced 
 regular farming on the home place, and 
 in the course of time what was a dense 
 inhospitable forest he converted into a fer- 
 tile farm and comfortable home, the met- 
 amorphosis representing years of toil and 
 unceasing industry. In 1855 he married 
 Catherine Keaton, a native of Tipperary, 
 Ireland, and by her had children as fol- 
 lows: Patrick, the subject proper of this 
 sketch; Ellen, now Mrs. Hugh Finnegan, 
 of Holland; Catherine, who died unmar- 
 ried at the age of thirty-one years; Mary, 
 living in Green Ba}'; and Bridget, at 
 home. The family are all members of St. 
 Francis Church, at Holland. In his po- 
 litical associations Thomas Finnert}' is an 
 ardent Democrat, and in National and 
 State elections invariably votes that 
 ticket, but in county and township affairs 
 he supports the candidate he considers 
 best qualified for the office, regardless 
 of party ties. In his township he has 
 held the positions of treasurer and chair- 
 man, as well as treasurer of the school 
 board. 
 
 Patrick Finnerty, the subject of this 
 memoir, received a liberal education at 
 the winter schools of the vicinity of his 
 home, and being a diligent and apt 
 scholar, made remarkable progress with 
 his books. Schools in his boyhood were 
 very different to what they are at the 
 present time, and the lad, young as he 
 was, saw by his own experience that vast 
 improvements in the nurseries of the 
 young mind were necessary if education 
 was to keep pace with the phenomenal 
 progress of the latter half of the nine- 
 teenth century. Indeed, so aggressive 
 was the stand he took, and so convincing 
 were the arguments he advanced, that 
 before he was twenty-one years old he 
 
74 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 returning to his Wisconsin home at 
 
 received the appointment of clerk of the 
 school board of his district, an office he 
 has ever since held, always laboring for 
 the best interests of the educational in- 
 stitutions, particular]}- those included 
 within his own district. He was reared a 
 farmer boy on the same farm he now 
 conducts, all his instruction in this line 
 of work being received under the pre- 
 ceptorship of his father. Prior to his 
 marriage, in 1889, he took a trip to the 
 Pacific coast — his destination California; 
 and traveling by the Union Pacific rail- 
 road he stopped at many of the principal 
 cities cii route. In the "Eureka State" 
 he sojourned some ten months, visiting 
 various interesting points, and in passing 
 through Oregon spent some time in Port 
 land 
 the end of about a year. 
 
 Politically Mr. Finnerty has been a 
 Democrat from the time he cast his first 
 vote, and has always been a wheel-horse 
 of the party, being from early manhood 
 recognized as a leader in the Democratic 
 ranks in his township. He has been re- 
 peatedly called to positions of honor and 
 trust, all of which he has filled with honor 
 to himself and satisfaction to his con- 
 stituents. For two years he served as 
 treasurer, and in 1894 he was elected 
 township clerk. In the fall of 1886, by 
 a majority of votes, he was sent to the 
 Assembly as member of the thirty- 
 eighth session of the Wisconsin Legis- 
 lature, the occasion being the second bi- 
 ennial session, and he was the youngest 
 man ever elected to the Legislature in 
 Brown county. 
 
 In February, 1889, Mr. Finnerty was 
 married at Milwaukee, \\'is., to Miss 
 Ellen Desmond, a native of Brooklyn, N. 
 Y. , and daughter of Matthew Desmond, 
 who settled in Milwaukee when Mrs. 
 Finnerty was a child of about three sum- 
 mers. Three children have been born to 
 this union: Addie, Matthew and Thomas. 
 The home farm, still comprising 160 acres 
 of prime land, is conducted under the 
 immediate supervision of our subject him- 
 
 self, and reflects as much credit on him 
 as an agriculturist as have his public ser- 
 vices as a statesman. 
 
 IVl 
 
 ATTHIAS KEYNEN. Like 
 
 thousands of other worthy men 
 whose lot in their native coun- 
 try was simply to drudge and 
 be always poor, John Reynen, father of 
 Matthias, saw in the Western World a 
 rainbow of promise. In the spring of 
 1 85 I, with his wife and si.x children, he 
 left hard times and Holland behind, and 
 sailed from Amsterdam in an English 
 ship bound for New York city, arriving 
 after a fifty-eight-days' voyage. Green 
 Bay,\Vis. , was their final destination, and 
 they proceeded up the Hudson river by 
 steamboat to Albany, where they were 
 delayed a month by the se\ere illness of 
 the head of the family. When he had re- 
 covered they continued their journey via 
 the Erie canal, and Matthias and his 
 brother were priviledged characters on the 
 trip, being allowed to ride the horseswhich 
 drew the canal boat. Upon arrival at Buf- 
 falo it was learned that but one vessel, the 
 old " Michigan," was plying between that 
 point and Green Bay, and as it took her 
 two weeks to make the round trip, it was 
 necessary to wait most of that time for 
 her return; but they at length embarked, 
 and in the fall of 1851 reached their des- 
 tination. 
 
 The family passed the first winter in 
 Green Bay, but the following spring found 
 them in De Pere, as tenants of Samuel 
 Blake. After passing the summer here 
 they removed to Little Chute, where the 
 elder Reynen found employment on the 
 canal, as he had previously done, carry- 
 ing back to his family fifty pounds of 
 flour upon his return. He continued to 
 reside at Little Chute during his active 
 life, finally locating at De Pere, where he 
 died in 1883, and his remains were in- 
 terred in the Catholic cemetery at that 
 place. His widow yet lives with a mar- 
 ried daughter, on the same farm first 
 
COMMEMOllATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 75 
 
 occupied by the faniil)- upon their arrival 
 in this region. Their children, who are 
 all living, are as follows: William, re- 
 siding in South Dakota; Matthias, whose 
 name introduces this article; Gertrude, 
 now Mrs. John Coonen, of De Pere; Han- 
 nah, now Mrs. William Vandervelden, of 
 Cornelius, Oregon; Mary, wife of John 
 \'andyke, of Freedom, Outagamie Co. , 
 Wis.; Martin, of South Dakota; and the 
 only death in this family has been that of 
 tlie father. The children have all reared 
 large families. 
 
 Matthias Reynen was born in Holland 
 March 14, 1838, and was consequently 
 but thirteen years of age when he arrived 
 in the land of his adoption. His father 
 was able to afford him but a meager edu- 
 cution in the old country, and after arriv- 
 ing in the United States his only school- 
 ing was included in a four-weeks' attend- 
 ance at Alban)". during the sickness of his 
 father, as above mentioned, He showed 
 remarkable aptness, and during that short 
 period succeeded in mastering the three 
 primary "readers" which a kind old 
 gentleman had furnished him. By the 
 time he reached Green Bay he was able 
 to speak the English language fairly well, 
 and the first money he earned was fifty 
 cents received for acting as interpreter. 
 The same spirit of determination has been 
 of great value to him in the subsequent 
 years of his life, for by his own sole efforts 
 he has reached the position he now holds, 
 as a substantial, respected and estimable 
 citizen. His first employment in Wis- 
 consin was peeling potatoes for Capt. Ed- 
 wards, proprietor of the old ' ' Washing- 
 ton House " (which stood on the site now 
 occupied by the "Beaumont House"), 
 and having performed the same kind of 
 labor in his passage across the Atlantic, 
 he was undoubtedly proficient. Contin- 
 uing to reside with his parents until he 
 became of age, j'oung Matthias turned 
 his earnings over to them, assisting them 
 to the best of his ability to keep ' ' the 
 wolf from the door" and become the pos- 
 sessors of a home, engaging in various 
 
 kinds of labor — fishing, gardening, etc. 
 Until 1852 he carried the mail for Mr. 
 Tyler between Green Bay and Manito- 
 woc, one summer, when his horse had 
 only an Indian trail to follow, and the boy 
 had no definite idea as to the location of 
 Manitowoc, frequently turning out to 
 avoid wolves, bears, and other wild ani- 
 mals. His instructions were, if the horse 
 got disabled and swamped, to shoulder 
 the mail bag and continue on foot; this 
 happening on one occasion he left the 
 horse in the swampy ground, and started 
 to walk, but the animal succeeded in ex- 
 tricating itself from the mudhole, and fol- 
 lowing Mr. Reynen caught up with him 
 and whinnied for his master before he 
 had reached his destination. He at 
 length secured a position with Mr. Wager 
 and afterward with Wilcox & Wager, 
 millers of De Pere, with whom he learned 
 the milling trade, when the stone mill 
 was built in De Pere, and continued to 
 work at that place, at intervals, for twelve 
 years, as well as in a similar capacity at 
 other points; he is the oldest Hollander 
 miller in the Fox River Valley. He was al- 
 so employed more or less in the woods, and 
 hand in hand along with hard work plod- 
 ded along through the years, making a 
 record as a toiler scarcely surpassed by 
 a man of his age. He has been engaged 
 at nearly all kinds of labor except military 
 duty, and barely missed that, for he was 
 drafted, but escaped through a mistake on 
 the part of the enrolling officer, who 
 spelled his name " Ryan." Mr. Reynen 
 is unquestionably a leader of the self- 
 made men of his section, and, in addition 
 to his ability, being possessed of a won- 
 derful retentive memory, there is no 
 doubt but that, with proper education, he 
 might have made an honorable and dis- 
 tinguished record in the professional 
 world. 
 
 On November 16, 1863, Mr. Reynen 
 was wedded, in the old German Catholic 
 Church at Green Bay, to Adelia Martins, 
 who was born in Holland in 1843 and 
 came to the United States with h er 
 
76 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 father's family in 1850, the latter locat- 
 ing near the home of our subject, in Al- 
 louez township, at the foot of Robinson 
 Hill, the property now owned by Mr. 
 Reynen. The children born to this union 
 were: Minnie, now deceased; Fannie, 
 now Mrs. Frank Van Noss, of Green Bay; 
 Mary, now Mrs. Charles Van Noss, of 
 the same city; G. William, of Allouez, em- 
 ployed in the railroad service; Martin, 
 Tony, Ella and Minnie, at home; Frank, 
 deceased; Peter and Lilly May, at home; 
 and Dora, deceased. For a short time 
 after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Reynen 
 resided at Green Bay, but soon removed 
 to De Pere, where Mr. Reynen formed a 
 partnership with Fred Lucke, and en- 
 gaged for a few years in the milling busi- 
 ness. He also purchased the ' ' De Pere 
 House," becoming its landlord. He had 
 previously started up a new mill for other 
 parties in Chippewa Falls, and, besides, 
 built and conducted another at De Pere, 
 which latter was burned in 1883, the loss 
 being heavy and the insurance small. 
 After this disaster he located upon the 
 farm of ninety-seven acres upon which he 
 has since resided, the homestead being 
 generally known as "Robinson Hill." 
 From his pleasant home, erected in 1891, 
 a delightful view of the Fox river is 
 obtained. 
 
 Politically Mr. Reynen is an unswerv- 
 ing Democrat, and he has been elected by 
 his party to various official positions at 
 the different places where he has lived. 
 While in I^e Pere he was a member of the 
 city council several years, as well as of 
 the county board of supervisors twelve or 
 fifteen years, resigning upon his removal 
 to Allouez. In the latter township he has 
 been chairman of the town board for sev- 
 eral years, and is the present member for 
 Allouez on the county board, a position 
 in which he has always rendered credit- 
 able service. During the panic of 1873 
 he lost nine thousand dollars inside of six 
 months, and his fire losses in 1883 were 
 ten thousand; but, notwithstanding these 
 severe blows, he is yet comfortably situ- 
 
 ated, owning one hundred acres of the 
 most desirable land in the vicinity of 
 Green Bay, a property which is destined 
 to be worth many thousand dollars in the 
 not distant future. From his boyhood he 
 has found it necessary to make an uphill 
 fight. Instead of being assisted by his 
 parents his efforts were lent to their sup- 
 port, and it was a struggle for years be- 
 fore there was perceptible gain. In deal- 
 ing with his fellowmen his methods have 
 been straightforward and honorable, and 
 "Matt" Reynen, as he is best known, 
 is respected and esteemed by a wide circle 
 of acquaintances. He and his family are 
 members of the Holland Catholic Church, 
 in which he has been an officer for years, 
 and to which his contributions have been 
 most liberal. From out the Netherlands, 
 which have sent sturdy men and women 
 into the four quarters of the globe, there 
 have come few, if any, who can lay 
 stronger claim to the proud title, "a 
 self-made man," and he bears his laurels 
 with becoming composure. 
 
 CHARLES JOANNES, member of 
 the firm of Joannes Bros., whole- 
 sale grocers. Green Bay, Wis., 
 is a native of Belgium, born in 
 the town of Tervueren, about six miles 
 east of Brussels, April 24, 1844, the 
 eldest son of Eugene C. and Marie Eliza- 
 beth (Vandersmissen) Joannes. 
 
 In 1856 the family, consisting of 
 father, mother and eight children, left 
 their native land for the New World, 
 taking passage on a sailing vessel at Ant- 
 werp, and after a voyage of thirty-nine 
 days landed in New York. From there 
 they proceeded westward to Wisconsin, 
 via rail to Buffalo, thence steamer to 
 Green Bay, which they found to be a 
 thriving village and important trading 
 point. The family settled in Lawrence 
 township, Brown county, on a small 
 farm, which they commenced to clear, by 
 hard work and untiring perseverance to 
 
f^jJ' ^i^^C-r? -^— 7,^^^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 77 
 
 make a new home in the then compara- 
 tive wilderness; but the father was 
 (loomed never to realize his hopes and 
 plans for the future, for early in the fol- 
 lowing spring (1857), in attempting to 
 cross Fox river on the ice he broke 
 through and was drowned, leaving a 
 widow and seven children to survive him, 
 the youngest child (an infant) having died 
 a few months before this. He had lived 
 in Hrown county only about six months, 
 yet during that short time had estab- 
 lished himself in the estimation of all 
 whom he came in contact with as an 
 earnest, industrious man, above the 
 average in intelligence and progressive- 
 ness. All of the children that were old 
 enough were sent to school soon after 
 they were settled. The death of the 
 father left the widowed mother alone 
 among strangers with her children, the 
 eldest being only about fourteen years 
 old; but being heroic in nature, and 
 possessed of an indomitable will power 
 and a strong constitution to back it, she 
 set herself to the task of rearing her 
 children as well as circumstances would 
 permit. The neighbors, being kind- 
 hearted people, took great interest in the 
 family, and helped them in many ways, 
 five of the children finding homes among 
 them, where they were required to do 
 chores, assisting in farm work during the 
 summer season and attending school 
 during the winter months. In 1861 the 
 family moved into Green Bay, the farm 
 having been sold, and the money realized 
 from it was invested in a small home on 
 Pine street, where the Green Bay, 
 Winona & St. Paul railroad office build- 
 ing now stands. Here the famil}' resided 
 some years, the children, when old 
 enough to leave school, succeeding in 
 securing employment of one kind or an- 
 other in Green Bay. 
 
 Charles Joannes, who, as will be 
 seen, was about twelve years old when 
 the family came to Wisconsin, after 
 spending five years on the farm, went to 
 Green Bay, where he immediately secured 
 
 a position with the late Dr. Henry 
 Pearce, remaining there a little more 
 than two years, doing chores and attend- 
 ing school. From there he entered the 
 office of register of deeds as copying 
 clerk under Xavier Martin, and there he 
 remained two years, at the end of which 
 time he entered the store of Bennett & 
 Williamson, proprietors of the then lead- 
 ing dry-goods store in Green Bay, con- 
 tinuing in their employ until the winter of 
 1867. At that time, being desirous of 
 improving himself in commercial theory, 
 he went to Chicago, where he entered 
 Bryant & Stratton's Business College, 
 and after graduating from this school he 
 received the appointment of assistant 
 bookkeeper with Belding Bros. & Co., 
 manufacturers and jobbers of sewing 
 silks, Chicago. At the end of three 
 months he had earned the confidence of 
 the firm, and was sent by them to their 
 Cincinnati house to take full charge of 
 their books there, while at the close of 
 two years he became traveling salesman 
 for the same firm, his territory covering 
 almost the entire South; but in July, 
 1872, he severed his connection with 
 Belding Brothers in order to embark in 
 the grocery business with his brothers in 
 Green Bay. 
 
 The firm of Joannes Brothers, consist- 
 ing of Charles, William, Mitchell and 
 Thomas, commenced business in a retail 
 way in August, 1872. William (at that 
 time the only one of the four brothers to 
 have any experience in that line) was sent 
 to New York to buy their first stock of 
 goods, which was bought for cash. The 
 boys, being well known and respected, did 
 a flourishing business from the start, and 
 soon became the leading retail grocers in 
 the city. There was then quite a large 
 jobbing business done in Green Bay, but 
 the panic of 1873 soon followed, and 
 proved very disastrous to all the business 
 interests in Green Bay, particularly to the 
 wholesale grocery trade, it taking but a 
 short time to close up all of the whole- 
 sale grocery firms in the city. Joannes 
 
7S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 \ 
 
 Brothers, being then the leading retail 
 grocers, were quick to realize the import- 
 ance of trying to take care of as much of 
 the trade, that had formerly been buying 
 their goods at wholesale on this market, 
 as possible; but with their limited capital, 
 together with the panicky condition then 
 existing, the}- could readily see that noth- 
 ing but a strictly cash basis would now be 
 safe to follow. This they adopted, and 
 adhered to until conditions were more 
 favorable to again return to a credit sys- 
 tem, from which time on their business 
 increased ver}' rapidly, so that in 1884 
 they discontinued their retail department, 
 and have ever since conducted an e.xclu- 
 sively jobbing business. In 1891 their 
 business had grown to such an e.xtent that 
 they found it absolutely necessary to in- 
 crease their facilities, and they then 
 erected their present four-story (and base- 
 ment) building, 88 x 90 feet in dimensions 
 (with granite frontj, with warehouses in 
 rear extending to the channel of the ¥o\ 
 river, where all the largest lake steamers, 
 having goods for the firm, land and unload 
 their cargoes direct into these warehouses, 
 thus saving the firm a large amount every 
 year in cartage. They also have the track 
 of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
 railroad running between their store and 
 warehouse, thus enabling them to being all 
 car-load lots directly opposite their prem- 
 ises for unloading. In connection with their 
 grocery business they also own and oper- 
 ate a very complete coffee and spice mill, 
 and there are no better goods on the 
 market than their Champion brand spices. 
 Taking all things into consideration, the 
 Joannes Brothers have, without a doubt, 
 the most complete and best equipped 
 plant for conducting a wholesale grocery 
 business that can be found in the North- 
 west, with a trade that is second to none 
 in the State of Wisconsin. They now 
 have seven traveling men on the road 
 selling goods, which fact, however, hardly 
 gives a correct idea of their business, 
 fully half of which comes to them un- 
 solicited, and they employ in their differ- 
 
 ent departments no less than forty-four 
 hands. In the accomplishment of this 
 the brothers have had very little leisure 
 time, and to-day, even, they are harder 
 workers than any of their numerous em- 
 ployees, and their success in life is largely 
 attributed to the close personal attention 
 the}' have always given every detail in 
 their business, they never allowing goods 
 to be misrepresented, so far as they are 
 able to judge. 
 
 On July 2, 1872, Charles Joannes, the 
 senior member of the firm, was married 
 in Cincinnati to Miss Hattie P. Lambdin, 
 a native of that city, and daughter of 
 William Thomas and Martha (Athern) 
 Lambdin, who were born in Martha's 
 \'ineyard, Mass. , where William Athern, 
 the grandfather of Mrs. Charles Joannes, 
 helped to build the United States frigate 
 "Constitution." Mrs. Joannes received 
 her education in the schools of Rising 
 Sun, Ind. , and is a lady of culture and 
 refinement. She is a prominent member 
 of the Congregational Church, and takes 
 an active interest in the social life of 
 Green Bay. As a business man, Mr. 
 Joannes is recognized as possessing the 
 utmost ability, push and energy, and as 
 a citizen none stand any better. 
 
 M 
 
 ITCHELL JOANNES, member 
 of the wholesale grocery firm of 
 Joannes Bros., Green Bay, is a 
 native of Belgium, born in 
 1848, and is the third son of Eugene C. 
 and Marie Elizabeth (V'andersmissen) 
 Joannes. 
 
 Mitchell Joannes was but eight years 
 of age when he left home to live with 
 others. At the age of eight and one-half 
 years he began working on a farm; four 
 years afterward went to Ripon, Wis., 
 where for two years he was emplo}-ed at 
 the same kind of labor. In 1862 he 
 came to Green Bay, entered a physician's 
 office as clerk, and was thus engaged for 
 two years, at the end of which time he 
 commenced clerking in the crockerv 
 
Ai 
 
COMMEMORATIVE IIWORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 house of W'heclock & Chapman, at 
 which he continued until his enhst- 
 nieiit, in 1865, in Company G, Forty- 
 tirst Wis. \. I., under the ninety- 
 days' call; was stationed at Mem- 
 phis, Tenn., and was honorably dis- 
 charged at the expiration of his term of 
 enlistment; he sustained only one injury, 
 anil that was at Chatham, 111., through 
 an accident while ai route for home. On 
 his recovery, he was employed as clerk 
 for eighteen months in Green Bay, and 
 was then appointed to a position in the 
 postoffice, in the service of which, as 
 clerk and assistant postmaster, he re- 
 mained nine 3ears, doing duty during the 
 terms of Capt. D. M. ^^'hitne}•, Capt. C. 
 R. Tyler and W. C. E. Thomas. He 
 resigned this position to take an active 
 part with his brothers, Charles and Will- 
 iam, in the grocery business. [Business 
 record of Joannes Bros, will be found in 
 the sketch of Charles Joannes.] 
 
 Besides his interest in this extensive 
 concern, Mitchell Joannes has manifold 
 collateral connections. He has been a 
 director in the Citizens National Bank 
 since the organisation of that institution; 
 is a stockholder in the Columbian Bakery 
 Company, of w'hich he is a director and 
 vice-president; also stockholder in and 
 treasurer and director of the Green Bay 
 and Fort Howard W'ater W'orks Com- 
 pany. He is likewise a stockholder in 
 the Green Bay Planing Mill, as well as 
 in the Green Bay Pickle Factory, and 
 both building and loan societies; he is a 
 stockholder in the Brown County Fair 
 and Park Association, and director in the 
 J. R. Thomas Machine Company, and a 
 member of the Business Men's Associa- 
 tion of the city. In politics he is inde- 
 pendent, locally, voting for such men and 
 measures as will redound, in his opinion, 
 to the best interests of the general public, 
 and has served, with the same end in 
 view, as alderman from the Second 
 ward. In religion he is a devout Roman 
 Catholic, and worships at the French 
 
 Catholic Church. 
 5 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Joannes was 
 celebrated at Green Bay July i, 1875, 
 with Miss Fannie D. Goodhue, daughter 
 of Charles F. H. and Delia (Alger) Good- 
 hue, early settlers at Beloit, Wis. The 
 father of this amiable lady died in Wood 
 county, Wis., May 16, 1874, a much- 
 honored citizen; the mother makes her 
 home in Green Bay with Mr. Joannes' 
 family. This union was crowned by the 
 birth of five children, of whom three are 
 still living, viz. : Gertrude A. , Arline and 
 Harold V. ; the deceased are Guy Good- 
 hue, born May 17. 1876, died August 25, 
 1876; and Nellie Genevieve, born August 
 31, 1880, died June 23, 1882. Mr. Joannes 
 has indeed been the "architect of his 
 own fortune," having by his upright busi- 
 ness methods won for himself a host of 
 friends in the community of trade, and 
 by his genial manners and pleasant ad- 
 dress added daily to his list of patrons. 
 He has always been among the foremost 
 to aid by his means and enterprising 
 spirit the building up of Green Bay city 
 and the county of Brown, of which he is 
 recognized as one of the most substantial 
 citizens. 
 
 THOMAS JOANNES, member of 
 the wholesale grocery firm of 
 Joannes Brothers, Green Bay, is 
 a native of Belgium, born March 
 17, 1849, in Tervueren, a town situated 
 some six miles east of Brussels, a son of 
 Eugene C. and Marie Elizabeth (Vanders- 
 missen) Joannes. 
 
 Thomas Joannes was seven years old 
 when the family came to the United 
 States and to Wisconsin, and at the 
 schools of Green Bay he received a fairly 
 liberal education up to the age of fourteen 
 3'ears. On leaving school he commenced 
 learning the trade of jeweler, and by the 
 end of three years was so proficient at the 
 business that he was given charge of most 
 of the repairing in the store where he 
 served his apprenticeship. About the year 
 1866, abandoning the jewelrj- business, 
 
82 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he was given a clerkship in the postoffice 
 at Green Bay, and after four years in that 
 capacity was appointed, by United States 
 Senator T. O. Howe, to the position of 
 postal clerk in the United States mail ser- 
 vice. He had charge of the first mail car 
 that ever ran north of Green Bay, and his 
 was the first appointment for that division; 
 but after a faithful service of one and one- 
 half years he resigned in order to take 
 active interest in the grocery business of 
 Joannes Brothers, with whicfi he had been 
 affiliated since 1872. [Business record of 
 Joannes Brothers will be found in the 
 sketch of Charles Joannes.] 
 
 From the time of the opening out of the 
 wholesale branch, Thomas Joannes has, 
 more particularly, had charge of the spice 
 mills, besides attending to outside mat- 
 ters, such as collections, etc. On Octo- 
 ber 23, 1878, he was united in marriage, 
 in Oshkosh, Wis., with Miss Emma M. 
 Heath, a well-educated and highly-cul- 
 tured lady, whose native place is Racine, 
 Wis. She is a daughter of Joseph and 
 Catherine (Norton) Heath, old residents 
 of Oshkosh. To Mr. and Mrs. Joannes 
 have been born three children, named 
 respectively: Genevieve Regina, Mary 
 Hortense and Leland Heath. The par- 
 ents are members of St. John's Church, 
 Green Bay, and in his political sympatliies 
 Mr. Joannes is pronouncedly independent. 
 During the winter of 1893-94 he built one 
 of the finest residences to be se°n in Green 
 Bay or vicinity, in which he takes a pro- 
 per pride, for it is an ornament to the 
 city. His success in life is due to hard 
 work and good business management, 
 which, coupled with common sense and 
 sound judgment, have brought him the 
 reward he so well merits. 
 
 WILLIAM EDWARD KEL- 
 LOGG, cashier of the Kellogg 
 Banking Company at De Pere, 
 Brown county, was born June 
 I, 1855, in Amherst, Mass. He is a son 
 of Sanford W. and Emily L. (Spears) 
 
 Kellogg, the former of whom was at one 
 time a resident of Amherst, Mass., and 
 later a capitalist at Waukegan, III., re- 
 moving still later to Sauk Center, Minn., 
 where he engaged extensively in general 
 merchandising and flour-milling. He sub- 
 sequently returned to Waukegan, 111., 
 where he died in October, 1882. 
 
 William E. Kellogg was educated 
 partly at the high school of Waukegan, 
 having previously passed the junior year 
 at Notre Dame College, South Bend, Ind. 
 After leaving high school he was em- 
 ployed for a couple of years by a mer- 
 cantile firm at Sauk Center, Minn., of 
 which his father was the head, doing 
 business under the title of Kellogg, Chase 
 & Mayo; later was with Thomas, Lazear 
 & Hayden, wholesale dealers in furnish- 
 ing goods at Chicago, and then with John 
 V. Farwell & Co., wholesale dry-goods 
 men of the same city. In June, 1S78, 
 he entered the Kellogg National Bank at 
 Green Bay, Wis., at the bottom of the 
 ladder, and remained until October, 1881, 
 when he was made cashier of the Rufus 
 B. Kellogg & Co. bank at De Pere, of 
 which institution he is now the heaviest 
 stockholder. The average annual de- 
 posits in this bank up to the panic of 
 1893 were about one hundred and twenty- 
 five thousand dollars, and although a 
 slight diminution then took place, the 
 deposits soon recovered their wonted 
 volume. Throughout the most stringent 
 season of the year named the bank never 
 for a moment closed its doors, and never 
 asked a dollar aid from any source — an 
 illustration of the safe and conservative 
 system of the bank, which has never yet 
 lost a dollar by bad loans or investments. 
 Since 1881 the affairs of the bank have 
 virtually been under the control of Mr. 
 Kellogg, and although this gentleman 
 was but a novice when he took charge, 
 the owners made but one visit of inspec- 
 tion per year after the first two or three 
 months, being thoroughly satisfied with 
 the safe system upon which the cashier 
 was conducting its affairs. The manage- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 83 
 
 nient hold the entire confidence of the 
 public, and depositors feel that their 
 funds are as safe in its custody as if 
 locked up in a safety-deposit vault. The 
 bank is a State bank, and was incorpor- 
 ated in 1889 with R. B. Kellogg, presi- 
 dent; L. D. Hurd, vice-president, and W. 
 E. Kellogg, cashier, with a capital stock 
 of twenty-five thousand dollars, being the 
 outcome of a private bank established by 
 Rufus B. Kellogg in 1878. The death of 
 R. B. Kellogg, however, took place in 
 September, 1891, and H. H. Camp suc- 
 ceeded to the presidency of the Kellogg 
 Banking Company. This gentleman was 
 formerly president of the First National 
 Bank of Milwaukee, and is now also presi- 
 dent of the Milwaukee Trust Company. 
 
 At the death of Rufus B. Kellogg our 
 subject was appointed one of the execu- 
 tors of his estate of half a million, with- 
 out bonds, and was also made guardian 
 of his children. Rufus B. Kellogg was a 
 practical business man, and when our 
 subject started in with him, at the mea- 
 ger salary of twenty dollars per month, he 
 was warned that promotion depended on 
 his ability and attention to his duties. 
 The result speaks for itself. 
 
 The marriage of W. E. Kellogg with 
 Gertrude M. Hutchinson was solemnized 
 June 7, 1882, at Waukegan, 111., the 
 fruit of the union being Rufus H., born 
 December 13, 1889, and Anna, born 
 Januarj- 22, 1893. 
 
 DANIEL WHITNEY (deceased). 
 Something more than a simple 
 announcement and a passing re- 
 mark is due to the memory of one 
 who was not only the founder of Green 
 Bay, but for more than thirty years had 
 his residence there, and was as familiar 
 to the people as their own household 
 gods. More than any other man, he' was, 
 in the earlier part of his career, ardently 
 and actively engaged in developing the 
 resources of the then wilderness of the 
 Northwest, and in building up the city of 
 
 Green Bay. As one of the first settlers 
 and pioneers of Wisconsin, there is due 
 to his memory a place on the record of 
 his adopted home. In the prosecution of 
 his early explorations, as pioneer, no one 
 traveled as much, or labored as hard as 
 he; and, in doing so, no man suffered 
 more hardships, or exposure, or ran more 
 desperate risks. He knew no fear. 
 Wherever his duty or his business called 
 him, he went. Cold, storm, or night- 
 time had no terrors sufficient to deter him 
 from pursuing his. object. 
 
 Mr. Whitney was born September 3, 
 1795, in Gilsum, N. H., a son of Samuel 
 and Mary Whitney, the former of whom 
 was a native of Massachusetts, born 
 August 5, 1758, in Newton, whence in an 
 early day he removed to New Hampshire, 
 becoming a very prominent man in the town 
 of Gilsum, that State. He there married 
 Miss Mary Whitney, daughter of Capt. 
 Joshua Whitney, a prominent citizen of 
 Worcester, Mass., and captain of a vol- 
 unteer company raised there, serving 
 throughout the Revolutionary war. Sam- 
 uel Whitney, father of our subject, was 
 also a soldier in that struggle, a member 
 of Capt. Flagg's company of "Minute 
 Men." His son Daniel, of whom this 
 sketch pertains, was reared in New Hamp- 
 shire, and received his education in part 
 at the schools of the neighborhood of his 
 home, in part in Boston, Mass. In 18 16 
 he paid his first visit to Green Bay, to 
 "spy the land," and returning east again 
 in 1 8 19, came here to make his perma- 
 nent home in the new country, being 
 twenty-four years old at the time. Here 
 he established himself in mercantile busi- 
 ness near Camp Smith, two and one-half 
 miles above the present site of Green 
 Bay, where the village then was; and this 
 was the starting point of all his subsequent 
 numerous enterprises. 
 
 Wisconsin, and all the west and north, 
 was then a complete wilderness, inhabited 
 only by wild Indians comprising within 
 the limits of the present State at least six 
 different nations, and other nations still 
 
84 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 more tierce and warlike held all the coun- 
 try west of the Mississijipi. This did not 
 prevent Mr. Whitney from making many 
 long journeys to the interior, and push- 
 ing his investigations wherever he thought 
 good locations for trade could be found. 
 He e.xplored the Fox river to its source, 
 and the Wisconsin from the rapids to the 
 Mississippi. In 1821-22 he was sut- 
 ler for U. S. troops at Fort Snelling, on 
 the St. Peter's river, Minnesota; estab- 
 lished several trading posts on the Missis- 
 sippi, where he supplied traders with 
 goods, and had also a trading post at 
 Sault Ste. Marie. During the winter of 
 1822 he traveled on foot from Fort Snell- 
 ing to Detroit, with only an Indian for a 
 companion, to assist him with his pro- 
 visions and bedding, which they drew on 
 a hand sled. During this whole journey 
 (about one thousand miles) he met but 
 one white man, and saw but two cabins. 
 An incident occurred on this trip which 
 showed the perseverance and daring of 
 the man. In crossing one of the numer- 
 ous rivers en route, he found the ice bad. 
 The Indian guide became afraid, but Mr. 
 Whitne)' crossed over, drawing the sled 
 and load with him. The Indian would 
 not follow, whereupon Mr. Whitney re- 
 crossed, and in so doing broke through 
 the ice (which was thin, the water deep 
 and the current strong) with one foot. 
 He provided himself with a rope from the 
 sled and a cudgel, and compelling the In- 
 dian to lie down upon the ice, with the 
 rope drew him over in safety. In the fall 
 of 1S24 he had a vessel, loaded with 
 goods and provisions for Green Bay, frozen 
 in near Mackinac. Such an accident in 
 those times threatened serious conse- 
 quences to the settlements, and, although 
 starvation was impossible when fish and 
 venison were plent}', yet many would suf- 
 fer inconvenience, and Mr. Whitney a 
 great loss, unless the supplies could be 
 reached. As soon, therefore, as cold 
 weather had insured a bridge of ice, along 
 the shore, and across the rivers and bays, he 
 fitted out an expedition consisting of him- 
 
 self and several French-Canadians, with 
 horse-trains, made the trip to Mackinac 
 on the ice, where the vessel was, and re- 
 turned with all he could of the most 
 necessary goods. In order to carry on 
 his extensive operations, he went several 
 times to Canada, and procured large num- 
 bers of " voyageurs," men used to voy- 
 aging and the trader's life. With those as 
 companions and assistants, he traversed 
 the country on foot, in the bark canoe 
 and in the Mackinac boat, exploring new 
 sections of country, and transporting goods 
 to his trading houses. Many of these 
 men are still in the county, and are num- 
 bered among the most substantial farmers. 
 From these early times, until the light of 
 civilization shone across the country, un- 
 til settlements were formed, and roads 
 opened from the lake shore to the in- 
 terior, and until the improvement of the 
 Fox river had so far progressed as to ad- 
 mit of partial steamboat navigation, Mr. 
 Whitney was largely engaged in the trans- 
 portaticjn business. For man\' years all 
 the supplies for Forts Winnebago and 
 Crawford and the upper Mississippi, for 
 troops, Indian treaties, etc., were con- 
 veyed in boats from Green Bay by the 
 Fox and Wisconsin rivers; and few per- 
 sons, not familiar with those times, can 
 form any idea of the immense labor and 
 cost involved. 
 
 Between 1825 and 1830 Mr. Whitney 
 explored the upper Wisconsin, built mills 
 at Plover Portage, and for more than 
 fifteen years was engaged in the business 
 of manufacturing lumber, and running it 
 down the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers 
 to the St. Louis market. This was the 
 first lumbering establishment erected on 
 the Wisconsin river, and probably the 
 first on any tributary of the Mississippi. 
 During the same period he also built a 
 shot-tower at Helena, on the Wisconsin 
 river, and inaugurated an extensive busi- 
 ness at that point. From the time the 
 Stockbridge Indians came into the State 
 to commence their new homes, in 1827 
 or 1828, until their removal to their 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPIIJCAL RECORD. 
 
 present location in Shawano county, he 
 kept a supply store among them, trans- 
 acting also their business for them; and 
 during the whole time, about thirteen 
 years, as a strictly honest man and a fair 
 and liberal dealer, he possessed their 
 entire confidence; and down to the time 
 of his death these Indians looked up to 
 him as their father and friend. He also 
 supplied goods to Indian agencies, as will 
 be seen by the following letter, written 
 over sixty years ago: 
 
 Indian Agency, 
 Green Bay, July 21, '32. 
 To Daniel Whitney: 
 
 Dear Sir. — With the arms purcha.secl from 
 Messrs. Kircheval & Hamilton, together with 
 j'our own, you will please to include some to be 
 had from Messrs. Law, Porlier & Grignon, in 
 order that the whole number may be included 
 in the one draft to be drawn on ac. of 
 army. These arms I should be glad to have 
 sent to the Agency in the course of the day, or 
 early on Monday morning. 
 
 (Signed) G. Boyd, IT. S. Indian Agt. 
 
 In 1 83 1 he abandoned his residence 
 near Camp Smith, and moved his family 
 and store to Navarino (now Green Bay), 
 near the mouth of the river, where he 
 passed the rest of his days. From his 
 earliest acquaintance with the locality 
 and surroundings of Green Bay, he enter- 
 tained the most unbounded confidence in 
 its capabilities and fitness to become the 
 most important commercial town in the 
 State, and, acting upon this faith, he as 
 early as possible secured the land where 
 the city now stands, and in 1828 or 1829 
 laid out the town of Navarino, since 
 incorporated as Green Bay, and com- 
 menced building a city. In 1830 he had 
 completed a wharf and spacious ware- 
 house, a portion of the "Washington 
 House," a school house, and some dwell- 
 ing houses for his mechanics and labor- 
 ers. From 1830 to 1840 he continued to 
 build, and as fast as materials could be 
 obtained erected eight or ten stores and 
 a large number of dwelling houses to rent; 
 in the meantime giving away a consider- 
 able number of lots to mechanics and 
 others who were desirous of building 
 
 homes for themselves. He also con- 
 tributed very largely toward the comple- 
 tion of the Episcopal church edifice — the 
 first Protestant house of worship built in 
 either the city or the State. This church 
 edifice was always a special object of 
 interest to him, and from its completion 
 in 1 838 until cares ended with him on earth 
 he never ceased to watch about it, and 
 man\' a dollar has he expended in repairs, 
 from time to time, which no one but him- 
 self ever noted or recorded, and for which 
 the congregation can never cease to owe 
 him a grateful remembrance. The fol- 
 lowing is copied from a sketch of ' ' Pioneer 
 Life in Wisconsin," written by Henry 
 Merrill for the benefit of the State His- 
 torical Society: 
 
 At Shanteetown I met Rev. Mr. Cadle. who 
 had charge of the Episcopal Mission, delight- 
 fully situated on a hill back from the river in a 
 beautiful grove: and Alexander Irwin and his 
 lady, and Samuel, his brother, who were en- 
 gaged in merchandise here : Wm. Dickinson 
 and others. Having letters of introduction to 
 Mr. Daniel Whitney, I became well acquainted 
 with him, and have considered him one of the 
 most enterprising- men of the West. At this 
 time he was doing an extensive business in 
 merchandise, reaching on to the Wisconsin 
 river, where he had built the first sawmill upon 
 the river at Point Pass, some seventj- miles 
 above the Portage, one on the Wisconsin and 
 one on the Fox, a shot-tovver at Helena, and 
 extending his business on to the Mississippi to 
 Galena and St. Louis. Three years before he 
 persisted in building and laying off a town, 
 what is now the town of Green Bay, although 
 he was laughed at and called crazy. But the 
 trouble was, in many of his operations he was 
 ahead of the times, and some of them did not 
 prove good investments, although Navarino 
 did not prove one of them, for the town of 
 Green Bay is now a large and flourishing city. 
 I afterward met him often, and roamed over 
 the country with him on hor.seback, as all our 
 traveling was accomplished in that way in 
 those days, sometimes without road and some- 
 times on Indian trails, fording streams, marsh- 
 es, etc.. etc., sometimes in the rain and some- 
 times through the snow, taking the ground for 
 our body with our saddles for pillows, carrying 
 provisions and blankets with us. I always 
 found him acheerful companion and an estima- 
 ble man. He gave me at one time an account, 
 the minutes of which I took down, of a journey 
 of his from Fort Snelling, on the St. Peter's, 
 to Detroit, Mich., in 1821, on foot in the midst 
 of winter, as follows: December A. 1821, he 
 started in a canoe with two men, the ice run- 
 ning thick in the river. His acquaintances 
 
86 
 
 COMMEMOliATIVE BIOQRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tried Iiiird to persuade him to defer starting- 
 until the river closed; but no, business called 
 him. and he must go. They soon found them- 
 selves in a bad fix, for the ice blocked up under 
 the canoe so as to raise it six feet above the 
 water. After great exertion they got to shore, 
 as he said, more pleased than he ever was in 
 his life at getting on land again. They then 
 started on foot, and got only nine miles the 
 first day and encamped. The next day started 
 down the river bank, packinjf their food and 
 blankets on their backs, each carrying a gun, 
 the weather extremely cold and the snow six 
 inches deep. They were five days in getting 
 to Lake Pepin. In crossing the lake Mr. Whit- 
 ney broke through; the lock of his g-un catch- 
 ing on the ice was the only thing that saved 
 him. The weather was so cold some of the 
 time that they had to stop and build tires to 
 warm themselves to keep from freezing. 
 Thirty miles above Prairie du Chien they g-ot 
 out of provisions, but seeing a smoke they made 
 for it and found Augustin Grignon encam])ed, 
 an acquaintance from Green Bay. He was on 
 a trading- voyage among tlie Indians ; he sup- 
 plied them with provisions. In this way they 
 passed through Prairie du Chien to Fort Win- 
 nebago, and from thence to (Jreen Bay, where 
 they arrived in twenty-one days from Fort 
 Snelling. After remaining a few days he took 
 a guide and started on foot for Chicago, where 
 he arrived in ten days, and from there to De- 
 troit in ten days more, making' his tramp in 
 forty-one days from Fort Snelling, and said he 
 could then make his forty miles a day, and 
 easier than to ride un horseback. 
 
 During the last tifteen years of Mr. 
 Whitney's hfe he pursued no regular busi- 
 ness, but devoted his whole time to the 
 care of an iiiiniense landed estate. His 
 early life in the wilderness, upon the 
 rivers, and upon the bay, is full of in- 
 cidents, interesting, as showing the intre- 
 pidity of his character, and his indomitable 
 perseverance, under the most discourag- 
 ing difficulties. On one occasion while 
 returning home from Grand Kaukauna 
 with horse and train, on the ice, in the 
 night, his horse broke through. Being 
 alone, and finding himself unable to extri- 
 cate the horse without aid, in order to 
 keep the horse's head al)ove water he tied 
 it to the train, and then went three miles 
 for assistance, rather than let his horse be 
 drowned, as most men would have done. 
 He returned \\ith help, and saved the 
 animal. Whene\er there was danger in 
 the path, he was always at the head of 
 his party, and never required a man in 
 
 his employ to go where he was afraid to 
 lead. He was never a candidate for 
 office and never served in one. Honest 
 and upright in all his dealings, he always 
 possessed the confidence of his employes 
 and dependents, and all who had any 
 business transactions with him. His heart 
 was ever kind, and the poor, the unfortun- 
 ate, and the affiicted, in his death lost a 
 friend who never forgot them. Many was 
 the time that such, in their greatest want, 
 found the needed supply in the doorway, 
 or at the kitchen corner at nightfall, or 
 at daydawn, without ever knowing the 
 hand that relieved them; and oft had the 
 Christmas-tide brought with it happiness, 
 when else no merry Christmas jubilee 
 would have found its way around the fires 
 where no Yule log was wont to burn, but 
 for his ever benevolent and open hand. 
 Such will remember him with affection, 
 and it is feared look in vain for one to 
 take his place. He died November 4, 
 1862, in the house where he had resided 
 almost thirty years, at the age of sixty- 
 eight years, and Ijy his will left his large 
 and valuable estate entirely under the 
 control of his widow, as sole executor. 
 Calml}' he awaited the approach of death, 
 which he saw slowly Init surelj' approach- 
 ing for man)' weeks; and spoke of it as 
 nnconcernedl}' as if he was expecting a 
 friend to accompany him on a pleasant 
 journey. And thus quietly passed away 
 Daniel Whitney. If he had faults, let us 
 forget them, and remember only his many 
 virtues, and the sweet savor of his good 
 deeds. In his political associations he 
 was a lifelong Whig. 
 
 Our subject was married at Middle- 
 bury, Vt., September 1, 1826, to Miss 
 Emmeline Henshaw, a native of that 
 place, born July 21, 1803, daughter of 
 Daniel and Sarah (Prentis) Henshaw, na- 
 tives of Connecticut, he born in Middle- 
 town, she in New London, both dying in 
 Vermont. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 Whitney made their permanent home in 
 Green Bay, where, October 25, 1890, she 
 passed away. To them were born seven 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 87 
 
 children, of whom the following is a brief 
 record: (I) Daniel Henshaw, born in 
 Shantytown, June 7, 1827, was married 
 March lO, 1863, to Miss Rosena Bader, 
 and settled in Stockbridge, Wis. , but died 
 in Menasha No\ember 17, i 866; the}- had 
 two children: Enimeline Stillnian, born 
 October 28, 1865, now residing in Green 
 Bay, and Daniel, born January 27, 1867, 
 now living in Philadelphia. (II) Joshua 
 resides in Green Bay, and sketch of him 
 immediatcl)- follows this. (Ill) William 
 Beaumont, born in Navarino (now Green 
 Baj) April 4, 1832, the first male white 
 child to see the light in that then village, 
 resides in Philadelphia; was married first 
 in Piqua, Ohio, November 21, 1854, to 
 Miss Laura Margaret Clewell, who died 
 May 4, 1884; to them were born children 
 as follows: Mary C., November 4, 1855, 
 died in Newport, Ky., August 28, 1857; 
 Helen C., November 15, 1863, married 
 to Francis Sedgwick Bangs, November 
 9, 1888, and resides in New York; Mary 
 Douglas, born October 29, 1865, married 
 November 19, 1891, George M. Hender- 
 son, and lives in Germantown, Penn. ; 
 A\'^illiatn Beaumont was married the sec- 
 ond time at Chicago,. November 23, 1888, 
 to Miss Emma Graham \'arian, by whom 
 he has one child, Margaretta, born March 
 13, r892. (IV) Charles Richards, born 
 September 27, 1837, died November 27, 
 
 1 84 1. (V) John Prentis Kane, born No- 
 vember 10, 1840, died October 30, 1841. 
 (\'I) Harriet Hay ward, born October 18, 
 
 1842, is still li\'ing on the old homestead, 
 in the house she was born in. (VIIj 
 Henry Clay, born April 12, 1847, died 
 September 28, 1847. 
 
 JOSHUA WHITNEY. Were this 
 gentleman asked to define the secret 
 of success in life, from his own 
 standpoint and experience, his replj' 
 would be, no doubt, that it is hard work, 
 availing itself of fair opportunities. Always 
 and everywhere he remembers that his 
 
 business career has been a successful one, 
 and that to himself, ■ and all Wisconsin 
 men of his caliber, is peculiarly applicable 
 the well-worn maxim, that " nothing is so 
 successful as success." 
 
 Mr. Whitney was born in the city of 
 Green Bay, Wis., in 1829, a son of Daniel 
 and Emmeline S. (Henshaw) Whitney, 
 a sketch of whom immediately precedes 
 this. He received his education in Gam- 
 bier, Ohio, whither he was taken when a 
 four-year-old boy. On leaving school he 
 went to the Middlebury (Vt.j College, 
 where he studied five years, and then re- 
 turned to Green Bay. He was engaged 
 in the carrying trade on Fox river^ and 
 transported the first iron for the N. 
 W. R. R. in this section, from Fond 
 du Lac to Watertown. For some 
 time in the iron industry, his interests 
 therein took him much abroad, and for a 
 time he was a resident of Hartford, Conn. , 
 where he had charge of the Connecticut 
 Valley railroad. On his return to Green 
 Bay he did not here remain long, as we 
 next find him in Duluth, Minn., of which 
 city he was a resident eight years, finally 
 returning to Green Bay, where he has 
 since continuously resided. 
 
 On November 9, 1852, Mr. Whitney 
 was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
 Frances Irwin, a native of Brown countj'. 
 Wis., daughter of Alexander A. and 
 Frances P. (Smith) Irwin, and they have 
 one child, Emmeline Henshaw, married 
 to Walter A. Calhoun, of St. Louis, Mo., 
 by whom she has a son named George 
 Whitney. In his political preferences 
 Mr. Whitney was originally an Old-line 
 Whig, and since the organization of the 
 party he has been a stanch Republican, 
 at one time a member of the Know- 
 Nothing party. In municipal matters he 
 has been president of the council, and 
 served as chief of the Fire Department. 
 Socially he is a member of Washington 
 Lodge, F. & A. M. A generous, liberal 
 gentleman, the private life of Joshua 
 Whitney is adorned with many beneficent 
 acts. 
 
88 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 GKEGORIE DENIS. Among the 
 representathe self-made men, and 
 well-known capitalists of Brown 
 county, few if an}' have been the 
 architects of their own fortune to a degree 
 such as has been attained bj' the gentle- 
 man whose name is here recorded. 
 
 Mr. Denis is a native of I^elgiuni, born 
 February 8, 1841, the eldest in the family 
 of Justice and Josephine Denis, also Bel- 
 gians by l)irth. The father in his native 
 land was a well-to-do farmer, in comfort- 
 able circumstances, but l)eing desirous of 
 seeing something of the New World, and 
 perhaps liettering himself and family, re- 
 solved to emigrate hither to prospect for 
 a new home in the I""ar West, if he could 
 find a suitable one. Accordingly, in 
 1855, finding himself possessed of suf- 
 ficient means for the purpose without hav- 
 ing to convert any of his real estate into 
 cash, accompanied by his wife and son 
 Emil, he set sail from the port of Ant- 
 werp, and on arrival at New York the lit- 
 tle family at once proceeded westward to 
 Wisconsin, where in (ircen Bay town- 
 ship. Brown county, near the village of 
 Robinsonville, Mr. Denis purchased a 
 farm. Here they lived for some time, and 
 liking the locality and finding the jiroperty 
 a desirable one, Mr. I3cnis concluded to 
 remain, sending instructions to Belgium 
 to have his property there disposed of and 
 the proceeds sent to him. Shortly after 
 their settlement here another child was 
 b(3rn in the family, a daughter, named 
 Fanny, who is now li\ing in Wausau, 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 But we must now rt'turn to our sub- 
 ject, Gregorie, who had l)een left behind 
 in Belgium in the care of friends. He 
 received a fairly liberal education at the 
 parish schools of his native place, and 
 l)eing of studious habits and an apt 
 scholar made good progress with his 
 books. The party he had been left in care 
 of by his parents was by trade a 
 baker, who, shortly after young Denis 
 commenced to make his home with him, 
 became financially involved, having all 
 
 his possessions seized by the authorities 
 for debt, thereby making the latl prac- 
 tically homeless. For some time Gregorie 
 debated within himself what to do, and 
 even at his then early stage of life his in- 
 domitable will power and other charac- 
 teristics began to assert themseh'es. As 
 the thnt show its fire only when it is 
 struck, so this sudden stroke of misfor- 
 tune at once awakened into action the 
 dormant spirit in the lad. His mind after 
 some deliberation bein^ made up, he con- 
 cluded to return to the okl home of his 
 childhood, where he first saw the light, 
 and which yet remained in the family, 
 there to await the summons from his 
 father to set out for the new home in 
 America. The thought of having to leave 
 the hallowed spot where in sunny days 
 he sported in childish glee, and trod in 
 boyish pride, was ;i bitter one indeed; 
 and as he surveyed the well-known sur- 
 roundings of the old home, one of the 
 most beautiful in ttiat part of the country, 
 shaded as it was by lu.xuriant shrubbery 
 and fragrant with the perfume wafted 
 from a million beautiful fiowers, he could 
 scarce restrain the tears from coming to 
 his eyes. For some time he remained 
 around the; sacred spot, but was far from 
 contented, although, being naturally in- 
 dustrious, he employed his time well at 
 whatever of use he could find for his hand 
 to do. After a time an uncle kindly 
 offered hitn a home, which he accepted, 
 and there he remained until sent for by 
 his parents, during the winter of 1855-56 
 attending school again, the last of his edu- 
 cational training. In April following the 
 summons came for his dejiarture to 
 America, and accordingly bidding a fond 
 farewell to friends and old scenes so dear 
 to him, he took passage at Antwerp on a 
 sailing vessel for Ouebec, Canada, which 
 he reached after a voyage of thirty-five 
 days. From there he at once came west- 
 ward to Wisconsin, and had a happy 
 meeting with his parents, his brother 
 Emil and his little sister, Fanny, whom 
 he had never yet seen. Here the lad 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 89 
 
 worked industriously, assistinj:; his fiithcr 
 in clearing up the farm, and familiarizing 
 himself with all the trials and vicissitudes 
 incident to pioneer life. The coimtry in 
 Brown county was but sparsely settled at 
 this time, and wild animals still roamed 
 the forests, Indians being also numerous, 
 though friendly. Our subject worked 
 many a time for neighbors at one shilling 
 per day, his father being able to earn no 
 more than two shillings. The latter, who 
 was an industrious, jiersevcring man, 
 without reproach and highly respected, 
 died in 1867, his demise being, no doubt, 
 hastened by hard work and exposure; his 
 widow, who passed her declining years 
 at the home of her son Gregorie, was 
 called from earth in 1891, and they both 
 sleep their last sleep in Bay Settlement 
 cemetery. They were consistent mem- 
 bers of the Catholic church. Emil, the 
 other son, is now a farmer in Green l^ay 
 township. 
 
 In 1 861 the subject of this sketch was 
 united in marriage at Bay Settlement 
 with Mrs. Mary Dcpereaux {ncc Gosya), 
 widow of Jose]:>h Dcpereaux, and he at 
 once located at that place. She was pro- 
 prietor of a small restaurant there, doing 
 a thriving business with the traveling 
 public; but the business ditl not af- 
 ford su])port to both, and our subject 
 had to take employment in Appleton as a 
 common laborer on the Chicago & North 
 Western railway then building. Here 
 for three months he worked at meager 
 wages under contractors who paid but 
 little for their help, and many a sleepless 
 night he had from the violent aching of 
 his bones and muscles, the result of the 
 previous day's hard labor. During these 
 three months of toil he succeeded, by 
 dint of the strictest economy, in saving 
 $;^5.oo, with which smn he returned to 
 his wife in the Bay Settlement. She in 
 the meantime had saved some $30.00, 
 and their combined capital they invested 
 in a stock of groceries. Business was 
 opened up in the log house then standing, 
 but finding their capital still insufficient, 
 
 Mr. Denis proceeded to Green Bay where 
 he purchased one hundred dollars' worth 
 of groceries from Louis Day, who, how- 
 ever being unac(]uainted with Mr. Denis, 
 was indisposed to credit him. However, 
 a Mr. DePew, who had confidence in 
 the young man, and was disposed to be- 
 friend him, offered himself as a surety to 
 Mr. Day, and the goods were shipped on 
 to the unpretentious store in Bay Settle- 
 ment. Business continuing to increase, 
 jjurchasers from a distance patronizing 
 the store, which was beginning to enjoy 
 a wide ])opiilarit3', it became evident that 
 both stock and premises would have to 
 be enlarged. But, again, the lack of 
 capital was the seemingly insurmountable 
 obstacle, and the worthy business couple 
 were not a little concerned about their 
 future prospects. One day, however, 
 two customers, who were at their counter 
 refreshing themselves (for in addition to 
 the store Mr. and Mrs. Denis also kept 
 a sort of saloon) — Mr. Louis Van Dycke 
 and a Mr. Croker, then cashier of the city 
 bank, of Green Bay — got into conversa- 
 tion with our subject, and on learning 
 from him the circumstances just related, 
 and having confidence in the young mer- 
 chant, and in his ability to conduct a 
 much more extensive business, voluntar- 
 ily offered to give him letters f)f credit to 
 certain wholesale merchants in Milwau- 
 kee. Thus equipped Mr. Denis pro- 
 ceeded to the "Cream City." and made 
 purchases of dry goods, boots and 
 shoes, hardware, tinware, etc., until he 
 thought he had a sufficient stock, all 
 selected with the same shrewdness and 
 caution which have characterized all his 
 dealings both before and since, and never 
 thinking of taking any advantage of the 
 unlimited confidence placed in him by his 
 two friends. Great was his surprise and 
 dismay when, on returning to his h(jtel, 
 he foimd that his purchases summed up 
 to about seven thousand five hundred 
 dollars! The very thought of assum- 
 ing so great an indebtedness with a 
 capital of but a few dollars much per- 
 
90 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 turbed him, but after due reflection and 
 revolving all the pros and cons in his 
 mind, he concluded to allow the goods to 
 be shipped, and trust to fortune and his 
 own good business capacity for the re- 
 sults. The freight on the goods itself 
 was eighty-five dollars, a large sum for 
 him to payout at onetime, and then there 
 was the expense of enlarging the store- 
 room. But undismayed now, he put his 
 shoulder to the wheel, and adopting a 
 strictly cash trade, he soon did a paying 
 business, the magnitude of his stock alone 
 bringing him hundreds of customers who 
 came out of curiosity, but very few of 
 whom left without purchasing something. 
 His bills were met as they became due, 
 Dusiness continued to e.Kpand, the stock 
 was added to with fresh lines as enquiries 
 for various articles demanded, and in 
 course of time Mr. Denis found himself 
 the leading merchant in Brown county. 
 His home for a considerable time was in 
 the rear of the store, but the rooms being 
 required for business purposes, he in 1889 
 erected what is probably the finest coun- 
 try residence in the county, elegantly 
 furnished throughout with all modern im- 
 provements. 
 
 His mercantile business not affording 
 sufficient opportunities for judicious in- 
 vestments of his rapidly accumulating 
 capital, Mr. Denis commenced a private 
 banking and real-estate business. Here 
 and there purchasing land, he at the 
 present time owns, in Scott and Preble 
 townships, between 400 and 500 acres, 
 which, however, does not nearly repre- 
 sent his possessions. In Green Bay he 
 owns a residence on Pine street, a busi- 
 ness block on Washington street, sixty- 
 si.x feet frontage of desirable business 
 property between Pine and Main streets, 
 where it is his intention to erect a suit- 
 able block. In all his investments and 
 transactions his business acumen and 
 sagacity have been particularly notice- 
 able, and to these for the most part is his 
 phenomenal success to be attributed. 
 
 By his first marriage Mr. Denis had 
 
 three children, viz. : Edward, who acts 
 as private secretary, and has control of 
 his father's immense business, taking 
 charge of nearly all his transactions, a 
 position for which he is well adapted, 
 having received a good business educa- 
 tion; Louis, who owns a prosperous 
 butcher business in Milwaukee; and 
 Joseph, in the employ of A. G. Spuhler 
 & Co., of Green Bay. In 1869 the 
 mother of these was called from earth, 
 and was interred in the Bay Settlement 
 cemetery. To her thorough business 
 capacity, judgment and tact, much of her 
 husband's earlier success was due, and in 
 his after prosperity he never forgot the 
 onward struggle she so faithfully shared 
 with him. For his second and present 
 wife he wedded Miss Annie Schurger, who 
 was born August 6, 1845, on Lake Michi- 
 gan, to Mr. and Mrs. Casper Schurger, 
 while they were en route from Germany 
 to Wisconsin. To this marriage there 
 are five children, all living, as follows: 
 Mary, Barbara, Annie, George (studying 
 pharmacy at the North Western Ohio 
 Normal School at Ada, Ohio), and Will- 
 iam. 
 
 Politically our subject has been a life- 
 long Republican, and was appointed by 
 the Grant administration postmaster at 
 Bay Settlement, an incumbency he filled 
 with acknowledged ability, twenty-three 
 years, his removal after that long period 
 being due to political reasons only. He 
 and his wife and family are all prominent 
 members of the Catholic Church. The 
 parents, deprived themselves of early 
 educational advantages, believe in the 
 thorough training of their children, who 
 have all had e.xcellent academical and 
 other advantages. Mr. Denis has been 
 remarkably and happily fortunate in his 
 marriages. His worthy helpmeet possesses 
 all the characteristics of a thorough busi- 
 ness woman, and has been of invaluable 
 assistance to him in his many and diverse 
 interests. His success in life has well 
 proven the truth of the adage: "Where 
 there's a will there's a way," and his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 91 
 
 strong' determination, indomitable will 
 and never-failing courage, have placed 
 him in a position to be recognized as, 
 without a peer, the heaviest taxpayer in 
 Scott township. 
 
 REV. FATHER C. DE LOUW,the 
 learned and pious pastor of St. 
 Francis Roman Catholic Church, 
 in the town of Holland, Brown 
 county, is a native of Holland, born Au- 
 gust 27, 1839. 
 
 He is the youngest in the family of 
 fourteen children born to the late Martin 
 De Louw, who was by occupation a manu- 
 facturer of cloth in Holland. One son, 
 Andrew, is now a priest at Moergestel, 
 Holland; another son, John, isconducting 
 his father's old business, and one daugh- 
 ter is a Sister of Mercy. One of the sons 
 and one of the daughters married, but, as 
 the son had no children, with this genera- 
 tion the family name becomes extinct. 
 The father reached the advanced age of 
 eighty-three, the mother dying when six- 
 ty-three, and her mother lived to the 
 patriarchal age of ninety-three. 
 
 When six years old our subject com- 
 menced attending the public school in the 
 vicinity of his home, at the end of three 
 years entering the French college there, 
 from which he graduated with high honors 
 after a four-years' curriculum, at which 
 time he was not yet thirteen years old. 
 He then for four or five years worked in 
 his father's factory and was engaged in 
 other business, but his inclinations lead- 
 ing him more in the direction of the "Pie- 
 rian spring," he resumed his studies, at- 
 tending a gymnasium in Jumet, a French 
 village in Belgium, and here took a classi- 
 cal course preparatory to entering college 
 at Enghien, where he studied philosophy 
 and theology, dogmatic and moral. Here 
 he remained from 1859 till 1866, on June 
 6, of the latter year, being consecrated to 
 the priesthood at Bruges, and until 1871 he 
 served as a missionary priest in various 
 cities in Belgium and Holland. 
 
 In the year last named, deciding to 
 come to America, he proceeded to Liver- 
 pool, England, and there took passage 
 on the steamship, "City of Lisbon," 
 which, after a somewhat tempestuous 
 passage, the vessel on one occasion en- 
 countering a great storm, landed at New 
 York. Our subject's destination being 
 Green Bay, Wis., whither he had been 
 called by Bishop Melcher, he continued 
 his westward journey via Chicago, arriv- 
 ing in Green Bay November iG, 1871. 
 His first charge in his new field of pas- 
 toral duty was the mission at Wrights- 
 town, in Brown county, which in course 
 of a short time he organized as a parish, 
 becoming its first pastor, an incumbency 
 he held two years from January 12, 1872, 
 at the same time establishing the mission 
 at East Wrightstown and also attending 
 the mission at Sniderville. In 1874 he 
 was transferred to Robinsonville, same 
 county, and after one year's labor in the 
 vineyard there he attended occasionally 
 five missions which were without priests, 
 viz. : Dyckesville, Thierrij-Daams, Mar- 
 chant, Little Sturgeon Bay and Delwich. 
 Returning to Wrightstown in 1873 he re- 
 sumed his charge there, remaining till 
 1875, when he removed to Green Bay, 
 having been given the pastorate of the 
 Holland Church in that city. For three 
 years he labored here with unremitting 
 zeal, and then, in 1878, was transferred 
 to Little Chute, Outagamie county, hav- 
 ing been given charge of St. John's Nipo- 
 moc Church. Here, by his piety and 
 assiduous attentions to the spiritual wel- 
 fare of his flock, he became much liked 
 and beloved, but having been recalled by 
 Bishop Krautbauer to his old Green Bay 
 congregation he acceded to their request, 
 and for three more years ministered there. 
 On September i, 1884, he came from 
 Green Bay to his present charge, the 
 Church of St. Francis, at Holland. In 
 1886 he was made dean of the Diocese 
 by Bishop Katser, but this office after 
 three years he resigned. In 1876 he was 
 appointed a member of the Bishop's 
 
92 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 council, one of four, since 1892 one of 
 six, he being consulter for the Dutch ele- 
 ment, for in the congregation three 
 nationalities — Dutch, German and Irish 
 — worship in perfect harmony. 
 
 Since coming here Father De Louw 
 has been the means of many improve- 
 ments and additions being made in the 
 church and parish, among which may be 
 mentioned a winter chapel, besides re- 
 pairing the main building, which was 
 struck by lightning; a pipe organ costing 
 thirteen hundred dollars, fully equipped 
 with all modern improvements; and a 
 new convent for the Sisters. St. Francis 
 congregation, in early days known as ' ' St. 
 Francis Bush," was organized by five 
 Holland families, early settlers in Holland 
 township, who gave forty acres of land, 
 from the proceeds of the sale of which the 
 original church building was erected, and 
 on nine acres of this same land now stand 
 the church, the rectory, schoolhouse and 
 other buildings. Father De Louw's cler- 
 ical jurisdiction is of no small extent, and 
 he finds ample scope for his characteris- 
 tic zeal and energy, while here, as in all 
 his previous incumbencies, he has gained 
 for himself an enviable popularity and 
 the well-merited love and esteem of his 
 parishioners. 
 
 M 
 
 ALCOLM SELLERS, Fort 
 Howard. It is always gratify- 
 ing to true citizens of this Re- 
 public to note the readiness of 
 many men, born under foreign flags, to 
 become loyal and patriotic supporters of 
 the United States Government, when they 
 adopt the country as their home. This 
 can never be misconstrued as an act dis- 
 playing lack of fidelity to their native 
 land, for which they must ever hold the 
 warmest affection, but it is evidence that 
 they are men who recognize their duty 
 as citizens in common with the native- 
 born of the Republic, and do not hesitate 
 to perform it. 
 
 Malcolm Sellers was born October 
 26, 1 81 9, in Guysboro, in the county of 
 the same name in Nova Scotia, removing 
 to Prince Edward Island when twelve 
 years old. That he was diligent in ac- 
 quiring an education is plain from the 
 fact that he began teaching at the age of 
 fourteen, continuing two years. At six- 
 teen he became a clerk in the mercantile 
 establishment of McKeever & Walsh, 
 shipbuilders, and six months later was 
 placed at the head of the management of 
 that branch of the firm's business, con- 
 tinuing in that capacity for three years. 
 His relations there were interruptsd by a 
 summons to the sick bed of his mother, so 
 he settled his affairs antl went home. She 
 recovered, and the trustees of school affairs 
 in his native place offered him a situation 
 which he accepted and filled three years. 
 At the end of that time he received a 
 letter from the Lord Bishop, inquiring if 
 he would go to Country Harbor and as- 
 sume charge of a school and church at 
 that point. He accepted the proposition, 
 proceeded at once to the place, and re- 
 ceived his credentials as catechist and lay 
 reader from the Lord Bishop, and a general 
 license as teacher and missionary, under 
 the Colonial Church Society of London. 
 He discharged the duties of this position 
 for more than five years, and in the mean- 
 time was married in Nova Scotia, in 1844, 
 to Miss Isabella Archibald, daughter of 
 Hon. Charles and Margaret Archibald, 
 natives of Nova Scotia, and who resided 
 there until their death. 
 
 Desiring to find a wider field in which 
 to exercise his abilities Mr. Sellers came 
 to the United States in the spring of 1847, 
 and after visiting a number of eastern 
 cities concluded to push farther westward. 
 He finally located at Beaver Dam, Dodge 
 Co., Wis., where he engaged in the 
 manufacture of mill products and con- 
 ducted a mercantile establishment in con- 
 nection. It was natural that he should 
 take an interest in public afTairs, and in 
 the fall of I 849 he was persuaded by the 
 Whigs in his locality to become a candi- 
 
 i I 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGIiAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 93 
 
 date for the State Assembly. He \sas 
 elected over four competitors, and entered 
 the Legislature in the session of 1850. 
 In 1852 he accepted a position with Bean, 
 Clinton & Powers, at Waukesha, and six 
 months later took charj^e of a primary 
 class in Carroll College. Among his 
 pupils was Sidney A. Bean, who after- 
 ward became colonel of the Fourth Wis- 
 consin Cavalry, and was killed in action. 
 His brothers, Walter and Irving Bean, 
 who were also gallant soldiers, were pupils 
 of Mr. Sellers, as were James Proctor, of 
 Milwaukef.; George Burchard, of Fort 
 Atkinson, distinguished in the annals of 
 Wisconsin, and Hon. Cushman C. Davis, 
 afterward senator from Minnesota. Upon 
 the close of his sers'ice at the College, 
 Mr. Sellers became agent for the Mil- 
 waukee & Prairie du Chien railroad on the 
 route from Milwaukee to Waukesha, and 
 was one of the first in the State to fill 
 such a position. In his an.xiety to please 
 he over-exerted himself, and was attacked 
 with hemorrhage of the lungs. When 
 once more able to transact business he 
 established a general store at Waukesha, 
 and bought wool in the interest of manu- 
 facturers, becoming the heaviest dealer in 
 that commodity in Wisconsin. Coming 
 to the State before its admission to the 
 Union, he has been identified with and a 
 prominent factor in its growth and devel- 
 opment, while his acquaintance with men 
 in business and political circles has been 
 extensive. " Hehas," sa3's a writer, "ever 
 maintained an active interest in the re- 
 ligious and moral advancement of society 
 where he has resided, and has been espe- 
 cially prominent in Church and temperance 
 work. He holds commissions from the 
 American Bible Society, the American 
 Sunday-school Union and other evangeli- 
 cal organizations in the United States. 
 For more than a half century he has been 
 a declared advocate of temperance, and 
 was one of the founders of the Republi- 
 can party in Wisconsin. He has been 
 one of its most ardent and enthusiastic 
 supporters from its inception, aiding by 
 
 voice, money and ballot in its march of 
 progress." 
 
 When the gauntlet of battle was 
 thrown down in Charleston Harbor, in 
 April, 1S61, Mr. Sellers, who was then in 
 Madison serving as clerk of the Judiciary 
 Committee, was one of the first to offer his 
 services to Governor Randall. The lat- 
 ter, knowing his weak physical condition, 
 said to him, " Malcolm, you would not 
 live a month in the service; you are not 
 fit for war, but stay at home and do what 
 you can and I will give you any position 
 you ask in the State." Under this 
 arrangement he was assigned to the 
 quartermaster's department, with head- 
 quarters at Madison, and later was trans- 
 ferred to the commissary department. 
 Upon the call for additional troops he 
 went to Waukesha and neighboring coun- 
 ties to recruit soldiers, spending a year in 
 such service at his personal expense. If 
 unable to demonstrate his unswerving 
 patriotism on the field of carnage, he per- 
 formed such services at home as stamped 
 him with the undoubted seal of loyaUy, 
 and won the gratitude of those who were 
 cognizant of his labors. In 1869 he re- 
 moved from Waukesha to Fort Howard, at 
 the instance of Hon. E. D. Clinton, to as- 
 sist in the construction of the railroad from 
 the latter place, by way of Shawano, to 
 the Mississippi river. Through a re-ar- 
 rangement of plans both his connection 
 and that of Mr. Clinton with the enter- 
 prise ceased, and in the years following, 
 until 1874, he was engaged in lumbering 
 and mercantile interests. His active busi- 
 ness life practically ceased in the latter 
 year, and he subsequently took up the 
 work of assisting old soldiers to obtain 
 pensions. In this line he became partic- 
 ularly successful, and many a veteran has 
 had reason to rejoice in the fruit of his 
 labors. He has added insurance to his 
 pension work with marked success. He 
 has been a notary public as long as Wis- 
 consin has been a State, and is at present 
 serving a third term as justice of the 
 peace at Fort Howard. He also conducts 
 
94 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 a livery business, in which he is assisted 
 by his son, Malcolm, who was previously 
 for some time in the railway mail service. 
 It was larjjely through Mr. Sellers' exer- 
 tions and influence that Hon. T. O. Howe 
 was the first time sent to the United 
 States Senate. The following, taken from 
 the Milwaukee Sciituir/ of November 4, 
 1888, speaks for itself: 
 
 FoKT Ho\V.A.KD, Nov. 2. 
 Tu 111, Editor of Th, .Seiitinf/: 
 
 On Wednesday of thi.s week I received a cir- 
 cular from James Morgan, the nominee of the 
 Democratic party for governor of thi.s State, to 
 which I sent the following reply; f 
 
 FoKT Howard. Oct., 31, 1888. 
 Vear Sir: — Your circular reached me this morning, and in 
 reply would say. if 1 had ten thousand votes I would not give 
 you one under your present tioiuination. A Scotchman receiv- 
 ing a nomination from the modern Democratic party, which 
 has sought by all irieans on earth and in hell to destroy our 
 Nation, is too much for ine. As a true Scot, 1 cannot compre- 
 hend what you are after. 
 
 Yours truly, M. Sellers. 
 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Sellers 
 have been six in number, but of these 
 only two are living: Maggie I. and Afal- 
 colm A. Charles A. enlisted early in the 
 war in Company F, First Wisconsin Cav- 
 alry, was wounded at Pulaski, Tenn., and 
 sent to the hospital, and finally came 
 home wrecked phjsically and with his 
 constitution undermined by disease and 
 wounds, causing him to fall a victim to 
 chronic diarrhea and inflammatory rheu- 
 matism. His death occurred February 
 20, 1 8/6. Florence \'ictoria died when 
 but four years of age. Martha lived to 
 the age of twenty and died in the dawn 
 of beautiful womanhood, and Ida P. 
 passed aw;iy at the age of nineteen years. 
 On November lo, 1894, on the occasion 
 of the '• Golden Wedding " of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Malcolm Sellers, friends to the num- 
 ber of I 50 persons assembled at the Sell- 
 ers residence in Fort Howard in the eve- 
 ning, and presented Mr. Sellers with a 
 handsome gold-headed cane, and Mrs. 
 Sellers with a number of elegant and 
 valuable presents. The guests were highly 
 pleased, and declared that it was the 
 pleasantest entertainment they ever at- 
 tended. 
 
 Mr. Sellers, while not a native of the 
 
 United States, is in every possible respect 
 an American. His parents, Donald and 
 Margaret (McKenzie) Sellers, were re- 
 spectively of Highland and Lowland 
 Scotch ancestry, his father coming to the 
 American colonies previous to the war of 
 the Revolution. In that struggle for lib- 
 erty and independence he espoused the 
 cause of his adopted country, enlisted in 
 her army and served until the battle of 
 Charleston, S. C, where he received a 
 British bullet in his thigh and was sent to 
 the hospital. He finally reached home, 
 and after the war removed to Nova 
 Scotia, where he married and located on 
 a farm. ' ' He reared ten children and died 
 on his estate in 1848, in his ninety-ninth 
 year. He was a man of vigorous temper- 
 ament, and two years before his death 
 walked from his farm to Guysboro, and 
 return, a distance of twenty miles. He 
 had no son who could perform such 
 a feat. The ball he received in the 
 battle of Charleston moved down to 
 a position below his knee, and was 
 in his body when he was buried." 
 The son of such a sire could not help 
 being imbued with an intense love for that 
 country for which his father fought and 
 bled, and the record of the family in the 
 service of the Nation is a proud one. In 
 such men lies the hope of the Republic. 
 May they multiply within her borders. 
 
 HON. ROBERT J. McGEEHAN, 
 State Senator from the Second 
 Senatorial District of Wisconsin, 
 comprising the counties of Brown 
 and Outagamie, was born August 26, 1854, 
 at Peel, Wellington county, Canada. His 
 grandfather, Robert McGeehan, a native 
 of Scotland, was married in Count}- Down, 
 Ireland, to Margaret Morgan, and in 1S18 
 migrated with his wife and family to 
 Guclph, Canada. 
 
 John J. McGeehan, son of Robert, was 
 but five years of age when the family 
 reached Canada, where he was reared a 
 farmer, and where he married Mary Ann 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 95 
 
 Driscoll, who was born in Canada. In 1870 
 John J. and his family came to Wiscon- 
 sin, and on March i of that year located at 
 Wrightstown, where he purchased a farm. 
 His son, Robert J., the subject proper 
 of this sketch, was also reared to farming, 
 which he followed, in conjunction with 
 sawmilling, until 1878, when he estab- 
 hshed the agricultural implement business 
 at De Pere, which he is still most success- 
 fully conducting, handling large numbers 
 of wagons, buggies, carriages, etc. In 
 early life he became an adherent of the 
 Democratic party, and at once became 
 most enthusiastic in its support. Although 
 still a comparatively young man, he was 
 recognized as being possessed of ability, 
 and as a hard worker, and was soon 
 elected by his neighbors to serve in many 
 local offices of honor and trust. During 
 the years 1884-85, he served as alderman 
 of De Pere, and from 1887 to 1890 as 
 member of the Brown county board of 
 supervisors; he has also served for five 
 years as a member of the board of trus- 
 tees of the County Asylum for the Chronic 
 Insane, and is now president of the Brown 
 County Agricultural and Mechanical As- 
 sociation, an office to which he has been 
 elected for a term of three 3'ears. In 1889, 
 while serving as supervisor, he was elected 
 a member of the Wisconsin State Assem- 
 bly for the Second District, and re-elected 
 in 1890; in 1892 he was elected to the 
 State Senate, which office he continues 
 to fill to the entire satisfaction of his con- 
 stituents. He never tires in his devotion 
 to the interests of his fellow citizens or of 
 his party; has acted as chairman of the 
 Brown county Democratic committee; is 
 also a member of the Democratic State 
 Central committee, elected September 6, 
 1894, and on several occasions has served 
 as delegate to Democratic State and 
 Congressional conventions. He is prob- 
 ably as well and as favorably known as 
 any public man in his portion of the State, 
 and socially and fraternally stands very 
 high, being now president of the Society 
 of Catholic Knights, Branch No. 46, of 
 
 De Pere, member of the Order of the 
 Catholic Knights of America, and also of 
 the Business Men's Association of De- 
 Pere. 
 
 Mr. McGeehan was most happily 
 married, October 3, 1882, to Miss Bridget 
 E. Hines, who was born -September 10, 
 i860, at Kaukauna, Wis., and six chil- 
 dren were the result of this union, viz. : 
 Myra C, who died in infancy; Grover 
 Thomas, born December 8, 1884; Elmer 
 James, born May 12, 1886; Mary Eliza- 
 beth, born May 11, 1888; Margaret 
 Catharine, born April 17, 1890, and Ellen 
 Earen, born October 10, 1894. Mr. Mc- 
 Geehan owes his success entirely to his 
 own unaided efforts, having, since he was 
 eleven years of age, fought the battle of 
 life with Nature's weapons only — intel- 
 ligence and determination. 
 
 JOHN C. NEVILLE, senior member 
 of the well-known law firm of John 
 C. and A. C. Neville, Green Bay, is, 
 probably, the oldest legal practi- 
 tioner in this part of Wisconsin, having 
 come to Green Bay nearly forty years 
 ago, when the ntnv bustling city was in 
 its infancy. 
 
 He is a native of Dublin, Ireland, born 
 July 27, 181 5, and was there reared and 
 educated, remaining at the parental home 
 until he was twenty-one years old, at 
 which time, in 1836 or 1837, he emi- 
 grated to this country, landing in New 
 York. From there he moved to Potts- 
 ville, Penn., and in 1840 commenced the 
 study of law in the office of Francis W. 
 Hughes fwho, later, became attorney- 
 general of Pennsylvania), and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar of that State in July, 
 1842. Immediately thereafter he com- 
 menced the practice of his chosen profes- 
 sion at Pfjttsville, practicing in all the 
 Pennsylvania courts, and remained in 
 that city until coming to Green Bay, De- 
 cember 27, 1856, where he has since had 
 his home, and built up one of the most 
 lucrative clientages in northern Wiscon- 
 
96 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sin, in 1869 forming a partnership with 
 J. J. Tracy, later, in 1874, receiving his 
 son Arthur C. into the firm. In 1875, 
 Mr. Tracy withdrew, and the firm has 
 since been known by the above title. 
 
 On April 11, 1843, Mr. Neville was 
 married at Pottsville, Penn., to Miss 
 Catherine D. Lawton, a daughter of 
 Charles Lawton, all natives of New York 
 city, whence they moved to Pottsville, 
 where Mr. Lawton was engaged in the 
 coal business, and where he and his wife 
 passed the rest of their days. To this 
 union were born in Pottsvile, six children, 
 only two of whom are now living: Arthur 
 C. , who was six years old when the 
 family came to Green Bay, read law with 
 Neville & Tracy, and is now a member of 
 the firm, as already related (he was mar- 
 ried in 1 881); and Sophia R. , at home. 
 The mother, Mrs. Neville, died in 1876. 
 In his political predilections Mr. Neville 
 has been a Democrat since qualifying to 
 vote, and has been honored by his party 
 with election to various positions of trust. 
 For several years he was district attorney; 
 was city attorney in 1862, and in i88o 
 ser\'ed as mayor of the city, at which 
 time Gen. U. S. Grant visited Green Bay, 
 and was escorted through the city by our 
 subject. In 1859 he was elected repre- 
 sentative to the State Legislature, taking 
 his seat in i860, but at the expiration of 
 his term of service he declined renomina- 
 tiou. Socially, Mr. Neville is a member 
 of the I. O. O. F., in 1844 was admitted 
 to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and 
 since 1856 has been deputy grand master; 
 he is also a member of the Daughters of 
 Rebekah. In religious faith he is promi- 
 nently indentified with the Episcopal 
 Church, and he enjoys the respect and 
 esteem of a wide circle of warm friends. 
 
 GEORGE B. HESS, senior mem- 
 ber of the Geo. B. Hess Milling 
 Company, of Green Bay, Wis., is 
 a native of Ohio, born in Carroll 
 count}' in 1S5 1 . 
 
 John D. Hess, father of our subject, 
 was a native of Maryland, a miller by 
 trade, carrying on a milling business in 
 Uhrichsville, Ohio. He married Cath- 
 erine A. Simmons, a lady of Connecticut 
 birth, who died in 1886, he himself pass- 
 ing away in 1889. Thej- were the parents 
 of eight children. 
 
 The subject of these lines received his 
 education in the schools of his native 
 place, and learned his trade in his father's 
 mill and under his tuition. In 1874 he 
 came to Wisconsin, and was engaged in 
 the milling business for a number of years 
 in company with Thos. Smith, of Green 
 Bay, Wis. In 1893 he, in company with 
 Dr. H. A. Wolter and C. Massey, erected 
 the "Star Flouring Mills," corner of 
 Quincy and Cedar streets in the city of 
 Green Bay, which has a daily capacity of 
 two hundred barrels of flour and ten tons 
 of feed. The institution has been incor- 
 porated, and is doing a fine business. 
 Politically Mr. Hess is a Republican; 
 socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
 Green Baj' Lodge No. 19. 
 
 WILLIAM FINNEGAN. Biog- 
 raphy is history of the purest 
 type, and to possess a history 
 is that which distinguishes man 
 from the lower creatures around him. 
 They present the same appearance from 
 age to age, unchanging in their instincts 
 and habits, except in so far as they have 
 been modified through contact with man; 
 and, therefore, the history of one gener- 
 ation of irrational animals is the history 
 of every other. But in the human race 
 there is progressive change, which it is 
 the part of history to both record and 
 accelerate, and the duty of the living to 
 perpetuate in biographical form for the 
 benefit of coming generations. In this 
 connection it is a pleasure to here pre- 
 sent a brief review of the life of the gen- 
 tleman whose name is here recorded. 
 
 Mr. Finnegan was born November 22, 
 1836, in the city of Philadelphia, Penn., 
 
/^T^U^,^^. 
 
<^J/c. J^ ^^ 
 
 7 
 
 ^^-^<y 
 
«l 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 99 
 
 in what was then called Moyamensing, 
 on Bedford street (now known as Kates 
 street), three doors east of Broad street, 
 a son of Henry and Nancy (Smith) Finne- 
 gan. The parents were of Scotch-Irish 
 origin, the father born in County Tyrone, 
 a son of Henry Finnegan, and the mother 
 in Culdaff, near the most northern point 
 of Ireland, both coming to this country 
 when quite young, marrying, in 1827, in 
 Philadelphia, where they had located. 
 
 The father of our subject was reared 
 to farming pursuits in the old country, 
 and after coming to Philadelphia he kept 
 teams working in brickyards, besides do- 
 ing teaming for the corporation and for 
 Stephen Girard, who gave him an old gig 
 he used to ride in himself, which the 
 recipient kept for a long time. In those 
 days cows, hogs and goats were ' ' free 
 commoners" in the southern part of 
 Philadelphia; that is, they were allowed 
 to run at large; and in this connection it 
 is known that Mr. and Mrs. Finnegan 
 kept cows, whose milk they sold, and also 
 hogs which they fed on swill gathered 
 from place to place in the city and con- 
 veyed in carts made with water-tight 
 boxes; the cows were allowed to run on 
 the commons lying west of Broad street 
 and south of South street. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Henry Finnegan accummulated consider- 
 able property in small three-story houses — 
 some ten or twelve in number — which 
 they rented, and in 1843 he bought forty 
 acres of land twelve miles west of the 
 city, in Marple township, Delaware county, 
 whither he moved April 4, 1 844, and here, 
 August I, 1846, his faithful wife, at the 
 early age of thirty-four years, died of 
 dropsy brought on by hard work. She 
 was the mother of three sons and two 
 daughters, the latter of whom both died 
 in infancy, and were buried in the Randle- 
 son burying ground, Philadelphia, which 
 at the present time is in the heart of the 
 city. Of the three sons, John and Henry 
 are living in Jones county, Iowa, and 
 William is the subject of this sketch. 
 Some time after the death of the 
 
 mother of these Mr. Finnegan mar- 
 ried a much younger woman than 
 himself) in the person of Charlotte Pat- 
 ton, which event broke lip the family, 
 the two elder sons not living at home 
 much afterward. After residing on the 
 farm in Marple township the family re- 
 turned to the city. In i860 the father 
 moved to Iowa, where, in Jones county, 
 he had previously bought a partly im- 
 proved farm of 320 acres, from which he 
 eventuall}' retired to Fairview, where he 
 passed the rest of his days in retirement, 
 dying at the age of eighty-five years. 
 
 Until the fall of 1857 our sub- 
 ject worked in the brickyards at Phila- 
 delphia, and in the following spring, ac- 
 companied bj" his brother Henry, he set 
 out for the then "Far West," arriving at 
 Muscatine, Iowa, April i, 1858. Times 
 being then particularly "hard," no v\'ork 
 being obtainable at any price, they stayed 
 around Muscatine until their money was 
 all gone and William's trunk held at 
 Stein's Hotel for $6.00, the balance he 
 owed for board. Finding no work on 
 land, they shipped on board a steamboat 
 bound for St. Louis, Mo. , in the capacity 
 of roustabouts, and now in earnest com- 
 menced their hardships. Arrived at St. 
 Louis, they looked in vain for work until 
 their hard-earned money was all gone 
 again, so once more they shipped as deck 
 hands, this time on a Missouri river 
 packet bound for Leavenworth city, they 
 intending to hire themselves out there to 
 the government as ox-drivers across the 
 Plains, as United States troops were on 
 the eve of setting out for Utah Territory 
 for the purpose of operating against the 
 Mormons. When our young adventurers 
 reached the fort (Leavenworth) they found 
 to their disgust and disappointment that 
 for every vacancy there were not less 
 than fifty applicants already on the 
 ground, so there was nothing for it but to 
 return to St. Louis by the same boat that 
 brought them up, working on her as deck 
 hands. While on the down trip the 
 cylinder head of one side of the engine 
 
lOO 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 blew out, so that the vessel had to make 
 the rest of the trip to St. Louis with one 
 wheel; and when she did arrive it was 
 found there were no funds to pay the 
 crew with, and as the brothers had not a 
 cent wherewith to pay for board while 
 waiting for a settlement with the steam- 
 boat people, the)' concluded to sell their 
 claims, which they did to a lawyer, each 
 getting about eight dollars, by which time, 
 as Mr. Finnegan himself sagely remarks, 
 he was "beginning to find out the value 
 of money," and in all probability these 
 hard knocks were the "open sesame" to 
 his future wonderful career of success. 
 At this point things were getting des- 
 perate, and something had to be done, at 
 once. Henry still had his trunk, Will- 
 iam's was where he left it at the hotel in 
 Muscatine; so the two agreed that Henry 
 should pay his passage to Muscatine, and 
 that William should try to make his way 
 thither without paying. On arrival at 
 Keokuk, however, he was put ashore, but 
 just then another boat was leaving "for 
 somewhere," which our subject immedi- 
 ately boarded, not knowing at the time 
 whether she was going up or down the 
 river. On the boat were several rafts- 
 men on their way to Prairie du Chien, 
 Wis. , and he cleverly succeeded in get- 
 ting "mixed up" with them, the result 
 being that he finally, without let or hin- 
 drance, reached Muscatine (for fortu- 
 nately the vessel was going in that direc- 
 tion) before his brother did. Here they 
 found it necessary to live as economically 
 as possible, and finding a family in the 
 outskirts of the town who allowed them 
 the use of their cooking-stove, they fur- 
 nished their own victuals and slept wher- 
 ever they could. Learning that there 
 was some wood-chopping to be done at 
 Fredonia, on the Iowa river, west of Mus- 
 catine, they proceeded thither, and found 
 that employers were paying thirt}' cents a 
 cord for cutting big knotty black jack oak, 
 while board, consisting of salt pork, corn 
 bread, black molasses and rye coffee, was 
 $2.00 per week. Here our subject worked 
 
 for two weeks, in that time not earning 
 enough to pay his board, for being brought 
 up in a large city he knew very little 
 about chopping, and his hands would 
 continually blister. In the meantime his 
 brother had returned to Muscatine, in- 
 tending to be gone about one week, but 
 William did not see him again for three 
 months. Giving the " board boss " what 
 vi'ood he had cut, his axe and iron wedge, 
 in payment for his board, our subject set 
 out for Iowa City on foot, and now, alas! 
 to use his own words, "became a genuine 
 tramp, out of money, begging my food as 
 I journeyed onward by day, and sleeping 
 under the canopy of some straw or hay 
 stack at night." All his clothes, except 
 what he was wearing, were in his trunk 
 at Muscatine, so he had no change of 
 clothing whatever. After wandering 
 through Iowa for more than a month Mr. 
 Finnegan returned to Muscatine, and 
 securing employment on a farm at five 
 dollars per month, worked one month, 
 after which he set out for Illinois for the 
 purpose of hunting up his brother Henry, 
 and falling in with James Vanatta, the 
 latter took him to his home. Mr. Van- 
 atta is now living at Buffalo Prairie, Rock 
 Island Co., 111., at the age of seventy- 
 one years, and Mr. Finnegan has kept up 
 a correspondence with him ever since 
 they parted, some thirty or forty years ago. 
 At Buffalo Prairie our subject found 
 three months' work on a farm, for which 
 he was to receive six dollars per month; 
 but being unable to get cash he had to 
 be content to accept three steers in lieu 
 thereof. These he drove to Muscatine to 
 sell, but all he could get for them was 
 nine dollars cash for the three, six dollars 
 of which he applied toward getting his 
 trunk released from "Stein's Hotel." 
 That winter he worked for James \'anatta 
 for his board, and during the summer of 
 1859 he worked land on shares, getting 
 one-third of the crop for his labor. The 
 wheat yield, however, was a failure, and 
 corn was only half a crop. Mr. Finnegan 
 traded his share of the corn crop for a 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHIOAL RECORD. 
 
 young mare which he took with him to 
 Iowa, to the farm his father had bought; 
 but two days after reaching this farm, the 
 mare strayed away, and he never saw her 
 again. On his father's farm he worked 
 from December 25, 1859, till August 7, 
 1862, when he enlisted in Company F, 
 Twenty-fourth Iowa V. I., under 
 Capt. Dimmit. He served through- 
 out the entire struggle, being mustered 
 out July 17, 1865. He took an active 
 part in all the marches, skirmishes and 
 engagements of his regiment, but was 
 (jnce taken prisoner in Louisiana, and 
 held from November 15, 1863, until 
 December 25, following, when he was 
 exchanged. At Milliken's Bend, in the 
 same State, he was once confined to 
 hospital through sickness for several 
 weeks, but with these exceptions he was 
 on constant duty. 
 
 After his return from the war Mr. 
 Finnegan again worked on his father's 
 farm for a time, but his stepmother's 
 manner toward him becoming so unbear- 
 able, he concluded to try his luck farther 
 west. Consequently, on March 10, 1867, 
 he left home with a light wagon and span 
 of horses, with which he traveled across 
 Iowa, arriving April 10 following at Lin- 
 coln, Neb., which now prosperous city 
 was said at the time to contain but 300 
 inhabitants. Times were good there, 
 work plentiful and wages high, and until 
 the fall of that year Mr. Finnegan 
 freighted lumber from the Missouri river 
 to Lincoln; also hauled from Beatrice 
 some of the stone that was used in the 
 building of the capitol. In that fall 
 (1867) he took up a pre-emption claim 
 twelve miles north of the city (Lincoln), 
 built a "dug-out," and lived therein 
 throughout the winter, during the follow- 
 ing spring breaking prairie and hauling 
 stone for the State University then build- 
 ing at Lincoln. In the fall of 1868 he 
 proved up his claim and homesteaded 
 eighty acres adjoining, making in all 240 
 acres, and during the following two years 
 he was occupied in farming and teaming. 
 
 In the spring of 1870, in company with 
 L. K. Holmes, an uncle of his wife, he 
 started a brickyard, made brick two 
 years, at the end of which time he sold 
 out his interest in the business to his 
 partner, his farm to other parties, and 
 with his wife started for Wisconsin, arriv- 
 ing in the town of Howard December 17, 
 1872. In the spring of 1873 he com- 
 menced operating a small brickyard on 
 land owned by A. G. E. Holmes, molding 
 the brick himself by hand and making an 
 average of 8,ooo for a day's work, con- 
 ducting the yard entirely by hand for 
 some seven years, or until August, 1S80, 
 when he put in small steam-power, which, 
 in 1882, he supplanted with large power 
 machinery. At the same time he built a 
 modern brickyard, known as "Yard No. 
 I," which is located on the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul and Green Bay, 
 Winona & St. Paul railroads, also on 
 Duck creek, a navigable stream for light- 
 draft boats. In 1890 he built "Yard 
 No. 2," on the same stream, one mile 
 below "Yard No. i," with a track from 
 the Chicago & Northwestern railroad to 
 the yard, a distance of three-quarters of 
 a mile. In 1891 he purchased 124 acres 
 of land in the city of Fort Howard, and 
 following year built on this land ' ' Yard 
 No. 3," which has a capacity of 60,000 
 bricks per day. The total capacity of 
 the three yards, when running full time, 
 is from twelve million to fifteen million 
 bricks per annum. 
 
 On June 16, 1872, at Trinity Episco- 
 pal Church, Lincoln, Neb., Mr. Finnegan 
 was most happily married to Miss Ella S. 
 Oatley, who was born in Oneida county, 
 N. Y. , March 12, 1851, daughter of 
 Albert B. and Lavantia (Holmes) Oatley, 
 also natives of Oneida county, who came 
 to Wisconsin in 1857, settling in Suamico 
 township, Brown county, where they 
 lived for twelve years, and now reside in 
 the town of Howard. To this union were 
 born five children, as follows: Holmes 
 Adelbert, William. Jr., Ella Ruth, Edith 
 May, and Anna Leona, the eldest of 
 
I02 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 whom died at the age of nine years, the 
 youngest when one year and nine months 
 old. Mrs. Finnegan is a prominent 
 member of the Episcopal Church, with 
 which she united herself at the age of 
 fourteen years, and is known far and 
 wide as a good Christian lady, given to 
 works of benevolence wherever her femi- 
 nine sympathy can reach. Mr. Finnegan 
 in politics is a sound Republican, and his 
 first vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln. 
 He is remarkable for his quiet, unobtru- 
 sive manner, in all his acts proving 
 himself the very beau ideal of a good, 
 loyal and useful citizen. In local affairs 
 he takes a deep interest, and although he 
 has filled several minor offices in his town- 
 ship he has never been an office-seeker. 
 Besides being an expert in the manufac- 
 ture of brick, he is equally skillful as an 
 agriculturist, and his tract of 250 acres is 
 a model of neatness and comfort, giving 
 every evidence of intelligent and system- 
 atic management. His talents as a business 
 man have made him a prominent figure 
 in the business world, and have given 
 him a solid standing as a substantial citi- 
 zen, which his continuous transactions 
 since 1873, without the slightest in- 
 fringement of his word or infringement of 
 his integrity, fully entitle him to. 
 
 P 
 
 HILIPP KLAUS (deceased). Men 
 there have been, unversed in 
 classics or science, without art, 
 without eloquence, who yet had 
 the wisdom to devise and the courage to 
 perform that which they lacked language 
 to explain. Such men have worked the 
 deliverance of nations and their own 
 greatness. Their hearts are their books; 
 events are their tutors ; great actions are 
 their eloquence, and in this category 
 stand surely men of such a stamp as is 
 the subject of this sketch. 
 
 In the pretty little village of Bruttig, 
 ■"on the Banks of the Blue Moselle," in 
 Rhein Prussia, Germany, was born, July 
 
 20, 1832, Philipp Klaus, of whom this 
 sketch relates, and he there received his 
 education, less a knowledge of the En- 
 glish language. At the age of seventeen 
 he left the Fatherland, in company with 
 his father and four brothers, to seek a 
 new home in the Western World, and on 
 November 11, 1849, landed in the then 
 young town of Green Bay, Wis. , thus be- 
 coming, in fact, one of its German pio- 
 neers. He quickly Americanized him- 
 self, made rapid progress in the English 
 language, and in course of time became 
 one of the most active and energetic, as 
 well as influential, business men of the 
 town. 
 
 His ancestors, as the name indicates, 
 were Germans, and the village of Bruttig 
 has known the family for many years. 
 Here Grandfather Stephen Klaus was 
 born, married, and at an advanced age 
 died, leaving a good name as an heritage 
 to his posterity — a name that has been 
 honored and kept unsullied ever since. 
 His son, Jacob, father of Philipp, also 
 born there, was taught the trade of shoe- 
 maker, and became a good workman. 
 He was married in Bruttig to a young 
 German woman, who bore him five chil- 
 dren, all sons, and died at the birth of 
 our subject. The names of the children 
 are John, Joseph, Charles, Anton and 
 Philipp, of whom only Anton survives. 
 
 Philipp Klaus was reared by his broth- 
 ers, whose devotion for him, and their 
 almost motherly care, often excited the 
 admiration of the neighbors and others 
 who knew the family. The boys also 
 kept house, and did their domestic work 
 well, while all of them learned to cook. 
 When the eldest entered the German 
 army, the next eldest took his place, and 
 so on in rotation till it came to Philipp's 
 turn, when, in 1848, the father concluded 
 to leave the Fatherland, and bring his 
 five stalwart sons to America. On land- 
 ing in New York they at once proceeded 
 by boat on the Hudson river to Albany, 
 thence tra\'eled b\' cars to Buffalo, from 
 which city the}- came by the steamer 
 
 1 k 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 103. 
 
 "Empire State " (at that time the finest 
 boat on the lakes) to Milwaukee, Wis. 
 Here they took passage on the old 
 steamer " Lexington," which on a beauti- 
 ful November morn, as the rising orb of 
 day was tinting the heavens with ethereal 
 hues, majestically entered the Fox river, 
 and in due time safely landed the immi- 
 grant family in Green Bay — the " ultima 
 thule " of their long journey. 
 
 During the first few years after his 
 arrival in Green Baj' our subject worked 
 with his father at the shoemaking trade, 
 and then betook himself to the pineries 
 at Peshtigo, same State, where he re- 
 mained until 1S55, returning to Green 
 Bay. At this time he and his brother 
 Charles leased the "Green Bay House," 
 a well-known hostelry in Green Bay, 
 which they conducted till 1856. The 
 same year Mr. Klaus built the old " Klaus 
 Hall,'' which was afterward sold to the 
 proprietors of the Green Bay Advocate, 
 and he then erected the present "Ivlaus 
 Hall." Here he opened a general store, 
 in which he met with the most encour- 
 aging success. From about 1874 till 
 within a year or two ago he was chiefly 
 engaged in the real-estate and insurance 
 business, and for the most part in the 
 real-estate line managed the affairs of 
 large outside corporations or interests, 
 among which may be mentioned the great 
 W. L. Newberry (Chicago) estate, while 
 in insurance matters he represented the 
 Phcenix, Mutual Life, the Charter Oak 
 and other companies. These insurance 
 agencies came to Mr. Ivlaus totally un- 
 solicited by him, at the time he was suf- 
 fering from the financial depression 
 following the panic of 1873, and he was 
 thus enabled to resume his real-estate 
 operations, which had been temporarily 
 discontinued from the same cause. Hav- 
 ing by patient, quiet industry and 
 laborious diligence accumulated a hand- 
 some competence, Mr. Klaus for the last 
 few years of his life resided in Green 
 Bay, in the enjoyment of quiet retire- 
 ment, with his faithful wife, still, how- 
 
 ever, doing a little real-estate business, 
 principally among friends and old ac- 
 quaintances. For the last year or so of 
 his life he was in poor health, and his 
 death, on July 23, 1894, caused little sur- 
 prise among his friends and acquaintances 
 in Green Bay, where he will long be re- 
 membered as a most worthy citizen. 
 
 On Easter Monday, March 24, 1856, 
 Mr. Klaus was united in marriage with 
 Miss Elizabeth Basten, daughter of Franz 
 Jacob and Maggie Concen Basten, and to 
 this union were born five children, as fol- 
 lows: Christine, wife of A. M. Grau, of 
 Milwaukee; Anna, who died at the age of 
 fifteen years; Barbara, wife of A. G. 
 Netter; Elizabeth, and Henry P., now of 
 Milwaukee, of whom special mention will 
 presently be made. In politics Mr. Klaus 
 was a Democrat, and the citizens of 
 Green Bay honored him by electing him 
 to the office of city treasurer, which he 
 filled with much acceptability for nine 
 years, leaving an honorable record as a 
 city official; later he was elected city as- 
 sessor, an office he held two terms, de- 
 clining re-election. He was a prominent 
 member of the Cathedral Church at Green 
 Bay, with which Mrs. Klaus is also con- 
 nected. 
 
 Henry P. Klaus, only son of Philipp 
 and Elizabeth Klaus, received his ele- 
 mentary education at the Cathedral school, 
 Green Bay, and at the age of thirteen 
 years entered Marquette College, Mil- 
 waukee, where he took a three-years' 
 business course, graduating in August, 
 1 89 1, with the class honors, and receiv- 
 ing a gold medal from the college. Im- 
 mediately on leaving college he looked for 
 employment, and found it in a wholesale 
 establishment in Milwaukee, in the capac- 
 ity of receiving clerk. After a few months 
 he was offered, and accepted, a position 
 as bookkeeper for the Cream City Brewery, 
 Milwaukee, where he was held in high 
 esteem by his employers, and he is win- 
 ning well-merited recognition among busi- 
 ness men. At present he is at home, man- 
 aging the affairs of his deceased parent. 
 
■I04 
 
 COMMEMOUATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ELISHA MORROW. When an 
 e\er-busy man, from the feverish 
 turmoil of poHtics, and the harass- 
 ing cares of business, is retired to 
 a peaceful, quiet and happy life, such an 
 individual naturally excites the friendly 
 envy of his less-favored fellowmen. With- 
 out ostentation or apparent conscious 
 superiority, he mingles in the society of 
 his neighbors, and enjoys with them the 
 affairs of the present, and a pleasant 
 retrospect of a life well spent. 
 
 Elisha Morrow, of whom we write, 
 comes, on the paternal and maternal 
 sides respectiveh', of Irish and English 
 ancestry who settled in New Jersey prior 
 to the Revolutionary war. He was born 
 in Sussex county, N. J., in 1819, a son 
 of George and Maria (Davis) Morrow, 
 who for some years resided in that county, 
 where the father was engaged in the man- 
 ufacture of iron, and died in 1826. His 
 widow spent the rest of her days at the 
 home of her son Elisha, in Green Bay, 
 Wis., passing from earth in 1869. Our 
 subject received his education at the 
 schools of Sparta, N. J., and at about 
 the age of fifteen commenced clerking in 
 a store in that town, remaining there 
 some three or four 3'ears. In 1837 he 
 ■came west, locating at Peoria, 111., where 
 he had, living, three sisters married to mer- 
 chants of the place. Near here he took 
 up 160 acres of wild land at $1.25 per 
 acre, eighty acres of which he cleared and 
 farmed. At the end of three years he 
 sold this property and bought several 
 head of cattle, which he drove to Galena, 
 same State, where he sold them. His 
 next speculation was the purchase of 100 
 •head of cattle, driving them to Green 
 Bay, Wis., where he arrived with them 
 November 26, 1840. At that time there 
 was a fort at the place, several compa- 
 nies of United States soldiers being sta- 
 tioned thereat, and some of the cattle he 
 sold to the Government, others being 
 slaughtered and sold by the carcass, the 
 venture proving fairly successful. Hav- 
 ing bought an interest in a tannery at 
 
 Green Bay, and liking the place, Mr. 
 Morrow concluded to remain, and his 
 home has since been here. In addition 
 to the tannery he was for a long time 
 more or less interested in the buying and 
 selling of real estate, lumbering, farming, 
 merchandising, etc. From 1843 to 1851 
 he ran stage lines from Green Bay to 
 Milwaukee, Sheboygan and Madison. 
 
 As a politician Mr. Morrow was origi- 
 nally one of the most active supporters of 
 the Democratic party, and in 1845 he 
 was elected to the Territorial Legislature, 
 serving two successive terms of one year 
 each. In 1847-48-49, under the admin- 
 istration of President Polk, he served as 
 receiver for the United States land office 
 at Green Bay, which at that time was sit- 
 uated on the corner of Adams and Chi- 
 cago streets. At this time there was a 
 great boom, and during Mr. Morrow's in- 
 cumbency about two million dollars worth 
 of property was turned over. On leaving 
 the land office he became largely inter- 
 ested in the lumbering business and mer- 
 cantile pursuits until 1873. In 1856 the 
 course of events caused Mr. Morrow to 
 change his allegiance from the Demo- 
 cratic party to the new Republican one, 
 he becoming one of the early adherents and 
 organizers of that party in Wisconsin. He 
 was prominent and active in the nomina- 
 tion for President of J. C. Fremont, and in 
 the subsequent campaign, attending as a 
 delegate the first Republican State con- 
 vention (of which he was elected presi- 
 dent) held in Wisconsin; this was in June, 
 1856, and the convention was held in 
 Fond du Lac. In June, i860, he was a 
 delegate to the Chicago convention that 
 nominated Lincoln for President. Since 
 the organization of the State government 
 he has taken no part in public affairs, and 
 since 1874 has been engaged in no busi- 
 ness except agriculture, having one or 
 two farms in the neighborhood of the 
 city. 
 
 In 1849 Mr. Morrow was married to 
 Miss Maria Bemis, of Buffalo, N. Y. , who 
 died in 1852, leaving two children, viz.: 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 lo; 
 
 Claude Bemis, born in 1850, now in 
 charge of a lumbering establishment at 
 Barronett, Wis., recently all burned out 
 by the forest fires, and Maria, who died 
 at the age of five years. In 1859 Mr. 
 Morrow married, at Green Bay, Miss 
 Josephine Amelia Sayre, of that town, 
 by which union there are si.\ daughters: 
 Maria (Mrs. Lally, of Kansas City), Helen 
 E., Carrie (wife of R. H. Pierce, who 
 was chief electrician for the World's 
 Fair, and now living in Chicago), May, 
 Jennie R. and Louisa L., the unmarried 
 young ladies living at the pleasant family 
 home in Green Bay. Mrs. Morrow is a 
 member of Christ Church, Episcopal. 
 
 ALBERT G. E. HOLMES, retired 
 merchant, of Green Bay, was 
 born in Oneida county, N. Y. , in 
 1825, a son of Alvah and Sophro- 
 nia (Ellis) Holmes. 
 
 Alvah Holmes was a native of Con- 
 necticut, and at eight years of age was 
 taken to Oneida county, N. Y., by his 
 father, Elijah, who was also a native of 
 Connecticut, but removed to Herkimer 
 county, N. Y. , and later to Oneida coun- 
 ty. Alvah Holmes was reared in New 
 York, was a drummer boy in the war of 
 1812, and in 1821, at his majority, was 
 married; in 1840 he came with his family 
 to Green Bay, Wis., where he was en- 
 gaged in milling and farming. Here his 
 wife died in 1845, and he returned to 
 Oneida county, where his death took place 
 Februarys, 1871. He reared a family of 
 seven children, viz. : Olive Ingalls, widow 
 of Edson Sherwood, of the firm of Sher- 
 wood & Holmes, Mr. Sherwood dying in 
 Greing Bay in 1880, and Mrs. Sherwood 
 taking up her residence in Howard town- 
 ship, Brown Co., Wis. (she died Septem- 
 ber 10, 1894); Albert G. E., our subject, 
 the second in the family; Clinton resides 
 on the old homestead in Oneida county, 
 N. Y. ; Lavantia C, wife of Albert Oat- 
 ley, resides in the town of Howard; Leo- 
 nidas K., who lives in Lincoln, Neb.; 
 
 Asahel Brainerd, of Los Angeles, Cal., 
 and Stephen Augustus, a resident of 
 Herkimer county, N. Y. , died January 
 26, 1894. 
 
 During the Presidential campaign of 
 1840, A. G. E. Holmes took part in a 
 Harrison log-cabin procession, going on 
 horseback from Oneida county, N. Y. , to 
 Buffalo, where the family, including him- 
 self, embarked on a steamboat for Green 
 Bay. Our subject was then fourteen 
 }'ears of age, and had been fairlv edu- 
 cated in New York, to which privilege he 
 added by further study in Green Bay. In 
 1853 he here engaged in the grocer}' and 
 provision business under the firm name of 
 Sherwood & Holmes; in 1877 Mr. Sher- 
 wood retired, but the business was con- 
 tinued, under the style of Holmes & Har- 
 teau, until about 1879, when Mr. Holmes 
 disposed of his interest in the concern and 
 engaged, in partnership with L. M. Mar- 
 shall, in the lumber, shingle and general 
 merchandise trade, which was successfully 
 conducted until 1888, when Mr. Marshall 
 died. The trade was then carried on by 
 Mr. Holmes alone until 1892, when he re- 
 tired entirely from business, after an ac- 
 tive experience of over forty years. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Holmes was sol- 
 emnized in the town of Brookfield, Madi- 
 son Co., N. Y. , in 1849, to Miss Antoin- 
 nette R. Brown, a native of Madison 
 county, and daughter of Williams and Es- 
 ther (Randall) Brown. Williams Brown 
 was born in Connecticut, in 1783, coming 
 to New York with his father, Asa Brown, 
 when twelve years of age. He lost his wife 
 in 1863 in Madison county, and just after 
 this event came to Dane county, Wis., 
 where his death occurred in 1 867. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. A. G. E. Holmes have been born 
 two children: Kittie, who died in 1872, 
 and Albert, who is attending a business 
 college in Green Bay. Mr. Holmes is a 
 Republican; he was a member of the 
 school board for three years, has served 
 as alderman from the Second ward, and 
 for nine years was county superintend- 
 ent of the poor; he is a member of the 
 
io6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Knights of Honor and a charter member of 
 Green Bay Lodge. Mrs. Holmes is a 
 member of the Episcopal Church, Mr. 
 Holmes himself being a constant attend- 
 ant. The family are respected by all the 
 community of Green Bay, and the busi- 
 ness qualifications of Mr. Holmes have 
 been made the subject of constant re- 
 mark. He is patriotic and liberal in for- 
 warding and sustaining the general in- 
 terests and improvement of Green Bay, 
 and is a factor in her moral and educa- 
 tional progress. 
 
 HENRY F. HAGEMEISTER, presi- 
 dent of the Hagemeister Brewing 
 Co., Green Bay, which was or- 
 ganized in 1886 and incorporated 
 in 1890, is a native of Green Bay, Wis., 
 born in 1855. 
 
 Francis Henry Hagemeister, father of 
 subject, was born in Prussia, and in early 
 manhood emigrated thence to the United 
 States, locating first in Milwaukee, Wis., 
 where he worked in a meat market for 
 J. Nunnemacher. In 1866, along with 
 four others, he organized a brewing com- 
 pany in Green Bay, Wis., later buying 
 out the interests of the others. In Green 
 Bay he married Miss Barbara Martin, a 
 native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and 
 they reared a family of six children, as 
 follows: Mary, wife of G. \\'alters, of 
 Pittsburg, Penn. ; Henry F. ; Bessie; Min- 
 nie; Albert, married, and residing in Green 
 Bay; and Louis W. , engaged in a boot 
 and shoe business in Green Bay. [Since 
 this was written Louis W. Hagemeister 
 died February 20, 1895.] The father 
 died November 18, 1892, aged sixty-five 
 years, eleven months; the mother passed 
 away in 1882. Francis H. Hagemeister 
 was a member and an officer of the Luth- 
 eran Church; politically he was a Dem- 
 crat, and at one time served as alderman 
 in Green Bay. 
 
 Henry F. Hagemeister, the subject 
 proper of this sketch, received a liberal 
 education at the public schools of his na- 
 
 tive town, and at the age of seventeen 
 years commenced working in a brewery, 
 a line of business he has been identified 
 with ever since. In 1879, when twenty- 
 four years old, he had the management of 
 abrewrey, and in 1886, as above recorded, 
 was organized the present concern, of 
 which he is president, his brother Albert 
 being secretary and treasurer. The plant 
 in Green Bay is located on the East side, 
 and, including the branch brewery at 
 Sturgeon Bay, Wis. , represents a capital 
 of two hundred and twenty-five thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 A Democrat of the purest type, Mr. 
 Hagemeister has not been inactive in the 
 interests of either his party or the public 
 at large. At the present time he repre- 
 sents the First District of Brown county 
 in the Legislature; has served his city as 
 alderman four years; has been president 
 of the council, and is now supervisor of 
 his ward. Socially he is a thirty-second 
 degree Mason, a member of Washington 
 Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M. ; of Warren 
 Chapter, No. 8; of Palestine Command- 
 ery, No. 20; and of the W'isconsin Valley 
 Consistory; is also a member of the Golden 
 Shrine, of the Order of Elks; and of the 
 Knights of Honor. In all connections — 
 business, political or social — Mr. Hage- 
 meister has ever proved himself worthy of 
 the high esteem and respect in which he 
 is held by the community. 
 
 LOUIS W. HAGEMEISTER. 
 proprietor of boot and shoe estab- 
 lishment, in Green Bay, and vice- 
 president of the Hagemeister Brew- 
 ing Co., is a native of Green Bay, born 
 March 17, 1S65; a son of Francis H., and 
 Barbara (Martin) Hagemeister, natives of 
 Germany. 
 
 The subject of this biographical mem- 
 oir received his education in Green Bay, 
 and on leaving school commenced to work 
 in a brewery. In 1 890 he became a stock- 
 holder in same, and in 1893 was appoint- 
 ed vice-president of the Hagemeister 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 107 
 
 Brewing Co., which was organized in that 
 year. In addition to the extensive plant 
 in Green Bay, there is a branch brewery 
 at Sturgeon Bay, the entire plant costing 
 in the neighborhood of two hundred thou- 
 sand dollars; the industry giving employ- 
 ment to from thirty to forty hands. In 
 1893 he commenced in his present boot 
 and shoe business, keeping a full line of 
 ever3'thing in the trade. After learning 
 the brewing business in Green Bay, Mr. 
 Hagemeister went, at the age of twenty- 
 one, to Detroit, Mich., and for twelve 
 months worked in the E. W. Voight 
 Brewer}-, receiving a diploma; after which 
 he was for a time in Keeley Bros. Brew- 
 ery, Chicago. Moving to Dallas, Te.xas, 
 he remained with the Dallas Brewing Co., 
 eighteen months, and then returned to 
 Green Bay, becoming manager of the Stur- 
 geon Bay Brewing Co., after which he 
 was appointed manager of the bottling de- 
 partment. In addition to city real estate, 
 Mr. Hagemeister owns an interest in 130 
 acres farm property. In his political 
 preferments he is a Democrat, and he is 
 a member of the K. O. T. M. , Tent 
 No. 25. 
 
 The following account of the old home 
 of the Hagemeister family is from the pen 
 of Miss Bessie Hagemeister: " It is one of 
 the old landmarks of Green Bay. Much 
 of my knowledge was gathered from Mrs. 
 Mitchell, mother of Mrs. Theodore Har- 
 ris, and from others who had occupied it 
 or knew of its history. The home is sit- 
 uated at the corner of North Adams and 
 Pine streets. Green Bay. It was erected 
 in 1835 by the late Hon. Fred Ellis, 
 father of Judge Ellis. Mr. Ellis contin- 
 ued in possession of the property until 
 about 1844, when it passed into the hands 
 of one Rev. Davis, an Episcopalian divine. 
 The next change in ownership occurred 
 in 1858, when it was bought by Frank 
 Hagemeister, and it is still in the posses- 
 sion of the Hagemeister family. During 
 all these years the home was occupied by 
 other families, as tenants. In 1839 the 
 parents of Charles White moved into the 
 
 house, and resided there until 1844. 
 Then for a short time it was vacant. 
 During this period Rev. T. R. Haff, the 
 present rector of Christ Church, Green 
 Bay, and a few friends, while on an ex- 
 pedition through the country for an out- 
 ing, camped in the house for a short time, 
 instead of pitching tents outside. Some- 
 time between this and 1846 a family 
 named Stevens lived there. In 1847 the 
 late Col. Chapman and family became its 
 occupants, and Mrs. Wheelock was with ■ 
 them as a member of the family during 
 the time. In 1848 the owner. Rev. Davis, 
 moved in. Col. Chapman having vacated. 
 In 1852 Mr. Davis died, but Mrs. Davis 
 still made it her home till 1854, when 
 Mr. Holmes moved in, and she boarded 
 with his family until 1857. The next oc- 
 cupants were Mr. Frank Lenz and wife. 
 The old home then became a sort of 
 country tavern, or, more properl}', a 
 boarding house, although Mr. Lenz occa- 
 sionally entertained transients, and became 
 quite popular as a stopping-place for fel- 
 low countrymen of Mr. Lenz on their ar- 
 rival in the city: and it was here that Mr. 
 and Mrs. Schellenbeck first stopped on 
 their honeymoon. Abo;it this time the 
 property was purchased by Mr. Hage- 
 meister, and he lived there during his life- 
 time. I have preserved all this history of 
 the old home, in which I am deeply inter- 
 ested." [Since the above sketch was put 
 in type, we have received information of 
 the death of Mr. Louis W. Hagemeister, 
 which occurred February 20, 1895, at the 
 old homestead. — Ed. 
 
 REV. JOHN L. HEWITT, A. M., 
 D. D., pastor of the First Pres- 
 byterian Church of Green Bay, is 
 a native of England, born March 
 4, 1843, in Oswestry, Shropshire, of an 
 old family in that stalwart '• little islahd," 
 the name Hewitt frequently appearing in 
 old-time annals. 
 
 Grandfather Samuel Hewitt held a 
 
io8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 government position, and was a man of 
 prominence in his day. He and his wife, 
 EHzabeth, were members of the Church 
 of England, and were the parents of five 
 children, named respectively: Samuel, 
 Joseph, Thomas, Sarah and Elizabeth. 
 Of these, Thomas was born in Wolver- 
 hampton, Staffordshire, England, and 
 was reared to the trade of mechanic, in 
 which he became highly skilled. In Os- 
 westry he married Miss Elizabeth Jones, 
 a granddaughter of Charles Devereux 
 Price, who was a son of a London gentle- 
 man of means, supposed to be a descend- 
 ant of the Earls of Essex. Mrs. Eliza- 
 beth Hewitt's father, Morris Jones, was 
 a master builder by occupation, becom- 
 ing successful and prosperous ; he came 
 to the United States about the year 185 1, 
 and died in Racine, Wis. He had a 
 family of six children, of whom, Eliza- 
 beth was born in Mcllinochreg Hall, 
 Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, North 
 Wales, almost under the shadow of 
 Plynlymmon, a picturesque mountain in 
 Cardiganshire. She was well-educated 
 in her native city, and a woman of the 
 most refined taste, one who reared her 
 family well and in true Christian faith. 
 To her and her husband were born twelve 
 children, six of whom survive. In 1856 
 the family came to the United States, 
 settling in Racine, Wis., where the father 
 died in July, 1867. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received his 
 education in London, England, first in 
 three different select schools, later in St. 
 Luke's, Chelsea, and St. Mark's College, 
 Brompton. He was thirteen 3'ears old 
 when the family came to Wisconsin, and 
 here he has since lived. In 1862 he en- 
 tered Lawrence University, Appleton, and 
 in 1870 was ordained a minister. Since, 
 he has officiated at Waukesha, Kenosha 
 and Milwaukee, at which latter place he 
 was pastor of the Grand Avenue M. E. 
 Church; subsequently he was presiding 
 elder of the Milwaukee district, and pastor 
 of Washington Avenue Church. In 1881 
 he received the degree of Master of Arts 
 
 at Lawrence University, and, in 1891, 
 while officiating as pastor of the Wash- 
 ington Avenue M. E. Church, Milwaukee, 
 that of Doctor of Divinity, from the Uni- 
 versity of the Northwest. In 1892 he 
 received an unanimous call to the pastor- 
 ate of the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Green Bay, his present incumbency, and 
 was installed October 17, 1893. Of this 
 church a local paper of October, 1893, 
 says the following: "The Green Bay 
 Church in question is one of the oldest, 
 if not the oldest. Congregational Church 
 in Wisconsin, being over sixty 3ears old 
 as a church organization. The site upon 
 which the society's buildings stood since 
 organization was presented to the congre- 
 gation by John Jacob Astor, in the days 
 of his great fur deals. The deed to the 
 land reads: ' From John Jacob Astor 
 to the First Presb\terian Church of 
 Green Bay,' etc., and in that way the so- 
 ciety received its name as a Presbyterian 
 Church, although it has always been a 
 Congregational Church in doctrine and 
 practice." Of the chief characteristics 
 of the present pastor, the following is 
 from a long-time acquaintance: 
 Dr. Hewitt was cast in a finer, gentler 
 mould than many men, and yet he has 
 also those manly qualities that we ought 
 to find in every man, be he statesman or 
 business man or clergyman. His sense 
 of the fit and the beautiful is keen — he has 
 much of the spirit of the poet in his 
 thinking and living. His ideas of honor 
 and integrity and duty are exceptionally 
 strong. Mentally he has both depth and 
 breadth. He is never afraid of new 
 ideas, is receptive to any new truth, but 
 has the faith that assures him the founda- 
 tions of God stand unshaken amid man's 
 changing opinions and speculations. 
 * * * As a minister of the Gospel he 
 has always emphasized the spiritual 
 rather than the ecclesiastical or dogmatic 
 side of the church and the personal life, 
 and has been uniformly beloved as 
 preacher, teacher, pastor and man. To 
 this sacred and honored calling he has 
 
 gleaned 
 
 I £ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGUAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 109 
 
 devoted all of himself, and is splendidly 
 equipped for successful work." 
 
 In 1 866 Rev. Dr. Hewitt was married 
 to Miss Kate Richardson, daughter of 
 George Richardson, of Omro, Wis., and 
 three children have been born to them, 
 to wit: Frederick J., in Milwaukee; May 
 Belle, at home; and George P., a classi- 
 cal student at Lawrence University. In 
 his political preferences our subject is a 
 Republican, with Prohibition tendencies; 
 socially he is a Royal Arch Mason. 
 
 HON. THOMAS RICHARD 
 H U D D. Ther2 is something ex- 
 ceedingly attractive in the volun- 
 tary retirement of a man who, for 
 several years, has taken an active and in- 
 fluential part in the affairs of the govern- 
 ment. He leaves public life in the full- 
 ness of his strength, and while in the path- 
 way of political advancement. He ex- 
 changes the exciting scenes of political 
 turmoil, which present the most power- 
 ful attractions to the ambitious, for the 
 peaceful labors of his profession, or other 
 vocation, in the pursuit of which he, may- 
 hap, finds time to ruminate on past 
 events, on those that are passing, and on 
 those which futurit)- will probably develop. 
 Mr. Hudd is a native of New York 
 State, born October i, 1835, i" Buffalo, 
 a son of Richard and Mary (Harrison) 
 Hudd, English people, the father a na- 
 tive of Laylock, Wiltshire, the mother of 
 Northamptonshire, born in the village of 
 Barby. Richard Hudd was a painter and 
 decorator, and in 1830 came to the United 
 States, where he followed his trade until 
 his death, which occurred in 1841, he 
 having been accidentally drowned. He 
 was descended from the land-holding 
 class of England, and was a man of fine 
 appearance, and good education, having 
 been a student at the famous Eton school. 
 His wife was daughter of Thomas Harri- 
 son, who came to this country and for a 
 time resided near Utica, N. Y. , but after- 
 ward, in 1833, became a pioneer of Illi- 
 
 nois, settling near Lisbon, Kendall county. 
 He died of apoplexy while taking a load 
 of wheat to Chicago by wagon. He was 
 a lineal descendant of Gen. Harrison, who 
 was one of Cromwell's right-hand men, 
 and one of the judges who condemned 
 Charles I. to death. 
 
 Thomas R. Hudd was a lad of seven 
 summers when his father died, and soon 
 after that sad event the widowed mother 
 moved with her little boy to Chicago, 
 where he attended school until he was 
 about fifteen years old, when he left his 
 books to assume the role of "devil" in 
 the job-room of the Evening Journal, 
 Richard L. Wilson at that time being 
 publisher, and Andrew Matteson foreman 
 of the job-room. From there he went to 
 the Western Citi:;en, where he learned 
 typesetting and the trade in general, 
 remaining in that office until 1853. In 
 the meantime his mother, having married 
 a Mr. A. D. Partridge and removed to 
 Neenah, Wis. , induced the lad to rejoin 
 her, which he did, and he soon thereafter 
 became a student at Lawrence (Appleton) 
 Uni\ersity, paying his way toward receiv- 
 ing a good education by working at his 
 trade in the office of the Appleton Crescent. 
 In 1855 he left college and commenced the 
 study of law with R. P. Eaton, in Apple- 
 ton, then with Smith & Ballard, the senior 
 member of which firm. Perry H. Smith, 
 afterward became well-known as a prom- 
 inent railroad official of Chicago. In 
 October, 1856, Mr. Hudd was admitted 
 to the bar, and in the following Novem- 
 ber was elected district attorney of Outa- 
 gamie county. Forming a partnership 
 with John J. Jewett, they practiced law 
 together in Appleton until 1S63, when 
 Mr. Jewett retired, and Mr. J. H. M. 
 ^^'igman succeeded him in the partner- 
 ship. When Mr. Hudd came to Green 
 Bay, in 1868, Mr. Wigman continued the 
 Appleton office until 1870, when he re- 
 moved to Green Bay, after which time 
 the firm engaged in general law practice, 
 extending to all the State and Federal 
 courts. For a short time, in the heyday 
 
I lO 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQItAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 of his Congressional work, and at the ex- 
 piration of the Lth Coiif^ress, Mr. Miuid 
 was a member of the law firm, in Chi- 
 cago, of Case, Hudd & Hogan, which was 
 intended only as a temporary arrange- 
 ment, and was disc(jntiiined in October, 
 1 890. 
 
 Mr. Hiidd has served his adopted 
 State well in public affairs. In 1861 he 
 was elected to the State Senate, and in 
 1867 to the Assembly; in 1876 he was 
 again elected to the Assembly, and in this 
 session he was prominently identified in 
 the securing of the' rejieal of the ' ' Granger 
 Law," which hail become so obnoxious to 
 the State. In 1S77 he was again sent 
 by his constitueTits to the Senate, and 
 was successively re-elected to same until 
 1885, in which year he was elected to the 
 United States Congress, resigning his 
 seat in the State Senate when he had 
 three years yet to serve. This was the 
 XLIXth Congress, and he was elected to 
 the vacancy caused b\- llie death of Jos- 
 eph Rankin. In this Congress he served 
 on the committee on Connnerce, to take 
 the place of Joseph Pultzer, who had re- 
 signed in order to visit Europe. Elected 
 to the Lth Congress, Mr. Hudd was ap- 
 pointed chairman of the connnittee on 
 Expenditures, in the Interior Department. 
 This closed his most active life in the 
 arena of politics, and he has since con- 
 fined himself to the ]iractire of his pro- 
 fession, wherein he has a wide clientage 
 and enjoys the distinction of being the 
 leading criminal lawj-er in this section of 
 Wisconsin. In iiiui)ici])al affairs, also, he 
 has been active, having served the peo- 
 ple of his locality in many minor offices, 
 among which may be mentioned that of 
 president of the school board, several 
 years. In 1889 he was appointed by 
 Gov. Moar, one of three conmiissioners 
 to represent the State of Wisconsin at 
 the Centennial celebration of the inaugur- 
 ation of George \\'ashington as first 
 President of the United States, which was 
 held at New York in April, 1889. Dur- 
 ing the Civil war he was commissioned to 
 
 a lieutenancy, and mainly by his individ- 
 ual exertion were organized two military 
 companies in Outagamie county, but he 
 was unable to take active service, having 
 just been elected to the State Senate. 
 
 Mr. Hudd has been twice married, 
 first time, in 1857, to Parthenia S. Peak, 
 who died in 1871, the mother of four 
 children, as follows: I^ichard P., Sophia 
 M. (now wife of William I^eatty, of Colo- 
 rado), Mary H., and Julia P. (now living 
 in Washington, D. C). In 1872 Mr. 
 Hudd married, for his second wife. Miss 
 Mary Kiel, and four children, all daugh- 
 ters, have been born to them, named as 
 follows: Gertrude D., Nellie, May and 
 Maude, all at home. Mr. Hudd is a mem- 
 ber of the ¥. ik. A. M., Waverly Lodge 
 No. 51, Appleton, and in politics he is a 
 stanch Dem<jcrat. 
 
 WILLIAM C. HINSDALE, the 
 popular and efficient agent at 
 Green Bay for the American 
 Express Company, is one of the 
 ten oldest employees of that corporation 
 in Wisconsin, and has earnetl for himself 
 an enviable reputation as a courteous, 
 painstaking official. 
 
 He is a native of this State, born, in 
 1 847, in the town of Kenosha, a son of 
 W. L. and Isabella C. (Courtenay) Hins- 
 dale, natives of New York City, whence 
 they came in 1836 to South Port (now 
 Kenosha), Wis., where, in company with 
 a brother, Mr. Hinsdale was engaged for 
 some years in the lumber business, they 
 becoming extensive traders in that line, 
 and ultimately selling out to F. B. Gard- 
 ner, of Chicago. Mr. Hinsdale then re- 
 sided in Madison, Wis., one year, moving 
 from there, in 1855, to Milwaukee, where 
 he became the first treasurer of the Chi- 
 cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, 
 which in a few years he resigned to ac- 
 cept the position of secretary of the North 
 Western National Fire and Marine Insur- 
 ance Company. His father was a well- 
 
COMMKMOUATIVK ISIOGHAPHICAL HECOHD. 
 
 known jeweler in New York City, where 
 he passed his entire hfe. 
 
 Isabella C. Courtenay, mother of the 
 subject of this sketch, was born in Balti- 
 more, Md., and was a member of one 
 of the early leadinj^ families of that State, 
 English people who settled in the town of 
 Goodhope about the year 1700. One of 
 her remote ancestors on her father's side 
 l(jst his life on account of claiming a right 
 to the crown of England, and some of her 
 later ancestry were engaged in the war of 
 the Revolution in this country, others, 
 again, in the war of 1812. Grandfather 
 Courtenay died in Maryland, and his 
 widow came to Kenosha, Wis., with her 
 brother, Hercules, who opened up a farm 
 in Kenosha county, where he died; she 
 passed from earth in the town of Kenosha 
 about the year 185 I. Mrs. Isabella C. 
 Hinsdale died in 1892. 
 
 William C. Hinsdale, our suljject, re- 
 ceived his education in Milwaukee, and 
 after leaving school entered the employ 
 of Marshall Ilsley, as bank collection 
 clerk, and after four years, or in 1869, 
 entered the service of the American E.\- 
 press Company, at Black River Falls, 
 Wis., thence moved to Milwaukee, from 
 there to Green Bay in 1871, passing 
 through the various grades of promotion 
 ." with flying colors." In 1873-74 he was 
 Express Messenger between Green Bay 
 and Marquette, Mich. , and other points, 
 and in 1881 received the appointment of 
 agent at Green Bay, his present incum- 
 bency. In October, 1881, he was mar- 
 ried in Green Bay to Miss Minnie C. 
 Gardner, a native of that town, a daughter 
 of B. C. and M. K. Gardner, who about 
 the year 1854 came to Green Baj', where 
 the father followed his business, that of 
 contractor and builder; he died about 
 1880; the mother is yet living in Green 
 Bay. To Mr. and Mrs. Hinsdale have 
 been born two children, Florence and 
 Isabella. In politics our subject is a Re- 
 publican; socially he is a member of 
 Pochequette Lodge No. 26, K. of P., and 
 has passed all the Chairs. To his well- 
 
 directed efforts — efforts that never know 
 fatigue — Green Bay is indebted for as 
 well-conducted an express system as ex- 
 ists in the State. 
 
 GE. T. KYBER, notary public, 
 mortgage loan and real-estate 
 broker, of Green Baj', Wis., was 
 born in Saxony, Germany, in 
 1828, a son of Theodore George and 
 Caroline fWeygant) Kyber, the former of 
 whom, a native of Saxony, died at the 
 age of ninety-one; the latter was of Polish 
 descent. They had born to them eight 
 children, of whom the living are Carl, in 
 Glauchau, Saxony; Frederick and Amelia, 
 residing near Dresden, Saxony, and G. E. 
 T. , who is the subject of this sketch. 
 
 G. E. T. Kyber lost his mother when 
 he was six years of age. He was reared 
 and educated in Saxony and studied mili- 
 tary science and architecture, which pro- 
 fession he followed in the old country 
 until he was twenty-two years old. In 
 1850 he came to America, and in New 
 York was employed for a short time in 
 lithographic work and painting; then 
 went to Central America and served as 
 head steward of a large hospital, caught 
 the yellow fever, and returned north. In 
 1854 he came to Green Bay and opened 
 a paint shop, which he conducted until 
 1 86 1, when he was appointed notary pub- 
 lic; in I S63 he was appointed, as a Demo- 
 crat, auditor of the Volunteers Aid Fund 
 in the office of the Secretary of State, and 
 held the position until 1865; in 1867 was 
 elected the first police justice of Green 
 Bay. In 1873 he moved to AUouez town- 
 ship, where he has ever since had his resi- 
 dence, and is now public administrator 
 for Brown county. Mr. Kyber was mar- 
 ried, in New York, in 1852, to Miss 
 Susanna Muth, and tf) this union have 
 been born eight children, of whfjin the 
 living are: Fannie, wife of F. I^. Erd- 
 mann, of Green Bay; Virginia, Theodore 
 G. and Frederick E. The mother of this 
 family was called from earth in 1887 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 since when Mr. Kyber has remained a 
 widower. 
 
 Mr. Kyber is a member of Herman 
 Lodge No. Ill, I. O. O. F., and also of 
 the Turn Verein, of which he was one of 
 the organizers. He is also a member of 
 the Lutheran Church, lives fully up to its 
 teachings, and is greatly respected for his 
 moral walk through life. 
 
 THOMAS J. McGRATH, senior 
 member of McGrath & Anderson, 
 leading firm of contractors and 
 builders, of Green Bay, is a fair 
 representative of those whose sagacity 
 and capital have done so much toward 
 the commercial and manufacturing pro- 
 gress of the city of his adoption. 
 
 A' native of Canada, he was born 
 January 15, 1859, in Emily, Victoria Co., 
 Ontario, to Michael and Mary Ann (Mc- 
 Carthy) McGrath, the former of whom 
 was a carpenter by trade. In March, 
 1863, the father died, and in 1875 the 
 family, then consisting of mother and 
 three children, including our subject, 
 came toWisconsin and settled in Lebanon, 
 Waupaca county, where the mother 
 subsequently married Michael Ahearn, of 
 that place, where they are now living. 
 As will be seen, our subject was a lad of 
 some sixteen summers when the family 
 came toWisconsin, prior to which he had 
 received at the excellent public schools 
 of Canada the only literary education he 
 was destined to have, which in after 
 years he added to by close reading and 
 general observation of men and things. 
 At the age of eighteen he commenced to 
 learn carpentry, at which trade he soon 
 proved himself admirably adapted; and so 
 quickly did he make himself proficient 
 that at the early age of twenty-two he v\as 
 placed as foreman over men whose actual 
 experience represented more years than 
 he had lived. But he was equal to the 
 responsibility, and proved himself an 
 efificient and capable overseer. In this 
 capacity his first employment was for 
 
 contractors, but ere long he entered the 
 employ of the Chicago & Northwestern 
 Railway Company as foreman of bridge 
 carpenters, the work at that time being 
 done b}' this company on the St. Peter 
 division in Minnesota. For six years he 
 continued in this position, proving him- 
 self well worthy of his trust — honest and 
 capable. He then entered the employ of 
 the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. 
 Marie Railroad Company as superin- 
 tendent of building construction, but at 
 the end of one year he resigned to accept 
 the position of superintendent of bridges 
 and buildings for the Milwaukee & North- 
 ern railroad, which about three years 
 thereafter merged into the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul railroad. 
 
 In 1890 Mr. McGrath commenced the 
 since prosperous business of general con- 
 tracting and building, and among the 
 many substantial works in Green Bay 
 that stand to-day as evidence of his skill 
 may hh mentioned the Mason street 
 bridge over the Fox river; an extension 
 of one thousand feet dockage for the 
 Murphy Lumber Company, and elevator 
 and dock for W. W. Cargill & Bro. In 
 February, 1893, Mr. McGrath received 
 as partner in his extensive business Mr. 
 W. B. Anderson, since when the firm 
 have completed the following contracts: 
 Plant for "The Columbian Bakery"; ex- 
 tensive coal-sheds for Barkhousen & 
 Hathaway; the power-house for the Fox 
 River Street Railway Company; 800 feet 
 extra dockage for the Murphy Lumber 
 Company; about 14,000 yards of cedar 
 block paving on Washington street; 25,- 
 000 yards cedar block pavement on 
 Crooks and Walnut streets; bridge over 
 the East river, connecting Allouez and 
 Bellevue townships, in Brown county; 
 bridge over East river on Mason street; 
 and three and one-half miles of railroad 
 for the Chicago & North Western Com- 
 pany, in Michigan. 
 
 At Mankato, Minn., on March 21, 
 1880, Mr. McGrath was married to Miss 
 Eleanor Fuller, a native of Lapeer, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGUAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 13 
 
 Mich., and daughter of Daniel and Mary 
 J. (Arlow) Fuller. .\n interesting family 
 of six clever children have been born to 
 this union, named respectively: Nellie 
 M., Claude A., Violet M., Thomas R., 
 Daniel F. and Alvin E. Politically Mr. 
 McGrath is a stanch Republican, but has 
 no time to spare for office, his business 
 demanding and receiving his closest at- 
 tention. He is a member of the F. & A. 
 M., Washington Lodge No. 21, Warren 
 Chapter No. 8, Warren Council No. 13, 
 and Palestine Commandery No. 20. Mrs. 
 McGrath is a member of the M. E. 
 Church. 
 
 NS. I<CIMBALL, division master- 
 mechanic of the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul railroad, by 
 virtue of his long residence in 
 Wisconsin, covering a period of over 
 thirty-six years, is not only well known 
 but highly respected, especially in railroad 
 circles, where he is prominent. 
 
 He is a native of New Hampshire, 
 born November 21, 1831, in the town of 
 Warner, Merrimack county, a son of John 
 and Hannah (Bean) Kimball, the former 
 of whom was born and reared in Waltham, 
 Mass. In early life, he, John, moved to 
 New Hampshire, and in the town of War- 
 ner established a paper-mill as well as a 
 bookbindery, being proprietor of both. 
 Senator Chandler, of New Hampshire, 
 is now owner of the site on which these 
 old-time industries stood. John Kimball 
 and his wife passed the rest of their 
 days in New Hampshire, dying in Man- 
 chester in 1 84 1 and 1862 respectively, he 
 at the age of fifty years, she at the age of 
 sixty-two; his maternal grandfather, 
 Thomas Wellington, was a soldier in the 
 Revolution, spent the winter at Valley 
 Forge and crossed the Delaware with 
 Washington. John Kimball served in the 
 war of 1 81 2, in which conflict John Bean, 
 the maternal grandfather of our subject, 
 was also a soldier. 
 
 The subject of these lines received a 
 
 liberal education, in part at the schools of 
 Manchester, N. H., and in part in Hop- 
 kinton Academy, same State, chiefly, 
 however, at the schools of the latter 
 place. He was in reality reared to farm- 
 ing, and for a time tended sheep on the 
 Kearsarge Mountains, but in 1847, at the 
 age of seventeen, he commenced to learn 
 the trade of machinist in the Amoskeag 
 locomotive shops of Manchester, N. H. , 
 which had just been started, remaining in 
 them as long as they existed as locomotive 
 shops, or until 1857. In January of that 
 year he moved to Detroit, Mich., and 
 for a short time was in the employ of the 
 Michigan Central Railroad Company, 
 thence removing to La Porte, Ind. , where 
 he worked for the Lake Shore & Michi- 
 gan Southern railroad. After this he 
 was on a farm in Logan county, 111., for 
 some eight months, at the end of which 
 time, in 1858, he removed to Milwaukee, 
 Wis. , where he was given charge as fore- 
 man in the repair shops of the Milwaukee 
 & Mississippi railroad, which at that time 
 extended as far as Prairie du Chien, and 
 is at present a division of the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul railroad, on which he 
 is now employed. Here he remained 
 within one year of a quarter of a century, 
 and in 1882, having accepted the position 
 of division master-mechanic of the Mil- 
 waukee & Northern railroad, came to 
 Green Bay, where he still remains in the 
 same capacity. In 1882 this was the 
 Milwaukee & Northern railroad, but in 
 1890 it was absorbed by the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. He has 
 therefore served continuously thirty-six 
 years in positions of responsibility on the 
 lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul railroad. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Kimball was married to 
 Miss Mary A. Edmunds, daughter of 
 Enoch and Mary CCampbell) Edmunds, 
 all natives of New Hampshire, where her 
 father died, the widowed mother after- 
 ward coming to Green Bay, where, at 
 the residence of our subject, she passed 
 away in 1892. To Mr. and Mrs. Kim- 
 
114 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ball has been born one child, Walter H., 
 by profession a stenographer, married, 
 and residing at Green Baj-. In his polit- 
 ical preferences our subject is a Republi- 
 can. In 1854 he joined the Masons, at 
 Manchester, N. H., and he is a member 
 of Washington Lodge No. 21, F. & A. 
 M., Green Ba)'; Chapter No. 7, Milwaukee; 
 Palestine Commandery No. 20, of Green 
 Bay (of which, he is past eminent com- 
 mander), and of the Wisconsin Consis- 
 tory, thirty-second degree ; he is also a 
 member of the Mystic Shrine, Tripoli 
 Temple, of Milwaukee. He and his wife 
 are members of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, with which he has been connect- 
 ed for thirty years, and for several years 
 he has been a vestryman and warden. 
 
 FW. SCHNEIDER, photographic 
 artist, at No. 310 North Wash- 
 ington street, Green Bay, was 
 born in Westphalia, Prussia, Janu- 
 ary' 8, 1854. His parents were Anton 
 and Mary Elizabeth (Schneider) Schneider, 
 natives of Rhine-Province, Prussia, where 
 the father died in 1859; in 1868 the 
 mother came to Wisconsin and located in 
 Kewaunee county, where she carried on 
 farming and a cheese factory and store 
 until her death in 1891. She reared a 
 family of three children, viz: Charley, a 
 farmer; F. W. , our subject; and Helen, 
 wife of W. Gauerke, of Brown county. 
 F. W. Schneider was educated in 
 Prussia until fourteen years of age, and 
 after coming to America attended the 
 evening schools, and a business college 
 in Green Bay, Wis. In 1870 he settled 
 in Brown county, and was employed in 
 sawmilling and team driving till 1 874, 
 when he moved into Green Bay, where he 
 learned his art, and in May, 1877, com- 
 menced business on his own account, be- 
 ing now the oldest gallery proprietor in 
 the city, and one of its finest artists. 
 
 Mr. Schneider was married in De- 
 Pere, in 1876, to Miss Elainna M. Nuss, 
 a native of Pennsylvania, and daughter 
 
 of Michael Nuss, who settled in De Pere 
 about the year 1866. This happy union 
 has been blessed with three children, 
 named respectively: Alvin, Mabel and 
 Fred. Mr. Schneider is a Republican in 
 his political affiliations, and in his social 
 and fraternal connections is affiliated with 
 Green Bay Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., 
 in which he has passed all the chairs, and 
 is also a member of the Encampment; is 
 a member of the Royal .Arcanum, of the 
 Modern Woodmen, and of the Knights of 
 the Maccabees. He has grown up with 
 the city of Green Bay, has been a witness 
 to much of its progress, and is now 
 ranked among its most respected citizens. 
 
 HON. W. J. ABRAMS. The life 
 of the subject of this sketch pre- 
 sents a striking example of enter- 
 prise, industry and integrity, con- 
 ducting to eminent success, and of politi- 
 cal consistencies based on enlightened 
 and moderate views — views at all times 
 compatible with a generous toleration of 
 the sentiments entertained by others, and 
 commanding general confidence and es- 
 teem. 
 
 Mr. Abrams was born March 19, 1829, 
 in Cambridge, Washington Co., N. Y. , 
 and is a son of Isaac T. and Ruth (Hall) 
 Abrams, natives of New York. The 
 father, who was a business man of West 
 Troy, N. Y. , died in 1868, the mother in 
 1870. Of their family of children only 
 one grew to maturity, the son whose 
 name introduces this sketch. His great- 
 grandfather on the mother's side, Capt. 
 Alexander Thomas, was commissioned in 
 December, 1778, by the General As-, 
 sembly of Rhode Island, a captain in 
 Col. Topham's regiment, and it is rec- 
 orded that he " drew regular pay." Our 
 subject is a blood-relation, on his 
 mother's side, of Lyman Hall, one of 
 the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, and, on his father's side, Mr. 
 Abrams claims lineal descent from Lord 
 Townley, of the English House of Peers. 
 

COMMEMOllATIVE BIOURAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 117 
 
 W. J. Abrams, after receiving an 
 academic education at Cambridge and 
 Troy, N. Y. , entered the theological 
 school at Williamstown, Mass. ; but, 
 owing to impaired healtli he had to aban- 
 don the course, and spent some years in 
 travel, at the same time continuing his 
 studies, for the most part in history, arts 
 and general literature. In the latter con- 
 nection it may be mentioned that he was 
 the author, under various noimncs dc 
 phime of various essays, but his health 
 would not permit of his continuing in such 
 work as a profession. 
 
 In 1856 he came to northern Wiscon- 
 sin, and was engaged for a considerable 
 time in railroad surveys from Lake Michi- 
 gan to Ontonagon, making his permanent 
 home in Green Bay in 1861. He became 
 identified with the Collingwood, Sarnia 
 and Buffalo line of steamers, and, until 
 1870, none was more prominent in the 
 development of the water transportation 
 facilities of the town. In that year he 
 directed his attention more especially to 
 railroad enterprise, and was one of the 
 promoters of the Green Bay & Lake Pepin 
 railroad (having made the survey and ob- 
 tained its charter), becoming officially 
 connected with same, for many years 
 serving as secretary. This, road was sub- 
 sequently merged into the Green Bay & 
 Minnesota, and still later into the Green 
 Ba)', Winona & St. Paul. Mr. Abrams 
 was also the leading promoter of the Ke- 
 waunee, Green Baj- & Western railroad, 
 some thirty-five miles in length, built in 
 1 89 1, and has been president of the com- 
 pany from its organization. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Abrams was married in 
 Montgomery county, N. Y. , to Miss Hen- 
 rietta T. Alton, a native of New York 
 State, daughter of James Alton. Her 
 mother, at the time of her marriage with 
 Mr. Alton, was the widow of Commodore 
 Germain, commander of the "Ironsides," 
 during the. Revolutionary war. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Alton are now deceased. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Abrams have been born three 
 children, viz.: Two daughters — Kate, 
 
 wife of Hamilton Townsend, in the real- 
 estate business in Milwaukee, Wis. ; and 
 Ruth, wife of Dr. C. McVeigh Tobey, of 
 St. Paul, Minn. ; and one son — Winford, 
 at home. Mrs. Townsend is a member 
 of the Daughters of the Revolution in 
 Milwaukee, and secretary of the State di- 
 vision of that order. 
 
 During the Rebellion Mr. Abrams was 
 an uncompromising war Democrat, and is 
 still as ardent as he was when he cham- 
 pioned the rights of the party in the halls 
 of the State Assembly and in the Senate, 
 in the former of which he served four 
 years (from 1864 to 1867), and in the lat- 
 ter two years (1868-69). Among the nu- 
 merous official positions he holds or has 
 held may be mentioned — vice-president 
 of the Soldiers Orphans Home, at Mad- 
 ison, Wis.; vice-president of the Fair and 
 Park Association, in which he is a stock- 
 holder, and a member of the Horticul- 
 tural Society; mayor of Green Bay in 
 1882-83, and again in 1885. Socially he 
 is a retired member of the I. O. O. F., 
 and a member of the Royal Arcanum, of 
 which he is supreme representative at the 
 present time, and has been Grand Regent 
 of the State. One of the most active, 
 progressive, public-spirited men, Mr. 
 Abrams has done as much to develop the 
 almost inexhaustible resources of the Fox 
 River Valley as any other man. 
 
 Mr. Abrams has frequently appeared 
 as a public speaker, especially during po- 
 litical campaigns, and his style is of a char- 
 acter to command the respect and atten- 
 tion of his audience. As a public officer 
 he has few superiors; as a railroad official 
 he has a wide reputation for executive ca- 
 pacity and able management of affairs, 
 and it would be hard to find a man better 
 adapted to organizing capital to promote 
 such enterprises as he may become inter- 
 ested in, his foresight and sagacity in 
 financial matters fitting him especially 
 therefor. His power over men — and 
 hence his influence in social, political, and 
 business matters — is of that quiet order 
 that makes little outward show, yet is a 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 potent factor in shaping the success of 
 the community in which he resides. The 
 State of Wisconsin is justly proud of such 
 sons, and the record of their lives should 
 be perpetuated in history, chronicled in 
 steel and in words that endure forever. 
 
 THOMAS ATKINSON, a respected 
 and well-known citizen of Preble 
 township, l^rown county, is a na- 
 tive of Ireland, born March lo, 
 1816, in Count}' Sligo, son of Henry and 
 Kate (Kaveny) Atkinson, the former of 
 whom was a farmer and stock raiser. 
 
 Thomas Atkinson received such an 
 education as the schools of the time and 
 place afforded, and from boyhood was 
 reared to farm life. In January, 1842, 
 he was married to Miss Mary Flatley, 
 who was born in 1823, daughter of Dom- 
 inick and Margaret (Flynn) Flatley, and 
 this union was blessed with children as 
 follows: Margaret (now Mrs. John Mahon, 
 of Preble), Henry (deceased in infancy), 
 Kate (who died, unmarried, in Preble 
 township) and Maria (who was a school 
 teacher, and died in Preble township in 
 j'oung womanhood), all four born in 
 Ireland; and Louis (at home), Philip (of 
 Ironvvood, Mich.) and Thomas H. (who 
 died young), these three born in America. 
 In January, 184S, Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson, 
 with their fatnil}-, then consisting of three 
 girls, left Ireland, and shortly afterward 
 sailed from Liverpool, England, on the 
 "West Point," landing at New York in 
 March, after a voyage of forty-one days. 
 They first located in Cherry Valley, 
 Oneida Co. , N. Y., where Mr. Atkinson 
 worked as laborer on a plank-road at that 
 time in course of construction, remaining 
 there over a year; then, in the fall of 1 849, 
 proceeding by canal from Rome to Buf- 
 falo, N. Y. , they took passage on a ves- 
 sel bound for Kewaunee, Wis., thence 
 coming to Green Bay on the tug "Jim 
 Wood." The same fall Mr. Atkinson 
 located on a small farm in Holland town- 
 
 ship. Brown county, "all in the woods;" 
 but after remaining there about a month 
 returned to Green Bay, where he resided 
 some years. In 1853 he was appointed 
 lighthouse keeper at Long Tail Point, 
 Wis., and was stationed there si.\ years 
 and one month, at the end of which time 
 he removed to Fort Howard, where he 
 opened out a grocery and saloon business. 
 A few months later, in the spring of 1 860, 
 he located on his present farm, and has 
 here since continuously resided, having 
 now 1332 acres of prime land, which he 
 has accumulated by years of industry and 
 toil. On May 4, 1856, Mrs. Mary Atkin- 
 son passed from earth, and May 29, 1857, 
 Mr. Atkinson wedded, for his second wife, 
 Miss Margaret Howard, who was born, 
 in 1827, in County Limerick, Ireland, 
 daughter of Michael Howard; she died 
 January 22, 1877, without issue, and her 
 remains now rest in Shantytown cemetery. 
 Our subject, as a member of the Dem- 
 ocratic party, takes an active interest in 
 politics, and has held the offices of super- 
 visor and chairman of his township; in 
 religious faith he is a member of the Cath- 
 olic Church. He is well read, keeping 
 himself closely informed on the issues of 
 the day, and is highl}' respected where- 
 ever he is known. 
 
 THOMAS DOUBELL BOWRING 
 is a native of Reigate, county of 
 Surrey, England, and was born 
 January 13, 1844, the son of 
 Thomas and Susan (Doubell) Bowring. 
 The father, with his wife and five chil- 
 dren, came to the United States in 1851, 
 locating at Lyons, N. Y. From there he 
 moved to Detroit, Mich., where for the 
 most part he lived until his death, which 
 took place in 1885; his widow died in the 
 same city in 1891. 
 
 Thomas D. Bowring obtained his edu- 
 cation partly in England, and partly at 
 the common schools of this country. 
 While attending school at Lyons, N. Y. , 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he sustained an injury to his left hip 
 which crippled him for life. He learned 
 the art of photography in Detroit, where 
 for about a year he was in business for 
 himself; but in i858 he moved to Green 
 Bay to become operator for H. S. Clark. 
 In 1869 he took charge of a branch gal- 
 lery in De Pere, which, at the close of the 
 year, he purchased, and has since been in 
 business for himself. Mr. Bowring was 
 married in 1874 to Miss Alice Arndt, 
 daughter of J. W. Arndt, and there have 
 been born to this union five children, 
 named, respectively: Alice Irene, Thomas 
 Reuben, Randall, William Wallace and 
 Elcey Arndt. Of these, Randall died in 
 1883; the others are living with their par- 
 ents. In local politics Mr. Bowring is 
 independent, supporting the men whom 
 he thinks will best perform the duties of 
 the various offices; but in National affairs 
 he has usually* been in accord with the 
 policy of the Democratic party. He was 
 treasurer of De Pere in 1877-78, and is 
 the present supervisor from the First 
 ward. He is a member of the De Pere 
 Temple of Honor, was made a Freemason 
 in Detroit in 1863, and is now a member 
 of the De Pere Lodge, F. & A. M. 
 
 WIIJ.IAM ARMSTRONG, of De- 
 Pere, is now retired on his 
 means, although when he first 
 reached De Pere he was the pos- 
 sessor of the sum of only twenty-five cents. 
 His indomitable energy and shrewd busi- 
 ness qualifications have alone been the 
 secret of his success, as will be found in 
 the sequel. He is of Scotch-Irish extrac- 
 tion, and was born in the village of 
 Bathurst, N. B.. January 14. 1821, 
 son of William and Sarah fEllis) Arm- 
 strong, natives, respectively, of Aberdeen, 
 Scotland, and Londonderry, Ireland, the 
 former of whom, by vocation a lumber- 
 man and ship-owner, took up his resi- 
 dence in New Brunswick, where he and 
 his wife passed their declining days. 
 
 William Armstrong received a fair ed- 
 ucation at the common or district schools 
 of Bathurst, and at the age of twenty-one 
 years began work at lumbering at Paubo, 
 in the district of Gaspe. Being very apt 
 and well educated, at the end of a year's 
 life in the woods he was made superin- 
 tendent of a gang-mill employing 300 
 men, natives of Canada, of whom two 
 only could write their names, and over 
 this large number of men he held con- 
 trol three years. In 1849, smitten with 
 the gold fever, he started for Califor- 
 nia, going by team to St. John, N. B. , 
 thence by boat to Boston, Mass. ; but the 
 sea-going vessel had taken its departure 
 before he reached that port. This cir- 
 cumstance necessitated a change of plans 
 on the part of Mr. Armstrong, and, after 
 working three months in a ship-yard in 
 Boston, he found his way to Albany, N. 
 Y. , where for three months he was em- 
 ployed in canal-boat building. From Al- 
 bany he went to Buffalo, N. Y., by canal, 
 thence by steamer, via the lake, to She- 
 boygan, Wis., and finally reached De- 
 Pere, his present residence, about May 
 30, 1850, as before stated, with only a 
 few cents in his pocket, and one suit of 
 working clothes, as his trunks were de- 
 layed and did not arrive until two or three 
 weeks afterward. He found employ- 
 ment in a lumber-mill as head sawyer, 
 and, after working three or four days the 
 proprietor was heard to remark that there 
 must be something wrong about that man, 
 for, to judge by his good writing and fig- 
 ures, he was evidently well educated and 
 superior to his present employment: so 
 he was set down as a rogue in hiding, an 
 impression which did not last long, how- 
 ever, although there was perhaps suffi- 
 cient cause for it, as he had worked in the 
 dirt and wet for two or three weeks with- 
 out change of clothes, making him look 
 very rough, a condition which was rem- 
 edied on the arrival of his trunks. After 
 working a year as head sawyer in the 
 lumber-mill he subsequent!}' rented the 
 same, in partnership with James Morgan, 
 
I20 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Armstrong superintending the getting 
 out of the logs and the general work of 
 the gang in the forest. Having now ac- 
 cumulated some money, our subject next 
 purchased a ta.\-title to some heavily tim- 
 bered pine land east of De Pere, which 
 proved as prolific as any to be found in 
 the State of Wisconsin; still, with his 
 keen business eye, he saw that the price of 
 lumber was going down, and for several 
 years filled positions as superintendent 
 for various lumber companies on salary, 
 until i860, from which time until 1862, 
 the times being troublous, he wisely ab- 
 stained from venturing his capital in busi- 
 ness. In the latter year, however, he ac- 
 cepted an appointment as deputy United 
 States marshal for the northern district of 
 "Wisconsin, filled the quota of enlisted 
 men, and then proceeded to make the 
 draft for extra men over and above the 
 volunteer contingent. In this draft, which 
 first occurred at Green Bay for the town of 
 Washington Island, Door county, a singu- 
 lar incident occurred: A blind man was 
 selected to do the drawing, and Mr. Arm- 
 strong gave the wheel containing the 
 names of the men to be drawn, three 
 turns; a somewhat prominent fisherman, 
 standing near, demanded another turn of 
 the wheel, until he said enough, and, on 
 this being done, the first name drawn was 
 that of Robert Nolan, the fisherman who 
 had demanded a new turn of the wheel. 
 For two years Mr. Armstrong filled the 
 office of provost marshal, and in 1864 
 started for the gold fields of Montana, 
 where he secured a placer claim on Hen- 
 derson Gulch, and wrought out $12,000 
 in one season. He also bought an inter- 
 est in a ranch on Burnt Fork, a stream 
 that emptied into Bitter Root vallej*, from 
 which he produced 250 barrels of iiour, 
 which was sold at forty dollars per barrel; 
 1.500 bushels of potatoes, sold at seven 
 dollars and fifty cents per bushel; 1,200 
 bushels of oats, sold at five dollars per 
 bushel, all spot gold; onions sold at 
 twenty-five cents per pound, rutabagas 
 at fifteen cents per pound, and other 
 
 products in proportion. A portion of his 
 produce was sent to the mines market, 
 140 miles away, and the hauling was done 
 by four six-yoke oxen-teams, and two 
 four-horse teams, the rate of freight being 
 four cents per pound. Mr. Armstrong 
 also purchased beef cattle in large quan- 
 tities, which he slaughtered and sold for 
 food to the miners; and thus life was 
 passed at the mining districts, to the great 
 profit of Mr. Armstrong, his gain for his 
 residence of two years on the ranch being 
 ten thousand dollars, or more. He was 
 always a favorite with the miners, among 
 whom he was familiarly known by the 
 sobriquet of " Uncle Billy," and enjoyed 
 a monopoly of the trade of the camp, 
 never hesitating to run out a line of credit 
 to those who had not the ready means for 
 cash payment. During the winter season 
 he lumbered a little, whipsawed lumber 
 at two hundred dollars per thousand feet 
 for spruce, and also manufactured shingles 
 at an immense profit. He built the 
 first shingle-roofed house in Bitter Root 
 valley, and at the end of the four years 
 sold out the balance of his mining claim 
 for one thousand dollars, and went to 
 Fort Benton, thence by steamer to Omaha, 
 and from that point came to De Pere. 
 Here he was engaged two years at the 
 furnace business; next was superintendent 
 for the Fox River Iron Company for 
 about ten years, continuing to put money 
 in his purse and filling the position to the 
 entire satisfaction of his employers. In 
 1880 he patented a stump-puller, in the 
 manufacture of which he was engaged 
 eight years at De Pere. Of this valuable 
 implement he sold upwards of three 
 thousand, and, in addition, disposed of 
 the right to manufacture in a large extent 
 of territory. In 1889 he was appointed, 
 by President Harrison, postmaster at De- 
 Pere; but, at the expiration of the Presi- 
 dential term, resigned, for political reasons, 
 althou£;h no fault had been found by the 
 general public with his performance of 
 the duties of the office. It will readily be 
 perceived that Mr. Armstrong is a Repub- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOURAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 lican in politics, and as such has been 
 elected three terms as alderman, in which 
 capacity he is now serving. For one 
 term, also, he served as president of East 
 De Pere village, and in all public offices 
 he has discharged his duties with credit to 
 himself and to the public. In religion he 
 is a birthright member of the Presbyterian 
 Church, and in 1874 was also admitted, 
 by profession of faith, as a member of the 
 church at De Pere, of which body he is 
 now an elder, and has always lived up to 
 its teachings. 
 
 On March 25, 1851, Mr. Armstrong 
 was happily married to Miss Rebecca 
 Rogers, a native of Nova Scotia, and a 
 daughter of David and Hannah (Hadley), 
 Rogers, who ended their life pilgrimage in 
 Mr. Armstrong's land of birth. To the 
 union of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong have 
 been born two children, viz.: Ale.xander, 
 born January 4, 1852, married to Mary 
 Hannah, and now residing in Chicago, 
 III., and William S., born January 2, 
 1863, and now a resident of Green Bay, 
 Wis. William Armstrong' is, strictly 
 speaking, a self-made man, having in- 
 herited nothing from his father, who was 
 reduced from most excellent circumstances 
 b\- the failure of Joseph C. Cunard, ship- 
 builder and ship-owner. But Mr. Arm- 
 strong has ever been a moral man, has 
 been enterprising and industrious, and is 
 now retired with a comfortable com- 
 petence. 
 
 CHAUNCY N. ALDRICH, one of 
 the earliest and best-known resi- 
 dents of Preble township. Brown 
 county, is a native of Cortland 
 county, N. Y. , born in the town of Preble, 
 May II, 1825. 
 
 His father, Jonathan Aldrich, who was 
 a farmer, first saw the light in Vermont, 
 where he married Amelia Gains, and to 
 this union were born children as follows: 
 Jonathan, who died about 1890, at Am- 
 herst, Portage Co., Wis.; Penelope, who 
 
 married Caleb Blanchard, and died in 
 Lewis county, N. Y. ; Olive, who was first 
 married to Horatio Howard, and later to 
 William H. Bruce (she died on the farm 
 of our subject); Amelia, who married 
 Francis Gilbert, and died at Green Bay; 
 Delight, who was married to Royal 
 Jacobs, and died in Michigan; Valentine, 
 who died in Cooperstown, Manitowoc 
 Co. , Wis. ; Amasa G. , who died in Preble, 
 Cortland Co., N. Y. ; Asa H., who died 
 in Brown county. Wis.; Samuel M., who 
 died on the farm of his brother, C. N. ; 
 Gains D., who died in Green Bay; 
 Chauncy N., speciall}- mentioned further 
 on; and Rexville R., deceased in infancy. 
 The father of this family was a life-long 
 agriculturist, and made his home in New 
 York State for many years, dying August 
 13, 1838, in the town of Scott, Cortland 
 county; he was buried in Preble, same 
 county. His wife, who survived him 
 many years, passed away June i, 1871, 
 in Preble township. Brown Co., Wis., at 
 the home of her son Chauncy N., and her 
 remains now rest in a private cemetery 
 on his farm, where she was laid at her 
 own request. She was a member of the 
 Methodist Church. Jonathan Aldrich 
 was a Democrat of the "Jacksonian 
 stripe, "and a very stanch adherent of the 
 party. 
 
 Chauncy N. Aldrich is the sole survi- 
 vor of the family of twelve children born 
 to Jonathan and Amelia (Gains) Aldrich. 
 He received such an education as the 
 common schools of his time afforded, and 
 was reared a farmer boy, residing at home 
 up to the time of his father's death. The 
 latter had requested him to go west to 
 Brown count}'. Wis., and make his home 
 with his brother-in-law, William H. 
 Bruce, until he reached his majority, and 
 after attending school one 3ear longer he 
 left his native place for the " Far West," 
 as Wisconsin was then considered. He 
 made the journey by wagon to Syracuse, 
 by canal to Buffalo, and thence by lake 
 on the boat "Illinois," Capt. Blake (her 
 first trip), to Mackinaw, where he waited 
 
CO^VMEMORATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for a boat to Green Baj'. He took pas- 
 sage on the "Gov. Marcy," and arrived 
 at his destination October 24, 1839. His 
 brother-in-law, Mr. Bruce (above men- 
 tioned), was a general merchant at Green 
 Bay, and young Aldrich resided with him 
 for seven years, engaged at various kinds 
 of labor, driving team, working on the 
 farm, and in fact doing anything that 
 presented itself. 
 
 At the age of twenty-two Mr. Aid- 
 rich was united in marriage, at Green 
 Bay, with Miss Amanda Porter, who was 
 born at Coeymans, N. Y. , daughter of 
 John Porter. Mr. Aldrich, in the mean- 
 time, had saved a few dollars, and shortly 
 after his marriage located on the farm 
 where he has ever since resided, and 
 which then belonged to his brother-in- 
 law, Mr. Bruce. At the time our sub- 
 ject came here there was not a building 
 between the farm and Green Bay, and 
 the roads had to be cut out as he went 
 along The old house which he first oc- 
 cupied is still standing. Here he has 
 since made his home, with the exception 
 of one year, when he lived in Stephens- 
 ville, Outagamie county. Mr. Aldrich 
 has been a farmer and stockman, and he 
 has seen his land converted from its 
 primitive condition, the forests sup- 
 planted by fertile fields, all representing 
 many years of hard, unremitting toil. 
 When he first located here wild animals 
 abounded, deer and wolves being especi- 
 ally numerous. His farm consists of 160 
 acres of good land. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs Aldrich have been 
 born nine children, a brief record of them 
 being as follows: Arthur N. is a resident 
 of Larimer county, Colo. ; Amelia is the 
 wife of fohn Coppens, of Humboldt town- 
 ship; Olive is married to Henry Rock- 
 well, of Preble township; Lavina married 
 Charles Sidel, and died in Wausau, Wis., 
 leaving four children; Madison is a resi- 
 dent of Preble township; Chauncy N. 
 died when three months old; William is 
 living at home; Delight is the wife of 
 Fred Rockwell, of Preble township; 
 
 Porter lives at home. Politically a Demo- 
 crat, Mr. Aldrich has been one of the 
 stanch supporters of the part}' in his 
 township, and has been called on to 
 serve in many positions of trust, such as 
 chairman of the board, in which capacity 
 he has served for twenty \ears, at various 
 times, at one time holding the office when 
 his jurisdiction extended over what is no\\' 
 six townships. He has also served two 
 years as township treasurer, and has been 
 justice of the peace, filling every position 
 with credit to himself and satisfaction to 
 his constituency, fn religious connection 
 Mrs. Aldrich is a member of the Baptist 
 Churcl;!. 
 
 FRED. P. GROSS, a well-known 
 citizen of Fort Howard, Ijrown 
 county, was born in 1S63, in Mor- 
 rison township. Brown Co., 
 Wis., and was educated in the schools of 
 the locality. His parents, John G. and 
 Margaret (Moschel) Gross, were born in 
 Germany, near the "wild and winding 
 Rhine," the father coming to this vicinity 
 when a \oung man, about 1852, and set- 
 tling on a farm in the woods. For some 
 \'ears subsequent to 1871 he was pro- 
 prietor of a sawmill, and he and his wife 
 are now residents of Morrison township, 
 Brown county. Their children are: Car- 
 oline, wife of Frank Falk, of Seymour, 
 Wis. ; I^ouisa, wife of Joseph Leonard, of 
 Medford, Wis. ; August, married and re- 
 siding in Morrison township, where he 
 operates a sawmill; John, married and 
 residing in Fort Howard, engaged in the 
 saloon business; Fred. P,, the subject of 
 this article; Maggie, wife of Daniel 
 Schunk, of Morrison township; Sophia, 
 wife of William Peters, of Bullion. \Ms. ; 
 Christina, wife of Charley Furstenburg, 
 also of Bullion, and Godfrey, residing 
 in Fort Howard. 
 
 Our subject resided on the home farm 
 and was engaged in milling pursuits until 
 April, 18S9, when he located at P'ort 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ■23 
 
 Howard, embarking the following year in 
 the saloon business on Broadway. He is 
 a Democrat in politics, and in the spring 
 of 1894 was elected supervisor of the 
 Third ward. Fort Howard, his opponent 
 being A. L. Gray. In 1890 he was mar- 
 ried, in Morrison township, to Miss Minnie 
 Lapnow, a native of that township, 
 daughter of Fred Lapnow, and they have 
 two children: Laura and Minnie. Mr. 
 Gross, with his wife, belongs to the Lu- 
 theran Church, and he is a member of the 
 F. & A M., Despres Lodge, No. 85, of the 
 American Legion of Honor, and of the 
 Turnvercin. 
 
 JOHN COOK, fashionable merchant 
 tailor, and proprietor of the opera 
 house at De Pare, Brown county, is 
 a native of that city, born March 2 i, 
 1856, a son of John and Catherine 
 (Dw3'er) Cook. 
 
 The father of our subject was a na- 
 tive of Germany, a tailor by trade, and 
 came to the United States with his par- 
 ents, who settled at Tiffin, Ohio, in 1832. 
 In 184S he came to De Pere, and in 1849 
 established a merchant-tailoring establish- 
 ment. In 1 858 he purchased a farm of 
 fift\-eight acres one-half mile south of 
 East De Pere, and upon it moved his 
 family, but retained his business in the 
 village until his death. He was a Demo- 
 crat in politics, served as chairman of 
 the board of supervisors some eight or 
 nine years, was a member of the Catholic 
 Church, and was regarded as a man of 
 the strictest integrity. His wife, Mrs. 
 Catherine (Dwyer) Cook, was born near 
 Dublin, Ireland, and came to the United 
 States with her brothers and sisters, set- 
 tling in the northern part of Illinois, in 
 Lake county, in which State she became 
 acquainted with Mr. Cook. Her death 
 took place in i860, and her remains lie 
 interred beside those of her husband in 
 the Catholic cemetery, just south of 
 Green Bay and east of Shantytown. Mr. 
 
 and Mrs. Cook had born to them a family 
 of three children, viz. : Mary, who mar- 
 ried Albert Martens, of De Pere; Isadore 
 William, who went to California twenty 
 years ago, and John, the subject of this 
 sketch. The last named was educated 
 in the De Pere schools, and was taught 
 his trade by his father. In the fall of 
 1882 he began merchant tailoring on his 
 own account, and has since been at the 
 head of the trade in De Pere. On April 
 10, 1888, he opened his opera house to 
 the public, and has found it to be a profit- 
 able investment; the building is a frame 
 structure, with an auditorium 60 .\ 114 
 feet, and has a seating capacity for si.\ 
 hundred persons, but, on extraordinary 
 occasions, from nine hundred to one 
 thousand can be crowded within its walls. 
 In politics Mr. Cook is Democratic, 
 in 1890 was elected alderman from the 
 First ward of De Pere, and proved him- 
 self so efficient that he was re-elected in 
 1891 ; in religious faith he is a member of 
 the Catholic Church. In the fall of 1888 
 he was married to Catherine Rooney, who 
 was born in Canada, and one child, Cyrill, 
 has blessed this union, Mr. Cook has 
 led a life of integrity and industry, and is 
 recognized as one of the solid men of 
 De Pere. 
 
 JB. LAST, general freight and pas- 
 senger agent at Green Bay for the 
 Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul, the 
 Kewaunee and Green Bay & Western 
 Railroad Companies, is one of the most 
 popular, courteous and obliging railroad 
 officials to be found in the State. 
 
 Mr. Last was born at Green Bay, in 
 1848, a son of John and Sarah (Green) 
 Last, the father a native of near London, 
 England, the mother of New York. Some 
 time in the "thirties" John Last immi- 
 grated to America, and coming to Wis- 
 consin settled in Green Bay. He died in 
 1884; his widow is still a resident of 
 Green Bay. After receiving a liberal ed- 
 
134 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ucation at the schools of his native town, 
 our subject commenced active business 
 life in the service of the American Ex- 
 press Company as messenger between 
 Green Bay and Oshkosh, Wis. This po- 
 sition he held for about one year (1866), 
 and then accepted a engagement as clerk 
 for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway 
 Company at Fort Howard, remaining there 
 three years, at the end of which time he 
 embarked in mercantile business in Green 
 Bay. At the close of si.x years, his in- 
 clinations tending more toward railroad 
 work, he entered, as clerk, the general 
 freight offices of the Green Bay, Winona 
 & St. Paul railroad. In the fall of 1882 
 he went to Chicago as general agent 
 for the Milwaukee & Northern railroad, 
 being located there until the spring of 
 1883. We next find our subject in Den- 
 ver, Colo. , where he was i« the service 
 of the Claim Department of the Union 
 Pacific railroad till 1887, in which year he 
 returned to Green Bay. Here he was lo- 
 cal agent for the United States Express 
 Company some two years, when (1889) 
 he was appointed to his present position, 
 to which, by his wide experience and gen- 
 eral qualifications, he is admirably 
 adapted. 
 
 FERDINAND GOFFART, justice 
 of the peace, and one of the most 
 extensive farmers of De Pere 
 township. Brown county, was 
 born November 18, 1836, in Belgium, son 
 of Peter J. Goffart. The latter was a 
 gardener and store-keeper, and also fol- 
 lowed the business of d3'er, besides 
 various other occupations. He had eight 
 children — five sons and three daughters — 
 of whom Ferdinand is the second child 
 and eldest son. 
 
 Our subject first attended the village 
 schools, antl then for two \'ears went to a 
 graded school, receiving a verj' fair educa- 
 tion, all in French. It was the intention 
 of his parents to educate him for profes- 
 
 sional life, but, his father dying when he 
 was sixteen years old, he was obliged to 
 leave school and assist in the support of 
 the family. Concluding he could better 
 his condition by coming to the United 
 States, he bade farewell to his home and 
 friends, and in the spring of 1857 sailed 
 from Antwerp on the "John Elliot," 
 landing at New York after a voyage of 
 fifty-six days. His destination was Green 
 Bay, W'is. , and thither he proceeded from 
 New York by rail and water, arriving 
 August 8. The first work he did in the 
 New World was on a piece of land in the 
 town of Scott, Brown Co., Wis., which 
 he abandoned after some time, and hard 
 work, and later he went to Bay Settle- 
 ment; proceeding to Red River township, 
 Kewaunee county, he prospected for land; 
 but, not being satisfied, he returned to 
 Green Bay. In the following spring 
 (1858) he came to De Pere township, 
 Brown county, and here purchased about 
 one hundred acres of land, paying there- 
 for eleven hundred dollars. On this 
 tract he erected a round-log house, 1 4 x 16, 
 which was the first building on the place, 
 and there was only one other house be- 
 tween it and De Pere. He immediately 
 set to work to clear up the land, which 
 was densely covered with timber, princi- 
 pall\' beech and maple, but he also found 
 some pine, black birch, elm and ash 
 trees; on one part of the land was a heavy 
 growth of "sugar bush." After much 
 hard work he succeeded in clearing space 
 enough to put in a crop, the first being" 
 rye, and as the years passed the entire 
 tract gradually became a well-cultivated 
 farm. In June, 1858. Mr. Goffart's wid- 
 owed mother had come hither, bringing 
 the remainder of the family, but the 
 greater part of the responsibility rested on 
 Ferdinand. She died in Rockland town- 
 ship. Brown county, in 1888, and was 
 buried in De Pere cemeterv. 
 
 On March 9, 1861, P"crdinand Goffart 
 was united in marriage in Fremont coun- 
 ty, Iowa, with Miss Julia E. Frederick- 
 son, who was born in Burlington, Racine 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 125 
 
 Co., Wis., and to this union were born 
 twelve children, eight of whom are now 
 living, viz. : Sylvester, a resident of the 
 State of Washington; Mary C, now Mrs. 
 Oscar Barkman, of St. Paul, Minn. ; 
 Adaline, a Sister in the convent at De- 
 troit; Noah, residing in the State of 
 Washington; Isabella, Sister in the con- 
 vent at Chicago, 111. ; Sedonia, at home; 
 and Emily and Julia, both of Detroit, 
 Mich. Those deceased are Christiana, 
 Charlotte S. , Mary S. and Francis B. 
 The mother of these died in 1S82, and 
 was buried in De Pere cemetery. On 
 September 24, 1882, Mr. Goffart was 
 married in De Pere, for his second wife, 
 to Pelagic Bell, who was born December 
 31, 1 85 1, in Belgium, daughter of Remy 
 Bell, and came to the United States in 
 1865. To this marriage were born chil- 
 dren as follows: Victor B. (deceased), 
 Rachel, Isaac, Rebecca, Moses, Zipporah 
 (deceased), and Aaron. Immediately after 
 his marriage to Julia Frederickson, Mr. 
 Goffart went to South Dakota and took 
 up a homestead at Elk Point, on the Mis- 
 souri river, where he remained for nearly 
 two years. He then removed to Iowa 
 City, Iowa, and while there enlisted, on 
 August 9, 1862, in Company G, Twenty- 
 second Iowa V. I. , for three j'ears. He 
 served to the close of the war, and was 
 discharged in July, 1865, in Savannah, 
 Ga. , being mustered out at Davenport, 
 Iowa, and during his entire service he 
 was never on the sick list, and was never 
 wounded. Upon his return home from 
 the army he went back to Dakota, and 
 thence, after a residence of two years 
 more, removed to Detroit, Mich., and for 
 one summer acted as superintendent of a 
 farm near that city. Then, in 1868, he 
 came to his present farm in De Pere 
 township, Brown Co., Wis., which at 
 that time was in a totally unimproved 
 condition, and here he has ever since 
 made his home. He now owns 225 acres 
 of excellent land, and is one of the most 
 extensive agriculturists of his section. He 
 has labored much and endured many 
 
 hardships in the clearing and subduing of 
 his land, and during his residence here he 
 has seen the entire surrounding country 
 transformed from a wilderness into fertile 
 farms. He and his estimable wife are 
 now about to live a retired life. During 
 his service in the Civil war Mr. Goffart saw 
 a great deal of the South ; he is a well-read 
 man and an observer, and is possessed 
 of no small stock of general information. 
 During the war he was a Republican, but 
 he has since been a member of the Demo- 
 cratic part}', and is a strong supporter of 
 its principles, always voting that ticket 
 in State and National elections, but in 
 township and county affairs he exercises 
 his franchise according to the dictates of 
 his own conscience. He has been elected 
 to various offices in his township, has 
 been member of the school board, clerk 
 of same, and is at present serving as jus- 
 tice of the peace, an office he has held 
 with eminent satisfaction to all for the 
 past fifteen years. He and his wife are 
 members of the Catholic Church. 
 
 ALEX. CLEEREMANS, alderman 
 from the Second ward. Fort 
 Howard, is now serving his first 
 term in that capacit}'. He is also 
 engaged in gardening, and for the past 
 nine years has been janitor of the Second 
 ward schoolhouse. He took the State 
 census for a certain district in 1885, and 
 has gathered statistics for the school cen- 
 sus for eight years in succession. 
 
 Mr. Cleeremans, who is a son of 
 Frank and Josie (DeLang) Cleeremans, 
 was born in 1850 in the village of Weert 
 St. Georges, Belgium, and came with his 
 parents to the vicinity of Green Bay in 
 1867, the family settling on a farm in the 
 forest of Scott township. The father 
 died in 1876, the mother in 1871. Alex, 
 is one of the family of five sons, the other 
 four being: Charley, a gardener of Fort 
 Howard; John, working at the carpenter's 
 trade in the same citv; Frank, a farmer 
 
136 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAl'IIICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Scott township; and Henry, a sawyer 
 or setter in the mills at Oconto. Alex, 
 received his education in Belgium, in 
 both the Belgian and French languages. 
 He aided his father in clearing and im- 
 proving the Scott township farm, and 
 after coming to Fort Howard, in 1871, 
 worked in the McDonald mills, and for 
 the government in the stone quarr\-. In 
 1877 he went to Oregon, thence two 
 months later to Nevada, where he worked 
 in the mountains, getting out mining 
 timber for McKay & Fair. He came 
 home in the latter part of the same year, 
 by way of California and Oregon; from 
 1880 till 1886 was tie inspector for the 
 Chicago & Northwestern railroad, and 
 now owns a fine garden tract of four 
 acres within the city limits. He was 
 married, in 1874, in Duck Creek, town 
 of Howard, to Miss Sophia Simoens, who 
 was born in Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of 
 Frank and Theresa (Houters) Simoens, 
 natives of Belgium, who settled near Fort 
 Howard in 1857, on a farm in Howard 
 township. Her father now resides in Fort 
 Howard; her mother died January i, 
 1886. Of their eight children three are 
 living: Nettie, wife of Bernard Vaner- 
 beck; Mrs. Cleeremans; and Henry, of 
 Fort Howard. The children of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Cleeremans are: Celia, Joseph, 
 Rosa, Angeline, Anna, Lucy, Willie and 
 Laura. Mr. Cleeremans is a Democrat 
 in politics, and was elected several times 
 to Congressional and Senatorial conven- 
 tions. He is a member of St. Joseph's 
 Society of Green Bay, and, with his wife, 
 belongs to St. Patrick's Catholic Church. 
 
 PETER HERBER, an energetic 
 young farmer of Howard town- 
 ship. Brown county, was born in 
 New York, Mav 6. 1S55, a son of 
 John and Elizabeth (Fuchs) Herber. 
 
 John Herber was born in Rotherburg, 
 Germany, April 14, 18 16, left his home 
 at the age of thirteen vears, and was em- 
 
 ployed as a laborer through the country. 
 ! On November 15, 1854, he married, and 
 the same year started for the United 
 States via Liverpool, the voyage from 
 that port to New York occupying six 
 weeks. After working in a stone quarry 
 in New York until 1856, he came to 
 Wisconsin, and first settled in Eaton town- 
 ship. Brown county, where he resided 
 twelve years, cleared up a farm, for two 
 years rented one. and then bought his 
 present place of fifty-seven acres in How- 
 ard township. This tract was partly im- 
 proved, and for seven years he made his 
 home in the log house then on the prem- 
 ises, afterward moving into his present 
 handsome and convenient dwelling. Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Herber was born in Bavaria, 
 Germany, January 23, 1824, but lost her 
 parents when she was a little girl. 
 
 Peter Herber is an only child, and has 
 always lived under the parental roof. He 
 was reared to the useful pursuit of farm- 
 ing, and on October 25, 1881, married 
 Miss Karoline Breuninger, a native of 
 Green Bay, born October 2, 1S57, and a 
 daughter of Karl and Sophia (Huenger) 
 Brueninger, the former of whom was born 
 at Shrotsburg, Wurtemburg, Germany, No- 
 vember 23, 1818, and in 1840 came to 
 the United States, and for a year lived in 
 the State of Delaware; he next went to 
 Ohio, and four months later came to 
 Wisconsin and settled in Green Bay, 
 where his death occurred March 3, 1866. 
 He was a son of John Breuninger, an old 
 school-teacher, who was born in Kocher- 
 stertien. and there died; his wife, Sophia 
 C. Phaff, was born February 17, 1800, 
 in Hermersberg Castle, and her death 
 took place October g. 1834, at the place 
 where her husband's death occurred. 
 Karl Breuninger, as mav well be sup- 
 posed, was a highly-educated man, and 
 was employed in clerical work. His wife, 
 Sophia Huenger. was born in Saxony, 
 and is now a resident of Preble to\\'nship, 
 Brown county. 
 
 To the union of Peter and Karoline 
 Herber have been born three children. 
 
COMMEMOHATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ■^7 
 
 viz.: Henry J., October 4, 1882; Peter 
 K., FebriKiry 15, 1884; and Karl F., 
 October 4, 1886. After his marriage 
 Mr. Herber settled down on tiie old 
 homestead, and has increased his posses- 
 sions to eighty acres, which he devotes to 
 general farming. Both father and son 
 have been hard-working, industrious men 
 and worthy citizens, and to illustrate in a 
 small waj' the hardships of pioneer life it 
 may be mentioned that the elder Mr. 
 Herber, on first settling, \vas obliged to 
 pawn his coat in order to obtain an a.\e 
 wherewith to chop wood, so scarce was 
 money in that day. In politics, both 
 father and son are Republicans, the 
 father having cast his first Presidential 
 vote for Abraham Lincoln, and the son 
 for Rutherford B. Hayes. 
 
 JOHN CONNELLY, proprietor of 
 the "Pine Grove Hotel," and asuc- 
 cessful, self-made man, of De Pere 
 township. Brown county, is de- 
 scended from Scotch-Irish ancestry. He 
 was born March 25, 1840, in Ouebec, 
 Lower Canada (now known as the Prov- 
 ince of Ouebec), a son of Michael Con- 
 nelly, who was a native of county Lim- 
 erick, Ireland. 
 
 When a young man Michael Connelly 
 immigrated to Canada, where he married 
 Mary Hamilton, a native of County Don- 
 egal, Ireland, and to their union were 
 born fifteen children — four sons and 
 eleven daughters — seven of whom are yet 
 living. Michael, who was a farmer in 
 Quebec, in the fall of 1865 came with his 
 famil}-toDe Pere, Brown Co., Wis., later 
 mo\ing to Bay Settlement, same county, 
 and here for some time worked in a saw- 
 mill. He then removed to Bellevue town- 
 ship, where he had purchased a partly- 
 improved farm of 140 acres, and there 
 made his home for a number of years, 
 finally returning to Ue Pere township, 
 where he and his wife are now passing 
 their declining vears. Two of the daneh- 
 
 ters, Mary Jane and Jennie, also came to 
 De Pere in 1865. Mr. Connolly is a 
 Democrat in politics, but he takes no ac- 
 tive interest in party affairs. 
 
 John Connelly, the subject proper of 
 these lines, lived with his parents until he 
 reached the age of seventeen, at which 
 time he commenced to work in the lum- 
 ber regions. Up to that period he had 
 received no schooling whatever, but he 
 then attended a night school, where he 
 received a fair common-school education, 
 the instruction being in the French lan- 
 guage, which he learned to read and write. 
 He was two years in Wilkinsonville, 
 Mass., near Worcester, working in cotton 
 factories and mills; from there went to 
 Lower Canada and bought a farm of ninety 
 acres, which he sold, and then located in 
 Belleville, Upper Canada (Ontario), where 
 he again attended night school. On July 
 17, 1865, Mr. Connelly was married in 
 Belleville to Miss Mary McDermott, a 
 native of Canada, daughter of Michael 
 McDermott. At this time our subject had 
 about one thousand dollars, every cent of 
 which he had saved from his own earn- 
 ings. In October, 1865, he returned to 
 De Pere. Wis. , and worked for one year 
 for Reed in a sawmill, thence going to 
 Bay Settlement, in Scott township. Brown 
 county, where he was employed for seven 
 years as foreman and superintendent of a 
 sawmill, and as foreman in the woods. 
 About 1867 he purchased 160 acres of 
 land in Bellevue township. Brown county, 
 and the famil}' resided there of? and on, 
 never making a permanent home there, 
 however, until 1888, as Mr. Connelly's 
 work took him to various places. For 
 many years he was in the emplo3'of Anton 
 Claus and other lumbermen, and for four 
 years resided at Angelica, Wis. , where he 
 was superintendent of a sawmill. In 1871 
 Mr. and Mrs. Connelh', while residing in 
 the town of Scott, lost everything in the 
 great fire that broke out there on the 
 night of October 7, and which destroyed 
 the sawmill, as well as £.11 the surround- 
 ing buildings, including the boarding 
 
I 28 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 house, besides the cattle, horses, etc. 
 Mrs. Connelly and her children escaped 
 from the boarding house with iiothinjj; but 
 their night clothes, and, taking to the 
 woods for their lives, succeeded, after a 
 desperate fight with fire and smoke, in 
 reaching a clearing, where they were in 
 comparative safety ; but the infantjohnnie, 
 whom the mother carried in her arms, was 
 so injured by the heat that it died a few 
 months afterward. Mrs. Connelly, as 
 soon as possible, went to the home of her 
 parents in Belleville, Canada, there to re- 
 main till her husband should have a new 
 home prepared, and in the meantime he 
 and his crew were fighting the flames, 
 which continued in great fury for three 
 weeks. Prior to the fire Mr. Connelly 
 had been working as engineer for a saw- 
 mill in Brussels township. Door county; 
 but as there was considerable danger of 
 fire, of which there was a good deal 
 throughout the woods at that time, he 
 left there for Scott township, and the 
 very night of the breaking out of the fire 
 in the latter locality a conflagration burst 
 out in Brussels township, which destroyed 
 everything for miles around, no less than 
 si,\t\' people being burned to death, in- 
 cluding the man Mr. Connelly had en- 
 gaged to take his place; and our subject, 
 on visiting the spot shortly afterward, saw 
 sixteen charred bodies of his old comrades 
 lying close together. 
 
 After the fire in Scott township, Mr. 
 Connelly put up a mill for Anton Claus 
 on the spot where the burned mill stood, 
 and this he superintended some ten 
 months. His wife and children having 
 returned from Canada by this time, he, in 
 1888, moved with them to his farm; but 
 after two years he removed to Little River 
 in order to superintend the erection of a 
 mill for Marshall & Holmes. After this 
 he again returned to the farm, and re- 
 mained there until 1891, in which year he 
 came tu Pine Grove, where he now con- 
 ducts the "Pine Gro\e Hotel," of which 
 he is proprietor. He is the owner of 227 
 acres of land, all representing years of 
 
 hard work and thrift. His success has 
 been the direct result of his own individual 
 energy and good business management, 
 coupled with industry and a strong deter- 
 mination to win. His long and varied 
 experience in the lumber business made 
 him one of the most competent managers 
 in that line, and at different times he had 
 as many as one hundred men under his 
 direction. 
 
 Mr. Connelly has taken an active and 
 leading interest in the welfare of his town- 
 ship and county, and is recognized as a 
 progressive, loyal citizen. He has served 
 his community in various capacities, hav- 
 ing been chairman and supervisor of Belle- 
 vue township for eight years, and for 
 twelve years he was a member of the 
 school board, acting as director and treas- 
 urer. In his political affiliations Mr. 
 Connelly was a Republican until 1884, 
 since when he has been non-partisan, 
 voting for the best man, regardless of 
 party lines. He is not an advocate of 
 free trade, but believes in tariff reduction. 
 In religious connection he and his wife are 
 members of St. Francis Catholic Church, 
 De Pere. They had children, as follows: 
 Lizzie, wife of Henry Nachtwey, a mer- 
 chant of Pine Grove; Rosa, Mrs. Frank 
 Novakafsky, of Green Bay; John, de- 
 ceased in infancy; and ]ohn, Edward and 
 Arthur, at home. 
 
 FRANK HEYRMAN. Among the 
 early pioneer families of Preble 
 township, Brown county, none 
 are better known than the Heyr- 
 man family, the first of whom to come to 
 Wisconsin was John Heyrman (grand- 
 father of Frank Heyrman), who, about 
 the year 1856, came to the United States 
 from Belgium, where he was a well-to-do 
 farmer. 
 
 John Heyrman married in his native 
 country, and there three sons were born 
 to him: Charles L. , who is mentioned 
 farther on; John B., editor of a news- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 129 
 
 paper at De Pere; and Joseph, now de- 
 ceased, who was a civil engineer at Green 
 Bay. The mother of these died on the 
 ocean, while the family were en route for 
 An"ierica, and was buried at sea. From 
 the port of landing the father and sons 
 came by rail to Chicago, 111. , thence by 
 water to Green Bay, Wis., where they 
 arrived May 4, 1856. Here they made 
 but a short stay while deciding on a place 
 to locate, and then made a settlement in 
 Preble township, where Mr. Heyrman, 
 who was a man of considerable means, 
 purchased a farm of 160 acres, the same 
 his grandson Frank Heyrman now re- 
 sides on. At that time not a tree had 
 been felled, nor a habitation of any kind 
 erected by white men; but they soon 
 had built a log cabin, in which they re- 
 sided until 1868, when it was supplanted 
 bj' a more substantial residence, which 
 still stands. The land was densely 
 covered with oak, pine, hemlock and 
 maple trees, and, in the low places, ash 
 trees, and wild animals were still numer- 
 ous and troublesome. But the forests 
 soon gave way before the axe of the pio- 
 neer, and the cleared land not only af- 
 forded support for the family, but yielded 
 a comfortable income as well. On this 
 farm John Heyrman passed the remainder 
 of his life, dying August 25, 1874, a 
 member of the Catholic Church, and he 
 was buried in the Finger Church ceme- 
 tery. Prior to his decease his two younger 
 sons had left home and engaged in busi- 
 ness, Charles L. alone remaining on the 
 farm. 
 
 Charles L. Heyrman was born Septem- 
 ber 8, 1827, in Belgium, and, as will be 
 seen, was nearly thirty years of age when 
 he came with his father to the United 
 States. In Brown county. Wis., on Jan- 
 uary 6, 1857, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Monica Van Lent, also a native 
 of Belgium, and they immediateh* settled 
 on the home farm with his father, and 
 there made a permanent home. To their 
 union were born six children, of whom 
 Frank is the subject of this sketch; Mary 
 
 is the wife of Martin Lindsley, of Belle- 
 vue township; Celia is married to Julius 
 Lamal, of Humboldt township; Edward 
 died in 1893 at the age of twenty-four 
 years; two sons died in infancy. Mr. 
 Heyrman was very successful, and became 
 one of the leading farmers in his town- 
 ship, continuing to live on the home farm 
 until his death, which occurred Septem- 
 ber 8, 1889, when he was just sixty-two 
 years old, and his remains now rest in the 
 Finger Church cemetery. He was a 
 Catholic in religious faith, and one of the 
 founders of the Church of the Holy Mar- 
 tyrs of Gorcum, in Preble township, of 
 which for many years he was a leading 
 member. Mr. Heyrman served as super- 
 visor of his township; in his political 
 preferences he was a Democrat, invari- 
 ably supporting that party in State and 
 National elections, but in township and 
 county affairs he was non-partisan, the 
 fitness of a candidate being more im- 
 portant to him than party connection. 
 Since his death his widow has resided on 
 the home farm with our subject; she is a 
 devout member of the Catholic Church. 
 Frank Heyrman was born November 
 25, 1858, in Preble township. Brown 
 county, on the farm he now owns and 
 resides on. He attended the first school 
 ever held in his district, the "hall of 
 learning " being a log cabin, and was 
 among the first pupils the day it was 
 opened, the teacher being Miss Aldrich, a 
 daughter of C. N. Aldrich, of Preble 
 township. At the same time he received 
 thorough training to agriculture, under the 
 direction of his father, on the home place, 
 where his whole life has been passed. On 
 February 19, 1889, our subject was 
 united in marriage with Miss Clara De- 
 Greef, who was born in Humboldt town- 
 ship. Brown county, November 27, 1865, 
 daughter of Anton De Greef, who came 
 from Belgium. Three children have been 
 born to them, viz. : Louis, John and 
 Kate, who represent the fourth generation 
 of the Heyrman family who have lived 
 on the farm. Politicallv Mr. Hevrman is 
 
13° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 a Democrat, and one of the leading mem- 
 bers of the party in his township, where 
 he has held various offices of honor and 
 trust. For two years he served in the 
 important position of chairman of the 
 township, and has also been assessor, 
 proving himself an efficient and trust- 
 worthy official. He keeps himself in- 
 formed on the movements of his party, 
 and is well read on all current topics, 
 finding a great help in his excellent mem- 
 ory. Though still young he is a respected, 
 worthy representative of the farming 
 community in Preble township, and is 
 foremost in every movement of interest 
 or benefit to his section. 
 
 NIELS HANSEN, contracto'r and 
 builder. Fort Howard. This 
 gentleman, who was born in 1840 
 in Denmark, is a son of John and 
 Valburg (Holm) Hansen, and one of a 
 family of nine children — five sons and 
 four daughters — of whom seven are now 
 living, all married: Peter, who lives in 
 Prussia, and Johan, in Denmark, both 
 blacksmiths; Niels, of Fort Howard; Iver, 
 a shoemaker in Denmark; Mary, wife of 
 Henry Terp, of Prussia; Anna, wife of 
 Peter Lund, a Danish farmer; and Sarah, 
 wife of John Zimmerman, of Prussia. 
 Their father, who followed blacksmithing 
 in early life, afterward became a farmer. 
 His death occurred about 1878, and that 
 of his widow in 1S79, in Denmark. 
 
 Niels Hansen grew to manhood and 
 was educated in the vicinity of Kolding, 
 Denmark, and during the war between 
 Denmark and Prussia served two years 
 ( 1 863-64) in the Danish army. He learned 
 his trade in that country, following it until 
 coming to Fort Howard in 1872, in which 
 place he is now the oldest contractor. 
 Among the many buildings he has erected 
 are those of R. M. Wilson, J. L. Jorgen- 
 sen, Mrs. Blesch, James Treman, the 
 Presbyterian church, Kellogg National 
 Bank, Jorgensen & Blesch Company's 
 
 store at Green l^ay, L. Gotfredson's resi- 
 dence in the same city, and others. Dur- 
 ing the busy season he furnishes employ- 
 ment to from fifteen to twent}-five hands. 
 His own residence, one of the finest in 
 Fort Howard, was built in 1891. Aside 
 from this he owns four other dwellings in 
 the city, from which he derives rental. 
 His property has been accumulated 
 through untiring industry and close econ- 
 om}-, and in his declining years will serve 
 to furnish him the means for living with- 
 out the necessity of hard labor such as his 
 former years have e.xperienced. As a 
 good citizen he takes avowed interest 
 in all that may contribute to the growth 
 and prosperity of his city. Mr. Hansen 
 was united in marriage, in 1875, to Mary 
 M. Peterson, daughter of Anders and 
 Mary Peterscm, all natives of Denmark, 
 where her parents remained. The chil- 
 dren of Mr. and Mrs. Hansen are l^ertha, 
 John, Lizzie and Ahin, and of these, 
 John, who is now eighteen 3-ears of age, 
 holds a position as clerk in the McCart- 
 ney National Bank. In political matters 
 Mr. Hansen is activel}- interested, voting 
 with the Republican party. Socially he 
 is a member of Green Ba\' Lodge, No. 19, 
 I. O. O. F. , also of M\stical Seven Coun- 
 cil, No. 519, Royal Arcanum, in which 
 latter organization he has .served one 
 term as treasurer and two terms as trus- 
 tee. He and his wife arc members of the 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 PETER HOSKENS, a well-to-do 
 agriculturist of De Pere township, 
 Brown count)', was born Feb- 
 ruary 4, 1838. in East F^landers, 
 Belgium, son of Peter J. and Catherine 
 Hoskens, farming people of that country. 
 They had a family of thirteen children — 
 si.x sons and seven daughters — of whom 
 our subject is the eleventh. 
 
 Peter attended the schools of his birth- 
 place until he was eleven years of age, 
 when he commenced farming, working 
 
COMMEMORATIVh: BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 131 
 
 for his father and others, performiiif,' such 
 labor as his age would permit. He re- 
 mained in his native country until he 
 reached the age of twcnt}-si.\, when he 
 went to France, and there worked on 
 railroads for a time; he was also employed 
 (1867) at work on the then forthcommg 
 Paris Exposition. Concluding he could 
 improve his condition by coming to the 
 United States, Mr. Hoskens returned to 
 his nati\e country, and bidding his home 
 and friends farewell, set sail August 20, 
 1868, from Antwerp for Liverpool, Eng- 
 land. At that port he took passage on 
 the "Colorado," and after a voyage of 
 thirteen days landed in New York, from 
 which city he came, with several others of 
 his countrymen, to Green Bay, Wis., ar- 
 riving September 8. He remained over 
 night with John Martin, at the ' ' United 
 States Hotel, "and the next day, Sunda}-, 
 came to De Pere. Mr. Hoskens had 
 saved a small sum from his earnings, but 
 his passage to the United States cost 
 three hundred francs, and by the time he 
 reached De Pere he had only twenty 
 francs with which to begin life in his new 
 home. He secured work in a brickyard 
 opposite De Pere, remaining there until 
 the season closed, in November, and then 
 went to Suamico, Brown count}', where 
 for a short time he was employed 
 in the mills. He next went to Stiles, 
 Wis., and remained all winter, work- 
 ing in the lumber mills and in the 
 woods, where he became thoroughly famil- 
 iar with the hardships and dangers in- 
 cident to lumbering, and the pri\ations 
 which must be endured in camp life. But 
 this occupation, though dangerous, was 
 very popular, as in those early days it 
 was a very lucrative business, and was 
 an important industry in pioneer times. 
 After finishing his work in Stiles our sub- 
 ject returned to De Pere, and there re- 
 mained until the spring of 1870, when he 
 went to Delta county, Mich., at which 
 place he took out his naturalization papers. 
 Here he worked at railroading and char- 
 coal-burning until 1873, when, having 
 
 saved some money (eight hundred and 
 forty dollars), he concluded to pay a visit 
 to his native country. He sailed from 
 New York to Liverpool, thence to Ant- 
 werp, where he arrived in June, 1873. 
 On May 16, 1874, he was united in mar- 
 riage, at his old home, with Miss Louise 
 Van Remoortel, who was born June 25, 
 1836, a daughter of Joseph and Celia 
 Van Remoortel, and shortly after their 
 marriage the young couple sailed from 
 Antwerp on the "Switzerland," bound 
 for New York, from which city they came 
 by rail to De Pere, Wis. In the mean- 
 time Thomas Hoskens, brother of our 
 subject, had come to the United States 
 and purchased the farm now owned by 
 Peter, in De Pere township, and for a 
 short time they made their home with 
 him. But Peter, not wishing to take up 
 farming at that time, again went to Delta, 
 Mich., resuming his old occupation, 
 though he had to work for less than half 
 of what he had before received. He lived 
 there, however, for three and a half years, 
 and then, in August, 1878, returned once 
 more to De Pere township, and purchased 
 his present farm from his brother Thomas, 
 paying eight hundred dollars for forty 
 acres. Here he has since been engaged 
 in general farming and stock-raising, and 
 he has improved his farm and added 
 thereto until it now comprises sixty acres. 
 In i8gi the residence on the place was 
 burned, and the following year he built 
 the present comfortable home of the 
 famih', which is the most substantial farm 
 residence in the township. The place is 
 also equipped with commodious out- 
 buildings. Our subject is a self-made 
 man in the fullest sense of the word, and 
 his success shows what man ma\' do with 
 plenty of energy and a determination to 
 win. Coming to America a poor man, 
 he has, by industry and pluck and strict 
 attention to his business, made for him- 
 self a comfortable property and gained 
 the respect of his fellow citizens for hon- 
 esty and integrity. Mr. Hoskens votes 
 independently, and does not take any 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 active part in political matters. In re- 
 ligious connections he and wife are mem- 
 bers of St. Mary's Catholic Church, De- 
 Pere. They have had one child, Joseph, 
 who was born on the farm in De Pere 
 township, January 29, 1879, and is at 
 present attending the De Pere High 
 School. He is the only heir of Peter and 
 Louise Hoskens, the only living child of 
 the three they had by their marriage, and 
 the only one for whom they live and work. 
 On him they base all their hopes, and, 
 therefore, wish to give him a good edu- 
 cation. The lad's father says he would 
 like him to be something better than a 
 farmer, not that he (the father) has any 
 distaste for the vocation, but probably 
 thinks Joseph should take up one of the 
 professions. Grandfather Henry Hoskens 
 had six children, five of whom were mar- 
 ried, but left only two children, Peter and 
 Thomas. The latter has si.x daughters, 
 three of whom are Sisters in the Order of 
 Notre Dame, the inclination of the other 
 three being in the same direction. The 
 family, as far back as known, have be- 
 longed to the Roman Catholic faith, and 
 Peter Hoskens says that if his son Joseph 
 follows their rule, ' ' the laws will be of no 
 use to him, for not one of the family has 
 ever come before the law." 
 
 DAVID WELLS BRITTON, the 
 most extensive manufacturer of 
 cooperage of every kind in the 
 Northwest, with his plant at Green 
 Bay, was born' December 8, 1832, in 
 Sidney Plains, Delaware Co., N. Y., a 
 son of Solomon and Amy (Whitney) Brit- 
 ton, who were natives of New England, 
 the father having been born in Massa- 
 chusetts and the mother in Connecticut. 
 In 1806 Solomon Britton removed 
 from his native State to Albany county, 
 N. Y. , and later to Delaware county, 
 where he was married. He followed his 
 vocations of farmer and cooper in both 
 counties until 1850, in that year coming 
 
 to Green Bay, Wis., where he died in 
 1854, his wife in 1856. Walter Whitney, 
 the maternal grandfather of our subject, 
 was a resident of Albany, N. Y. ; at the 
 age of fifteen years he enlisted in the 
 patriot army, and served throughout the 
 Revolutionary war. The Brittons, who 
 are of French extraction, settled in Amer- 
 ica during Colonial days, and members of 
 that family also served in the war for 
 American independence. To the union 
 of Solomon and Amy Britton came nine 
 children, all born in the State of New 
 York, and all deceased with the exception 
 of D. W. Britton, the subject of this 
 sketch; of the remainder — Dorcas died at 
 Long Lake, Minn., in 1884; Walter in 
 Knox county, 111., in 1888; Nicholas, at 
 Buffalo, N. Y. , in 1869; Emaline, at 
 Freeport, 111., in 1850; Julia, in Indiana, 
 in 1874; the other three died in New York 
 State — Hannah, in 1838, at the age of 
 seventeen, and two in infancy. 
 
 D. W. Britton was educated in the 
 schools of Delaware county and Buffalo, 
 N. Y. At the age of eighteen he moved 
 with his parents to Green Bay (previous 
 to which he had resided four years in 
 Ashville, N. Y.), and the same year 
 opened out the cooperage business on 
 premises beginning at the confluence of 
 the East and Fox rivers, retaining that 
 yard one year, after which he moved to 
 the present site of the Green Bay Car- 
 riage Co., holding possession here until 
 1867, when he removed to his present 
 extensive yards and shops, which are now 
 the largest establishment — or promise to 
 be, to say the least — of any of the kind 
 in the great Northwest. In little over 
 three decades a business has been estab- 
 lished that would, in the conservative 
 countries of the Old World, have taken 
 several generations to build up. With 
 shops supplied with every description of 
 the most desirable machinery required in 
 the bu-siness; with his immense yards, 
 filled with every form of lumber demanded 
 by his trade, Mr. Britton's operations are 
 seen to require a more than ordinary ex- 
 
^ar:^Cl&-iyu 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '35 
 
 ecutive ability and a knowledge of detail 
 that would dismay the ordinary mind. 
 The manufactory and contingents oc- 
 cupy nearly fifteen acres, and Mr. Brit- 
 ton's operations extend into twelve dif- 
 ferent States, in itself significant of what 
 great advantage to the city such an insti- 
 tution must be. One hundred and thirty 
 men, on an average, are employed, and 
 allotting a family of three to each man 
 (the lowest estimate allowed by statis- 
 ticians), it would indicate a population of 
 nearly four hundred, all of whom depend 
 for their subsistence upon the enterprise 
 and ability of Mr. Britton. Illustrative 
 of his methods it may be mentioned that 
 all workmen are regularly paid each Mon- 
 day — a consideration of great moment to 
 the poor man, and one which frees him 
 from the clutches of debt, that monster 
 that follows close in the train of the 
 monthly payment system. It is not only 
 better for the workman, but a great 
 desideratum with the merchants who sup- 
 ply his daily needs. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Britton 
 is a Republican, and under the auspices 
 of that party has most satisfactorily served 
 as alderman of Green Bay three terms; he 
 has also done good service on the board 
 of health, on the school board, and one 
 term as fire warden. He was one of the 
 promoters and organizers of the Fair and 
 Park Association, was its first president, 
 serving two ' years, and is at present one 
 of its directors. He is a stockholder in 
 the Kellogg National Bank, and is always 
 one of the first to assist in any enterprise 
 tending to promote the public good. So- 
 cially he is a member of Washington 
 Lodge, No. 2 1, F. & A. M., and of the 
 I. O. O. P.. Lodge No. 19. 
 
 Mr. Britton was first married, in 1853, 
 to Miss P" ranees Daggett, a native of New 
 York, whose father, E. Daggett, came to 
 Wisconsin years ago, locating first at Ke- 
 nosha, and afterward, in 1852, engaging 
 in the manufacture of shingles at Green 
 Bay; he died inSuamico township. Brown 
 
 county. Mrs. Frances Britton died the 
 8 
 
 year of her marriage, and in 1855 Mr. 
 Britton wedded Jerusha Kelse}', who was 
 reared in Green Bay; she died in 1856, 
 the mother of one child, who died when 
 one year old. Mr. Britton's third mar- 
 riage was solemnized in 1859, the lady of 
 his choice being Laura Strickland, whose 
 death occurred September i, 1890. This 
 union was blessed with two children, 
 Elmer E., married, and Sarah Josephine, 
 who died at the age of two years and eight 
 months. For his fourth wife Mr. Britton 
 married, October 18, 1892, Amy Thrall, 
 a native of New York. Mr. Britton is- 
 one of the oldest and most prominent fig- 
 ures in the commercial circles of. Green 
 Bay, as well as one of the most extensive 
 business men of the Northwest, and his- 
 experience has extended over the most 
 progressive periods in the history of Green 
 Bay and Brown county. 
 
 JOHN Mcknight, an esteemed and 
 prosperous farmer of New Denmark 
 township, is a- native of the land 
 of Erin, born in 1833, son of John 
 and Bridget (Frawley) McKnight, the 
 former of whom was a farmer. Our sub- 
 ject was the eldest in their family of five 
 children, namely: John, Margaret, Mar- 
 tin, Michael and Catherine. 
 
 About 1847 the family sailed for 
 America, and during the six-weeks' voy- 
 age the father died and was buried at 
 sea. The mother and children landed at 
 Quebec, thence traveling to Burlington, 
 Vt., where they lived one year, and then 
 returned to Quebec, where Mrs. McKnight 
 purchased some property, and there 
 passed the remainder of her life. John 
 McKnight remained with his mother sev- 
 eral years after coming to America and 
 then moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where 
 he lived about three years, principall}- 
 engaged in farming. From there he went 
 to La Fayette. Ind , where he \\orked as 
 day laborer for about a year, after which 
 he migrated to Brown county, \Ms., and 
 
136 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 entered the employ of the Two Rivers 
 Company, conthiuing to work for them 
 several winters, in the summer time doing 
 farm labor. 
 
 In 1859 he was married to Miss Mar- 
 garet Smith, also born in Ireland, daugh- 
 ter of James and Mary Smith, who died 
 when she was a child; she came to the 
 United States when about twenty-five 
 years old. After his marriage Mr. Mc- 
 Knight bought forty acres of wild land in 
 New Denmark township, and a few years 
 later added an adjoining forty-acre tract, 
 subsequently making other additions to 
 the place, which now comprises 1 18 acres, 
 all of which he has cleared and improved 
 himself. To Mr. and Mrs. McKnight 
 have been born ten children, viz. : Michael, 
 Catherine, Mary, Margaret(Mrs.T. Arens), 
 John, Martin, Julia, Bridget, Honora and 
 George. The family give twelve mem- 
 bers to the Catholic Church. Politically 
 Mr. McKnight is a Democrat, but not a 
 strong partisan, and does not aspire to 
 office, though he has served as school 
 director. He is much respected in his 
 community, where he is regarded as a 
 faithful, loyal citizen. 
 
 WILLIAM HANDEYSIDE, the 
 very popular liveryman of De- 
 Pere, Brown county, was born 
 September 15, 1843, in York- 
 shire, England, and is a son of Roger and 
 Ann (Stevenson) Handeyside, who were 
 the parents of nine children, William 
 being the eldest. In April, 1849, Roger 
 Handeyside, who was a shepherd in the 
 old country, sailed from Hull, England, 
 for Quebec, Canada, the voyage lasting 
 forty-three days. After experiencing 
 many " ups and downs" in Canada, the 
 family came to the United States in 1858, 
 settling in Wayne county, Mich., where 
 several members still reside. The father 
 is now eighty-two years of age, the mother 
 died November 10, 1877. 
 
 William Handeyside has earned his 
 
 living since he was fifteen years old, and 
 until he reached the age of twenty-one 
 gave all his earnings, like the dutiful son 
 that he was, to his parents. As a dutiful 
 citizen, also, he enlisted, November 1 8, 
 1864, in Company C, Thirtieth Mich. V. 
 I., and served until June 17, 1865, prin- 
 cipally on detached duty. He then re- 
 turned to Michigan, and worked at farm- 
 ing and broom-making ; next went to 
 Kentucky; thence back to Michigan; then 
 to Green Bay, Wis. ; thence to Marquette, 
 Mich. , where he was employed a year 
 and a half as teamster at the Morgan 
 Iron Furnace, No. i, and worked himself 
 up to engineer of Furnace No. 2. In 
 August, 1868, he came to De Pere, and 
 for nine years was employed as en- 
 gineer for the Fox River Company; then 
 was employed at E. E. Bolle's Wooden- 
 ware Co.'s Works, as engineer and fore- 
 man in the lumber yard; thence went to 
 Glenmore township, where he conducted 
 a mill and store for his employers; then 
 returned to De Pere and organized the 
 VanGalder & Handeyside Co., for making 
 imitation cedar cigar-box lumber, and at 
 the end of a year became sole proprietor 
 of the plant, but was soon afterward burned 
 out. In June, 1889, he became a member 
 of the firm of Thiele & Handeyside, now 
 the most popular and successful livery 
 men in the city of De Pere. 
 
 On January 19, 1873, Mr. Handey- 
 side was united in marriage with Miss 
 Blanche Packard, daughter of John and 
 Diantha (Hannon) Packard, the former a 
 native of Canada, the latter of New York 
 State. Mrs. Handeyside is the seventh 
 child in a family of nine, the other eight 
 being Winslow H., who served three 
 years in the Union army and died Sep- 
 tember 13, 1874, leaving a wife and two 
 children, Mary and Cynthia; Florence A., 
 now the wife of John Handeyside, her 
 former husband, John Leach, having been 
 killed in the Civil war; William P., of 
 Canton, Wayne Co., Mich. ; Silas J., who 
 died at the age of twenty-seven; Cynthia, 
 now Mrs. William McKinstrey, of Jack- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 137 
 
 son, 
 age 
 
 Mich.; George W., who died at the 
 of ten; Martha, who died at the 
 age of nineteen, and Elbertie, now on 
 the homestead at Canton, Wayne Co. , 
 Mich. The father of this family, who 
 was a pioneer of Wayne county, Mich., 
 died May 20, 1886, his wife following 
 him to the land of eternal rest December 
 2, 1888, both dying at the age of sixty- 
 eight years. Mr. Handeyside and his 
 wife are both Baptists in their religious 
 belief, but there is no church of that de- 
 nomination at De Pere with which to af- 
 filiate. In politics he is a Republican; 
 socially he is a member of the Soldiers' 
 Relief Committee,appointedby the county 
 judge, and is also a member of the F. & 
 A. M., I. O. O. F., K. of P., G. A. R., 
 and Temple of Honor. He has won a 
 high place in the confidence of the busi- 
 ness men of the community, and is highly 
 esteemed in a wide circle of social ac- 
 quaintances. Mrs. Handeyside is a 
 member of the Women's Relief Corps of 
 the G. A. R. , and of the Social Temple — 
 the latter an auxiliary degree of the Tem- 
 ple of Honor — and enjoys, with her hus- 
 band, the respect of all acquaintances. 
 
 CARL G. MUELLER (deceased), 
 well-known and highly respected 
 in his day in both county and 
 State, was born January 8, 1834, 
 in Saxony, Germany, and in 1852 came 
 to America with his father and a brother 
 and sister, his mother having died in the 
 old country when he was but three years 
 old. The family, on arriving in the United 
 States, located near Milwaukee, Wis., and, 
 for about two years, Carl G. clerked in 
 a general store in the village of Calumet 
 and other localities, in 1856 settling in 
 Wrightstown, Brown county, where for 
 two years he clerked in a hotel. He then 
 opened a general store in the village, 
 which was one of the first in this section, 
 and practically succeeded to the business 
 interests of the Wrights, who were the 
 
 founders of the place. In August, i86i, 
 he married Miss Mary Thompson, who 
 was born December 9, 1841, in Gran- 
 ville, a suburb of Milwaukee, one of a 
 family of nine children born to William 
 and Frances (Quinette) Thompson, the 
 former of whom was a native of Scotland, 
 and an early settler in Milwaukee county, 
 Wis. He died in Wrightstown at the 
 age of seventy-three; his wife, who was 
 born in France, is still living in Wrights- 
 town. Of the thirteen children born to 
 the marriage of Carl G. and Mary Mueller 
 six sons and one daughter have been 
 called away. The survivors are Charles 
 W. (whose name opens this sketch), 
 Emma, Mary, Clara E., Gertrude and 
 Selma. Mr. Mueller continued to carry 
 on his general store after his marriage, 
 and was honored and respected by the 
 entire community until the day of his 
 death; and, indeed, his memory is still 
 cherished with affection by those who 
 knew him. He was a gentleman of a 
 most enterprising spirit as well as of phil- 
 anthropic disposition; was prosperous as 
 a merchant, and invested his profits in 
 large tracts of wild land, giving poor per- 
 sons every opportunity to buy a home 
 cheaply and get a start in life. It was a 
 prominent trait in his character that in 
 old times, when the country was new and 
 money scarce, he would advance all need- 
 ful supplies, and even money, to the poor 
 and rich, alike. In fact, all had unlimit- 
 ed credit, as can be readily testified to by 
 the old residents; to which fact, however, 
 sad to relate, he lost the greater portion 
 of his estate fwhich at one time was esti- 
 mated to be worth over one hundred 
 thousand dollars), many of those whom 
 he had befriended when in need refusing 
 to pay their obligations when they found 
 themselves in more prosperous circum- 
 stances. For years he ran the ferry 
 across Fox river, and afterward built and 
 operated the first bridge across that river, 
 at this place a floating bridge. He built 
 the "American House," the best hotel in 
 the town, and was landlord of same; 
 
i3tJ 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 also built and operated a brewery on 
 the west side of the village; started the 
 first sawmill in Wrightstown, and a few 
 years later also opened a general store and 
 built a sawmill in Ashland, Wis. Just 
 prior to his death he sold the Ashland 
 mill, however, and after his demise the 
 entire business at Ashland was closed up. 
 Mr. Mueller was a devout Christian, ac- 
 tive in religious work. He assisted in or- 
 ganizing the first Lutheran Society in 
 Wrightstovvn, gave the ground on which 
 to build a church, much of the timber 
 necessary for the building, and a good 
 portion of the cash requisite for its erec- 
 tion. It is said of him by the residents 
 of Wrightstown that he gave sites for and 
 helped, financially, all the churches and 
 schools on the east side of the villiage of 
 Wrightstown. In politics he was a life- 
 long Democrat, and for over twenty-five 
 years was postmaster, also filling several 
 other local offices with honor and credit 
 at different times. He was the architect 
 of his own fortune, and was in every re- 
 spect a representative self-made man. 
 His funeral took place from the Lutheran 
 Church December 15, 1886, and was the 
 largest ever seen in this part of the coun- 
 try; so great, indeed, was the attendance 
 of Germans, Americans and others, that 
 two sermons were delivered, one in Ger- 
 man and the other in English. His 
 death was a sad blow to the entire com- 
 nnmity, as he was not only a friend to the 
 individual members thereof, but was also 
 looked upon as one of the fathers of 
 Wrightstown. His estimable widow still 
 has her residence at the old home, sur- 
 rounded by her children and every com- 
 fort calculated to make life desirable. She 
 is a devout member of the Catholic 
 Church, a kind and lovable woman, a 
 noble mother, and a model of honor in 
 her daily walk throu<rh life. 
 
 CHARLES W. MUELLER,the eldest 
 son of this honored gentleman, was born 
 in Wrightstown township. Brown Co., 
 Wis., December 27, 1862. He is now 
 the manager of the estate, and displays a 
 
 rare business talent, which already marks 
 him as one of the future representative 
 men of his county. He has filled several 
 local offices, and is at present clerk of the 
 village and township, which responsible 
 offices he has filled with credit for the 
 past two years. He is a graduate of Ap- 
 pleton high school, and he and his sisters 
 have been reared to a faithful observance 
 of the doctrines of the Catholic Church. 
 From an early day he was his father's 
 chief assistant, and, after the death of the 
 latter, successfully conducted the large 
 business in all its details, until his own 
 marriage, when he wound up the business 
 and has since had charge of the estate 
 and everything pertaining to it. He was 
 wedded in 1886 to Miss Louisa Delger, a 
 native of Calumet county, Wis., and 
 daughter of August and Estina Delger, 
 both of whom are now deceased. Two 
 children have blessed this union, v'\z. : 
 Edwin and Irene. Socially Mr. and Mrs. 
 Mueller stand in the front rank in their 
 community, and as a business man he has 
 the respect of all acquaintances. 
 
 AUGUST HAESE, prominent as a 
 farmer and sawmill owner of 
 Morrison township. Brown count)', 
 was born January 10, 1843, in 
 Northern Prussia, son of Christoff Haese, 
 a farmer. 
 
 At the age of eleven years our subject 
 emigrated, in company with his brother, 
 John Ferdinand, to the United States, 
 landing in New York, thence coming di- 
 rectly to Manitowoc county. Wis., where 
 a brother, a sister, and a brother-in-law 
 were then living. Although a mere lad, 
 August, after attending school a year, 
 went to work in the woods at shingle 
 making, then an industry pursued alto- 
 gether by hand. Early in the spring of 
 1 860 he went to Spring Lake Prairie, and 
 for eight months worked on a farm at six 
 dollars per month. He saved his earn- 
 ings here, and also the money he earned 
 
COMMEMOUATdVE BWOUAl'UWAL liECORD. 
 
 '39 
 
 later near Ripon, in Fond du Lac county. 
 In the latter part of August, 1862, he re- 
 turned to Manitowoc county, enlisted in 
 Company F, Twenty-sixth Wis. V. I., 
 and was sent to Miiw aukee, whence, after 
 two weeks' drilling, he was returned 
 home on account of being too young for 
 a soldier and his father refusing to sign 
 his enlistment ])apers. For a few years 
 following he worked in the northern part 
 of the State in sawmills and at lumbering, 
 and then, in January, 1867, in company 
 with his brother Ferdinand and another 
 comrade, he settled on Section 22, in 
 Morrison township, where the three 
 erected a sawmill in a dense forest, the 
 nearest road to the mill being the old 
 stage road, one and a half miles west. 
 Here, on the Branch river, the partner- 
 ship lasted for a year and a half, Mr. 
 Haese at that time buying his partners 
 out and forming a new firm, comprising 
 himself and his brothers Ferdinand and 
 Albert, who for seven years worked sol- 
 idly together, and consequently prospered. 
 
 On January 15, 1869, Mr. Haese 
 married, in Cooperstown, Wis. , Miss Ma- 
 tilda Olp, who was born in Milwaukee in 
 1850, a daughter of Ferdinand Olp, a na- 
 tive of Prussia. The young couple went to 
 housekeejjing in a log cabin that stood 
 north of their present fine residence 
 which Mr. Haese erected in 1883. The 
 children born to this union were as fol- 
 lows: Helena, who died at the age of 
 seventeen; Louisa, now Mrs. Louis Falck; 
 Robert C, an assistant of his father; Ida. 
 Emma and Bertha, at home; August, who 
 died at nine years of age; and Julia ftwin 
 of August), who lives at home; Arthur, 
 also at home, and Ella, the survivor of a 
 twin that died at birth. 
 
 The Haese brothers remained together 
 in business until 1876, when August 
 bought the interest of the other two; one 
 year after his making this purchase his 
 mill was destroyed by fire. He had no 
 insurance and but little capital left, but 
 he had good credit, the next best thing to 
 cash, and, probabI\- a better thing yet. 
 
 an unimpeachable character for integrity. 
 Three solid contractors were anxious to 
 secure the job of rebuilding, knowing full 
 well that their pay would be certain if the 
 life of Mr. Haese were spared, and that 
 they would be fully reimbursed for their 
 cash outlay and expenditure of time. So 
 the mill was rebuilt, and paid for by Mr. 
 Haese. and now, for twent\ -seven years, 
 he has been continuously and prosperously 
 conducting the business on his own prop- 
 erty — a, tract of 160 acres. In 1869 he 
 added farming to his milling industry, and 
 has been as successful as an agriculturist 
 as he has been as a mill man. This farm 
 was literally hewn out of the woods, but 
 is now, a model of thrift and beauty and 
 skillful culture. 
 
 Mr. Haese's political proclivities are 
 Democratic, but he prefers active busi- 
 ness interests to the ephemeral ones of 
 party politics, and wisely has never been 
 an office seeker. He and his family are 
 members of the Lutheran Church, and 
 for six years he has been a deacon. His 
 aim has always been to be a good citizen 
 and so to train his children, and there is 
 no family in the township that stands 
 higher socially than his. When it is re- 
 membered that he had no assistance in a 
 pecuniary sense in his start in life; that 
 his mother died when he was but three 
 years of age, and that he was reared 
 without the fostering care of the parent, 
 who, as a rule, imparts the virtuous les- 
 sons that from infancy onward make the 
 man what he ought to be morally, it be- 
 comes a matter of wonder that he has 
 succeeded so well; and it may be inci- 
 dentally added that his course through 
 life is well worthy the emulation of the 
 youth of our land. 
 
 NIELS RASMUSSEN, one of the 
 well-to-do farmers of Glenmore 
 township. Brown county, was 
 born November 11. 1838, in the 
 Kingdom of Denmark, son of Rasmus 
 
140 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL liECORD. 
 
 Christensen, who was employed as a farm 
 hand by a large landowner for forty years, 
 and who died in Denmark, as did also his 
 wife. They were the parents often chil- 
 dren — four sons and six daughters — of 
 whom Niels is the eldest son and the sec- 
 ond child in order of birth. 
 
 Niels Rasmussen attended school in 
 his native country from his seventh to his 
 fourteenth year. He was reared to farm- 
 ing, which he continued to follow until he 
 was twenty-one years old, about which 
 time he joined the army, serving seven- 
 teen months. In 1863 he again joined 
 the army, also in 1864, during the war 
 with Prussia, and while in the service was 
 never wounded, though his clothing was 
 pierced by a ball. On March 16, 1866, 
 he married Miss Hannah Neilson, who 
 was born June 2 1839, (daughter of Niels 
 Anderson, a farmer in comfortable cir- 
 cumstances), and attended school from 
 the time she was seven years old until she 
 reached the age of fifteen. One child was 
 born to this union in Denmark, Mary, 
 now the wife of J. P. Christenson, of 
 Glenmore township, Brown county. After 
 his marriage Mr. I^asmussen worked as 
 a laborer for a grain merchant on the 
 Island of Moen, Denmark, until 1869, in 
 the spring of which year, bidding their 
 native land farewell, he and his little 
 family proceeded from Copenhagen to 
 Hull, England, and thence to Liverpool, 
 where they took passage on the "North 
 America" on April i, setting sail for 
 America. The boat was bound for 
 Quebec, but as it was early in the season 
 the ice compelled them to put in at Port- 
 land, Maine, and they landed there on 
 the 14th of April. They had tickets for 
 Green Bay, Wis., whither they came via 
 Chicago (where a sister of Mrs. Rasmus- 
 sen was living), arriving at their destina- 
 tion, April 21, strangers in a strange land, 
 and totally unacquainted with the Enelish 
 language. The family remained in Green 
 Bay while Mr. Rasmussen went to Glen- 
 more township, where a brother resided, 
 and (luring that summer he worked as a 
 
 farm hand, also making shingles and do- 
 ing anything else he could to earn an 
 honest dollar to support his family. In 
 the fall of 1869 he purchased a piece of 
 land in section 24, Glenmore township, 
 but through some mistake commenced 
 clearing the wrong tract, and it was not 
 until 1884, after much expensive litiga- 
 tion, that he finally secured a clear title 
 to his land. He now has a fine farm of 
 120 acres, all of which has been cleared 
 by him, or under his direction, a laborious 
 task, and one which occupied many years. 
 But from being a poor man he has, by 
 honest industry and assiduous toil, become 
 a well-to-do farmer and landowner. 
 
 He and his wife had five children 
 born to them in Wisconsin, namely: 
 Charles, Lawrence, Andrew and Alfred, 
 all living, and Niels, who died in infancy. 
 The sons, who are all hard-working young 
 men, have been of great assistance to 
 their father in the cultivation of the farm, 
 which is one of the best-improved places 
 in the township, the buildings being ex- 
 ceptionally fine, and the barn one of the 
 most commodious in the vicinity. In 
 politics our subject is not an ardent party 
 man, voting usually for the best man re- 
 gardless of party, and he has served as 
 school director in his township. He and 
 his wife are members of the Lutheran 
 Church of Denmark, and they are known 
 and respected throughout their commu- 
 nitv as kind-hearted, hospitable people. 
 
 FELLX LUROUIN, Fort Howard. 
 The pioneer settlers in the Green 
 Bay region had many difficulties 
 to encounter in the early days, 
 but they were, for the most part, hardy 
 and persevering men, and more than one 
 lived to see his final triumph over them all. 
 Among these there have been persons of 
 various nativities, all alike struggling to 
 acquire a competence, and all de\-eloping 
 into excellent citizens, public-spirited and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 141 
 
 alive to the best interests of their com- 
 munity. 
 
 Fehx Lurquin was born in 1842, in the 
 village of Blanden, Belgium, son of Joseph 
 and Mary (Haazendonk) Lurquin, who 
 had a family of five children, as follows: 
 John B., married and residing on Elmore 
 street. Fort Howard, where he is engaged 
 in gardening; Collett, wife of John B. 
 Vanderveken, residing in Belgium; Felix, 
 our subject; and August and Leonie, both 
 residents of Belgium, the latter the widow 
 of Bernard Nakaars. The parents both 
 died in the old country in the same month 
 in 1893, the father aged eighty-six and 
 the mother eighty-four 'years. 
 
 Mr. Lurquin was educated and grew 
 to man's estate in Belgium, and in 1865 
 was married in that country to Miss Rosa- 
 line De Vroy, daughter of Franz and 
 Johanna (Kattersoll) De Vroy, all natives 
 of the same country, where her parents 
 passed their entire lives. Upon coming 
 to Green Bay, in 1866, Mr. Lurquin found 
 employment as a day laborer, and in the 
 fall of 1867 removed to Fort Howard, 
 settling where he now resides, on Dous- 
 man street. Purchasing four acres of land 
 from Mr. Elmore he engaged in garden- 
 ing, and subsequentl}' added a considera- 
 ble area to this original small tract, still 
 owning twelve acres, besides which he 
 sold fourteen acres and gave eight and a 
 half acres to his children. In 1S76 he 
 built his present brick residence, and is 
 the owner of the fine brick Fink block 
 on Dousman street, which he purchased 
 in 1893. In politics Mr. Lurquin is a 
 Democrat, and takes an active interest in 
 the workings of his party; he was city 
 marshal of Fort Howard for five years, 
 serving twice in that capacity, and for two 
 years he was superintendent of streets, 
 but he is by no means an ofifice-seeker. 
 He and his wife are members of St. Willi- 
 brord's Catholic Church at Green Bay. 
 When they built their home at Fort 
 Howard it was in the woods, but the place 
 has grown beyond its then narrow con- 
 fines, having developed to a degree per- 
 
 haps never anticipated by its pioneer set- 
 tlers, and their home is now within the 
 city limits. Mr. Lurquin has adhered to 
 industrious habits, and by perseverance 
 has accumulated the property he now pos- 
 sesses. When he and his wife arrived in 
 this country, in 1866, they were without 
 money, and all that they succeeded in 
 gathering together has been acquired by 
 hard labor and assiduous industry; at the 
 present writing he has an independent 
 competence, and is counted among the 
 substantial citizens of Fort Howard. He 
 is a worthy example of the pioneers who 
 hewed out a home in the midst of a forest, 
 and from a start of ' nothing secured a 
 comfortable property by patient toil. 
 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Lurquin 
 are: Joseph, who married Frances Deu- 
 ster, and resides in the same house with 
 his parents (they have one child, Henry); 
 and Nettie, the wife of Ferdinand De- 
 Volder, of Fort Howard, who has one 
 daughter, Rosaline (she had a son who 
 died February 14, 1894). 
 
 EMILE VAN CALSTER, one of 
 the respected self-made farmers of 
 Bellevue township. Brown coun- 
 ty, was born April 20, 1840, in 
 Belgium, son of Gregg Van Calster, a 
 blacksmith, who had eight children — 
 four sons and four daughters — of whom 
 Emile is the eldest. 
 
 Our subject attended the schools of 
 Belgium until he was eleven years old, 
 after which, for eight years, he was em- 
 ployed in the thread mills. When about 
 twenty years old he commenced to learn 
 the trade of painter, in which he con- 
 tinued five years. Then, in the spring of 
 1865, he sailed from Antwerp, and after 
 a voyage of fourteen days landed at New 
 York City, thence immediately coming to 
 Wisconsin, and on |une i landing at 
 Green Bay, eighty dollars in debt, as he 
 had borrowed to pay the expenses of the 
 journey. In Green 6ay he secured work 
 
142 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 at his trade, which he continued to follow 
 until 1872. In the meantime lie had 
 purchased thirty acres in Bellevue town- 
 ship, where he now lives, at that time all 
 new land, and put up the first dwelling, a 
 24x28 house, himself, removing thereon 
 in 1870. On December 25, 1867, Mr. 
 Van Calster was married, in Green Bay, 
 to Miss Hortense Daix, who was born 
 January 18, 1841, near his home in Bel- 
 gium, a daughter of Anton Daix, who 
 died in Belgium. In 1865, his widow, 
 Mrs. Daix, came with her family to Wis- 
 consin, our subject being also one of 
 the party. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. \'an Calster have 
 been born the following named children : 
 Joseph (who is a carpenter in Green Bay); 
 Constance, Julius, and Sarah, at home; 
 and two that died, Constance when seven 
 years old, and Alvinia, when two and a 
 half years old. Since 1872 our subject 
 has given his attention principally to his 
 farm, and he now has 120 acres of f:ne 
 land, all improved by himself, where he 
 is engaged in farming, in connection with 
 which he also conducts a dairy business, 
 lindustry and good management have 
 brought him success, and he is highly es- 
 teemed in his township. Politically he is 
 a Republican, and has served his township 
 as road master. In religious belief he 
 and his wife are Spiritualists. 
 
 ZACHARIE GOFFAKT. Among 
 the intelligent, prosperous agricul- 
 turists and self-made citizens of 
 De Pere township, none is more 
 deserving of mention than the one whose 
 name is here recorded. He was born 
 August I, 1842, in Belgium, a son of 
 Peter J. Goffart, who was a merchant and 
 landowner in his native land, and in com- 
 fortable circumstances. He died when 
 his son, Zacharie was twelve years old. 
 
 Zacharie Goffart received all his edu- 
 cation in Belgium, ^nd when, about four- 
 teen years old, came with his widowed 
 
 mother to the United States. They sailed 
 from Antwerp in April, 1857, on the 
 "Westphalia,' and came via Quebec to 
 Green Bay, Wis., where they arrived 
 eight weeks after leaving their home. An 
 older brother of our subject, Ferdinand, 
 had preceded them to this country, and 
 they all resided for a time in Green Bay 
 township; but the land was poor, and 
 they soon afterward moved to De Pere 
 township, along the East river. In this 
 region, which was then all in the woods 
 and abounded with wild animals, Zacharie 
 was reared to manhood, and, there being 
 no lack of work he commenced early to 
 assist in the clearing of the land. From 
 De Pere the family later removed to 
 Rockland township, where they resided 
 seven years. 
 
 On June 11, 1867, Mr. Goffart was 
 married, in De Pere, to Miss Mary T. 
 Daix, a native of Belgium, and to this 
 union were born six children, four of 
 whom are yet living, namely: Catherine, 
 Ellen (a school teacher, of Peoria, 111.), 
 Hortense ("a school teacher at Steven's 
 Point, Wis.), and Leo (living at home). 
 The mother of these died November 10, 
 1879, and was buried in De Pere ceme- 
 tery, and on January 10, 1881, Mr. Gof- 
 fart was married, in De Pere, to his pres- 
 ent wife, Elizabeth Becher. She was 
 born March 17, 1861, in New Denmark 
 township. Brown county, a daughter 
 of Joseph Becher, who was a native 
 of Germany. To this marriage were born 
 children as follows: Emily, Constant 
 (deceased), Joseph, John, Edward, Zach- 
 ariah, Elizabeth, and Flora (deceased). 
 After his marriage Mr. Goffart first lo- 
 cated in De Pere township, along East 
 river, and then for seven years resided in 
 Rockland township. In 1892 he removed 
 to the city of De Pere, where he owns 
 twenty acres within the corporation limits 
 and forty-four acres outside in the town- 
 ship, private claim No. 35. He has fol- 
 lowed general farming and stock raising, 
 and has met with encouraging success. 
 He has seen the entire surroundintr coun- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOGIiAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 H3 
 
 try transformed from the woods to fertile, 
 well-kept farms, and fias himself taken no 
 small part in the develojmient of his sec- 
 tion. He has been a hard-working man, 
 and by industry and energy has earned for 
 himself a comfortable, well-improved farm 
 and home. In his political affiliations he 
 is a Democrat, but he does not take any 
 active interest in party affairs, preferring 
 to give his attention exclusively to his 
 private business interests; but, though 
 not an aspirant for office, he has served 
 as roadmaster in Rockland and De Pere 
 townships. Though Mr. Goffart's early 
 educational advantages were somewhat 
 limited, he has acquired a good store of 
 knowledge by reading and observation; 
 he takes great interest in the newspapers 
 cf his section, as well as others of general 
 interest, and keeps himself well informed 
 on current topics. He has ever been and 
 is 3'et a very active man, always finding 
 something to occupy his time. He has 
 crossed the Atlantic five times, having 
 paid two visits to his native home since 
 coming to the United States, taking the 
 first trip in 1871. In 1893 he proceeded 
 over the Baltimore & Ohio railway to 
 New York, where he embarked on the 
 Red Star liner " Westerland" for Antwerp, 
 and spent two months as a guest at the 
 same house where he was born, as well 
 as his mother and grandmother. Mr. 
 Goffart has also journeyed throughout the 
 Great West, for the benefit of his health, 
 which was much improved, and all in all 
 there are few farmers of his section who 
 have traveled more extensively. 
 
 PETER VANDERK INTER. 
 Brown county is indebted to the 
 little kingdom of Holland for 
 many of her most loyal and sub- 
 stantial farmer citizens, prominent among 
 whom in New Denmark township is the 
 gentleman here named. He was born in 
 Holland December 25, 181 8, a son of 
 Peter and Anna (Cooper) Vanderkinter, 
 
 who reared a family of seven children, 
 named as follows: Jacob, Mary, Duke, 
 Leona, Catherine, John and Peter. The 
 father owned a small farm, which he cul- 
 tivated, and by thrift and industry was 
 enabled to support his family in comfort. 
 Peter Vanderkinter lived with his par- 
 ents until he reached the age of eighteen 
 years, at which time he entered the army, 
 remaining in the service ten years. He 
 then sailed for .'America in company with 
 two other young men, and landed in New 
 York after a voyage of thirty-seven days, 
 during which one of his companions was 
 so seriously injured that he died a short 
 time after landing; the other young man 
 lived in New York State six years, and 
 then returned to his native land. Our 
 subject was penniless on his arrival in the 
 New World, and found employment with- 
 out delay, working first for a gardener in 
 New York at four dollars a month, and 
 later going to New Jersey, where he re- 
 mained seven years, following the same 
 line of work. Here he was married 
 March 9, 1850, to Miss Anna Bush, and 
 they came westward to Wisconsin, Mr. 
 Vanderkinter working near Sheboygan as 
 a farm hand for a year and a half, thence 
 moving to New Denmark township, 
 Brown county, where he took up eighty 
 acres of land, a complete wilderness at 
 that time, and set about the task of con- 
 verting it into a pleasant, fertile farm. 
 He and his wife lived with their nearest 
 neighbor until the log shanty, 18 x 20, was 
 ready for occupancy, and this was their 
 home for seven years, when a more sub- 
 stantial one took its place; which in its 
 turn was in course of time supplanted by 
 the modern frame house now occupied by 
 Frank Vanderkinter. The clearing of the 
 land necessarily progressed slowly, for 
 our subject had no team during the first 
 six years, and therefore he had to hire 
 such aid. working out bv the day to pay 
 for it. All the trading had to be done at 
 Green Bay, and, having to walk the entire 
 distance, a trip to town occupied three 
 davs. About fifteen vears after his removal 
 
144 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 here Mr. V'anderkinter purchased another 
 forty-acre tract of wild land, which he has 
 also cleared and improved, the farm being 
 well-equipped with outbuildings, and 
 other accessories. 
 
 To our subject and wife were born 
 twelve children, as follows: Jacob, John, 
 Rozina, Anna, triplets who died in in- 
 fancy, Peter, Frank, Henry, Abraham 
 and William, of which large family but 
 four are now living: John, Frank, Henr}' 
 and William. The mother of these 
 passed from earth March i, 1S85, and 
 was laid to rest in New Denmark ceme- 
 tery, deeply mourned by all who knew 
 her. Frank Vanderkinter has always re- 
 mained on the home farm, of which he 
 now has the principal management, his 
 father having retired from active work. 
 On August 18, 1888, he was married to 
 Miss Minnie Fager, daughter of August 
 and Hannah Fager, and their union has 
 been blessed with three children: Will- 
 iam, Frederick and Henry. Politically 
 Mr. Vanderkinter is a Democrat, but not 
 acti\'e in party affairs. 
 
 CW. STRECKENBACH. Far 
 across the stormy Atlantic, in the 
 quaint old German Fatherland, 
 Ernest Streckenbach and Nettie 
 Miller, his wife, were born. Both sought 
 homes in the country of the stars and 
 stripes, coming to Brown county, \\'is., 
 in the days when it was practically an un- 
 broken wilderness. 
 
 Mr. Streckenbach reached Green Baj' 
 in 1848, married, and settled in the woods 
 of Pittsfield township, Brown county, 
 where he erected a log cabin and began 
 the improvement of his land. It may be 
 readily imagined that the young German 
 soldier found this life wonderfully differ- 
 ent from what he had been accustomed to; 
 but he bravely plodded ahead, and lived 
 to see great changes accomplished in the 
 region about him. Four children came 
 to gladden the home: Edward C., now 
 
 engaged in the boot and shoe business at 
 Fort Howard; Pauline, wife of L. C. 
 Schilling; Louise, teacher in the public 
 schools of Milwaukee; and the subject of 
 this sketch. Mrs. Streckenbach, who had 
 also come with her parents to Green Bay 
 in 1 848, was called upon in 1 863 to mourn 
 the death of her husband, who passed 
 away in that year. She subsequently be- 
 came the wife of Henry Rathman, and 
 bore him four children: Lena, now Mr.s. 
 Alvin Outland, of Green Bay; Clara, wife 
 of W. W. Nuss, also of Green Bay; 
 Emma, teacher in the public schools of 
 the same city, and one deceased. 
 
 C. W. Streckenbach was born in 1861 
 in Pittsfield township, Brown Co., Wis. 
 Coming to Green Bay at an early age, he 
 acquired a common education in the pub- 
 schools and at Prof. Murch's business 
 college. At the age of thirteen years he 
 engaged in the cooperage business in a 
 plant, a portion of which is now owned by 
 D. W. Britton. In 1885 the present 
 wholesale firm of C. W. Streckenbach & 
 Co. was formed. These gentlemen deal 
 extensively in oysters and fish, and fur- 
 nish employment at their establishment tO' 
 twelve or fifteen men. In September, 
 1890, Mr. Streckenbach was united in 
 marriage, at Stephenson, Mich., with 
 Miss Maud Benjamin, a native of Mani- 
 towoc county. Wis., where her father,. 
 Sumner Benjamin, was a respected pio- 
 neer; he now resides at Stephenson, and 
 is a millwright by occupation. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Streckenbach have been born: 
 two children, Sumner and Hazel. Mr. 
 Streckenbach is a Republican in politics, 
 and takes a becoming interest in the af- 
 fairs of his partv. He is a member of 
 the Royal Arcanum, Council No. 546; 
 also of Pochequette Lodge, No. 126, K. 
 of P. His estimable wife, who was reared 
 a Methodist, attends the services of the 
 M. E. Church. 
 
 In a region like that surrounding Green' 
 Bay, and having so many natural facili- 
 ties for commercial advancement, the 
 changes in a few years will necessarih- be 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 HS 
 
 man}', and, although yet a young man, 
 Mr. Streckenbach has witnessed a re- 
 markable development in the surround- 
 ings of his home. The future is full of 
 promise for this locality, and such repre- 
 sentative men will be at the front in shap- 
 ing its destiny along the lines of prosper- 
 ity and usefulness. 
 
 HORACE J. CONLEY, yacht 
 builder, commodore of the Green 
 Bay Yacht Club, and former pro- 
 prietor of the beautiful vessel 
 "Merlin," said to be the safest, best 
 equipped and fastest j'acht on the lakes, 
 has been a resident of Green Bay for over 
 a quarter of a century, having come to 
 the town when a boy. 
 
 He is a native of Maine, born in the 
 town of Medway, August 3, 1861, to Vin- 
 cent and Eleanor (Fowles) Conley, the 
 father a Canadian by birth, the mother a 
 native of Maine. They were married in 
 that State, and there Vincent Conley fol- 
 lowed the lumber business and carpentry, 
 until 1866, when the}' came west to Wis- 
 consin, bringing their family. Settling for 
 the time in Green Bay, the father worked 
 in the shipyards, later building vessels 
 for his own account, and finally engaging 
 in the ice trade until 1884, when he 
 moved to Sheboygan, establishing there 
 an extensive ice business which he still 
 carries on. Eight children were born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Conley, five of 
 whom are yet living, namely: William, 
 married, in business a boat builder; Etta; 
 Horace J., our subject; Lincoln, and 
 Lewis — of whom W^illiam, Etta and Lewis 
 live in Fort Howard, Wis. ; Lincoln, who 
 is married, lives at Sheboygan. Wis. ; 
 Edward, who was married and resided at 
 Watersmeet, Gogebic Co.. Mich., where 
 he was a notary public and township 
 supervisor, died there July 19, 1894. 
 
 Horace J. Conley, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, received his education 
 at the schools of Fort Howard and at 
 
 Green Bay Business College, afterward 
 learning the trade of boat builder, making 
 himself conversant with all the details of 
 the craft. In 1883 he commenced build- 
 ing boats, yachts, etc., for his own ac- 
 count, making a specialty of racing and 
 sporting yachts of all descriptions, as well 
 as ordinary sail boats, and he has built 
 several boats that have "shown a clean 
 pair of heels" to all competitors. His 
 industry gives employment to some seven 
 hands. In connection with his business 
 Mr. Conley has naturally been deeply in- 
 terested ' in yacht racing, in which his 
 record places him "second to none," for 
 he has proven that he can not only build 
 boats, but that he can also sail them like 
 the true " fore-an'-aft " sailor he is. 
 Among the many }'atch races in which he 
 came off the victor may be mentioned the 
 regatta at Chicago during the World's 
 Fair, which was of more than local in- 
 terest, as it attracted from all parts of 
 the United States thousands of lovers 
 of aquatic sports Besides winning the 
 free-for-all race, his yacht, "Merlin," 
 also beat, in private races, the schooner- 
 yacht "Toxteth," and sloop "Rambler," 
 coming in ahead of the first- named by a 
 quarter of an hour. She took first prize 
 at the Milwaukee Yacht Club regatta held 
 at Milwaukee, July 4, 1894, and first 
 prize at the Green Bay Yacht Club regat- 
 ta held at Green Bay, September 26, 
 1894. In September, 1894, the "Mer- 
 lin " was sold by Commodore H. J. Con- 
 ley to Commodore J. D. Sarles, of Green 
 Bay. Mr. Conley's "Empress" and 
 "Vivian" are also famed for speed, the 
 first-named being said to be the best 
 finished yacht on the lakes; she won first 
 prize in a race on Lake Oconomowoc, 
 without availing herself of her time allow- 
 ance, the "Vivian" coming in second. 
 (The prize was a silver cup presented by 
 Commodore Greene). In t886, at the 
 closing of the season of the Oconomowoc 
 Yacht Club, on the waters of La Belle, 
 the "Vivian" captured the first prize. 
 Amontr other .\ i vachts built bv Mr. Con- 
 
146 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 ley may be mentioned the fast sailor " Au 
 Revoir, " for A. J. Chase, of Lake Crystal, 
 Minnesota; schooner yacht "Oneida, "for 
 John C. Follett, of Green Bay, Wis., (she 
 won first prize in her class in the Green Bay 
 regatta held July 27, 1894); sloop "Em- 
 ma," for Commodore Greene, which, in 
 her maiden race, beat the "Empress" 
 and " Vivian" on Lake Oconomowoc, Jul}' 
 4, 1894, also on August 26, in a race on 
 the same lake, between boats brought in 
 from Pine and Pewaukee Lakes, again 
 won first prize, this time against ten 
 starters, the boats taking part in this race 
 representing the best builders in the coun- 
 try, some of them coming from New York 
 and Boston. 
 
 In 1889 Mr. Conley was married in 
 Green Bay (where she was born) to Miss 
 Clara M. Scheller, daughter of Albert 
 and Louise Scheller, natives of Germany, 
 whence several years ago the}' came to Wis- 
 consin, settling in Green Bay, where Mr. 
 Scheller conducted one of the first tailor- 
 ing establishments of the place. He died 
 in 1863; his widow is still residing in 
 Green Bay. To Mr. and Mrs. Conley 
 has been born one child, a charming little 
 daughter, named Marie Vivian. Mrs. 
 Conley is a member of the Moravian 
 Church. Our subject is a member of 
 Pochequette Lodge, No. 26, K. of P., 
 Green Bay, and of the Republican party. 
 He was elected commodore of the Green 
 Bay Yacht Club July 1 1, 1894. In addi- 
 tion to yachts and boats, he is also manu- 
 facturer of sails, tents, flags, awnings, 
 etc. The family residence is at No. 300 
 South \\^ashington street, Green Bav. 
 
 FELIX DROOG. This substantial, 
 well-to-do citizen of De Pere, 
 Brown county, is a native of Bel- 
 gium, where he was born Decem- 
 ber 25, 1823. and educated, attending 
 school up to the age of thirteen yenrs. 
 
 He started out in life for himself, first 
 commencing to work as mason's assistant. 
 
 afterward learning the trade of mason and 
 bricklayer, at which he continued to work, 
 and, being thrifty and economical, saved 
 some money. On April 15, 1856, he was 
 married in Antwerp to Bernardine Evard, 
 who was born in Belgium in August, 1826, 
 and a few days after their marriage they 
 bade farewell to their friends and home. 
 Mr. Droog had not to leave his native 
 country because of the fear of coming to 
 want in later life, for he had been re- 
 warded with the National Recompense of 
 two medals of honor for devoted acts of 
 courage. The first medal (silver) he re- 
 ceived in April, 1850; the second one 
 (gold), also an engraving showing his 
 courageous acts, received from the royal 
 palace February 11, 1851. With this 
 honor, he and his young bride set sail 
 from Antwerp for America. They 
 took passage in the "Mary Goodwin," 
 and after a long voyage landed at Que- 
 bec, Canada, whence they at once set out 
 for their final destination, Green Bay, 
 Wis. The journey from Quebec occu- 
 pied nine days, and they arrived in Green 
 Bay July 14, strangers in a strange land, 
 and with but fifteen dollars to commence 
 life in the New World. For over a year 
 after their arrival they resided with Greg- 
 orie Bormans, in Allouez township, and 
 then moved to De Pere, where Mr. Droog 
 obtained employment on the old stone 
 school building, which was then in course 
 of construction, and later took the con- 
 tract for the mason work on the "Cali- 
 fornia House." He continued to follow 
 his trade at odd times for four and a half 
 years, part of the time working for Joseph 
 G. Lawton at seventy-five cents per day. 
 Purchasing a lot in De Pere, he erected 
 thereon the house in which the family 
 still resides, find, after some \ears, pur- 
 chased twenty acres of wild land in De- 
 Pere township. The place \vas entirely in 
 the woods, not astick having been cut from 
 it, and he at once set to work to clear and 
 improve it; he never lived there, however, 
 continuing to have his home in the town. 
 He is energetic and industrious, and by hard 
 
COMMEMORATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 H7 
 
 work and perseverance has accumulated a 
 comfortable competence. He not only 
 cultivated his original farm, but added to 
 it gradually, until it now consists of fifty 
 acres of productive land. In addition to 
 his agricultural labors he also continued 
 to follow his trade until 1892, when he 
 abandoned it. For twenty-three years he 
 had been employed to set fire-brick and 
 do other repair work in different furnaces 
 in the Fo.x Ri\'er Valley, many of which 
 he had also helped to build. There are 
 few men in the township who have toiled 
 harder, but he has met with encouraging 
 success in his efforts, and he is highly re- 
 spected everywhere for his sterling worth. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Droog have been blessed 
 with children as follows: Mary, Mrs. 
 Frank Calaway, of West De Pere; Leona, 
 Mrs. August Matzke, of Glenmore; Jo- 
 sephine, deceased wife of Mathias Matzke 
 (she was a school teacher prior to her 
 marriage); and Jennie C. and Henry J., 
 at home. Mr. Droog is a Democrat in 
 his political preferences, and in religious 
 connection he and his wife are members 
 of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, De Pere. 
 
 CAPTAIN JOSEPH DENIS, of the 
 steam tug "Charnly," has been 
 sailing from the port of Green 
 Bay since 1864, commencing on 
 the steamboat " George L. Dunlap, " and 
 receiving his commission in i 868. 
 
 He was born in Belgium in 1845, a 
 son of Leopold and Rosalie (Noel) Denis, 
 and in 1855 the family left their native 
 land on the " Henry Reed," a sailing 
 vessel, in fifty days arriving at New York 
 City. Thence the\' proceeded to Buffalo, 
 N. Y., where they passed their first win- 
 ter; from there, in the following spring, 
 came by rail to Fond du Lac, Wis., and 
 thence by team to Green Bay. In Bel- 
 gium the father had followed agricultural 
 pursuits, and, being desirous of continuing 
 the same vocation in the New World, 
 bought 1 60 acres of totally uncleared 
 
 timber land in Brussells township. Door 
 Co., Wis., near Red river. This, how- 
 ever, the family never cleared, nor even 
 lived on, though in later years the father 
 did some logging on it; but in Allouez 
 township they lived for five years on Capt. 
 Cotton's farm, where is now the cemetery 
 of that township. He then bought a farm 
 near the old military road, where he died 
 January 22, 1892; his first wife had pre- 
 ceded him to the grave in 1866. He was 
 a Democrat in politics, and for eighteen 
 years was assessor of his township. This 
 couple had born to them children as 
 follows: Joseph, the subject of this 
 sketch; Victoria, wife of F"rank Garrett, 
 of Green Bay; Celestin R., residing at 
 East De Pere, engaged as engineer and at 
 farming; Louis, an engineer, who died in 
 1 89 1, at Appleton; Alfonsine, who died 
 while 17/ route to America; Charles, who 
 died in Buffalo, N. Y. ; Leopold, an en- 
 gineer, residing in Green Bay; Julia, wife 
 of X. Parmentier, city clerk of Green 
 Bay; Mary, wife of Alfonse Hugot, of 
 Allouez; Rosalie, wife of Ralph Soquet, a 
 druggist, and Charles, a resident of De- 
 Pere. In 1867 Leopold Denis, father of 
 this family, for his second wife married 
 Honorine Istash, also a native of Belgium, 
 and to this union were born seven chil- 
 dren, of whom the living are Victor, 
 Frank, James, Honorine and Louisa. 
 
 Our subject was but ten years of age 
 when he came to Green Bay, and was 
 educated in the schools of that city and 
 in Allouez township. Until he com- 
 menced boating he was employed on the 
 farm; in 1882 and 1883, however, he was 
 connected with his brother, Leopold, in 
 sawmilling, but continued steamboating 
 between Green Bay and all lake ports as 
 far as Chicago. In 1868 he was married, 
 in Green Bay, to Miss Mary Briquelet, a 
 native of France and a daughter of 
 Nicholas Briquelet, at that time a resi- 
 dent of Allouez, where he died. Her 
 brother, Joseph, came to this country in 
 1856, and died in 1888. To the marriage 
 of Capt. Denis have been born four chil- 
 
t.iS 
 
 UOMMlCMnuA rivr iiHxiUAriiicM. Hh'coui). 
 
 (Ii'r'n, viz,: AKims (dt'ci'iisi'il m iSun was 
 lllr will' III |(iS(')ill ( iirl, ,1 ill >l liini; inn 
 rliiint; JaiiifS is a sairMu.in willi |n. nines 
 Urns,; aiul l.iicv, ami |nsi'|>li, alsnilnk 
 iii^ wil li {iMinii '. I'll I r. I III' ( .i|i| ,1111 III 
 |iiililii", r, .1 K'i'i iiihlii ,1 n , 1 1 ,il ri iLills In- i', ,i 
 ini'Milii I 111 iIh' K'i>\,iI .\t I ,1 iiiimi , III irlli; 
 Hill', l.illli III' ,iliil III:, will' ,111' iiH'iiiliri :, iil 
 SI. Inlin'', ( .il linlii ( Inn I li IIk'Ii linr 
 rfsiilriH't' ill (.rii'ii Hay is located iil Nn. 
 yi'^ \'an Hiiirn '.lii'i'l, ami i'; I'riil i ,ill\ 
 sillialril rill' ( 'a|il, III! l.iKr, ,i li\rl\ in 
 
 Irlt'Sl III till' |Mii(;r('ss nl tlu' i ll>', is lii(;li 
 ly K'Spfrlcil liulll nil llli' lakes iillil nil 
 shiUe, ailil l-i I eeii);lii. I'll ,r. ,i ii',rliil, '.iili 
 ••.(.nil l,ll I ll l.'l'll. 
 
 PI' r !■' u' \' A N n I'- u II I' 1 1) I-; n, 
 1,11 ini'i I >l III ill.iiiil 1 1 >\\ nslii|i, 
 I ii ii\\ n I niiiil \ . w ,1'. In II II III Nnrlli 
 
 I i| .ll'.llll , I ll 'll.llhl, I' i'Im 11.11 \' III, 
 I.S.)i;, .1 '.nil III l>rlk .lllil .\lllii|li'l i\.lll 
 Roy) N'aiiili'i lienlen 
 
 riie l.illiel III mil '.illilrii was a 
 Liiiiii'i. .iiiil \\,i', Iwiii' 111,11 I ii'il. lilst to 
 I'el I niie'la \ ,iiiili' N \ inrliiiliei').;, wlmhnie 
 liiiii '.i'\ I'll I liilili I'll, .iiiil ilieil Ni>\t'iiilier 
 I), i,''v|, I 111' Lillii'i llii'ii 111.11 1 ii'il. Nil 
 
 veinln'i 5(1, |S.|S, Anlniiel \ an Ki>y, who 
 li.i'. lime liini six ehiltlien, \i.' : l'<>ter, 
 mil '.iiliiei I i (ieor^t" H. ; Maiy, ileieased; 
 
 |iilin ,iiiil l>,iiiline (Iwiii'.). and M uy (j). 
 In l,Si,ii ihe |i,iieiih> f.ime In .\iiR'rica, 
 l.illdin); III New N'nlk, tlieiiie cnlllillf; 
 dlH'ilU In \\'i',i'nnsill. riiey sellifd ill 
 llnll.lllil Inw li',lll|>, wlirlr the Lltllel 
 l>nl|[;lil llui ,1111", nl I, Hid 111 llie Wild 
 Wnnds. Ilniii winrli W.I', i,ll\i'il mil llie 
 ',| ill' lid III I.I I 111 \\ lii'ii' niii sill>)cel llnw ll\ es. 
 It wnlild 111' 'iiin'i llllnll'i In lieie li'l.lle the 
 prilllili\e tii.iinii'i in wliu li the I. inn was 
 I't-aelied and iiewed liniii llie wilderness, 
 
 llie eoiliaf^e and (lieendm.mee nl ihe pio 
 iii'i'i li,i\i' lieeii ile|iu'(i'd ,i' linii',,iiiil times, 
 ,inil llie i'\pi'i leiiie nl llie \ ,iiiili'i lieideil 
 l.iinilv w .1'. lli.it nl .ill nlliei', in liko eir- 
 i inn'.laiices Snlliee it lo say lliat llie 
 lainiK' prospered, l>iit tliat it was lor a 
 
 peiioil nl lliiily years lli.il llie) IimiI in 
 
 the JOX 30 lo^' calilll lll,ll nl IJ'.lll.lIU ni I II 
 pied t he '.ite 1 il I Inn pi i",i'iil siili',1 .ml i.il 
 sloiie ilw I'lliiij; 
 
 I 'etei \ ,1 III ll I III iili 11 w ,r. I, ill ll I ill III 
 .ildlllf, 111', l,il lii'i III dr\ ill ipiii;; I he In >iiii' 
 ■'te.iil, ,iiid \\ .1', .ilw .i\ ', ,1 IliiiI Wnlki'l .it 
 llnllie, Willi the exeepl lull nl ,1 lew lllnlllhs 
 dlllin).; the willlel'., when lie wniki'd |n|' 
 iieif;liliois, liiit he .il\\,i\'. Iiinii;dit Ins 
 e,irilin;',', hnllie. .iddlil;; tllir. In llir Liiinly 
 sli i| I' Ihe I,|| lii'l died lli'le I'iIm 11. 11 \' 1 I , 
 
 iiS;'.|, am'drillv mill \i'. II',, eleven nioiillis 
 and tdeveii il,i\',, deepU ninmned liy 
 liii'iid'; ,iiiil iieiidilini', (Mil '.iihii'ii then 
 look pnssessinli nl the 1,11111. wliii ll he h.is 
 siieeessfiilly iiiaiiaj;ed In the pii",eiii lime; 
 ea<ll heir hee.ime the nw ini nl eifdity 
 aeres. In iSS;' mn ■,iili|i'ii m.iiiied Me.s 
 1 .oiiise, d,iiij;liti'l nl |nlm ,md M,ii\' 
 l( lilsiii).; 1 reki'l, Ihe l,imil\ I niiinif; In 
 .\niei'ie.i limn (iiim.im m i.Siui llieie 
 well' lime 1 hiliheii Imiii In Ml. ,inil Mrs. 
 I'lkel, ii,iiiiel)'; 1 ainlu'i t , Jnlili, Willi, nil, 
 Mary, ( leorj^t!, ivale (deceased in 111- 
 laiicyl, l.oiiise, Kate (,' 1, ,ind I eii.i In 
 oiir sniiject and liis wile li,i\eeniiie Imir 
 
 I lllldl en, \'i/, : riienilnie, In 'I 11 1 '11 em • 
 Im'I . iS.SS; |nliii .iiul M.iiv, Imin |,in- 
 ii.ii\ I |, i.Sin; ,iiid Willi, nil. liniii |aii- 
 ii,ii\ ;■, iSi)^ Mr. and Ml, \ ,iiiili'rheiden 
 • lie ili'Miul memlieis nl the ('.ilholie 
 I Inn I ll , 111 pnlil lis he i'. ,1 I 'eiiini ,it , ,inil 
 Snei,dl\ he i'. niie nl the iiinsi ii". peeled 
 I'iti/eilS nl the Inw 11:. hip 
 
 J 
 
 ( >SI' I'l I I l\,\|!l!, a lisiiif; yniiiij.; iiK''" 
 I nil 111 I'. I nl I >i' I'l'ie Inwiiship, is a 
 11, line nl llie tnwn nl He I'ere, 
 Hinwii emiiilN, Imiii Niwemlier S, 
 l,S''|,snnnl I'hilip .Hid ( ii'i 1 1 iiile I'l.ihh, 
 the Ininiei a ii,iti\enl lM'lf;iinn, the kilter 
 nl llnll.ind She was ilis seenlid wde, 
 and tlu'\ well' llie p.iieiils o| six child 1 en 
 tiiree sons .iiid I hue d.iiii^liters- ol whmn 
 Joseph is llie eldi'j.t son. 
 
 |osi'pli I'talih reeei\ed a liher.d cniii'- 
 111011-scliool education in the schools of 
 
(JOMMUMOJIATIVIC UIOUUAl'UKJM. UICVOUD. 
 
 MO 
 
 iJf I'cii-, VVIirii Ik; was st;veii yi;iiis olil 
 his fiitlii:r (iii:<l, and liis riiolln'i liaviiij,' rc- 
 niari'ii;'!, in: resid(:<l :ii lioiui' until In; 
 rt-aclii-il tli<; aK(; of eighteen, al wliicll 
 tinii' he coiiiiiicnci-d iifi- for iiis own ac 
 'oinil, I'loi CI iliiij^ In (ilcnwoocl, St. 
 (iroix ( ^o. , Wis., Ill- II riiaiMcil ( here t lir<:(; 
 years, the grcalci j.aii ol iln- iirnc work- 
 ing in a mill, <;.i<(;i;|)lin).^ for a lew inontiis 
 when it was idle, and he en^;af,'ed in rail- 
 roading;. Ill; then returned to De I'ere 
 townslii|), I'.iown county, when; for a 
 KJiort time ill- made his home with his 
 wife's parents, comiii;.;, March i, 1893, to 
 the farm where Ik; jkjw resides. On No- 
 veinlier 5, iSHy, Mr. ('rahh was maiii(;d, 
 ill De I'ere, to Miss Nellie Kerstcin, who 
 was horn Auf{ust 17, 1870, in l)i; ]'(;r<; 
 township, daii^;hler of John Kersten, a 
 native of (jermany. 'i'o llii , union have 
 been l)orii two children, I'lnh)/ :fiiil fler- 
 Irudc- A. 'ihoiij^h Mr. (aalii) is hut a 
 youni.; m.ui, and is, in lact, the younj.(est 
 fanner in iln- lownsfiip, In- has no su- 
 ])i-rior as an a^;iicul1urisl in his section. 
 Ill- I I hard-worlduf;, enci^elic and pro- 
 gressive, and with his natural ahility and 
 yood hiisiness management is hound to 
 prosper. In his political afliliations he 
 is a nK;niher of the DeiiKicralic |)arty, 
 and in leli^dous connection he and his 
 wife ail- III. ill iiii mill 1 •; of St. Mary's 
 ('atholic ( huM li. 
 
 JAMICS I), M< AIJ.ISTICK, a well- 
 known r(;sideiit of I foward township, 
 I'.rown county, is a native of Wis- 
 consin, horn in Manitowoc county 
 Novemher 27, 1H47, son of ('lemmt and 
 Minalta Clloll.iook) McAllistei. 
 
 Olement .McAllister was horn and 
 reared on a farm in the forests of New 
 York State, ;ind came to Wisi;onsiii in 
 1839, setllinj; on a farm, where he died 
 when ahout fifty years of age, His parents 
 W(;re l'"raiicisarKl Nancy fl'-lkinsj McAllis- 
 ter, natives of Scotland, tin- former of 
 whfJin was horn .Mairh 1, 17'^..', and died 
 
 November 6, 1841, in Manilowoccoimty, 
 Wis.; the latter died in St. I,awreiice 
 county, N, Y. Mrs. Minalta McAllister 
 was horn Noveml)(;r 18, 1810, in St. Law- 
 rence county, N, Y., and now makes hi;r 
 hoiiK; with her son, James \), She is a 
 daiigditerof David and Minerva fJiarlholo- 
 mewj llolhrook, IIk- fornu'i of whom, a 
 farmer, was horn in 1785 in I.ehanon, 
 (loim., and di<;d in 1833 in St. Lawrence 
 county, N. Y. His parents were Peltia 
 and Mary (Chirk) Holhrook. Minerva 
 Hartiiolomew, dau|.;hler of Isaac and 
 Lydia ("Deming; Hartiiolomew, of Ver- 
 mont, but later of Ni;w York, was horn 
 June 3, 1793, and died in 1843, the molliij 
 of twelve children, of whom Minalta Mc- 
 Allister was the eldest, and of whom seven 
 are yet liviii><. 
 
 James D. McAllister is the younfjesl 
 child in a family of six, of whom but one 
 besid<;s himsitlf, a sister, islivinj.;. H<; was 
 reared on the home farm until fourtei;ii 
 years of a^je, wIhii hi , lalhei dii-d, ;ini| he 
 went to work lor his I'ncle lliiam, with 
 whom he remained eif;hl or nine years. 
 In 1876 he first came to Howard town- 
 shi|), iirown county, and houf^ht eifjhty 
 acres of partly cultivated laud, which he 
 at once coiniiieiic(;d to iiiJj)rove and work. 
 On May 28, 1879, he was married to Miss 
 lilla Ames, who was born March 27, 1859, 
 in ICrie county, l'(;iiii., daiif^htcr of (;iark 
 and Mary (Kobbins) Ames, who had a 
 family fjf live children; tliese parents were 
 also natives of I'ennsylvaiiia, in which 
 State the mother died at the early age of 
 twenty-seven years; tfie fatlK;r, (Mark 
 Ames, and his children came [o Wiscon- 
 sin about the year 1 866, .uiil slill ii-.iilr 
 ill I'itlshi'ld township. 
 
 Tin: union ol James D. and I'.lla Mi 
 Allistei has been bless(;d with six chil- 
 dren, as follows; Mab(;l V., born April 
 3, 1881; William L., born Si:pt<;mber 10, 
 1882; Susan S.. born |une 3, 1885; AJviii 
 L., born March 8, 1888; and Clyde C. 
 iiorn May 18, l89fj, and one born May 
 17, 1894, died July 28, 1894, Mr. Mc- 
 Allister, al the tiliii- ol his iii.-iiiia^;e, K(;l- 
 
15° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tied on his present farm, on which he 
 conducts a profitable dairying business. 
 In his political affiliations he is a Republi- 
 can, and he is active in promoting the 
 educational interests of his section, also 
 giving his aid to religious and other moral 
 movements which tend to benefit or ad- 
 vance his township or county. He and 
 his family are universally respected, and 
 Mr. McAllister's steady habits render him 
 a desirable member of the coniiiiunitv. 
 
 SETH WILLIAMS CHAMPION, 
 railroad manager, was born De- 
 cember 25, 1844, at Princeton, 
 Ky., son of Henry W. and Sally 
 (Wiggenton) Champion, also natives of 
 Kentucky. They were both closely allied 
 to well-known southern families, although 
 bearing different names. 
 
 Thomas Champion, grandfather of the 
 subject of these lines, was a native of 
 North Carolina, whence he moved into 
 Kentucky, settling in Livingston county, 
 near the city of Salem, where he resided 
 until 1 8 14. He served as sheriff of Liv- 
 ingston county, was a trader with the 
 Southern States, and while on a trip 
 south with a drove of horses contracted 
 yellow fever, from which he died soon 
 after reaching home, leaving a widow and 
 five children, Henry W. being the eldest; 
 Dr. Alfred Champion, now a resident of 
 Eddy ville, Ky. , is the only surviving 
 member of this family. Their mother, 
 Mrs. Thomas Champion, was Miss 
 Frances Williams, who, in 1809, in com- 
 pany with her brother Henry, migrated 
 from Virginia to Kentucky, and settled in 
 Livingston county, near Salem. She was 
 connected with the Williams family, nota- 
 ble among the large landowners of Cul- 
 peper county. Va., some members of 
 which achieved distinction in public life. 
 One of the most distinguished members 
 of this family was Gen. Robert Williams, 
 of the United States Army, an ardent 
 Unionist, who rendered \'aluable service 
 
 to the government during the Rebellion, 
 notwithstanding the fact that he was a 
 Virginian by birth. After the war he 
 served as adjutant-general of the army, 
 and married the widow of Stephen A. 
 Douglas. His grandfather served in the 
 Virginian line during the war of the Rev- 
 olution, and was also a commissioned 
 officer in the war of 1812. The paternal 
 great-grandmother of Seth Williams 
 Champion came of another distinguished 
 Virginia family, representatives of which 
 were also numerous in Culpeper county. 
 
 Henry W. Champion, father of our 
 subject, was born, in 1812, in Livingston 
 county, Ky. , and was but a boy when his 
 father died. His wife was a granddaugh- 
 ter of John Miller Bell, who belonged to 
 a famous Southern family, numerous rep- 
 resentatives of which have been promi- 
 nent in public life, John Minor Botts, 
 who was one of the signers of Jefferson 
 Davis' bail bond at the close of the Civil 
 war, belonging to the antecedents of the 
 Bell family. Prior to the war he served 
 many years in Congress as an "Old-Line 
 Whig," and was an enthusiastic follower 
 of Henry Clay. He was a lawyer and 
 gentleman farmer, his law office being in 
 Richmond, and his countr}' home near 
 Culpeper Court House. He opposed the 
 Secession movement, and when the war 
 began retired to his farm, refusing to act 
 with the large majority of the public men 
 of Virginia who held that they owed their 
 State allegiance paramount to that which 
 they owed to the National Government. 
 His loyalty to the Union caused him to 
 suffer arrest and imprisonment at the 
 hands of the Confederates, and his for- 
 tune was seriously impaired by the rav- 
 ages of war. After the struggle was ended, 
 he exerted his influence to restore Vir- 
 ginia to Statehood, and published an in- 
 teresting volume entitled "The Great 
 Rebellion, Its Secret History, Rise, Pro- 
 gress and Disastrous Failure." 
 
 In 1857 Henry W. Champion, with 
 his family, emigrated from Kentucky to 
 Coles county. 111., one of the older coun- 
 
Wlc4>l.cnA^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 153 
 
 ties of southeastern Illinois, where he be- 
 came a farmer. In 1862 he removed to 
 central Illinois, settling first in Macon 
 county, and three or four years later in 
 Menard county, where he continued to re- 
 side up to his death, which occurred in 
 1881, one week after the decease of his 
 wife. In early life he was a printer, and 
 published a paper both in Tennessee and 
 Kentuck}', but later was a merchant at 
 Greenview, and for many years postmaster 
 of that village. In his religious faith he 
 was a stanch and active member of the 
 Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and 
 during his whole life was an ardent worker 
 in the Sunday-schools. 
 
 Seth Williams Champion, the subject 
 proper of this sketch, received his literary 
 education at the schools in Coles county 
 and Mount Zion, Macon Co., 111., at the 
 age of thirteen years commencing to work 
 on his father's farm, and, until he at- 
 tained his majority and sought other em- 
 ployment, by far the greater share of 
 his time was thereafter devoted to that 
 kind of labor. When he was about twen- 
 ty-two years of age, he left home and 
 went to Virden, 111., becoming a clerk in 
 the office of the Chicago & Alton Railway 
 Co. at that point, and after remaining 
 there one year he was appointed station 
 agent at Greenview, 111. At the end of two 
 years more he was promoted to station 
 agent at Lacon, 111. (also on the Chicago 
 & Alton railroad), and remained there 
 eight years. In 1878 he came to Green 
 Bay, Wis. , and became the agent in that 
 city of the Green Bay & Minnesota Rail- 
 road Company, now known as the Green 
 Bay, Winona & St. Paul Railroad Com- 
 pany. Sometime afterward he entered 
 the general offices of this company as 
 chief clerk, and later was promoted in 
 succession to the important and respon- 
 sible positions of general freight and pas- 
 senger agent, and superintendent. In 
 1890 he became general manager of this 
 line of railroad, with headquarters in 
 Green Bay. He has also been manager, 
 
 since its construction, of the Kewaunee, 
 9 
 
 Green Bay & Western railroad, running 
 from Green Bay to Kewaunee, a line 
 thirty-four miles long, of which he was 
 one of the builders and principal pro- 
 moters. 
 
 As a railroad man, Mr. Champion 
 has become well known throughout the 
 entire Northwest, and is recognized as a 
 railroad operator of superior capacity and 
 ability. Having begun his career, as a 
 railroad man, as station agent in a country 
 village, he has thoroughly familiarized 
 himself with all the details of railroad 
 business and management, and has earned 
 promotion by hard work and thorough 
 honesty, intelligent effort, and efficient 
 services. He has made a close study of 
 what may be termed "The science of 
 railroading," has a broad knowledge of 
 the principles governing the operation of 
 railroads and all the rules and regulations 
 pertaining to railroad traffic, and is a 
 man, also, of extensive general informa- 
 tion. The duties and responsibilities of 
 the positions which he has held have de- 
 manded his undivided attention, and he 
 has had neither the time nor the inclina- 
 tion to seek official preferment or public 
 honors of any kind, the only office he has 
 ever held being that of alderman, while 
 a resident of Lacon, 111. He has, how- 
 ever, taken the interest which all good 
 citizens should feel in political move- 
 ments, acting always with the Republi- 
 can party where political issues are in- 
 volved, and being a firm believer in the 
 wisdom of its principles and politics. His 
 family, although of Southern origin, be- 
 longed to the •• 01d-\\'hig" party of ante- 
 war days, and when his father came 
 North he drifted easily and naturally into 
 the Republican party, when that party 
 came into e.xistence. The son wasbrought 
 up under this influence, and has seen no 
 reason to change his political faith. The 
 religious influences, which surrounded him 
 in early life, were those of the Cumber- 
 land Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Cham- 
 pion is still a Presbyterian in his Church 
 affiliations, but on account of there being 
 
154 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 no Presbyterian Church of the Cumber- 
 land faith in Green Bay, he affiliates with 
 the Methodist Church, of which his wife 
 is a member. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Champion was married 
 to Miss Lucinda A. White, a daughter of 
 George Roley White, of Decatur, 111., in 
 which city she was born, and to this union 
 were born five children, of whom three 
 are living, namely: Lalla May, Ora A. 
 and Clyde W. 
 
 REV. JACOBUS BOZMACK was 
 born May i, 1848, in Austria, son 
 of Valentine and Constantia Boz- 
 mack, who had a family of eight 
 children, all of whom are deceased ex- 
 cept our subject. The parents both died 
 in their native countrj'. 
 
 Jacobns Bozmack received his early 
 education in the common schools of the 
 land of his birth, and, at the age of 
 twenty-seven years, entered the priest- 
 hood. In 1893 he came to America, 
 and after a very rough voyage landed in 
 New York city, thence coming directly 
 to his charge in Eaton township, Brown 
 countv, Wisconsin. 
 
 ENRY NACHTWEY, a prosper- 
 
 ous wide-awake general merchant 
 
 LJ 
 
 I I of De Pere township, and post- 
 master at Pine Grove, is a native 
 of Wisconsin, born July 22, 1858, in Coop- 
 erstown. Anton Nachtwey, father of 
 Henry, was born March 26, 1826, in 
 Prussia, Germany, a son of Michael 
 Nachtwey, who died when his son, Anton, 
 was twelve years old. Michael Nachtwey 
 was married four times, and had twenty- 
 five children; by his third marriage he had 
 ten, of whom Anton was the ninth and 
 the youngest son. This wife died when 
 her son Anton was five years old. 
 
 Anton Nachtwey received a good edu- 
 cation in the schools of his nati\e coun- 
 
 try. He was reared a farmer boy, and 
 after the death of his father left the home- 
 stead and hired out as a farmhand at 
 various places until he reached the age of 
 si.xteen, when he went to Frankfort-on- 
 the-Main. Here he remained until he 
 was twenty-one years of age, during which 
 time he was emplo\-ed in the German 
 mint for three years, and for a year and 
 a half worked in a brewery with his 
 brother, Henry (this brother afterward 
 conducted a store and a saloon in Coopers- 
 town, Wis.). Anton had a very profitable 
 situation in the government mint, but 
 he was obliged to abandon it on account 
 of his health. Ha\ing a few hundred 
 dollars, part of which he received from 
 his father's estate, and part of which he 
 had saved, Mr. Nachtwey, in the summer 
 of 1847, left his native country and set out 
 for America. He proceeded to London, 
 England; but after waiting there nine days 
 for a vessel which did not arrive, he took 
 the cars to Liverpool, whence he set sail, 
 and after a voyage of seven weeks landed 
 at New York. From there he proceeded 
 by steamboat to Albany, thence, via the 
 Erie canal to Buffalo, where he took 
 passage on the steamer "Michigan" for 
 Milwaukee, Wis. His destination was 
 Two Rivers, but as the "Michigan" did 
 not stop at that port, be came hither by 
 sailing vessel from Milwaukee, arriving at 
 his journey's end in the latter part of 
 July. At that time the town of Two 
 Rivers contained but twenty-seven build- 
 ings, by actual count, and Indians were 
 still numerous in the surrounding country. 
 Here Mr. Nachtwey found work in the 
 sawmill of a Mr. Smit, and remained four 
 years. 
 
 On July 20, 1 85 1, he was married, in 
 Cooperstown, to Miss Catherine Flatten, 
 who was born July 8, 1835, in Prussia, 
 daughter of Anton and Margaret Flatten, 
 who came to the United States in 1842. 
 They were seven weeks crossing the ocean, 
 and made the entire journey from their 
 home in Germany to Green Bay, Wis., 
 by water, making the lake trip on the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPEICAL llECOBD. 
 
 '.T^ 
 
 "Old Columbus," this being the last trip 
 made by that old boat. For a year and 
 a half after their arrival the Flattens lived 
 in Green Bay, and then moved to De- 
 Pere township. Brown county, where Mrs. 
 Nachtwej' resided until her marriage. To 
 Anton and Margaret Nachtwe}' have been 
 born children as follows: Joseph, of 
 Bellevue township; John, of New Den- 
 mark township; Henry, whose name opens 
 this sketch; Anton, of Cilenmorc town- 
 ship; Frank, of Bellevue township; Mary, 
 teacher in a convent in Chicago; Mark, 
 Matilda, and Maggie and Lizzie (twins). 
 at home; three children that died young; 
 and Peter, who died in Green Ba} at the 
 age of seventeen, from lockjaw, the re- 
 sult of an accident in a sawmill. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Nachtwe}' re- 
 sided in Cooperstown, of which place he 
 and his brother Henry were among the first 
 German settlers. When they first came 
 there the surrounding country was still in 
 its primitive condition, and Mr. Nachtwey 
 remembers at one time seeing se\enteen 
 Indian wigwams in Cooperstown. the oc- 
 cupants of which were all engaged in 
 making maple sugar, which the\' traded 
 to the settlers for potatoes and other food. 
 In 1877 he came to New Denmark town- 
 ship, Brown county, where he and his 
 wife still make their home. He has fol- 
 lowed farming continuously ever since his 
 marriage, and he now has a fine tract of 
 160 acres. He and his wife are members 
 of the Holy Trinitj- Catholic Church at 
 Pine Grove, and in his political affilia- 
 tions Mr. Nachtwey generally favors the 
 principles of the Democratic party; how- 
 ever, he cast a vote for Abraham Lincoln, 
 and supports the best man without much 
 regard for party lines. He is universally 
 respected as an honest, upright citizen. 
 He has a remarkable memory, and easily 
 recalls events which happened \ears ago. 
 
 Henr}- Nachtwey received his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of his time, 
 and was thoroughly trained to agriculture 
 on the home farm. In 1870 he commenced 
 to work in a shingle-mill, and continued the 
 
 same until a painful accident to his 
 shoulder compelled him to retire from 
 active labor and rest for a year, at the end of 
 which time, with complete rest and the 
 aid of a costh' contrivance, he fully re- 
 covered and was able to resume work. 
 For three years he was employed in the 
 mills of Gillon & Monroe, becoming thor- 
 oughly familiar with all kinds of sawmill- 
 ing, which in the early pioneer times was 
 a very important industr}', but with the 
 clearing up of the countrj' has been gradu- 
 ally decreasing. On November 12, 1889, 
 Mr. Nachtwey was united in marriage, in 
 De Pere, with Miss Margaret E. Conncl- 
 1}', who was born May 23, 1865, in the 
 Province of Ontario, Canatla, daughter of 
 I John Connelly, and was but nine weeks- 
 old when her parents came to Wisconsin, 
 where she was reared. After marriage the' 
 \oung couple commenced housekeeping 
 I in Pine Grove, De Pere township, where 
 i he has been engaged in general niercan- 
 i tile business since 1S82. He commenced 
 alone, but later received his brother, 
 ! Joseph, as a partner, and they carried on 
 1 the business together until 1891. since 
 I when our subject has been sole proprietor. 
 He has been very successful, and he con- 
 ducts one of the best-kept and most com- 
 plete general stores in the county, his 
 courteous and accommodating disposition 
 having made him e.xceedingi) popular 
 with his fellowmen. The postoffice at 
 Pine Grove had been discontinued, but in 
 18S2 it was re-established, and Mr, 
 Nachtwey was aiipninted to the position 
 of jiostmaster. in which he now ser\es. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Nachtwey are both mem- 
 bers of Holy Trinity Catholic Church at 
 Pine Grove. They ha\e had one child. 
 Allen A., \\lio was born June 22, 1892. 
 
 WILLIAM WORKMAN, the pop- 
 ular druggist of De Pere, Wis., 
 w as born at the village of Prest- 
 wick, Ayrshire, Scotland, June 
 22, 1S22, a sou of John and Ann (Prin- 
 
156 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 glej Workman, the former of whom was 
 a weaver, who employed several journey- 
 men, but who died when his son William 
 -was but six years of age. Mrs. Ann 
 Workman continued to reside at Prest- 
 Avick for some years after the death of her 
 husband, but tinally followed her son Will- 
 iam to America, and ended her days at 
 his home in De Pare. Both parents were 
 members of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 William Workman served an appren- 
 ticeship of five and a half \'ears at the 
 machinist's trade in Deanston, Perth- 
 shire, Scotland, and then, July i, i^^2, 
 at the age of twenty years, embarked at 
 Glasgow on a sailing vessel for the United 
 States, and nine weeks later landed in 
 New York City, where he remained about 
 a year, employed at various occupations; 
 he then came to Milwaukee, Wis. ; thence 
 moved to Waterville, where he emplo\ed 
 himself at farming for a year, and was 
 then employed in carpentering at Ripon. 
 On January S, 1852, he started for Cali- 
 fornia by the Panama route, reaching 
 Panama on the first of the following 
 March; built and started the first circu- 
 lar sawmill in the place at a salary of 
 one hundred dollars per week in gold, 
 and on May i reached San Francisco. 
 After quite successfully mining in Cali- 
 fornia for two years, Mr. Workman re- 
 turned to Ripon, W^is., May 30, 1854, 
 and established a steam cabinet-making 
 establishment; in 1859 he purchased a 
 seeding machine patent, and for three 
 years was engaged in its manufacture at 
 Ripon, but the patent proved a failure. 
 Mr. Workman ne.xt secured several pat- 
 ents for sundry other machines, and in 
 the manufacture of these he met with 
 better success. In 1866 he entered into 
 partnership with Jason and Wellington 
 Hitchcock, and added the manufacture of 
 sleighs, cutters, wagons, etc., and in 1878 
 sold his interest in the factorj' to Jason 
 Hitchcock and moved to De Pere, where 
 he took the position of superintendent of 
 the De Pere Iron Works, in which he 
 held some stock. In 1873 the company 
 
 failed and was bought in by Blanchard & 
 .Arnold, of Milwaukee, for whom Mr. 
 Workman acted as suf)erintendent. This 
 firm also fell into financial difficulties 
 through the failure of the Union Steel & 
 Iron Company, of Chicago, in 1884, and 
 b}- this disaster Mr. Workman was again 
 a sufferer to the extent of five thousand 
 dollars. On November 30, 1885, Mr. 
 Workman bought out the interest of his 
 son and his son's partner, Michael Welsh, 
 in their drug store in \\'est De Pere, and 
 this he conducted until August 18, 1890; 
 in 1887 he also purchased from W'illiam 
 Chapman his drug store in East De Pere, 
 and to this, after selling out in West De- 
 Pere, he has since devoted his entire at- 
 tention, meeting with a prosperous trade. 
 Mr. Workman has been twice mar- 
 ried, first time at Ripon, in 1845, to Miss 
 Rachel Stilwell, who survived her mar- 
 riage onl}' three months; his second mar- 
 riage occurred, in 1S50, to Margaret 
 Miller, also at Ripon, and this union has 
 been blessed with six children, viz. : Will- 
 iam M., a druggist of West De Pere; 
 Mary, married to David Thomas, of Ripon; 
 Margaret and Aimie P., at home; John, 
 who died at Ripon of scarletina at the 
 the age of two years and nine months; 
 and Frank, who died of diphtheria at De- 
 Pere, aged three years and three months. 
 Mr. Workman was a charter member of 
 Ripon L!odge, No. 95, F. & A. M., in 
 1857; he also was a charter member of 
 Ripon Chapter, No. 30, and a member of 
 the Commandery at Fond du Lac; he is 
 now a member of De Pere Lodge, No. 
 85, of which he has served as secretary 
 three years. In politics he is a Repub- 
 lican, and while living at Ripon he served 
 as county supervisor from the First ward; 
 two terms; also in the city council several 
 terms, and as mayor one term; at \\'est 
 De Pere he has served as president of the 
 village for ten or more years, and also as 
 member of council in East De Pere for 
 two years — evincing in each position a 
 business ability that gave the utmost 
 satisfaction to the public. 
 
COMMEMOUA.TIVE BIOGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 157 
 
 Mr. Workman has always coniiiianded 
 the respect of the communities in which 
 he has lived, and been reco^ni^ed as a 
 valuable and desirable member of society. 
 
 JAMES TOUHEY, the genial pro- 
 prietor of the ' ' New Transit Hotel " 
 at De Pere, was born July 28, 1836, 
 in County Clare, Ireland, son of 
 Michael and Bridget (Maloney) Touhey, 
 natives of the same county. 
 
 Michael Touhey was a farmer of 
 moderate means, and also a cattle dealer, 
 with his residence about seven miles 
 northeast of Limerick. His children, 
 who were all born in Ireland, were named 
 as follows: Jane, Mary, Dennis, Bridget, 
 Michael, Honora, Margaret, Winnie, 
 Michael (2), Timothy, W^innie (2), and 
 James; there was also one that died in in- 
 fancy. They were not, however, born in 
 the order named, as James, our subject, 
 was the fifth child and the third son. On 
 March 17, 1848, Michael Touhey and his 
 family left Limerick for America, and on 
 June 20, landed in Quebec. From that 
 city he went to Burlington, Vt.. where he 
 was appointed overseer and timekeeper 
 over 1,200 men employed on the New 
 York & Erie railway, then being built. 
 Wisconsin was then a new State, and, al- 
 though he was making money he con- 
 cluded to tr\- his fortune here. .Accord- 
 ingly, in the latter part of August, 1848, he 
 arrived in Milwaukee, where he was en- 
 gaged in street grading, etc., employing 
 many men and teams, until September, 
 1855, when he removed to Manitowoc, 
 and a short time afterward purchased a 
 tract of 160 acres in Franklin township, 
 same county, which he subsequently in- 
 creased to 400 acres. Here he died, in 
 the Catholic faith. April 6, 1S86, and was 
 followed to the grave by his faithful wife 
 four days later. Their remains now rest 
 side by side in Maple Grove cemetery, 
 Manitowoc county. Of his large family 
 four children onl\' survive: Honora, a 
 
 widow: James, our subject; Margaret, 
 now Mrs. Patrick McMaiin, of Kansas; 
 and Michael, of Bessemer, Mich., but 
 formerly of Morrison township, Brown 
 Co., Wis., being then the representative 
 of his District in the State Legislature. 
 
 James Touhey received his earlier ed- 
 ucation in his native land, and, after 
 reaching the United States, at the age of 
 eleven years, attended the Milwaukee 
 schools until large enough to drive a team 
 for his father. W^hile thus employed he 
 drove the horses that hoisted the first lo- 
 comotive that ever ran in Wisconsin, and 
 which was subsequently used on the Mil- 
 waukee & Mississippi railroad. He moved 
 with his parents to Franklin township, 
 Manitowoc county, where he worked on 
 his father's extensive tracts of new land 
 until his marriage, October 26, 1858, at 
 Manitowoc Rapids, with Miss Mary Mans- 
 field, a native County Kilkenny, Ireland, 
 born in 1839, daughter of Thomas Mans- 
 field, who died when his daughter was 
 but five years of age, leaving a widow and 
 five children. The widow came to the 
 United States in 1850, remarried, and had 
 three children by her second husband. 
 Mary Mansfield was reared near Haver- 
 straw, on the Hudson (or North) river. 
 New York, and in 1858, while on a visit 
 to Wisconsin, met and married Mr. Ton- 
 he)'. For five years after his marriage 
 Mr. Touhey resided with his father, and 
 then located on 1 20 acres of timbered land 
 that had formed part of his father's estate. 
 He cleared this land and made a fine 
 farm, on which he resided twelve years, 
 doing hard work all the time. In the fall 
 of 1873 he removed to De Peie and pur- 
 chased the " Fox River Hotel," which he 
 remodeled and opened on the second 
 Tuesday in November of the same year, 
 changing the name to the ' 
 House." Aided by his wife 
 complished lady, he carried on a most 
 prosperous business until April 22, 1882, 
 when the edifice was consumed by fire. 
 Mr. Touhey immediately rebuilt on a 
 larger scale, and called the new hotel the 
 
 Manitowoc 
 a very ac- 
 
is8 
 
 COMMKMOIIATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 "Transit Hotel, " in which he did a tliriv- 
 ing trade for seven years, when he was 
 again burned out. Mr. Touhey, some- 
 what discouraged, then went to Hot 
 Springs, Ark., to be treated for rheuma- 
 tism, from which he had been suffering 
 since 1H79; later he visited various sites 
 in Colorado, where several offers of an 
 advantageous nature were made to as- 
 sist him in opening a hotel, but the pub- 
 lic-spirited citizens of De Pere induced 
 him to return to that cit}' and resume his 
 former business. Acordingly, on the 1st 
 of Sejitember, 1890, he opened the " Xew 
 Transit Hotel," now so well known along 
 the Fo.\ river. 
 
 Mr. Touhey is a stanch Democrat, and 
 was once elected justice ot the peace, but 
 declined to serve; in 1863, howt-ver, he 
 served as a member of the board of alder- 
 nKMi of De Pere. He is a uieinber of St. 
 P'rancis Catholic Church, and he and his 
 wife are held in the highest respect by the 
 entire community. They have had no 
 children born to them, but some young 
 relative — niece or nephew — has always 
 found a home under their roof. 
 
 I 
 
 CHARLES SCHROEDEK This 
 popular dealer in agricultural im- 
 plements of Wrightstown, Brown 
 county, was born June 6, 1844, 
 in West Prussia, son of Gottlieb and 
 Louise (Luefge) Schroeder. 
 
 In 1863, in company with his mother 
 and two sisters, our subject came to the 
 United States, landing at Baltimore Md., 
 August 15, whence they moved to the 
 town of Rockland, Brown Co., Wis., set- 
 tling in the wilderness near the Fox River 
 Valley, where he engaged in farming. On 
 ]anuar\' 18, 1870, Mr. Schroeder was 
 here married to Miss Bertha Wirschke, a 
 daughter of Gottlieb Wirschke, who was 
 largely engaged in the manufacture of 
 linseed oil. To this union have been 
 born ten children, namely: Mary, Charles, 
 August. PImilie, Rudolph, \\'ilhclm. 
 
 Ennna, Robert, Ida, and Albert. After 
 a residence of about sixteen years on his 
 farm Mr. Schroeder removed with his 
 family to Wrightstown, leaving one son in 
 charge of the home place. Here Mr. 
 Schroeder at once established his present 
 business, dealing in farm machinery and 
 agricultural implements, and has built up 
 a successful and thriving trade, his fair 
 dealing and gentlemanly deportment gain- 
 ing for him the confidence of the com- 
 nnmity. He is a local leader in the Dem- 
 ocratic party, and has filled several re- 
 sponsible offices; he is now a candidate 
 for the position of postmaster. 
 
 CHKISTOPH MEISTER, who is a 
 contractor and builder, of Green 
 Bay, was born in Saxony, Ger- 
 many, November 9, 1820, a son 
 of Henry and Elizabeth (Neuman) Meis- 
 ter, who, in 1855, settled in Green Bay, 
 where the father died in 1864, the mother 
 in 1 866. They reared a family of six 
 children, as follows: Christoph, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch: Fredericka, wife of 
 Matthias Fist, of Pittsfield township; 
 Caroline, wife of Jacob Low, of Preble 
 township; Harry; James; and Ernestine, 
 wife of P'rank Lipman,of Preble township. 
 Christoph Meister was educated in 
 Germany, and also learned his trade of 
 carpenter and builder in that country. 
 On June 18, 1853, he came to Green Bay, 
 and in 1856 erected his present pleasant 
 residence. On arriving here he at once 
 engaged in business, and among the many 
 structures he has put up may be men- 
 tioned " Cook's Hotel," Chapman block. 
 Uncle Frank's block, Engine House No. i, 
 the old Postoffice building. Turner Hall, 
 the Union Brewery, a brewery in Esca- 
 naba, the courthouse in Grand Rapids, 
 and most of the larger stores and dwell- 
 ings in Green Bay. Mr. Meister was 
 united in matrimony in German}', in 1849, 
 to Miss Dorothea Montag, and to this 
 union have been born eight children, \\z. : 
 
COMMEMOIIATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '59 
 
 Ernest, Charley, Herman, Frederick, 
 Louisa (wife of Otto Brehmer), Lena, 
 Emma, and Matilda. Mr. and Mrs. Meis- 
 ter are members of the Lutheran Church. 
 Socially he is a member of Herman 
 Lodge, No. Ill, in which he has passed 
 all the chairs, and is also a member of 
 the Turnverein and of the German Benev- 
 olent Society. In politics he is a Re- 
 publican, taking an active interest in the 
 success of the party, and has served as 
 alderm&n four years. Mr. Meister is the 
 oldest contractor in Green Bay, has la- 
 bored hard to advance its interests, and 
 has won for himself a high standing in the 
 estimation of the entire community. 
 
 JOHN BATEY, of De Pere, v\as born 
 in the village of Stella, on the river 
 Tyne, County of Durham, England, 
 September i i, 1823, and is a son of 
 John and Ann (Blairj Batey, the former 
 of whom was a mason and contractor. 
 
 Our subject was educated in private 
 schools in the village of Backworth, 
 county of Northumberland, England, 
 until fifteen years of age, when he was 
 indentured for si.\ years to a coal corn- 
 pan}' (for whom his father was a foreman 
 over the masons employed) for the pur- 
 pose of learning masonry. He served 
 out the full term of his indentures, and also 
 worked for the company three years as a 
 journeyman. On the 25th of January, 
 1S45, he married Doroth)- Armstrong, 
 then eighteen years and eleven days old, 
 a daughter of Thomas and Ann (Scott) 
 Armstrong, the wedding taking place in 
 All Saints Church, Newcastle-on-Tjne. 
 For ten years after his marriage Mr. 
 Batey resided in Backworth, working at 
 his trade, and, of his four children born 
 there, three died of scarlet fever, which 
 so distressed him that he resolved to 
 abandon the country and emigrate to 
 Australia. On reaching Liverpool with 
 his wife and remaining child, Ann, then 
 eight years old. the news of hard times 
 
 was so disheartening from the antipodes, 
 that he changed his destination to Amer- 
 ica, and landed in Montreal, Canada, 
 where he found work on the famous Vic- 
 toria bridge, then in course of construc- 
 tion for the Grand Trunk railway. But 
 the work was dangerous, and drownings 
 of masons were of such frequent occur- 
 rence, that he sought and secured em- 
 ployment in the Grand Trunk railroad 
 shops at Montreal, where he remained 
 three months, and then moved to Point 
 Levi, near Quebec; but, the water freez- 
 ing here a quarter of an inch in one night, 
 in the month of September, he immedi- 
 ately took passage for Toronto. This trip 
 was an e.xceedingly stormy one; the boat 
 was wrecked, his household goods all 
 lost, and he, his wife and child barely 
 escaped with their li\'es. Being unaware 
 of the liability of the boat owners for his 
 entire loss, Mr. Batey accepted five dol- 
 lars from the Captain as full indemnity 
 for his goods and clothing. At Toronto 
 Mr. Batey worked for three years at his 
 trade for the railroad company, and then 
 came to Wisconsin and passed two years 
 at Marquette; from there, about 1870, he 
 came to De Pere, since when he has con- 
 tracted for or assisted in the erecting of 
 furnaces all the way across the continent 
 from Detroit, Mich., to Portland, Ore., 
 at one time taking nineteen workmen 
 from De Pere to Oregon. At present 
 Mr. Batey confines himself to acting 
 as foreman or director of men engaged 
 in mason work, having accumulated suf- 
 ficient means to support his wife and self 
 during his declining years. 
 
 While residing in Canada there were 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Batey four children, 
 of whom two only are now living, viz. : 
 Rebecca, married to Mr. Bicksler. of 
 Spokane Falls, Wash., and Thomas W. . 
 at home with his parents. Ann, the child 
 who was born in England, was married 
 in Canada, to William Wright, bore her 
 husband five children, and died when 
 about twenty-six years old — the children 
 being mostly reared bv Mrs. Batey. In 
 
i6o 
 
 COMMKMORATIVE DIOGUAl'IITCAr. IIECORD. 
 
 politics Mr. Batey is independent, while 
 Mrs. Batey affiliates with the Repub- 
 licans, and she has been a consistent 
 member of the Presbyterian Church for 
 twent\-six years. 
 
 IVl 
 
 H. NOLAN, chief of police of 
 C.reen Ba}-, was born in 1856, 
 in Sheboygan county. Wis. 
 His parents, Thomas and Mary 
 (McI3onald) Nolan, natives of Ireland, 
 about the year 1841 settled in the woods 
 of Sheboygan county, where they wrested 
 a farm from the forest and acquired a 
 moderate fortune. They now reside in 
 Green Bush township, Sheboygan county, 
 in ease and comfort. They had born to 
 them a family of twelve children, of whom 
 eleven are living, viz. : Bridget, wife of 
 Michael Flynn, of Antigo, Wis. ; John, 
 of Altoona, Wis.; M. H., our subject; 
 Andrew, a farmer of Dakota; Katie, at- 
 tending the Normal School at Oshkosh, 
 Wis. ; Libbie, assistant county treasurer 
 of Langlade county. Wis. ; Anna, clerk- 
 ing in Milwaukee; Thomas, a farmer of 
 Sheboygan county; Winnie, wife of Thom- 
 as Keenan, of Milwaukee; Alice, a school- 
 teacher of Sheboygan county, and Madge, 
 now attending school. 
 
 M. H. Nolan was reared to farming 
 on the Sheboygan county homestead. 
 While 3-et a young nian he passed two 
 years in traveling, seeing the country and 
 working here and there until his final set- 
 tlement in Green Bay, in 1882. After 
 being employed at different branches of 
 labor, he was placed in the city fire de- 
 partment, anil had charge of engine 
 house No. 2 for a year; was then trans- 
 ferred to the police force, and served four 
 years in a subordinate position, when he 
 was appointed chief in 1893; having filled 
 the position one term with ability and to 
 the satisfaction of all concerned, he was 
 re-appointed and is now serving his sec- 
 ond term. The force comprises the chief 
 and si.\ subordinates, and, under Mr. 
 
 Nolan's guidance, have succeeded in keep- 
 ing the city in an admirable state of good 
 order and quietude. In politics Chief 
 Nolan is a Democrat; in religion he is a 
 devout Catholic. He is a member of the 
 Knights of the Maccabees, of which he 
 was one of the organizers of Green Bay, 
 and is also a member of the Royal Ar- 
 canum. He is a man of nerve, and is 
 much admired by his many friends and 
 associates. 
 
 FRANK THEODORE BLESCH, 
 a wide-awake and enterprising 
 merchant of Green Bay, and who 
 for some years has been connected 
 with the commercial and social interests 
 of that city, was born in Fort Howard, 
 Wis., July 18,1861, of German descent, 
 his grandfather, Carl Blesch, having been 
 born at Bingen-on-the-Rhine. The great- 
 grandfather was a well-known musician 
 of that locality, and a composer of piano 
 and organ music. Carl Blesch was also 
 a very popular citizen in the community 
 where he lived, and was the proprietor of 
 the ' ' Pariser Hof " for ' ' Parisian Hotel ") 
 in Bingen. He died in the prime of life, 
 leaving a widow, whose maiden name was 
 Clara Heuser, who survived him many 
 years. They were the parents of seven 
 children: Margareta and Carl, both de- 
 ceased; John B; Andrew; Francis, also 
 ceased; Elesa and Peter. 
 
 Francis Blesch, father of our subject, 
 was born in Bingen, November 6, 1824, 
 and in the public schools of his native 
 town obtained a good practical education. 
 He there learned the cooper's and brewer's 
 trades, perfecting himself in the business, 
 and worked along those lines in many 
 places, traveling over the greater part of 
 Europe. Eventually returning to Bingen, 
 he there remained until Ortober, 1849, 
 when he crossed the Atlantic to America, 
 with but little capital; he was thoroughly 
 honest, however, and willing to work, and 
 soon won the respect and confidence of all 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOURAPlirCAL RECORD. 
 
 i6i 
 
 by his many good qualities of head and 
 heart. He first located in Milford, Penn. , 
 but in 1850 came to Green Bay, Wis., 
 where he established a brewery and did a 
 successful business. He was a member 
 of the Masonic fraternity and a benevo- 
 lent and charitable man, giving freely of 
 his means to the poor and distressed, 
 doing all in a quiet and unostentatious 
 manner. His death occurred November 
 9, 1879, and he was mourned by many 
 friends. He married Antoinette Schnei- 
 der, a native of Brussels, Belgium, who 
 survives her husband; she is the mother of 
 six children, namely: Mrs. Sophia B. 
 Jorgenson, Mrs. Clara Monroe, Mrs. 
 Emily Lewis, Gustav A., Frank T. and 
 Louise A. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was edu- 
 cated in the public schools of his native 
 town, and at the age of seventeen entered 
 upon his business career as a clerk in the 
 dry-goods store of his brother-in-law, J. 
 L. Jorgenson. He remained in that store 
 nine years, during which time he mastered 
 every detail of the business. He became 
 a partner in the concern, and when a 
 branch store was established at Green 
 Bay he moved thither to assume the po- 
 sition of resident manager, and has since 
 been in charge of what is now one of the 
 leading mercantile establishments of the 
 city. He is a man of excellent business 
 and executive abilities, sagacious and far- 
 sighted, and by his earnest desire to please 
 his customers, and his courteous treatment 
 and fair dealing, he has secured a liberal 
 patronage, of which he is well deserving. 
 The best interests of the community re- 
 ceive his support, and he withholds his co- 
 operation from no worth)' undertaking 
 calculated to promote the general welfare. 
 
 RJ. BLACI^, stock dealer. Fort 
 Howard. This gentleman was 
 born, in 1843, i" Jylland, Den- 
 mark, and is a son of James and 
 Carrie (Morup) Black, natives of the same 
 
 place, where the father died in 1869, the 
 mother in 1871, never having left their 
 native country. Their children were 
 seven in number (of whom four came to 
 Wisconsin), viz. : James, who resides in 
 Denmark; R. J., the subject of these 
 lines; Carrie Marie, wife of Anders Nel- 
 son, a large dairy farmer of Denmark; 
 Peter, also residing in Denmark; Chris- 
 tian, a resident of Fort Howard, Wis ; 
 Anna Catherine, who came to Oshkosh, 
 Wis., and died there in 1870, and James, 
 who came to Fort Howard in 1S74, where 
 he now resides! 
 
 R. J. Black was reared and educated 
 in Denmark, and prepared himself for a 
 teacher. At the age of twenty-one years 
 he left his native land and came to Wis- 
 consin. Returning to Denmark in 1869 
 he remained until the following year, 
 when he again came to the "Badger 
 State." He first located at Oshkosh, in 
 1865, working at the lumber business, but 
 in May, 1S74, removed to Fort Howard 
 and settled in Tanktown. He was then in 
 the employ of the Green Bay, Winona & 
 St. Paul Railroad Company, for whom he 
 had begun work as a track-layer, assisting 
 in laying the rails as far as Winona, Minn. 
 He had previously, after his return from 
 Denmark, been employed by the Wiscon- 
 sin Central Railroad Company, helping 
 to grade the road, and, later, was with 
 the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad 
 Company, on their line between Green 
 Bay and Marinette. After the first year 
 at Fort Howard Mr. Black opened a meat 
 market, which he conducted for seventeen 
 years, finally selling out and engaging in 
 the stock business, in which he has con- 
 tinued. He buys and sells live stock, and 
 has an extensive business. He is the 
 owner of a good farm in the city limits, 
 and has been successful in his ventures. 
 
 In 1872, at New London, Wis., Mr. 
 Black was married to Miss Marie Madsen, 
 a native of Lolland, Denmark, and daugh- 
 ter of Mads and Miriam Christina (Torsen) 
 Rasmussen, who spent their entire lives 
 in their native countr\'. Four of their 
 
l62 
 
 C0MMKM01i.\TI\l<: JiJUGUAPHICAL lUCCOKD. 
 
 children c in ij; rated to WisconsiTi : Rasmus 
 MadsiMi antl l''r(<lci"ic Madsen, both resi- 
 dents of Fort Howard; Mrs. Black, of the 
 same place, and Sif;ne, wife of C. J. 
 Hlack, who (lie<i at Fort Howard in 1886. 
 Tlicre were two brothers, Nels, who died 
 in Australia, and Christian, who died in 
 the South. Mr. and Mrs. Black are the 
 parents of six children: Charlotte, wife 
 of Rev. J. I'". \'ounj;\ pastor of the Pres- 
 byterian Churcli at b'ort Howard; Marie, 
 a j^raduate of I he bort Howard schools 
 in 1893, and now altendiuf'^Nonnal School 
 at Oshkosh; A}.;nes, Fnuna and Stella, at 
 school; and Fdna. In political matters 
 Mr. lilack is a Prohibitionist, aiul he and 
 his wife were chailer niendiers of tlie 
 local organization of tlu- I. O. (".. T. ; 
 both are members of the Presb\ teiian 
 Church. Mr. Black also holds niend)e'r- 
 ship in the 1. (). (). l". at Green I^ay, 
 and the Ko) al .\rcanuni at I'ort Howard. 
 Ft)r live years he has served on the school 
 board, and for an e(|ual period was alder- 
 man from the Fifth ward, servin;; also two 
 years as supervisor. He takes commend- 
 able interest in public affairs, and is in every 
 respect an uprij^ht, worthy citizen. In 
 1889, in order to enjoy a pleasure triji 
 and see more of the countr\', he visited 
 California. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Black have both re- 
 sided in b'ort Howard a suflirient jteriod 
 tt) witness remarkable chan;;es in the 
 place, and ha\'e kept pac(> with its devel- 
 opment. All the region round about 
 Cireen Bay has nncU'rgone almost a com- 
 ])lete transformation during tin- years of 
 tht'ir residence, and the end is not \et. 
 
 DM. HART !•: AU, architect , of 
 Creen Bay, w.isbornat De Pere, 
 Urow n ronnl)-. Wis., in 1S4J, a 
 son of )i)seph and Mary (Ciorhami 
 Harteaii, the former a nati\'e of Canada, 
 the latter of M:u kinac. Michigan. 
 
 Joseph Ilarteau. with two binthers, 
 
 Mitchell and Lewis, earl)- came to Green 
 Bay (Sh.intytowii), ;ind there Joseph 
 found emplo\nient on the river imder a 
 Mr. Whitney, and was there marrieil. 
 Later he migrated to Scott township and 
 engaged in farming, ami still later moved 
 to Chase township, Oconto Co., Wis., 
 where he passed from earth in 1.S89; his 
 wife had died in 1888. Mrs. Harteau's 
 father, David 1!. Gorham, was a native 
 of b-ngland, and was a shijibuilder. On 
 coming to America he settled in the Ter- 
 ritor)' of Michigan, and in Inl\, iNj/, 
 was naturalized in the county of Michili- 
 niackiiiac, but shortly afterward mo\edto 
 Green Ba}', Wis., where he was employed 
 by the government in boat building, and 
 where he met his death at the hands of a 
 soldier. His widow, of whom Charley 
 Gorham, of l)e Pere, is the y<iungest 
 brother, afterward married Charles Ga- 
 beau, a native of Canada. Joseph ami 
 Mary Harteau were the parents ot ciglit 
 children, as follows; 1). M., our subji'Ct ; 
 Kosella, who married William Pherson, 
 and died at Oshkosh; .\deline, wife of 
 Louis Hardwelk, of Menominee; Charley, 
 of Chase t ownshi j), Oconto county; Jose |)h; 
 .\ugustus, of Chase township; Adel, mar- 
 ried to John Wilson, and ICli/a (Mrs. 
 Longled), of W'isconsin. 
 
 In 1864, 1). M. Harteau enlisted at 
 Green Ba\', in ( Unipau)' C, I'orty-seventh 
 Wis. \. I., was assigned to garrison duty 
 at Tullahon\a, Tenn., and was disch;irged 
 atNaslnille. Tenn., in iSC);. On his re- 
 turn he worked at his trade, that of nuison, 
 and studied architecture, opening an office 
 in Green Bay, in 1 S74, for the practice of 
 the latter science, and has been so em- 
 ployed evt'r since. He was married, in 
 1872 to Miss Camilla b'ollett, who was 
 born in .MIoue/ township. Brown county, 
 a daughter of Bmley and l.i/zie I'ollett. 
 The father was a stationer, but later was 
 in the boot .and shoe business, and ilied 
 in (^ireen Ba\'; the mother passed from 
 earth in Marinette. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Harteau si.\ children were born, of wliom 
 onl\' one survives, Zohx Lillian; the de- 
 
COMMEMUUA Tl VK JJWUllAl'mVAL llECOHD. 
 
 >^'5 
 
 ceasud arc: l^'wis, Sarali, Charles, David, 
 and Adda. 
 
 In politics Mr. llarleaii is a Rc|)iil)- 
 licaii, and has served as a inenihcr of the 
 common council from the Tiiird ward; he 
 is also a member ofT. (). Howe Post, No. 
 124, G. A. R., and of the French Catholic 
 Church; Mrs. Harteaii is Presbyterian. 
 The family are (juiet and retiiin;; in their 
 habits, and are regarded with general re- 
 spect, while Mr. Harteau's professional 
 reputation stands on a firm basis. 
 
 J().SI:PH HENKIGILLES, present 
 district clerl<, is one of the most 
 popular citizens of De Pere town- 
 ship, Brown county, with whose in- 
 terests he has for many years been promi- 
 nently identilied, 
 
 Our subject was born l'\;bruary 9, 
 1 S40, in Francorchamps, Belgium, son of 
 Hubert Henrigiiies, who was a well-to-do 
 farmer and miller. The latter married 
 Mary C. Legros, and to their union came 
 five children, four of whom grew to ma- 
 turity, viz.: Therese, married to J. Nisen; 
 Margaret, now the wife of Jacques Ducat, 
 a farmer of De Pere township; Mar\-, who 
 married Nic. Guirsh, and died in Kansas; 
 and Joseph, whose name introduces this 
 memoir. The mother of these died in 
 1846. In i<S5iS Hubert Henrigiiies sold 
 his property in Belgium, and in the fall of 
 the year to(jk passage at Antwerp for New 
 York, where he and his family landed 
 after a voj-age of thirty-six days. From 
 New York the>- proceeded westward to 
 Chicago, 111., and here remained twf) 
 months, at the end of v\hich time they 
 came to Peshtigo, Wis., where the father 
 and son entered the employ of Ogden, the 
 lumber and railroad man. The\' worked 
 in sawmills, and also at vessel loading 
 until 1860, when they removed to New 
 Hamburg, Scott Co., Mo., and here the 
 father engaged in farming and other pur- 
 suits until 1871, when he returned to 
 Wisconsin, and passed the remainder of 
 
 his life in De Pere townshij). Brown 
 county, at the home of his son. He died 
 in i8y2, at the age of ninety, a member 
 of tlie Catholic Church, and in politics a 
 Republican. While a resident of Missouri 
 he enliste>l in the liome guards, on the 
 Union side. 
 
 Joseph Heinigilles was reared to agri- 
 cultural life, and receixed his education in 
 the connnon schools of his native jilace, 
 the instruction bein^ ])riiicipally in 
 French, but he also received a fair train- 
 ing in the ICnglish language. When 
 eighteen years of age he came with his 
 father to the United States, and his first 
 work in the New Wcjrld was for the Ogden 
 Company, near Peshtigo, Wis., as pre- 
 viously stated. The first i)rivate resi- 
 dence in Peshtigo was built for his father, 
 but it was never taken olT the contractor's 
 hands. Later our subject engaged in 
 fishing, and in i 860 he went to New Ham- 
 burg, Scott Co., Mo., and there joined 
 Company B, Scott County (Mo.j Home 
 Guards, \'olunteer Battalion. On August, 
 15, I 861 , he enlisted in Company B, I'lrst 
 Missouri Cavalry, Hubbarfl's Battalion, at 
 Jefferson Barracks, Mo., for three jears, 
 or during the war. In 186:; he was pro- 
 iTioted to corporal, and on December 31, 
 same year he was honorably discharged at 
 Little Rock, Ark. The next day, January 
 I , I 864, he re-enlisted in the same comjiany 
 and regiment, and served to the close of 
 the war, receiving his final discharge Sej)- 
 tetnbcr i, 1865. Mr. Henrigiiies was 
 taken ill in St. Louis soon after his enroll- 
 ment, aiul was sent to the hospital, where 
 he suffered nnich for want of projier food. 
 After leaving the hospital he joined his 
 regiment at Tipton, Mo., and thence went 
 to Springfield, same State, imder the 
 connnand of Gen. Fremont, subsequently 
 retmned to Tipfon, where he was taken 
 ill with fever, and, iq^on his recovery, he 
 rejoined his regiment at S|)ringfield, Mo., 
 to assist in driving the Rebels from the 
 State. The latter returning, the engage- 
 ment at Pea Ridge took ])lace. .\t Sugar 
 Creek a friend of our subject was w ounded, 
 
164 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 and Mr. Henrij^illes was sent to the hos- 
 pital with him. This establishment had 
 been moved three miles from its first lo- 
 cation, and on March 7, 1862, it was at- 
 tacked by the Rebels, the building being 
 between the fires of both armies. From 
 there our subject was sent to Cassville, 
 Mo., was appointed hospital steward, and, 
 after some four months rejoined his com- 
 mand at Springfield. For a time he served 
 as scout, and was then engaged with 1,300 
 other men in the pursuit of Col. Coffee. The 
 Confederates were driven from the State, 
 and the pursuers returned to Mt. Vernon, 
 Mo. Our subject was then detailed with 
 one hundred other men to guard a mill at 
 Nevvtonia, Mo. , which was thirty-three 
 miles from the Union and five miles from 
 the Confederate camp. The second daj' 
 the horse Mr. Henrigilles rode gave out. 
 When the detachment arrived at New- 
 tonia they were met by i , 600 Confederates, 
 forming into line for battle, and Capt. 
 Adams, who had the command, ordered 
 the men to take care of themselves. Our 
 subject was captured, put in a pen with a 
 score of others, and taken to Sugar Creek, 
 where all their effects were taken from 
 them, and they were kept on the bare 
 ground. Thence they were conveyed 
 across Arkansas, via Elm Springs, Fay- 
 etteville, over the Ozark mountains to 
 Van Buren, and from there to Fort Smith, 
 where they were held for three months, 
 scantily clothed and fed, and with bricks 
 for their bed. They were paroled at Lit- 
 tle Rock, and from there Mr. Henrigilles 
 went to Helena, Ark., and after remaining 
 in that city several weeks joined his bat- 
 talion at Rolla, Mo. He was again on 
 scouting duty for a while, and then went 
 to Pilot Knob and Jackson, Mo., being 
 with his command when it encountered 
 Gen. Marmaduke and drove him from the 
 State, capturing the towns of Pilot Knob 
 and. later. Little Rock. Ark. The winter 
 was spent at Benton, Ark., scouting, and 
 they then joined the Camden e.xpedition, 
 bein? assigned to the command of Gen. 
 Steele; thev were on the march for fort\- 
 
 two days, fifteen days without drawing 
 rations, and three days without having 
 anything to eat. On the return to Little 
 Rock, our subject was granted a veteran 
 furlough. He afterward was detailed to 
 carry mail from Camden, .\rk., to ^^'ash- 
 ington, .Arkansas. 
 
 Major Hubbard's battalion, or the 
 battalion to which Mr. Henrigilles be- 
 longed, was engaged in the following ac- 
 tions: Springfield, Mo., October 26, 1861 ; 
 Little Blue, Mo., November 11, 1861; 
 Clinton, Mo., December 17, 1861; Silver 
 Creek, Mo , Januar\- 8, 1S62; Spring- 
 field, Mo., February 12, 1862; Cross 
 Timber, Ark., February 16, 1862; charge 
 at Sugar Creek, Ark., February 18,1862; 
 first capture at Fayetteville, Ark., Feb- 
 ruary 28, 1862; Pea Ridge. .Ark., March 
 6, 7 and 8; Neosho, Mo., .April 26, 1862; 
 Cowskin Prairie, April 24, 1862; Berry- 
 ville. Ark., May 20, 1862; Fayetteville, 
 Ark., June 27, 1862; Newtonia, Mo., 
 September 13, 1862; Seneca Mill, Ind. 
 Ter. , September 1 6, 1 862 ; McGuire's Ford, 
 Ark., October 28, 1862; Prairie Grove, 
 Ark. , December 7, 1 862 ; \'an Buren, Ark. , 
 December 28, 1862; Chalk Bluff. Mo., 
 May 5. 1863; Bayou Metre, Ark., August 
 20, 1863; Shallow Ford. Ark, August 25, 
 1863; Caddo Gap, Ark., November 7, 
 1863; Cedar Glade, Ark.. November 10, 
 1863; Arkadelphia. Ark., Afarch 3, 1864; 
 Spoonville, Ark., March 5, 1864; Little 
 Missouri River, Ark., March 10, 1864; 
 Prairie D'Anne, Ark., March 13. 1864; 
 Poison Spring, Ark,, March 14, 1864; 
 capture of Camden. .Ark .March 15, 1864; 
 Jenkins Ferry. Ark. , .April 30, 1 864. 
 General Steele's dix'ision, which had suf- 
 fered heavily in incessant skirmishing 
 through the entire march to make con- 
 nection with Banks from Little Rock, was 
 attacked on the Sabine river, in .Arkansas, 
 by the consolidated forces of Generals 
 Kirby Smith and Price — 5,000 Unit)n 
 soldiers against 20,000 Rebels. A battle 
 of about eight hours' duration ensued, 
 which was one of the sharpest contests 
 of the Southwest in the war, but resulted 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 165 
 
 in a victory for the Union force, which 
 saved Little Rock and Arkansas to the 
 United States Government. The army of 
 the Frontier, to whicii our subject's regi- 
 ment had been assigned, was designed to 
 put an end to the combination of Rebels 
 and Indians, and to do service in all 
 capacities where needed; consequently 
 it performed duties of the most arduous 
 and dangerous character, much of which 
 has never been portrayed on the pages of 
 history. They were occupied successively 
 in expeditions against the Rebels and In- 
 dians, connected with the Confederate 
 forces in skirmishes with Rebel guerrillas, 
 bushwhackers, etc. ; and of such heav\' 
 marches as were made by the cavalry and 
 sharpshooters history has no record. 
 
 Joseph Henngilles received his dis- 
 charge September 1,1865, at Little Rock, 
 Ark., and immediately proceeded to De- 
 Pere, Wis. , in the hope of recovering his 
 health, which had broken down com- 
 pletely in his long service. For two years 
 thereafter he worked in a sawmill for 
 David Lo}-. On December i, 1866, Mr. 
 Henrigilles was married, in De Pere, by 
 Father Verboort, to Miss Mary B. Bor- 
 man, who was born February 4, 1850, in 
 Belgium. She was one of a family of six 
 children (two now living) who came with 
 their parents to the United States in 1855, 
 and was reared in Brown county. Wis. 
 For about five years the young couple 
 had their residence on the Borman home- 
 stead, and then, in 1871, took up their 
 home on the place where they are yet re- 
 siding, lot 20, private claim 36, De Pere 
 township. At that time the tract com- 
 prised twenty acres of heavily-wooded 
 land, but it has since been increased to 
 eighty-five acres. Although he has been 
 in poor health ever since the war, Mr. 
 Henrigilles has been a hard worker, and 
 his good management and progressive 
 habits have brought him success. He is 
 naturally intelligent, keeps himself well 
 informed on the general topics of the day, 
 and reads considerably. He is a fine pen- 
 man, and, had he devoted much time to 
 
 it, he would undobtedh' have become an 
 artist in this line. In his political affilia- 
 tions Mr. Henrigilles is a stanch supporter 
 of the Republican party, and, as such, has 
 been elected to various offices, serving his 
 township as justice of the peace, as town 
 clerk for several years, assessor and su- 
 pervisor, and at present he holds the office 
 of district clerk. In religious faith he 
 and his wife are both members of the 
 Catholic Church. To their union have 
 been born the following named fifteen 
 children: Mary T. (now Mrs. Joseph 
 Martin, of Lawrence township), Mary E. 
 (now Mrs. Hubert Duquaine, of De Pere 
 township), Mary L. (now Mrs. Henry Von 
 Vonderen, of De Pere township), Joseph, 
 Mary H., Mary L. , Ann J., Mary T. , 
 Hubert H., Laura E., Alise C, Ida M., 
 Elionor L. , Catherine E., and Mar}- L. ; 
 of whom Mary H., Mary L. , MaryT., 
 Mary L. , and Ann J. are deceased. 
 
 ALVIN HUNTER, a prosperous 
 husbandman of Suamico town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a native of 
 Maine, born in Kennebec county, 
 March 24, 1844. His parents, Arthur 
 and Emeline (Smith) Hunter, were also 
 natives of the same place, the former 
 born in 1 8 16, dying at the age of seventy- 
 four; the latter still enjoys life on the old 
 home farm. Of their three children, Al- 
 vin is one of the two surviving. 
 
 Our subject worked among the granite 
 hills of his native State, assisting on the 
 home farm, until the blast of war called 
 him from his home. He was nearly 
 twenty years old when he enlisted, Decem- 
 ber 5, 1863, in Company F, First Maine 
 Cavalry, and he did faithful service until 
 March 31. 1865, when he was wounded 
 at Dinwiddle C. H., Va. ; he was honor- 
 ably discharged June 27, 1865, from hos- 
 pital at Augusta, Maine. After the close 
 of the war he came to Brown count)', 
 Wis., and bought a forty-acre tract of 
 land, but he followed teaming for a liveli- 
 
i66 
 
 COMMKMOIIA riVh: I! 10(1 HM'll IVA I. RECORD. 
 
 liniid iiiiul his iiiiiniage, which took place 
 NovfiiiluT jS, i.SGS, ti) Miss Rose lirii- 
 iieltc, who was a native of (irccn Bay, 
 horn in iS.^j. ihr [larcnts, PnulL-nt 
 and Mai}' L. (KcynoMj Hrunctlc. \mtc 
 natives of Canada, wlio came in iS;4 to 
 the United States, winie tlu y ilied at the 
 respective a^es of eif;hty-eif;lit and seven- 
 ty-nine, tlu? father passing; awav first. 
 'I'iuv were huni in 1 S04 anti 1S05, re- 
 siiectively, and tlieir lolif^cvity vvas the 
 residt. III! dnnl)l, of ilic steady [ial)its tiiat 
 descended to tlieir children, of whom 
 they had eleven, foiu' of them still livinfj;. 
 To Alvin and Ruse 1 1 mil er were Ixirn nine 
 children, 1 j-.s lollow.s: Ida JC, married 
 to ICd. o|) ("oriiii, and has tv\(> sons; 
 lidward /■ married to \'eriia ("odiii^ton ; 
 Cora M., econd wife of N. ). I'litnam, 
 li)' whom she has tv\ii daiiL^hters; Lillian 
 (lirsl wife of N, j. i'litnanii, who died 
 leaving one child; Cicor-e, who died at 
 the age of fonr months; and NN'illie A., 
 Walter ().. George 1). ami Charles L. . 
 all fi iiir at lidine. 
 
 At the time of his marriage Mr. Hun- 
 ter settled (111 his purchase of forty acres, 
 wliicii he cnltivated twcntv vears and 
 then went east, ami fur (Uie siiniiner 
 worked on his father's farm, after v\hich 
 he returned to Wisconsin and bonght a 
 IK'W farm of eighty acres, on wliicli he 
 still lives. In his political jireferences Mr. 
 Hunter is a Repnhlican, having cast his 
 first Presidential vote fm I'. S. (irant in 
 1868, since when he has been active in 
 l)arty work, and has held several offices; 
 he is now chairman of his tnwnsiiip. 
 Socially he is an active member of T. O. 
 Howe Post, No. 124, C. .\. K., of Creen 
 Bay, and he and his wife are regular at- 
 tendants of Calvarv Church. 
 
 CM. WINTON, general farmer and 
 stock-raiser, of b)e Pere township, 
 Blown i-ount>', is one of the best- 
 known and most highly resjiected 
 men in his community. He was l)orn July 
 
 27, 1850, in Meadville, Crawfonl Co., 
 Penn., son (jf Charles Winton, who was 
 a native of Centreville, same county. 
 
 The Winton family are descended from 
 Ijiglish ancestry, who settled in Pennsyl- 
 vania about the beginning of the present 
 century, coming either from New York 
 or one of the New England States. When 
 a young man Charles Winton married, in 
 his native county. Miss Phojbe Waid, who 
 vvas also born there. He was a farmer of 
 but limited means, and in 1854 he brought 
 his family westward to Wisconsin, where 
 cheap homes could then be had by those 
 vvluj Were willing to undergo the numerous 
 trials and inconveniences which were the 
 common lot of the pioneer. He first lo- 
 cated in Kock county, where he sjient the 
 winter of 1854 5, and in the spring of 
 1855 removed farther north to Glemnore 
 townshii), at that time one of the wildest 
 sections of Brown county. Some timber 
 had been (lit from the land, but the greater 
 part of tlu' country was still in its primi- 
 tive state, and the life of the early settler 
 was one of constant hardship, privation 
 and danger. In 1865 Mr. \\'inton re- 
 moved to I)e Pere township, where his 
 wife died in 1872. He now makes his 
 home in Daggett, Mich. They had a 
 family of ten children — five sons and five 
 danghti'rs all of whom but one, b'dgar, 
 are yet living. 
 
 Charles Mead Wintnn was but four 
 vears of age when he came with his par- 
 ents to Wisconsin, and his i-arly education 
 was such as the common district schools 
 of that early day afforded. In the mean- 
 time he also received a thorough training 
 on the farm, and remained with his par- 
 ents until 1872, when he decided to pay 
 a visit to his birthplace in Pennsylvania. 
 The superior educational advantages to be 
 had in the East became so apparent to 
 him that he concluded to remain, and for 
 five years attended school at Centreville, 
 Crawford Co. , Pemi., where he received 
 thorough instruction, and in 1 879 he re- 
 turned to Wisconsin. 
 
 On July 20, 1881, Mr. Winton was 
 
COMMKMORA TIVK lUonHM'lI ICM. liECORD. 
 
 167 
 
 married in De Pcre, to Miss Harriet G. 
 Phelps, a native of JancsvilK' Wis., 
 daug^htcr of Jeremiah and Theresa Phelps, 
 natives of New York State, who came to 
 Wisconsin in an early day. In 1S79 Mr. 
 Winton bought the old homestead, and 
 after his marriaf.;c hi' made it his perma- 
 nent h(jme; it now consists of eighty acres 
 of fertile land, where he conducts a }j;en- 
 eral farming and stock-raising business. 
 By industry and jjerseverancc he has 
 greatly improved his farm and home. In 
 politics he is a stanch adherent of the 
 principles of the R('i)ublican party, and 
 in 1891, 1893 and 1894 was elccte<l town- 
 ship assessor, in which position he is 
 proving himself an able oflicer. Mrs. 
 Winton is a member of the M. E. C"hurch 
 in De Pere. They have had one child, 
 Aden L , who was born September 25, 
 1882. Mr. Winton is a great reader, 
 keeping himself well informed on general 
 topics, and he and his wife are highly es- 
 teemed in the connnnnity. 
 
 LK O N A R D P> N E, retired mer- 
 chant, of De Pere, was born about 
 thirty miles southwest of Montreal, 
 Canada, in the village of Vau- 
 dreuil, February 2, 1826, a son of Andrew 
 and Monick (Lesbuay) Hone, both also 
 natives of Canada and of French descent. 
 At the age of eleven years our sub- 
 ject was permitted to make his residence 
 with a wealthy gentleman, who, in return 
 for Leonard's services, was to give him a 
 good education, but who wholly neglected 
 so to do, the result being that the lad, when 
 nearly seventeen years old, quit the em- 
 ploy of the party mentioned and made 
 his way to Whitehall, N. \., when not 
 quite sc\enteen. A few weeks later he 
 reached Albanj', in the same State, where 
 he was f(jrtunate enough to secure work 
 with a stonecutter, and, although a novice, 
 was soon able to earn si.\ty-iive dollars a 
 month, and this business he followed 
 about eighteen months. Times becoming 
 
 dull, however, he engaged at work as a 
 farm hand seven miles from Albany, be- 
 ginning at three dollars per month, but at 
 the end of the first month his wages were 
 increased to ten dollars, his employer find- 
 ing him to be worth that amount. After 
 a two-month's sickness, he was married at 
 Albany to Miss Jane Remington, a native 
 of Two Rivers, Canada, born September 
 27, 1823. a daughter of John and Vic- 
 toria (LeClainj Remington, the former of 
 whom was of English descent, the latter 
 of French. Shortly after his marriage 
 Mr. Bone came west and f(jund employ- 
 ment at stone-cutting in Joliet, 111., where 
 he worked two years, and wa'^ Jien per- 
 suaded by William Townsend embark 
 in the hotel business at Chic 1, where, 
 within two years, he lost all toe had in- 
 vested — seventeen hundred dollars — and 
 was obliged to borrow fifty dollars to en- 
 able him to leave that city. About this 
 timr, in 1849, he first came to De Pere, 
 but did not stay long, preferring to 
 go to Pensaukee, where, for a year, he 
 managed a boarding house for F. B. Gard- 
 ner, who operated a sawmill, and for his 
 own and his wife's services received thirty 
 dollars per month; the following four 
 years their compensation was one thou- 
 sand ont' hundred dollars per year. Mr. 
 and Mrs. ]:5une then settled on a farm of 
 eighty acres near De Pere, which he cul- 
 tivated some years, andthen went into the 
 grocery business within the limits of the 
 city, where he erected the first brick block 
 and accunmlated a comi)etence that justi- 
 fied his retirement fifteen years ago. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bone arc mcnd)ersof the Cath- 
 olic Church, and in politics he is a Re- 
 publican. There have been no children 
 born to them, but they have'reared, from 
 the age of thirteen months, Kate Palmer, 
 now happily married to Michael Tessier, 
 and with him living in Nebraska; they 
 have also reared Leonard Tessier (son of 
 Michael and Kate), a graduate of the De- 
 Pere High School and f)f the University 
 of Wisconsin, and who is now superin- 
 tendent of the Electric Light Works at 
 
1 68 
 
 COMMEMORATIVI': lilOORAPinCAL RECORD. 
 
 De Pere; in addition to these adopted 
 children, tht-y also reared a nephew, 
 Julian Bone, from the af^e of twelve to 
 twenty years. What more need be said 
 as to the native kindness of tlu'ir hearts? 
 
 ANTHONY GOEMANS (deceased), 
 who duriiif; his lifetime was a 
 inncli respected fanner of Kock- 
 hmd townshij). Brown county, 
 was a native of Holland, born September 
 29, 1 82 1, in the province of Liniburj;. 
 He was a son of John Goemans, a well- 
 to-do fajmer, who had six children, An- 
 thony bein;^ the eldest in the family. 
 
 During his youth Anthony Goemans 
 had very limited educational advantages, 
 as he had to commence work very early 
 in life, and was reared to farming, which 
 he alw'a\s followed. In 1856, hearing 
 tiiat he would have better wages and op- 
 portunities for advancement in the United 
 States, he left his native country, and 
 coming to Wisconsin remained here ten 
 years, engaging in various kinds of work. 
 In 1866 he returned to Holland, and on 
 Februar}' 28, 1867, was thaw married to 
 Miss Joanna Bernards, who was born No- 
 vember 5, 1839, daughter of John I-5er- 
 nards, a farmer of that country. Bid- 
 ding farewell to their home and friends, 
 they left Holland a month after their 
 marriage, and, proceeding from Rotter- 
 dam to (jlasgow, took passage there on 
 a vessel bound for New York, at which 
 port they landed after a voyage of twenty- 
 four days. Their d°stination being in 
 Wisconsin, they proceeded thither by 
 rail, and after a short stay in Little 
 Chute, Outagamie county, came to I)e- 
 Pere township. Brown county, where Mr. 
 Goemans purchased a tract of eighty 
 acres in Section 11. The land had not 
 been improved in any way; in some 
 places it was covereil with logs and wood, 
 all of which had to be cleared away, the 
 task involving no small amount of hard 
 work; but being anxious to have a home he 
 
 could call his own, Mr. Goemans perse- 
 vered, and in time succeeded in hewing a 
 fine property out of the dense forest. On 
 this farm all their children were born, as 
 follows: Anna M. (Mrs. Martin Baeten), 
 John W., Mary M. (Mrs. Henry Herm- 
 sen, of Green Bay), I'rankS., Peter J., 
 Katie, Christina M., Herbert, and Nellie 
 I£. Of these, John W. is a carpenter by 
 trade, moves buildings, drives piles, and 
 builds bridges; Frank S. entered the 
 monastery of the Servite Fathers Sep- 
 tember 4, 1894, and is still there. On 
 January 2, 1886, the father of this family 
 was called from earth, and was buried in 
 I)e Pere Cemetery. He was a Catholic 
 in religious faith, and in politics a Demo- 
 crat. At the time of his death the eld- 
 est of the nine children was but seventeen 
 years of age, but Mrs. Goemans has car- 
 ried on the farm successfully, and has dis- 
 played no little business ability and sa- 
 gacity in the management of the place, 
 which comprises 120 acres of prime land. 
 The farm work is now attended to by the 
 sons, Peter J. and Herbert, who have 
 proven themselves fully competent, and 
 the entire family are respected for their 
 industrj' wherever they are known. In 
 church comiection they are all members 
 of St. Mary's Catholic Congregation, 
 De Pere. 
 
 JOSItPH HOEin-l^L, president of 
 the Allouez Mineral Spring Com- 
 pany, of Green Bay, was born March 
 25, 1825, inthetown of Eirhtenberg, 
 Province of Lorraine, France. The first 
 of the family of whom w^e have any record, 
 was Joseph Hoeffel (grandfather of our 
 subject), who was a mechanic, following 
 his trade in France. He reared a family 
 of six chiUlren- — five sons and one daugh- 
 ter — all of whom received good educa- 
 tions, becoming for the most part teachers 
 and musicians. 
 
 Of the sons, Anthony (father of our 
 subject) was brought up to the trade of 
 

 V 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 
COMMEMORATIVh: niOGRAPIIlCAI. RECORD. 
 
 171 
 
 wcawr, whirli he followed in Europe for 
 siiine time. In his military service, which 
 ended with Waterloo, he was in the arm\' 
 of Napoleon the Great, doing garrison 
 duty chiefly. In iSiO he was united in 
 marriage to Miss Cecelia Carabin, who 
 bore him ten children, of whom Louis 
 died at Ha\re, France, in the fall of I1S28, 
 while the family were en /w/Ato America. 
 In the United States they made their 
 home at Norwalk, Huron Co., Ohio, 
 where they followed farming with consid- 
 erable success. The father being a 
 weaver, as already related, constructed a 
 loom for himself and manufactured cloth 
 for his neighbors, as well as for family 
 use. He was devoted to music, and was 
 for many years leader of church clujirs. 
 His wife died at the age of forty, in 1840, 
 and two years later he married Miss Mary 
 Beyer, who passed away, in 1857, aged 
 sixty-five years. Both wives dieil at Nor- 
 walk, where he himself departed this life 
 March 10, 1S61, aged seventy-four years. 
 Joseph Hoeffcl, the subject properof this 
 sketch, received his education at Nor^^•alk, 
 Ohio. When seventeen \ears of age he 
 began to learn carriage making, and at 
 the end of a three-years' apprenticeship, 
 October 8, 1845, came to Milwaukee, 
 Wis., where he followed his trade as a 
 journeyman one year. On August 10, 
 1846, he moved to Brookfield, Waukesiia 
 county, and here he engaged in the busi- 
 ness of manufacturing carriages, etc. In 
 1848, he visited Norwalk, Ohio, and was 
 married November 3 to Miss Catharine 
 Frye, who bore him a son, A. Louis 
 Hoeffel. Mrs. Hoeffel died at Brookfichl, 
 Wis., June 13, 1850, and May 20, 1851, 
 Mr. Hoeffcl was again married, this time 
 at Waukesha, Wis., to Miss Frances 
 Knowles, by which union nine children 
 have been born, of whom are now living 
 the following named six: Frank, Silves- 
 ter, Elizabeth, Agnes, Joseph P. and 
 James I. 
 
 In the fall of 1853, at the lirst Wis- 
 consin State Fair, held at Watertown. 
 
 Wis., Mr. Hoeffel exhibited a full line of 
 10 
 
 carriages, wagons, etc. , of his own manu- 
 facture, and received awards on his 
 patents in gearing. On May i, 1856, he 
 sold out his Brookfield business and re- 
 moved to Green Bay, Wis., arriving June 
 28,. 1856. The same year he erected a 
 store building <in Washington street, and 
 opened a general store, conducting same 
 until I 87 I. In the spring of 1872, hav- 
 ing acquired property at Oconto, Wis., 
 he moved there, and started a store. 
 Business prospered and his sons, Frank 
 and Syh'ester, after assisting him in the 
 business a number of years, purchased 
 same in 1886, .Mr. Hoeffel retiring, owing 
 to poor health. 
 
 In 1888, an accidental di.scovery de- 
 cided Mr. Hoeffcl to again enter business 
 life. While overseeing some improve- 
 ments on his Astor Hill property at 
 Green Bay he drank freely of the waters 
 of a spring at the foot of the hilf. The 
 pronijit action of the water on his en- 
 feebled system and the remarkable relief 
 he exj^erienced from its use convinced 
 him (jf its great medicinal value. He 
 arranged at once fcjr a thorough and ex- 
 haustive analxsis of the water. Samples: 
 were ft)rwarded to Prof. W. W . Daniells, 
 the distinguished professor of chemistry 
 and pharmacy in the Wisconsin State 
 Universit)-, Madison, and, after a com- 
 plete and scientific analysis of the water, 
 he snbsmitted same: 
 
 IlNivERSiTv OK Wisconsin, 
 
 ClIEMICAI, LaBORATOKIHS. 
 
 Madison, Wis., Aiigu.st 13, 1888. 
 Joseph Hoeffel: 
 
 Deak Sik: The .s;iinple of spring- water re- 
 ceived from you for unalysis ha.s the followinff 
 composition, expressed in (^--rains, per United 
 States standard f,'-allon of 231 cubic inches: 
 
 Sodium chloride 4.25S2S 
 
 Pota.ssium sulphate 0.12072 
 
 Sodium sulphate 3.4.^826 
 
 Calcium sulphate 0.10788 
 
 Sodium phosphate trace. 
 
 Bicartjonate of iron 0.06257 
 
 Ricarbonate of lime 24.68662 
 
 Bicarbonate of magnesia 27..'i.^300 
 
 Oxide of aluminum (alumina). . 0.17470 
 Silica and insoluble residue. . . . l.'J7160 
 
 Total fjrain.s per U. S. pal. .62.38060 
 Temjierature, 46 def^rees Fahrenheit. 
 
172 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 This is au unusuallj- large amount of solids 
 to find in a Wisconsin mineral water — the larg- 
 est amount I have ever found. The salts that 
 exist in unusual quantities are magnesia, 
 sodium salts, sulphuric acid, lime and chlorine. 
 Of these I liave made duplicate determinations, 
 to be assured of their accuracy. 
 
 You will note its freedom from organic mat- 
 ter. Yours truly, 
 
 W. W. DANIEIvLS, 
 Professor of Analytical and Applied Chemistry. 
 
 The receipt of this exceedingly favor- 
 able analysis from so reliable a source, 
 and the action of the water on Mr. Hoef- 
 fel having proved same to be possessed of 
 positive curative virtues, determined him 
 to develop the springs and place the water 
 before the public that others might like- 
 wise enjoy its healing powers. The an- 
 alysis of Allouez Water reveals the fact 
 that it is the strongest alkaline (antacid) 
 mineral water known. The combination 
 of the salts of sodium, magnesia, lime, 
 iron and silica with carbonic, sulphuric, 
 and hydrochloric acids, all in perfect solu- 
 tion, is a rare one. This fact at once 
 brought it into prominence before the 
 public. Physicians, especially, recog- 
 nized in the harmonious blending of these 
 therapeutic properties, a sovereign rem- 
 edy, whose use is indicated in all dis- 
 eases of the allied phenomena of the uric 
 acid diathesis, viz. : Diabetes, Bright's 
 disease, inflammation of the bladder and 
 kidneys, rheumatism, dyspepsia, torpid 
 liver, cloudy urine, gravel, suppression of 
 urine, calculi or stone in bladder, consti- 
 pation, piles, catarrh of the stomach, 
 nervous debility, gout, rheumatic gout, 
 dropsy, sick headache, female weakness, 
 and eczema. In the short period of time 
 since the discovery of the medicinal vir- 
 tues of Allouez, the reputation and fame 
 of the water have become widespread. 
 The marvelous curative power it possesses 
 has gained for it the attention of the 
 medical profession in various parts of this 
 country, who recommend and prescribe 
 it, often where medicine has failed to ef- 
 fect a cure. As a remedy it acts the 
 same alone or in connection with medi- 
 cal treatment. The demand for Allouez 
 
 is constantly inceasing, and thousands of 
 cases of bottled water are shipped annu- 
 ally. The springs were named ' ' Allouez " 
 in honor of Pere Claude Allouez, the in- 
 trepid missionary who founded the first 
 Indian mission in 1668 (225 years ago), 
 but a short distance from these springs. 
 That the medical virtues of the waters of 
 these springs were known to the Indians 
 and early missionaries may be inferred 
 from extracts taken from Marquette's 
 Journal: "Embarking in our canoes, 
 we left the river and nation of the Wild 
 Oats (Menominees), and soon reached the 
 extremity of Bay des Puants (Green Bay). 
 Leaving this bay, we entered the river 
 emptying into it. We found the river 
 full of bustard, duck, teal and other water 
 birds, attracted by the wild oats growing. 
 I had the curiosity to drink the mineral 
 waters found not far from here." 
 
 The following is a short sketch of Mr. 
 Hoeffel's seven living children: (I). A. 
 Louis, eldest of the seven living children, 
 was born at Brookfield, Wis. , September 
 4, 1849, and moved with his parents to 
 Green Bay, where he was educated; he 
 became a marine engineer, which voca- 
 tion he now follows; he is married and 
 has four children. (II). John Francis 
 was born at Brookfield, Wis., June 25, 
 1853, and came with his parents to Green 
 Bay, where he received his education in 
 the public schools; later he attended St. 
 Francis Seminary at Milwaukee, Wis. ; 
 in 1883, he married Miss Clara Saylor, of 
 Saugatuck, Mich., who died June 12, 
 1883; on January 25, 1888, he was united 
 in marriage to Miss Adelaide Doolittle, at 
 Whitewater, Wis. ; he is now located in 
 business at Chicago; they have one son, 
 Basil D., born October 26, 1888. (III). 
 Sylvester was born October 10, 1857, at 
 Brookfield, Wis. , came to Green Bay with 
 his parents, and pursued his studies in the 
 public schools; in 1871, he engaged in 
 mercantile business in Oconto, where he 
 still resides; he was married May 25, 
 1 88 1, to Miss Genevieve Heath, of Osh- 
 kosh, and they have five children, their 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 173 
 
 names and dates of birth being as follows: 
 Paul S.. June 12, 1885; Mildred G., Oc- 
 tober 27, 1888; Marion F., October 27, 
 1888; Gerald N., June 20, 1892; Ken- 
 neth M., March 29, 1894. (IV). Eliza- 
 beth was born at Green Bay, Wis., June 
 
 8, 1858; after graduating from the high 
 school here, she attended St. Mary's In- 
 stitute at Milwaukee, Wis., in 1875, where 
 she graduated four years later; she was 
 united in marriage with Dr. P. O'Keefe, 
 at Oconto, Wis. , January 31, 1883, where 
 they still reside; they have four children, 
 Horace V. , born December 28, 1 884; Jes- 
 sie A. , born October 9, 1886; Carroll J., 
 born September i, 1889; and Gertrude 
 L. , born June 2, 1894. (V). Agnes C. 
 was born December 3, i860, at Green 
 Bay, Wis. ; received a thorough high school 
 and convent education; in 1878, she 
 studied painting at Chicago, under Prof. 
 Gregori, for two years, also music at the 
 Chicago Conservatory; on October 10, 
 1 88 1, she was united in marriage at 
 Oconto, Wis. , to Henry U. Cole, where 
 they continue to reside; they have seven 
 children, their names and dates of birth 
 being as follows: Francis M., August 3, 
 1882; Minnie Cecile, December 15, 1883; 
 Helen, August, 1886; Henry U., April 26, 
 1888; Pauline A., July 15, 1889; Agnes 
 C, September 27, 1892; Kathleen, June 
 
 9, 1894. (VI). Joseph P., born Septem- 
 ber 17, 1 861, at Green Bay, Wis., 
 was educated at the public schools; in 
 1879, he attended the College of the Sa- 
 cred Heart at Watertown, Wis., finishing 
 his studies there; after seven 3'ears' e.x- 
 perience in his father's store in Oconto, 
 he came to Green Bay in April, 1889, 
 where he and James I. (mentioned below) 
 engaged in the shoe business; he is inter- 
 ested in the Allouez Mineral Spring Com- 
 pany, at Green Bay, directing the man- 
 agement of the same; he was united in 
 marriage to Miss Christine Romana Waite, 
 of Pewaukee, Wis., February 3, 1890, 
 and they have one son, Joseph Merrill, 
 born October 31, 1890. (VII). James I. 
 was born April i, 1863, at Green Bay, 
 
 Wis. ; after attending the public schools 
 here and at Oconto, he entered the Col- 
 lege of the Sacred Heart at Watertown, 
 Wis., finishing his studies there in 1881; 
 having secured a business education in his 
 father's store at Oconto, he came to 
 Green Bay, 1889, and associated himself 
 in the shoe business with his brother, 
 Joseph P. ; he is also interested in the 
 Allouez Mineral Spring Company; he is 
 not married. 
 
 THOMAS RYAN, who for the past 
 forty years has been actively 
 identified with the agricultural in- 
 terests of Rockland township, 
 Brown county, was born November 10, 
 1833, in County Tipperary, Ireland, son 
 of Patrick and Nora Ryan, the former of 
 whom, who was a farmer, died in 1846, 
 leaving a widow and seven children — 
 four sons and three daughters. In 1853, 
 having determined to try their fortune in 
 the New World, the family proceeded to 
 Liverpool, where they took passage on 
 the "Arctic," bound for New York, in 
 which city they landed after a voyage of 
 five weeks and five days. Going to 
 Otsego county, N. Y., they remained 
 there a year and a half, the sons engag- 
 ing in farm work, and then came west- 
 ward to Brown county. Wis., by water, 
 arriving in Green Bay in November, 1855. 
 After coming to Wisconsin, our sub- 
 ject worked in Oconto county and vicini- 
 ty for some time, following various pur- 
 suits, principally farming. In i860 he 
 purchased forty acres of new land in Sec- 
 tion 10, Rockland township (being obliged 
 to go into debt for a portion of this 
 tract), and built thereon a rude, though 
 comfortable log house, in which he and 
 his mother made their home. As the 
 farm yielded no support for some years, 
 he followed lumbering during the winter 
 season for several years, devoting the 
 rest of the year to clearing and improving 
 the land. He has not only succeeded in 
 converting the original forty acres into a 
 
174 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGItAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 fertile, well-cultivated tract, but has 
 added thereto until he now has a fine 
 farm of i6o acres. His propertj- has 
 been gathered by years r>f industry and 
 untiring energy, and he is a self-made 
 man in the full sense of the word, having 
 risen from a poor boy to his present 
 enviable position among the leading 
 farmers of Rockland township. He has 
 been called upon to serve in various of- 
 fices of honor and trust in his township, 
 such as member of the school board, 
 supervisor and chairman, and lias dis- 
 charged the duties imposed upon him in a 
 creditable and highly satisfactory manner. 
 In his political preferences he is a Demo- 
 crat, though not strictly partisan, in local 
 elections voting for the best man regard- 
 less of party ties. 
 
 In November, 1865, .Mr. Ryan was 
 married to Miss Margaret Lee, a native 
 of County Galway, Ireland, daughter of 
 Michael Lee, who was a farmer of Rock- 
 land township. After marriage the young 
 couple immediately took up their resi- 
 dence on the farm, where, in 18.S6, Mr. 
 Ryan erected one of the most substantial 
 rural homes in the vicinit\-. This union 
 has been blessed with chiklren as follows: 
 Catherine, Mrs. H. P. Crist, of Wausau- 
 kee. Wis. ; Agatha, a school-teacher of 
 De Pere; Patrick J., at home; Marie 
 Anna, a school-teacher of Wausaukee; 
 Michael E., at home, who attends the 
 high school in West De Pere; Winnifred, 
 attendingthe State Normal School at Osh- 
 kosh; Timothy, going to school in De- 
 Pere; and Thomas and Robert, at home. 
 These children have all had excellent 
 educational opportunities, of which they 
 have not been slow to take ad% antage 
 and to fully appreciate, and the entire 
 family are among the highly respected 
 ones of the vicinitj'. In religious connec- 
 tion they are members of St. Francis 
 Church, De Pere. During the Civil war 
 Mr. Ryan enlisted, on January i, 1865, 
 at Careen Bav, in Company I, Fifty-first 
 Regiment Wis., \'. I. and served during 
 the remainder of the struggle on scouting 
 
 and guard duty, receiving an honorable 
 discharge at Madison, Wis., August i, 
 same year. 
 
 CF. GOODELL, station agent 
 and general local representati\'e 
 of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul Railway Company at De- 
 Pere, is a practical railroad man. When 
 but a youth of seventeen he was initiated 
 into the mysteries of telegraphy, and since 
 that time his rise, though gradual, has 
 been market!. There are probably no 
 other business concerns conducted !)}• 
 large corporations in which ability and 
 attention to duty are more promptly 
 rewarded b\' promotion than in our great 
 railway systems, where precision, effi- 
 ciency, and reliability are e.xtremel\' es- 
 sential, and in these respects our subject, 
 though thoroughl}' tried, has not been 
 found wanting. 
 
 C. F. Goodell is the son of Watson 
 and Luvilla (Stranahan) Goodell, the 
 former of whom was born in Schenectady, 
 N. Y., the latter in Utica, N. Y., both 
 descendants of sturdy New England stock. 
 Watson Goodell received a good common- 
 school education in the sclmols of Albau)-, 
 N. Y. , and later in life became an e.xpert 
 accountant, a profession he followed for 
 several years. His health having become 
 impaired in the comparatively confining • 
 w^ork, Mr. Gocjdell, thinking the change 
 would prove beneficial, decided to remove 
 to Wisconsin, then considered the "Far 
 West." Accordingly, in about 1850, he 
 removed hither, and made his first loca- 
 tion near Oconomowoc, where he com- 
 menced farming. At that time the coun- 
 try was entirely new, and the land being 
 covered with timber, the work was at- 
 tended with many hardships; but the 
 change brought about the result he had 
 hoped for, and his health improved. He 
 had married, in New York State, Miss 
 Lu\illa Stranahan, who survives him, and 
 they had three children: C. F. ; Carrie; 
 and Maria, the wife of |, H. Le Grand, a 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 175 
 
 prominent politician and at present county 
 auditor of Buena Vista county, Iowa, with 
 residence in Storm Lake. Mr. Goodeil 
 passed from earth in June, 1890, in Port- 
 age, Wis., and his widow now resides 
 with her daughter Maria, in Storm Lai<e, 
 Iowa. In politics he was a stanch mem- 
 ber of the Republican party, and at one 
 time served as justice of the peace in his 
 townshijx He was a member of the Con- 
 gregational Church, as is also his widow, 
 though she was originally a member of 
 the Episcopal Church. Shortly after his 
 removal to Wisconsin Mr. Goodeil went to 
 Pardeeville, where he had his residence 
 several years. 
 
 C. F. Goodeil was born October 5, 
 1853, in Oconomowoc, Wis., and received 
 at first an elementary education, after- 
 ward taking a more complete course in 
 the schools of Oconomowoc. When 
 seventeen years old he entered a railwa)' 
 office at Pardeeville, Wis., on what was 
 then the St. Paul road, where, under A. 
 K. Cole, station agent at that place, he 
 obtained his first knowledge of telegraphy. 
 When he had advanced far enough to re- 
 ceive and send messages he was placed in 
 the capacity of " extra man '' on the then 
 Northern division, from Horicon Junction 
 to Portage City, Wis. , and later, while 
 still in his "teens, " was given charge of 
 the office at Rolling Prairie, Wis. He 
 was next stationed at Winneconne, on the 
 Northern division, as operator and clerk; 
 afterward served as operator at Horicon 
 Junction for two years, and then for a 
 short time filled similar positions at Ripon 
 and Oshkosh. Mr. Goodeil then went to 
 Milwaukee, where for a time he was in 
 the train dispatcher's office of the Wis- 
 consin Central, later going to Phillips, 
 Wis., in the employ of the same com- 
 pany, as operator and clerk at the chief 
 engineers's headquarters. His first ex- 
 perience as station agent was at Fi field, 
 at which place he was stationed when 
 there was not a house in the town, tents 
 being the only shelter, and in addition to 
 his regular duties he sold the lots there 
 
 for the conipan}-, who owned the plat. 
 From Fifield he was transferred to 
 Waldo, Sheboygan county, where he 
 again acted as agent, and here in the 
 spring of 1878 he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Carrie Ford, a native of Waldo, 
 daughter of Benjamin Ford, who came here 
 from Lake county, Ohio. In February, 
 1882, Mr. Goodeil came to De Pere, at 
 which time the road through here was 
 operated by the Wisconsin Central, and 
 when the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
 Railway Company assumed charge he 
 still continued in the office, and now has 
 charge of their interests at this place. 
 
 Our subject is a Republican, and a 
 stanch adherent of the party, though be- 
 yond voting regularly he takes no active 
 part in political affairs. He is a leading 
 member of the Congregational Church, 
 being at present a trustee and superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Goodeil have four children, namely: 
 Harold F., Charles W., Lula and 
 Alton W. 
 
 M 
 
 KS. MARGARET AEBISCH- 
 LR, widow of Samuel Aebischer, 
 is a daughter of Charles and 
 Barbara (Meringer) Bloom, who 
 came to America from Germany when 
 their daughter was about seven months 
 old, locating first in New York. They 
 farmed there until 1850, when they re- 
 moved to Wisconsin, and they still live 
 at Chilton, where they are engaged in the 
 same vocation. They have a familj' of 
 nine children. 
 
 Samuel Aebischer was a native of 
 Switzerland, and, on coming to America, 
 in company with two brothers, first lo- 
 cated at Elkhorn, Walworth Co., Wis., 
 where he learned shoemaking, a trade he 
 followed thirty-five years. The family 
 came to Brown county in 1887, where 
 Mr. Aebischer bought a farm of 1 1 5 acres 
 from a brother, and cultivated same until his 
 death, which occurred when he was fifty- 
 two years old. In the Civil war he served 
 
176 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 • one year (1863) in Company K, Fourth 
 Regiment Wis. V. C, and was discharged 
 at Vicksburg, Miss., on account of sick- 
 ness. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Aebischer took place October 13, 1867, 
 and they had eight children, of whom five 
 are still living, their names and dates of 
 birth being as follows: Charles N., Sep- 
 tember 25, 1870; Willie, March 7, 1872; 
 Maggie, August 3, 1879; Minnie, April 
 26, 1883; and Cora, June 21, 1885. It 
 was not until after her husband's death 
 that Mrs. Aebischer erected her pres- 
 ent comfortable brick dwelling, where 
 her son, Charles N., also lives. Mrs. 
 Aebischer has proven herself to be a 
 woman of no small business ability; but 
 the affairs of the farm are now looked 
 after by her son, Charles N. She is a 
 devout member of the Lutheran Church, 
 and is greatly respected throughout the 
 township. 
 
 EBERHARDT A. LANGE, a well- 
 known and popular druggist at 
 West De Pere, Brown county, is 
 a native of Fond du Lac, Wis., 
 born April 11, 1859, and is a son of A. 
 A. and Catherine (Trumbauer) Lange. 
 A. A. Lange, a native of Berlin, Ger- 
 many, came to the United States about 
 1835, and, being an upholsterer, carried 
 on that business at Fond du Lac for 
 several years, and also at Milwaukee. 
 Mrs. Catherine Lange came from Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was edu- 
 cated in the schools of Fond du Lac, and 
 at the age of seventeen entered the drug 
 store of Dr. Wright. He remained in 
 the same store ten years, the firm chang- 
 ing twice in that time, first to A. De- 
 Land, and then to Kellogg & Lange; 
 then, in 1886-87, he carried on a drug 
 store on his own account, in Brillion, 
 "Wis. In the fall of 18S7 he came to De- 
 Pere, and for three and a half years was 
 employed in the drug store of William 
 Workman. In 1890 he bought out his 
 
 employer's business in West De Pere, 
 and in 1893 moved to his present loca- 
 tion, where he carries a full line of drugs, 
 paints, wall paper, ammunition, station- 
 ery, etc. , has one of the neatest and best- 
 equipped establishments of the kind in 
 the town, and does a remunerative trade. 
 In 1883 Mr. Lange married Miss Allie E. 
 Megnussen, who has borne him three 
 children, named respectively: Albert H., 
 Roy Harrison and Arthur D. Mr. Lange 
 is a member of the Presbyterian Church, 
 and is very highly esteemed in the com- 
 munity. 
 
 AUGUSTIN H. BABCOCK, a well- 
 to-do farmer of Howard town- 
 ship, Brown county, was born 
 July 17, 1840, in Ale.xander, 
 Washington Co., Maine, a son of Stephen 
 and Betsey (Flood) Babcock. In 1873 
 he come alone to Wisconsin. His par- 
 ents had also come here, settling on the 
 farm where our subject still resides, and 
 here the father died at the age of seventy- 
 five years, the mother at the age of 
 seventy-seven. They were the parents 
 of twelve children, of whom two sons 
 and three daughters are yet living. 
 
 Stephen Babcock was a native of 
 King's county, N. S., but when a young 
 man came to the United States and made 
 his home in Maine. Mrs. Betsey (Flood) 
 Babcock was born in St. Matthews, 
 Mass., one of the nine children of Peter and 
 Lucy (Snow) Flood, the former of whom 
 was a shoemaker and harnessniaker, and 
 died at Alexander, Maine, at a very ad- 
 vanced age; he served through the Mexi- 
 can war. Military ardor seems to have 
 been inherent in the family, as four of 
 the grandsons, of the Babcock branch, 
 did gallant service in the Civil war, in- 
 cluding Augustin H., our subject, whose 
 military record is mentioned farther on; 
 his brother William died while in the 
 service; another brother, George A., 
 served in Company A, Fourteenth Wis, 
 V. I. ; and another brother, Gilbert, was 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 177 
 
 wounded in the battle of Petersburg, Va. , 
 while serving in the Twenty-eighth Wis- 
 consin Volunteer Infantry. 
 
 Augustin H. Babcock left the parental 
 farm at the age of ten years, and hired 
 out by the month on his own account, 
 continuing to work thus until his enlist- 
 ment. He was first in Company F, 
 Sixth Maine Volunteers, and later in the 
 Nineteenth Regiment, Maine V. 1., serv- 
 ing altogether four years. At the bat- 
 tle of the Wilderness he was so badly 
 wounded that he was disabled for the 
 entire summer, and subsequently he was 
 confined to hospital with typhoid fever; 
 but with these exceptions was with 
 his regiment in all its marches, engage- 
 ments and skirmishes. After the close of 
 the war he resumed the pursuits of peace, 
 and shortly afterward married Miss Louisa 
 Foster, who died two years later. In 
 about 1873 he settled down on the old 
 farm in Howard township, Brown county, 
 and in 1879 married Miss Jennie Black- 
 burn, who was born in Manitowoc county. 
 Wis., a daughter of Lorin and Hannah 
 Blackburn. To this union five children 
 have been born, of whom the following 
 four are still living: Louisa, born Au- 
 gust 9, 1880; Alice, born January 22, 1883; 
 Stella, born October 24, 1886; and Vera, 
 born October 22, 1888. Mr. Babcock 
 has made a success of his life as a farmer, 
 and has always maintained the respect 
 and esteem of his neighbors. In relig- 
 ious faith he and his wife are members of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church. In poli- 
 tics he has been independent; he cast his 
 first Presidential vote, in 1865, for George 
 Brinton McClellan, the Democratic nomi- 
 nee, but since then has voted the Repub- 
 lican ticket. 
 
 JOSEPH LEY, a worthy representa- 
 tive of one of the old pioneer fami- 
 lies of Rockland township, Brown 
 county, where he is a well-known 
 and highly respected citizen, was born in 
 
 that township May 10, 1854, a .son of 
 Joseph Ley. 
 
 The latter was born in 1823, in Prus- 
 sia, where he was reared, and in early 
 manhood learned the trade of carpenter. 
 Hearing and reading of the superior ad- 
 vantages offered to young men in the 
 New World, he resolved to emigrate, and 
 gathering together what capital he could, 
 he left his native land in 1844 to seek his 
 fortune in the United States. Many of 
 the early settlers in Wisconsin were Ger- 
 mans, and having decided to come to that 
 then new State, Mr. Ley after landing in 
 New York proceeded by boat to Milwau- 
 kee, Wis. He came from Milwaukee to 
 Green Bay on foot, the road which he 
 took leading him the greater part of the 
 way through the dense forest, and often 
 it was nothing more than an Indian trail. 
 He frequently met Indians, who were 
 then still numerous in this region, though 
 usualK' friendly, but as he did not know this 
 their appearance alarmed him not a little. 
 The woods abounded with wild animals, 
 and the howling of the wolves, which 
 were especially ferocious, caused him 
 great uneasiness. But the long, tedious 
 journey was at last safely accomplished, 
 and on arriving at Green Bay he found it 
 a small town, containing a few houses, 
 the garrison stationed at Fort Howard 
 forming the greater part of the popula- 
 tion of both towns at that time. Mr. 
 Ley made his first location in Section 3, 
 Rockland, in which township only three 
 other families were then living. He had 
 a brother living at Fond du Lac, but is 
 now a resident of Jordan, Minn. Mr. 
 Ley was at this time but a poor Noung 
 man, not able to purchase land even 
 at the low prices it then sold for. He 
 could obtain work at his trade, how- 
 ever, and was offered two blocks in what 
 is now the business portion of Green Bay, 
 for a year's labor, an offer which he re- 
 fused, never realizing that the little vil- 
 lage would in a few years become an im- 
 portant city. He was truly a pioneer of 
 Rockland township, for he cut the first 
 
178 
 
 COMMKMOltATIVK BWGHAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 timber felled by a white man in Section 
 3, and after making a small clearing built 
 the first house there. It was only a rude 
 log dwelling, but it was the only shelter 
 he and his family had the year round. 
 Here he resided fur some time, toiling 
 early and late to clear his land and hew a 
 home from the dense forest, and a few 
 years later removed to a farm in Section 
 8, Ivockland township, where he passed 
 the remainder of his days. This was also 
 new land; but he once more commenced 
 the task of converting the forest into a 
 productive farm, and at his death he left 
 1 50 acres of good farming land as well 
 improved as any in the township up to 
 that time. He endured all the vicissi- 
 tudes and hardships incident to the set- 
 tling and improving of a new country, and 
 did his full share toward the adx'anccmeut 
 of his section. Politicall\' he was a Dem- 
 ocrat and a leader in the party, and he 
 served faithfully in \'arious local positions 
 of honor and trust, being township as- 
 sessor fifteen years and justice of the peace 
 sixteen \-ears; and his good common sense 
 and sound judgment won for him the re- 
 spect of all who came in contact with 
 him. He died November 2:;, 1878, a 
 member of St. Francis Catholic Church, 
 De Pere, and was buried in De Fere cem- 
 etery. After his settlement here Mr. Ley 
 offered a home to his aged parents, and 
 they set out on the journey from Ger- 
 many, but the mother died cii route. The 
 father arrived safely at his destination, and 
 passed his declining j'ears in comfort, dy- 
 ing at the home of his son February 17, 
 1872, at the age of ninety years. 
 
 Joseph Ley, Sr. , was first married in 
 1851, in De Pere, to Miss Mar\- Engles, a 
 native of Germany, and they had a fam- 
 ily, of whom two sons grew to maturity: 
 Michael, who is a resident of Luxem- 
 bourg, Kewaunee county; and Joseph, 
 mention of whom is made farther on. 
 The mother of these was called from 
 earth in 1858, and buried in Shantj'town 
 cemetery. For his second wife Mr. Ley 
 subsequently wedded Mrs. Josephine Det- 
 
 rich, who was born in Belgium, and came 
 to the United States with relati\es. She 
 is yet living at the age of seventy-three 
 years. Of their family one son and three 
 daughters are living, viz. : Thomas, living 
 at Pound, Wis. ; Mary, wife of Henry 
 Berg, of De Pere; Julia, wife of Con. 
 Keefe, of Rockland; and Louisa, wife of 
 Charles Brown, of Pound, Wis. ; the 
 others dying in infancy. 
 
 Joseph Ley, whose name introduces 
 these lines, was reared in the same man- 
 ner as other pioneer children, rerei\ing 
 his literary training at the rude schools of 
 the time, which were ijuitc different from 
 those of the present day. His knowledge 
 of farming he received under the tuition 
 of his father. On May 13, i8,S4, he was 
 united in marriage, at Menasha, Wis., 
 with Miss Mary Lemmel, the ceremony 
 being performed by Father .\ndrt_w Sen- 
 bert. She was born April 11, 1858, at 
 Maple Grove, Manitowoc Co. , Wis. , 
 daughter of Agidius Leminel, who was a 
 native of Bavaria, Germany, from which 
 countr}' he came to Wisconsin in an 
 early da\-. Here he married Barbara 
 Schaeffer, and they had a family of seven 
 children, to wit: John D., of Menasha, 
 Wis. ; Kate, Mrs. John Cure, of Mil- 
 waukee; Mary, Mrs. Joseph Ley; Bar- 
 bara, Mrs. Fred Digler, of Menasha; 
 Anna L., S. S. de Notre Dame, Cham- 
 paign, Illinois; Rosa, Mrs. Fred Esser, 
 of Milwaukee; and Maggie, Mrs. Henry 
 Grant, of Menasha, ^^'is. After mar- 
 riage our subject resided at the paternal 
 homestead until 1889, when he came to 
 his present farm, which now comprises 
 130 acres of excellent land. All the im- 
 provements on this farm have been made 
 by him, and he has also erected all the 
 buildings on the farm. He is a success- 
 ful agriculturist, progressive and enter- 
 prising, and is recognized as one of Rock- 
 land township's public-spirited citizens, 
 always ready to encourage and assist 
 every movement for the improvement and 
 advancement of his section. 
 
 A local leader in the Democratic ranks, 
 
COMMEMOHA TIVK BIOGllAPUICAL -RECOHD. 
 
 '79 
 
 Mr. Ley has been elected by that part}- 
 to positions of trust, such as township 
 treasurer, in which he served ten years, 
 and he was school clerk eleven years, 
 giving complete satisfaction to his con- 
 stituency. Mr. and Mrs. Ley have an 
 interesting family of six children, namely: 
 Anton J., Maggie M., Anna L. , Hen- 
 rietta M., Joseph H. and Hildy M. In 
 religious faith the entire family are 
 members of St. Francis Catholic Church, 
 De Pere. 
 
 GEORGE A. DELANEY, one of 
 the best stone-cutters in Howard 
 township, Brown county, was 
 born here in 1869, the youngest 
 in the family of six sons and five daugh- 
 ters born to James C. Delaney. 
 
 James C. Delaney was born February 
 I, I 8 19, in Shippensburg, Penn., a son of 
 James and Rebecca (Anderson) Delaney, 
 the former of whom was a native of Ire- 
 land, the latter of England. James and 
 Rebecca Delaney came to the United 
 States when cpiite young, and here he first 
 followed the blacksmith trade, afterward 
 conducting an old-time tavern; later he 
 settled on a farm in Ohio, where he also 
 conducted a blacksmith shop, around 
 which a little country village sprang up. 
 Here he died at the age of sixty-four 
 years; his wife had died when their son. 
 James C, was but two years of age. Of 
 the five children born to James and 
 Rebecca Delaney, four are still living. 
 
 James C. Delaney, at the age of ten 
 years, started out in the world for him- 
 self, and worked at various places by the 
 month until he was fourteen years old, 
 when he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. 
 After a two-years' service he ran away, 
 and at Philadelphia found employment as 
 driver of a canal-boat horse, later became 
 steersman, and then captain. When 
 twenty years old he enlisted in the army 
 as a musician, and for two years served as 
 fifer in the Florida war. On his return he 
 met Miss Elizabeth Dickinson at Buffalo, 
 
 N. Y. , and they were married December 
 7, 1842. She was born in England, a 
 daughter of Robert and Mary Dickinson, 
 and was two years old when brought to 
 America by her parents, who both died in 
 Buffalo. Shortly after his marriage Mr. 
 Delaney re-enlisted for five years, served 
 as fifer, and was sent to Mexico, where he 
 was quartered in the halls of the Monte- 
 zumas. He served, in all, ten years as 
 fifer, eight of which he was fife-major of 
 the Second United States Infantry, After 
 the Mexican war the army was billeted at 
 different points, and Mr. Delanej's lot 
 was cast at Fort Howard, Wis. , where he 
 was eventually discharged. But in the 
 meantime he had bought a few acres of 
 land, on which he has lived ever since, 
 adding constantly to his original purchase 
 until he became possessor of a fine piece 
 of property, of which he has given each of 
 his two sons fort\' or fiftv acres. 
 
 WJ. CASEY, who for the past 
 thirteen years has been faxor- 
 ably known as a pains-taking and 
 careful railroad official, is a nati\ e 
 of Ireland, born in 1856, a son of John 
 and Mary fO'Keefe) Casey, of the same 
 nativity. The father died in Ireland, the 
 widowed mother, about the year 1859, 
 coming with her little famih- of one (our 
 subject) to the United States, first locat- 
 ing in Fond du Lac. Wis., later settling 
 in Milwaukee, where she is now residing. 
 Our subject, as will be seen, was three 
 years old when he was brought to Wis- 
 consin, and he was reared and educated 
 in Fond du Lac. When old enough to 
 commence the world, he learned teleg- 
 raphy at Campbellsport, same State, and 
 after six months received the appointment 
 of local agent at Fredonia, Wis., for the 
 Wisc(jnsin Central railroad. After six 
 months so employed, he was sent to 
 Forest Junction, where he also served six 
 months in similar work, at the end of 
 which time he moved to Amherst Junc- 
 tion, having been appointed joint agent 
 
i8o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for the Wisconsin Central and the Green 
 Bay, Winona & St. Paul railroads. Here 
 he was stationed from 1882 till 1885, and 
 was then moved to Green Bay, to fill the 
 position of chief clerk in the freight and 
 passenger department of the Green Bay, 
 Winona & St. Paul railroad. In 1887 he 
 was appointed agent at Green Bay (Fort 
 Howard Junction); in 1890 he was ap- 
 pointed traveling auditor for the company, 
 in 1S92 being promoted to his present in- 
 cumbency, that of car accountant for the 
 Green Bay, Winona, & St. Paul and the 
 Kewaunee, Green Bay & Western rail- 
 roads. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Casey was married at 
 Fond du Lac, Wis., to Miss Hattie 
 Durand, and four children have blessed 
 their union, viz. : Charles, Mamie, Will- 
 iam and George. Our subject is a mem- 
 ber of the Royal Arcanum, of Pochequette 
 Lodge, No. 26, Knights of Pythias, and 
 lieutenant in the Uniform Rank of same. 
 
 JOSEPH HEBEL, who, for the past 
 quarter of a century, has been act- 
 ively identified with the farming in- 
 terests of the township of Glenmore, 
 Brown county, was born in Germany in 
 1845, a son of Mathias Hebel. The 
 latter died before our subject was nine 
 years old, and, the family being left in 
 somewhat straitened circumstances, Jo- 
 seph went to live with a farmer. 
 
 Our subject was reared to farming, 
 and continued to follow that \ocation 
 until he was twenty-one years of age, 
 when he concluded to come to the New 
 World, where he would have better 
 chances for advancement. Borrowing 
 the necessary money from a friend, he 
 sailed from Bremen early in the summer 
 of 1867, and landed at Quebec after a 
 voyage of eight weeks. From there he 
 came at once by rail to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 thence to Manitowoc, where he found 
 himself a stranger in a strange land, but 
 young and active, and willing to work at 
 anything which would bring him an honest 
 
 dollar. He remained in Manitowoc coun- 
 ty about three years, finding employment 
 during the summers at farm work, and in 
 the winter season engaged in lumbering. 
 Two years after his arrival he returned 
 the money he had borrowed to bring him 
 here, and he also saved enough to bring 
 his widowed mother, and his two sisters 
 — Mary and Barbara. They lived in a 
 rented house in Manitowoc county, and, 
 after the daughters married the mother 
 continued to reside with our subject until 
 her death. 
 
 On January 28, 1869, Joseph Hebel 
 was married, in Francis Creek, Wis., to 
 Miss Mary Gruber, who was born in Ger- 
 many in 1847, daughter of Mathias Gru- 
 ber. In the year of his marriage Mr. 
 Hebel purchased forty acres in Section 24, 
 ("ilenmore township. Brown county, only 
 five acres of which were cleared at that 
 time, and here, in a small log house, 
 which stood a short distance from their 
 present residence, they made their home 
 for a number of years. .At first the farm 
 afforded no revenue whatever, and, in 
 addition to the arduous task of clearing 
 away the forest, Mr. Hebel also engaged 
 in making shingles by hand, receiving two 
 dollars a thousand for them, delivered at 
 Green Bay, fifteen miles di.stant. But 
 after several years of hard work the land 
 was greatly improved, and, though obliged 
 to go into debt for his first purchase, he 
 soon paid for it, and added another tract, 
 now owning eighty acres of excellent 
 land. At that time his children were all 
 too young to help, but he has reared his 
 family in comfort, and hewed a comforta- 
 ble home from the dense forest. In all 
 his dealings with his fellow men he has 
 been square and upright, and has acquired 
 an enviable reputation for integrit\- of 
 character and honesty of purpose, being 
 respected by all who know him. Mr. 
 Hebel is a Democrat in his political 
 preferences, but takes no active part in 
 party affairs; in religious connection he 
 and his wife are members of St. James 
 Catholic Church, at Cooperstown, Mani- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 i8i 
 
 towoc county. To their union came 
 children as follows, their names and dates 
 of birth being: Joseph, November i8, 
 i87i;John, April 29, 1873; Anton, No- 
 vember 2, 1875; Louis, February 23, 
 1S78; Margaret, April 12, 1881; Annie, 
 March 22, 1883; Mary, May 31, 1886; 
 Frank, January 4, 1891. One son, Louis, 
 died vounsr. 
 
 SW. H A Y F O R D. a prominent 
 citizen of Wrightstown, Brown 
 county, is a native of Potsdam, N. 
 Y., born July 25, 1832. His father, 
 Abiel D. Hayford, who was a native of 
 Massachusetts, was a Congregational min- 
 ister. He married Miss Laura A. John- 
 son, whose father, C. Johnson, was con- 
 nected with the body-guard of Gen. George 
 Washington. According to tradition, he 
 was a skillful carpenter, and made the 
 coffin for the unfortunate Major Andre. 
 
 S. W. Hayford, at the age of fifteen 
 years, leaving the parental roof to brave 
 the world on his own account, worked in 
 different States for a time, and then, to- 
 gether with his brother, James H., began 
 the study of medicine. But their means 
 were too cramped to allow them both to 
 continue their education, so our subject 
 concluded to abandon the study for the 
 time being, and with fraternal generosity 
 assist his brother to a diploma, after which 
 he would resume the study himself. Re- 
 turning to New York, he married, on 
 May 3, 1854, Miss R. Chapin. daughter 
 of a prosperous farmer of that State, and 
 two years later they came to Wrights- 
 town, Wis. To this union have been 
 born the following named children: Lu- 
 ther D., of Rhinelander. Wis. ; Lucina A., 
 at home; James H., in Illinois; Edwin, 
 of Wheatland, N. Dak. ; Alfred, still at 
 home; Chester, in Illinois; Charles, of 
 Sheboygan, Wis. ; Carrie, Chapin and 
 Laura, at home. In 1 864 Mr. Hayford en- 
 listed in Company E. Forty-second Wis- 
 Cf/nsin V. I., with which he served until 
 the close of the war, when he received an 
 
 honorable discharge, and returned to his 
 home to resume the peaceful occupation 
 of tilling the soil. Circumstances pre- 
 vented his ever resuming the study of 
 medicine. Politically he is an ardent Re- 
 publican, but is not an aspirant for ofifice, 
 although he has served as justice of the 
 peace. From a child he has been a very 
 active temperance worker and an active 
 Christian. 
 
 Dr. James H. Hayford, brother of our 
 subject, and now the editor of the Lara- 
 mie (Wyo.) lVeeklySc7itinc/, has attained 
 considerable fame as the originator of the 
 woman suffrage movement. Mrs. Hay- 
 ford, his wife, had the distinction of serv- 
 ing on the first and only jury composed 
 equally of male and female members in 
 the United States. 
 
 WB. ANDERSON, junior member 
 of the well-known leading firm 
 of contractors and builders, 
 McGrath & Anderson, Green 
 Bay, is a living example of what industry, 
 perseverance and sound judgment can 
 produce; while his business life bears tes- 
 timony to what it is possible for man, 
 with willing heart and hands, to ac- 
 complish. 
 
 He is a native of Ontario, Canada, born 
 August 20, 1 85 1, in the town of Corn- 
 wall, a son of Robert and Mary (McMillen) 
 Anderson, the former of whom came, 
 when a boy, from his native land, Scot- 
 land, to Canada. He learned the trade 
 of tailor, which for many years he fol- 
 lowed in Cornwall, where he made a set- 
 tlement, becoming a leading citizen of the 
 town, which he served as clerk and treas- 
 urer for thirty-four years. Of Kno.x 
 Presbyterian Church in Cornwall he was 
 a prominent member for a long period of 
 time, and he served in many positions of 
 honor and trust, so highly was he esteemed 
 by the community. He and his wife lived 
 to advanced ages, dying, he in 1892, she 
 in 1 886. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, who is 
 
I 82 
 
 COMMEMOliATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 third in order of birth in his parents' 
 family, received a fair education at the 
 schools of his native town. At the age 
 of fifteen he went to work as a farm 
 hand, receiving nine dollars per month 
 and his "keep," and his earnings he 
 turned over to his father, not that he was 
 obliged to do so, but in response to the sim- 
 ple filial promptings of his heart. When, in 
 the winter time, there was not much to 
 do on the farm, the lad would be found 
 hauling cordwood to town, his pay at 
 that time being six dollars per month. 
 Coming to the United States in 1868, he 
 worked for a time as a farm hand in St. 
 Lawrence county, N. Y., receiving seven- 
 teen dollars per month, and during one 
 season he labored in the lumber regions, 
 known as "The South Woods," in St. 
 Lawrence county. In 1870, learning 
 that labor was better paid in the West, 
 he set out with buoyant spirits and a 
 hard hand — for in the words of Shake- 
 speare "there is no better sign of a 
 brave heart than a hard hand " — and 
 landing in Winona, Minn., he found 
 himself the happy owner of only twelve 
 dollars in cash and his clothes (rather a 
 limited supply), but possessed of a super- 
 abundant allowance of courage and Scotch- 
 Canadian "grit." Here he secured work 
 as a common laborer in the service of a 
 contractor named F. A. Johnson, who 
 was engaged in driving piles and erecting 
 bridges for the Chicago & Northwestern 
 railroad. After a time, Mr. Johnson 
 having similar work at St. Joe, Mich., 
 our subject went there, and staid till the 
 contract was completed. Returning to 
 Winona, he continued sometime longer 
 in the employ of Mr. Johnson, and then 
 engaged with the Chicago & Northwestern 
 Railroad Company as a bridge builder. 
 In this, though yet a lad, his work was so 
 thorough, and so highly appreciated by 
 his employers, that he was made fore- 
 man of a gang, in which position he re- 
 mained till 1876, when he resigned, hav- 
 ing accepted a similar appointment from 
 the Southern Minnesota Railway Com- 
 
 pany. This last was a two-years" engage- 
 ment; and his efficiency was again re- 
 warded with promotion, he becoming 
 superintendent of bridges and buildings, 
 in which capacity he remained some four 
 years. At the end of that time he 
 moved to Winnipeg, Canada, where he 
 found similar work on the Canadian Pa- 
 cific railroad, then in course of construc- 
 tion, his engagement with them termi- 
 nating in 1884, when he returned to the 
 United States, and for two years lived in 
 St. Paul, Minn., taking a much-needed 
 rest. During the next two \ears he was 
 foreman for contractors on the Minneapo- 
 lis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie rail- 
 way, and then for one year was superin- 
 tendent of bridges and buildings for that 
 company. We now find him in the em- 
 ploy of the Milwaukee & Northern Rail- 
 road Company, whom he served in similar 
 capacity till in February, 1893, when he 
 became a partner with Mr. Thomas J. 
 McGrath, as contractors and builders. 
 Since the partnership was formed the 
 firm have erected 800 feet of dockage for 
 the Murphy Lumber Co. ; plant for " The 
 Columbian Bakery;" extensive coal sheds 
 for Barkhousen & Hathaway; the power 
 house for the Green Baj' Electric Co. ; 
 about 14,000 yards of cedar block paving 
 on Washington street, all in the city of 
 Green Bay, besides the bridge over the 
 East river, connecting Allouez and f)elle- 
 vue townships, in Brown county. 
 
 On October 9, 1S75, Mr. Anderson 
 was married in Winona, Minn., to Sarah 
 Pritchard, who was born May 2, 1856, in 
 the city of Delaware, Del., a daughter of 
 Thomas and Mary (Morgan) Pritchard, 
 who were of English descent. At the 
 age of thirteen Mrs. Anderson accom- 
 panied her parents to England, where 
 they left her, as they had to return to the 
 United States. The intention was that 
 the young girl should come home with 
 some relatives, but she concluded to re- 
 turn without their companj' which she 
 did on the steamship "Turriffo." In 1868 
 her parents removed to Minnesota, and a 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I S3 
 
 year later she followed them. The names 
 of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. W. 
 B. Anderson are: Marj' Jessie (she died 
 when two months old); James R., Will- 
 iam R., and Olive A. Politically our 
 subject is a stanch Democrat. Mrs. 
 Anderson is a member of the Catholic 
 Church, and the entire family enjoy the 
 respect and esteem of a wide circle of 
 friends. 
 
 JOSEPH TREML, farmer and .stock- 
 raiser, and one of the highly re- 
 respected citizens of Glenmore 
 township, Brown county, is a na- 
 ti\e of Germany, born October 15, 1828, 
 son of Joseph Treml, who had five chil- 
 dren — three sons and two daughters — of 
 whom our subject is the eldest. 
 
 Joseph Treml was reared to farm life, 
 and during his youth had but limited edu- 
 cational advantages, attending school only 
 three winters. He remained at home until 
 he reached the age of twenty-one, at 
 which time he commenced life on his own 
 account, working as a farm hand, and 
 later the homestead came into his posses- 
 sion. In February, 1866, he was married 
 in Germany, to Miss Mary Reiter, who 
 was born November 30, 1843, daughter 
 of Adam Reiter, and while living in Ger- 
 many they had two children, as follows: 
 Joseph, born October 10, 1868, now 
 working on the home farm; and Annie, 
 born February 22, 1872, who was mar- 
 ried August 3, 1892, to Thomas Crestoff, 
 of Montpelier township, Kewaunee coun- 
 ty. After his marriage Mr. Treml contin- 
 ued farming until 1874, when he disposed 
 of his property, and with the proceeds 
 brought his family to the United States. 
 They sailed from Bremen, arriving in 
 Baltimore, Md., after an ocean voyage of 
 eighteen days, and immediately after 
 landing came westward over the Pennsyl- 
 vania railroad, to De Pere, Brown Co., 
 Wis., via Chicago. Shortly afterward 
 Mr. Treml purchased forty acres of new 
 land in Section 25, Glenmore township. 
 
 for which he paid three hundred dollars. 
 The first timber on this land had been 
 cut by lumbermen; but he built the first 
 house, a log structure, which stood where 
 the kitchen of the present residence now 
 is. The years that followed were filled 
 with hardship and stern toil, but these 
 settlers were anxious to have a home of 
 their own, and by perseverance suc- 
 ceeded at last in clearing the entire farm. 
 On this place the rest of their children 
 were born, as follows: Wolfgang, born 
 October i, 1874; Mary, born November 
 8, 1876; Frank, born January 10, 1880, 
 all three living at home; and four sons — 
 John, Charles (i), Charles {2), and 
 George — who died in infancy. 
 
 During his residence in Glenmore 
 township our subject has devoted himself 
 exclusively to farming and stock-raising, 
 and besides improving the original tract 
 has added to it till he now has 120 acres. 
 When he settled here it was covered with 
 brush and stumps and fallen timber left 
 by lumbermen, and no small amount of 
 labor has been involved in its transforma- 
 tion to its present condition, in which 
 work his sons have been of great help to 
 him. He is universally respected by his 
 fellow citizens for his square, honest 
 methods and upright character. He is a 
 stanch Democrat, but has never given 
 anj' time to politics, all his time being de- 
 voted to his business interests. He and 
 his wife are members of St. Mary's 
 Church, in Glenmore, and they are highh' 
 esteemed bv all who know them. 
 
 LG. SCHILLER, manager of C. 
 Schiller, wholesale dealer in fresh, 
 salt and smoked fish, at the foot 
 of Jefferson street. Green Ba}", 
 was born September 12, 1848, in the 
 Province of Brandenburg, Germany. 
 
 Our subject came to Green Bay in 
 1872, and April 6, 1874, married Miss 
 Clara Asimont, daughter of George Asi- 
 mont, who came to Green Bay from Ger- 
 many in 1857. On first coming to that 
 
184 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 city Mr. Schiller was employed by Cran- 
 dall & North, wholesale grocers, and for 
 four years did faithful service; he was then 
 employed for three months by John Day 
 & Son, wholesale grocers and fish dealers, 
 and in November, 1876, went into the 
 grocery business at the corner of Pine 
 and Adams streets; in the spring of 1882 
 he moved to Washington street, but sold 
 out May 30, 1889, and assumed his pres- 
 ent position. This house was established 
 in 1879 on East river, and in 1889 L. G. 
 Schiller established the business at the 
 foot of Jefferson street, in the interest of 
 his employer, at the time of his taking 
 the management of the concern in Green 
 Bay. Under his control all things have 
 prospered, and he now employs twenty- 
 five hands. The position of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Schiller in social circles is all that 
 can be desired, and both are members of 
 the Lutheran Church, in good and faith- 
 ful standing. He has also been treasurer 
 of his church ten years; is a member of 
 the Royal Arcanum, of the Orderof Tonti, 
 and of the Knights of the Maccabees. In 
 politics he is a Republican, and in 1877- 
 78 was a member of the city council; he 
 has likewise served as a member of the 
 board of school trustees, and every office 
 he has held with credit to himself and to 
 the satisfaction of the public. 
 
 Of seven children born to the parents 
 of L. G. Schiller, two besides himself are 
 residents of the United States — Louis, 
 who came to Green Bay in 1868, worked 
 for Crandall & North, until 1874, and 
 then went to Milwaukee, where he still 
 resides; and Frank, who reached Green 
 Bay in 1872, was in business with his 
 brother, L. G., till 1889, but is now a 
 resident of Fort Scott, Kans. To the 
 marriage of L. G. Schiller and Clara Asi- 
 mont were born ten children, viz. : Clara, 
 died in 1875; Gustave, bookkeeper for his 
 father; Julia, residing with her parents; 
 Frieda and Clara, (twins), died in 1878; 
 Sophie, died in 1880; Henrietta, died in 
 1882; Louis, died in 1883; Clarence, resid- 
 ing with his parents ; and Otto, died in 1889. 
 
 FRANK CRABB, one of De Pere's 
 prosperous young business men, 
 is a nati\e of Brown county, born 
 May 8, 1862, in Section 3, Rock- 
 land township. 
 
 Philip Crabb, his father, was born in 
 Belgium, and was there reared, receiving 
 but a limited education, as he had to 
 commence work when but a boy. In 
 early manhood, hoping to succeed better 
 in the United States, he emigrated hither, 
 and coming to northern Wisconsin, at 
 that time a new and unsettled country, 
 found employment as a laborer, work be- 
 ing plenty in the lumber regions. He was 
 married in Green Bay to Mrs. Catherine 
 Tillmans, a widow, and shortly afterward 
 located on a farm in Rockland township, 
 where they resided until their removal to 
 De Pere. Previous to their coming, Mr. 
 Crabb had had a business room built in 
 the town, walking daily to and fro from 
 his farm to superintend its construction, 
 and during his absence Mrs. Crabb would 
 work in the clearing. One day, while 
 she was thus engaged, she heard the 
 screams of her little daughter, who was 
 playing about the house. The child's 
 dress had accidently caught fire, and, with 
 great presence of mind, the mother dashed 
 her into a watering-trough, but the little 
 girl soon afterward died from the injuries. 
 Our subject, Frank, was the only child 
 by the first wife that grew to maturity; 
 she died in 1871, and was buried in the 
 Catholic cemetery at De Pere. Philip 
 Crabb subsequently remarried, and by 
 that union had two children who lived to 
 adult age, namely: Annie, now Mrs. 
 Peter Pembrook, of De Pere; and Joseph, 
 a farmer of De Pere township. Mr. 
 Crabb died July i, 1879, and was buried 
 in De Pere cemetery; he was a member 
 of the Catholic Church, and a stanch 
 Democrat, though he never took an active 
 part in politics. After his removal to the 
 town of De Pere he carried on a grocery 
 and liquor business in the store room 
 above mentioned, becoming very success- 
 ful and accumulating a snug property. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 185 
 
 Frugality and industry and attention to 
 business were the elements of his success, 
 for his property was made from a start of 
 nothing else. 
 
 Up to the age of live years Frank 
 Crabb lived on a farm in Rockland town- 
 ship, and then came with his parents to 
 De Pere, where he recei\ed his education, 
 attending the "old stone schoolhouse " 
 for several years. When but a boy he 
 commenced to assist his father in the 
 store, where he secured his first business 
 training, and, after the death of the father, 
 continued the business in the same build- 
 ing until 18S2, when he was burned out. 
 In 1885 he rebuilt, erecting a substantial 
 brick business room and residence, where 
 he now conducts one of the best-appointed 
 saloons in De Pere, doing a prosperous 
 business. Mr. Crabb was married in 1880 
 to Miss Allie \'anderhyden, a native of 
 Oconto county. Wis., and a daughter of 
 John Vanderhyden, who is a Hollander 
 by birth. This union was blessed with the 
 following named children: Katie G., 
 Cecelia T., Theresa A., Frank John 
 Joseph (deceased), George A., and Al- 
 goma J. Our subject, like his father, is a 
 stanch member of the Democratic party, 
 but does not mingle in political affairs. 
 In religious faith he is a member of St. 
 Mary's Catholic Church. 
 
 tive of 
 year i ' 
 
 BARNARD FINNEGAN, a self- 
 made prosperous agriculturist and 
 extensive land owner of Holland 
 township. Brown county, is a na- 
 the land of Erin, born about the 
 27 in County Sligo, a son of Patrick 
 and Rose (Flynn) Finnegan. 
 
 Patrick Finnegan was a tenant farmer, 
 and like many others at that time, though 
 hard-working and frugal, found it no easy 
 task to support his family in comfort. He 
 had six children — one daughter, Winnie, 
 who died young, and five sons, Barnard, 
 Patrick, Thomas, John and Eugene, of 
 whom but two are now living, Barnard 
 and Patrick. The mother of these dying. 
 
 the father subsequently married Miss Mar- 
 garet Kerrigan, with whom he came to 
 the United States in 1846 (leaving his 
 sons in Ireland), and made his home in 
 Montgomery county, N. Y. Barnard 
 Finnegan received a somewhat limited 
 common-school education, for, being the 
 eldest son, he commenced work at the 
 early age of eleven years. After his father 
 left Ireland Barnard supported himself by 
 farm labor until the fall of 1847, when 
 his father provided him and his brother 
 Thomas with means to emigrate. The 
 two young men proceeded to Liverpool, 
 where they took passage on a sailing ves- 
 sel bound for America, and, landing after 
 a four-weeks' voyage, immediately joined 
 their father in Montgomery county, N. Y. 
 Here Barnard found employment as a 
 farm hand, and was also employed as 
 section laborer on the New York Central 
 railroad between Utica and Albany, con- 
 tinuing in this some years. Thomas Fin- 
 negan died in Montgomery county, where 
 he was buried, and in the spring of 1853 
 Mr. and Mrs. Finnegan and Barnard con- 
 cluded to migrate to Wisconsin, attracted 
 undoubtedly by the cheapness of the land 
 in that then new State. Gathering to- 
 gether their household effects, they set 
 out for what was then the "Far West," 
 going by rail to Buffalo, where they em- 
 barked on the lake steamer "Morton," 
 Capt. Thompson, and landed in Green 
 Bay, Wis., early in June. The father 
 came at once to Kaukauna, but Barnard 
 obtained employment for the summer as 
 deck-hand on the steamer " Moore," ply- 
 ing between Green Bay, Washington Har- 
 bor and Mackinac. In the fall, after navi- 
 gation had closed, our subject rejoined his 
 father at Kaukauna, and here he remained 
 two years in the employ of the Fox River 
 Improvement Co About 1855 he pur- 
 chased eighty acres in section 22, Hol- 
 land township, on which not a single im- 
 provement had been made, and he built 
 the first house on the place, which is yet 
 standing. Here Mr. and Mrs. Finnegan 
 passed their declining days; but Barnard 
 
iS6 
 
 COMMEMORA TIVE BIOGRAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 did not make a permanent home there at 
 first, for it needed money to carry on the 
 farm, and he could at that time earn more 
 at other pursuits. l:)Ut he earnestly set 
 about the task of clearing and improving 
 his farm, and not only accomplished this 
 much, but also added to the place from 
 time to time, now owning 280 acres of ex- 
 cellent land, all of which he has accjuired 
 by industry and honest toil. His sons 
 have been of great assistance to him in 
 the cultivation of this large farm, and to- 
 day they stand among the leading young 
 men in the township. 
 
 On February 19, 1S61, Barnard Fin- 
 negan was united in marriage with Miss 
 Mar_\' Cavney, who was born March 7, 
 1.S43, in County Sligo, Ireland, only 
 daughter of Roger and Julia (McNulty) 
 Cavney. They came to the United States 
 in 1S50, and for several j'ears resided in 
 New York City, where Mrs. Cavney died. 
 In 1858 the father and his daughter Mary 
 came to ^^'isconsin, where he passed the 
 remainder of his days, making his home 
 with his daughter until his death, which 
 occurred March 28, 1877. 
 
 After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Finne- 
 gan took up their residence on the farm, 
 where they have since continued to make 
 their home. Their union has been 
 blessed with eight children, a brief rec- 
 ord of whom is as follows : Rosa, died 
 at the age of three years. Patrick, died 
 at the age of fifteen years and nine 
 months. JohnC, born July 10, 1867, 
 received an education at the common 
 schools of the home neighborhood, sub- 
 sequently attended McCunn's Business 
 College in Green Bay for a year, and 
 taught school in Brown county seven 
 years; he is a stanch Democrat, a local 
 leader in the part\', and in 1893 was 
 elected township clerk; at present he is a 
 notary public; he married Odell Savageau 
 November 7, 1894, and li\es in a fine 
 residence on his farm in Holland town- 
 ship, Brown county. Michael J., born 
 August 28, 1869, graduated from the 
 Green Bay Business College, and for the 
 
 past six years has been employed by the 
 Metropolitan Lumber Company, of Dick- 
 inson county, Mich., as bookkeeper. 
 Eddie B., born January 23, 1872, also 
 took a course in the Green Bay Business 
 College; he resides at home. Charles 
 T. , born November i, 1874, lives at 
 home. Frank died when two years and 
 seven months old. Mamie E., born 
 January 11, 1883. is living at home. In 
 religious connection the family are all 
 members of St. I'rancis Church, Holland 
 township. Politically Mr. Finnegan is an 
 ardent adherent of the principles of the 
 Democratic party, but, though interested 
 in its welfare, is not active in party affairs. 
 
 M 
 
 ANUEL BRUNETTE, proprie- 
 tor of the Duck Creek Stone 
 (Hiarry, \'elp. Brown county, is 
 one of the prominent self-made 
 men of northeastern Wisconsin, where he 
 is widely and favorably known. 
 
 He was born June 5, 1842, in Green 
 Bay, son of Dominick and Louisa (Bru- 
 nette) Brunette, the former of whom was 
 born in Green Bay in 181 2, and for many 
 years was a jobber in logs, lumber, etc. ; 
 he is now retired from business, residing 
 on a farm in Brown county owned by 
 our subject. Mrs. Louisa Brunette was 
 born in Lower Canada, and died in How- 
 ard township. Brown county, at the age 
 of sixt}-six years, the mother of fourteen 
 children, of whom but five are now living. 
 Manuel Brunette's paternal grandfather, 
 Dominick Brunette, Sr. . was born in 
 Little Moscow, Canada, and in 1796 came 
 to Green Bay with a party in bark canoes, 
 being among the first to visit the; shores 
 and settle here. On entering the bay, at 
 that point known as " Death's Door," the 
 party was dashed against an island, and 
 the canoes wrecked, but they succeeded 
 in repairing them with birch bark, and 
 then made their way along the east 
 shore to what is now the city of Green 
 Bay, at that time only a fur-trading post. 
 Here for some years Dominick Brunette 
 
COMMKMORAriVK BIOaiiAPHWAL UECORD. 
 
 1S9 
 
 eiifi^aged in fur trading', and then marired 
 a Miss Grignon, through whom he in- 
 herited part of an old French claim. 
 This led him to adopt farming, a voca- 
 tion he followed the remainder of his days, 
 dying in 1862 at the age of seventy-eight 
 years; his wife also lived to an advanced 
 age. He had reared his son Dominick to 
 a life of usefulness and hardihood, a train- 
 ing which fully qualified him for the 
 dangers incident to those early times, and 
 he took an active part as a home guard in 
 defense of the settlers during the Indian 
 war against the depredations and attack 
 of the Redskins, as well as in the more 
 peaceful but equally hazardous undertak- 
 ing of acting as one of the party who sur- 
 veyed the military road running from 
 Green Bay to Prairie Du Chien. 
 
 Manuel Brunette was reared to the 
 practical pursuits of agriculture as well as 
 to those of life in the woods. On com- 
 mencing life for himself he first hired out 
 by the day or month either at logging or 
 farming, also as a shingle sawyer, and 
 from these crude beginnings has accumu- 
 lated his present fortune. He was vir- 
 tually at home during his "jobbing out" 
 experience, until his marriage to Miss 
 Teressa Walker, a native of Lockport, 
 N. Y. , which event occurred April 2 1 , 
 1867; their union has been blessed with 
 fourteen children, ten of whom are yet 
 living, as follows: Mary L., Sarah, Lemuel, 
 Margaret, Roland, Manuel, Abbie, 
 Robert, Norine and James. Of these the 
 second daughter, Sarah, is the wife of 
 Albert Strasburger, superintendent of 
 schools of Sheboygan county, Wisconsin. 
 
 Mrs. Teressa Brunette is a daughter 
 of James and Sarah (Welch) Walker, the 
 former of whom was born in Tullamore, 
 King's county, Ireland, May 3, 18 14, and 
 was about eleven years old when he came 
 to America with his sister and settled in 
 New Brunswick. There he at once shif:)ped 
 as a cabin boy, sailing between Que- 
 bec and Chatham, a vocation he followed 
 until he reached the age of twenty, when 
 
 he went to Pennsyhania, working in a 
 11 
 
 stone quarry until 1839, in which year he 
 moved to Lockport, N. Y. He was there 
 married, in 1840, to Miss Sarah Welch, 
 and resided there until 1849, when he set 
 out for Wisconsin, traveling via canal to 
 Buffalo, and thence by steamer "A. D. 
 Patchen" to Milwaukee, where he passed 
 the greater part of the summer. Coming 
 thence to Green Bay, he settled finally 
 at Velp, Brown countj', where he cleared 
 forty acres of land, and made a perma- 
 nent home, residing there until his death, 
 which occurred in November, 1892. In 
 1872 he opened a general store, and for 
 fourteen years served as postmaster at 
 Velp. In politics he was first an Aboli- 
 tionist, later a Democrat. He was the 
 father of ten children, of whom four sons 
 and three daughters survive. Mr. Walker 
 was a great traveler in his day, and vis- 
 ited nearly every stone quarry in the 
 United States; he was a great reader, and 
 a most enterprising and progressive man 
 in every way, having assisted in construct- 
 ing the first threshing machine in the 
 country; put in the first blast in the Erie 
 canal near Lockport, N. Y. , and was one 
 of the first passengers to cross the Alle- 
 ghany Mountains on a railroad. Having 
 been educated in the common schools, he 
 knew their value, and, in company with 
 David Cormier and Charles W. Athey, 
 organized the first school in Howard 
 township, against strong opposition on 
 account of the cost. He was always active 
 in public affairs, and was highly honored 
 in this section of the county. Mrs. Sarah 
 (Welch) Walker was born March 4, 1826, 
 daughter of Thomas and Mary (Nichols) 
 Welch, natives of Limerick, Ireland, who 
 landed in Toronto, Canada, the year Mrs. 
 Walker was born. 
 
 After his marriage Manuel Brunette 
 settled on a single acre of land he had 
 previously purchased with money earned 
 by hard daily labor, and built a small 
 frame house, 20x26, thereon. With no 
 capital, save good health and determina- 
 tion, he, for sixteen years, followed boat- 
 ing, and hauling lumber, shingles, etc., 
 
190 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGHAPIIWAL liECORD. 
 
 by frugality and attention to business 
 managing to accumulate some cash cap- 
 ital. In 1873 he bought the Duck Creek 
 Stone yuarry, the business which chiefly 
 engages his attention at present, but in 
 the meantime had purchased various tracts 
 of farming lands, to the cultivation of 
 which he has given his personal super- 
 vision, and is now not only recognized as 
 one of the most progressive farmers of 
 Brown county, but as a thoroughly sub- 
 stantial business man. The Duck Creek 
 Quarry stone is described to be the most 
 substantial for sub-structure in the North- 
 west, and is so acknowledged. The es- 
 tablishment supplies engine beds, fur- 
 nishes cut and dimension stone to order, 
 and has a steam barge to deliver orders 
 wherever practicable. It runs steam 
 drills, a channeling machine and polish- 
 ing machines, giving constant employ- 
 ment to about fifty men, and is yearly 
 extending its trade. Many of the finest 
 buildings in the Northwest are constructed 
 from the product of this quarry, and Mr. 
 Brunette deserves great credit for placing 
 the valuable material before builders and 
 architects of the country. 
 
 In politics our subject is a Democrat, 
 and cast his first Presidential vote for 
 George B. McClellan. He has served 
 his fellow citizens fifteen years as super- 
 visor, for several terms as member of the 
 Brown county board, and in other local 
 offices, in every one of which he has 
 given the utmost satisfaction. He is the 
 present treasurer of the school board, and 
 has been postmaster of Velp since Grover 
 Cleveland's first administration, with his 
 daughter Margaret as assistant. Mr. 
 Brunette and family are members of the 
 Catholic Church, toward the support of 
 which be has contributed generously, as 
 well as to the building up of other 
 churches and schools. In fact, he is 
 active and liberal in all public under- 
 takings. Mr. Brunette is self-educated, 
 and has been the sole architect of his 
 fortune. His reading is of a most exten- 
 sive character, including ancient and 
 
 modern history, politics and current litera- 
 ture. He is wise in counsel, and is much 
 sought after l)oth by business and profes- 
 sional men for advice, and few men are 
 more highly respected in I^rown county. 
 Of such men the State of Wisconsin is 
 justly proud, as such lives are a living 
 example to the new generation. 
 
 WILL.\KD E. BURDEAU, of 
 l''lint\ille. Brown county, was 
 born December i, 1859, in 
 Clinton county, Nc Y. His 
 grandparents, Jacob and Fannie Burdeau, 
 were born near Montreal, Canada, and 
 came to tlie Uniteti States about 181 2, 
 locating near LakeChamplain, in Clinton 
 county, N. Y. ; later moved to a farm at 
 Chazy, Clinton county, thence to Woods 
 Falls, N. Y., finall)- returning to Dtner, 
 Canada, where they died at an advanced 
 age. They had a family of thirteen chil- 
 dren, among whom was Isaac, the father 
 of our subject. 
 
 Isaac Burdeau was born May 8, 1831. 
 in the village of Champlain, Clinton Co., 
 N. Y. , was reared a farmer, and was mar- 
 ried December 31, 1853, to Miss Mary A. 
 Cook, who was born in Clinton county, N. 
 Y. , October 8, 1837, a daughter of John 
 and Ann Cook. Isaac Burdeau followed 
 farming in his native county until 1 866, 
 when he brought his famil}' to Brown 
 coimty. Wis., and bought a farm near 
 where his son Willard E. now lives, re- 
 siding thereon until his death, which oc- 
 curred January 13, 1894. He was one of 
 the best known and most highly respected 
 business men of the county, and an old- 
 time and influential Democrat. There 
 were six children in his family, one of 
 whom died at the age of thirty-four years, 
 leaving a family of eight children. 
 
 Willard E. Burdeau, at twenty-one 
 years of age, left the home farm for Lake 
 Superior, where, for two years, he was 
 foreman for a large sawmill firm; then re- 
 turned home, and for the next two years 
 followed logging, working hard and mak- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE JJluaiiAl'lllCAL liECOIW. 
 
 191 
 
 ing money. On May 8, 1884, he married 
 Miss Sarah A. Phillips, a native of 
 Suamico township, born July 6, 1863, 
 and this happy union has been blessed 
 with four children, as follows: Alma E. , 
 born February 18, 1886; Earl W. , born 
 February 21, 1888; Leo A., born October 
 5, 1891, and Flora, born March 16, 1893. 
 After his marriaf^e Mr. Burdeau carried 
 on a farm until 1892, when he bouf^ht a 
 general store, to which, in 1 894, he add- 
 ed a large stock of farm machinery, in- 
 cluding binders and mowers, besides 
 wagons and buggies, in all of which he has 
 made a success. He is a member of the 
 Democratic party, and September 30, 
 1893, was appointed postmaster. He 
 has served as supervisor and road over- 
 seer, and for one year as chairman of the 
 town board; he has also been a school of- 
 ficer for several years. He and his wife 
 are members of the Catholic Church. 
 
 Mrs. Sarah A. Burdeau is a daughter 
 of George Phillips, whose parents, Daniel 
 and Nancy (Hughes) Phillips, were natives 
 of County Down, Ireland, where George 
 was born, in August, 1820, one of ten 
 children. George came to America in 
 1854, landing in Canada, where he lived 
 fourteen months, and then went to 
 Whitehall, and later to Clinton, N. Y., 
 thence to Syracuse, same State. While 
 there he married Miss Sarah Quinn, who 
 was one of a family of seven children, also 
 born in County Down; her mother was a 
 daughter of John and Sarah Sloan. To 
 George and Sarah (Quinn) Phillips were 
 born five children, and the family came 
 to Wisconsin about the year 1856, but 
 three years later returned to New York, 
 where they remained one year. At the 
 end of that time they came back to Wis- 
 consin, locating in Door county, but 
 about 1 860 settled in Suamico township. 
 Brown county, where they now reside, 
 being among its most honored citizens. 
 
 Willard E. Burdeau has led a very 
 active and industrious life, and has made 
 his fortune solely through his personal 
 exertions. He is recognized by his 
 
 neighbors as a man of enterprise, ever 
 ready to promote all projects designed 
 for the public good; and his fellow citizens 
 have never hesitated to call upon his ser- 
 vices when in need of a faithful and reli- 
 able e.xecutorof a public trust. His social 
 standing is with the best people in the 
 community, and his business integrity has 
 ever been without reproach. 
 
 FI^ANZ LIEBMANN, a typical 
 self-made, industrious farmer, and 
 one of the leading, highly respected 
 citizens of Preble township, lirown 
 county, is a native of Schwarzburg-Kudol- 
 stadt, Germany, born June 27, 1824, in 
 the village of Lichte, by Koenigsee. His 
 father. Christian M. Liebmann, was a na- 
 tive of the same place, and by occupa- 
 tion was a farmer. 
 
 Franz Liebmann was educated in the 
 common schools of his place of birth. 
 When thirteen years old he commenced 
 to learn the trade of potter, at which he 
 served an apprenticeship of three years, 
 and then followed same as journeyman in 
 various parts of Germany, giving his 
 father part of his earnings before he be- 
 came of age. In the spring of 1851, con- 
 cluding he could l)etter his condition by 
 coming to the United States, he bade 
 adieu to his home and friends and sailed 
 from Hamburg on the vessel ' ' Germany. " 
 Reaching New York after an ocean voy- 
 age of five or six weeks, he proceeded 
 thence by boat to Albany, and from there 
 by rail to Buffalo, where he took the lake 
 boat to Sheboygan, Wis. From the 
 latter place he came to Green Bay, where 
 several families from his home neighbor- 
 hood had settled. Mr. Liebmann's first 
 employment in the New World was mak- 
 ing ditches, at which he continued one year, 
 and then spent three months at his trade, 
 conducting the pottery business on a small 
 scale in Green Bay, where he was the 
 first in that line. After a time his health 
 became poor, and, on his recovery, he 
 went to Menasha, Wis., and worked for 
 
192 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Batchelder in the pottery in that 
 town for about six months. Then, join- 
 ing his father and brother Louis, who had 
 followed him to the United States, he 
 went to Washington Harbor, Wis., where 
 they engaged in the fishery business, and 
 prospered. I^ut here he was again taken 
 sick, and he left the place one hundred 
 dollars in debt. Coming to Green Bay, 
 he worked in sawmills for Robinson, 
 Howe, Tyler, and others, was then for 
 some time employed in Bellevue town- 
 ship, and finally, in November, 1859, 
 came to his present farm, having sold his 
 house and lot in Green Bay. 
 
 On October 31, 1858, Mr. Liebmann 
 was married, in Green Bay. to Enistina 
 Meister, who came from Germany about 
 1853, and children as follows were born 
 to their union: Ernst, a farmer of Preble 
 township, born October 19, 1859, who 
 was married October 26, 1886, to Hannah 
 Jobelius, and has had two children: Nellie 
 (deceased) and Laura (he is a Republican 
 in political connection, a leader in the 
 party in his township, and has served as 
 chairman of the board, supervisor, and 
 for three years as assessor, still holding 
 the latter office); Edwin, a saloon keeper 
 in Preble; Fred, at home; Louisa, widow 
 of Charles Wallman, of Peshtigo, Wis. , 
 and Caroline, Mrs. Hubbard Basten, of 
 Preble. Mr. Liebmann first purchased a 
 tract of twenty acres, and now owns 120 
 acres of excellent farming land, the culti- 
 vation of which is now carried on by his 
 sons. In January, 1865, he was drafted 
 into Company B, Fourteenth Regiment 
 Wis. V. I., was first sent to Vicksburg, 
 and was present at the fall of Spanish 
 Fort, this being his first battle; they then 
 commenced the march toward Montgom- 
 ery, and we cii route at the time of Lee's 
 surrender. Mr. Liebmann was mustered 
 out at Mobile, and received his discharge 
 ■October 9, 1865, at Madison, Wis., com- 
 ing home at once; but after his return he 
 had an attack of fever and ague, also rheu- 
 matism (which still troubles him), being 
 «ick for two years as a result of exposure. 
 
 Our subject has followed farming for 
 thirty-five years, and from a start of forty 
 dollars, the amount he had when he 
 landed in Green Bay, he has accumulated 
 a very comfortable property, the result of 
 years of hard work and econom\'. Atone 
 time, while working at day labor, money 
 was so scarce that he was obliged to take 
 his pay in "shin plasters" (this was in 
 1856-57). But he struggled along, year 
 by year impro\ing his circumstances, till 
 he now stands among the most successful 
 farmers of his section. In politics he has 
 been a Republican since 1 860, and is a 
 stanch supporter of the principles of his 
 party. He has held various offices in his 
 township, and served for some time as 
 clerk of the school board, then as chair- 
 man of same for six years, discharging 
 his duties with credit to himself and satis- 
 faction to all. During his younger days 
 Mr. Liebmann was a most indefatigable 
 worker, and he has attended to the clear- 
 ing of his entire farm, seeing the dense 
 forest, once inhabited by wild animals, 
 supplanted by fertile fields, representing 
 many years of unrelenting toil. He and 
 his family are highly esteemed, and he is 
 known to be honest and straightforward 
 in all his dealings with his fellowmen. 
 Socially he is a member of Hermann 
 Lodge, No. Ill, I. O. O. F., of T. O. 
 Howe Post, No. 124, G. A. R., and of 
 the Germania Benevolent Society. 
 
 JOHN D. ES^fANN, an industrious 
 well-to-do farmer of New Denmark 
 township. Brown county, is a native 
 of Germany, born September 9, 
 1823, a son of Herman H. and Margaret 
 (Schlake) Esmann, who had a family of 
 seven children, namely: John D., Anna, 
 Gesche, Fritz, Meta, Henry, and Ber- 
 nend. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 the common schools of his native land, 
 and learned the mason's trade under his 
 father, following same constantly in his 
 native countrj-. In 1852 he was married 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '93 
 
 in Germany to Miss Adelaide Meise- 
 gades, and, in 1861, they emigrated to 
 America, landing in New York City, thence 
 immediately coming westward to New 
 Denmark township, Brown Co., Wis. 
 Here Mr. Esmann purchased eighty acres 
 of wild land, which, by hard labor and 
 shrewd financiering, he has converted 
 into a highly cultivated improved farm, 
 where he is ruccessfully engaged in general 
 agriculture. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Esmann were born 
 four children, as follows: Meta, Henry 
 (deceased), Gesene, and Fritz, the latter 
 remaining on the home farm with his 
 father, their mother having died in 18S3. 
 She was a member of the Lutheran 
 Church, as is also Mr. Esmann. In his 
 political preferences' he is a Republican. 
 
 LORENZ HEIM, one of the thrifty 
 industrious German farmers of 
 Scott township, I^rown county, is 
 a native of the Fatherland, born 
 February 28, 1831, son of Martin Heim. 
 In the fall of 1846 the latter, with his 
 family of three sons and two daughters, 
 immigrated to the United States, and com- 
 ing directly to Wisconsin, made a settle- 
 ment in Brown county. In Green Bay 
 township, which then comprised what is 
 now four townships, he purchased a tract 
 of eighty acres of new land, covered with 
 timber and brush, and on this farm he and 
 his wife passed the remainder of their 
 days, he dying in 1872, she in 1878. 
 
 Lorenz Heim was fifteen years of age 
 when he came with his parents to Amer- 
 ica, prior to which he had received his 
 education in the common schools of his 
 native land. He secured work in Green 
 Bay, for four years doing chores around 
 the old " Astor House," for which work 
 he received eleven dollars per month, his 
 earnings all going to assist his parents to 
 pay for their new home; subsequently he 
 worked two years at another hotel in the 
 same capacity. On November 26, 1855, 
 Mr. Heim was married at New Franken, 
 
 Brown county, to Miss Barbara Bidde- 
 john, who was born in Belgium, March 
 22, 1830, and came to America in 1855. 
 To this union have been born seventeen 
 children, of whom Mary is the wife of 
 Joseph Ryder, of Menominee, Mich. ; 
 Catherine is married to Andrew Simons; 
 Frona lives at home; Andrew is a resident 
 of Marinette, Wis. ; Louis is living at 
 home; Agnes is the wife of Peter Becker, 
 of Michigan; Lena, Hobart, Caroline, 
 John, and Joseph all live at home; the 
 others died in infancy. 
 
 At the time of his marriage Mr.' Heim 
 had purchased a tract of new, uncleared 
 land, for which he went into debt, and 
 this he has since cleared and improved, 
 now owning 160 acres of prime farm 
 land. He is one of the self-made men of 
 his section, and is everywhere respected 
 for his industry and honest, straightfor- 
 ward methods in dealing with his fellow- 
 men. In 1865 he was drafted into the 
 army, but hired a substitute whom he 
 paid $800. In politics Mr. Heim is a 
 stanch Democrat, and, though not particu- 
 larly active in politics and no office- 
 seeker, has served four years as super- 
 visor of his township. The entire family 
 belong to the Catholic Church. 
 
 ARCHIE LYNN GOWEY, plumber 
 at De Pere, was .born in Spring 
 Vale, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., 
 May 29, 1854, and is a son of 
 John H. and Jane (Parish) Gowey, na- 
 tives, respectively, of Poultney, Vt., and 
 of the village of Askron, England. John 
 Gowey was engaged in farming at Spring 
 Vale, also carried on a lumber business 
 at Fond du Lac for many years, and there 
 built the Moore & Galloway mill. In 
 1866-67 he was engaged in the milling 
 and lumber business at De Pere, but 
 afterward moved to Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 Co., Wis., where he died; he was buried 
 at Neenah, same county. His widow 
 still resides at De Pere. 
 
 Archie L. Gowey was educated in the 
 
194 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 schools of De Pere, and when seventeen 
 years of age went to Oconto, Wis., and 
 was there engaged in scaling lumber for 
 the Oconto Company, and for England, 
 Taylor & Company. About 1871 he 
 opened a grocery and general store at 
 Oshkosh, Wis., carried it on about two 
 years, and then engaged in farming near 
 De Pere until 1877. In 1882 he entered 
 upon his present plumbing and heating 
 business in De Pere. Mr. Govvey was 
 most happily married, in 1876, to Miss 
 Carrie Lawton, a daughter of Joseph G. 
 LawtoTi, and this union has been blessed 
 with the birth of six children, as follows: 
 Archie L. , Leila C, Paul E. and Pauline 
 E. (twins), Ella V. and Clarence P. Mr. 
 Gowey is a member of the Knights of 
 Pythias, Lodge No. 107, of De Pere. In 
 politics he is a Republican, and he and 
 his wife are members of the Episcopal 
 Church. Socially the family hold an 
 enviable position. 
 
 M 
 
 ARTIN VER STRATEN,one of 
 the prosperous self-made agri- 
 culturists of the township of De- 
 Pere, is a native of North Bra- 
 bant, Holland, born July 25, 1836, son 
 of George and Delia Ver Straten, the 
 former of whom was a farmer in but or- 
 dinary circumstances. He had a family 
 of eight children (three of whom lived to 
 adult age), of whom John and Martin 
 (twins) were the eldest. 
 
 Martin Ver Straten attended school 
 until he was twelve years of age, and then 
 commenced to work at farm labor, first 
 for his father, and later for others. He 
 supported his parents until they died, and 
 then he and his brother took care of their 
 younger sister, who was then seven years 
 old. In 1865 his brother John immi- 
 grated to the United States, settling in 
 Brown county. Wis., and, having ac- 
 quainted Martin with the superior advan- 
 tages for advancement offered in the New 
 World, our subject concluded to follow. 
 Accordingly, in the spring of 1866, he 
 
 bid adieu to his home and friends, and 
 proceeded from Rotterdam to Hull, Eng- 
 land, thence to Liverpool, where he 
 took passage in a vessel bound for New 
 York, arriving in the latter city after a 
 vo3age of eleven days. He was accom- 
 panied by Miss Anna Van Den, his 
 brother's fiancee, and they proceeded 
 directly from New York to Little Chute, 
 Brown Co., Wis., where they found John 
 awaiting his bride. Martin Ver Straten 
 worked as a farm hand for five or six 
 weeks after his arrival, and then came to 
 De Pere township, where he found em- 
 ployment in a sawmill, and later on a 
 boat. His first day's work in this town- 
 ship was for John Coenen, and shortly 
 afterward he and his brother purchased, 
 in partnership, fort}' acres of partly- 
 cleared land, which he still owns, on 
 which stood a small log house. In 
 the fall of 1869 he returned to his 
 birthplace, and, in the spring of 1870, 
 was there married to Miss Gertrude Van- 
 derwise, a native of the same locality, 
 immediately after which event the young 
 couple set sail from Rotterdam, landing, 
 after a voyage of thirteen days, at Port- 
 land, Maine. From that city they came 
 over the Grand Trunk railroad to Chi- 
 cago, and thence to the home in Brown 
 county. Wis. In the fall of 1868 he had 
 purchased the interest of his brother John 
 in the tract of forty acres, and he and his 
 wife lived there in the log house until it 
 was destroyed by fire and replaced by a 
 better one. This was the home of the 
 family until 1885, when the present sub- 
 stantial residence was erected. To Mar- 
 tin and Gertrude Ver Straten were born 
 six children, as follows: George, Leon- 
 ard, Annie, and Henry, living, and two 
 that died young. The mother of these 
 died in 1882, and was buried in the St. 
 Mary's cemetery, at De Pere, and for his 
 second wife Mr. Ver Straten married, in 
 1885, Mrs. Catherine Smit, widow of 
 Alexander Smit. She was born in Ba- 
 varia, Germany, daughter of John Burk, 
 and came to the United States with her 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 195 
 
 parents when five years old. Her father 
 had emigrated three years before and lo- 
 cated in New York, remaining there until 
 he saved enough to bring his family and 
 two sisters from the old country. Later 
 they removed west to Waukesha, Wis. , 
 and still later came to Brown county. 
 
 Mr. Ver Straten now has a well cul- 
 tivated farm of 1 30 acres, which repre- 
 sents years of hard, untiring toil and 
 economy. He is a self-made man in 
 every respect, having, from a start of 
 nothing, accumulated a comfortable prop- 
 erty and a snug income, his success being 
 the direct result of his own individual 
 labor. He is highly respected in his town- 
 ship, where he has been elected to various 
 offices of trust, serving as supervisor four 
 terms with satisfaction to all, and he is 
 now clerk of the school board. In his 
 political preferences he is a Democrat; in 
 religious faith he and his wife are mem- 
 bers of St. Mary's Catholic Church, De- 
 Pere. When he was nineteen years old 
 he was called to serve in the Dutch army 
 five years, by Wilhelm III, King of the 
 Netherlands, but at the end of one year's 
 service he was allowed to return to his 
 home by consent of the King. 
 
 JOHN VER STRATEN, who, during 
 his lifetime, was one of the best- 
 known farmer citizens of De Pere 
 township. Brown county, was a na- 
 tive of Holland, born July 25, 1836, in 
 the Province of North Brabant. He was 
 a son of George Ver Straten, a farmer, 
 and a twin brother of Martin Ver Straten, 
 a sketch of whom precedes this. 
 
 John Ver Straten lived in his native 
 country, doing farm work until he was 
 twenty-nine years old. He then concluded 
 to try his fortune in the United States, 
 and in 1865 set sail from Antwerp, taking 
 passage in the "Agnace." During the 
 first day of the voyage cholera broke out 
 on board, and the vessel put back to port, 
 where a fort was converted into a pest- 
 house; the vessel started again after a few 
 
 days, but three hundred of the seven 
 hundred passengers died of the disease. 
 Immediately after landing Mr. Ver Straten 
 came to Brown county. Wis., and for 
 one year worked on a farm. In April, 
 1866, he was married, in Little Chute, to 
 Miss Anna Van Den, who was born Sep- 
 tember I, 1838, in Holland, daughter of 
 Martin and Delia Van Den, and came to 
 the United States in 1866 with Martin 
 Ver Straten, brother of her late husband. 
 Immediately after their marriage the 
 young couple took up their residence with 
 a farmer in Holland township. Brown 
 county, where they remained one year; 
 but, being anxious to have a home of their 
 own, they, in 1867, purchased private 
 claim No. 39, a farm of forty acres, for 
 the payment of part of which they were 
 obliged to go into debt. A small log 
 house was the only building on this land, 
 fifteen acres of which was cleared, and 
 here they resided one year, and then for 
 three years lived on a rented farm along 
 the Dickinson road, his brother Martin 
 locating on the farm they had left. In 
 the spring of 1873 they came to the 
 farm in De Pere township where the 
 family still make their home, and here 
 Mr. Ver Straten passed the remainder of 
 his life. The year before -they had pur- 
 chased forty acres, private claim No. 38, 
 where they now live, but a small portion 
 of which tract had then been cleared, and 
 on which there was not even a dwelling; 
 but a rude house was soon erected, which 
 served as a shelter for the family until 
 their present substantial home was built. 
 Mr. Ver Straten died on this farm May 
 14, 1885, leaving a family of eight chil- 
 dren to be provided for, and a home 
 encumbered with an indebtedness of seven 
 hundred dollars. However, by working 
 together and practicing thrift and strict 
 economy, the family have paid off every 
 cent of the debt, and they now have a fine 
 farm of one hundred acres, equipped 
 with good out-buildings and a comfortable 
 residence. The children are as follows: 
 George, Henry, Martin, Delia, John, 
 
196 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mary, Ellen, and Peter, all living; one 
 child, Nellie, died in infancy. The sons 
 are all hard working men, and have nobly 
 assisted their mother in paying for the 
 home. George met with a very serious 
 accident in August, 1894, whereby he 
 lost an arm. It appears that on the 25th 
 of that month, while he was operating the 
 threshing machine at the home of his 
 mother fan occupation he had been ac- 
 customed to for the past eight years), he 
 unfortunately got his arm entangled in the 
 pulley through which the belt ran, and it 
 was terribl}' torn, the bone being broken 
 as well. The doctors who attended him 
 set the bone and did all they could to save 
 the arm, but three days afterward the 
 patient was sent to the hospital at Green 
 Bay, where it was found necessary to 
 amputate the arm above the elbow. He 
 is now working his mother's farm. Mrs. 
 Anna Ver Straten is a thrifty economical 
 woman, and has shown no small amount 
 of business ability and sagacit}' in the 
 management of the farm. The entire 
 family are held in the highest esteem in 
 the community in which they reside. Mr. 
 Ver Straten was a genial, sociable man, 
 and he had many friends. He was a 
 member of St. Mary's Catholic Church 
 in De Pere, as is also his widow, and in 
 politics he was a Democrat, though he 
 never took much interest in party affairs, 
 and about fifteen years ago served as 
 assessor three years. 
 
 ARONDOU, a prominent gardener, 
 and now serving his seventh year 
 as supervisor of the First ward, 
 Fort Howard, came to Fort How- 
 ard in 1870, locating where he now lives 
 in 1876, and engaging in gardening. He 
 has an excellent farm of thirty acres, all 
 inside the city limits, and is in the enjoy- 
 ment of a prosperous business. He built 
 a good barn in 1891, and raises small 
 fruit and vegetables. 
 
 Mr. Rondou, who is a son of John and 
 Catherine (De Vrayj Rondou, was born 
 
 in 1853, in Belgium, where his parents 
 lived and died. He came to Detroit, 
 Mich., in 1868, finding a home with an 
 aunt, and from there removed to Fort 
 Howard. Here he was married, in 1876, 
 to Miss Johanna Carton, a native of Brown 
 county, daughter of Joseph Carton, who 
 was born in Belgium, and coming to this 
 country located in Pittsfield township. 
 Brown Co., Wis., in 1854. Here he 
 married MaryCabesen, and, with his wife, 
 is now living with Mr. Rondou. Nine 
 children came to gladden the home of the 
 Rondous: Joseph, Frank, Anton, Mary, 
 Katie, Nettie, Lizzie (deceased), Fred 
 and Rosa. Mr. Rondou is a Democrat 
 in politics, and the leader of his party in 
 the First ward, of which he has been 
 supervisor since 1887. He has also 
 served as alderman from the same ward. 
 He and his wife are members of St.Willi- 
 brord's Catholic Church, and Mr. Rondou 
 holds membership in the Catholic Order 
 of Foresters, the Catholic Knights of 
 Wisconsin, and St. Joseph Society, of 
 which latter he is treasurer. He is one 
 of the progressive, successful men of Fort 
 Howard, and always active in furthering 
 the best interests of the community in 
 which he resides. 
 
 JD. MORAUX, M. D.. eminent as a 
 physician and surgeon, was born in 
 Green Bay, Wis., his present resi- 
 dence, May 9, 1S64, and is a son of 
 Victor and Mary (Collart) Moraux, both 
 natives of Belgium. 
 
 Ferdinand Moraux, father of Victor, 
 was also a native of Belgium, and came to 
 Brown county. Wis., in quite an early 
 day, bringing his family and locating in 
 Green Bay, where Victor found employ- 
 ment in the grain business as foreman, 
 being employed later by Van Dyke, Burr 
 & Co., then by John Beth, and finally by 
 Weise, Hollman & Co., and here died 
 in January, 1894. Mrs. Mary Moraux, 
 daughter of Desire Collart, Sr. , still re- 
 sides in Green Bay, as does . her father. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWGRAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 '97 
 
 who once operated a stone quarr\' at 
 Duck Creek. To Victor and Mary Moraux 
 were born seven children, as follows: J. 
 D., our subject; Louis, who died of scar- 
 let fever; Louis (II), who was drowned; 
 Mar}-, Felix, Julia and Flora. 
 
 Dr. J. D. Moraux was reared in his 
 native cit\', and, after a proper preliminary 
 education, read medicine with Dr. J. R. 
 Brandt. He then entered the College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons, Chicago, where 
 he graduated in February, 1887, and the 
 same year began practice at Luxembourg, 
 Kewaunee Co., Wis., but, before the close 
 of the year, came to Green Bay, and 
 formed a partnership with Dr. Bartran. 
 After a brief practice in this connecticn he 
 bought out Dr. Dechesne, at Robinson- 
 ville, Brown Co., Wis., but there soon 
 lost everxthing by fire, and returned to 
 Green Bay. The Doctor has always met 
 with the approbation of his fellow-practi- 
 tioners, and has been earnest in his en- 
 deavors to maintain the digiu'ty and coher- 
 ence of the profession. He is a member 
 of the Fox River Valley Medical Society, 
 and once filled the office of vice-president 
 of the Kewaunee County Medical Society, 
 of which, also, he was one of the Censors. 
 He has built up a fine reputation as a 
 physician, and enjoys quite a lucrative 
 patronage for a practitioner of his years. 
 
 Dr. Moraux was married at Green 
 Bay, October i, 1888, to Miss Hettie 
 Schellenbeck, a native of Green Bay and 
 daughter of Jacob and Otilia (Texton) 
 Schellenbeck, who came from Germany 
 to Green Ba}- about the year 1855. 
 Here Jacob Schellenbeck engaged in tan- 
 ning, and later in the leather business; 
 he was a Republican in politics, served as 
 a member of the school board, and died 
 full of honors in July, 1892; his widow is 
 still a resident of Green Bay. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Schellenbeck were born five 
 children, viz. : Emma, who died at two 
 years of age; Emma (2), wife of G. P. 
 Kusterman, of Green Bay; Otto, who was 
 engaged in the drug trade for some j ears, 
 was a K. of P., and died in 1885, at the 
 
 age of twenty-nine years; Ernest, who 
 died when five years old, and Hettie, now 
 the wife of Dr. Moraux. To Dr. and Mrs. 
 Moraux were born two children: Otto 
 Schellenbeck and Hettie, the latter of 
 whom died in infancy. 
 
 Dr. Moraux is a Republican in poli- 
 tics, is a warm supporter of his party, but 
 has never been an office seeker. Being a 
 native of the cit}' he has witnessed much 
 of its progress, and has naturally taken 
 great interest in its advancement, and has 
 willingly lent every aid in his power to- 
 ward that desirable end. 
 
 C.VRL MANTHEY, manufacturer of 
 monuments, headstones and cem- 
 etery work of all description, and 
 dealer in marble, granite, etc., at 
 Green Bay, was born May 11, 1851, at 
 Ccerlin, Province of Pomerania, Prussia, 
 Germany, a son of Johanna Petersohn, 
 and in 1858 was adopted by Hermann 
 and Henrietta Manthey, also natives of 
 the Province of Pomerania, and moved to 
 Stettin, Prussia. The family came to the 
 United States in 1869, and located on 
 Clybourne avenue, Chicago, where they 
 were burned out during the great fire, 
 losing everything. Here the father worked 
 as a laborer until 1874, when he came to 
 Brown county. Wis., and opened up a 
 farm in Morrison township, which he cul- 
 tivated until his death in 1883; the widow- 
 ed mother then returned to Chicago, and 
 now resides on the North side. 
 
 Carl Manthey, the only child, was 
 educated at Stettin, Prussia, and on 
 reaching Chicago began an apprenticeship 
 at his present trade with the Gowen Mar- 
 ble Company of that city. In Morrison, 
 Crown Co., Wis., in 1874, he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Elizabeth Hansch, a native 
 of Prussia, and to this union have been 
 born four .sons, viz : Hermann, in busi- 
 ness with his father; Otto, who works for 
 Joannes Bros. , and Charles and Ervin. In 
 1875 Mr. Manthey worked at his trade in 
 Appleton, Wis., moving from there to 
 
198 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 Oshkosh, thence to Fond du Lac, where 
 he passed four years and, then, in the fall 
 •of 1880, came to Green Bay. About 
 i88i he formed a partnership with G. 
 Kurtz, under the firm name of Kurtz & 
 Manthey, but at the end of one year 
 bought out Mr. Kurtz's interest, and since 
 1882 has been in business for himself. In 
 1892 he erected his present substantial 
 brick office building at No. 132 South 
 Washington street. It is 20 x 50 in dimen- 
 sions, and here he contracts for every va- 
 riety of work in his line, being himself a 
 first-class workman, in the busy season 
 employing six assistants. Mr. Manthej' 
 is a member of the I. O. O. F. , and of 
 the Turnverein, of which latter society he 
 was dramatic manager ten years. He has 
 seen a great many changes take place in 
 Green Bay since coming here, and has al- 
 ways taken a strong interest in the welfare 
 of both county and town. 
 
 THOMAS H. SCANLAN, justice of 
 of the peace and notary public, at 
 West De Pere, Brown county, is 
 a native of Askeaton, County 
 Limerick, Ireland, and was born July 10, 
 1837. His parents, Thomas and Mary 
 (Hanley) Scanlan, who were respectable 
 farming people, both died in Ireland, the 
 latter when our subject was ten years old, 
 the former when the boy was twelve years 
 of age. 
 
 Having received a fair education in 
 the select schools of his native place, our 
 subject followed his father's vocation for 
 several years, and then decided on emi- 
 grating to America. Accordingly, on the 
 5th day of May, 1863, he embarked on a 
 sailing vessel at Liverpool, and, after a 
 voyage of three weeks, landed at New 
 York, whence he went to Philadelphia, 
 where some relatives resided. There he 
 remained until the 1 ith of the following 
 October, at which time he came to Wis- 
 consin, and for awhile stopped at Oconto. 
 On May 5, 1864, he reached De Pere, 
 and for two years lived in East De Pere, 
 
 but on June 8, 1866, he moved into a 
 house that he had built on Oneida street, 
 between p'ourth and Fifth street, in West 
 De Pere, and here has resided ever since. 
 On arriving at De Pere, Mr. Scanlan 
 began work in a sawmill, remaining thus 
 employed for about two years; but No- 
 vember 22, 1866, he entered the employ 
 of the E. E. Bolles Wooden Ware Com- 
 pany as yard foreman, and with this 
 company remained twenty-one years, 
 quitting their employ March 17, 1888. 
 
 While filling this position Mr. Scanlan 
 became quite a favorite with the general 
 public. In 1872 he was elected a mem- 
 ber of the board of trustees of West De- 
 Pere, and for ten years faithfully per- 
 formed the functions of that office; in 
 1883, he was elected treasurer of the city 
 of West De Pere, in which position he 
 gave such satisfaction that he was re- 
 elected in 1884; in 1885 he was nominated 
 for the office of mayor of West De Pere, 
 but being disinclined to run he voted 
 against himself, and having urged his 
 friends to the same course, he was conse- 
 quently defeated; in 1889 he was elected 
 a justice of the peace, an office he has 
 ever since held; in that year was also 
 elected a supervisor, and was appointed 
 city clerk same year by common council; 
 in May, 1891, he was commissioned a 
 notary public, and is still acting in that 
 capacity. It must be here observed, 
 however, that 'Squire Scanlan has been 
 borne into office solely on his own merits 
 and unbounded popularity, and that he 
 never was an office-seeker in the usual 
 acceptation of that term. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Scanlan took 
 place at Philadelphia, October 10, 1863, 
 to Miss Catherin Dowling, and three 
 children were born to this imion, all dying 
 young. Mr. and Mrs. Scanlan, however, 
 have reared to womanhood a niece, Mary 
 Ann Loftus, who was left an orphan at 
 the age of four years, her mother having 
 lost her life by the explosion of a kerosene 
 oil can at her home in Green Bay. Miss 
 Loftus was married to John Hoks, and 
 
COMMEMORATiyK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 99 
 
 became the mother of one child, Patei- 
 nella Hoks, now nine \ears old, who, 
 having lost her parents when young, is 
 being also reared by the 'Squire and his 
 estimable wife. Mr. and Mrs. Scanlan 
 are devout members of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and their quiet and un- 
 assuming lives have won for them the 
 respect of all who know them. 
 
 EUGENE K. ANSORGE. The 
 beautiful land of Bohemia, famed 
 for its picturesque valleys, silvery 
 streams, romantic mountain scenes 
 and its handsome, gay and music-loving 
 people, has sent to our country some of 
 its most industrious, loyal and peaceful 
 citizens, among whom is found, in no small 
 degree of prominence, the gentleman 
 whose name is here recorded. 
 
 Mr. Ansorge was born September 23, 
 1843, in the German village of Christofs- 
 grund, in the northeastern part of 
 Bohemia, a son of Anton and Caroline 
 Ansorge, who, in 1855, with their family 
 of three children (the eldest son, Kilian, 
 serving at that time in the Austrian army, 
 followed in 1866), emigrated to the 
 United States, where, in Manitowoc 
 county, Wis., they cleared up a farm 
 from wild woodland they had bought. 
 Here the mother died in 1867, the father 
 at Green Bay in 1888, aged eighty-si.\ 
 years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was a lad 
 of eleven years when the family came to 
 Wisconsin, and, not having the oppor- 
 tunity to visit a school, he acquired the 
 greater part of his education by self in- 
 struction in reading, etc. Up to the age 
 of twenty-one he worked on his father's 
 farm, learning also the trade of carpenter, 
 at which time, his two-years-older brother 
 returning from the war, he volunteered 
 his services to the Union for the suppres- 
 sion of the Rebellion, by enlisting in 
 Company F, Forty-fifth Wis. V. I. From 
 the commencement of his enlistment he 
 served as sergeant, chiefly in Tennessee, 
 
 and for the most part on camp and train 
 guard duty. In August, same year, the 
 war having closed, he was honorably dis- 
 charged, and came home. A short time 
 afterward he went to Missouri, and for 
 over a year worked at carpentry. In 
 June, 1867, he started as contractor and 
 builder, but being taken sick, had once 
 more, in November of that year, to return 
 to the parental roof. In the following 
 spring, having recovered his health, he 
 resumed his trade as builder at home, 
 continuing it until the ne.xt fall; but such 
 work does not appear to have been the 
 primary and great object of his ambition, 
 and he began to look around him for some 
 occupation more suited to his tastes and 
 inclinations. Determined to try his hand 
 at insurance work, he, in December, 1868, 
 entered the service of the " Dodge County 
 Mutual Insurance Company" as solicitor, 
 and as such traveled on foot over part of 
 Manitowoc county, and near all of Ke- 
 waunee county, in the following April 
 opening an office in Oconto, where for 
 four years he did a thriving business in Fire 
 insurance. During all this time, being a 
 musician of acknowledged merit, playing 
 the violin, he was frequently employed to 
 furnish music for entertainments, etc., 
 and even now, at times, assists at concerts. 
 In March, 1873, he moved to Green Bay, 
 transferring his office in toto, and has 
 since conducted one of the most reliable 
 and flourishing Fire and Life insurance 
 businesses in northern Wisconsin. On No- 
 vember I, 1892, he received into partner- 
 ship E. P. Parish, the firm name being 
 Ansorge & Parish, which still continues. 
 In 1870 Mr. Ansorge was married to 
 Miss Johanna T. Ansorge, and five chil- 
 dren were born to them, namely: Herman 
 and Walter, both deceased, and Clara, 
 Herman and Flora, all three at home. In 
 his political associations our subject is a 
 Republican, and, although no office seeker, 
 has served the city of Green Bay as alder- 
 man. He is a member of the K. of P., 
 Turnverein, German Singing Society, 
 Green Bay Sharpshooters Society, and G. 
 
200 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 A. R. , in all of which he has taken an 
 active interest, and served in various offi- 
 cial capacities. A man of enterprise and 
 integrity, success has crowned his efforts, 
 and he is the owner of considerable 
 amount of real estate. He is now a 
 director of the Citizens National Bank. 
 Although favored with but limited school- 
 ing, as already intimated, Mr. Ansorge 
 has acquired a more than ordinary practi- 
 cal education by extensive reading and 
 close observation of men and things. He 
 is the owner of an excellent library, in 
 which he takes deep interest, realizing 
 full well that books "are a substantial 
 world, both pure and good, round which 
 our pastime and our happiness will grow. " 
 
 AW. JOHNSON, successor to 
 Johnson & Havens, is a highly 
 reputable dealer in marble and 
 granite monuments and tomb- 
 stones, his office being at No. 310 Cherry 
 street. Green Bay, Wisconsin. 
 
 He was born in Black Brook, Clinton 
 Co., N. Y. , in 1854, and is a son of 
 William and Sarah (Belong) Johnson, 
 natives of Essex county, same State. 
 William Johnson was a miller and iron 
 manufacturer at Black Brook, but later 
 moved to Plattsburg, where he was em- 
 ployed by a marble firm. He finally 
 came to Wisconsin, and died at Fort 
 Howard, Brown county, in 1886; his 
 widow now resides in Beekmantown, N. 
 Y. They were the parents of two chil- 
 dren : Ida, wife of A. Rea, of Beekman- 
 town, and A. W. , our subject. The lat- 
 ter was reared, educated and learned 
 marble cutting in Plattsburg, and worked 
 at his trade in Clinton, Essex, Franklin 
 and' St. Lawrence counties, N. Y. , and 
 then came to Wisconsin. He began 
 business in Hilbert Junction, Calumet 
 count}', in 1876, remaining there until the 
 fall of 1 88 1, when, at Fort Howard, he 
 formed a partnership with Mr. Havens. 
 In 1882 the firm came to Green Bay, 
 
 where they continued in partnership un- 
 til February, 1891, when Mr. Johnson 
 bought out the interest of Mr. Havens, 
 and is now building up a fine trade on his 
 own account, employing, on an average, 
 four men. 
 
 .Mr. Johnson was married at Fort 
 Howard, in 1885, to Miss Anna Klauson, 
 a native of that place, and a daughter of 
 Henry and Mary (Hintz) Klauson, the 
 former a native of Holland, the latter of 
 Germany. They were married in Fort 
 Howard, and became the parents of 
 three children, viz. : Catherine, wife of 
 James Faulkner, of Fort Howard; Henry, 
 a painter by trade, who died in 1879, and 
 Anna (Mrs. Johnson). To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Johnson have been born two children, 
 Wallace Rea and May Ida. Politically 
 our subject is a Republican; socially he is 
 a member of Hilbert Lodge, No. 56, I. O. 
 O. F., and of the A. O. U. W. , of Fort 
 Howard. Mrs. Johnson is a devout mem- 
 ber of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. 
 
 ALEXANDER P. SCHMIDT, a 
 prosperous brewer of West De- 
 Pere, is a native of New York 
 State, born in Tonawanda, Erie 
 county, October 3, 1846, a son of Martin 
 and Mary Ann (Nagle) Schmidt. 
 
 Martin Schmidt was born near the 
 city of Sweibrucken, Bavaria, was a shoe- 
 maker, and came to the United States in 
 1832. At Buffalo, N. Y. , he met and 
 married Mary Ann Nagle, a native of 
 Tonawanda, whose father, Antony Nagle, 
 was born in Alsace, but who served in 
 the United States army in the war with 
 Great Britain in 181 2 (for which he re- 
 ceives a small pension); he was killed, at 
 the age of ninety-six years, on the 4th of 
 July, 1S76, by a railway train, being deaf 
 and partially blind from old age. 
 
 Alexander P. Schmidt was educated 
 until eight years of age at the public 
 schools of Tonawanda, when, in 1854, 
 his father moved with his family to Mani- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 20I 
 
 towoc, Wis., where our subject completed 
 his educaticjii. The father purc'hased a 
 farm near the city of Manitowoc, but 
 later engaged in mercantile business, and 
 since Cleveland's first administration has 
 been postmaster at Elverno, Wis., and 
 has also .served, as a Democrat, on the 
 board of supervisors — a portion of the 
 time as its chairman. Mrs. Mary Ann 
 Schmidt died in the town of Manitowoc 
 
 Rapids in 1S55. On June 24, 1864, 
 Ale.Kander P. Schmidt enlisted in the 
 Union army at Buffalo, N. Y., and saw 
 active service in the department of the 
 Mississippi until September, 1865, when 
 he was honorably discharged. After be- 
 ing mustered out he commenced learning 
 the brewing business at Manitowoc, and 
 five years later, in partnership with his 
 father, Martin Schmidt, built a brewery 
 at Silver Lake, Wis., where a profitable 
 business was conducted forsixteen months, 
 at the end of which time our subject 
 moved to Mazo Manie, Dane Co., Wis., 
 and here kept a boarding-house and saloon 
 for a year, after which he settled, in May, 
 1874, in De Pere, Brown county, where 
 he purchased his present site of four lots, 
 erecting a fine residence and brewery and 
 several commodious barns, granaries, etc. 
 Here he turns out about 500 barrels of 
 beer annually, the home trade consuming 
 the entire product. Mr. Schmidt owns 
 one-half of the brewery lands in partner- 
 ship with Pauline Zeller, and also owns a 
 neat farm of ninety-eight acres, of which 
 fifty-eight acres lie within the city limits. 
 In politics Mr. Schmidt is a Demo- 
 crat, and has served as alderman of West 
 De Pere ten or twelve terms at various 
 periods. He is a member of Harrison 
 Post, G. A. R. , at De Pere, is an upright 
 member of the Catholic Church, and en- 
 joys the respect of his fellow citizens. In 
 1872 Mr. Schmidt married Miss Augusta 
 Yaeller, a native of Calumet, Fond du Lac 
 Co., Wis., and of Saxon descent. Five 
 children have been born to this union, as 
 follows: Estella C. S., now filling her 
 fourth term as teacher in the high schools 
 
 of De Pere; Edward A. G., attending 
 the State University at Madison; Laura, 
 attending the Normal School at Milwau- 
 kee; and Myrtle and Richard, at home. 
 
 DAVID ZIMDARS, a respected, 
 self-made agriculturist of Glen- 
 more township, Brown county, 
 was born February 22, 1840, in 
 Germany, son of Joaquim Zimdars, who 
 had a family of eleven children, David 
 being the sixth in the order of birth. 
 
 Our subject received a fair education 
 at the common schools of his nati\e land, 
 but commenced to work at an early age, 
 as his parents were only in moderate cir- 
 cumstances. At the age of twenty he 
 entered the army, and served three years. 
 In 1865 he was married to Miss Minnie 
 Berkenhagen, who was born in Germany 
 in 1842, and shortly afterward the voung 
 couple went to work for a large farmer. 
 The wages were small, but in four years 
 Ihey had managed to save enough to 
 bring them to America, and, with their 
 only child, Hulda, they journeyed to 
 Bremen, where they took passage on the 
 vessel "Ferdinand," landing at Quebec, 
 Canada, after a voyage of eight weeks. 
 At this point their funds were exhausted, 
 but, receiving money from a brother-in- 
 law in Milwaukee to come to that city, 
 Mr. Zimdars took his family thither at 
 once. There they remained for about 
 ten years, during which time he was em- 
 ployed as laborer in the manufactories of 
 the city, and, by economy and thrift, they 
 managed to save a little. In the spring 
 of 1878 they removed to Section 10, 
 Glenmore township. Brown county, where 
 Mr. Zimdars had previously purchased 
 eighty acres of wild land, which had been 
 lumbered over, but was totally unim- 
 proved. He built the first dwelling on 
 the place, and all other improvements 
 thereon have also been made by him, or 
 under his direction; he now has 120 acres, 
 the greater part of which is cleared and 
 under cultivation. Since coming to this 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 farm Mr. Zinidars has done a great deal 
 of hard work, for when he first took up 
 his home here the land was poor, and af- 
 forded but a scanty support, their principal 
 revenue being derived from the sale of 
 timber; and his success, in the face of 
 all difficulties, shows what may be ac- 
 comjilished by industry and honest toil. 
 Though in debt when he landed in the 
 United States, he is to-day one of the 
 well-to-do farmers of his locality. His 
 wife has assisted him nobly in the ac- 
 cumulation of their comfortable property, 
 and they are highly esteemed in the com- 
 munity for their many good qualities; they 
 have a wide circle of friends and acquaint- 
 ances. They are both members of the 
 Lutheran Church. In politics Mr. Zim- 
 dars is a Democrat, but, though interested 
 in the welfare of the party, he is not a 
 strong partisan, in local elections voting 
 for the best man regardless of politics. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Zimdars had but one 
 child, Hulda, who was born in Germany. 
 She was married in Glenmore township, 
 Brown county, to Henry Goethe, a native 
 of southern Germany, and one child, 
 William, was born to this marriage. Mrs. 
 Goethe died September 23, 1889, in Mil- 
 waukee (where she was buried), deeply 
 mourned by her family and friends. 
 
 JOHN MURPHY, widely known and 
 respected in Brown county, and es- 
 pecially in Glenmore township, 
 where he is justly recognized as a 
 public-spirited, progressive citizen, was 
 born April 16, 1850, in Roxbury, Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
 Timothy Murphy, his father, was 
 born in County Cork, Ireland, son of 
 John Murphy, where he received a com- 
 mon-school education, and when a young 
 man, having decided to seek his fortune 
 in the United States, he came to Boston, 
 Mass. In that city he wedded Ellen Ma- 
 honey, also a native of Ireland, and after 
 their marriage they removed to Roxbury, 
 Mass., where two children — Elnora fnow 
 
 a school-teacher of Stephenson, Mich.), 
 and John (our subject) — were born to 
 them. In the fall of 1850 Mr. Murphy, 
 accompanied by his father and his little 
 family, migrated westward to Wisconsin 
 (where a brother had previously located), 
 attracted by the cheap homes to be had. 
 They proceeded to Buffalo, thence to 
 Green Bay, on the steamer "Old Michi- 
 gan," and from there to De Pere, where 
 for a time the family resided. In the 
 same year he purchased 160 acres in 
 Section 23, northwest quarter, Glen- 
 more township, at ten shillings per acre, 
 and immediately commenced the clearing 
 of the land, which was still in its primi- 
 tive condition. He spent some time pre- 
 paring a home for his family, and his 
 route from De Pere to his settlement led 
 through the woods from a point on the 
 Dixon road; no bridges spanned the 
 streams, which had to be forded or crossed 
 by means of some fallen log. The land 
 was heavily timbered, and a space had to 
 be cleared for the log cabin, which stood 
 a short distance southeast of the present 
 residence. Early in 1852 the family re- 
 moved to their pioneer home, and at that 
 day the township was so wild and so 
 sparsely settled that the few families 
 grouped together near Mr. Murphy's 
 cabin. The farm at first afforded no sup- 
 port whatever to the family, and, but for 
 the few dollars he had managed to save, 
 they would even have wanted the neces- 
 saries of life. Such stock as they had 
 they were in constant danger of losing, 
 for the wild beasts, especially wolves, 
 made frequent visits to the farm. But 
 gradually the wild animals disappeared 
 from the vicinity, the forest was sup- 
 planted by beautiful, smiling farms, a 
 great work indeed, and one which in- 
 volved many years of stern toil. Two 
 more children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Murphy on this farm, Cornelius and 
 Mary, both now of Chicago. These old 
 pioneers passed from earth in 1887, Mr. 
 Murphy on June 30, when about seventy- 
 three years of age, his wife on March 4, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 203 
 
 and they now lie buried in Shantytown 
 ceineter\'. They were members of the 
 Catholic Church. In politics he was a 
 stanch Democrat, held many offices of 
 honor and trust in his township, and as- 
 sisted materially in the improvement of 
 his section. 
 
 John Murphy, eldest son of this old 
 pioneer, was but a child when he came 
 with his parents to Glenmore township, 
 and here was reared to manhood. He re- 
 ceived his first schooling in District No. 2, 
 under Maurice Casey, and later attended 
 for about a year in District No. 4, Rock- 
 land township. But, being the eldest son 
 his help was needed on the farm, where 
 he received a thorough training to agri- 
 culture under his father, and during his 
 younger days he also worked at lumber- 
 ing, an occupation then very popular 
 among young men. But with the e.xcep- 
 tion of probably a year, he remained at 
 home. On May 13, 1880, Mr. Murphy 
 was married in De Pere to Miss Johanna 
 Heffernan, a native of Glenmore town- 
 ship, born February 11, i860, daughter 
 of James and Bridget (Leary) Heffernan, 
 who were natives of the Emerald Isle and 
 early settlers of Glenmore township. 
 This union has been blessed with one 
 child, Ellen E., born April 16, 1881. 
 After his marriage our subject settled on 
 the old homestead, where he has ever 
 since resided, principally engaged in gen- 
 eral farming and stock-raising, having 
 eighty acres of excellent land, all under 
 cultivation. In his political preferences 
 Mr. Murphy is a Democrat, and gives 
 that party his unfailing support in State 
 and National elections; but in township 
 and county affairs he selects the best man 
 without much regard for party lines. He 
 has been called upon to fill various local 
 offices of trust; in 1884 he was elected 
 township treasurer, and served continu- 
 ously until 1889; he has been justice of 
 the peace for many years, and in 1894 
 was elected to his present position, chair- 
 man of the township; in every capacity 
 he has proven himself an efficient officer, 
 
 and his service has invariably been marked 
 by a careful, conscientious discharge of 
 his duties, which has never failed to give 
 satisfaction. He gives a ready and willing 
 support to every enterprise of interest or 
 benefit to his township, and his many 
 years of public service have made him 
 well known and influential. In religious 
 connection he and his wife are members 
 of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Glenmore. 
 
 PETER HANSON SCHULTZ, an 
 old settler and prominent citizen 
 of Fort Howard, Brown county, 
 was born in North Schleswig, 
 Denmark, in 1824. His parents, Johan 
 and Christina (Hanson) Schultz, were 
 also natives of Denmark, in which country 
 the former died, his excellent wife, mother I 
 of Peter, came to Brown county, ^^'is. , 
 and settled in the township of New Den- 
 mark, where she died about 1879, aged 
 ninety-three years and four months. She 
 also had two daughters: Christina, wife 
 of Christian Hartz, in Denmark; and 
 Ureka (widow of Hans Nelson), now a 
 resident of New Denmark township. 
 Brown county. 
 
 The son, Peter Hanson Schultz, lived 
 in his native country twenty-six years. 
 He received a good education, and in 
 1848 entered the Danish army, which 
 during that year engaged in its regular 
 drill, and in 1849-50 he saw active ser- 
 vice in a war against the Germans. He 
 learned the trades of carpenter, plasterer, 
 and cabinet-maker while yet a resident of 
 Denmark, and found employment in those 
 lines until he concluded to come to 
 America. In 1852 he set out on the sail- 
 ing vessel "Alter Peter," from Hamburg, 
 landing six weeks later at New York, 
 from which city he proceeded directly to 
 to Fort Howard, Wis., finding employ- 
 ment at the carpenter's trade, which he 
 followed for years. In the course of time 
 he acquired considerable property, and 
 now owns three houses besides the one in 
 which he lives. As a Republican he takes 
 
204 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 a lively interest in political affairs, and 
 was for one year a member of the town 
 ■council. Both he and his wife belong; to 
 the Lutheran Church. 
 
 Mr. Schult2 was married in 1S69, at 
 Fort Howard, to Anna Maria Hanson, 
 daughter of Hans Jorgen and Hannah 
 Alarguerita (Hendrickson) Hanson, all 
 natives of Denmark. The family located 
 in New Denmark township in 1868, set- 
 tling on a farm. The senior Hanson died 
 in 1878; his widow, now over eighty-four 
 years of age, yet resides on the old farm. 
 Their children were: Fredericka, wife of 
 Jens Anderson, of Denmark; Carrie, wife 
 of Jacob Klausen, of New Denmark 
 township; Hans Henry, married and re- 
 siding in the same township; Anna Maria, 
 now Mrs. Schultz; Martha, wife of Hans 
 Rasmussen, of Denmark; Julia, wife of 
 Louie Larsen, of New Denmark, Brown 
 county. When Mr. Schult/ first came to 
 Fort Howard, he settled in what was 
 known as Tanktown, working at the 
 carpenter's trade for Schwarz, Kemnitz 
 & \'oight, and at contracting and building. 
 
 SIMON JONES MURPHY, JR. 
 In the human race there is e\'er 
 progressive change, and it becomes 
 the part of biography, which is 
 the essence of history, to record and ac- 
 celerate it. It shows us how far we have 
 advanced beyond the past, and it treas- 
 ures up the experience of that past for 
 still further advance in the future. 
 
 Without history we would constantly 
 require to begin the march of improve- 
 ment or progress anew, and society would 
 be moving in a narrow ever-returning 
 circle, instead of in one straight and for- 
 ward line. While this is true of history 
 in general, that of ourselves, our relatives, 
 our people — crystallized into the form of 
 biography, whereby are perpetuated the 
 lives of the fittest — has special, even first, 
 claims upon us; and it becomes a duty to 
 Jioth the present and coming generations 
 
 to include in this biographical work 
 records of the lives of such representative 
 men of our time as the gentleman of whom 
 it is our privilege to now write, whose 
 success in business is due to the practical 
 and sensible constitution of his mind, 
 and to the thoroughness of his business 
 training. 
 
 Mr. Murphy is a native of the State 
 of Maine, born March 27, 185 1, in the 
 town of Bradley, a grandson of Charles 
 Murphy, who was born in the Kennebec 
 Valley, in that State, and was a farmer 
 of fair education, possessed withal of 
 strong characteristics. His son, Simon 
 Jones Murphy, Sr. , who is a native of 
 the same locality, born in April, 181 5, 
 was reared by his uncle, George Jones, a 
 farmer on Jones Hill, remaining under his 
 care till he was eighteen years old. At 
 the age of eighteen he left the farm, going 
 to Bangor, on the Penobscot river, where 
 he became a lumberman, exploring the 
 river and its tributaries for lumbering pur- 
 poses. After making himself acquainted 
 with all the details of the business, he 
 embarked in the industry for his own 
 account, and, by energy, sagacity and 
 prudence, became a successful lumber- 
 man. He was a hard worker, but 
 was endowed by nature with a rug- 
 ged and strong constitution that carried 
 him through many severe hardships. In 
 all his ventures he met with success, and 
 is to-day, in his declining years, a typical 
 representative of a New England pioneer 
 lumberman. Soon after getting well 
 started in business he married in the 
 State of Maine, and in 1866 removed to 
 Detroit, Mich., where he has since had 
 his home, although for the past several 
 winters he has li\ed in Los Angeles 
 county, Cal. His wife, Ann Montgomery, 
 was a daughter of Charles M. Dorr, a 
 citizen of prominence in the East, and 
 she was educated in Boston while living 
 with an aunt. Twelve children were 
 born of this union, of whom but six lived 
 to maturity, as follows: Charles E., 
 Simon J. Jr., Albert M., William H., 
 
COMMEMOUATIVE BIOGHAPIIICAL liECORD. 
 
 207 
 
 Anna D., and Frank E. Of these, 
 Sinicjn J. Jr., the subject proper of these 
 lines, received his primary education in 
 Bangor, Maine, finishing at the high 
 school, Detroit, Mich., after which he 
 prepared himself for college, in 1870 
 entering Harx-ard Unix-ersit}', where he 
 graduated in the class of 1873, in the 
 Lawrence Scientific School. The object 
 of his ambition at this time appears to 
 have been railroading, and he was 
 promised a position on the Northern Pa- 
 cific railroad, but the financial crash of 
 that year intervened, frustrating his in- 
 tentions, and he was fain to enter the 
 employ of his father in the lumber busi- 
 ness. In order to become thoroughly 
 acquainted with all the details from the 
 very commencement, he began at the 
 bottom round of the ladder, driving 
 teams, etc., and doing all other offices of 
 the laboring man, in the end thoroughly 
 mastering the business. There is some- 
 thing to admire in the conduct of the 
 young Harvard graduate working in the 
 ranks, as it were, and receiving no ad- 
 vantage over the common laborer. As 
 soon as practicable, he was put in charge 
 of a camp, and, later, he had control of 
 drivers, in a few years becoming a mana- 
 ger in his father's vast lumber business on 
 the Saginaw river, Michigan. In 1878 
 he became also interested in the White 
 Ki\er lumlier operations, controlled by 
 his father, and in 1882 the style of the 
 firm became Crepin, Murphy & Sons. In 
 1883, after the election of officers, our 
 subject became one of the directors, and 
 was made president of the White River 
 Boom Co., remaining as such until 1885, 
 by which time the timber owned by his 
 firm had been all cut. 
 
 In February, 1886, Mr. Murphy came 
 to Green Bay, and at once set to work to 
 build a sawmill at the mouth of Fox river, 
 on what was known as the "Whitney 
 slough," which mill is now one of the 
 largest in northern Wisconsin, its ca- 
 pacity being twenty-five million feet per 
 annum, running daytime onl\-. In Ajiril, 
 
 1886, his brother Frank E. joined him, 
 becoming a partner in the business, and 
 he is a director and secretary-treasurer of 
 the Murphy Lumber Co., their father 
 being president, and their brother Will- 
 iam H. vice-president. From the very 
 commencement this vast industry has 
 been a pronounced success, giving em- 
 ployment to some 250 men in the woods 
 and in the mill, the product of which 
 latter is shipped by water and rail to 
 Chicago, Milwaukee and eastern points. 
 
 On October 17, 1877, ^^r- Murphy 
 was married to Miss Helena Bogardus 
 Piatt, a lady of much refinement, culture 
 and rare grace in entertaining. She is a 
 daughter of James Piatt, of Boston, an 
 Englishman by birth and education; her 
 mother was a Miss Bogardus, of the old 
 Dutch family of that name in New York, 
 who are related to the Van Rensselaers. 
 To this union were born five children, 
 named as follows: Elsie L. , Florence L. , 
 Lorraine A. , Yvonne Dorr, and C. Temple. 
 
 Politically Mr. Murphy is a Republi- 
 can, and, in 1890 and 1894, he was a 
 candidate on that ticket for member of 
 the Assembly from Democratic Brown 
 county, but was defeated by a small ma- 
 jority. Socially he is a member of the 
 F. & A. M., thirty-second degree, A. A. 
 S. Rite, of Tripoli Temple, A. A. O. N. O. 
 M. S., E. C. of Palestine Commandery, 
 No. 20, and Or. J. W. of the Grand 
 Commandery of the State; he is e.xalted 
 ruler of Green Bay Lodge, No. 259, B. 
 P. O. E., and is a member of the Order 
 of Hoo-Hoo. He was president of the 
 Business Association of Green Bay two 
 terms. Since becoming a resident of the 
 city of his adoption Mr. Murph\' has con- 
 spicuously and effectively contributed to 
 its rapid development, and he is justly 
 honored as one of its most useful, most 
 substantial and most enterprising citizens. 
 
 The valuable lessons, a young and 
 thinking generation can glean from such a 
 sterling character as our subject presents, 
 are briefly these: that natural ability with 
 a good education, coupled with tact and 
 
2o8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVK BIOGJtAPIIICAL UECOHD. 
 
 restless enerjjy, are sure roads to success 
 in business, as well as in the social and 
 political fields. Only a man of the right 
 material could readily doff the student's 
 gown for the woodman's jacket, and learn 
 the details of a vast business, and in a 
 short time place himself practically at the 
 head of a vast lumbering' concern, be- 
 sides finding time to look after the in- 
 terest of his city and watch every op- 
 portunity which might bring a benefit to 
 his town and county; and also to be all 
 that a fond father and husband should be 
 to his family in the home where the inner 
 life, which is the real life of any man, is 
 lived. There in the home circle, where 
 presides with tact and grace a true Amer- 
 ican lady, Mr. Mur])hy gains much of that 
 good cheer for which he is so well known, 
 and which is so highly appreciated by his 
 numerous friends. 
 
 Mr. Murphy's \-outh was passed with 
 a keen intelligence and much out-door 
 life that built up a healthy and robust 
 physique, which soon won for him recog- 
 nition and respect at the hands of those 
 with wiiom he was thrown in contact; 
 thus gradually but surely placing him in 
 an enviable position as a prominent citi- 
 zen and business man. 
 
 He is of sanguine tcmj)erament, though 
 cool and deliberate, even when absorbed 
 in the most momentous and intricate 
 business proposition; in fact, he is pos- 
 sessed of what might not improperly be 
 styled a judicial cast of mind, which has en- 
 abled him to conduct and regulate his large 
 business with that perfect order which in- 
 sures success; also to maintain discipline 
 in, and guarantee honest service at the 
 hands of, his small army of employes in 
 the mill or forests, which, through the same 
 potent agency, are kept in perfect accord 
 and under thorough control. 
 
 The casual observer may not always 
 recognize, in his often careless attire and 
 unostentatious mien, the college graduate 
 or polished sj-mpathetic speaker, for as 
 such he is fast beginning to be known in 
 this part of the State, because he is a 
 
 man that hates cant and empty ceremony, 
 and at all times is more than he seems to 
 ajipear. 
 
 ABEL 1). NEWTON (deceased) 
 was, in his lifetime, a conspicuous 
 landmark in the part of the coiui- 
 tr)' in which for so many jears the 
 cheerful ring of his anvil was heard for 
 miles around. He was a native of North 
 Leverett, Franklin Co. , Mass., born Sep- 
 tember 2, 1806, being of the seventh gen- 
 eration from Richard Newton, who came 
 from England to the American Colonies 
 before 1640, the heads of the family from 
 him tlown to our subject being as follows: 
 Moses, Jonathan, Nathan, Paul, Edward 
 and Abel U. Richard Newton, the im- 
 migrant, located in Sudbury, Mass., and 
 was one of the original proprietors of 
 that town. 
 
 Abel D. Newton, the subject jiroper 
 of this sketch, was reared by his grand- 
 father, Paul Newton, attending the public 
 schools of his early daj' to the age of 
 fifteen years, at which time he commenced 
 a six-years' apprenticeship to the trade oi 
 blacksmith at Decrfield, Mass., anil, at 
 the age of twenty-one, worked at his trade 
 in Ashfield, same State and count}'. Sub- 
 sequently he took a one-year's course of 
 study at an academy in Ipswich, Mass. „ 
 at which town he became interested in 
 mission work. He united with the Con- 
 gregational Church of Ashfield in 1828, 
 in 1830 joined the American Board of 
 Home Missions, and same year was sent 
 out to Mackinaw in the capacity of mis- 
 sionary among the Indians in that regii>n, 
 continuing cheerfully and faithfully in his 
 arduous duties for threeor four years; but, 
 his health becoming impaired, he had to- 
 abandon mission work. His work was to- 
 teach the Indian boj-s blacksmithing and 
 other trades, reading and the customs of 
 civilized life. 
 
 On April 29. 1834, Mr. Newton was 
 married, in Ashfield, Mass. (whither he 
 had returned for the purpose), to Miss. 
 
COMMKMOHATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL ItKCORD. 
 
 209 
 
 Betsey Leonard, a native of that town, 
 born December 6, 1809, a daughter of 
 Ziba Leonard, of Ashfield, who was of 
 the seventh generation from Solomon 
 Leonard, who came from England to the 
 Aincrican Colonies in 1630, locating in 
 Duxbury, Mass., and whose descendants 
 by generations were: Jaccjb, Joseph, 
 Joseph, Dan, and Ziba. After marriage 
 Mr. and Mrs. Abel D. Newton came to 
 Wisconsin, he having entcrc;d into an en- 
 gagement as blacksmith for the American 
 Fur Company, at La Pointe; this was in 
 1834, and for about four years he re- 
 mained in this employ, at the same time 
 giving some attention to missionary work. 
 In October, 1 839, he came to Green 
 Bay, about which time he and his family 
 were prostrated with fever and ague, but 
 all recovered. During the ensuing winter 
 he worked at blacksmithing for Daniel 
 Whitney, and in the following summer 
 carried on a blacksmith shop he had built 
 on Adams street, between Croaks and 
 Stuart, so continuing until 1851, the year 
 of his coming to De Pere, where he built 
 him a shop, becoming the leading black- 
 smith of the locality. P'or edge tools, a 
 branch of the trade at which he was an 
 expert, his services were waited on from 
 far and near, his reputation as an all- 
 round arti-san being widely recogni;5ed. 
 In Dc Pere he bought four lots, built a 
 house and lived there until i860. He 
 had, in 1849, bought a farm of 120 acres 
 in Section 32, De Pere township, for 
 which he paid $200 in gold, and hither he 
 moved in i860, having built a log house 
 on his property, which stands a short dis- 
 tance north of his present dwelling, the 
 latter having been erected in 1875. Here 
 Mr. Newton, by unremitting toil and tire- 
 less energy, cleared aline farm, and passed 
 in peace the rest of his life, dying January 
 7, 1889, full of years and honor. His re- 
 mains rest in Greenwood cemetery. In 
 (liurch matters he was an active leader, a 
 ruling elder and a prominent member of 
 the Presbyterian Congregation, of which 
 Mrs. Newton has also been a member for 
 
 sixty-seven years. Now, in her eighty- 
 sixth year, she is calmly awaiting the 
 summons that shall call her hence, to join 
 those gone before to the Better Land. 
 The children, nine in number, born to this 
 honored couple, were as follows: Mercena 
 L. , widow of Charles T. Dickinson, of 
 St. John's, Ore. ; Martha, Mrs. R. F". 
 Wilson, of Portland, Ore.; Edward D., 
 who died on the home farm from disease 
 contracted in the army, he having served 
 three years as a member of Company G, 
 First Wisconsin Cavalry; Zebina Leonard, 
 deceased at the age of three years; James 
 K., who died in California, June 26, 1892 
 (he had studied abroad, and for sixteen 
 years was professor of modern languages 
 at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio; dur- 
 ing the Civil war he served four years, 
 and was second lieutenant in Company F, 
 Fourteenth Wis. V. I.); Samuel, now re- 
 siding in De Pere, who is clerk for Jack- 
 son & Sons (he served one year in Com- 
 pany G, First Wisconsin Cavalry); Er- 
 mina E., married, June 2, 1888, to B. A. 
 Leonard (sketch of whom follows), and 
 living on the home farm in De Pere town- 
 ship; Sarah A., Mrs. I. S. Clifford, of 
 Manston, Wis., and Marion A., who died 
 at the age of twenty-two years. 
 
 BERNARD A. LEONARD, who is now 
 living on the home farm of the late Abel 
 D. Newton, in De Pere township, Brown 
 county, is a native of Massachusetts, born 
 July 25, 1844, in Southbridge, second son 
 of Manning Leonard, who was of the 
 seventh generation from Solomon Leon- 
 ard, who came from England to the 
 Colonies in 1630, as already recorded in 
 the sketch of Abel D. Newton. He at- 
 tended both common and high school, and 
 when of age began life for himself. In 
 Iosco county, Mich., he bought some land, 
 after a visit to Oconto, Wis., which, ad- 
 vancing in price, he sold, thus fnrn shing 
 himself with sufficient capital to embark 
 in regular business. For three years he 
 was a successful dealer in hardwood lum- 
 ber in Detroit, and from there moving to 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, became a leading mem- 
 
COMMEMORATIVI-: lUiid HAI'IIIVAL RECORD. 
 
 ber of the Greenwood Stove Company, 
 but at the end of three years, his health 
 failinj^', he returneii to Detroit and com- 
 menced the manufacture of carriage 
 wheels, also conducting a dental supply 
 store. His health, however, not improv- 
 ing, Mr. Leonard returned to his native 
 State in order to recuperate, and. after a 
 stay of two years, removed to Jackson, 
 Mich. , and here entered the retail grocery 
 and wholesale spice mills of Ford. Dela- 
 niater & Company, then returned to 
 Massachusetts, where, fnun 1879 to 1888, 
 he remained. 
 
 Mr. Leonard first married. May 31, 
 1 87 1, Miss Nellie T. Burr. For his sec- 
 ond wife he married, June 2, 188S, Miss 
 Ermina E. Newton, of De Fere, Wis., 
 since when he has lived a retired life on 
 the old Newton homestead. In genealogy 
 he takes great interest, and he has lately 
 taken up a partlj' completeil work (left so 
 by his father) treating on the Leonard 
 family genealogy, to the completion of 
 which he devotes much of his time. 
 
 DANIEL H. DA\IS, a thriving 
 farmer of Pittsfield township. 
 Brown county, was born in Par- 
 ishville, St. Lawrence Co., \. 
 Y. , November 24, 1842, a son of Darwin 
 and Emeline (Steel) Davis, who were the 
 parents of four children, viz. : Alonzo D. . 
 deceased at the age of twenty-six; Daniel 
 H., our subject; Emeory, now the wife of 
 George Jenkins, of W'rightstown; and 
 William Henry, of Cato, Manitowoc Co., 
 Wis. The family came io Wisconsin in 
 1846. and for five years lived in Wal- 
 worth county; then mo\-ed to Manitowoc 
 county, where Darwin Davis bought eighty 
 acres of hard-timber land, from which he 
 cleared up a farm; in 185S he sold twenty 
 acres, and in 1 8C9 sold the balance and 
 bought a house and lot in Cato. where he 
 and his wife lived until May 7, 1885, when 
 he died in the Presbyterian faith. His 
 •widow passed away at the home of her 
 
 son, Daniel H.. December 4, 1894, at the 
 advanced age of eighty-two years, seven 
 months, two days, and was buried at Cato, 
 Manitowoc Co.. Wisconsin. 
 
 On August I I. 1862, Daniel H. Davis 
 enlisted in Compan}' K, Twenty-first 
 Wis. V. I., and served until December 
 29, when, having been shot through the 
 arm at the battle of Perryville, he was 
 discharged at Louisville, Ky. , and re- 
 turned to his home, where he was laid up 
 a year. Early in 1864 he began driving 
 team for S. A. Benjamin, and remained 
 with him four years. In the meantime, 
 November 12, 1865, he married Mrs. Edna 
 M. (Warfield) I^ranch, daughter of John 
 and Caroline (Post) Warfield, and widow 
 of Nelson Branch. Mr. Warfield was a 
 butcher and farmer, and was twice mar- 
 ried; his first wife was Caroline Post, who 
 bore him three children, viz. : Mary, 
 Edna M. and John M. Mrs. Caroline 
 Warfield died when Edna M. (Mrs. Davis) 
 was but eight years of age, and Mr. War- 
 field married a widow — Caroline Howard 
 — who had by her first marriage two 
 children, Spencer and Eli; to her marriage 
 with Mr. Warfield were born four chil- 
 dren, viz. : Augustus, Caroline. William 
 and Julia. Edna M. Warfield (Mrs. Davis) 
 was first married April 11, 1855, to Nel- 
 son Branch, a school-teacher and specu- 
 lator, to whom she bore one child, Rosa, 
 now Mrs. Frank Hubbard, of Maple Val- 
 ley, Oconto Co. , W'is. Mr. Branch had 
 been married about eight years when he 
 became insane, and died in an asylum. 
 No children have been born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Davis. 
 
 After his marriage, and after leaving 
 the employ of S. A. Benjamin, Mr. Davis 
 came with his wife, in 1868, to Mills Cen- 
 ter, Pittsfield township, and for three 
 vears kept a boarding house. During this 
 period he bought forty acres of land. He 
 got rid of the standing timber by giving it 
 to charcoal burners for the clearing of it 
 away, built a frame house on the cleared 
 land, and a year later took possession of 
 it and still lives thereon, having been en- 
 
COMMKMOHA TI 1 /•; UK) n /.'. U'lIlCA L HICCOUD. 
 
 gaged in farming ever since his removal 
 hither. 
 
 In politics Mr. Davis is a Republican, 
 and has been school cleric two terms, also 
 justice of the peace six years, offices he 
 has filled with great credit to himself, and 
 to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. 
 
 GEORGE GEURTS, one of the 
 well-known farmer citi/ents oi 
 l)e Pere township. Brown coun- 
 ty, is a native of Holland, born 
 March 4, 1845, son of Arnold Geurts, 
 who was also a farmer. In the spring of 
 1866 Arnold Geurts came to the United 
 States, bringing his famih', consisting of 
 five children, all of whom are yet living. 
 They sailed form Antwerp, landing in 
 New York after a voyage of 'orty-five 
 days, and, in three months from the time 
 they leftt heir native land, arrived at their 
 final destination. Brown county. Wis. They 
 first went to Little Chute, where some rela- 
 tives had previously located, and there 
 remained four months, working at any- 
 thing they could find to do. The family 
 then came to De Pere township and pur- 
 chased the forty acres where Martin Ver 
 Straten now resides, and which at that 
 time had no improvements whatever but 
 a small log house. There they made 
 their home for eight or nine years, all 
 working together to clear and improve the 
 land, which at the end of that time was 
 divided. 
 
 In July, 1872, George Cieurts was 
 united in marriage with Miss Harriet Van- 
 derVoort, who was born February 20, 
 1852, in Holland, daughter of Arnold and 
 Mary (Barten) VanderVoort, who came 
 to the United States in 1856. They made 
 the voyage from Antwerp to New York in 
 thirty-five days, and then proceeded by 
 water to Green Bay, Wis. At that time 
 Arnold VanderVoort was a poor man, and 
 for a while supported his family by work- 
 ing as mason's assistant. He died in De- 
 Pere township in 1871 on the farm now 
 owned by our subject, with whom his 
 
 widow, now aged seventy-two years, yet' 
 resides. After marriage Mr. Geurts im- 
 mediately counnenced farming on the 
 place he now owns and resides upon, and 
 which, at the present time, comprises 1 14 
 acres of e.xcellent farming land, all taken 
 from the woods. To Mr. and Mrs. Geurts 
 were born children as follows: Mary, Ar- 
 nold, Annie, John, Nellie, Delia, and Cor- 
 nelius, all living, and four that died young. 
 Mr. Geurts has resided on his present 
 farm for over twenty yerrs, during which 
 time, b}' industry and assiduous toil he 
 has done much toward its improvement 
 and made for himself a comfortable home. 
 He is well known and highly respected 
 in his township, where he is recognized 
 as a thorough, hard working agriculturist 
 and a kind-hearted neighbor. In politics 
 he is a Democrat, and, though not an 
 offlce-seeker, he is at present serving as 
 school treasurer in his district. He and 
 his wife are members of St. Mary's Cath- 
 olic Churrh at De Pere. 
 
 JOHN CODY, assessor of Fort 
 Howard, city and township, has 
 held this responsible position for 
 eighteen years, evidence sufficient 
 in itself of the esteem in which this gentle- 
 man is held by his fellow citizens and of 
 the trust imposed in him. 
 
 Mr. Cod}' was born in 1820, in Coun- 
 ty Kilkenny, Ireland, in which land of 
 the Shamrock his parents, James and 
 Bridget (McCarty) Cody, passed their 
 lives. Of their children, Ann died in Ire- 
 land; Alice came to Philadelphia; Michael; 
 a baker by trade, immigrated to Oswe- 
 go, N. Y., removing thence to Ohio. 
 John, who had received an education in 
 the schools of the locality of his birth, 
 set out at the age of eighteen years for 
 America, and in Greene county, N. Y., 
 was employed for seven summers at brick 
 making. He was married, in 1841, at 
 Albany, N. Y., to Miss Catherine Ken- 
 nedy, also a native of Ireland, whence her 
 father came in the early days to New 
 
212 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPBWAL RECORD. 
 
 York, finally locating at New Orleans, 
 where his death occurred. Eleven chil- 
 dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cody, of 
 whom eight are living : James Henry, 
 who enlisted in a Massachusetts regiment 
 ■during the war of the Rebellion, served 
 one year, and now resides in the Lake 
 Superior region; John Edward and Will- 
 iam, both also residents of the Lake 
 Superior country; Maria, married and 
 residing in New York City; Frank, a 
 resident of Quincy, 111. ; Robert, who has 
 his home in Dubuque, Iowa; R. D., a resi- 
 dent of Winona, Minn. ; and Delia, at home 
 with her parents; Michael, who comes 
 between Maria and Frank, died in 1874. 
 About 1847 Mr. Cody remo\'ed to Oswe- 
 go county, N. Y. , where he continued to 
 reside eighteen years, owning a sawmill 
 and 130 acres of land. He came to Fort 
 Howard in 1865 and settled where he 
 now resides, engaging in sawniilling for 
 the Howard Mill Company, and a portion 
 of the time for the Astor Mill Company; 
 he was also, for a few years, engaged in 
 the grocery business. He has always 
 taken an active interest in public affairs, 
 and enjoys the esteem and confidence of 
 all who know him. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, and he and his wife are mem- 
 bers of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. 
 
 JOHN BECHER is one of the indus- 
 trious young farmer citizens of 
 Preble township. Brown county, a 
 son of Joseph Becher, who was born 
 in Austria, where he followed farming un- 
 til 1854, in which year he came to the 
 United States. In his native country- 
 Joseph Becher had married Anna Rosena 
 Fisher, and four children were born to 
 them in Europe, Annie, who is now Mrs. 
 Leopold Kelner, of New Denmark town- 
 ship, Brown county, being the only sur- 
 vivor. The others were: Theresa, died in 
 Europe; Matilda, died on the ocean and 
 there buried; Karl, died in New York and 
 buried there. On their arrival in America 
 the Becher family came at once to Wis- 
 
 consin, making their first location at 
 Waukesha, then in Manitowoc county, 
 and later in Brown count}', settling on a 
 farm in New Denmark township, near the 
 eastern township line. The country was 
 new, and they endured many hardships and 
 privations in the clearing and cultivating 
 of the land; but being diligent and perse- 
 vering Mr. Becher succeeded in convert- 
 ing it into a fertile, productive farm. In 
 1870 he removed to Pine Grove in De- 
 Pere township, where he peacefully passed 
 the remainder of his days, dying Novem- 
 ber 18, 1882, a respected member of his 
 community. He was a Democrat in poli- 
 tics, and in religion a member of the 
 Catholic Church. Since his decease his 
 widow has made her home with her son, 
 John. Her husband was enrolled during 
 the Civil war, October 4, 1864, in Com- 
 pany' D, Seventeenth Wis. V. I., for one 
 year's service, and was discharged July 
 14, 1865, at Madison, Wis. On Febru- 
 ary 12, 1 89 1, she received $2,200 pension 
 as back pay for her husband, and twelve 
 dollars per month up to date, which 
 latter she receives as pension as long as 
 she remains a widow. The children born 
 to her in America, besides our subject 
 were: Frank, born in Manitowoc county. 
 Wis., in 1857, died in Duluth, Minn., 
 November 18, 1892; Lizzie, born, also in 
 Manitowoc county, in i860, married to 
 Zachary Goffard, and living in the city of 
 De Pere; Mary, born in New Denmark, 
 Brown Co., Wis., in May, 1862, now a 
 Sister of Charity; and Clara, born also 
 in New Denmark, in May, 1867, married 
 to Samuel Boggs, and living in Preble 
 township. 
 
 John Becher first saw the light Febru- 
 ary 27, 1864, on the farm of his parents 
 in New Denmark township. He received 
 his education in the common schools of 
 his time, and remained on the home farm 
 until he reached the age of fifteen. From 
 that time until 1884 he engaged in vari- 
 ous pursuits, working a year and a half 
 for the Van Dycke Brewing Co., nine 
 months for the Menominee Brewing Co., 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 -'3 
 
 three winters for Ramsey & Jones in the 
 himber woods, etc., and part of the time 
 with his parents at home. In 1884 he 
 opened out a saloon and dance hall in 
 Preble, conducting the business for his 
 mother until 1 889, when he purchased it for 
 himself, and continued as proprietor until 
 May, 1 894, when he sold it back to his 
 mother. He then removed to his present 
 beautiful home in Preble, near the Belle- 
 vue township line, the location being one of 
 the most delightful in the vicinity; the resi- 
 dence is situated on a knoll. Here he 
 owns a small tract of excellent land, to 
 the cultivation of which he now devotes 
 himself; also owns one dwelling house in 
 Fort Howard, one dwelling house in the 
 city of Green Bay, which he has to rent 
 out; also forty acres of timber and farm 
 land in Glenmore township. Brown 
 county. Mr. Becher is everywhere known 
 as a hard-working young man, and, being 
 possessed of good common sense and 
 sound judgment, he has made his busi- 
 ness a success. He has a wide acquaint- 
 ance in his township, in which he is at 
 present serving as supervisor and member 
 of the board of health, having been 
 elected to the latter office in 1893. In 
 his political preferences he is a Democrat. 
 On February 7, 1889, Mr. Becher 
 was married to Miss Thersa Matcke, who 
 was born in De Pere, Wis. , daughter of 
 Frederick Matcke, a native of Germany, 
 and to this marriage have come three chil- 
 dren, namely: Frederick J., born Octo- 
 ber 10, 1890; Joseph W. , born October 
 26, 1 89 1; and John Frank, born October 
 6, 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Becher are mem- 
 bers of the Cathedral Catholic Church at 
 Green Bay. 
 
 JOHN WALLACE ARNDT (origin- 
 ally John B. Wallace Arndt). of De- 
 Pere.Wis. , was, born September 15, 
 181 5, at Wilkes-Barre, Penn., son 
 of John P. and Elizabeth (Carpenter) 
 Arndt. 
 
 The family is a very old one in this 
 
 country, the first to reach here having 
 been John Philip and Ernest Arndt, who 
 had lived on a farm at Frankfort-on-the- 
 Main, Germany, until about 1684, when, 
 being taxed beyond endurance, they, with 
 many friends, sold their property, came 
 to America, and bought land of William 
 Penn on the Delaware river. John, the 
 elder of the two brothers above men- 
 tioned, was the ancestor of our subject. 
 He erected his dwelling one mile above 
 Durham Cove, and this he and his de- 
 scendants occupied until 1700, when the 
 grandfather of John W. sold out and 
 moved to Easton, Pemi., taking with him 
 a son, J. P. Arndt. The latter married 
 Elizabeth Carpenter, whose ancestors 
 came over in the same ship with the 
 Arndts, and to this union was born the 
 subject of this sketch and several other 
 children. J. P. Arndt met with consider- 
 able losses at Wilkes-Barre, Penn., dur- 
 ing the war of 18 12, and in 181 8 he con- 
 cluded to "go west," and after a horse- 
 back tour as far as Michigan and Illinois, 
 selected Buffalo, N. Y., as his future 
 home. In the fall of 18 19, therefore, 
 with his wife and four chidren and such 
 household goods as could be transported 
 in three wagons, he migrated to that 
 city and there engaged in the fish and fur 
 trade with the settlements on the great 
 lakes until 1822, when he changed his 
 headquarters to Mackinac, Mich., and, in 
 1824, to Green Bay, W^is. — a distance of 
 200 miles, which was made in a sailing 
 vessel in a tempestuous voyage of two 
 weeks' duration. John W. was then a 
 lad of nine years, but he still vividly re- 
 members the hardships of this voyage and 
 the loss of a part of the cargo. 
 
 The life of John P. Arndt was an act- 
 ive and successful one, and he filled many 
 public offices — among others that of mem- 
 ber of the Territorial Legislature several 
 times. He died June 10, 1861, in his 
 eighty-first year, just one year after the 
 death of his wife. His eldest son, Alex- 
 ander Hamilton, died at Point Isabel dur- 
 ing the Mexican war; his second son, 
 
214 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RE COED. 
 
 Charles C. P., a graduate of Rutgers Col- 
 lege, and an attorney by profession, was 
 elected to the Territorial Senate of Wis- 
 consin in 1840, and was shot and killed 
 in the Senate Chamber in 1841 by James 
 R. Vinyard. The eldest daughter, Mary 
 Arndt, was married to Capt. J. \V. 
 Cotton, of the United States army; Eliza- 
 beth, the other daughter, was married to 
 H. E. Eastman, an attorney and colonel 
 of cavalry in the Civil war. 
 
 J. Wallace Arndt, at the age of nine- 
 teen, had received but little schooling, but 
 in 1H34 he entered the academ)' of Rev. 
 Dr. John Vandavers at Easton, Penn. , 
 studied two years, then entered Yale Col- 
 lege, where he remained until 1839, after 
 which he taught school one year. He 
 then read law a year with his brother; but 
 on the death of the latter dropped this 
 study and assisted his father in the lum- 
 ber business until 1856, later working in 
 the gold mines of Colorado, and also at 
 the oil wells of Pennsylvania. Mr. Arndt 
 was united in marriage, September 25, 
 1842, with Miss Mary C. Wilcox, who 
 was his affectionate comp)anion and faith- 
 ful helpmeet until her death from pneu- 
 monia, April 13, 1 89 1. She was a 
 daughter of Randall Wilco.x, for many 
 years a member of the Wisconsin State 
 Legislature. Randall Wilcox was born 
 at Lee, Mass., was of English descent, 
 and settled in De Pere in 1836. He here 
 became president of the De Pere Hy- 
 draulic Co., having had much pre\ious 
 experience in hydraulics as a builder of 
 many bridges and dams in Pennsylvania 
 and Maryland. The mother of Mrs. Arndt 
 bore the maiden name of Lydia Field; her 
 ancestors were earl}' settlers near Pom- 
 fret, Conn., and their old home is still 
 known as Field's Point, where a branch 
 of the family still lives. The children 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Arndt were as fol- 
 lows: Edward W., born February 8, 
 1845, a resident of Superior, Wis.; Elcey 
 M., born November 27, 1846, who mar- 
 ried Charles A. Lawton September 5, 
 1866; Emily, born March 26, 1848, mar- 
 
 ried to Peter S. Loy September 7, 1869; 
 Mary, born November 28, 1849, and mar- 
 ried to James R. Shepard; Lizzie V., 
 born June 17, 1851, died October 24, 
 1870; Alice, born May 8, 1854, married 
 to Thomas D. Bowring; Randall, born 
 March 9, 1855, married to Annie C. Ash, 
 September 26, 1878; Lydia, born Sept- 
 ember 13, 1857, died November 7, 1879, 
 and Martha Ann, born Ma\- 20, 1859, 
 married to John F. Byers August 2, 1882. 
 John Wallace Arndt has been actively 
 iiientified with the business interests and 
 public improvements of De Pere nearly 
 all his life, and the interests of the entire 
 territory comprising Brown county have 
 received his close attention. He has 
 given his aid to every enterprise that 
 could in anj- way benefit the people at 
 large, especially toward promoting the 
 incoming and outgoing of railroads and 
 their construction throughout the county 
 as connecting links for traffic between 
 local and distant points of trade. Fra- 
 ternally he is a Freemason; politically a 
 Republican, and in religious belief a Prot- 
 estant. Socially he and his family stand 
 as high as aii\' in the rountv or State. 
 
 JAMES PALMER WETER, dentist, 
 of De Pere, is a native of Floyd, 
 Oneida Co., N. Y. , and was born 
 May 2, 1844. His parents were 
 Mahlon Palmer Weter and Jane G. (Pal- 
 mer) Weter, of whom the latter died 
 when our subject was but a year old. 
 The father again married, and in 1846 
 came with his family to Wisconsin, lo- 
 cating in Linn township, Walworth coun- 
 ty, and he now resides in Sharon township, 
 in the same county. 
 
 James P. Weter resided with his father 
 in Walworth county until just past eight- 
 een years of age, when he enlisted, in 
 August, 1862, in Company C, Twenty- 
 second Wis. V. L, and served in Ken- 
 tucky until June, 1863, when he was hon- 
 orably discharged on account of having 
 contracted typhoid pneumonia, by which 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 he was invalided for two years after his 
 return home. When sufficiently recov- 
 ered, he attended a private seminary at 
 Hebron, 111., for si.x months, and next an 
 academy of sciences at Elmira, N. Y. , 
 for a year, and this training was supple- 
 mented with a course in a commercial 
 college, followed by a six-months' study 
 of the law in the olSce of Smith, Robert- 
 son & Fasset, Elmira; but his health 
 proved to be too frail for the continuance 
 of the latter, and he therefore became a 
 student of dentistry in the office of I3r. 
 E. C. Terry, of Elmira, N. Y., with 
 whom he remained for two years, later 
 forming a partnership for one year with 
 Dr. E. O. Beers, of the same city. In 
 the spring of 1870 he married Miss Sarah 
 A. Nichols, of Windsor, Berkshire Co., 
 Mass. , and immediately located in Sharon, 
 Wis. , where he practiced his profession 
 until 1874, when he came to De Pere, 
 and has here built up a fine professional 
 reputation. In 1889 he took a post- 
 graduate course in the College of Dental 
 Surgery at Chicago, 111., thus adding 
 largely to his already extensive knowledge 
 of his art. 
 
 In politics the Doctor is a stanch Pro- 
 hibitionist, and has served the city of De- 
 Pere three times as alderman in a most 
 satisfactory manner — once by appoint- 
 ment to vacancy and twice by election. 
 He has also taken a most active interest 
 in educational matters, and has served as 
 secretary' to the West De Pere board of 
 of education for ten years. In the sum- 
 mer of 1 870 he was appointed United 
 States marshal for taking census statis- 
 tics. He is a member of the G. A. R. , 
 of the Temple of Honor, and of the I. O. 
 O. F. In religion he is a de\'out meml)er 
 of the M. E. Church, having joined that 
 denomination in 1867. He has taken an 
 active interest in church work, has served 
 as superintendent of Sunday-school for 
 the past twenty-four years consecuti\ely, 
 and has also filled the positions of stew- 
 ard, trustee and treasurer, as well as 
 minor offices. 
 
 On the Doctor's start in life his father 
 gave him one thousand dollars; but, 
 meeting with an accident, he was laid up 
 so long with an abscess, fever and other 
 ills, that his funds were exhausted, sO' 
 that he was compelled to work his way 
 up to an education, and was virtually five 
 hundred dollars in debt when he began 
 practice. Since his residence in De Pere, 
 however, he has paid off all his indebted- 
 ness, and has' accumulated a comfortable; 
 property. The children born to his mar- 
 riage were three in number, namely: 
 Mary O., who died in January, 1888; 
 Winifred A., now attending Lawrence 
 University at Appleton, Wis.; James P., 
 Jr., a student in the State University at 
 Madison, Wis. The Weters are descended 
 from one of the very early settled families 
 of the United States, and on the paternal 
 side are of undoubted Cierman origin, 
 while on the maternal side they are of 
 Holland descent. 
 
 EDMUND F. LIEBMANN, a well- 
 known prosperous young farmer, 
 of Preble township. Brown county, 
 is the eldest son of Louis and 
 Christina (Opstfelder) Liebmann, both of 
 whom are natives of Germany. 
 
 Louis Liebmann was born May 29, 
 1828, and was reared in his native coun- 
 try, receiving a common-school education. 
 In 1853 he set out with his parents for 
 the United States, landing, after a voyage 
 of several weeks, in New York, and thence 
 proceeding westward, their destination 
 being Green Bay, Wis., where a brother 
 of Louis, Frank Liebmann, had located 
 two years previously. They made their 
 home in Brown county, and, some time 
 later, Louis, his father and brother, Frank, 
 commenced the fishing Inisiness at Wash- 
 ington Harbor, Door Co., Wis., in which 
 they prospered. In i860 Louis Liebmann 
 removed with his parents to the farm 
 where he passed the remainder of his life 
 (the same on which our subject now re- 
 sides). On June 26, 1861, he was united 
 
2l6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in marriage with Miss Christina Opstfelder, 
 and theyhad three children, viz. : Edmund 
 F., subject of sketch; Ida, now Mrs. 
 August Fontain, of Humboldt township; 
 and Emma, Mrs. Louis Dudeau, of Merrill, 
 Wis. His widow now makes her home 
 with her son, Edmund F. 
 
 The land was entirely new at the time 
 of Louis' location, and had to be cleared, 
 but his was an energetic nature, and, going 
 to work with characteristic German in- 
 dustry, he soon transformed the forest 
 into a productive farm. At the time of 
 his death he was in comfortable circum- 
 stances, the result of years of stern labor 
 and strict economy. A quiet, unassuming 
 man, he was universally respected. Po- 
 litically he was a Republican, but took 
 little or no interest in party affairs, and in 
 church connection he was a Lutheran. 
 He died on the farm February 5, 1886, 
 and now lies buried in Woodlawn ceme- 
 tery, Green Bay. 
 
 Our subject was born October 11, 
 1862, in Preble township. Brown county, 
 on the farm where he yet resides, re- 
 ceived in his youth a common-school edu- 
 cation, and has followed farming all his 
 life. On May 10, 1887, he was united in 
 marriage with Miss Elizabeth Larchied, 
 who was born July 29, 1868, in Preble 
 township, daughter of Anton and Ger- 
 trude (Basten) Larchied, and to this union 
 have come two children, Christina E. and 
 Julia L. In his political preferences Mr. 
 Liebmann is a Republican, and in 1890 
 he was elected township overseer. He is 
 a systematic agriculturist, and, possessing 
 the industry so characteristic of the fam- 
 ily, has a prosperous career before him. 
 
 WM. WORKMAN, the well-known 
 and popular druggist, of West 
 De Pere, was born in Ripon, 
 Wis., December 13, 1850, and 
 is a son of William and Margaret (Miller) 
 Workman. 
 
 Our subject was educated in the city 
 schools, also at Brockway College, Ripon, 
 
 and was also highly trained in vocal and 
 instrumental music. At the age of 
 twenty he was proficient on many instru- 
 ments, including nearly all the pieces 
 used in a brass band. Although troubled 
 with pulmonar)' ailments, he accepted a 
 lucrative position with the Blakely Con- 
 cert and Oratorio Company, as tenor 
 singer, and, later, made an engagement 
 with the Harry Robinson Minstrel Com- 
 pany, also as tenor singer, traveling with 
 the same for about four years. His 
 versatility as a musician was so great that 
 he could at any time be relied on to take 
 the place and instrument of almost any 
 member of the company who might be 
 absent from a performance on account of 
 illness or for other cause. Mr. Work- 
 man was also a most excellent book- 
 keeper, and, when he came to De Pere, 
 April 4, 1874, was employed in that 
 capacity by the De Pere Car Works, of 
 which his father was superintendent, but, 
 at the end of the year the business was 
 discontinued, and he then became book- 
 keeper for the Menomonee Furnace Com- 
 pany, at Menomonee, with which he re- 
 mained until 1877, when he accepted a 
 position with the De Pere Agricultural 
 Works, contracting to do all its painting 
 for a year. He then became bookkeeper 
 for the same company, then its secretary, 
 filling the latter position until February 
 24, 1885, when he resigned and engaged 
 in breeding trotting horses on a farm six 
 and a half miles south of Ripon, in part- 
 nership with D. Thomas. Among the 
 trotters here bred, one, "Barney F. ," 
 made a record of 2:29.| when five years 
 old. Mr. Workman also brought to 
 Brown county, "Achilles," No. 2535 in 
 Wallace's Trotting Register — the first 
 registered, trotting-bred stallion brought 
 to the county. At Ripon, in 1892-93, 
 Mr. Workman was secretary of the 
 Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Com- 
 pany, which company carried risks aver- 
 aging $1,500,000 annually. In 1893 he 
 settled in West De Pere, and, on Novem- 
 ber I , began his present drug business. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 He carries a full line of drugs, paints, oils, 
 wall paper, stationery, etc., and is doing 
 a thriving business. Mr. Workman is a 
 member of the Masonic Lodge at De- 
 Pere, in which he has passed all the sub- 
 ordinate chairs, and has served as wor- 
 shipful master; he has also filled the 
 position of chief templar of the Temple of 
 Honor at De Pere, and for eight years, 
 all told, was a member of the West De- 
 Pere fire department, serving four years 
 as chief. 
 
 Mr. Workman was married October 
 24, 1878, to Harriet S. Stewart, who has 
 borne him four children, viz. : Jean (de- 
 ceased), William Stewart (deceased), Dean 
 and Nannie. Mr. Workman and family 
 stand very high socially, and he is looked 
 upon as one of the most enterprising and 
 substantial residents of West De Pere. 
 
 AUGUST GREILING, a respected, 
 self-made farmer of Preble town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a native of 
 the Fatherland, born August 5, 
 1836, son of Nicholas Greiling, a stone- 
 mason, who had three children : Fred- 
 erick, who died in Germany; Caroline, 
 yet residing in her native land; and 
 August. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 the common schools of the time, attend- 
 ing until his fourteenth year. He learned 
 the cabinet-maker's trade, serving an ap- 
 prenticeship of three and a half years at 
 same, after which according to the rules 
 of that time, he traveled for three years, 
 then followed the business on his own 
 account, later employing three or four 
 men. On August 23, 1864, he married 
 Miss Amelia C. Overlander, who was 
 born September 21, 1840, in Germany, 
 six miles from the birthplace of her hus- 
 band, daughter of Christopher Over- 
 lander, an ironworker employed at the 
 furnaces there. Two children were born 
 to this marriage in Germany, namely: 
 Hugo H. and Louis L. , both of whom 
 are now farmers in Preble township. Mr. 
 
 Greiling managed to save some mone}' 
 from his hard-earned wages, and in 1866 
 concluded to try his fortune in America. 
 Accordingly, on October 13, that year, 
 he and his family sailed from Hamburg 
 on the steamer " Allmonia, " of the Ham- 
 burg-American line, bound for New York, 
 where they landed after a voyage of fif- 
 teen days. Having friends in Green Bay, 
 Wis., they proceeded thither at once, 
 traveling by rail via Chicago, and arriving 
 November 13. Mr. Greiling secured 
 work with Bender & Phal, furniture 
 manufacturers, of Green Bay, remaining 
 with them one year, and then remaining 
 another year and a half with Mrs. Phal, 
 who continued the business after Mr. 
 Bender's death. By strict economy dur- 
 ing this time he had saved a hundred dol- 
 lars, which in part paid for the forty acres he 
 had purchased in Section 33, Preble town- 
 ship, the present homestead, where he buiit 
 a small house and took up his residence 
 thereon in April, 1868. Here for a year 
 he continued to follow his trade, making 
 furniture and hauling it to town for Anton 
 Burkhard, and then abandoned cabinet 
 making, and for twelve to fifteen years 
 engaged in contracting at various places 
 in the township, building houses, barns, 
 etc., and doing anything else in that line. 
 He has never discontinued carpentry alto- 
 gether, and still does odd jobs for others 
 besides such work as he requires for him- 
 self. When he first settled on the farm 
 it was covered with timber and brush, 
 and the task of clearing was an arduous 
 one; but he has succeeded by industry in 
 converting it into a fertile, productive 
 tract, and has also added another forty 
 acres, now having a well-improved farm 
 of eighty acres. Mrs. Greiling, by her 
 economical management has been no 
 small factor in her husband's success, and 
 the children have also assisted faithfully. 
 Much credit is due her for bringing up 
 and caring for .so large a family as was 
 theirs, of whom she takes, in her later 
 days, so much pride. 
 
 In this countrv Mr. and Mrs. Greiling 
 
2lS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGliAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 have had the following children born to 
 them: Charles and Herman, contrac- 
 tors, now the firm of Greiling Bros., 
 in Green Ba\-; Fred C, Frank, Caroline, 
 Albert L. and Henry, all living at home; 
 John, deceased in infancy; and Emma, at 
 home. Mr. Greiling and his sons are 
 stanch Republicans, and, though not by 
 any means an active partisan, he is an 
 ardent supporter of the principles of his 
 party, and is a strong advocate of protec- 
 tive tariff. His friends credit him with 
 being a strong adx'ocate of inoreliberal edu- 
 cational facilities and stringent laws gov- 
 erning same. Mr. Greiling has won the 
 respect of his fellow citizens for his fair 
 dealings and honest methods; and is self- 
 made in the full sense of the terin, having, 
 from a start of nothing, accumulated the 
 comfortable property he now enjoys and 
 richly deserves. At present he is enjoy- 
 ing his daily papers. 
 
 FKEU MATZKE, an upright, ener- 
 getic citizen and farmer of De- 
 Pere township, is a native of the 
 village of Gross-Pogul, \\'ohlau, 
 Prussia, born March 2, 1826, son of 
 Anton Matzke, a farmer in ordinary cir- 
 cumstances, who died when his son Fred 
 was si.x years of age, lea\ing six children, 
 four sons and two daughters. 
 
 Fred Matzke received his education in 
 the common schools of his native place, 
 attending until he was fourteen years of 
 age. \\'hen sixteen years old he hired 
 out as a farm hand, and thereafter worked 
 as a farmer and shepherd. In 1855 he 
 married Mary Hcrda, a native of the vil- 
 lage of Gleinau, Wohlau, Prussia, and 
 shorth- afterward he and his young wife 
 emigrated to the United States, sailing 
 from Bremen to Ouebec, where the}' 
 landed after a \oyage of seven weeks. 
 From Ouebec they came to Green Bay 
 Wis., and here resided a short time, Mr. 
 Matzke also working in sawmills at 
 Oconto, his wife remaining in Green Bay. 
 Subsequently, having a let in Green Ba}-, 
 
 he traded half of it for a farm of thirteen 
 acres in Bellevue township, Brown county, 
 and forty-five dollars in cash; the other 
 half of the lot he sold for $250. On 
 this farm in Bellevue township the family 
 resided in a log house, Mr. Matzke labor- 
 ing in the harvest fields for others, and at 
 first they endured many hardships. The 
 land was uncleared, and Mr. Matzke 
 chopped wood on the farm at six shillings 
 a cord. On March i, 1864, he rented a 
 farm of eighty acres of cultivated land one 
 mile from his own farm in Bellevue town- 
 ship, and here worked hard and indus- 
 triously, doing well. On October 7, 1864, 
 while on his way to visit his brother-in- 
 law in Minnesota, he enlisted at LaCrosse, 
 Wis., in Company D. Forty-fourth Wis. 
 \'. I., and was sent to Nashville, where, 
 under Gen. George H. Thomas (who was 
 his commander during his entire service), 
 he participated in his first active engage- 
 ment, a three-da\s' battle. He served 
 until the close of the war, and on August 
 28, 1865, was honorably discharged at 
 Paducah, Ky. , immediately returning to 
 his home in Brown county. Wis. In the 
 meantime, during his absence, his wife 
 sold all the personal property and grain, 
 and moved back to their own log house in 
 Belle\'ue township, where she remained 
 with her five children; and to add to the 
 general unpleasantness of the situation 
 the family were considerably annoyed by 
 thieving Indians in the neighborhood. Mr. 
 Matzke takes this opportunity to return 
 many thanks to the good neighbors who 
 assisted his wife during his absence in 
 the war. 
 
 In the fall of 1865 he purchased eighty 
 acres of partlv improved timber land in 
 De Pere township, going into debt for 
 same to the extent of seven hundred dol- 
 lars, and here he has ever since made his 
 home. To our subject and wife have 
 been born children as follows : August 
 and Mathias, farmers of Glenmore town- 
 ship; Annie, now Mrs. Victor Fonder, of 
 Glenwood Springs, Colo. ; Mary, now 
 Mrs, Albert Radke, of Milwaukee, Wis. ; 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAI. RECORD. 
 
 219 
 
 Rosa, Mrs. Joseph Raster, of De Pare 
 township; Paul, a farmer, of Wrights- 
 town, Wis. ; Theresa, Mrs. John Becher, 
 of Preble; Sylvester, residing in Millbank, 
 S. Dak. ; and Elizabeth and Philip, at 
 home. In politics Mr. Matzke was 
 originally a Democrat, but he is now in- 
 dependent, voting as his conscience and 
 judgment dictate; he has served nine 
 years as supervisor of De Pere township, 
 and school treasurer fourteen years; the 
 first school building ever erected in his 
 district he bought, and is now using as 
 his granary on the farm. He and his 
 wife are members of the St. Mary's 
 Catholic Church of De Pere. Mr. Matzke 
 has been one of the most industrious men 
 in his township, and his noble wife has 
 also done her share of work in the rearing 
 of their large family and the careful 
 management of the household. He is 
 straightforward and honest in all his 
 dealings, and has won the respect of the 
 community by his fair methods and sterl- 
 ing worth. Though he was not wounded 
 during his service in the Civil war, his 
 general health was seriously impaired, 
 and he has never been a robust man since 
 before the three-days' battle referred to 
 above, when he was taken sick. During 
 that fight he was so unwell that he had 
 to lie down on the wet ground in the 
 rain, which increased his illness. When 
 he and his faithful wife first arrived in 
 Green Bay about forty years ago, he had 
 only about $150 in cash, and everything 
 they now possess has been accumulated 
 by honest industry and judicious econ- 
 omy. As good Christian people they are 
 deservedly honored and respected by the 
 entire community. 
 
 TIMOTHY RYAN (deceased), who 
 was known during his lifetime as 
 an industrious farmer, was a na- 
 tive of County Tipperary, Ire- 
 land, where he grew to manhood. Timo- 
 thy was but a young boy when his father 
 
 died, and consequently he was obliged to 
 commence work when still very young. 
 
 In early manhood, having saved 
 enough to bring him to America, Mr. 
 Ryan emigrated from his native country, 
 to try his fortune in the New World, 
 locating first in New York State. In 
 Cooperstown, N. Y. , he was united in 
 marriage to Miss Bridget Ryan, who was 
 born in County Limerick, Ireland, daugh- 
 ter of Timothy Ryan, and came to the 
 United States in her girlhood. After 
 their marriage the young couple concluded 
 to go west where work was plenty and 
 land was cheap, and, coming to Wiscon- 
 sin, spent the first winter in Green Bay, 
 Mr. Ryan finding employment in the 
 lumber woods. The following spring he 
 purchased a totally unimproved tract of 
 land in Rockland town.ship. Brown county, 
 and while waiting for their dwelling to 
 be built they lived at the home of An- 
 thony Dwyer. The surrounding country 
 was all new and very wild, but Mr. Ryan 
 bravely set about the task of clearing 
 away the forest; and being a diligent 
 worker and anxious to make a comfort- 
 able home for himself and family, he soon 
 had a fine farm. He died on this place 
 April 12, 1874, and was buried in De- 
 Pere cemetery. In politics he was a stanch 
 Democrat. During the Civil war he was 
 a soldier in the Union army, and he never 
 full}' recovered from the hardships en- 
 dured in the service. He left a family of 
 eight children (the eldest then but sixteen 
 years of age), viz.: Nora, now a resi- 
 dent of Chicago; Joanna, Mrs. John 
 Underwood; Patrick, of Ashland, Wis., 
 Timothy, on the home farm; Mary, Mrs. 
 Fred Bettinger; Simon, a lumberman; 
 and Morris and Katy, at home. At the 
 time of the father's death the home had 
 not been fully paid for, and a portion of 
 the land was allowed to go to pay the 
 balance. Mrs. Ryan has since managed 
 the affairs of the place with ability and 
 success, and has been faithfully assisted 
 b}' her children. The agricultural work 
 is now attended to bv the son Timothv, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and the farm yields a comfortable sup- 
 port to the family, being a fertile, well- 
 cultivated piece of land. Mrs. Ryan has 
 seen her home transformed from the 
 dense forest, taking no small part in this 
 work herself. She is a member of St. 
 Francis Catholic Church, De Pere, and 
 is highly respected in the community 
 where he has resided for so many years. 
 
 JOHN F. WATERMOLEN, attor- 
 ney at law in his native city of 
 Green Bay, was born in 1862, and 
 for three years has been actively en- 
 gaged in the practice of his profession, at 
 first under the firm name of Watermolen 
 & Wavrunek. His parents were natives 
 of Belgium, and in 1857 came to America, 
 settling in Bellevue township. Brown Co. , 
 Wis., where the father engaged in farm- 
 ing, and where he and his wife still re- 
 side. Of their eight children, seven are 
 still living, vi;;. : Joseph P., William, 
 Henry, Mary, Philip, John F., and 
 John B. 
 
 J. F. Watermolen was reared and ed- 
 ucated in the township of Bellevue until 
 the age of twenty-three, and then at- 
 tended the business college managed by 
 Murch & Hills, at Green Bay; he ne.xt 
 taught in the district schools of Brown 
 county, reading law in the meanwhile, 
 and finally entered the law office of 
 Wigman & Martin, studying until Decem- 
 ber 29, 1 89 1, when he was admitted to 
 the bar with highest honors at Milwau- 
 kee, Wis., since when he has enjoyed a 
 lucrative practice. He is United States Cir- 
 cuit Court Commissioner for the Eastern 
 District of Wisconsin. He was married, 
 April 1 8, 1893, in (keen Bay, to Miss 
 Ella M. Wigman, daughter of J. H. M. 
 Wigman, a prominent attorney at law. 
 One child, James J., is the fruit of this 
 congenial union. Mr. and Mrs. Water- 
 molen are devoted members of St. Willi- 
 brord's Catholic Church, and socially are 
 held in high esteem by a large circle of 
 personal friends, as well as by the com- 
 
 munity at large. Mr. Watermolen is a 
 member of the Catholic Order of Fores- 
 ters and of Navarino Camp, No. 534, 
 Modern Woodmen. His business is daily 
 increasing, and his abilities as a lawyer 
 are fully recognised as being far beyond 
 those of any practitioner of his age in 
 the county. He is one of the many young 
 men, self-educated and self-made, who 
 have made the most of the golden op- 
 portunities open to the ambitious Ameri- 
 can youth. 
 
 CONSTANT DE JONGHE, the 
 leading baker of De Pere, was 
 born in 1 83 1, in Belgium, a son 
 of Frank De Jonghe, who was a 
 butcher by trade, and had a numerous 
 family. 
 
 Constant was but three years old when 
 he lost his parents, and, until he reached 
 the age of twenty years, was reared by his 
 maternal step-grandfather, at the end of 
 which time he commenced learning the 
 baker's trade, and worked at same in the 
 old country until he was twenty-four 
 years of age. He then, on July 5, 1856, 
 set sail from Antwerp for the United 
 States on the "American Alexander," 
 which should have sailed the previous 
 day, but was detained in port one da\' in 
 order to give the crew an opportunity of 
 celebrating the "P'ourth" onshore. On 
 September 25, Mr. De Jonghe landed at 
 New York, whence he came directly to 
 Wisconsin, landing in Green Bay with 
 but twenty-nine cents in his pocket. He 
 soon found work, however, in sawmills, 
 in the woods and on the lakes, all along 
 saving some money; and, as he was always 
 faithful in his service to his employers, he 
 never had to ask for work a second time 
 from any employer. Fourteen years of 
 his life were passed in the lumber woods 
 of Wisconsin, but he lost his earnings; he 
 was also for some fifteen or si.xteen years 
 in Menominee, Mich. In 1873 he came 
 to West De Pere, and with what capital 
 he had managed to save from the time 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 he lost everything, as above referred to, 
 he started a bakery which he carried on 
 there until 1887, when he moved into 
 De Pere and opened his present business, 
 on the corner of Broadway and Charle? 
 street. Here he has built a very substan- 
 tial brick block, two and a half stories 
 hif^h, and containing two business rooms. 
 His bakery is now the leading one in the 
 city, and his success is the result of his 
 own hard work and indomitable perse- 
 verance. 
 
 In July, 1882, Mr. De Jonghe was 
 married in West De Pere to Miss Komaine 
 Van De Walle, a native of Belgium, and a 
 resident of Wisconsin since 1881. They 
 have one child, Mary, who is a natural 
 musician, and, forherage, quite a wonder 
 as a piano player. In his religious faith 
 Mr. De Jonghe is a devout Catholic, and 
 he enjoys the respect and esteem of all 
 who know him. 
 
 OTTOMAN GEORGI. As a living 
 example of what resolute work- 
 ing, earnest endeavor and indom- 
 itable perseverance will accom- 
 plish, this gentleman stands prominent 
 among the worthy citizens of Brown 
 county. He is a native of Prussia, Ger- 
 many, born February 24, 1837, in the 
 village of Blankenburg, son of Philip 
 Georgi, a tanner by occupation, who 
 passed his entire life in the Fatherland, 
 dying there in 1859. 
 
 The boyhood experiences of Ottoman 
 were not different from those of other 
 lads in his rank of life — attending school 
 with regularity for a few years, and then 
 learning a trade. This latter part of his 
 education our subject received under his 
 father's tuition, he serving a three-years' 
 apprenticeship in the tannery, after which 
 he did journeyman work at various places. 
 In 1853 he was nearing the age when he 
 should enter the army, according to the 
 law of his country, but through his father's 
 personal intercession with the King of 
 Bavaria he was given exemption. His 
 
 father having now presented him with one 
 hundred Prussian dollars to commence 
 the world with, young Ottoman concluded 
 to try his fortune in the Western World. 
 According]}-, securing passage on board 
 the ship "George Corning," from Ham- 
 burg to New York, he set sail with a 
 light heart and bright prospects, and, 
 after a six-weeks' voyage, landed at the 
 port of debarkation. F"rom New York 
 he at once proceeded in the direction of 
 his destination, Green Bay, Wis., but on 
 his arrival in Detroit found his money all 
 gone. Assistance, however, coming from 
 friends in Green Bay, he was enabled to 
 pursue his way, but, through some mis- 
 take, landed in the town of Madison, a 
 total stranger, and penniless. Here he 
 could find no employment, and, de- 
 ciding to make his way to Portage 
 City, where he hoped to be more suc- 
 cessful, he set out on foot, getting an 
 occasional meal from farmers cii route. 
 In Portage he succeeded in securing work 
 at eight dollars per month; but, never 
 losing sight of his proper detination, he 
 left there after saving little money, and, 
 traveling by way of Madison, Milwaukee, 
 Sheboygan and Manitowoc, finally reached 
 Green Bay, arriving August 26, 1854, 
 after many adverse experiences. Here he 
 readily secured work in F. B. Gardner's 
 sawmill, remaining there over five years, 
 or until early in the spring of 1859, when, 
 having received news of his father's death 
 in Germany, he set out in the month of 
 April for his old home, taking passage at 
 New York for Bremen, the voyage occupy- 
 ing fourteen days. At his old home he 
 spent abenit one month, and then returned 
 by the same boat, from Hamburg to New 
 York, bringing with him to Green Bay his 
 sister, Sophia, and brother, August, the 
 latter party arriving in Augu.st, 1859. 
 Our subject then returned to his work in 
 Gardner's sawmill, continuing there until 
 1862, at which time he went to Onton- 
 agon, Mich., and there worked in a 
 tannery a couple of months, and also in 
 the mines. Returning to Green Bay, 
 
333 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Georgi secured employment in Fred 
 Schellers' Cedar Creek Gristmill, in Preble 
 township, but in October, 1864, he had to 
 leave, having been drafted into Company 
 E, Seventeenth Wis. V. I., which was 
 mustered in at Camp Randall, Madison, 
 Wis. From there the regiment was sent 
 to Louisville, thence to Kingston, Chatta- 
 nooga and finally to Atlanta, where the}' 
 experienced their first battle. The}' then 
 participated in Sherman's march to the 
 sea, and followed the fortunes of the army 
 till the Grand Review at Washington in 
 1865. At Louisville, Ky. , our subject 
 was honorably discharged July 14, 1865, 
 and was mustered out at Madison, 
 Wis., whence he at once proceeded to 
 Green Bay thence to Preble township, 
 where his wife and infant son were, 
 and at once resumed the pursuits of 
 peace. In 1867 he purchased twenty 
 acres of land in Preble township, on which 
 his present residence stands, and to this 
 he from time to time added until he found 
 himself the owner of over 230 acres — part 
 of which he has given to his children — all 
 the result of his own individual hard work, 
 untiring energy and sound judgment. 
 
 On January i, 1864, Mr. Georgi was 
 married to Miss Maria Barbara Basten, 
 born April 24, 1835, '"^ the village of 
 Kosen, Prussia, who came to the United 
 States in 1852, along with her parents. 
 The children of this union are Fred and 
 Philip, both of whom are farmers in Preble 
 township; Lena and Charles, at home; 
 and August, who died May 22, 1876, aged 
 eight years. The mother of these died 
 January 14, 1890, and sleeps her last 
 sleep in the cemetery at Green Bay, since 
 when the daughter, Lena, has presided 
 over her father's house with becoming 
 grace. In 1870 our subject revisited Ger- 
 many, and on his return brought with him 
 his aged mother, who passed the rest of 
 her life at his home, dying November 
 9, 1892. 
 
 In politics our subject is a Republi- 
 can, and for some eight or ten years 
 served his township as supervisor, ha\'ing 
 
 been elected on that ticket; but he is no 
 partisan, in county and township affairs 
 invariably supporting such men and 
 measures as he deems best for the com- 
 munity at large. Socially he is a member of 
 Herman Lodge, No. i i 1 , I. O. O. F. ; of 
 the Germania Society, and of T. O. Howe 
 Post, No. 124, G. A.'R., all of Green Bay. 
 Taken all in all, Mr. Georgi is a thoroughly 
 representative citizen, universally respect- 
 ed, and is a typical self-made man. 
 
 DON F. SMITH, one of the most 
 prominent and active citizens of 
 Suamico village. Brown county, 
 was born July 28, 1836, in Onon- 
 daga count}-, N. Y., a son of Hiram J. 
 and Elsie H. (Adams) Smith, also natives 
 of New York. Hiram J. Smith was born 
 March 6, 1 800, was a shoemaker by trade, 
 and died May 26, 1845, in Erie county, 
 N. Y. ; Mrs. Elsie H. Smith, whose par- 
 ents came from Rhode Island, was born 
 September 4, 1802, and died October 13, 
 1872. Of the six children born to them 
 but two are still living, Don F. and Ho- 
 ratio, the latter a resident of Michigan. 
 
 Don F. Smith was reared on the farm 
 of an uncle from the time he was fifteen 
 until he reached the age of twenty-one, 
 when, in 1857, he came to Wisconsin with 
 his brother-in-law, H. J. Ayres, and locat- 
 ing in Duck Creek, Brown county, worked 
 here two years in a sawmill. Then for a 
 time he taught school in Howard town- 
 ship, and later engaged by the month in a 
 saw and shingle mill in Suamico town- 
 ship, being thus employed at the time of 
 his marriage. On August 25. 1863, he 
 wedded Miss Julia A. Woodruff, who was 
 born at Norton, Summit Co. , Ohio, but 
 was reared and educated in Akron, same 
 State, and when quite \oung came west 
 for the benefit of her health, teaching 
 school until her marriage, when she re- 
 linquished that vocation. The union of 
 Don F. and Julia A. Smith has been 
 blessed with six children, as follows: (i) 
 Hattie M., born August 29, 1864; was 
 
f\ 
 
 A. 
 
 > 
 
 H 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 first married to C. O. Stevens, who died 
 leaving one son, now also deceased; her 
 second marriage was to D. W. Burns, and 
 to them has come one daughter, Esther 
 C. , born August 12, 1893. (2) Estella, 
 born April 12, 1866, was married to F. 
 B. Stevens, and to this union were born 
 three children — Hiram D., October 4, 
 1890, Ethel, November — , 1891, and El- 
 sie, February 21, 1893. (3) Frank A. 
 was born April 30, 1868. (4) Don D. was 
 born July 21, 1870. (5) Lloyd was born 
 April 30, 1 88 1. (6) Cora was born Octo- 
 ber 9, 1883. Mrs. Julia A. Smith is a 
 daughter of Giles and Esther (Wetmore) 
 Woodruff, natives, respectively, of Massa- 
 chusetts and Connecticut. Giles Wood- 
 ruff, who is a farmer, was a pioneer of 
 Ohio, and served as colonel of a regiment 
 of home guards. He died in Akron, Ohio, 
 at the age of seventy-si.x years, leaving 
 two children, Mrs. Julia A. Smith and 
 Mrs. Lucia E. Vosburg. 
 
 After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Don F. 
 Smith located in Suamico village, where 
 for a year and a half he worked in a 
 sawmill, and then went to Akron, Ohio, 
 at which place he bought a meat market, 
 and conducted same one summer. He 
 then returned to Suamico, where he had 
 charge of the shipping interests of several 
 large firms for two or three years. When 
 the Chicago & Northwestern railway was 
 built through the town of Suamico he was 
 appointed, on July i, 1872, agent forthe 
 company, a position he has held ever 
 since, giving the utmost satisfaction. He 
 has also served as postmaster for the last 
 thirty years; township treasurer for over 
 three years, and has filled several other 
 local offices with great credit and accepta- 
 bility. His first vote was cast for Abraham 
 Lincoln in i860, and he has been a faith- 
 ful member of the Republican party ever 
 since. He is a notary public, acts as 
 agent forthe American Express Company, 
 and has always manifested marked busi- 
 ness ability, industry and activit}'. He is 
 treasurer of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church at Suamico. Mr. and Mrs. Smith 
 
 13 
 
 were both school teachers, and fully com- 
 petent to rear their family. No man in 
 the county is more capable of filling the 
 responsible positions to which he has been 
 called than Mr. Smith, and Mrs. Smith is 
 a lady of fine intellect, highly accomplished 
 and much loved by all. The family have 
 a delightful home in the town, and also 
 own a small farm, which is rented out. 
 Mr. Smith has, assisted by his amiable 
 wife, made his comfortable property 
 through industry, and backed by a deter- 
 mination to succeed. By his unswerving 
 integrity he first gained the confidence of 
 his fellow citizens, and by his faithful at- 
 tention to the duties of the various posi- 
 tions he has filled as a public officer, and 
 as an emplo3'e, he has won the approba- 
 tion of all parties concerned. Socially, no 
 family in the township occupies a more 
 enviable position. 
 
 JACOB KETTENHOFEN, a wide- 
 awake, progressive citizen, and the 
 leading blacksmith of Wrightstown, 
 Brown county, of which city he has 
 been a resident some twenty years, is a 
 native of Rhein-Province, Germany, born 
 July 16, 1854, in Irsch, Kreis Saarbruck, 
 Regierungsbezirk Trier. For ten genera- 
 tions his ancestors were blacksmiths before 
 him, some serving in the armies of Europe, 
 and they were, for the most part, educated 
 above their station, many members of the 
 families being educators. Grandfather 
 Mathias Kettenhofen followed blacksmith- 
 ing in Orsholtz, Germany, and also his 
 sons. 
 
 Peter Kettenhofen, father of Jacob, 
 our subject, carried on that trade in Irsch 
 till 1862, when he was induced to come 
 to America by his sisters, who had pre- 
 ceded him to the Western World. Com- 
 ing with his family to Wisconsin, Peter 
 located in Holland township. Brown 
 county, where he followed his trade in 
 connection with farming till 1872, in 
 which year he removed to Wrightstown 
 and established the blacksmith shop now 
 
226 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 occupied hy his son Jacob. He died 
 October 21, 1887, aj^ed about sixty years, 
 esteemed and respected by all who knew 
 him as a bright, inteUigent, active and 
 honorable man. In Europe he had been 
 educated for the profession of teacher; 
 but the ruling trait of the family was so 
 strong in him that he preferred the trade 
 he followed throughout life, and he had 
 five brothers, all also blacksmiths. He 
 was considered a first-class mechanic, 
 making a success of his business, and 
 much of his work is still to be seen in 
 various parts of the county. In his native 
 land he had married Miss Anna F"ish, who 
 was also born in Insch, near Trier, Rhein 
 Province, Germany, and nine children 
 were born to them, six of whom are yet 
 living. The mother was called from 
 earth August 27, 1892. Peter Ketten- 
 hofen was a consistent member of the 
 Catholic Church; in politics he was a 
 stanch Democrat, and served as delegate 
 to county conventions. 
 
 The subject proper of these lines, 
 whose name opens the sketch, was eight 
 years old when his parents brought him to 
 this country, and in Holland township. 
 Brown county, he received a good com- 
 mon-school education. In 1871, when 
 seventeen years old, he commenced to 
 learn blacksmithing in Menasha, with 
 Philip Sensenbrenner, a master mechanic, 
 and at the end of two years came to 
 Wrightstown, where he entered his 
 father's shop, and has remained there 
 continuously to the present time, a period 
 of over twenty years, in which connection 
 it were superfluous to add that he is a 
 master of the business in every detail, 
 and a thoroughly expert horse-shoer. On 
 June 29, 1 880. he was married to Miss Liz- 
 zie Brenzel, who has borne him nine chil- 
 dren: Catharina, Annie, John, Helena, 
 Jacob, Mary, Clara, Eva and Peter. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Kettenhofen are members of the 
 Catholic Church. Politically he is identi- 
 fied with the Democratic party, has con- 
 siderable influence in local and county 
 politics, being well known all over the 
 
 southern part of Brown county and the 
 northern part of Outagamie, and generally 
 serves as delegate to conventions. So- 
 cially he is an active member of the Cath- 
 olic Knights of Wisconsin, is president of 
 the local order, was elected a delegate to 
 the State convention at Oshkosh in 1894. 
 He has taken an interest in educational 
 matters, and is trustee of the Sisters' 
 school at Wrightstown. 
 
 On March 28, 1894, he was chosen 
 chairman of the caucus, being the first 
 caucus held in the new town hall at 
 Greenleaf, to nominate officers for the 
 town election. 
 
 JAMES McKONE, a popular livery- 
 man and horse breeder, of Green 
 Bay, was born in County Cavan, 
 Ireland, April 15, 1854, and is a 
 son of James and Ann (McCabe) McKone. 
 The father, who was a prosperous farmer, 
 died in 1858, leaving a widow and six 
 children, viz. : Patrick, Catherine, John, 
 James L. , Terrence and Ann — all living 
 with the exception of Ann, who died in 
 Minneapolis, Minn., leaving one child, 
 also named Ann. In 1868 the mother of 
 our subject sold her property in Ireland, 
 and with three children came to America, 
 her other children having preceded her. 
 She bought a place in Oshkosh, Wis., 
 where her three brothers, Cornelius. John 
 and Frank, then lived, and where John 
 still has his residence. Here Mrs. Mc- 
 Kone passed away December 5, 1885. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, after pass- 
 ing six weeks in New York, was employed 
 in a sawmill at Oshkosh, Wis., until 
 December, 1879, when he went to Wau- 
 sau. Wis., and for four years profitably 
 carried on a dairy; he then moved to 
 Clintonville, Wis., and bought a livery 
 stock, which he transferred to Fort 
 Howard, where he remained fourteen 
 months, and then settled in Green Bay, 
 and here he rented the barn which he 
 now owns. He has had his business mis- 
 fortunes, but, on the whole, has been re- 
 
COMMKMOHATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 markably successful. His stables con- 
 tain thirty-four horses, some of which 
 are very valuable, among them being a 
 two-year-old mare, "Bourbon Break," 
 with a record, as a two-year-old, of 2:31 j; 
 for this auimal Mr. McKone has refused 
 $3,000. Among other promising animals 
 in this stud are "Anna May," "Wilkes," 
 "J. C," "Skylark," "Ben Crosier," 
 "Fancher, "and " Daisy H." While a resi- 
 dent of Oshkosh, Mr. McKone married 
 Julia Helpen, daughter of Patrick and Jen- 
 nie (Mallon) Helpen. She bore her hus- 
 band two children — James L. and Mamie, 
 the former of whom resides with his father, 
 the latter dying in infancy. Mrs. Mc- 
 Kone died May 15, 1881, and her re- 
 mains were interred at Wausau. The 
 second marriage of Mr. McKone took 
 place at Clintonville, Wis., to Miss Mary 
 Geary, a native of Hazleton, Penn., and 
 daughter of Patrick and Catherine (Mulli- 
 gan) Gear}-, the former of whom died in 
 Chicago in 1876, while on his way home 
 to Clintonville from a trip to Texas; the 
 latter is now a resident of Philadelphia, 
 Penn. The second marriage of Mr. Mc- 
 Kone has been blessed with three chil- 
 dren : Frank, John and Alvin, the last 
 named dying in infancy. Mr. McKone is 
 a member of the Royal Arcanum, and, 
 with his wife, attends St. John's fCatho- 
 lic) Church. He is a gentleman of great 
 native energy, has made himself what he 
 is, in a financial point of view, notwith- 
 standing some severe business reverses, 
 and, through his affability and straightfor- 
 ward dealing, has won hosts of friends. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL PATTON. This gen- 
 tleman, who is now living semi- 
 retired on his farm in Glenmore 
 township. Brown county, en- 
 joys the distinction of being its oldest liv- 
 ing settler. 
 
 He is a native of the Emerald Isle, 
 born about 18 14, in County Waterford, 
 son of Martin and Mary (Powers) Patton, 
 farming people in moderate circumstances. 
 
 They had a family of si.\ children — four 
 sons and two daughters — of whom 
 Michael was the eldest, and consequently 
 his educational opportunities were some- 
 what limited. When a mere boy he com- 
 menced to work in the cojjper mines, con- 
 tinuing thus while in his native country. 
 In young manhood he was married to 
 Miss Mary Hayes, who was also a native 
 of County Waterford, and three children 
 were born to them in Ireland, namely: 
 William, who is now a resident of Fort 
 Howard, Brown county; Martin, of Glen- 
 more township; and Mary, who married 
 Leonard Miller, and died in Marinette, 
 Wis. Having by Economy managed to 
 save a few dollars from his meager earn- 
 ings, Mr. Patton concluded to emigrate 
 and try his fortune in the New World, 
 and, bidding their early home farewell, he 
 and his family sailed on the "Admiral," 
 in the spring of 1844, and landed in Que- 
 bec after a voyage of five weeks and three 
 days. Mr. Patton had intended to go to 
 the Lake Superior copper region; but 
 learning that work was scarce there, he 
 went instead to Lowell, Ohio, where he 
 found employment at a furnace. Later 
 he worked at other towns in the Mahon- 
 ing Valley, and also in the coal and iron 
 mines of that country, remaining in the 
 vicinity of Youngstown until 1848, when 
 he came to Wisconsin to look over the 
 land. In Section 8, Glenmore township. 
 Brown county, he purchased a half-section 
 of wild land, and then went back to Ohio 
 for his family, returning to Wisconsin in 
 the fall. There were no roads laid out 
 at this time, the path to his farm led 
 through the forest, and their neighbors 
 were the Whitmores, who lived two miles 
 away, along the Dixon road. The trees 
 were so thick that a spot large enough 
 for the dwelling had to be cleared, and 
 Mr. Patton put up a log cabin, into which 
 the family moved. Wild animals were 
 numerous, but they gradually passed away 
 with the clearing and settling of the conn- 
 try. The settlers labored under many 
 disadvantages in the improving and culti- 
 
328 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 rating of the land, for almost the only 
 tools they had were an axe and a grub- 
 hoe, and oxen were the only beasts of 
 burden. But the prospect of having a 
 comfortable property of his own cheered 
 Mr. Patton through the first few years of 
 hard work, and encouraged him to prese- 
 vere until the land became productive and 
 jielded a good income. As his sons grew 
 up they proved a great assistance to 
 him, and in turn he has given them a 
 comfortable start in life; he, at one time, 
 owned between 400 and 500 acres of good 
 land, but he has given the greater part 
 of it to his sons. In 1892 a new resi- 
 dence was erected on the farm. 
 
 After coming to the United States Mr. 
 and Mrs. Patton had the following chil- 
 dren: Kate, Mrs. Richard Gorman, of 
 Marinette, Wis. ; Morris, who died in 
 Youngstown, Ohio, where he was buried; 
 Patrick, a resident of Glenmore town- 
 ship, Brown county; Edward, who died 
 in Glenmore township in 1893; John, 
 who is mentioned farther on; Michael, 
 who died in Glenmore township; and 
 Morris, of Green Bay. Mr. Patton is 
 now retired from active farm work, en- 
 joying the fruits of his early toil, for the 
 past t\\'elve jears having made his home 
 with his son John. He is a typical self- 
 made man, for, landing in this country 
 with no capital save health and energy, 
 he rose by his own efforts to an enviable 
 position among the leading farmers of 
 Glenmore township. In his political af- 
 filiations he is a stanch Democrat, and in 
 his earlier years he served as supervisor 
 and school treasurer in his township, but 
 he was never an office-seeker, always pre- 
 ferring to give his undivided attention to 
 his business. In religious faith he is a 
 member of St. Francis Church De Pere. 
 His estimable wife was called from earth 
 January i, 188S, when aged seventy-two 
 years, and her remains now rest in Al- 
 louez cemetery. 
 
 John Patton was born March 25, 1856, 
 on the farm where he is yet living, and 
 here obtained a thorough knowledge of 
 
 agriculture under his father, at the same 
 time receiving his literary education in 
 the common schools. On May 2, 1882, 
 he was married in St. Francis Church, 
 De Pere, to Miss Frances A. Lawlor, who 
 was born in April, 1S65, in Glenmore 
 township, daughter of Thomas and Mary 
 (Connors) Lawlor. To this union came 
 children as follows: Mary, Lizzie, Fran- 
 ces, and Pearl, living; Lucy, deceased; 
 and James Rhaman, living. Mr. Patton 
 is a hard-working, prosperous farmer, and 
 one of the substantial, public-spirited 
 citizens of his township. He devotes his 
 time exclusively to the cultivation of his 
 farm, which comprises 120 acres of excel- 
 lent land. In his political preferences 
 he is a Democrat, and in religious connec- 
 tion a member of St. Francis Church, 
 De Pere. 
 
 WD. RICE, of Pittsfield town- 
 ship. Brown county, was born 
 February 14, 1838, in Fitz- 
 william, N. H., the eldest of 
 the four children born to John and Caro- 
 line (Hayden) Rice. The other three 
 were Eliza, who died leaving three chil- 
 dren, Lizzie, Ellsworth and Fred; Wins- 
 low, who was killed in the Civil war; and 
 Sarah, who died leaving a husband and 
 two children — Eva and Nellie. 
 
 W. D. Rice, since the age of fifteen, 
 has earned his li\ing through his own ex- 
 ertions. From his native State he came 
 directly to Wisconsin, and was one of the 
 early settlers of Pittsfield (then Suamico) 
 township. Brown county, where he 
 bought eighty acres of land which he 
 still owns, having first earned the money 
 by hard work in the lumber woods — a 
 business he followed thirty-nine years be- 
 fore he ceased active work, having al- 
 ways had charge of a camp from the age 
 of eighteen. He cleared of? the timber 
 from his farm at odd intervals, ridding it 
 of trees, Indians, bears and wolves, until 
 it became one of the model farms of the 
 township. Having commenced the prep- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 229 
 
 aration of a home, he was married, on 
 April 23, 1859, to Miss Hannah E., 
 daughter of Cornehus and Margaret 
 (Leonard) Keefe, put up the house they 
 at present occupy, and in 1 860 moved 
 into the new liome. It was in this year 
 that the town was set off, the poll at that 
 time being 13; in 1894 it had reached 
 230. To Mr. and Mrs. I^ice were born 
 five children, as follows: Lizzie, John, 
 James (who died in infancy), Clara and 
 Leonard. 
 
 In politics Mr. Rice is a stanch Re- 
 publican; in 1885 he was elected chair- 
 man of the town, and has held the posi- 
 tion for several years. He has been true 
 to his party from the time he cast his 
 first Presidential vote, for Abraham Lin- 
 coln, and this circumstance has been 
 fully recognized by his political friends. 
 
 HM. BECK, M. D. This esteemed 
 citizen of Green Ba}', and well- 
 known physician and surgeon, is 
 a native of Bavaria, Germany, 
 born November i, 1855, a son of Leon- 
 ard and Eva (Gesner) Beck, also of Ba- 
 varian birth, the former of whom died in 
 1892 in his native land, where his widow 
 is yet living. They were the parents of 
 six children, viz. : \'alentine, in Bavaria; 
 H. M., subject of sketch; Barbara, wife 
 of John Schenck, of Brown county. Wis. , 
 Velp P. O. ; Johanna, Iska, and Anna. 
 Of these, two came to Green Bay, and 
 are here now residing, to wit: H. M. and 
 Barbara. 
 
 H. M. Beck received his primary edu- 
 cation at the public and preparatory 
 schools of Bavaria, after which he at- 
 tended the Polytechnic High-shool at 
 Munich. In 1876 he immigrated to the 
 United States, arriving in Green Bay, 
 Wis. , in December of that year. Here 
 for about one year he gave music lessons, 
 after which he engaged in the drug busi- 
 ness, carrying same on for several years. 
 In 1879 he commenced the study of 
 medicine with Dr. B. C. Brett in 
 
 1 88 1 entering Rush Medical College, 
 Chicago, where he graduated in March, 
 1883, thereafter at once commencing 
 the general practice of his profession 
 in Green Bay, in which he has met 
 with well-merited success. In 1879 
 Dr. Beck married Miss Mary Fo.x, daugh- 
 ter of Paul Fox, an early settler of Brown 
 county. This wife died in 1886, leaving 
 one son. Otto, and in 1888 the Doctor 
 was united in marriage with Miss Irma C. 
 Van Dyke, daughter of Louis Van Dyke, 
 and two children have come to brighten 
 their home, viz. : Irma and Florence. 
 
 Dr. Beck is a member of Fox River 
 Valley Medical Society, and of J:he State 
 Medical Society. He is examining sur- 
 geon for the Northwestern Mutual Life 
 Insurance Company; for the ^tna. Equi- 
 table, Connecticut Mutual, the National 
 Life Insurance Company of Montpelier, 
 Metropolitan of New York, Mutual Life 
 of New York, etc., besides for three or 
 four societies. He has been local sur- 
 geon for the Chicago, Minneapolis & St. 
 Paul Railroad Company for over ten 
 years. Socially he is a member of the 
 K. of P., Pochequette Lodge, No. 26 (of 
 which he is Keeper of Records and Seals), 
 and of the Uniform Rank; also a mem- 
 ber of the Elks, No. 229, Green Bay. In 
 his political associations he is a Repub- 
 lican; served as county commissioner two 
 years; as member of the school board also 
 two years. Taken all in all, the Doctor 
 is a thorough representative of the best 
 citizenship of Green Bay. 
 
 AD,\M DOHN, a prosperous agri- 
 culturist, and one of the most 
 highly respected citizens, of De- 
 Pere township, Brown county, 
 was born February 4, 1835. i^i Bavaria, 
 German}', son of John G. Dohn, a shoe- 
 maker, who had three children, Adam 
 being the eldest. 
 
 Our subject attended the common 
 schools of his birthplace until he reached 
 the age of fourteen years, when he began 
 
230 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to assist in the support of the family. 
 When he was seventeen years old his 
 father died, leaving a home unpaid for, 
 and the property was thus lost. In the 
 fall of 1852 the widowed mother and her 
 three children set out from Germany for 
 Havre, France, where they took passage 
 on the vessel " Lindy " for the United 
 States, landing in New York after a voy- 
 age of forty-two days. From there they 
 proceeded by rail to Dunkirk, N. Y. , 
 thence by boat to Detroit, Mich., by rail 
 to Chicago, 111., and from there by boat 
 to Milwaukee, Wis. Their destination 
 was Waukesha, Wis. , and, their funds hav- 
 mg been exhausted by the time they 
 reached Milwaukee, they walked the re- 
 mainder of the way, twenty miles, arriv- 
 ing in Waukesha seven dajs after landing 
 in New York City. Mrs. Dohn made her 
 home in Waukesha with her brother. Philip 
 Filer, who had loaned them money to 
 help pay the expenses of their journey to 
 the United States; and Adam, who being 
 the eldest was looked to for support, hired 
 out as a farm hand, receiving si.xty dollars 
 for his first year's work. He not only as- 
 sisted in the support of his mother, but 
 also paid back the money, one hundred 
 and twenty dollars, which they had bor- 
 rowed from his uncle, and for the first few 
 years his life in the New World was one of 
 constant toil and hardship. Of the other 
 two children, his brother William received 
 a liberal education in the common schools, 
 and later engaged in business in Gibson- 
 burg, Ohio, first in merchandising, and 
 afterward in the lime business; he died in 
 Gibsonburg. The sister, Catherine, died 
 in Waukesha at the age of thirteen years. 
 Mrs. Dohn died in Ohio at the home of 
 her son William. 
 
 On May 6, 1858, Adam Dohn was 
 married, in Milwaukee, Wis., to Margaret 
 Miller, who was born, August 28, 1833, 
 in Hesse-Darmstadt, a daughter of John 
 and Anna Miller, the former of whom died 
 in Germany when his daughter, Margaret, 
 was three years old. She set out with 
 her mother for the United States in 1853, 
 
 sailing from Bremen on the " Elizabeth," 
 and, after a voyage of forty-two days, 
 landed in New York, from which city 
 they came at once to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 the journey occupying one week. After 
 his marriage Mr. Dohn purchased four 
 acres of land in Waukesha, taking up his 
 residence thereon, and, in addition to 
 cultivating his own land, worked at farm- 
 ing for others and also at railroading. In 
 1870 he removed to Brown county, locat- 
 ing on the farm where he has ever since 
 resided. Private Claim, No. 40, De Pere 
 township, containing eighty acres of highly 
 cultivated, productive land. When he 
 came here, however, it was still in a 
 primitive condition, and he set to work 
 at once to clear and improve it, giving 
 his attention exclusively to general 
 farming and stock-raising. The first 
 house Mr. Dohn erected on the place was 
 built of logs, and the family lived in it 
 until 1 891, when the present comfortable 
 residence was erected. From a start of 
 nothing, and without assistance from any 
 one, our subject has accumulated a com- 
 fortable competence, and his life furnishes 
 an example of what may be accomplished 
 by determination and energy and indus- 
 trious habits. He has won the esteem of 
 his fellow citizens for honesty and ster- 
 ling worth, and he and his family are 
 highly respected in their community. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dohn have been born seven 
 children, viz.: George, John, William, 
 Minnie (Mrs. William Delzer, of Wood- 
 ville township, Calumet countyj, Anna (of 
 De Pere), and Maggie and Herbert E. , 
 both deceased. 
 
 On February 18, 1864, Mr. Dohn en- 
 listed, at Milwaukee, in Company D, 
 Forty-eighth Wis. V. I., and was sent to 
 St. Louis, Mo., thence to Fort Scott, 
 Kans. , on patrol duty, remaining in the 
 service until April, 1866, when he re- 
 ceived an honorable discharge at Madison, 
 Wis. ; he was mustered out at Fort Leaven- 
 worth, Kans. He had served in the In- 
 dian campaigns, during which the men 
 suffered greatly from exposure and lack 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BlOGliAFUlCAL RECORD. 
 
 231 
 
 of provisions. From Colorado they 
 marched 600 miles over the plains to Fort 
 Leavenworth, Kans. , and, for thirty-two 
 nights, they had to sleep on the ground, 
 although it was covered with snow. For 
 300 miles of this long march each com- 
 pany had but one load of firewood, and 
 the men were allowed to make coffee but 
 once a day; on the remaining 300-mile 
 march they had no wood at all. Mr. 
 Dohn's health was so seriously impaired 
 by the hardships he endured that he has 
 never fully recovered. In his political 
 affiliations he was originally a Democrat, 
 but he is now an advocate of protection 
 and a member of the Republican party. 
 He has served his township as supervisor, 
 and for eight years as member of the 
 township board, but his ill-health com- 
 pelled him to resign this position. He 
 and his wife are members of the Presby- 
 terian Church of De Pere. 
 
 FI^ANK KOZLOWSKY, a worthy 
 citizen of New Denmark town- 
 ship, Brown county, where he has 
 been actively engaged in farming 
 tor over thirty years, and of which he is 
 one of the oldest and most highly honored 
 residents, was born March 14, 1834, in 
 Bohemia, Austria. His parents. John and 
 Anna (Horene) Kozlowsky, the former 
 of whom was engaged in farming, had a 
 family of three children, namely : Joseph, 
 Frank (our subject), and Philip, now a 
 resident of CoopersLown, Wis., who is 
 married and has seven children. The 
 mother died when her son Frank was 
 eight years old. 
 
 At the age of twelve Frank Kozlowsky 
 commenced to learn the tailor's trade, 
 continuing to follow same in his native 
 country for six years. When eighteen 
 years old he set sail from Bremen, Ger- 
 many, and landed in New York after a 
 nine-weeks' voyage, thence continuing 
 his journey to Chicago, 111., where his 
 funds were exhausted, and he had to wait 
 for his baggage. He waited in that city 
 
 until his goods came after him, then he 
 started for Wisconsin, coming across Af- 
 ton to Milwaukee, thence by wagon to 
 Port Washington, from which place he 
 proceeded on foot to Manitowoc, a dis- 
 tance of sixty-five miles, whence he walked 
 to Kossuth township, Manitowoc county, 
 where his uncle resided. Here he engaged 
 in clearing land for about a year and a 
 half, and then invested in a tract of eighty 
 acres in Cooperstown township, in part- 
 nership with a Mr. Nejedlo. They erected 
 a small shanty and commenced clearing 
 the place, continuing together for about a 
 year, when Mr. Nejedlo sold his share, 
 our subject becoming sole owner of the 
 tract. On January 19, 1856, Mr. Koz- 
 lowsky was married to Miss Anna Pivonka, 
 and walked afoot, along with two wit- 
 nesses, to the justice of the peace. Charles 
 Rieter, at Manitowoc, about fourteen 
 miles, and back the same day, along a 
 good snow road. They lived in the shanty 
 four years, when it was supplanted by a 
 comfortable log dwelling. Besides at- 
 tending to the work of clearing, Mr. Koz- 
 lowsky engaged in the manufacture of 
 shingles, an occupation that brought him 
 a small revenue until the farm afforded 
 a comfortable support. All the provisions 
 had to be carried by him from Kossuth, on 
 his back or in his hands, and on one oc- 
 casion, having lost his way, he wandered 
 about for several hours before he found 
 the path. After living on that farm six 
 years they sold it and come to New Den- 
 mark township. Brown county, here buy- 
 ing 120 acres, which forms part of the 
 present homestead. This was also new- 
 land, totally unimproved, like all the sur- 
 rounding country, and there were no roads 
 in the township, only Indian trails, over 
 which they brought their supplies from 
 De Pere and Green Bay. l"he work of 
 clearing was commenced in earnest, and 
 besides reducing the first purchase to a 
 condition of fertility, he purchased and 
 improved forty acres additional. When 
 he first started to cultivate his land he 
 had no team with which to plow, and all 
 
232 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the ground for planting or sowing of grain 
 was made ready with a grub hoe. Mr. 
 Kozlowsky is a Democrat in poHtics, and 
 has served his township two years as super- 
 visor and four years as clerk of the school 
 board. In religious faith he and his 
 family are devout members of the Catho- 
 lic Church, and he donated the land for 
 the Catholic Church situated near his resi- 
 dence. In 1862 he was drafted into the 
 army, and was sent to Madison, whence 
 in four days he proceeded to Fond du 
 Lac, and then was sent home. Being 
 drafted a second time, he \\as sent to 
 Green Baj'. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Kozlowsky have been 
 born eight children, namely : Antone, 
 Catherine, .\iina. Mar}', Frank, Joseph, 
 Adolph and Emma, of whom Frank has 
 alwajs resided on the farm; the others re- 
 mained at home up to the time of their 
 marriage. Mr. Kozlowsky is now retired 
 from active farm work, he and his wife 
 living with their son Frank, who now 
 owns the farm and carries on the agricul- 
 tural work, and in 1888, besides attending 
 to all his work on the homestead, he 
 (Frank, Jr.) cleared five acres. 
 
 On January 31, 1888, Frank Koz- 
 lowsky, Jr., was united in marriage with 
 Miss Anna Konop, bringing his wife at 
 once to the home farm. Their union has 
 been blessed with four children, namely : 
 Joseph, Mar\', Ennna and Annie. 
 
 WILLIAM LARSEN, mayor of 
 Fort Howard, and one of the 
 most extensive shipping mer- 
 chants and traders of north- 
 eastern Wisconsin, was born Ma}- 29, 
 1850, in Buffalo, New York. 
 
 His father, Ole Larsen, who was a native 
 of Norway, with his first wife, a son and 
 four daughters, came to the United States 
 in 1844, and first embarked in the groc- 
 cer}' business at Buffalo, remaining there 
 until 1852, when he came to Wisconsin. 
 For a short time he resided in Fort How- 
 ard, then removed to Door county, and 
 
 was engaged in farming until his death, 
 which occurred when he was sixty-five 
 years of age. Before leaving Buffalo his 
 first wife had died, and he married, for his 
 second. Miss Rachel Weisenberg, also a 
 native of Norway, who came to the 
 United States with her friends when 
 about thirty years of age ; she now lives 
 at the home of our subject. To this 
 marriage were born four children : A 
 daughter that died in infanc\ ; William, 
 whose name introduces this article ; Otis, 
 a merchant of Chicago ; and Henry, who 
 is associated with \\'illiam. 
 
 William Larsen attended the district 
 schools of this State until about fifteen 
 \ears of age, then passed a year at Ap- 
 pleton College, after which he entered the 
 general store of M. E. Tremble & Co., 
 at Suamico, as head clerk, ha\ing charge 
 of the store and books for the firm. 
 This position he held four years, when, 
 at the age of twent\', he married Miss 
 Sarah Krouse. He at once settled in 
 Fort Howard, and, with $700 he had 
 saved during his clerking days, engaged in 
 the grocery business with M. C. Johnson, 
 conducting same most prosperously for 
 seven years, when both partners sold out. 
 Mr. Larsen then established a general 
 shipping business, handling principally 
 fruits, produce, hay, etc., and this has 
 reached enormous proportions, the vol- 
 ume of his trade at present representing 
 half a million dollars per annum at a low 
 estimate. His pay-roll is in excess of 
 three thousand five hundred dollars per 
 month, and his payments for produce in 
 the season exceed ten thousand dollars 
 per month; during the same part of the 
 year his transactions in hay are pro- 
 digious. Mr. Larsen is also a stock-hold- 
 er in and vice-president of McCartney's 
 National Bank, and holds a large interest 
 in the Columbia Bakery Co., a very ex- 
 tensive, popular and prosperous establish- 
 ment. Besides attending to his immense 
 mercantile and financial interests, he finds 
 time to devote to the care of a forty-acre 
 garden plat, from which he also derives 
 
/J>><3^eyuV 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 235 
 
 a considerable profit. Public duties, 
 moreover, have claimed and still claim 
 much of his time and attention ; for 
 three years he was alderman from the 
 Second ward of Fort Howard, and he is 
 now serving his third term as mayor of 
 the city. 
 
 Mrs. Sarah Larsen was born in Suam- 
 ico. Brown Co. , Wis. , and is a daughter 
 of Ferdinand and Sarah Krouse, who 
 had a family of five children. To her 
 marriage have been born ten children, of 
 whom one died when but a year old ; the 
 names of the others are Mabel, Austin, 
 Leslie, Edith, Grace, Charles .Sumner, 
 Marie, Milton, and Warren. The eldest 
 of these is proficient in music, and is 
 still taking lessons at the Auditorium in 
 Chicago, while several of the others are 
 being educated at the best colleges of 
 Wisconsin. Mr. Larsen and his wife at 
 first lived in a rented house, for which 
 they paid $8 or $10 per month, and con- 
 tinued to reside there until about 1888, 
 when he completed his present magnifi- 
 cent home at a cost of nearly fifteen 
 thousand dollars. It is the most mod- 
 ern, handsome and complete house m 
 this section of the country, and the fur- 
 niture and grounds are in appropriate har- 
 mony with the residence. His business is 
 now one of the most e.xtensive commercial 
 enterprises of the entire State, and Green 
 Bay, as well as Fort Howard, is especially 
 benefited through its dealings in country 
 produce. He is endowed, in a remarkable 
 degree, with the characteristics possessed 
 by his hardy, brave and adventurous an- 
 cestors — traits of character which enabled 
 them to secure a more than prominent 
 place in the history of the world. These 
 ' ' Norsemen " were old-time heroes, whose 
 indomitable spirit made them the most 
 adventurous navigators of their time, and 
 who undoubtedly viewed the shores of 
 the New World at a period long antedating 
 its "discovery" by Columbus, the Geno- 
 ese mariner. And not only as navigators 
 were they supreme, but as warriors in the 
 field, also; for, in all western and northern 
 
 Europe, they came to be known and 
 dreaded as redoubtable and fearless 
 fighters; in later days admired and re- 
 spected as an enlightened and Christian 
 people. Mr. Larsen may be justly termed 
 a representative self-made man, one who 
 in his early life received little, if any, 
 financial aid. His youth was passed 
 with a keen intelligence, and a healthy, 
 robust physique that soon won for him 
 recognition and respect at the hands of 
 those with whom he was thrown in con- 
 tact, thus gradually, but surely, placing 
 him in an enviable position as a citizen 
 and business man. He is of a sanguine 
 temperament, though cool and deliberate 
 even when absorbed in the most mo 
 mentous and intricate business proposi- 
 tion; in fact, he is possessed of what 
 might not improperly be styled a thor- 
 oughly judicial cast of mind — a quality 
 that has stood him in good stead, placing" 
 him in the front rank of the strong arrays 
 of merchants in his adopted city, and 
 enabling him to conduct and regulate his 
 large and varied business with that per- 
 fect order which insures success; also to> 
 maintain discipline in, and guarantee: 
 honest service at the hands of, his army 
 of employes, either at home or attending" 
 to his affairs elsewhere. The minutest 
 as well as the most extensive details of 
 his intricate business are supervised by 
 the master mind, and kept in perfect ac- 
 cord and under thorough control through 
 the same potent agency. In all his deal- 
 ings he is recognized as one of the most 
 fair and honorable of merchants, and, as 
 a citizen, he is held in such a high degree 
 of regard as to be honored with election 
 to many positions of honor and trust — 
 including the highest in municipal affairs 
 — all which he has filled faithfully and 
 well, ever giving his best endeavors for 
 the benefit of the city, and using the 
 same sound judgment and shrewd sagacity 
 that have so successfully militated in 
 building up his own business — now the 
 largest of the kind in northern Wisconsin. 
 No man is more highly honored than 
 
336 
 
 COMMEMORATH'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Larsen, regardless of politics, re- 
 ligion or nationality, his talents as a busi- 
 aiess man having won for him the im- 
 gnidged esteem of his fellow citizens at 
 home and abroad, who have ever had 
 communication with him, either in person 
 or in the channels of trade. He and his 
 wife are both members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, and both are active 
 in the extension of the good work car- 
 ried on by their church, while their 
 private works of charity, which are multi- 
 tudinous, go without record. 
 
 AUGUST BAUMGART, who for 
 more than twenty years has been 
 identified with the farming inter- 
 ests of Glenmore township, Brown 
 county, is a native of the Fatherland, 
 born November 28, 1848, son of August 
 Baumgart. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 his naiive land, and after leaving school 
 commenced work in a brickyard, continu- 
 ing in that vocation until about twenty 
 3'ears of age, when he came with his par- 
 ents to America, and to Brown county. 
 Wis. On September 29, 1874, he was 
 married, in Green Bay, Wis., to Miss 
 Honora Murphy, born in that city May 
 19, 1856, daughter of Dennis Murphy, 
 who came from Cork, Ireland. After com- 
 ing to Brown county August Baumgart 
 remained with his parents four years, 
 helping them to pay for their farm, and 
 one year prior to his marriage purchased, 
 on his own account, eighty acres of land 
 in Section 14, Glenmore township. A 
 few acres had been partially cleared, but 
 otherwise there were no improvements 
 except an old log shanty, in which he 
 made his home until the comfortable 
 house now occupied by the family was 
 built. To Mr. and Mrs. Baumgart were 
 born ten children, as follows: Charles, 
 Gertrude, Joseph, Edward, John, and 
 Anton, all living, and four that died young. 
 By industry and assiduous toil Mr. Baum- 
 gart has succeeded in clearing all his land. 
 
 and now has a well-cultivated, improved 
 farm, the result of years of energy and 
 persevering labor, his wife having assisted 
 him greatly in the accumulation of their 
 comfortable propert)-. They are respected 
 by all who know them as kind-hearted, 
 hospitable neighbors, and as members of 
 St. Mary's Catholic Church, of which he 
 has served as trustee the past three years, 
 and he is at present a member of the 
 board of education. In politics Mr. Baum- 
 gart is a Democrat, and at present he is 
 serving as assessor of his township, but 
 has refused other offices, as he prefers to 
 give his principal attention to his farm. 
 In connection with his other agricultural 
 interests he has for the past fifteen years 
 operated a threshing-machine. Mr. Baum- 
 gart has always been ready to listen to 
 the distressed and unfortunate, and has 
 ever been willing to extend pecuniary aid 
 and give wise counsel. 
 
 M 
 
 .\TTHIAS LINSSEN, the pop- 
 ular treasurer of Bellevue town- 
 ship. Brown county, in which 
 incumbency he has served since 
 1 89 1, is one of the leading young farmers 
 in his township. 
 
 He was born February 19, 1859, in 
 Holland, son of Henry Linssen, a car- 
 penter, who, in 1 87 I. came with his wife 
 and ten children to America, sailing from 
 Liverpool, England. They landed at 
 Quebec, Canada, thence coming to Wis- 
 consin on May 24, 1871, arriving in Green 
 Bay with just seventy dollars to com- 
 mence life in their new home. The)' 
 made a temporary location on a farm in 
 Bellevue township, Brown county, where 
 Mr. Linssen shortly afterward purchased 
 and removed to a new farm, and there 
 made his home until 1890, in which year 
 he removed to Preble township, where he 
 has since resided, highly respected by all 
 who know him. After coming to Amer- 
 ica he abandoned his trade and turned his 
 attention exclusively to farming. His 
 first wife died in Holland, and before 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 »37 
 
 coming to the United States he there 
 married his present wife; four children 
 have been born to them in Wisconsin. 
 Matthias Linssen is the second son and 
 fourth child born to the first marriage. 
 
 Our subject received the greater part 
 of his education in Holland, and when 
 eleven years old came with his parents 
 to America. He commenced to work 
 early in life, being thoroughly instructed 
 in the duties of the farm on the home 
 place, where he remained until his mar- 
 riage. In 1880 he wedded Miss Annie 
 Wald, a native of Scott township, Brown 
 county, daughter of Michael Wald, at 
 which time he had one winter's earnings 
 with which to commence life for himself. 
 The first winter they resided with Mrs. 
 Linssen's parents, and soon afterward he 
 purchased a piece of timber land, which 
 he cleared, realizing good returns for his 
 labor; subsequently he bought fort)' acres 
 of new land in Bellevue township, which 
 he afterward sold, the investment proving 
 a good one, and then purchased the place 
 in Preble township vs'here he lived until 
 1 89 1. In that year he came to the farm 
 where his home now is. a beautiful tract 
 of eighty-four acres, highly cultivated, 
 well improved and systematically con- 
 ducted, everything about the place evi- 
 dencing the owner's thrift, good manage- 
 ment, and prosperity. Mr. Linssen has 
 no superior in his township as an agricul- 
 turist, and he is a striking example of a 
 successful, self-made man. For six years 
 he was employed at the National furnace, 
 in De Pere — one year in the stock-house 
 and five years in the casting-house, and 
 thus obtained capital to start with. fn 
 addition to his general farming interests 
 he has a part ownership in a modern 
 threshing outfit. In his political prefer- 
 ences Mr. Linssen is a stanch Democrat, 
 and in 1891 was, without solicitation, 
 elected treasurer of his township, in which 
 office he has since served; and. though the 
 youngest man who has ever held that 
 office in the township, he has given com- 
 plete satisfaction to all. In church rela- 
 
 tion he and his wife are members of the 
 Holland Catholic Church at Green Bay. 
 To them were born eight children, viz. : An- 
 nie, Nellie, Mary, Elizabeth, Catharine, Jo- 
 seph, and Gertrude, all li\iiig; and Michael, 
 who died in infanc}'. 
 
 GEORGE HUISENFELDT, one 
 of the sul)stantial farmer citizens 
 of Rockland township. Brown 
 county, is a native of same, born 
 October 28, 1856, son of Stephen and 
 Wilhelmina (Sultan) Huisenfeldt. 
 
 Stephen Huisenfeldt was born in Hol- 
 land, and in 1847 came to the United 
 States, landing in New York City. Having 
 heard of the superior advantages offered 
 to settlers in the great West, he came to 
 Green Bay, Brown Co. , Wis., and thence, 
 after a short stay, to Bay Settlement, where 
 for two years he made his home with his 
 brother, Reinhard, after which he came 
 to De Pere township, where he was em- 
 ployed three years on the farm of James 
 Boyd, and then for two years following 
 rented and worked a farm along the Di.xon 
 road. Mr. Huisenfeldt was married in 
 Green Bay to a Miss Hazacher, who 
 passed away eighteen months afterward, 
 the mother of one child, who also died. 
 He subsequently married Miss Wilhelmina 
 Sultan, a native of Holland, and, after 
 living on the rented farm a short time, 
 they came to the place in Rockland town- 
 ship, now owned by our subject, on which 
 they passed the remainder of their lives. 
 He first purchased forty acres in Section 
 10, at $2. 50 per acre, and, after clearing a 
 small space erected a 12x14 loR shanty, 
 in which they lived five years. The task 
 of clearing was commenced at once; but, 
 owing to the lack of necessary farming 
 implements, the work was slow and labo- 
 rious, several years of hard labor being ex- 
 pended on the place before it yielded anj' 
 return. For seven years after their settle- 
 ment they had no team, and either had to 
 hire one or exchange work with others. 
 When the ground had been cleared and 
 
^38 
 
 COMMEMORATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 prepared for the tirst crop, Mr. Huisen- 
 feldt found himself without money to buy 
 seed, and accordingly he exchanged an 
 acre of ground for four bushels of wheat 
 seed, thus obtaining a start. In 1870 he 
 purchased thirty-six acres more (which 
 also needed clearing and improving), the 
 home farm now containing seventy-five 
 acres of highly cultivated land. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Huisenfeldt had four children, as 
 follows: Cornelius, who resides in Mar- 
 shall, Minn. ;George, subject of this sketch; 
 Johanna, who died at the age of eighteen 
 years; and one that died in infancy. 
 Stephen Huisenfeldt passed from earth 
 November 9, 1889, at the age of seventy- 
 nine years, and was followed to the grave 
 by his wife February 4, 1892. 
 
 Our subject was reared to farm life, in 
 early boyhood commencing to assist his 
 father in the work on the pioneer farm, 
 taking no small share in transforming the 
 wilderness into a pleasant farm. He 
 always remained at home assisting his 
 parents, and on the death of his father 
 the home place came into his possession, 
 his mother residing there with him until 
 her decease. On April 19, 1889, Mr. 
 Huisenfeldt was united in marriage with 
 Miss Christine Albers, daughter of Gerard 
 and Johanna Albers, who emigrated from 
 Germany to. \merica in 1882, coming west 
 to De Pere, Wis., where Mr. Albers fol- 
 lowed his trade, that of a carpenter. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Albers had thirteen children, 
 seven of whom are living, viz. : Mary, 
 Henry, Johanna, Nellie, Dora, Christine 
 and Peter. After their marriage our sub- 
 ject and wife came at once to the home 
 farm, which he conducts in a systematic 
 manner, engaging successfully in general 
 farming. Their union has been blessed 
 with two children, namely : Anna Minnie, 
 born April 17, 1 890, and Stephen G. , born 
 May 24, 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Huisenfeldt are 
 members of the Holland Catholic Church 
 of De Pere. Politically he is independ- 
 ent, and though not an active politician 
 has served his township as supervisor, 
 discharging the duties of his office in a 
 
 conscientious, business-like way. He 
 stands in the front rank of the progres- 
 sive farmers of his section; and commands 
 the respect of all who know him for his 
 integrit}- and uprightness. 
 
 ,AUL BAUMGART, who ranks 
 
 among the industrious, rising 
 
 P 
 
 ■ young farmers of his section, is a 
 
 native of the Fatherland, born 
 August 9, 1858, in Breslau, Prussia. 
 
 His father, August Baumgart, was a 
 farmer and land-owner in Prussia, and for 
 several years also engaged in the manu- 
 facture of bricks. He and his wife had 
 seven children, namely: Charles (who died 
 in Germany), Joseph, Caroline, August, 
 Edward, John and Paul. Deciding to 
 bring his family to America, Mr. Baum- 
 gart sold his propert}-, and in the spring 
 of 1868 they sailed on the "Schiller," 
 which vessel was bound for Baltimore, at 
 which port they arrived after a stormy 
 passage of eight weeks and three days. 
 The\' then came west over the Baltimore 
 & Ohio railway, via Columbus (Ohio) and 
 Chicago (111.), and on July 6, same year, 
 landed in Green Bay, Wis., locating 
 eventually in Bellevue township. Brown 
 county, where, shortly after their arrival, 
 Mr. Baumgart purchased seventy-two 
 acres of new land, all of which was still 
 in the woods, not even space enough for 
 a house having been cleared. But they 
 set to work at once, and soon had a 
 dwelling 16x20, near the site of their 
 present home. The farm was gradually 
 cleared and cultivated, and there Mr. 
 Baumgart made his home until 1882, in 
 which year he removed to another farm 
 in Bellevue township, where he and his 
 wife yet reside. They are members of 
 the Catholic Church, and in politics he is 
 a Democrat. 
 
 Paul Baumgart was nine years of age 
 when he came with his parents to Wis- 
 consin. He had attended school for three 
 years in Germany, and the rest of his edu- 
 cation was received in the district schools 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 239 
 
 of the period in the vicinity of his new 
 home. He was reared a farmer boy, 
 thoroughly trained to agricultural pursuits 
 on the farm he now owns and resides on, 
 which he has seen transformed from the 
 dense forest to a fertile tract. On April 
 17, 1883, he was married, at Francis 
 Creek, Manitowoc Co., Wis., to Miss 
 Lizzie Auntholtz, a native of that county, 
 born May 31, i86i, daughter of Henry 
 Auntholtz, who came to Wisconsin from 
 Prussia in an early day. The young couple 
 immediately settled on their present farm, 
 and in 1888 Mr. Baumgart erected the 
 substantial, comfortable dwelling where 
 they now make their home. They have 
 had children as follows: Nettie, Theresa, 
 Sylvester, Paul, Peter and William, all 
 living. Our subject is a self-made man, 
 and by hard work and thrift has acquired 
 the comfortable property he now owns; 
 the farm is an e.xcellent one, and he con- 
 ducts a profitable general farming busi- 
 ness, in which he can not fail to prosper. 
 Politically he is a Democrat, and though 
 not an office-seeker, he has served his 
 township as road master. The family are 
 all members of St. Francis Catholic 
 Church, De Pere. 
 
 HERRMAN EHLE, one of the 
 early pioneers of Brown county, 
 was born in the village of Bari- 
 gau, Schwarzburg - Rudolstadt, 
 Germany, January 6, 1830. 
 
 His father, Nicholas Ehle, a farmer, 
 died in that country about 1853, and his 
 mother, who afterward came to Brown 
 county, Wis., died about 1878. Of their 
 seven children, four came to Brown coun- 
 ty: Herrman in 1855; August in 1856 (he 
 was a blacksmith by trade and removed 
 to Texas, dying at Houston in 1861 or 
 1862); Caroline in 1857 (she was the wife 
 wife of Gottfried Undehaun, and died at 
 Green Bay about 1888); Henrietta in 
 1857 (she married Theodore Mahn, and 
 now resides at Green Bay, her children 
 were seven in number, as follows: Albert, 
 
 who was accidently killed while on a 
 hunting trip; Lena, wife of Herman Kapp, 
 of Green Bay; William, a tailor, residing 
 at Green Bay, who is married to Mamme 
 Vandenhubel; Mary, wife of Conrad Beth, 
 also of Green Bay; Theodore, a tailor, of 
 Fort Howard; Anna, wife of Frank Miller, 
 of Green Bay, and Herman Mahn). 
 
 Herrman Ehle, the subject proper of 
 this sketch, was reared and educated in 
 Germany, and was engaged in farming 
 previous to coming to the United 
 States. After locating at Fort Howard, 
 on August 12, 1855, he learned the car- 
 penter's trade, and followed that vocation 
 many years. On arriving at Wisconsin 
 he first located at McI>Cane, near Milwau- 
 kee, remaining there ten weeks before 
 coming to Fort Howard. He was en- 
 gaged in building in Fort Howard, and for 
 five years was connected with Mr. C. 
 Schwarz in contracting and building, con- 
 tinuing in the same business for himself a 
 long period following. He erected a large 
 number of residences in Fort Howard and 
 Green Bay, building the first brick resi- 
 dence in the city of Green Bay in 1866; 
 in 1870 he erected a brick building in Fort 
 Howard, and another in 1871. He is the 
 owner of thirteen dwellings in the Fifth 
 ward of Fort Howard, five of the num- 
 ber being constructed of brick, and it will 
 be seen that Mr. Ehle has done much 
 personally toward building up and im- 
 proving the city. He has, in addition, 
 been prominently connected with affairs 
 generally incident to the development of 
 Brown county, and is recognized as a 
 substantial citizen and representative bus- 
 iness man, with progressive ideas and 
 vigorous methods. Politically he is a 
 Republican, and has served for twelve 
 years as alderman from the Fifth ward of 
 Fort Howard. Industrious and careful, 
 he has in the nearly forty years of his 
 residence here been fortunate in business, 
 and has a record and a reputation justly 
 the source of pride. He has never mar- 
 ried. Mr. Ehle was reared under the 
 influence of the Lutheran Church, and has 
 
240 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 always been considered one of the most 
 straightforward business men and upright 
 citizens of Fort Howard. 
 
 BARTHOLOMEW DOOLAN. a 
 thrift)' and wealthy young farmer, 
 of Morrison township, Brown 
 county, is a native of Massachu- 
 setts, born September 7, 1846. 
 
 John and Julia (Noonan) Doolan, his 
 parents, natives of Ireland, were the 
 parents of five children, namely: Mary, 
 Michael, Bartholomew, Ellen, and John. 
 The father was a farmer, and, with his 
 wife and his eldest (then his only) child, 
 came to the United States in 1832, land- 
 ing at New York after having passed seven 
 long weeks on the ocean. From New 
 York the family went to New England, 
 and lived there for a period of eleven 
 years, principally in Rhode Island, also 
 residing for a few years in Massachusetts. 
 In 1849 John and his family reached Wis- 
 consin, and settled in Franklin township, 
 Manitowoc county, where he bought 304 
 acres of land in its primitive condition, 
 from which he, in due course of time, 
 hewed out a farm that was the pride of 
 the township. Their first dwelling was a 
 log cabin, 16x24 f^^t in size, in which 
 they lived twelve years, after which they 
 erected a comfortable frame dwelling. 
 The first schoolhouse was erected after 
 the family had been in the township five 
 years, and in this Bartholomew received 
 his education. The father died May i S. 
 1877, the mother in 1882. and the re- 
 mains of both were interred in Franklin. 
 Bartholomew Doolan did good and 
 faithful service in assisting his father in 
 clearing up and tilling the home farm un- 
 til he was twenty-one years of age, with 
 the exception of a short time passed in 
 working in the woods. Employing his 
 time thereafter on his own account until 
 he had reached the age of twenty-five, he 
 married, September 19, 1871, Miss Sarah 
 Watt, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah 
 (O'Connell) Watt, natives of Ireland who 
 
 came to America in 1845, and after their 
 marriage here settled in Maple Grove, 
 Manitowoc county. Wis. , and reared six 
 children — Anna, Sarah, Michael, Thomas, 
 Mary, and John. After his marriage Bar- 
 tholomew and his wife came to Morrison 
 township. Brown county, and here Mr. 
 Doolan bought eighty acres of wild land, 
 on which they erected their present home, 
 with Indians, wolves, bear and deer for 
 their companions and neighbors. Here 
 was begun that life of toil and hardship 
 developed only in pioneer life, but which 
 resulted in after years in the possession of 
 all the comforts and conveniences of civili- 
 zation. The eighty-acre tract was in- 
 creased to a farm of 200 acres, and the 
 old log house, which is still standing, was 
 their habitation fully twelve years, but 
 their present residence, erected about 
 1884, is a modern frame, with every de- 
 sirable convenience and comfort. But the 
 acquirement of all this has required toil, 
 economy, and the willing efforts of man 
 and wife and the cheerful aid of the elder 
 children. The children, eleven in num- 
 ber, were born in the following order: 
 John, July 4, 1872; Thomas, July 27, 1874; 
 Mary, October 4, 1876: Agnes J., Janu- 
 ary 21, 1879; Sarah E., May 28, 1881; 
 Helen A., May 14, 1883; Frances B., 
 September 11, 1884; Catherine G., No- 
 vember 17, 1885; Margaret, March 19, 
 1888; Lucy'L. , November 17, 1890; and 
 Theresa, October 3, 1892. Of these, 
 Frances B. died September 15, 1884; the 
 others are all living at home, with the ex- 
 ception of Thomas, who is attending a 
 business college at Manitowoc. The 
 family are all strict members of the 
 Catholic Church, with the exception, of 
 course, of *'he younger members, who 
 have been baptized in that faith. Mr. 
 Doolan has served as trustee of his Church, 
 and, as a Democrat, is serving as school 
 clerk of his township, but he takes no 
 special interest in politics. 
 
 Mr. Doolan and his family rank among 
 the best and most respectable citizens of 
 Morrison township, and it is such as he. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 241 
 
 with strong muscles, willinj:; disposition, 
 industrious habits and law-abiding princi- 
 ples, that have made the township and 
 county what they are. 
 
 FERDINAND SMET, one of the 
 highly respected citizens of De- 
 Pere township, Brown county, 
 where he owns a well-improved 
 farm, is a native of Belgium, born Jan- 
 uary 12, 1832. His father, Albert Bene- 
 dictus Smet, was a life-long farmer, in 
 comfortable circumstances, owning a good 
 farm, and he passed his entire life in his 
 native country. He had a family of seven 
 children — four sons and three daughters — 
 of whom Ferdinand is the eldest. 
 
 Ferdinand Smet attended the schools 
 of his birthplace until he was thirteen 
 years old, and then commenced to work 
 on the home farm, where he remained 
 over thirty years. They lived but a short 
 distance from Antwerp. He was married 
 in Belgium to Constance Boart, and they 
 had three children born to them there, 
 viz. : Ozarine, now Mrs. August Johnson, 
 of De Pere township; Emma, Mrs. John 
 Van Vedron, of Rockland township; and 
 Martin, of Washington. About 1868 Mr. 
 Smet disposed of his business and prop- 
 erty, he being a merchant and store- 
 keeper, and set out with his family for 
 the United States, where he thought to 
 find better opportunities for his family. 
 He journeyed from Antwerp to Hull, 
 England, thence to Liverpool, from 
 which port he sailed for New York on 
 the "Colorado," making the voyage 
 in twelve days. Their destination was 
 Green Bay, Wis., whither they traveled 
 by rail, arriving six days later, on Satur- 
 day, and spent the first night with John 
 Martin. A few days afterward Ferdinand 
 Smet secured work in the hub factory at 
 De Pere, and here he continued to work 
 for two and a half years, until, in 1872, 
 he purchased his present farm in De Pere 
 township. It then consisted of forty acres 
 of new land, upon which stood only a log 
 
 house and a small barn, and all but ten 
 or twelve acres was in the woods. He 
 had saved enough to pay for the land, 
 but was obliged to go into debt for the 
 farm implements, etc., which he needed 
 to clear and cultivate the place. How- 
 ever, he set to work with a determination 
 to make a comfortable home for himself 
 and family, and after much hard work 
 they succeeded in reducing the land to a 
 cultivated condition. He now owns a 
 good farm of eighty acres, the accumula- 
 tion of which had involved no small 
 amount of hard work. But he has been 
 greatly assisted by his family, and they 
 have cleared and improved the place un- 
 til it is now a fertile, well-equipped tract, 
 with a good residence and outbuildings, 
 and all free from debt. In this country Mr. 
 and Mrs. Smet had children as follows: 
 Louis, now a farmer of De Pere town- 
 ship; Mary, Alice, and Henry J. at home, 
 and Edward, who died in infancy. On 
 April II, 1877, the mother died, since 
 which time the daughters have had charge 
 of the household work. The entire family 
 are highly respected for their industry 
 and sterling worth, and Mr. Smet is 
 everywhere known as an honest, upright 
 citizen. In politics he is a Democrat, but 
 takes little active interest in party affairs. 
 Religiously he is a member of St. Mary's 
 Catholic Church, De Pere. 
 
 ALPHONSE MARIA KERSTEN, 
 M. D., of De Pere, Brown coun- 
 ty is of German origin, and was 
 born in 1848, at Rees-on-the- 
 Rhine, in Rhenish Prussia, the oldest of 
 five brothers, one of whom, the Very 
 Rev. Norbert U. Kersten was, for many 
 years, Vicar-General of Bishop F. X. 
 Katzer, of Green Bay, and Chancellor of 
 that diocese, and its administrator when 
 Bishop Katzer was promoted to the Arch- 
 bishopric of Milwaukee. 
 
 His parents, Edward and Anna (Rutjes) 
 Kersten, were residents of the city of Rees- 
 on-the-Rhine. in Rhenish Prussia, where 
 
242 
 
 COMMEMORAriVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 •the father was a dry-goods merchant, dying 
 there January 31, 1891, and where the 
 mother still lives. The Doctor was edu- 
 cated, classically, at the Jesuit collej^^e at 
 Feldkirch, in the Pro\ince of Vorarlberg, 
 Austria; the college of Gaesdonk, in 
 Rhenish Prussia; and the Gymnasium of 
 Muenster, in Westphalia. Coming to 
 America in 186S, he conducted a drug 
 store in several Wisconsin cities up to the 
 year 1879. He then attended two courses 
 of lectures at the Medical Department of 
 the University of Michigan, Ann .Arbor, 
 and then became a student at the Detroit 
 Medical College, from which he graduated 
 in 1883. He then began practice at 
 Petoskey, Mich., whence he removed to 
 De Pere, Wis., in 1885, and has here been 
 in active practice ever since, being recog- 
 nized as one of the most skillful physicians 
 of northeastern Wisconsin. On first 
 coming to the United States, the Doctor 
 located at P'redonia, Ozaukee Co., W^is. , 
 where he operated a drug store, in part- 
 nership with a physician; in 1878 he 
 moved to Kaukauna, built a new store, 
 and from there moved to Ann Arbor, 
 Mich., for the jiurpose of pursuing his 
 medical studies, as above narrated. In 
 politics the Doctor is a Democrat, and. 
 while a resident of Ozaukee county, filled 
 various minor offices; in 1887 he was ap- 
 pointed, under President Cleveland, as 
 pension examiner, and was re-appointed 
 under President Harrison, but resigned 
 after one month under the latter appoint- 
 ment. In 1891 he was appointed, by 
 Governor Peck, State Superintendent of 
 Inspectors of Illuminating Oils for Wis- 
 consin, was re-appointed in 1S92, and 
 again on April i, 1894, and is still serving 
 in that office. 
 
 The marriage of the Doctor took place 
 in 1 87 1, at Barton, Washington Co., 
 Wis. , to Miss Mary Vandeboom, a native 
 of the city of Calcar, Khenish Prussia, 
 and this felicitious union has been blessed 
 with nine children, named as follows: 
 Annie M., Clara M., Edward M., Norbert 
 M., Sylvan M., Theresa M., Leo M., 
 
 Paul Ernest M. and Hugo Henry Louis 
 M., all living at home in De Pere. The 
 Doctor is a member of the Catholic 
 Knights of Wisconsin, and vice-president 
 of the local branch of that order. He has 
 achieved a fine professional reputation, and 
 his social standing is a most enviable one. 
 
 BISHOP SEBASTIAN GEBHARD 
 MESSMER was born August 29, 
 1847, at Goldach, Canton of St. 
 Gall, Switzerland. The ancestors 
 of Bishop Messmer were Swiss Catholics, 
 and resided in Thai, Canton of St. Gall, 
 Switzerland. At the time of the Refor- 
 mation one branch of the family became 
 adherents of the Protestant faith. Grand- 
 father Messmer also resided in the above 
 place. His son, Sebastian G. Messmer, 
 Sr. , moved to Goldach, and there resided 
 till his death in 1873, when he was aged 
 si.\ty-six years. He was a man of con- 
 siderable wealth and education, and a 
 farmer by occupation. He held offices in 
 the Canton, by representing his district in 
 the General Assembly, and in the Catholic 
 Administrative Council, and was a useful 
 and conscientious legislator. He was 
 greath' beloved in his town, and was a man 
 of influence and importance there, making 
 himself useful and beloved among his 
 friends and fellow citizens. He was a 
 strong character, noted for his rugged 
 independence and honorable social and 
 business career. A stanch Catholic, he 
 was active in church work, and was presi- 
 dent of the town council and of the board 
 of church trustees for many years. The 
 great-grantlmother of our subject, on the 
 father's side, was a Miss Kalb, an Aus- 
 trian from Bregenz. The mother of 
 Bishop Messmer was Rosa Baumgartner, 
 a native of Moerschwyl, Canton of St. 
 Gall. Switzerland. She died in the prime 
 of life, highly esteemed for her many good 
 qualities of head and heart. 
 
 Bishop Messmer is the eldest in a 
 family of six children. He received his 
 primary education in the common schools 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGIiAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 H5 
 
 of his native town, and tlien attended 
 the High School (or Real School) in 
 Rorschach, on Lake Constance, for three 
 years, or till 1861. There he first met 
 Otto Zardetti, his life-long friend, who 
 later became Bishop of St. Cloud, Minn. 
 Following the clerical vocation, he en- 
 tered the diocesan College of St. George's, 
 near St. Gall, where he became known 
 for his devotion and close application to 
 his studies, and obedience to his superiors. 
 At that school he remained till 1866, and 
 then entered the University of Innsbruck, 
 in the Tyrol, in Austria, where he studied 
 philosophy and theology, remaining there 
 five years. Those were years of hard 
 work, yet full of pleasant recollections. 
 On July 23, I 87 1, he was ordained to the 
 priesthood for the American mission. 
 He remained at home only a short time, 
 and came to America, landing in New 
 York October 4, 1871. Previous to this 
 he had applied for and received an ap- 
 pointment by Bishop Bailey, of Newark, 
 N. J., as professor of theology at the 
 Seton Hall College, South Orange, N. 
 J., which is also a diocesan seminary. 
 There he remained till August, 1889, dur- 
 ing which time he made himself general- 
 ly beloved by the thoughtful and kindly 
 interest he manifested to all with whom 
 he came in contact. As teacher, chap- 
 lain and friend, he bound many hearts to 
 him, and led them into a brighter thought 
 world and closer communion with the 
 Creator, the Savior and the Church. 
 During those eighteen years he also did a 
 great deal of pastoral work in St. Peter's 
 Church, Newark, N. J., which is a Ger- 
 man congregation with the largest paro- 
 chial school in the diocese, containing at 
 present fifteen hundred children. It was 
 in this church, that, at his own request. 
 he was consecrated by Bishop Zardetti, 
 March 27, 1892, because he was so well 
 known and beloved there, and because of 
 the many pleasant recollections which 
 clustered around St. Peter's. While act- 
 ing at the college as professor, he had 
 also charge of St. Marv's Orphan .\s\-lnm 
 
 14 
 
 as chaplain, besides doing a great deal of 
 pastoral work. He also had charge of 
 St. Leo's congregation, at Irvington, N. 
 J., for two years. 
 
 Having been called in 1889 to the 
 chair of Canon Law in the University of 
 Washington, D. C, he went to Rome to 
 prepare more fully for the special work 
 assigned to him. As Canon Law had 
 been one of his classes when professor at 
 Seton Hall, he now devoted himself to 
 the stud}' of the old Roman civil law, and 
 graduated with the degree of D. C. L. 
 (Doctor of Canon Law), at the Collegio 
 Apollinare. In September, 1 890, he en- 
 tered upon his duties at the university, 
 where he taught with great credit to him- 
 self till he came to Green Bay, Wis. 
 While at Seton Hall he was selected as 
 one of eight theologians to prepare the 
 matter or decrees for the Baltimore Plen- 
 ary Council in 1884. He was also one 
 of the Secretaries of the Council at its 
 sessions, and afterward with Dr. O'Con- 
 nell, now rector of the American College 
 at Rome. Bishop Messmer prepared for 
 publication the proceedings of that fam- 
 ous Council, which work was published 
 in 1886, and is a model o'f scholarship. 
 After the publication of the book he re- 
 ceived the title of Doctor of Divinity 
 from the Pope, which was remarkable 
 when we consider the rarity of such be- 
 stowal. Bishop Messmer has written a 
 few works of merit, displaying both 
 scholarship and talent as a practical 
 writer on topics concerning his noble pro- 
 fession. He was assistant secretary of 
 the Provincial council of New York in 
 r883, and wrote a little work in Latin 
 called "Praxis Synodalis," which was 
 later used at the Council of Baltimore. 
 In 1886 he edited for the American 
 clergy, an English translation of a Ger- 
 man work, entitled " Canonical Procedure 
 in Criminal Cases of Clerics," which is 
 still an authority in clerical law. He has 
 also written articles for a German monthly 
 clerical paper published at St. Louis, Mo., 
 called "The Pastoral Blatt," and for the 
 
:46 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BlOGRAPUlCAL RECORD. 
 
 "American Ecclesiastical Review," of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Bishop Messiner was appointed Bishop 
 of Green Bay, December 14, 1891, but 
 did not arrive here till April 7, 1892. 
 Here a wide and useful, but also hard 
 field of labor awaited him, which for the 
 time seemed to check his literary efforts. 
 But the strong mind that brouf;ht order 
 out of the manifold accumulations of a 
 great literary council has already made 
 him fully accjuainted with work in the 
 Diocese of Green Bay. Here his influ- 
 ence, ahvays for good, is felt in every 
 nook and corner. The respect which he 
 inspired on his arrival has not abated, 
 but is increased as time goes on. To 
 the talents of a pastor and bishop is added 
 the learning of a scholar and literateur, 
 which (united with rare business tact and 
 ability to govern) has made him already 
 a conspicuous figure in the Church and 
 State, and has gained him the confidence, 
 good will and love of all classes, denomi- 
 nations and nationalities. 
 
 JOHN L. LAMARRE (deceased), who, 
 in his lifetime, was one of the most 
 intelligent and prosperous agricul- 
 turists of Preble township, Brown 
 county, was a native of Belgium, born 
 August 4, 1822. 
 
 He was a lifelong farmer, having been 
 reared to the plough from early life, his 
 education at the same time not being 
 neglected; and, as his parents were well- 
 to-do, they were able to give him some 
 assistance when he first commenced farm- 
 ing for his own account. In Belgium he 
 owned about five acres of land, which was 
 then considered quite a comfortable little 
 farm, and by careful culti\ation he had 
 good average returns from it. He was 
 married in his native place to Miss Vir- 
 ginia Merrick, who was born in Belgium 
 in 1832, and children as follows blessed 
 their union: Joseph E., Victor, Alphonse 
 and Mary, all of Belgian birth, and all 
 yet living. In 1871, the sons growing up 
 
 around the little home, Mr. Lamarre de- 
 cided to emigrate with his family to 
 America, where he knew there was room 
 for all, with plenty to spare; and on April 
 I , that year, they took passage on a ves- 
 sel bound for New Y(jrk, the father having 
 previously sold all his propierty, goods and 
 chattels, which brought him a consider- 
 able sum. From New York they at once 
 traveled westward to Wisconsin, and in 
 Green Bay township. Brown county, Mr. 
 Lamarre purchased some land, on which 
 the family resided until 1884, when they 
 removed to Preble township, settling on 
 160 acres of land bought by Mr. La- 
 marre, having sold his place in Green Bay 
 township. Here he passed the rest of his 
 life, dying April 18, 1885, his remains be- 
 ing interred in Shantytown cemetery. 
 
 A Democrat from the time of his be- 
 coming an American citizen, he always 
 voted that ticket, but was in no sense a 
 politician, attending sedulously to his bus- 
 iness on the farm. He was a quiet, unas- 
 suming man, very domestic in his habits, 
 one who strictly minded his own business, 
 and he was respected by all. Having 
 died somewhat suddenly he left no will, 
 and no provision having been made for 
 the disposal of the property, his widow 
 and children have since conducted the 
 farm conjointly. Mrs. Lamarre, though 
 now sixty-three years old, is remarkably 
 active, and performs her share of work at 
 the homestead more like a woman of half 
 her age. The sons are a trio of indus- 
 trious, hard-working young men, whose 
 equal, it is said, is not to be found in any 
 one family in the township for progres- 
 siveness and enterprise, worthy sons of 
 worthy parents. In April, 1893, they 
 purchased the Cedar Creek Flouring Mills- 
 from George B. Hess and H. A. \N'alter, 
 and, by the latter part of 1894, expect to- 
 have the concern in full operation. The 
 home place, now comprising i 20 acres of 
 well-improved land, is well managed, re- 
 flecting great credit on the family, and on 
 the sons in particular, for their industry 
 and energy. 
 
COMMEMORATrVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 H7 
 
 JOHN LEBAL, who for the past 
 quarter of a century has been a well- 
 known farmer of Glenmore town- 
 ship, Brown county, is a native of 
 Bohemia, born April 28, 1837, son of 
 Wencel Lebal, who was a farmer in com- 
 fortable circumstances. 
 
 Wencel Lebal had four children, viz. : 
 Wencel, who is a farmer of Glenmore 
 township; John, whose name introduces 
 these lines; Joseph, of Allouez township; 
 and Mary, Mrs. Wencel Vilda, of Ne- 
 braska. In the fall of 1852 this family 
 left their native land, and crossing from 
 Hamburg to Hull, England, journeyed by 
 rail to Liverpool, where they took pas- 
 sage for New York, landing after a voy- 
 age of four weeks and three days. They 
 pushed westward at once to Milwaukee, 
 Wis. ; thence, after a halt of three days, 
 coming to Kossuth township, Manitowoc 
 county, where a friend from their town in 
 Bohemia was living, and they remained 
 with him three weeks. In the same fall 
 they came to Cooperstown, same county, 
 taking up 160 acres of government land 
 in Section 28, for which they paid seventy- 
 five cents per acre, and which at that 
 time was heavily timbered and entirely 
 unimproved. A rude shanty was erected 
 on the place, in which the family lived 
 for ten years, and, before the land yielded 
 a support, those able to work earned a 
 small income making shingles by hand, 
 selling them in Manitowoc, some eighteen 
 miles distant. The mother died on this 
 farm, and was laid to rest in Kossuth 
 township; the father subsequently passed 
 from earth in Allouez township. Brown 
 county, at the home of his son Joseph, 
 and he was buried in Green Bay ceme- 
 tery. Both were members of the Reform 
 Church. 
 
 John Lebal received a fair education 
 in the common schools of his native land, 
 and was reared from boyhood to agricul- 
 tural life. He came to the United States 
 with his parents, and remained with them 
 in Manitowoc county until his enlistment, 
 .Aiigust 21. 1862, in Company F, Twenty- 
 
 sixth Regiment, Wis. V. I. The com- 
 mand was sent to Milwaukee, thence, 
 after being drilled, to Washington. Their 
 first engagement was a Fredericksburg, 
 following which came the battles of Chan- 
 cellorsville and Gettysburg, where, on the 
 afternoon of July i, 1863, our subject 
 was wounded in the right knee by a 
 musket-ball. He was first taken to the 
 field hospital, and thence conveyed to 
 Baltimore, where he lay twenty-one days, 
 after which he was removed to the general 
 hospital at Washington, and here re- 
 mained until early in January, 1864. 
 Joining the Veteran Reserve Corps at 
 Alexandria, Va., he remained there some 
 time, and then returned to Washington, 
 doing guard dut\' about that city. He 
 was next transferred to Syracuse, N. Y., 
 and thence to Elmira, same State, where 
 he received an honorable discharge July 
 13, 1865, having served continuously 
 since his enlistment without furlough, and 
 he saved two hundred dollars while in the 
 service. Returning to his old home in 
 Wisconsin, he continued to work for his 
 parents three years, receiving a piece of 
 land in Cooperstown township for his 
 services. 
 
 In the fall of 1869 Mr. Lebal married, 
 in Cooperstown township, Miss Rosa 
 Rudolf, a native of Bohemia, who died 
 one year later, and was buried in Coop- 
 erstown. About 1 87 1 he was married, 
 in Kossuth township, for his second wife, 
 to Miss Eliza Krieneck, a native of Bohe- 
 mia, to which marriage came six children, 
 of whom a son and two daughters died 
 young; Emma, Annie and Joseph are liv- 
 ing at home. The mother of these passed 
 from earth April 3, 1881, and was buried 
 at Francis Creek, Manitowoc county. In 
 January, 1882, Mr. Lebal wedded in Gib- 
 son township, Manitowoc county, for his 
 third spouse. Miss Mary Holub, a native 
 of Carlton, Kewaunee Co., Wis., and 
 this union has been blessed with children 
 as follows : Wencel, Christina, Edward, 
 Helen and John, living, and Edward (i), 
 who died young. The mother of these 
 
24S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was called from earth May 17, 1894, and 
 is buried in the Lutheran graveyard at 
 Glenmore. 
 
 About the year i86y Mr. Lebal came 
 to Glenmore township, and in Section 20 
 purchased forty acres of new land, on 
 which the timber was still standing. He 
 erected a dwelling on the place, at once set 
 about the work of clearing, and, after 
 years of labor, found himself possessed 
 of a fertile farm. From time to time he 
 has added to the original tract, and owns 
 200 acres in Glenmore and I^ockland 
 townships. He has been the architect of 
 his own fortune, for he started in life a 
 poor boy, and he has won the respect of 
 all who know him for his industr}- and 
 integrit)'. In political affiliation he is a 
 I-iepublican, but not active in party 
 affairs, and in religious connection he and 
 his family are members of the Protestant 
 Church, at Francis Creek, in I\ossuth 
 townshi]!, Manitowoc county. 
 
 JOHN MICHELSON, of Pittsfield 
 township, Brown county, was born 
 August 28, 1838, in Denmark, and 
 family of nine children 
 Peterson and his wife. 
 The father was a cabi- 
 net maker, and with him our subject re- 
 mained until fifteen years old. He then 
 worked out as a day laborer for one year, 
 for sixteen dollars; then as a coachman 
 four years, at sixty-five dollars per year. 
 In June, 1862, he entered the army and 
 served three years; in 1865 he sailed for 
 America, landing in New York, whence 
 he came directly to Wisconsin. For three 
 months he worked on a farm near Racine, 
 thence going to Manistee, Mich., where 
 he worked three weeks in a sawmill, and 
 then worked in the woods for twent\-six 
 dollars per month during the winter. Re- 
 turning to the mill in the spring, he in the 
 fall went into the woods again, at thirty- 
 five dollars per month, and remained 
 about eighteen months. 
 
 On January 8, 1869, he married Mary 
 
 is one of a 
 born to Michel 
 Carrie Peterson. 
 
 Nelson, one of a family of eleven children 
 born to Nels and Keirsten (Fredericks) 
 Anderson. Mrs. Michelson was twent)- 
 four years of age when she came to Amer- 
 ica. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Michel- 
 son remained five months in Manistee, 
 and then removed to Fort Howard, Brown 
 Co., Wis., lived there a year and a half, 
 and then settled in Pittsfield township, 
 where Mr. Michelson bought a fort3'-acre 
 farm, of which about twelve acres were 
 cleared, and on which stood the house in 
 which they now live. To this farm have 
 been added twenty-three acres, all cleared, 
 and in good condition. To the marriage 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Michelson have been born 
 seven children, in the following order: 
 Constance, November 8, 1869; Nellie, 
 August 3, 1 871; Lena, July 12, 1873; 
 Frederick, August 7, 1875; Meta, April 
 7. 1877; Alvin, July 15, 1879, and Andy, 
 September 20, 1882. All the children 
 are living, and five still make their home 
 with their parents. Lena, who attended 
 college at Battle Creek, Mich., has been 
 a teacher since sixteen years of age, and 
 is still in the profession. In religious con- 
 nection the family are Seventh-Day Ad- 
 ventists, and in politics Mr. Michelson is 
 a Republican. He is a self-made man in 
 the full sense of the term, and well de- 
 serves the high esteem in which he is held 
 by his fellow citizens. 
 
 ELBRIDGE G. BOYDEN, a pros- 
 perous merchant and agriculturist 
 of Mills Center, Brown county, is 
 a native of the State of Wiscon- 
 sin, born December 2, 1853, in Manito- 
 woc county. 
 
 His father, Charles Boyden, was one 
 of five children born to Amos and Abigail 
 (Wood) Boyden, at Orange, Mass. Amos 
 was a mill-man, and died in his native 
 State at the age of seventy, preceded to 
 the grave by his wife, who only reached 
 middle age. Charles Boyden passed his 
 early }ears in his father's mill, later made 
 a \\haling \oyage, and afterward became 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPIHCAL RECORD. 
 
 249 
 
 a boatman on the Erie canal, where lie 
 met his future wife, Augusta Dunham, 
 whom he married June 15, 1850. She 
 was born July 4, 1825, in Windsor coun- 
 ty, Vt., a daughter of William and Sarah 
 (Metcalf) Dunham. Both the paternal 
 and maternal grandfathers of Mr. Boyden 
 were heroes in the war of the Revolution, 
 and did valiant service. Charles Boyden 
 was born November 14, 1804, came to 
 Wisconsin in May, 1852, via the lakes to 
 Detroit, Mich., by railroad to Chicago, 
 111., and thence by lake to Manitowoc 
 countv, where he was employed for some 
 years in manufacturing shingles in the 
 old-fashioned way. He died in Brown 
 county when nearly eighty-six years of age. 
 
 Elbridge G. Boyden is one of a family 
 of eight children, six of whom are still 
 living, for the most part engaged in busi- 
 ness. He remained with his father until 
 his marriage, April 29, 1875, to Miss 
 Henrietta Hollom, a native of Sebec, 
 Piscataquis Co., Maine, born February 
 14, 1 85 1, and a daughter of Charles F. 
 and Dorothea A. (Judkins) Hollom. 
 Charles F. Hollom was born in Sebec, 
 Maine, in 181 5, a son of Charles and 
 Lydia (Crockett) Hollom, the former of 
 whom was a native of Sweden, the latter 
 of New England. Charles F. "rounded 
 the Horn" in 1853, and died in Cali- 
 fornia at the age of sixty-one. Mrs. 
 Henrietta Boyden's mother, Dorothea 
 A. (Judkins), was born November 22, 
 1818, in Fayette, Kennebec Co., Maine, 
 a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Bache- 
 lor) Judkins, the latter a native of Fay- 
 ette, Maine, the former of Scotland; they 
 both died in Bangor, Maine, the father at 
 the advanced age of ninety-five, the 
 mother at the comparatively early age of 
 thirty-seven. 
 
 Mrs. Elbridge G. Boyden at the age 
 of fourteen began teaching school in 
 Berwick, Maine, and for two years was 
 very successful in that vocation. She 
 then entered the composing room of the 
 Portland Transcript, held cases six weeks, 
 and went thence to Biddeford, Maine, 
 
 where she held cases in the Democrat 
 office a year and a half, thence going to 
 Boston, Mass., where she set type in a 
 book office for over eighteen months. Re- 
 turning to Biddeford she worked in the 
 founial office on Butler's ' ' Bible Com- 
 mentaries," thence to Great Falls, N. H., 
 and worked as a compositor in the Journal 
 office a few months; then taught school in 
 Berwick a year, after which she came 
 alone to Wisconsin, and, settling where 
 she now lives, taught school one year. In 
 the following year she was married to Mr. 
 Boyden, and they have had five children, 
 namely: Nettie Aimena, born February 
 II, 1876; Grace F., born August 21, 
 1877; Allen L., born September 7, 1881; 
 Jesse, born February 12, 1884; and one 
 son that died at the age of nineteen 
 months. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Boyden settled 
 in Mill Center, working in the woods, 
 making staves, etc., for about five and a 
 half years, when he opened a general 
 store, of which his wife has since had full 
 charge. He also owns one hundred acres 
 of good land, from which he reaps a fair 
 income. His first dwelling here was a 
 log structure, and he now occupies a com- 
 fortable brick dwelling erected by him at 
 a cost of five thousand dollars. The total 
 capital of Mr. and Mrs. Boyden was, on 
 starting, two hundred dollars, which, 
 through their united energies, they have so 
 increased that they can claim rank with 
 the most wealthy residents of the county. 
 In politics Mr. Boyden is a Republican, 
 and cast his first Presidential vote for U. S. 
 Grant, when a candidate for the second 
 term. 
 
 NIELS ERICKSON is a native of 
 Denmark, born May 8, 1833, son 
 of Erik and Lettie (Andersen) 
 Peterson, who reared a family of 
 children as follows: Rasnuis, Niels, Peter, 
 Anna, Christian, Hans, and Lena. 
 
 Niels was obliged to commence assist- 
 ing his parents at an early age, and ac- 
 
350 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 cordingly had little opportunity to obtain 
 an education. He was employed princi- 
 pally by the farmers in the neighborhood 
 of his home, turning his wages over to 
 his parents until he reached his majority, 
 after which he commenced to save, in 
 order to get a start in life. In 1859 he 
 was united in marriage with Caroline 
 Christison, daughter of Christ and Martha 
 (Johnson) Oleson, all natives of Denmark, 
 and to this union were born five children 
 in Denmark, namely: Laura C, Chris- 
 tian, Christ, Emil and Martha. Nine 
 years after his marriage, in 1868, Mr. 
 Erickson set out with his family for 
 America, and, after landing in New York, 
 immediately proceeded westward to Brown 
 •county. Wis. , and took up his residence 
 in New Denmark township. He worked 
 in a sawmill for about one month, and 
 was then engaged for a few weeks peeling 
 hemlock bark, after which he entered the 
 employ of Casper Hansen, for whom he 
 worked about two years. At the expira- 
 tion of that time he invested in eighty 
 acres of land in New Denmark township, 
 which at that time was all in the woods, 
 and was still inhabited by wild animals. A 
 log house was erected on the place, in which 
 the family lived for several years, and the 
 work of transforming the wilderness into 
 a fertile farm was commenced, a task in 
 which he met with well-deserved success, 
 as his present beautiful farm well shows. 
 Their trading had to be done at Manito- 
 woc or Green Bay, and, as they had no 
 team, the journey had to be made on foot. 
 Some years later other eighty acres, ad- 
 joining the original tract, was purchased, 
 making the fine farm of 160 acres now 
 owned by our subject, which has been 
 highly improved and carefully cultivated. 
 Four children were here born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Erickson, viz. : Peter, Hans, Lettie, 
 and Edith, two of whom, Peter and Edith, 
 are still at home. Politically Mr. Erick- 
 •son is a stanch Republican. At the age 
 of seventeen Peter Erickson commenced 
 to work on the railroad, and continued in 
 that vocation some years, becoming a 
 
 section foreman; but he abandoned rail- 
 roading several 3'ears ago in order to assist 
 in taking charge of the affairs of the home 
 farm. He was a stanch member of the 
 Democratic part}' until recently, when he 
 changed his views, and is now supporting 
 the principles of the Republicans. 
 
 TERRENCE DORAN, an energetic 
 citizen of Pittsfield township, 
 Brown county, was born in Belle- 
 ville, Canada, November 20, 1838, 
 and is the second in the family of seven 
 children of Patrick A. and Ann (Hickey) 
 Doran, the other six being named as fol- 
 lows: Mary, James, John, Hugh, Matilda 
 and Rose. 
 
 Our subject was but a year and a half 
 old when the family moved to New York 
 State, where Terrence received his edu- 
 cation. In 1855 he came west, stopping 
 for a time at Chicago, thence proceeding 
 to Dubuque, Iowa, in order to view the 
 country, returning to Chicago shortly 
 afterward. His eldest sister and her hus- 
 band, Michael Kirbey, who had been his 
 companions as far west as Chicago, con- 
 tinued their journey to Wisconsin, and 
 landed at Suamico, Brown county. On 
 returning from Dubuque to Chicago Mr. 
 Doran took passage, via the lake, for 
 Green Bay, whence he, also, came to 
 Suamico. After working here about fifteen 
 months, making shingle-bolts, etc. , he 
 made a trip to Dunkirk, N. Y. , remained 
 six weeks, and then returned to Suamico, 
 Wis. , and bought fortj' acres of land, 
 where now stands Tremble Station. In 
 the meantime his father and mother had 
 come to Wisconsin, and on this farm thej' 
 found a welcome until their decease. Mr. 
 Doran, however, only made his home 
 there until October 31, 1861, when he 
 married Margaret Page, daughter of David 
 and Margaret (Prue) Page. He then came 
 to Pittsfield township, which has since 
 been his home. He has speculated largely 
 here in real estate, and for twenty-five 
 winters ran a lumber camp; at one time 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he owned 460 acres, and now has 220 
 acres of good land, well improved. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Doran have two chil- 
 dren: Mary Ann, at home with her parents, 
 and Andrew, married and living near by. 
 The family are Catholic in their religious 
 faith, and in politics Mr. Uoran is a Dem- 
 ocrat. In his Church he is treasurer of 
 the building committee; he has served as 
 supervisor of his township twelve years, 
 and was school clerk fourteen jears. He 
 has also served three terms as justice of 
 the peace, and no citizen in Pittsfield 
 township is more highly respected. 
 
 FERDINAND WITTIG, a pros- 
 perous general merchant of New 
 Denmark township, Brown coun- 
 ty, was born October 20, 1851, in 
 Denmark, son of Henry C. and Maren 
 (Peterson) Wittig, the former of whom 
 was a farmer, and also followed his trade, 
 that of cooper, to some extent. His 
 faniil}' consisted of seven children, name- 
 ly: Henry C, Mary, Peter F. , Ferdinand, 
 Anna, Jacobine, and Jacob. 
 
 Ferdinand Wittig received a good 
 common-school education in his native 
 land, and lived with his parents until he 
 reached his majority, at which time he 
 decided to emigrate to and try his fortune 
 in America. Proceeding to Liverpool, 
 England, he embarked from that port in 
 an American-bound vessel and landed in 
 New York after a voyage of thirteen days, 
 immediately continuing his journe}' west- 
 ward to Wisconsin, his destination being 
 in New Denmark township, Brown coun- 
 ty, where his aunt, Mrs. Hans Olsen, was 
 living. He reached New Denmark by 
 way of Green Bay, and commenced work- 
 ing on his aunt's farm, remaining there, 
 however, but six months, at the end of 
 which time he migrated to Negaunee, 
 Mich. , where he remained two months. 
 From there he went to Marquette, Mich., 
 thence to Minneapolis, Minn., whence, 
 after a sojourn of two months, he re- 
 turned to New Denmark, and here con- 
 
 tinued a year. He next worked six 
 months in the lumber regions of Manis- 
 tee, Mich., and then again returned to 
 New Denmark township, where he has 
 ever since resided. 
 
 On June 28, 1877, Mr. Wittig was 
 united in marriage with Mrs. Catherine 
 (Buckman) Lange. a widow, daughter of 
 Ahrend S. and Henrietta (Bartels) Buck- 
 man, residents of N^w Denmark town- 
 ship. She was born June 28, 1844, in 
 Germany, and came to America with her 
 parents, remaining at home until her mar- 
 riage, May 17, 1862. with August Lange. 
 At the time of his marriage Mr. Lange 
 owned eighty acres of wild land (on which 
 there were about four acres cleared), 
 whereon they moved, living in a one- 
 room log house until a more comfortable 
 dwelling could be built. They were hard- 
 working and industrious, and by their 
 united efforts succeeded in clearing and 
 improving their tract, converting it from 
 a wilderness to a productive farm. Their 
 marriage was blessed with five children, 
 viz. : Herman, Ahrend, Bernard, Henri- 
 etta, and Frederick, all of whom are liv- 
 ing but Ahrend. Mr. Lange was called 
 from earth September 14, 1872, and his 
 widow continued to manage the affairs of 
 the place alone for five years, or until her 
 marriage to Mr. Wittig. After a residence 
 of five years on the farm Mr. Wittig 
 erected his present store in New Denmark 
 township, and embarked in the general 
 mercantile and saloon business, in which 
 he has since been successfully engaged, 
 doing a thriving trade; from time to time, 
 owing to the demands of his increasing 
 business, he has been obliged to enlarge 
 the stock, and now carries a large assort- 
 ment of general merchandise. In politics 
 he is a Republican, but, though interested 
 in the success of his partj', takes no act- 
 ive part in political affairs, his business re- 
 ceiving his undivided attention. In re- 
 ligious faith he and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran Church. To their 
 union have been born three children: 
 Henry, Martha and Diederich. 
 
COMMEMORA TIVE. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 REV. CLEMENT LAU, pastor of 
 St. Erancis Xavier Cathedral Con- 
 gregation, Green Bay, is a native 
 of Germany, born November i8, 
 1840, in the Province of WestphaUa, of 
 which locaHty his ancestry were all resi- 
 dents as far back as can be traced, all 
 bearing an honorable reputation, their 
 life vocation, for the most part, being that 
 of farming. 
 
 He is a son of Bernard H. and Anna 
 Maria (Ross) Lau, who, shortly after the 
 birth of our subject, removed to the city 
 of Rheine, in the same Province, where 
 he attended the citj' schools, later the 
 gymnasium, which latter institution he 
 entered at the age of eleven years. Here 
 he studied diligently till 1859, in which 
 year he commenced a course of study at 
 the gymnasium of Muenster, where he 
 passed his final examination, and having 
 decided to prepare himself for the priest- 
 hood, in September, 1861, entered the 
 university in the same city, studying there 
 about twelve months. In the following 
 year he proceeded to Austria, and in the 
 Priest Seminary at Lin/ (Upper Austria) 
 studied theology, after which, in June, 
 1863, he was ordained a sub-deacon. On 
 June 13, 1865, he was ordained a priest, 
 by the Right Rev. Bishop Francis Joseph 
 Rudigier, after which he served in the 
 priesthood in three different Austrian 
 towns. Meanwhile, in 1877, he visited 
 Rome on the occasion of the Pope's jubi- 
 lee (Pius IX). In August, 1878, became 
 to the United States, and on the 12th day 
 of the same month was received by Bishop 
 Krautbauer in the diocese of Green Bay, 
 Wis. His first appointment was to the 
 church at Clark's Mills, Manitowoc coun- 
 ty, where he labored diligently for four- 
 teen months in a mixed congregation. 
 Next he was appointed, by the Bishop, 
 rector of St. Mary's Church in Greenville, 
 Outagamie county, the congregation of 
 which was German, and here he built a 
 school and Sisters' house; at the same 
 time he had charge of St. Patrick's (Irish) 
 Congregation at Stephensville. 
 
 In March, 1887, he was called by 
 Bishop Katzer to Green Bay to take 
 charge of the St. Francis Xavier Cathe- 
 dral Congregation, where he has remained 
 to the present day. He has labored faith- 
 fully and well, and has done much toward 
 building up the Cathedral congregation, 
 especially the school in connection, which 
 he made free himself. In September, 
 1892, he opened a high school under the 
 charge of the school Sisters of Notre 
 Dame, and now the Cathedral congrega- 
 tion possesses a school with eight classes 
 instead of four classes before his adminis- 
 tration. No one will know the sacrifices 
 it required to put them on this footing, 
 which was the means of making the pros- 
 perity of the congregation. In January, 
 1890, at a cost of six thousand dollars, he 
 built the priest's residence, which was 
 completed in October, 1890. He has 
 been a very useful pastor, and will long 
 be remembered for his kindly counsel and 
 advice, given always with a smile that 
 meant more than mere words. 
 
 CHRISTOPH GOLDSMITH, a 
 thrifty, enterprising farmer of 
 New Denmark township. Brown 
 county, was born June 26, 1826, 
 in the village of Vollhousen, Prussia, Ger- 
 many. He is a son of Christoph and 
 Augusta Goldsmith, also natives of Ger- 
 many, the former of whom was a gar- 
 dener, a vocation he followed successfully 
 in his native land for many years. He 
 had a family of four children: Augusta, 
 Christian, Charles and Christoph. 
 
 Our subject remained at home until 
 he was fifteen years of age, when he 
 commenced to learn the blacksmith trade, 
 at which he served an apprenticeship of 
 two years, subsequently following it while 
 he lived in Germany. In September, 
 1854, he proceeded to Liverpool, and 
 embarked at that port on a vessel bound 
 for America, the voyage occupying six 
 weeks. Landing at New York, he thence 
 went to Albany, where he worked at his 
 
.J 
 
COMMEMOKATIVE BIOORAPUICAI. RECORD. 
 
 255 
 
 trade some time, afterward going to Sault 
 Ste. Marie, Mich., where he remained 
 one winter, and then removing to Apple- 
 ton, Wis., lived there a year and a half. 
 At the end of this time he came to New 
 Denmark township. Brown county, and 
 here purchased forty acres of wild land, 
 on which he erected a log house near his 
 present comfortable dwelling, and com- 
 menced clearing the place, from which 
 not a tree had been cut, nor was there 
 any road at the time he moved here, 
 though one was opened about a year 
 later. All the supplies had to be brought 
 from Green Bay," and, as he had no team, 
 he had to carry them home himself. Two 
 years after his rcmoNal to this farm Mr. 
 Goldsmith was married, July 19, 1857, 
 in New Denmark, to Miss Mar}' Ann 
 Nocker, daughter of Frank and Jacobine 
 (Seager) Nocker, who had a family of 
 three children, a brief record of whom is 
 as follows: Mary Ann (Mrs. Goldsmith) 
 was born November 27, 1839, in Nassau, 
 Germany ; August was born in Nassau, 
 Germany, and resides at Mishicot, Wis., 
 is married and has eight children ; Frank 
 is a resident of Franklin, Wis., is mar- 
 ried and has Hve children. In 1853 Mr. 
 and Mrs. Nocker emigrated to America, 
 landing in New York after a voyage of 
 sixty-three days from Liverpool, and pro- 
 ceeding westward immediately to Me- 
 nomonee Falls, Wis., where they lived 
 three years, thence removing to Franklin, 
 where Mr. Nocker purchased 1 60 acres of 
 timber land, on which he passed the re- 
 mainder of his days. After his death his 
 widow removed to Mishicot, .Wis. , and 
 resided there until her death. The old 
 homestead, at Franklin, is now owned by 
 the son, Frank. 
 
 Mrs. (ioldsmilh has aided her hus- 
 band nobly in the accumulation of his 
 property, his farm now comprising ninety 
 acres of highly-improved land. As he 
 was the only blacksmith in the town for 
 twenty years he was a very busy man, 
 and, in order to carry on the farm suc- 
 cessfully at the same time, Mrs. Gold- 
 
 smith looked after it, besides attending to 
 her household duties. To their union 
 have been born six children, viz. ; Frank 
 and August, who died in infancy; Frank 
 (2), deceased ; Carl G., who remains at 
 home with his parents ; and Catherine A. 
 and Susie, who also live at home. In 
 religious faith Mr. Goldsmith is a member 
 of the Lutheran Church, and Mrs. Gold- 
 smith and the children are members of 
 the Catholic Church. In 1865 Mr. Gold- 
 smith enlisted in the army, and served 
 six months in Company C, Eleventh Wis. 
 V. I., six weeks of which term were spent 
 in the hospital. He received an honor- 
 able discharge toward the close of the 
 struggle on account of disability, and is 
 now receiving a pension of $22 per month 
 from the government for disability caused 
 by exposure during his service. 
 
 ALBERT VERBOORT, one of the 
 most affluiMit farmers and land- 
 nwncrs of Lawrence township,. 
 Brown county, was born March 
 I, 1839, in Udcn, Province of North 
 Brabant, Holland, son of John and Maria 
 Verboort. 
 
 In 1848 tlu- parents of our subject 
 came to the United States with their fam- 
 ily, sailing from Rotterdam on the 
 "Libera," and landing at Boston, Mass., 
 after a voyage of fifty-two days. At 
 this time there were four children in the 
 family, nameh': John, now a resident of 
 Washington county. Ore. ; William, who 
 became a priest, and djed in Washington 
 county. Ore., at the town of Verboort's 
 (named after him), where he had estab- 
 lished a church (he was a well-known 
 priest in his time; for several years he 
 li\ed in I->rown county. Wis., where he 
 established five churches — one in Morri- 
 son township; St. Francis Church at De- 
 Pere; St. Mary's, De Pere; St. Patrick's, 
 Fort Howard, and St. Willibrord's, Green 
 Bay); Mary, residing at Verb(jort's, Ore., 
 and Albert, whose name opens this sketch. 
 From Massachusetts the famil\- catne by 
 
J56 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Tail and water to Green Bay, Wis., later 
 removing to Little Chute, Outagamie 
 county, and thence to Holland township. 
 Brown county. They were almost desti- 
 tute, and, having lost all their baggage, 
 had practically nothing with which to be- 
 gin life in the New World. They also 
 had much difficulty in securing a home, 
 and tried various localities, moving about 
 from place to place along Fox river; at 
 one time they even had a house partly 
 built, when it was found necessary to 
 abandon it. They endured many hard- 
 ships, and once they had nothing to eat 
 but wheat bran. But, after reverses that 
 would have discouraged almost any one, 
 their prospects began to brighten, and in 
 1854 they purchased 1 13 acres of land in 
 Lawrence township, the place on which 
 our subject now resides. The father and 
 two sons commenced threshing by hand, 
 receiving for their laborious work one- 
 eighth of the grain, which was hauled on 
 a hand-sled to market and traded for 
 flour. The family resided on the farm 
 from 1855 to 1875, and then removed to 
 Portland, Ore., where the parents and 
 son William died in 1876, the father on 
 July 6, the mother June 23, and William 
 July 14. They were devout Catholics, 
 and were buried in the cemeterj' at Ver- 
 boort, where, as before stated, William 
 had established a Catholic congregation, 
 which, at the time of his death, was in a 
 flourishing condition. With the death of 
 this priest the Catholic Church lost one 
 of its most earnest workers, and too much 
 praise can not be given him for his zeal 
 and untiring industry. 
 
 Albert Verboort attended school but a 
 short time in his native country, and only 
 one month in the United States; but his 
 natural ability has asserted itself in spite 
 of his lackof early educational advantages. 
 He has an inherent genius for mechanical 
 work, and learned readily the blacksmith's 
 and wagon-maker's trades, at which he 
 worked when about fifteen years of age. 
 In the fall of 1 863 he was united in mar- 
 riage, in Brown county, by Rev. Father 
 
 Spierings, with Miss Anna Johnson, who 
 was born November 13, 1826, in Holland, 
 near the birthplace of her husband. She 
 was a daughter of Jacob and Mary John- 
 son, and came to the United States in 
 1850 with her mother and two brothers 
 — Frank and Theodore. They sailed from 
 Antwerp, and, after an ocean voyage of 
 thirty days, landed at New York, proceed- 
 ing thence via Buffalo, N. Y., to Green 
 Bay, Wis. After marriage Mr. Verboort 
 located on his present farm, remaining 
 thereon until 1875, when he went to 
 Oregon, and there resided three years, 
 after which he returned to Brown county. 
 Wis., and for a time lived on land along 
 Ashwaubenon creek. He then made 
 another trip to Oregon; returned again to 
 Brown county, and after a brief sojourn 
 here once more removed to the Pacific 
 coast, where he made his home until 1892, 
 when he came back to Brown county, 
 taking up his residence on his present 
 farm. 
 
 There is probably no citizen in Brown 
 county, in the ordinary walk of life, who 
 has traveled so e.xtensively, he having 
 gone over si.xty thousand miles since 1876. 
 He has been most successful in his agri- 
 cultural work, and to-day is one of the 
 wealthiest landowners in Lawrence town- 
 ship, having won success by his own 
 efforts. In his political preferences he is 
 a Democrat, though not strictly partisan, 
 and he has never aspired to office. The 
 entire family are members of the Catholic 
 Church. Mr. and Mrs. Verboort have 
 had children as follows: John and Will- 
 iam, both living; Dora, who died when 
 twelve years of age; and others that died 
 in infancy. 
 
 ARVE ARVESON. Among the 
 progressive, highly-esteemed agri- 
 culturists of New Denmark town- 
 ship, Brown county, this gentle- 
 man occupies a prominent place. He is 
 a native of Norway, born February 22, 
 1835, son of Christian (who was a miner 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 257 
 
 in Norway) and Ingeberg (Johnson) Arve- 
 son, who reared a family of five children, 
 as follows; Arve (our subject), Mary, 
 John, Martha and Nils. 
 
 At the early age of fourteen years Arve 
 Arveson commenced to work in the mines, 
 his wages being about twelve cents a day, 
 and continued in this labor until he reached 
 the age of eighteen years, when the fam- 
 ily immigrated to America. They landed 
 in the city of Quebec, Canada, thence 
 journeyed to Green Bay, Wis., where 
 they arrived on the old steamer " Michi- 
 gan, " and thence to New Denmark town- 
 ship. Brown county, where Mr. Arveson 
 bought eighty acres of totally unimproved 
 land. Mr. Gotfredson, another early 
 settler, who owned an o.\-team, assisted 
 them to bring their household goods to 
 their home in the woods, but they had to 
 be carried some distance, as there was no 
 road for the team. There were only a 
 few yoke of oxen in the township at this 
 time, and the Arvesons lived here three 
 years before they were able to buy a team 
 for themselves. For the first two years 
 they lived in a i6x 16 log house, the first 
 dwelling erected by a white man on the 
 place, which stood in the midst of the 
 forest, and then removed to another tract 
 of eighty acres just northeast of this first 
 home, where the parents passed the re- 
 mainder of their lives, both living to the 
 advanced age of eighty-two years. 
 
 Our subject was, as above related, 
 eighteen years old when he came with his 
 parents to Wisconsin, and, being the eld- 
 est, much of the farm work devolved upon 
 him. On March 28, 1858, he was united 
 in marriage with Miss Mariane Anderson, 
 daughter of Anders and Bertha (Ras- 
 mussen) Christensen, and, our subject 
 having purchased his present farm from 
 his father, the young couple immediately 
 took up their residence here, living in the 
 old log house during the first five years, 
 when it was supplanted by a comfortable, 
 modern residence. Their marriage has 
 been blessed with seven children, a brief 
 record of whom is as follows: Alfred C. 
 
 died of consumption at the age of twenty- 
 five (he was in Colorado when first taken 
 ill, but came home about two months be- 
 fore his death); Emma, Mrs. Christensen, 
 is living in Iowa; Millie, Mrs. Hanson, is a 
 resident of New Denmark; John remains 
 at home with his parents; Rosa, Mrs. 
 Nelson, is living in Oconto; Christ is at 
 home; Arthur is a school-teacher in 
 Antigo, Wis. Mr. Arveson is strictly a 
 self-made man; receiving in his youth but 
 meager educational advantages, he has, 
 by his own efforts, acquired a practical 
 education in the broad school of expe- 
 rience, and commencing life in the New 
 World with no capital save health and 
 energy, he has accumulated a comfortable 
 property, having a highly-improved farm 
 of 160 acres in New Denmark township. 
 He is greatly respected by all who know 
 him, and has been elected to fill various 
 positions of trust in his township, which 
 he served two years as chairman, three 
 years as treasurer, and also as assessor, to 
 the complete satisfaction of his fellow cit- 
 izens. In his political preferences he is 
 a stanch member of the Republican party. 
 He and his wife are, in religious faith, act- 
 ive members of the Lutheran Church, in 
 which he has served as deacon, and at 
 present holds the office of trustee. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Arveson was drafted into 
 the Union army, and provided a substitute; 
 but in 1865 he enlisted in Company F, 
 Fiftieth Wis. V. I., and served about a 
 year, principally in Dakota, among the 
 Indians. He received an honorable dis- 
 charge at Madison, Wis., in June, 1866, 
 and immediately returned to his home. 
 
 PHILIP M. WIRTH. The life of 
 a literary man seldom exhibits any 
 of those striking incidents that 
 seize upon public feeling and fix 
 attention upon himself. His character is, 
 for the most part, made up of the aggre- 
 gate of the qualities and qualifications he 
 may possess, as these may be elicited by 
 the exercise of the duties of his vocation 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 or the particular profession to which he 
 may belong; and in this, possibly, the 
 subject of this sketch presents not alto- 
 gether an exception to the general rule. 
 Mr. \\'irth was born in Bavaria. Ger- 
 many, April 25, 1S23, the third son in 
 the family of seven children — six sons and 
 one daughter — of Michael J. and Theresa 
 (Rauscher) Wirth. The father was a 
 school-teacher in Germany, having quali- 
 fied for that profession by a college edu- 
 cation; and, as a natural consequence, the 
 sons received excellent scholastic training. 
 Our subject, up to the age of ten years, at- 
 tended the public schools of the neighbor- 
 hood of his place of birth, then for a 
 couple of years received tuition under a 
 private tutor, after which he entered the 
 Royal Gymnasium at Muennerstadt, study- 
 ing at that institution of learning six vears. 
 For a \ear after leaving college Mr. 
 Wirth traveled through Germany and 
 Austria for pleasure and recreation, view- 
 ing in his journey many scenes not easily 
 to be effaced from his memory. In Ger- 
 many it is the custom for x'ouths of all 
 classes to learn a trade, and our subject 
 was no exception, for on his return home 
 he apprenticed himself to a carpenter, 
 serving two years, at the end of which 
 time he answered to his call to enter the 
 army, but im account of physical de- 
 ficiency he was rejected. Turning his eyes, 
 now, in tlie direction of the Western 
 World, with all its grand advantages to 
 the man "who is willitig to toil, and 
 where the poorest may gather the fruits 
 of the soil," he resolved to make it 
 the battleground of his future life in 
 his struggle with the world. Accord- 
 ingly, on April i, 1846, betook pas- 
 sage at Cuxhafen, the seaport of Ham- 
 burg, on the good ship "Perseverance" 
 fa suggestive title for the young emigrant), 
 bound for Quebec, and after a passage of 
 fift^'-eight days landed at that quaint old 
 Canadian city. His destinaton, however, 
 was Wisconsin, whither his brother 
 George C. , had previously emigrated ; so 
 from Quebec our subject proceeded to 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y. , where he boarded the 
 steamer " Oreg(jn " for Milwaukee, from 
 which latter port he journeyed to Green 
 Bay, arriving July 11, 1846. Here he 
 unfortunatel}' was siezed with typhoid 
 fever, but, on the other hand — '•Fortuiia 
 favct fortibiis " — he fortunately had the 
 home and care of his brother for the 
 two months he was ill and convalescent. 
 The first dollar he earned in the United 
 States was for work he did for Albert 
 Weise, who was putting up his first dwell- 
 ing on Walnut street, and for a month he 
 followed his trade. Preferring, however, 
 the life of a farmer to that of a trades- 
 man, he hired out to Daniel H. Whitney, 
 of Stockbridge, Calumet county, for ten 
 dollars per month, remaining with him 
 till 1S49, ofttiines, no doubt, when turn- 
 ing the sods with the plough repeating to 
 himself lines from the Georgics of Virgil, 
 or the Bucolics of Theocritus, or Xeno- 
 phon and Homer. From that time for- 
 ward he followed his trade as a house 
 and ship carpenter till October 4, 1 864, 
 when he was drafted into the Union army. 
 He was assigned to Company E. Twenty- 
 seco'nd Wis. V. I., and served as orderly 
 sergeant and clerk to Col. Chajiman, 
 whose headquarters were at Camp Randall. 
 On May 17. 1865, he was honorably dis- 
 charged and returned home to Green 
 Bay, where he resumed his trade. 
 
 The time had now come for him to 
 buy land, and in December, 1865, he 
 purchased fifty acres in Private Claim 
 No. 43, Bellevue township. Brown coun- 
 ty, heavily timbered and without any im- 
 provements, paying for same one thous- 
 and dollars. On this tract stood a quan- 
 tity of oak timber, and some of the heavi- 
 est trees of that kind ever cut in the 
 neighborhood of Green Bay were felled on 
 this farm. By assiduous labor Mr. Wirth 
 cleared the land, converting the primeval 
 forest into a luxurious vegetable or truck 
 farm, all the improvements being made 
 by his own hand, and under his personal 
 supervision. His time, ever since com- 
 mencing in this line, has been devoted ex-' 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '59 
 
 clusively to the farm, varied occasionally 
 by some small job at carpentry for the 
 first two years. On February 2, 1849, 
 Mr. Wirth was married in Green Bay to 
 Miss Odelia Schauer, who was born Sep- 
 tember 8, 1824, in Bavaria, a daughter of 
 Henry Schauer, whose family (he being 
 deceased) emigrated in 1 846 from the 
 Fatherland to the United States, arriving 
 in Green Bay, Wis., September 8, 1846. 
 After marriage Afr. Wirth continued farm- 
 ing in Calumet county until July, 1849, 
 and then came to Green Bay, as already 
 related. For his first residence in the 
 town he built a house on Madison street, 
 which he traded later, and then erected 
 the present commodious family residence 
 on Walnut street, now owned by Leon 
 Findeisen. Ihe children born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wirth were as follows : George 
 W., a marine engineer; Odelia, Mrs. 
 William Devhue, of Preble township; 
 Martha, Mrs. John Heidorf, of Manito- 
 woc, Wis. ; Philip and Jacob (twins), the 
 former of whom is a marine engineer, the 
 latter an artesian well-borer; Mary, Mrs. 
 Leonard Verdigen, of Bellevue; Frances, 
 Mrs. Mathias Anheuser, of Fort Howard; 
 Michael, a farmer of Bellevue; Theresa, 
 who died when nine months old. Our 
 subject and wife are members of the 
 Catholic Church. A Republican, though 
 at one time a Democrat, his first Presi- 
 dential vote was cast for Lincoln, and he 
 has done yeoman service in political mat- 
 ters : For nine years he served as clerk 
 of Bellevue township; was chairman of 
 the council one year, and member of the 
 school board five years. He was enu- 
 merator of the Tenth United States Cen- 
 sus; in 1883-4 served in the Legislature, 
 first biennial sessions; and in all his pub- 
 lic trusts he has given ample satisfaction 
 to his constituents, reflecting the utmost 
 credit to himself for his capacity and 
 faithfulness. He still finds time for an 
 occasional stroll in the fields of literature, 
 for, with Greek, Latin, historical, scien- 
 tific and other useful books at his com- 
 mand, he has alwavs with him a substan- 
 
 tial world, l)0th pure and good, round 
 which, "with tendrils strong as flesh and 
 blood, our pastime and our happiness 
 
 will grow. 
 
 JEREMIAH Bl>iENNAN, one of the 
 old pioneers of Morrison township, 
 Brown county, is a native of Ireland, 
 born in 1834, a son of Jeremiah and 
 Margaret (Foley) Brennan, who were the 
 parents of six children, viz. : Kate, Mi- 
 chael, John, Patrick, Jeremiah, and Mary. 
 Jeremiah Brennan, the father of the 
 family, was the first t)f its members to 
 come to this country. In 1 840 he reached 
 Glenmore, Brown Co., Wis., where he 
 entered 160 acres; and about 1842 he re- 
 turned to the East in order to bring his 
 family out West. For several years the 
 fLther was employed in a grocery in Chic- 
 opee, Mass., while our subject worked in 
 a cotton factory. In 1854 the family 
 were prepared to come west and settle on 
 their farm, but the father was taken sick 
 and died. The mother, however, with 
 her sons, left Springfield, Mass., some 
 little time after the sad event, and ar- 
 rived in Glenmore before the expiration 
 of the year. From De Pere they carried 
 their effects on their backs to the farm, 
 with nothing but an Indian trail to guide 
 them; but once on the land there were no 
 idle or unwilling hands, and soon a small 
 clearing was made and a small shanty of 
 scoops, 1 2 X 16 feet, erected for their shel- 
 ter, the mother doing her full share of the 
 work. Wild animals, which were numer- 
 ous and ravenous, killed the oxen in the 
 woods, while the bears would carry of? 
 the hogs before the eyes of the hard-work- 
 ing settlers; and the Indians, although 
 called civilized, would enter the dwelling 
 in the absence of the inmates and carry 
 off the provisions — a serious and heavy 
 loss under the circumstances. But the 
 hard}- pioneers struggled on through the 
 innumerable vicissitudes and struggles of 
 life in the wilderness, and eventually tri- 
 umphed over all difficulties — even over 
 
2 6o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the vicious, pernicious, and poisonous 
 mosquitoes, which, though small in them- 
 selves, were no small factor as an annoy- 
 ance and an irritant to the new settlers. 
 The good old mother was spared to see 
 the homestead fully developed, and died 
 in 1878, at the advanced age of eighty- 
 five years, honored and venerated by all 
 who knew her. Her mortal remains rest 
 in the Morrison Catholic burying ground. 
 In 1859, at the age of twenty-five, 
 Jeremiah Brennan was married to Claren- 
 cy, daughter of Michael and Catherine 
 Quinn, old settlers of Morrison township, 
 having come here about the year 1855. 
 They bought 480 acres of land, and, like all 
 other pioneers, endured the hardships of 
 life in the wilderness. They were the 
 parents of three children, named Clarency, 
 John S. and Michael. After his marrige 
 Mr. Brennan settled on his farm of 160 
 acres, which he had previously purchased, 
 and on which he had erected a house 
 built of timber hewn by his own hands, at 
 that time considered the best house in the 
 township. In 1862 Capt. Harrison and 
 Mr. Brennan organized the first company 
 in Brown county for service in the Union 
 army during the Civil war, the company 
 consisting of sixty men; but Mr. Brennan 
 resigned his commission, and Harrison, 
 going to the front, was killed in the first 
 action in which his regiment was engaged, 
 and was succeeded by Mr. Lawton, of De- 
 Pere. On March 28, 1863, Mr. Brennan, 
 with eleven others, started from De Pere 
 across the plains to Idaho, with sixteen 
 yoke of oxen and wagons, and arrived at 
 their destination August 14. They found 
 wild Indians, a wild country, and they also 
 found gold. Mr. Brennan returned to 
 Wisconsin in 1867 and resumed farming. 
 His first wife survived about twelve years 
 after marriage, and died July 2, 1872, the 
 mother of three children, Mary, Jeremiah, 
 and Michael. In 1873 Mr. Brennan took 
 for his second wife Ellen Pool, daughter 
 of Hugh and Mary (Mehegan) Pool, who 
 were the parents of eight children, 
 viz. : Kate, John, Thomas, Mary, El- 
 
 len, Michael, William and Hannah. The 
 father was one of the pioneers of Cedar- 
 burg, having settled there in 1836; he 
 now resides in Milwaukee with a daughter, 
 and is nearly one hundred years of age. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Brennan lived in the old 
 log house about fourteen years, when it 
 was replaced by the magnificent dwelling 
 in which they now reside. The farm com- 
 prises 1 20 acres of good land, and is highly 
 improved, the whole being the reward of 
 Mr. Brennan's industry, aided by his 
 children and their good mother. Mr. 
 Brennan is a strong advocate of public 
 schools, three of the children being now 
 teachers. The nine children born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Brennan were as follows: Will- 
 iam; Nellie, who is a school-teacher; 
 Anna; John, deceased; George, whose 
 death was caused by playing base-ball; 
 Kate, Grace and Celia; Michael, teaching 
 in District No. 6. The parents are mem- 
 bers of the Catholic Church, in which 
 Mr. Brennan is much interested, having 
 erected the first parsonage built in the 
 town. Politically he is a Democrat, and 
 has served as town supervisor and in sev- 
 eral other offices, but prefers the quietude 
 of his private life, which has been alto- 
 gether upright and industrious, and such 
 as to win for him the respect of all who 
 know him. 
 
 M 
 
 ARTIN VAN DE WYN- 
 G A A R D. Among the repre- 
 sentative self-made agricultur- 
 ists of Bellevue township. Brown 
 county, none commands greater respect 
 than this gentleman. He is a native of 
 Holland, born August 30, 1821, son of 
 Anton Van De Wyngaard, who was a 
 farmer and miller, and had eight children 
 — four sons and four daughters — of whom 
 Martin is the youngest son. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 the common schools of his birthplace, 
 commencing when about sixteen years of 
 age to learn the milling trade under his 
 father. In 1851 he sailed from Rotter- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 261 
 
 dam on the " Mozambique," and, after a 
 voyage of forty-five days, landed in New- 
 York, whence, during the same year, he 
 came westward by way of Cleveland, 
 Ohio, to Green Bay, Wis. Here he re- 
 mained but a few months, and then re- 
 turned to Cleveland, where he secured 
 employment at shingle-cutting, being will- 
 ing to do anything to earn an honest dol- 
 lar. While in Cleveland he was taken 
 sick, and was sent into the country, in 
 the vicinity of Newburg, to recover, after 
 which he returned to his native land, as 
 he had learned that his father was very 
 ill. He was thirty days crossing the 
 ocean, during which passage, on August 
 15, he dreamed he was attending his 
 father's funeral, and, strange to say, he 
 found, on his arrival home that his father 
 had died and the funeral had taken place 
 that day. After spending five or six 
 months in Holland, our subject again 
 came to America, this time sailing from 
 Liverpool on a Black Star liner, and land- 
 ing in New York after a very stormy pas- 
 sage, the vessel arriving in port with one- 
 half of her mainmast standing, while the 
 other masts were gone altogether. Mr. 
 Van De Wyngaard again came to Cuya- 
 hoga county, Ohio, and in 1854 was there 
 married to Miss Catherine Ingersoll, a 
 native of same, who was born August 13, 
 1 82 1, daughter of Levi and Derdamia In- 
 gersoll, New England people, who were 
 early pioneers of the county, having come 
 to Cleveland between the years 1 8 1 2 and 
 1815. After marriage our subject lived 
 in Cuyahoga county with his wife's parents, 
 and also on a farm of his own until 1871, 
 in which year he brought his family to 
 Green Bay, and, buying the • ' Camp 
 Smith" farm along the river, resided there 
 for some years. In 1877 he purchased 
 and removed upon his present place, now 
 consisting of one hundred acres of good 
 farming land, but which at that time was 
 a new farm and not all cleared; but with 
 constant care and attention to the details 
 of his work, he now has a pleasant home 
 and comfortable property. He conducts 
 
 a profitable general farming business, the 
 success he has met with being all due to 
 his own unceasing efforts, and he is well 
 known and highly respected by his neigh- 
 bors and fellow citizens. 
 
 In politics our subject was originally a 
 Republican, but during the Grant cam- 
 paign he joined the ranks of the Demo- 
 cratic party, with which he has since re- 
 mained. Religiously he is a member of 
 St. John's Catholic Church, Green Bay. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Van De Wyngaard have 
 been born the following named children: 
 Augusta E. (wife of L. Ver Berkmoes, a 
 merchant of Atkinson, 111.), Christina, 
 Anton, and .Alphonsos (at home), and 
 Barnardus (of Sheboygan, Mich.). 
 
 NIELS HANSON GOTFREDSEN 
 (deceased) was, during.his lifetime 
 one of the most active, promi- 
 nent citizens in New Denmark 
 township. Brown county, of which he was 
 one of the earliest settlers. 
 
 He was born, March 2, 1814, in the 
 Kingdom of Denmark, where, on Febru- 
 ary 18, 1848, he was married to Miss 
 Laurentine Hjorth, who was born March 
 8, 1824, in Langeland, Denmark, daugh- 
 ter of Rasmus and Mary (Iverson) Hjorth, 
 who had eight children, three of whom 
 are now living, namely: Laurentine (Mrs. 
 Gotfredsen), Frederick, and Peter A. 
 Rasmus Hjorth was a schoolteacher for 
 twenty-eight years. One month after 
 their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Gotfredsen 
 sailed for America, landing in New York 
 two months later after a very rough voy- 
 age, and coming directly to Milwaukee, 
 Wis. , in which city Mrs. Gotfredsen re- 
 mained while her husband went farther 
 north to look for land. He purchased 160 
 acres in New Denmark township, Brown 
 county, on which they removed at once, 
 being the second settlers in the township. 
 Mr. Cooper, the first settler of Coopers- 
 town, Wis., conveyed them to their home 
 with his ox-team, and they located in the 
 midst of the forest, which thev at once 
 
262 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BWORAPMICAL RECORD. 
 
 commenced to clear away and convert 
 into a fertile farm. The task was not a 
 light one; and, owing to the new and un- 
 settled condition of the country, these 
 pioneers suffered numerous hardships and 
 privations incident to backwoods life, as 
 well as the inconveniences to be experi- 
 enced in a new country; but they perse- 
 vered in their noble work, and, after years 
 of toil found themselves in possession of a 
 fine property hewn from the forest. By 
 unceasing" industry Mr. Gotfredsen was 
 enabled to increased the area of his farm, 
 and at the time of his death was the' 
 owner of 200 acres of highly-improved 
 land, and ranked among the most success- 
 ful men in his locality. In 185 1 Mrs. 
 Gotfredsen's parents set out from Den- 
 mark for the United States, but the father 
 died on the sea, of heart trouble, from 
 which he had suffered many years, and 
 was buried in New York; the widowed 
 mother came to Wisconsin, and passed 
 the remainder of her life with her daugh- 
 ter, dying about 1 86 1 ; she was interred 
 in the cemetery in New Denmark tou n- 
 ship, donated by Mr. Gotfredsen. 
 
 At the time Mr. Gotfredsen came to 
 New Denmark township it was included 
 in De Pere, and he was instrumental in 
 having it set apart as a separate township, 
 taking great interest in that, as well as all 
 other public improvements for the benefit 
 or advancement of his community. In 
 political connection he was a stanch Dem- 
 ocrat, and held numerous positions of 
 honor and trust in his township, serving 
 as chairman, treasurer, etc., in an able 
 and satisfactory manner. He was highly 
 esteemed by all who knew him, and his 
 death, which occurred February 22, 1894, 
 brought a loss to the entire community, 
 who felt keenly the departure of one of 
 the best and oldest citizens. Since his 
 decease his widow has continued to make 
 her home on the farm, having with her 
 her daughter Jennie. The children born 
 to Mr. and Airs. Gotfredsen were eleven 
 in number, as follows: Mary (who was 
 the first white oirl born in New Denmark 
 
 township), Hilbert, Minnie, Sophia (who 
 died at the age of twent\-six), Jennie, 
 Frederica, Augusta, Lawrence, Benjamin, 
 Laurena and Edith, most of whom are 
 living in Nebraska. In 1865 Mr. Gotfred- 
 sen revisited his native countr\-, spending 
 a short time there among his relatives and 
 friends, who ga\e him a very hearty 
 welcome. 
 
 REV. MICHAEL JOHN O'BRIEN 
 is pastor of St. Patrick's Church, 
 Fort Howard, one of the oldest 
 congregations in the Fox River 
 Valley, with a present membership of two 
 hundred families. 
 
 He was born February 29, i860, in 
 Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wis., a son of 
 Patrick and Margaret (O'Leary) O'Brien, 
 who were natives of Ireland, the former 
 of County Waterford, the latter of Coun- 
 ty Cork. The parents had immigated to 
 Boston, Mass., about 1846, were married 
 in that city in 1848, and removed to Wis- 
 consin early in the spring of 1855, locating 
 in Granville township, Milwaukee county, 
 where their son was born, on a farm in 
 the woods, which they cleared and im- 
 proved. In 1873 the father removed with 
 his family to Chilton, Calumet county, 
 dying on his farm there ten years later, 
 March 23, 1883. His widow now resides 
 in South Milwaukee. Of their children, 
 Ellen is the wife of John McGrath, a 
 farmer, and resides in Lebanon, Waupaca 
 Co., Wis.; Patrick is a resident of South 
 Milwaukee; Rev. M. J. is the loved pastor 
 of a large congregation at Fort Howard; 
 Margaret, now Mrs. Charles Kelley, lives 
 in Lebanon, as does also Jennie, wife of 
 Patrick Cleary; Lizzie is now Mrs. Harrj' 
 Kearns, of Buffalo, Wis. ; George resides 
 in South Milwaukee. 
 
 The future candidate for priestly hon- 
 ors was a farmer in his j'outhful days in 
 Milwaukee and Calumet counties. He 
 was a member of the first class to grad- 
 uate from the Chilton high school, in 
 June, 1878, and, for three years follow- 
 
COMME^fORATIVE BfOGRAP/irCAL RECORD. 
 
 263 
 
 ing, was a teacher in Calumet county. 
 He then, in the fall of 1880, entered St. 
 Francis Seminar}- at Milwaukee, from 
 which he was graduated with the class of 
 1888; in June, of the same year, was or- 
 dained to the priesthood by Archbishop 
 Heiss, of Milwaukee, and the following 
 month was sent to St. Andrew's Church, 
 at Kingston, Wis. He was ne.xt assistant, 
 for two years, in St. Peter's Church, at 
 Oshkosh, and subsequently in charge of 
 St. Stephen's Church, at Stevens Point, 
 from which place he came to Fort How- 
 ard, in May, 1893. Here the field of his 
 labors is large, and his efforts have been 
 marked with gratifying success. On the 
 second Sunday after his arrival he took 
 steps toward the erection of the present 
 magnificent church, at the corner of 
 Cherry and Hubbard streets, in which 
 the congregation now worship, which was 
 completed in November, 1894, and is one 
 of the finest in the Fox River Valley. 
 He labored indefatigably to secure means 
 and advance the work in every possible 
 way; but a good constitution — the founda- 
 tion of which was laid on a farm — and 
 his ardent love for the work undertaken 
 enabled him to give the constant atten- 
 tion necessary during the construction of 
 the edifice, and to perform a large amount 
 of work in addition to his regular duties. 
 The church is a brick building, with trim- 
 mings of Duck Creek stone, 60 x 124 feet 
 in dimensions, with basement, costing 
 about twenty-five thousand dollars, and 
 is a monument to the zeal and devotion 
 of its earnest pastor, who has endeared 
 himself to all classes, regardless of de- 
 nomination and nationality. 
 
 FRANK CLEEREMANS, Jr., one 
 of the well-known farmer citizens 
 of Scott township. Brown county, 
 was born April 8, 1845, '" Bel- 
 gium, son of Frank Cleeremans, Sr. , who 
 was a farmer in that country. 
 
 In the spring of 1867, having deter- 
 mined to try his fortune in America, Frank 
 15 
 
 Cleeremans, Sr. , emigrated from his na- 
 tive land, bringing his wife and famil}' of 
 five sons — Charles, John, Frank, Jr., 
 Henry and Alex — all of whom are yet 
 living. Sailing from Antwerp on the 
 "Ottawa," they arrived in New York 
 after a voyage of sixteen days, and im- 
 mediately journeyed westward by rail to 
 Brown county. Wis. , coming via Chicago 
 to Green Bay. Mr. Cleeremans, Sr. , had 
 saved a few hundred dollars, and in Scott 
 township purchased forty acres (where his 
 son Frank now lives), for which he paid 
 fifteen dollars per acre. A one-room log 
 shanty was the only dwelling on this place, 
 and but ten acres of the land were cleared, 
 the rest being still in its primitive state. 
 The family lived in that house two 3'ears, 
 when a better one was built. The farm 
 was gradually cleared and made to yield 
 a good income, and here the parents 
 passed the remainder of their lives, the 
 mother dying May 20, 1871, the father 
 on January 11, 1876. They were mem- 
 bers of the Catholic Church, and their 
 remains now rest in Bay Settlement 
 cemetery. 
 
 Frank Cleeremans, Jr., attended the 
 common schools of his native land, where 
 he obtained all his education, receiving 
 instruction in French and Flemish, being 
 able to read both these languages. His 
 knowledge of English he has acquired 
 since coming to the United States, by 
 close application to American books and 
 papers. At the age of twenty he com- 
 menced to learn the blacksmith trade, 
 which he followed until he came to Amer- 
 ica with his parents; previously he had 
 worked in a soap factory in France. After 
 coming to Wisconsin he secured work in 
 Green Bay, and continued in the employ 
 of others, giving his earnings to his par- 
 ents, until the time of his marriage, in 
 1 87 1. In that year he wedded Miss Vir- 
 ginia Horckmans, also a native of Bel- 
 gium, who, when fifteen months old, was 
 brought to America by her parents, Will- 
 iam and Thersa (Vanderbosh) Horckmans. 
 At this time Mr. Cleeremans, Jr., bought 
 
264 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the interests of his brothers in the home 
 farm, and, building a shop on the place 
 (all on credit), continued his trade in con- 
 nection with farming until 1875, when he 
 abandoned it, and has since given his at- 
 tention exclusively to agriculture. For 
 several years he was engaged in the sale 
 of nursery stock, and while in this busi- 
 ness became widely acquainted in his sec- 
 tion of the county. He is now the owner 
 of the original place, to which he has 
 added ten acres more, and has a comfort- 
 able productive farm, free of debt. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Cleeremans, Jr., were born 
 children as follows: Annie, Thersa, Odile, 
 Minnie, August, and Henry, all living, and 
 four that died in infancj'. The mother of 
 these passed from earth September 14, 
 1887, and was buried in the Wequiock 
 cemetery in Scott township. Mr. Cleere- 
 mans, Jr., is a stanch Republican, and an 
 ardent supporter of the principles of that 
 party, especially those of protective tariff. 
 He has been elected to various offices in 
 his township, serving one term as chair- 
 man, and for thirteen or fourteen years as 
 assessor, in both capacities giving satisfac- 
 tion to his constituents. He has been 
 self-made in every respect, and, though 
 beginning life a poor man, his natural 
 ability, industrious nature and persever- 
 ance have enabled him to rise to his pres- 
 ent enviable position. 
 
 HD. VAN SEGGERN was born 
 October 9, 1849, in Oldenburg, 
 Germany, son of Henry F. and 
 Meta (Schmidt) Van Seggern, who 
 had four children, as follows: H. D. , 
 Dedrick (who died when three years old), 
 and two that died in infancy. The father 
 was a sailor and carpenter, and was em- 
 ployed as such for fifteen years, after 
 which he worked for a time in the ship- 
 yards. 
 
 In 1859 the family came to America, 
 sailing from Bremen, and landing, after a 
 voyage of thirteen days, in New York, 
 
 where they sojourned three days, and 
 then continued their journey west. They 
 traveled to Milwaukee, Wis., and thence 
 by boat to Manitowoc, where they hired 
 an ox-team to take them to their destina- 
 tion in New Denmark township. Brown 
 county; but the team collapsed near 
 where Mr. Fagan now lives, and they were 
 obliged to finish the journey as best they 
 could. In New Denmark township the 
 father purchased a tract of 160 acres, 
 only three acres of which were cleared, 
 and the family took up their residence in 
 a log hut, which stood on the place, con- 
 tinuing to live in same eight years, when 
 it was replaced by a more modern dwell- 
 ing. About two years after their arrival 
 Mr. Van Seggern disposed of eighty acres 
 of his land. The father spent the re- 
 mainder of his life clearing and improving 
 the land he had bought; later purchased 
 some more land, and at the time of his 
 death was the owner of a fine farm of 160 
 acres, now the home of our subject. He 
 passed away at the age of seventy-eight, 
 fifteen years after the death of his wife. 
 Our subject, being the only son, had 
 to commence work very early in life, 
 helping his father in the labor of clearing 
 and cultivating the pioneer farm, remain- 
 ing at home except for three winters 
 when he worked in the woods. In 
 his youth the country around his home 
 was sparsely settled and totally unim- 
 proved, and he has experienced all the 
 inconveniences incident to backwoods life 
 in those early days. Although no road 
 had yet been cut through to Green Bay, 
 he would walk there and back, carrying 
 butter and eggs to market, and bringing 
 home provisions. On account of the 
 meager educational facilities of tha time, 
 he received only eleven months' schooling; 
 but he has made the best of such oppor- 
 tunities as he had, and has acquired a 
 practical education by his own efforts. 
 He assisted his parents faithfully in the 
 laborious task of converting the forest into 
 a fertile, productive farm, and he is now 
 enjoying the fruits of those early days of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 265 
 
 hardship and incessant toil. On May 
 13, 1879, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Martha F. Daggart, a native of Two 
 Rivers, Wis., daughter of Charles B. and 
 Naomi (Knibbs) Daggart, who were of 
 Scotch and English descent, respectively. 
 Mr. Daggart's first wife died in Two 
 Rivers, leaving two children, Thomas and 
 Mary, and he subsequently returned to 
 New York State where he married Naomi 
 Knibbs, who became the mother of five 
 children, viz.: Amanda E., Andrew, 
 Martha F. , Evaline Ann, and one that 
 died in infancy. Mr. Daggart, who fol- 
 lowed merchandising, served as postmas- 
 ter at Two Rivers, and also for one year 
 as member of the Assembly. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 Van Seggern took up their residence on 
 the old homestead, which Mr. Van Seg- 
 gern inherited, and have ever since re- 
 mained here, prosperously engaged in 
 general farming. To their union have 
 been born eight children, their names and 
 dates of birth being as follows: Matie 
 N., May 22, 1880; Amanda E., Decem- 
 23, 1881 ; Charles H., November 3, 1883; 
 Fred J., May 13, 1885 ; Walter M., March 
 6, 1888; Irma C, July 10, 1889; Cora 
 A. A., February i, 1892 ; Edna H., No- 
 vember 23, 1894. In religious faith Mr. 
 and Mrs. Van Seggern are members of 
 the Lutheran Church, in which he serves 
 as trustee and secretary. In his political 
 preferences he is a Republican, taking 
 considerable interest in the workings of 
 his party, and his fellow citizens have 
 honored him with election to various local 
 positions of trust ; he served faithfully as 
 supervisor three years, from 1880 to 1883; 
 also school director, and was recently 
 elected to the important position of chair- 
 man of his township. For the past six 
 years he has been treasurer of the Farm- 
 ers' Insurance Company. As a promi- 
 nent, prosperous farmer, a public-spirited, 
 representative citizen, and a progressive, 
 self-made man, Mr. Van Seggern occu- 
 pies an enviable position among his fel- 
 low citizens in New Denmark township. 
 
 JACOB CRAANEN, postmaster and 
 merchant at Bay Settlement, is one 
 of the most prosperous young men 
 of Scott township. Brown county, 
 of which he is a native, having been born 
 in Bay Settlement Ma\' 26, 1858. 
 
 He is a son of Christian Craanen, a 
 shoemaker by trade, who was born in 
 Holland, and there married Theodora 
 Hooken, the young couple immigrating to 
 America immediately after their marriage. 
 They came to Green Bay, Brown county, 
 Wis., and arrived late in the fall of 1856, 
 the entire journey occupying eighty days. 
 For two or three weeks they remained in 
 Green Bay, and then came to Bay Set- 
 tlement, Scott township, where Mr. Craa- 
 nen purchased three or four acres of 
 land, on which he built a small log house. 
 One corner of the cabin was reserved for 
 his work-bench, and finding plenty to do 
 at his trade, he labored diligently to sup- 
 port his family. Three children came to 
 brighten his home, viz. : Antoinette, now 
 Mrs. Henry Kersten, of Chilton, Wis. ; 
 Jacob, a sketch of whom follows; and 
 John, a farmer of Scott township. Mr. 
 Craanen, in addition to working at his trade, 
 cleared his land, and, as his sons grew up 
 and commenced to assist him, he pur- 
 chased a tract of forty acres, from time to 
 time making other additions to his farm, 
 until at his death they had 350 acres, all 
 accumulated from a commencement of 
 nothing. He passed from earth May 14, 
 1893, and was buried in Bay Settlement 
 cemetery. Mrs. Theodora Craanen died 
 December 27, 1881, and was buried in 
 Bay Settlement cemetery, and he sub- 
 sequently married Elizabeth Noyman, 
 who survives him. He was a member of 
 the Democratic party, but not an active 
 politician, and in religious faith he and 
 his wife were members of tiie Church of 
 the Holy Cross, of which he was treas- 
 urer at the time of his death. No 
 citizen in the township stood higher in 
 the esteem of his fellowmen or better 
 deserved their respect. He was self- 
 made in the full sense of the word. 
 
266 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BWGRAPUIVAL RECORD. 
 
 and his large property was acquired by 
 hard work, good management, and up- 
 right deahng. His powers of endurance 
 were wonderful, for, during his earlier 
 years, when struggling to obtain a fair 
 start, he would labor day and night. The 
 330-acre farm did not represent all his 
 wealth, for he owned property in Green 
 Bay and De Pare as well, and, from being 
 a poor man on his arrival in Brown 
 county, he rose, by industry, to be one of 
 its leading citizens. 
 
 Jacob Craanen attended the common 
 schools of the home neighborhood until 
 thirteen years of age, and then entered 
 the college at Calvary, Wis. , where he 
 remained until he was sixteen years old. 
 He commenced to work on the farm, 
 where he labored industriously to help his 
 father. On November 1 9, i 889, he was 
 married to Miss Mary Beaumier, a native 
 of Scott township, and a daughter of Au- 
 gust Beaumier, who came from Canada, 
 and was of French extraction. This mar- 
 riage has been blessed by three children: 
 George, born November 21, 1890; Jacob, 
 born June 8, 1892, and Myrtle, born Jan- 
 uary 2, 1894. In December, 1893, Mr. 
 Craanen was appointed postmaster at 
 Bay Settlement, where he also conducts 
 a grocery business. He is the owner of 
 I 5 5 acres of land, a portion of which he 
 rents, and is regarded as one of Scott 
 township's substantial citizens. Politi- 
 cally he is a Democrat, and he and his 
 wife are members of the Catholic church. 
 
 FH. WIESE, a prosperous young 
 agriculturist and well-known citi- 
 zen of Lawrence township. Brown 
 county, was born September 6, 
 1862, in Lippe-Detmold, Westphalia, Ger- 
 many, son of William and Louisa (Hage- 
 meister) Wiese. 
 
 William Wiese was for thirty-two years 
 foreman in a brickyard in his native place, 
 and became quite skilled in this line of 
 work, understanding it in every detail. 
 His children, all born in the old country, 
 
 were as follows: Amelia, now Mrs. Will- 
 iam Grimmer, of De Pere, Wis. ; Louisa, 
 now Mrs. Gustav Fleck, of Kaukauna, 
 Wis. ; Minnie, wife of Rev. Bock, a 
 Lutheran minister of West De Pere, Wis. ; 
 William, deceased in infancy; and Fred- 
 erick H., our subject. In 1867 the family 
 sailed from Bremen on the vessel ' ' Ger- 
 many," and landed at New York after a 
 voyage of eleven days. There they re- 
 mained a short time at the ' ' Emigrant 
 House, " and then proceeded westward to 
 Chicago, thence via the Chicago & North 
 Western railway to Green Bay, Wis., 
 where they made a temporary home with 
 the well-known Hagemeister family. Mr. 
 Wiese was totally unacquainted with the 
 value of property in Brown county, and, 
 acting upon the advice of relatives, he 
 purchased one hundred acres of land in 
 Lawrence township (the farm our subject 
 now resides on), the price paid being three 
 thousand dollars. A barn and frame 
 house had been erected on the place, but 
 otherwise it was totally unimproved, and 
 it was several years before it afforded any 
 revenue to the family. Being obliged to 
 go into debt for the farm, and, being 
 anxious to own a home free of incum- 
 brance, Mr. Wiese put forth every effort 
 to clear the land and create a fertile farm; 
 but the hard work soon told upon him, 
 and, as a result of exposure, he was 
 seized with inflammation of the lungs, 
 which carried him off September 5, 1868, 
 when he was fifty-one years old. He was 
 a member of the Lutheran Church. His 
 remains now rest in Lawrence cemetery. 
 The death of the father left the widow 
 and children with the encumbered prop- 
 erty, but the\' courageously set to work, 
 and, although the task was no small one, 
 they proved themselves equal to it. They 
 hired a man to assist with the heavier 
 work until our subject was fifteen years of 
 age, after which he gradually assumed 
 charge of affairs; year by year they saw 
 the indebtedness diminish, and finally, 
 after working together industriousl}' for 
 many 3ears, found themselves owners of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 267 
 
 a well-improved farm, on which a sub- 
 stantial residence had been erected. Mrs. 
 Wiese died June 15, 1890, a member of 
 the Lutheran Church, and was buried in 
 Lawrence cemetery. 
 
 Frederick H. Wiese received but a 
 limited education, as he had to commence 
 work early in life, being the only son, and 
 he has always remained on the home farm, 
 which he now owns. Being a natural 
 mechanic, he has worked at the wagon- 
 maker's trade. On October 14, 1890, 
 he was married to Miss Ida E. Smith, 
 who was born April 27, 1867, in Wrights- 
 town township, Brown county, daughter 
 of Nicholas and Carolina (Zittlow) Smith, 
 early residents of that locality. Mr. 
 Wiese has followed general farming and 
 stock-raising, also taking an interest in 
 the dairy business. He is industrious and 
 systematic, and a leader in all movements 
 tending to benefit his township and the 
 community at large. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, and in religious connection he 
 and his wife are members of the Evangel- 
 ical Lutheran Church at West De Pere. 
 They have one child, Alma L. A., born 
 July II, 1 89 1. 
 
 ANTHONY DWYER, one of the 
 old and highly respected residents 
 of Rockland township. Brown 
 county, is a native of the Emerald 
 Isle, born in May, 18 18, in County Tip- 
 perary. His parents, Dennis and Johanna 
 (Ryan) Dwyer, farming people, who 
 passed their entire lives in their native 
 Ireland, had a family of six children, of 
 whom Anthony, the only son, was the 
 third in order of birth. 
 
 Our subject was reared to farm life, 
 and, when a young man, married Miss 
 Johanna Ryan, and while in Ireland they 
 had the following children: Johanna, 
 Dennis, Philip, Michael, Maurice, An- 
 thony (i), John and Anthony (2). Of 
 these, Johanna is now the wife of M. 
 Scandlan, of Green Bay; Dennis is de- 
 ceased; Philip lives in Pound, Wis.; 
 
 Michael is deceased; 'Maurice lives in 
 Lowell, Wash.; Anthony (i) is deceased; 
 John lives in Rockland, Wis. ; Anthony 
 (2) is deceased. In the .spring of 1852 
 this family went to Liverpool, and, taking 
 passage on an American-bound vessel, 
 landed at New York, their first home in 
 the New World being in Syracu.se, N. Y., 
 where they lived for three and a half 
 years, Mr. Dwyer working at anything 
 which would bring him an honest dollar. 
 Here one child, Anthony (2), died, and 
 one, Anthony (3), was born (he is now 
 living in Lowell, Wa.sh.). In October, 
 1855, they came westward to Wisconsin, 
 and for a year had their residence in De- 
 Pere, where the father engaged in various 
 pursuits, and then in November, 1856, 
 came to the present farm in Rockland 
 town.ship, purchasing forty acres at $1.50 
 per acre, and then had to borrow thirty 
 dollars to make the first payment. At 
 that time there was not a single house 
 between the farm and De Pere, and the 
 road was only a path through the woods. 
 Mr. Dwyer built the first dwelling on the 
 place, and then commenced the work of 
 clearing away the forest, the dense growth 
 of oak, beech, pine, maple, etc., making 
 the task a difficult one; but he was deter- 
 mined to succeed, and, after many years 
 of hard work, had a fertile, productive 
 farm, which yielded him a good income. 
 While living in De Pere another son, 
 Jeremiah, was born (he is now living 
 in Minneapolis, Minn.), and the follow- 
 ing named children were born on the 
 farm: Patrick, living at home; Mag- 
 gie, Mrs. Edward Martin, of Florence, 
 Wis.; Mary, deceased; and Katie, living 
 at h(5me. The mother was called from 
 earth March 26, 1876, and was buried 
 in De Pere cemetery, and since her death 
 her daughters have had charge of the 
 household affairs. Mr. Dwyer has seen 
 his present farm transformed from an un- 
 broken wilderness into a well-improved 
 farm, which represents years of arduous 
 toil, this property having all been accumu- 
 lated from a commencement of nothing. In 
 
268 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1890 his son Patrick bought the farm, and 
 Mr. Dwyer now makes his home with 
 him, retired from active work. He is a 
 Democrat, but has never taken much inter- 
 est in politics, having, until recent!}-, given 
 his undivided attention to the farm. Of 
 his large family of fourteen children, 
 eleven are now living, and he has twenty- 
 six grandchildren and six great-grand- 
 children. 
 
 NIELS NELSON, an esteemed cit- 
 izen of New Denmark township, 
 Brown county, has been identified 
 with her agricultural interests for 
 the past forty years. He is a native of 
 Norway, born March 14, 1823, son of 
 Nelson and Anna (Johnson) Nelson, who 
 were the parents of two children: Bertha, 
 now Mrs. Torkel Johnson, of Denmark, 
 and Niels, our subject. The father 
 worked in the iron factories of his native 
 country. 
 
 Niels Nelson lived with his parents 
 until he reached the age of about twenty- 
 five years, when he was married March 
 25, 1847, to Miss Anna Arveson, whose 
 parents, Aron Neilson and Mary (Chris- 
 terson) Arveson, had children as follows: 
 Christian, Neils, Emma and Anna (Mrs. 
 Nelson). Immediately after their mar- 
 riage Mr. and Mrs. Nelson sailed for 
 America, and after a seven-weeks' voyage 
 landed in New York City, thence contin- 
 uing their journey westward to Buffalo, 
 N. Y. , and thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 where they remained nearly three \ears, 
 Mr. Nelson working as a day laborer. In 
 1 8 ^O they emigrated to Wisconsin, and in 
 New Denmark township. Brown county, 
 our subject invested in sixty acres of 
 timber-covered land, and, having cleared 
 a small space in the woods, erected a 
 14x16 log cabin, in which they lived ten 
 years, when it was replaced by a more 
 modern dwelling. Their supplies were 
 all brought from Green Bay, and as Mr. 
 Nelson did not own an ox-team until ten 
 years after his removal to this place, he 
 
 would ualk the entire distance to and 
 from that town, carrying his provisions, 
 his path for the greater part of the way 
 lying through the forest ; when he came to 
 New Denmark the Manitowoc road was 
 the onl\' one leading through the town- 
 ship. By diligent toil he has succeeded 
 in converting the piece of wild land into a 
 comfortable farm, with good improve- 
 ments and all necessar)' outbuildings, and 
 he carries on a profitable general farming 
 business. Politically our subject is inde- 
 pendent, and not active in public affairs; 
 in religious faith he and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran Church. Thev have 
 had one child, Nellie. 
 
 FATHER ADOLPH SMITZ, pastor 
 of St. Boniface Church, West De- 
 Pere, is a native of Holland, born 
 October 25, 1844, at Oirschot, a 
 village of three or four thousand inhab- 
 itants in the Province of North Brabant, 
 son of Henr}' Bartholome and Antonia 
 Maria (Fock) Smitz, both also natives of 
 Holland. The father, who was a physi- 
 cian, is now deceased, but the mother is 
 still living in Holland at the age of eighty- 
 one years. 
 
 Adolph Smitz was educated in the 
 lower and higher seminaries of 's Herto- 
 genbosch, was ordained priest May 25, 
 1872, in the Cathedral of St. John, at that 
 place, and was afterward assistant priest 
 at Moergestel, at Diessen and at Zeelst 
 — all in Holland. On Septembers, 1883, 
 he sailed from Amsterdam on the steamer 
 " Amsterdam," and landed at Hoboken, 
 N. J. (opposite New York City), soon 
 afterward coming to Wisconsin. For a 
 short time he officiated in the vicinity of 
 Green Bay, and on January i, 1884, was 
 given charge of St. Boniface Church, 
 West De Pere, a position he still fills. 
 This church is an offshoot of St. Mary's, 
 of East De Pere; the edifice was erected 
 in 1883, and, when Father Smitz took 
 charge, was composed of little more than 
 bare walls, with a room partitioned off at 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 269 
 
 the north end for a school, but since he 
 assumed charge of affairs here a pleasant 
 priests' residence has been built (1885), 
 the church edifice plastered, finished and 
 furnished (1891), and a commodious 
 schoolhouse, containing six rooms, erected 
 (1893), the land for both parsonage and 
 school having been purchased during 
 Father Smitz' administration. The reci- 
 tation rooms are 24x30 feet, some of 
 them being at present occupied by the 
 Sisters for residence purposes. The 
 school enrollment in 1894 was 212, for 
 both sexes, and i 50 families are numbered 
 in the prosperous parish of St. Boniface, 
 natives chiefly of Holland, Belgium and 
 and lower Germany. The corner-stone 
 of the schoolbuilding was laid and blessed 
 by Bishop Messmer May 14, 1893, and 
 the school was blessed by the same bishop 
 September 8, in the presance of the Most 
 Rev. Francesco Sattoli, Archbishop of 
 Lepanto, I. P. I., and apostolic delegate 
 to the United States. In February, 1894, 
 the school was made free. On June 29, 
 1893, the church was blessed, by permis- 
 sion of the Bishop, by Father Martin 
 Anderegg, and on the same day he cele- 
 brated first mass. St. Boniface church 
 edifice is not yet complete, as a sanctuary 
 is to be added on the north end, for the 
 purpose of enlarging its seating capacity. 
 A fine bell, weighing 1,400 pounds, and 
 costing three hundred and twenty dollars, 
 blessed February 12, 1888, calls the con- 
 gregation to worship. 
 
 JOHN SMITH, prominent as an at- 
 torney of De Pere, Brown county, 
 Wis., has been a resident of that city 
 for the past twenty-five years. His 
 birth took place in a small village in Zwol- 
 gen, in the south of Holland, July 29, 1 844. 
 His education was acquired in the com- 
 mon and military schools of his native 
 country, in the army of which he served 
 eighteen months, and he also became mas- 
 ter of the bricklayer's trade before coming 
 to the United States in the earlier part of 
 
 1869. In the summer of that year he 
 settled in De Pere, with ten cents in his 
 pocket and with an indebtedness of sev- 
 enty dollars staring him in the face; but 
 he was ambitious and skillful, and steadily 
 worked at his trade until 1873, when his 
 labors began to lighten. He now became 
 interested in insurance and real estate, 
 and to devote his spare hours to the study 
 of law with his partner, George F. Mer- 
 rill, with whom he continued to read until 
 1884, when he was admitted to the bar. 
 From that date to this he has been in 
 constant and active practice, in conjunc- 
 tion with his insurance and real-estate 
 business. He is the sole agent at De Pere 
 for the sale of steamship passenger tickets 
 to and from the old country for several 
 trans-Atlantic steamship lines. He also 
 has a Catholic book, stationery and toy 
 store, which is in charge of his daughter 
 Jennie, and he has proved himself to be a 
 shrewd and self-reliant business man. He 
 is now the owner of a large body of real 
 estate in the city, and has several build- 
 ings, including the brick block in which he 
 has his office and store. 
 
 Mr. Smith was married, one year after 
 settling in De Pere, to Miss Kate Minor- 
 ette, also a native of Holland, who has 
 borne him thirteen children, nine of whom 
 are living, named as follows: Carrie, 
 Jennie, Christian, Edward, Herbert, Frank, 
 Charles, William and Fredrick, all resid- 
 ing under the paternal roof, excepting 
 Carrie, who is married. In politics Mr. 
 Smith is a Democrat, and for eleven years 
 has served as school commissioner; he has 
 also served as mayor of De Pere two 
 terms, as alderman several times, and is 
 now filling his fourth term as city attorney. 
 He is strictly a self-made man, and enjoys 
 to the full the confidence of the public. 
 
 LEWIS KNUTH, a justice of the 
 peace, town clerk and chairman of 
 the town of Wrightsville, Brown 
 county, was born at De Pere, 
 Brown Co., Wis., February 22, 1863. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 His father, George Knuth, was born 
 October i o, i S 1 4, in Grondenz, in west 
 Prussia, and was there married to Cathe- 
 rine Jaddaz, dauf^hter of a prominent citi- 
 zen of the place. In 1859 they came to 
 the United States with their five children, 
 first locating in the town of Maple Grove. 
 Manitowoc Co. , Wis. , whence they moved 
 to De Pere, where Mr. Knuth filled various 
 positions, but \\'as never a man to seek 
 public office. In 1870 he settled in 
 Wrightstown, where he made farming his 
 principal occupation until his death, which 
 occurred October 26, 1877, his widow sur- 
 viving until February 13, 1893. 
 
 Lewis Knuth was educated at De Pere, 
 and at the little log schoolhouse of 
 Wrightstown. At the age of eighteen 
 jears he entered the store of the well- 
 known firm of Mueller & Spuhler as 
 clerk, and this position he retained about 
 eight years. On May 13, 1887, he mar- 
 ried Miss Pauline Fieck, daughter of 
 Charles Fieck, a prominent farmer of 
 Morrison township. Brown county, and 
 the same spring he was elected to the of- 
 fice of town clerk, and two years later to 
 that of justice of the peace. The former 
 office he has filled so well that his fellow 
 citizens have retained him in it for five 
 consecutive years, and he also continues 
 to hold the office of justice of the peace, 
 for which he has proved himself equally 
 well qualified. He is also chairman of 
 the town. A man of energy and of liberal 
 views, he has risen to a high position in 
 the estimation of his fellow townsmen, as 
 is fully proven by his popularity at the 
 polls. Four children make his home happy 
 — two sons and two daughters, named 
 respectively, Elma, William, Laura and 
 Arthur. 
 
 JOHN NIVEN McCUNN. The sons 
 of Scotia, whose suggestive motto, 
 "Nemo mc inipiiiic laces sit," em- 
 blazons every Scottish battle-torn 
 banner, are to be found the wide world 
 over, occupying, many of them, exalted 
 
 positions in evefy sphere of life — in liter- 
 ature, arts and sciences, no less than in 
 the several professions — civil and mili- 
 tary; foremost in war, first in peace. 
 
 The subject of this memoir is a native 
 of Glasgow, Scotland, born December 10, 
 1858, of time-honored ancestry. His 
 Grandfather McCunn was a sea-faring 
 man, and was drowned off the wild and 
 rugged coast of Scotland while acting as 
 pilot on a vessel. His son, James, father 
 of our subject, was born at Gourock, 
 Lanarkshire, Scotland, and learned the 
 trade of carpenter and joiner, which he 
 successfully followed many years, in the 
 latter days of his life conducting a grocery 
 business; but, when he was only thirty-six 
 years old, death intervened and deprived 
 his wife of a loving husband, and their 
 four " weanies " of a devoted father. He 
 was a man of more than ordinary intelli- 
 gence, and of considerable enterprise, up- 
 right and conscientious, and a consistent 
 member of the Presbyterian Church. His 
 widow, Mrs. Janet McCunn, who was a 
 daughter of John and Mary (Kirkwood) 
 Niven, natives of Paisley, Scotland, 
 having decided, in her widowhood, to 
 come to America with her little family, 
 set out by the S. S. "St. David" of the 
 Allan line, in April, 1870 (our sub- 
 ject being then about eleven years old), 
 arriving at Point Levi, opposi*^e Quebec, 
 Canada, on May 6. From there they 
 came direct to Wisconsin, making their 
 first home in the Western World in Port- 
 age count}', whither James McCunn, the 
 oldest son (now a farmer in that county), 
 had preceded them. 
 
 John N. McCunn had received some 
 elementary education in Glasgow, and 
 after coming to Wisconsin he attended 
 district school, also the high school at 
 Waupaca, afterward teaching for a season 
 or so, at the same time keeping up his 
 studies. In 1882 he entered Milton Col- 
 lege, intending to take a full collegiate 
 course; but impaired health prevented his 
 completing it. During the summer of 
 1883 he visited his old home in Scotland, 
 
^, ^27^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 -73 
 
 and on his return to Wisconsin he re- 
 sumed his studies, and again taught school, 
 after which he became general agent for 
 "Johnston's Encyclopedia," his territory 
 covering all northern Wisconsin, while his 
 headquarters were at Green Bay. In 
 1887 he bought a half interest in the 
 Green Bay Business College, and before 
 the expiry of a year he had complete con- 
 trol of the institution, to which he was 
 now enabled to give his e.\clusi\-e atten- 
 tion. After taking charge he made a 
 complete change in the general economy 
 of the college, among other innovations 
 having added a Shorthand department, 
 and in the spring of 1888 furnished the 
 rooms with new fixtures, etc. In the spring 
 of 1893 Prof. McCunn erected the largest 
 and most expensive college building in the 
 State, exclusively for a Business College; 
 it is a three-story structure, built of red 
 pressed brick, having brown sandstone 
 facings, the entrance being adorned with 
 polished granite columns, basement being 
 of limestone. The entire building is 
 heated with steam and lighted with elec- 
 tricity — in fact the Green Bay Business 
 College is the most thoroughly equipped 
 institution of the kind in the West, and, 
 as a whole, is well worthy of the pride of 
 that ambitious cit\'. 
 
 In 1884, after his return from his 
 visit to Scotland, above alluded to. Prof. 
 John N. McCunn was married in Wau- 
 paca to Miss Florence Ida Pipe, a native 
 of Waupaca county. Wis. , and daughter 
 of Thomas Pipe, ex-mayor of Waupaca, 
 an honored pioneer and business man. 
 To this union were born three children: 
 Ethel May, Florence Verna, and Walter 
 Thomas. The mother of these passed 
 from earth January 10, 1889, and in Oc- 
 tober, 1890, our subject married Miss 
 Ada Montgomery, daughter of John Mont- 
 gomery, an extensive farmer of Washing- 
 ton county, Penn. , where she was born. 
 She was educated at the ladies' seminary 
 in Washington, Penn., after which she 
 taught school in her native county and in 
 the Green Bay Business College one year. 
 
 By this second marriage of the Professor 
 there is one child now living, Harold 
 Montgomer}'. 
 
 Prof. McCunn has been an active and 
 useful citizen of Green Bay ever since 
 coming to the place, and has closely 
 identified himself with its civic affairs, at 
 the present time serving as a member of 
 the city council. Socially he is a mem- 
 ber of the Business Men's Association, 
 Royal Arcanum, B. P. O. E., and K. of 
 P. , in which latter order he was installed 
 chancellor commander in January, 1894. 
 Politically he is a Republican, his first 
 Presidential vote having been cast for 
 Garfield. Green Bay owes much to just 
 such enterprising young men as the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, who has brought his- 
 young and active life to aid in forming 
 the nucleus around which, in time, will 
 cluster the metropolis of northeastern 
 Wisconsin. In the building up of his 
 Business College, alone, he has been the 
 means of bringing to Green Bay many 
 enterprising young people, who are bene- 
 fited by the example set them b}' their 
 upright principal. 
 
 HENRY RHODE, M. D.. one of 
 the oldest and most experienced 
 physicians and surgeons of Green 
 Bay, was born in Hanover, Ger- 
 many, in 1829, a son of Henry and 
 Catherine (Beil) Rhode. He was edu- 
 cated at the Gymnasium at Heiligenstadt, 
 Prussia, and studied medicine at the Uni- 
 versity of Goettingen, Hanover, from 
 which he graduated in 1850, and then en- 
 tered the Prussian army as surgeon, serv- 
 ing until 1854. 
 
 In that year he and his wife came to 
 America and located in Toledo, Ohio, 
 where his father and mother and two 
 sisters died of cholera the same ^ear; they 
 had immigrated to America in 1 849. After 
 a brief practice in Toledo, the Doctor 
 moved to Chilton, Wis., in 1S56; thence 
 went to Manitowoc, and in 1859 came to 
 Green Bay, where he has ever since been 
 
^74 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in active practice. He lias achieved a 
 fine reputation professionally. He is a 
 member of the Fo.\ River Valley Medical 
 Society, also of the Brown County Medi- 
 cal Societ)', and is likewise a censor. 
 
 Dr. Rhode has been twice married: 
 first time in Germany, in 1852, to Chris- 
 tina Engelhardt, who died in Toledo, 
 Ohio, in 1856, two years after the death 
 of his parents and two sisters. His sec- 
 ond marriage took place in Green Bay, 
 Wis., in i860, to Miss Mary Eva Becker, 
 a native of Prusssia and a daughter of 
 Bartholmaus and Eva Becker, who were 
 early settlers of Milwaukee, the former of 
 whom died in Milwaukee in 1853, the lat- 
 ter in Green Bay in 1886. To the Doc- 
 tor and his wife were born eight children, 
 of whom seven are living, as follows: 
 Kunigunda, wife of Felix Johannes; Caro- 
 line Matilda, wife of H. E. Bacon, Jr. ; 
 Katie, now Mrs. E. A. Beaumont; Ottilie,' 
 wife of Winford Abrams; Ida; Henry P., 
 who graduated from the College of Physi- 
 cians and Surgeons, of Chicago, 111., and 
 located at Forest Junction, Wis., in 1894, 
 and Richard A. In politics Dr. Rhode 
 is a Democrat, is serving his second term 
 as a member of the board of Pension 
 Examiners, and has been county physi- 
 cian three terms. He and his wife are 
 members of the Catholic Church, and 
 their consistent Christian walk in life has 
 gained for them the respect of all their 
 neighbors. 
 
 HANS PETER ANDERSEN, a 
 successful farmer of New Den- 
 mark township. Brown county, 
 was born February 6, 1 8 5 i , in 
 Langeland, Denmark, son of Rasmus 
 and Anna (Peterson) Andersen, natives of 
 the same place, the latter of whom was a 
 daughter of Peter Christensen. 
 
 Anders Christensen, paternal grand- 
 father of our subject, had a family of six 
 children, namely: Christ, Rasmus, Hans, 
 Mary Ann, Nels, and Frederick. Rasmus 
 Andersen followed the wagon-maker's 
 
 trade, which he had learned from his 
 father, and which he in turn taught to his 
 son, our subject, who followed it about 
 two years in the old countrj-. Seven 
 children were born to Rasmus as follows: 
 Anna, Matilda, Hans Peter, Andrew, Car- 
 oline, Mary Ann. and Christiana, all of 
 whom are now in this country; two of the 
 daughters, Mrs. Rasmus Nelson and Mrs. 
 Rasmus Rasmussen, are residents of New 
 Denmark, Brown county. In the spring 
 of 1867 the famil)- left Denmark and 
 landed in New York after a three-weeks' 
 voyage, coming directly from that city to 
 New Denmark township. Brown count}-. 
 Wis. , where the\' invested in sixt\- acres 
 of land, parti}' cleared. A log house 
 standing on this place was their home for 
 six years, when it was replaced by the 
 modern frame dwelling in which our sub- 
 ject now lives, and here the parents passed 
 the remainder of their lives, the father 
 passing from earth August 13, 1890, the 
 mother May 24, 1891. Their remains 
 were interred in New Denmark cemetery, 
 where a monument now marks their last 
 resting-place. 
 
 Hans Peter Andersen remained at 
 home with his parents until he was about 
 twenty-one years of age, when he engaged 
 in carpentering, continuing at same for 
 five years. At the end of that time, in 
 1877, he bought the home farm, where 
 he had been thoroughly trained to agri- 
 cultural pursuits, his father having in his 
 day been one of the most successful farm- 
 ers of the township. On April 10, 1880, 
 our subject was married to Miss Mina 
 Nelson, daughter of Niels Peter and Maria 
 (Peterson) Nelson, the latter of whom, a na- 
 tive of Denmark, married, for her first hus- 
 band, James Anderson, and after his de- 
 cease was wedded to Niels Peter Nelson. 
 The union of Mr. and Mrs. Andersen has 
 been blessed with three children, as fol- 
 lows: Mary, born December 19, 1880; 
 Alfred, born April 3, 1884, and Agnes, 
 born February 21. 1887. During his 
 youth our subject had very meager op- 
 portunities for obtaining an education, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 275 
 
 but he has acquired a practical business 
 training, and by good management has 
 made a success of his chosen vocation, 
 now owning 1 38 acres of good land, well 
 improved and highly cultivated. A stanch 
 Republican in politics, he takes great in- 
 terest in the success of his party, and, 
 though not an aspirant for office, has served 
 his township as school clerk six years and 
 supervisor two years; also was treasurer 
 of the New Denmark Mutual Home Fire 
 Insurance Company eight years. In re- 
 ligious connection he and his wife are 
 members of the Lutheran Church, in 
 which he has been an officer for the past 
 fifteen years, serving as trustee, treasurer, 
 secretary, and deacon. 
 
 M 
 
 ARTIN VAN ABEL. This lead- 
 ing representative farmer citizen 
 and prosperous merchant of Hol- 
 land township. Brown county, is 
 a living link between the pioneer days of 
 half a century ago and the present ad- 
 vanced period in the history of Wiscon- 
 sin. With axe in hand he felled the first 
 tree on the spot where is now his elegant 
 home, and his eyes have beheld the trans- 
 formation of impenetrable forests into 
 bright fields of golden grain and luxuriant 
 meadows, fragrant with the perfume of 
 honey-bearing clover. 
 
 Mr. Van Abel is a native of Holland, 
 born February 13, 1827, a son of Andrew 
 Van Abel, a farmer in comfortable cir- 
 cumstances in that world-renowned dairy- 
 land, and who was the parent of five chil- 
 dren that lived to adult age, of whom 
 three are yet living, viz. : William, in 
 Holland township, Brown Co. , Wis. ; 
 Ellen, living with our subject; and Mar- 
 tin. The father of these died in 1844, 
 the mother, whose maiden name was 
 Mary Kempen, passing away in 1863. 
 They came with some of their children 
 to Wisconsin in 1851, three years after 
 Martin's emigration. 
 
 Martin Van Abel received a fair edu- 
 cation at the public schools of his native 
 
 land until thirteen years of age, when he 
 went to work on a farm, and so continued 
 till his emigration to the United States, 
 which event took place when he was 
 twenty-one years old. Having been 
 drafted into the Dutch army, he con- 
 cluded the best way to avoid service 
 would be to "take French leave," and 
 emigrate. Accordingly, on the good ship 
 ' ■ Liberia, " bound from Amsterdam for the 
 United States, he, in the spring of 1848, 
 set sail from his native land, arriving, after 
 a voyage of fifty-four days, at Boston. 
 Thence traveling westward via Buffalo 
 (where he took passage on the ' ' Old 
 Michigan"), he landed in Green Bay May 
 10, same year. From there he came to 
 what is now Holland township, in com- 
 pan}- with the following named, who were 
 among the first settlers of the village of 
 Holland : William Kempen, Henry Van- 
 dehey, Henry Hovener, Henry Gerrits, 
 Martin Ver Kuile, Albert Vandenberg, 
 John Arts, George Vanden Heuvel, and 
 John Verboort. At this time the land was 
 all new and uncleared,, in fact, in its 
 primeval condition, totall}' untouched by 
 the hand of man, and here they decided 
 to form a purely Dutch colony. In order 
 that they might not only converse in their 
 mother tongue, but also worship as they 
 did in their far-away native land, they 
 brought with them their own pastor, Rev. 
 Godhart. The party came by way of 
 Wrightstown, and from there continued 
 their journey by teams, in the direction 
 of their destination ; but at the end of 
 three miles they found themselves con- 
 fronted with an impenetrable forest, de- 
 fying farther progress with anything in the 
 shape of horse and wagon; consequently 
 the teams were left behind, and all the 
 goods and chattels carried through the 
 woods on the backs of the immigrant 
 colonists. Arrived at last at their goal, 
 they made their first settlement on a piece 
 of land now owned by Martin Van Abel. 
 Shanties or huts were hurriedly built of 
 bark stripped from the basswood tree, and 
 for a long time this was their only shelter. 
 
276 
 
 COMMEMORATTVE BIOGRAPHICAL HECOUD. 
 
 Each nieniber of tliis party took up land 
 for his own arcount. 
 
 Durinj; tlic first year Martin V'an Abel, 
 beinj^ youn;;' and strong, worked for some 
 of the others who had famiUes, and as 
 there were no roads of any kind, bound- 
 aries, farms or fences, he found plenty 
 to do at ciioppinjj; down the j^iants of the 
 forest, and out of the liewn !of;s building' 
 dwellings of a more substantial nature. 
 The first land purchased by Mr. V'an Abel 
 was forty acres, all timber-covered, in 
 Calumet county, one-half mile from the 
 village of Holland, for which land he paid 
 ten shillings per acre, and here he cut the 
 first tree that ever fell to axe on the 
 place, all the preliminar}' improvements 
 on the place being made by his own 
 hand; and, as there was no means of re- 
 moving the trees as they fell, huge bon- 
 fires were made, which consumed many a 
 thousand feet of \alnaMc timber. About 
 1S62 our subject removed to Section 35, 
 Hollanil townshi]^, where for one year he 
 lived on rented land, then in Section 34 
 he bought the twcKc acres whereon is 
 now his home. 
 
 But Mr. Van Abel, since coming to 
 Holland township, has been more inter- 
 ested in mercantile pursuits than in farm- 
 ing. Shortly after his arrival in the vil- 
 lage of Holland, in partnership with his 
 brother-in-law, John Wassenberg, he 
 opened out a mercantile business, con- 
 ducted b\- them two years, at the end of 
 which time our subject liought out his part- 
 ner and afterward carried on the stcjre alone 
 until 1880. In that year fire destroyed 
 his store and stock in trade, causing him 
 great loss, as he had but little insurance. 
 Nothing daunted, however, he rebuilt at 
 once, bought a fresh stock, later adding 
 thereto a saloon business, all of which he 
 has since conducted with eminent success, 
 the growth of his trade necessitating the 
 enlargement of his premises from time 
 to time, until now he owns quite a com- 
 modious establishment. To his land he 
 has, by purchases at different periods, 
 added until ncnv he has i 30 acres. 
 
 In Octol)er, 1861, Mr. Van Abel was 
 married, in Holland township, to Miss 
 Ellen Wassenberg, a native of Holland, 
 born May 16, 1842, a daughter of William 
 Wassenberg. who came to the United 
 States with his family in 1851 on the 
 same boat in which the mother of our sub- 
 ject and others of the family crossed the 
 Atlantic. To this union came children 
 as follows: Horn in Calumet county — 
 John, now a farmer of Holland township; 
 born in the \-illage of Holland — Mary, 
 now the wife of Theodore Broeren, of 
 Portland, Oregon ; Hattie, Mrs. Henry 
 Van Deuren, of Green Bay; William (i), 
 deceased at the age of two years; Minnie, 
 one of the Sisters of St. Francis, in Mani- 
 towoc, Wis. ; Michael M., at home; Henry 
 H., a graduate of Green Bay Business 
 College; Lizzie, who died young; Annie, 
 William (2), and Anton, all three at 
 home; Bardene, deceased; and Albert, at 
 home. Mr. and Mrs. Van Abel and fam- 
 ily are prominent members of St. Francis 
 Church, at Holland. Politically he has 
 always been a stanch Democrat, and has 
 served as supervisor, although he has 
 never sought office, his many private in- 
 terests demanding and receiving all his 
 time and attention. 
 
 Mr. Van Abel is one of the four yet 
 living of the original party of pioneers 
 who came into the Holland settlement in 
 1848 — nearly half a century ago — during 
 which long period he has witnessed mar- 
 velous changes and experienced hardships 
 imknown to and not readily realized by 
 the present commercial generation. He 
 is a living type of the progressive man, 
 who from boyhood, with but little educa- 
 tion and no knowledge of the English 
 language, essays to build up a home and 
 reputation in the wilds of a new part of a 
 new country, and succeeds by his own 
 brawny muscle and indomitable will 
 power. He was confronted with the 
 stern forest, and he sulidued it ; he en- 
 countered innumerable difficulties, and he 
 overcame them; he met with ruinous ad- 
 versity, but Phoenix-like, he built up bet- 
 
COMMEMOUATIVK UIOUIIAI'IIICAL llECURD. 
 
 277 
 
 ter and hij^her. He and his amiable wife 
 had a large family tu rear, and they 
 brought them up nobly in the backwoods, 
 educating them as well as if the}' had 
 lived in the finest city, and taught them 
 to know and to live up to the knowledge 
 that they are worthy children of worthy 
 pioneer parents, respected everywhere. 
 
 FI^ANIs: FROSCH, the postmaster 
 of Wayside, Morrison township, 
 Hrown county, and a prosperous 
 merchant, is a son of George 
 Frosch (a rope-maker), a native of Baden, 
 Germany, born April 23, 1817, son of 
 Alexander Frosch, a iiicrrhant ;ind also a 
 rope-maker. 
 
 George Frosch also served, under the 
 military laws of his country, as a soldier 
 for three years, and therefore became a 
 free citizen. 'At the age of twenty-six he 
 had accumulated some means by hard 
 work, and determined then to come to 
 the United States. Embarking at Havre, 
 France, he reached New York City after 
 a passage of forty days, and thence went 
 to Rochester, N. Y. , where, even at his 
 age, he began to learn coopering, at that 
 time a very lucrative trade. A year or 
 two later he moved to Ohio, worked at 
 the same trade a short time, and then 
 came to Wisconsin, landing at Milwaukee; 
 here he worked at coopering a year or 
 more, and then went to Cedarburg, Ozau- 
 kee county, where he was employed as 
 clerk by a Mr. Honnafer, proprietor of the 
 "Washington House." It was there that 
 he met, and married, on April 6, 1853, 
 Elizabeth Hangen, who was born March 
 17, 1831, in the village of Sprendlingen, 
 Province of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, 
 a daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Bal- 
 ser) Hangen, who came to the United 
 States in 1843. To the marriage of Mr. 
 Frosch was born, Jamiary 20, 1854, one 
 child, Frank. Late in the fall of 1856, 
 relinquishing coopering at Cedarburg, 
 which trade he had followed since his 
 marriage, Mr. Frosch moved to Morrison 
 
 township, Brown county, and settled on 
 forty acres of land he had previously 
 bargained for in Section 18, S. E. The 
 land v\'as new, with only a few trees felled 
 around a shanty built by the former owner. 
 No roads were in the neighborhood, ex- 
 cepting a foot-path that led to the shanty. 
 Bear and deer were plenty, with other 
 wild game, and wolves were yet to be 
 found to make night hideous with their 
 howling. Mr. Frosch erected a small 
 worksho]i on his place, and made quite a 
 comfortable living for his family. On 
 this tract, on November 18, 1867, was 
 born the second son, George. A few- 
 years later Mr. George Frosch bought 
 eighty acres in Section 17, opposite his 
 first purchase, owning eventually 124 
 acres, which he converted into an excel- 
 lent farm. About 1890 he retired to 
 Wayside, where his death occurred F"ebru- 
 ary 24, 1892, after one week's illness 
 from la "grippe." He was a sincere Lu- 
 theran in his religious faith, and in poli- 
 tics was a Democrat, but did not aspire 
 to public office. Mr. Frosch led a virtu- 
 ous and industrious life, one worthy the 
 study of the rising generation. He in- 
 herited nothing to give him a start, and 
 yet died a comparatively wealthy man. 
 He came to America with but a few hard- 
 earned dollars in his possession; finally 
 settled in a wilderness, which he made to 
 "blossom like the rose;" worked at a trade, 
 which, in his day, was unaided by the 
 machinery of the present day, but all 
 done by manual labor; won the respect of 
 all who knew him, and left to his progeny 
 sufficient for an honorable beginning of 
 their chosen callings. His estimable 
 widow, a member of the Lutheran Church, 
 is now residing with her son George. 
 That she has always been an invaluable 
 and earnest helpmeet to her honored 
 husband it is superfluous to add. 
 
 Frank Frosch was hardly three years 
 of age when he was brought to Morrison 
 township by his parents. In this wilder- 
 ness he was reared on the farm and in- 
 ured to all the hardships of a pioneer life. 
 
;S 
 
 COMMEMOUATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 His education was acquired at the district 
 school, and was sufficient for all the pur- 
 poses of a hardy but intelligent farmer. 
 At the af^'c of twenty-one he went to De- 
 Pere and engaj^ed in business with Jacob 
 Falck, thus increasing his store of knowl- 
 edge. In a short time, however, he re- 
 turned tcj Wayside, and purchased the 
 general store of Peter Axen, which was 
 then, in 1876, a small affair, but now, 
 under Mr. P"rosch's management, has 
 become one of the most thriving and 
 largest business houses of the town. Mr. 
 Frosch was united in marriage, March 22, 
 1876, at De Pere, with Miss Elizabeth 
 Beattie, a native of that city, and the 
 children born to this marriage are as fol- 
 lows: Raymond G.. Frank H., Estella 
 A., and Cora E. In politics Mr. Frosch 
 is a Democrat; he was the first postmas- 
 ter at Wayside, and has so efficiently per- 
 formed the duties of the position that he 
 has held the office through all the admin- 
 istrations ever since; he has also been 
 township treasurer for the past two years. 
 His business interests have grown apace, 
 and in 1 892 he took into partnership his 
 brother, George, the firm now standing as 
 Frosch Bros. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Frosch 
 are members of the Lutheran Church, and 
 are highly respected in the social circles 
 of Wavside and the entire township of 
 Morrison. 
 
 ANDREW HIBBERD, a resident 
 of Rockland township, Brown 
 county, was born August iS, i S46, 
 in the State of Vermont, son of 
 Lawrence and Julia (Hall) Hibberd, both 
 of whom were natives of Canada. 
 
 Lawrence Hibberd removed with his 
 parents to New York State when but a 
 child, and resided near Plattsburg for a 
 number of years. He was a shoemaker 
 by trade. In Canada he was married to 
 Miss Julia Hall, and they had a family of 
 eight children — si.x sons and two daugh- 
 ters — as follows: Lawrence, of Nebraska; 
 Charles, John, and Silas, all residents of 
 
 Rockland; Edmund, of Glenmore; An- 
 drew, our subject; Angeline, Mrs. Frank 
 Gennette, of 13ixon, 111. ; and Mary, who 
 died in 1894 fshe was first married to 
 Oliver D. Colburn, and subsequently to 
 John Provost, of Fond du lac. Wis., who 
 preceded her to the grave). Of these, 
 Andrew and Angeline were born in the 
 United States, the others in Canada. The 
 father died in 185 1 in New York, and 
 was buried in Plattsburg cemetery. The 
 widowed mother and children continued 
 to reside near Plattsburg until 1855, when 
 they came westward to De Pere, Wis. .jour- 
 neying via Toronto, Canada, to Green Bay, 
 where they landed November i, 1855, and, 
 arriving in De Pere a few days later, rented 
 a house there for a time. The sons who 
 were able to work found employment in 
 the logging camps then so numerous in 
 Brown county, and thus assisted in sup- 
 porting the family. In the spring of 1857 
 they removed to Rockland township on a 
 tract of forty acres in Section 9, for which 
 they paid $335, going into debt for the 
 amount. They built the first house on 
 the place, which was still uncleared and in 
 a primitive condition, and commenced the 
 work of clearing, a difficult task with the 
 few rude implements they had to work 
 with; and, as the land did not yield enough 
 to support the family for the first few 
 years, the boys found work with the neigh- 
 boring farmers. The mother lived on 
 this farm until her death, which occurred 
 November 8, 1880, when she was seventy- 
 two years of age; her remains now rest in 
 De Pere cemetery. In religious faith she 
 was a member of St. Francis Church, 
 De Pere. 
 
 Andrew Hibberd received in his youth 
 but limited educational advantages, being 
 obliged, after the settlement of the family 
 in Rockland township, to assist with the 
 work on the home place. He was reared 
 amiil all the hardships of pioneer farm 
 life, and was also thoroughly initiated into 
 the logging business, which he followed to 
 some extent. He lived at home until 
 December 28, 1861, when he enlisted, at 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAFUICAL RECORD. 
 
 279 
 
 De Pere, in Company F, Frturteenth 
 Wis. V. I., and was sent with his com- 
 mand to Fond du Lac, thence to St. 
 Louis, and thence to Tennessee, where 
 he first saw active service in the engage- 
 ments at Pittsburg Landing; then, with 
 the Western army, followed the engage- 
 ments at Corinth, Holly Springs, luka and 
 Vicksburg, where he was discharged De- 
 cember 28, 1863, on account of disability 
 resulting from e.xposure; he was wounded 
 in the foot at the battle of Corinth. Re- 
 turning to Brown county, he shipped, the 
 the following spring, with Capt. Campbell 
 on the brig "Oleander, " of Buffalo, serv- 
 ing for a time before the mast and later 
 as second mate, thus continuing until the 
 end of the season. On November 20, 
 1864, he enlisted, at Chicago, in the 
 Ninth 111. V. C, joined his command at 
 Nashville, Tenn., and during his second 
 term of service participated in the second 
 fight at Nashville, thence going to Tupelo 
 Creek, where they had six weeks of hard 
 fighting. They then crossed to Eastport 
 in pursuit of Hood, and after continuing 
 the chase for some time returned to East- 
 port on garrison duty and general recruit. 
 They were next engaged in destroying 
 local gun manufactories in northern Ala- 
 bama, and later went to Decatur and 
 Montgomery, where our subject received 
 his discharge, and, returning to Brown 
 county in November, 1865, continued to 
 live on the homestead until his marriage. 
 On November 13, 1869, at De Pere, 
 Mr. Hibberd wedded Miss Philomine 
 Floury, who was born June 13, 1852, in 
 Francis Creek, Manitowoc county, daugh- 
 ter of Louis and Margaret (Boprey) 
 Floury, the former of whom was a native 
 of Canada. At the time of his marriage 
 Mr. Hibberd purchased forty acres of land 
 in Section 9, adjoining the home farm on 
 the north, and he and his wife commenced 
 housekeeping in an old log house which is 
 still standing. Only about half of this 
 tract was cleared, all the improvements 
 which have since been made on the place 
 have been placed there by Mr. Hibberd 
 
 or under his direction; he has also added 
 forty acres to the original farm, making a 
 comfortable place of eighty acres, well 
 equipped with buildings, etc. Our sub- 
 ject and wife had children as follows: 
 Andrew, Jr., Hattie J., Frank E., Wil- 
 liam E., Lavina M., Ida E. (deceased in 
 infancy), and Louis L. Politically Mr. 
 Hibberd is one of the leaders of the Re- 
 publican party in his township; in relig- 
 ious connection he and his family are 
 members of St. Joseph's Church, De 
 Pere. 
 
 M 
 
 ARTIN CURRAN, who is a 
 thrifty and prosperous farmer of 
 Glenmore township. Brown 
 count}-, was born, in 1822, in 
 County Kerry, Ireland, son of Cornelius, 
 (a farmer) and Mary (Kennedy) Curran, 
 who had a family of six children — four 
 sons and two daughters — of whom Martin 
 is the third son and the fourth child in 
 order of birth. 
 
 Our subject received a meager educa- 
 tion in the schools of his native country, 
 and was reared to farming, living at home 
 with his parents. In the spring of i 847 
 he determined to seek his fortune in the 
 United States, and accordingly took pas- 
 sage at Limerick on the sailing-vessel 
 "Souvenir," bound for Quebec, where 
 he landed after a voyage of eighteen days, 
 a stranger in a strange land, and with but 
 twelve shillings in his pocket. But he 
 was young and strong and willing to work, 
 and for several days was employed around 
 the docks, unloading vessels. He then 
 came to Burlington, Vt., and thence to 
 the village of Sharon, where he secured 
 work as a laborer on a railroad, remain- 
 ing there one season, and here he received 
 the first twenty dollars he ever earned, 
 which was at once sent home to his 
 mother. He continued to do railroad 
 work, at various places, in Bellows Falls, 
 (Vt.), New Hampshire, Springfield (Ohio), 
 and Columbus (Ohio), (where he worked 
 several vears on the C, C, C. & T. rail- 
 
28o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 road, whicli was then in course of con- 
 struction), and managed to save a little. 
 At that time land was cheap in northern 
 "Wisconsin, and Mr. Curran migrated 
 to this then new State, coming by rail 
 and water to Green Bay, and thence to 
 Kaukauna, where he worked one summer. 
 The preceding fall (1853) he had in- 
 vested in 1 10 acres of land in Section 6, 
 Glenmore township, on which not a tree 
 had been felled, or an improvement of any 
 kind made. He commenced to clear 
 it during the winter, doing the best he 
 could, in the meantime making his home 
 with his brother-in-law, Thomas Sullivan. 
 The entire surrounding country was yet 
 in its primitive state; wild animals were 
 still numerous; there were no roads to the 
 farm, the nearest highway being the Dixon 
 road, which led east from De Pere. The 
 task of clearing was a difficult one, and 
 proceeded slowly, for the pioneers had 
 but a few rude tools to work with. A 
 few years later a log house was erected 
 on the place, and it still stands on the 
 original site, but Mr. Curran did not make 
 a permanent residence on his land until 
 after his marriage. 
 
 In 1857 he married, in Green Bay, 
 Miss Mary Donahue, who was born, in 
 1833, in County Kerry, Ireland, a daugh- 
 ter of Timothy Donahue, who came to 
 the United States when Mary was a child, 
 and the family resided in Massachusetts 
 until a few years before her marriage, 
 when they came to Wisconsin. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Curran moved to the farm shortly 
 after their marriage, and here they have 
 ever since remained. He has spent his 
 best years clearing, improving and culti- 
 vating this land, and. with each succeed- 
 ing season, the farm has become more and 
 more productive, yielding a better income. 
 Since his settlement here he has devoted 
 himself to farming exclusively, and, by 
 hard work and good management, has 
 succeeded in carving a fine property from 
 the sombre forest. Our subject has won the 
 esteem of all who have come in contact 
 \\'\ih him for his integrity and upright 
 
 dealing, and he is well and favorably 
 known among the citizens of Glenmore, 
 where the entire family are held in the 
 highest respect. Politically he is a Dem- 
 ocrat, but has never given any of his 
 time to part}' affairs, preferring to attend 
 strictly to business. In religious con- 
 nection the family are members of St. 
 Francis Church, De Pere. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Curran had ten children, 
 all born on the farm, as follo\\s: Mary 
 (Mrs. Edward Keegan) and Ellen (Mrs. 
 Robert Miers), both of Milwaukee; Cor- 
 nelius, of Medford, Wis. ; Thomas and 
 Catherine, at home; Daniel M., a machin- 
 ist, of Milwaukee; Margaret A. and 
 Timothy, at home; Patrick, deceased at 
 the age of nineteen years; and Julia, de- 
 ceased when a year and a half old. In 
 March, 1865, our subject, enlisted at 
 Green Bay, in Company F, Fiftieth Regi- 
 ment \\'is. V. I. ; was sent to Madison, 
 thence to St. Louis, and for a time was 
 engaged in scouting and on guard duty 
 through northern Missouri. He was next 
 located at Fort Leavenworth and Fort 
 Rice, and in May, 1866, was discharged 
 at Madison, returning home immediately. 
 
 WILLIAM ROBERT ENDERBY, 
 one of the wealthiest, as well as 
 one of the most highly respected 
 and prominent citizens of Preble 
 township. Brown county, is a native of 
 England, born January 30, 1841, in the 
 town of Bolinbroke, Lincolnshire. 
 
 His father, John Enderby, a native of 
 the same county, was a laborer and small 
 farmer, industrious and honest, but not 
 overburdened with an o\ershare of this 
 world's goods. He married Eliza Sheriff, 
 and, after the birth of our subject, con- 
 cluded to come to the United States, here 
 to select a new home for the family, and 
 at the same time endeavor to find his 
 wife's brother, Robert Sheriff, who was 
 supposed to be somewhere in Wisconsin, 
 near Green Bay. Accordingh', leaving 
 his wife and young son in England, he 
 
'^./^.^-'U.uAaJml^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 283 
 
 took passage in December, 1852, for the 
 United States, landing after a six-weeks' 
 voyage at New York. On his way west- 
 ward from there he was taken sick at 
 Amsterdam, N. J., necessitating his con- 
 finement to hospital some six or eight 
 weeks, and on recovery proceeded on his 
 journey, traveling by rail and boat to 
 Milwaukee, from which point, although 
 still unwell and feeble, he walked to 
 Green Ba\', leaving, in Milwaukee, his 
 trunk, which he never saw or heard of 
 again. Arrived in Green Bay, he en- 
 quired of John Day as to the whereabouts 
 of Robert Sheriff, and learned that he was 
 conducting a farm in Freedom township, 
 Outagamie county. Thither Mr. En- 
 derby went, and, renting a farm, sent 
 home to England for his wife and son, 
 who sailed October 16, 1853, from Liver- 
 pool on the ship "Continental," onboard 
 of which were over one thousand Irish 
 emigrants (in eleven days 1,024 died of 
 cholera). In twenty-six days the wife 
 and son landed in New York, and their 
 passage to Buffalo being prepaid, started 
 to continue their journey; but through 
 some rascality or glaring mistake they 
 were made to pay their fare over again, 
 which, however, was ultimately repaid, as 
 well as damages incurred, legal proceed- 
 ings having been commenced. On their 
 arrival at Sheboygan, Wis. , they found 
 that, navigation having closed for the sea- 
 son, the boat they had come on would 
 proceed no further, which was most per- 
 plexing to Mrs. Enderby, as her money 
 was completely exhausted, and she and 
 her little boy. were utter strangers in a 
 strange land. In Sheboygan they went 
 to a boarding-house, where the mother 
 worked for her board, the son helping 
 around the barn; and, as soon as sleighing 
 set in, the way-worn, weary travelers, leav- 
 ing their trunks as security for transpor- 
 tation to Green Bay, set out for their des- 
 tination by sleigh, via Fond du Lac. ar- 
 riving at Green Bay in January, 1854, 
 where John Day assisted them to reach 
 their future home in Freedom township, 
 
 16 
 
 Outagamie county, a niece of which said 
 John Day, to use our subject's own words, 
 "by some unknown mystery became my 
 wife." 
 
 On this farm they lived two years, and 
 then Mr. Enderby pre-empted eighty acres 
 of land, to which the family moved and 
 thereon lived a year, their first habitation 
 being a log shanty, and the nearest market 
 town. Green Bay, distant some eighteen 
 miles. In 1857 they removed to the 
 farm of eighty acres in Preble township. 
 Brown county, which Mr. Enderb}- had 
 purchased, going in debt $1,800, retain- 
 ing, however, the property in Outagamie 
 county. For one year, or until 1858, 
 they made their home on this new farm, 
 but, owing to the financial depression of 
 that year, the place was lost to them, and 
 for the next two years they had to rent it. 
 In the fall of i860 Mr. Enderby purchased 
 sixty acres, also in Preble township, the 
 farm our subject now owns, at that time 
 totally unimproved, with no building 
 thereon of any kind; consequently for 
 three years the family made their home 
 on an adjoining forty-acre farm, then 
 coming to their own place, where a dwell- 
 ing and some outhouses had been put up, 
 many other improvements also being 
 made. Here the father died September 
 5, 1870, the mother on May 4, 1874, aged 
 fifty-six and sixty years respectively, and 
 they sleep their last sleep in Green Bay 
 cemetery. They were members of the 
 Episcopal Church, and in politics Mr. 
 Enderby was a stanch Democrat. 
 
 W. R. Enderby, the subject proper of 
 this memoir, was a boy of about twelve 
 summers when he accompanied his mother 
 on the tedious journey from England to 
 Wisconsin, and at the country winter 
 schools of that period he received but a 
 limited education. At the age of fifteen 
 he began to work in the lumber camps, 
 saving his earnings, which went toward 
 paying for his father's land, thereby being 
 of great service to his parents, and (with 
 the exception of the time passed in the 
 army), he so continued until his marriage. 
 
284 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 employing himself one entire winter mak- 
 ing rails to fence the farm with. 
 
 On October 19, 1861, Mr. Enderby 
 enlisted in Company H, Twelfth Wis. V. 
 I., three-years' service, and was honor- 
 ably discharged at Natchez, Miss., De- 
 cember 31, 1863, when he veteranized, 
 re-enlisting same day in the same com- 
 pany and regiment, his final discharge at 
 Louisville, Ky., under special order of 
 the War Department, bearing date July 
 16, 1865. He was the first man to enlist 
 from Preble township, and the first 
 veteran to re-enlist, a fact worthy of note. 
 After his first enlistment the regiment 
 rendezvoused at Madison, Wis., and be- 
 ing then sent to the front, participated in 
 all the e.xposures and discomforts incident 
 to the preliminary movements of the 
 army in an inclement season, including 
 long and wearisome marches, which oc- 
 cupied their time until the spring of 1863, 
 when at Coldwater, Miss., they experi- 
 enced their first engagement with the 
 Confederates. After this came the siege 
 of Vicksburg, where the regiment dis- 
 played great gallantry, taking thirty- 
 one thousand si.x hundred prisoners, one 
 hundred and seventy-two canon, and about 
 si.xty thousand muskets; part of the regi- 
 ment participated in the action at Jack- 
 son. In August, same year, the bri- 
 gade to which the Twelfth was at- 
 tached was ordered to Natchez, where it 
 remained until it was re-organized, and a 
 majority of the men had veteranized. It 
 then took part in what is known as the 
 Meridian expedition, the object of which 
 was to cripple the resources of the enemy, 
 and during this important affair it did a 
 vast amount of useful work, entailing a 
 great deal of arduous duty, a march of 
 400 miles being, perhaps, not the least 
 part of it. At Jackson, Miss., they 
 smashed forty-four locomotives, burnt 
 twelve hundred cars and destroj'ed a lot 
 of railroad track. 
 
 In the spring of 1863 our subject re- 
 turned home on veteran furlough, and 
 on rejoining his regiment it was assigned 
 
 to the Army of the Tennessee, taking part 
 in several of the actions preceding the 
 Atlanta campaign, under Sherman. At 
 Huntsville, Ala., Mr. Enderb}- was taken 
 sick, and was first sent to the hospital at 
 Huntsville, Ala., later to those at Nash- 
 ville and Louisville. After recovery he 
 set out to rejoin his regiment, which was 
 still with Sherman's army, his route being 
 via New York, Pocotaligo, S. C, and 
 Wilmington, N. C, where he made con- 
 nection with the command. On the day 
 before Johnson's surrender, while on 
 picket duty at Pocotaligo, he was struck 
 in the throat by a spent rifle ball. The 
 hardships endured on the Meridian march 
 produced varicose veins in the right leg, 
 while the march to \V'ashington, after the 
 close of hostilities, brought the same 
 trouble to his left leg, by all of which it 
 will be seen that as a brave and lojal sol- 
 dier our subject suffered considerabl}'. 
 
 After his discharge from the army Mr. 
 Enderby returned home to Preble town- 
 ship, and, before once more settling down 
 to the pursuits of peace, was married, 
 September 8, 1865, to Miss Eliza Ann 
 Jeffrey, who was born June 8, 1845, in 
 Scott township, Brown Co., Wis., a 
 daughter of Thomas and Eliza (Day) 
 Jeffrey, natives of Lincolnshire, England. 
 To this union children, as follows, were 
 born: Anna Eliza, now wife of Joshua 
 Ritchie, of Green Bay; John T., at home; 
 May L. , now Mrs. Frederick Huetters, 
 of Green Bay; William L. , married to- 
 Miss Clara A. Sawyer, also in Green Bay; 
 Carrie J., George R., Wilbert M., Albert 
 H., and Duain M., all four at home; 
 Melinda M. , deceased at the age of two 
 years; and Lottie A. and Loella A., both 
 at home. After marriage our subject and 
 his young wife made their home on the 
 farm of her parents for one year, and then 
 moved to Fort Howard, where they lived 
 three years, he conducting a butcher busi- 
 ness and farm. He is now the owner of 
 seventy-nine acres of land, eight of which 
 are covered with an orchard, the finest in 
 Brown county, and he gives considerable- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 285 
 
 attention to fruit-growing, both large and 
 small, as well as the cultivation of 
 honey bees. 
 
 Politically Mr. Enderby is a Repub- 
 lican, though the son of a stanch Dem- 
 ocrat, whose vote, on the occasion of the 
 first Presidential election after the war, 
 the son nullified by voting for Grant. 
 But no more filial son breathes, as proven 
 by his many unselfish acts of generosity 
 to his parents, whom he has aided in 
 many ways, some of which have already 
 been recounted in this sketch. From 
 his pay as a soldier he saved nearl}' every 
 cent, in all sending home $590 to assist 
 in. cancelling a six-hundred-dollar mort- 
 gage held over the home farm, thereby 
 purging the property of all liens. Not 
 many years ago " Bill Enderby," as he is 
 familiarly called, was struggling along 
 "in the same old rut," making a bare 
 living on his farm; but having taken up 
 fruit culture and made himself thoroughly 
 acquainted with the business by reading 
 and observation, he has attained an emi- 
 nent success, and to-day not a more pros- 
 perous farmer is to be found in all Preble 
 township, a consummation he has reached 
 solely by industry, study, hard work, and 
 untiring energy. supported by level- 
 headed, sound judgment. At the present 
 writing he is in very poor health. 
 
 A P. SAWYER, who, for the past 
 twenty years, has been a well- 
 known resident of Preble town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a native of 
 New York State, born November 2, 1847, 
 in the town of Fulton, Oswego county, of 
 hardy New England stock. 
 
 Grandfather Thomas Sawyer was born 
 in the town of Orford, Grafton Co., N. 
 H., son of Jonathan Sawyer, and was 
 reared to farming pursuits. He was mar- 
 ried in New Hampshire to Miss Asenith 
 Sargent, daughter of Timothy Sargent, 
 who was a soldier in the Revolution and 
 received a pension for his services. Thomas 
 and Asenith Sawyer became the parents 
 
 of five children — two sons and three 
 daughters — of whom, Thomas, the father 
 of our subject, was the second in order of 
 birth. 
 
 Thomas Sawyer was born July 6, 
 1807, in Orford, Grafton Co., N. H., was 
 reared a farmer boy, and at the age of 
 si.xteen commenced to learn the trade of 
 tanner and currier, in which he continued 
 until he reached his majorit}-. He re- 
 mained in New Hampshire until the spring 
 of 1834, when he removed to New York 
 State, and for four months was employed 
 as steersman and bowsman on the Erie 
 canal. Then for some months he drove 
 a stage between White Hall and Rutland, 
 subsequent!}- following the same vocation 
 at Plattsburg, N. Y. From there he came 
 to Detroit, Mich., and engaged as stage 
 driver between Detroit and Dearbornville, 
 also between Ann Arbor and Lima, and 
 for some time also acted as road agent 
 from Ann Arbor to Kalamazoo. Return- 
 ing to New York he worked in a livery 
 stable, and also as driver from Troy to 
 Sand Lake. Pittstown, Schenectady, 
 Albany, Lebanon Springs, and various 
 other places until 1836, when he came 
 westward to Lake county, Ind. In Por- 
 ter county, same State, he commenced 
 farming, also carrying mail and conducting 
 a tavern, and here, in February, 1 840, he 
 was married to Miss Amanda E. Cady, who 
 was a native of Clinton county, N. Y. , 
 born in 1815, and had come to Indiana to 
 live with her brother. After marriage 
 Mr. Sawyer removed to Crown Point, 
 Lake county, and there engaged in farm- 
 ing, later embarking in the hotel business 
 at that place, and conducting same un- 
 til 1846, when he removed to Illinois, 
 taking up his residence in Chicago. Here, 
 for seven years, he was in the employ of 
 Asahel Pierce, as agent, selling agricultural 
 implements and buying stock, subsequently 
 working one year in a wagon shop, and 
 then for another year following teaming 
 on his own account. He ne.xt removed 
 to Northfield township, also in Cook 
 county, and lived there for some time on 
 
386 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 rented land, later following farming sev- 
 eral years in McHenry county, 111. In 
 the fall of 1869 he went to Sac City. Sac 
 Co., Iowa, where his son. James A., had 
 previously located, and there resided un- 
 til January. 1S93. when he came to Preble 
 township. Brown Co.. Wis., to pass his 
 remaining years at the home of his son, 
 A. P. He is a hearty, well-preserved 
 man, and though, over eightj'-seven years 
 old, still reads without the aid of glasses. 
 His first vote was cast for John Quincy 
 Adams, and he has never missed but one 
 Presidential election since then, and that 
 was when Gen. Scott was candidate in 
 1852, remaining a stanch member of the 
 Whig party and its successor, the Repub- 
 lican party. Mrs. Amanda Sawyer died 
 in Chicago in June, 1850, of cholera. 
 She was the mother of three children — two 
 sons, A. P., and James A. (of Sac City, 
 Iowa), and a daughter, who died when 
 ten months old. In January, 1852, Mr. 
 for his second spouse, 
 (Montgomery) Pratt, a 
 born in Oswego county, 
 N. Y. , daughter of Capt. Archibald Mont- 
 gomery, of the British navy. This wife 
 passed from earth in December, 1868, in 
 Woodstock, McHenry Co., 111., without 
 issue. 
 
 A. P. Sawyer, whose name introduces 
 these lines, received his education in the 
 common schools of Cook county. 111. , 
 principally after reaching his fourteenth 
 year, as previous to that time he cared 
 little or nothing for books. On February 
 19, 1864, when but a little over sixteen 
 years of age, he enlisted, at Elgin, 111., 
 in Company G, Fifty-second 111. V. I., 
 and was sent with his command to Pulaski, 
 Tenn. , where they drilled for six weeks. 
 They were then sent out foraging, and 
 while climbing into a wagon, our subject 
 had his right foot crushed, for a few da\'s 
 being obliged to remain in the convalescent 
 camp at Pulaski. After this he was sent 
 to Tunnel Hill, on railway patrol, being 
 there for about two weeks, and then going 
 to Prospect, Tenn., helping in the garri- 
 
 Sawyer wedded, 
 Mrs. Susan E. 
 widow, who was 
 
 son fort and guarding railway bridges. At 
 this time our subject was ordered to 
 Atlanta, where his regiment lay. and he 
 was under fire ever)' day during the siege of 
 that city, which lasted about one hundred 
 days, after which his regiment was ordered 
 round to Jonesboro. which they captured, 
 thereby causing Gen. Hood to evacuate 
 Atlanta and the place to capitulate. After 
 this our subject proceeded with Sherman 
 on his march to the sea, taking an active 
 part in all the engagements eii route. He 
 was present at the surrender of Gen. John- 
 ston, at Raleigh, N. C, and took part in 
 the Grand Review at Washington, D. C, 
 from that city going by rail to Parkers- 
 burg, W' . Va. , thence down the Ohio river 
 to Louisville, Ky. , where he was mustered 
 out. On Jul}' 12, 1865, he received an 
 honorable discharge at Camp Douglass, 
 Chicago, then proceeding to McHenry 
 county, 111., where his father was residing 
 at that time, remained there a few months, 
 and then went to Northfield township. 
 Cook Co., 111., where he followed farming. 
 When but a boy of fifteen Mr. Sawyer 
 had served a three-months' apprenticeship 
 at Woodstock, 111., under George R. Bas- 
 sett. and he followed his trade and paper- 
 hanging for some years. In July. 1869, 
 he went to Madison, Wis., to look for 
 work, and here followed his trade for 
 a while, his first work being for railroads, 
 and as he was a good workman he readily 
 found employment with the St. Paul Rail- 
 way Compan}' in the Prairie du Chien 
 branch, painting bridges and depots. He 
 also worked on the same road as fireman 
 ten months, and then commenced the 
 study of dentistry under Norman Ellis, of 
 Madison; but this being distasteful to him 
 he returned to his trade, engaging with 
 Memhart & Robbins, painters, at Madi- 
 son. For some time he was bar-tender 
 in that city, but in 1871 removed to Osh- 
 kosh. Wis. . where he worked at his trade, 
 also logging, and remained there until 
 1873, in which year he came to Green 
 Bay. In 1874 he removed to his present 
 farm in Section 25, Preble township, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 287 
 
 Brown county, at that time a perfect wil- 
 derness, and here he has ever since made 
 his home, engaging to some extent in fruit 
 farming, in which industry he is a pioneer 
 in his section. He has not abandoned 
 his trade, however, for during the season 
 he continues to follow same in Green 
 Bay, doing paper-hanging and general 
 painting work, besides carriage painting. 
 On July 14, 1872, Mr. Sawyer was 
 married, in Oshkosh, to Miss Annie M. 
 Maus, who was born in Preble township. 
 Brown county, in 1849, and to this mar- 
 riage came three children, namely: Annie 
 C. (Mrs. W. L. Enderby), of Green Bay, 
 and James T. and Mary A., living at 
 home. The mother of these died in 
 Preble township May 13, 1879, a member 
 of the Catholic Church, and her remains 
 now rest in Bay Settlement cemetery. 
 Mr. Sawyer married, on August 19, 1883, 
 for his second wife, Mrs. Mary E. (Vieu) 
 Ballinger (widow of Albert Ballinger), who 
 was born in Lawrence township, Brown 
 county, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth 
 Vieu, French Canadians, who came to 
 Lawrence township in an early day. Mrs. 
 Sawyer is a member of the Catholic 
 Church. Politically our subject is a Re- 
 publican, but gives little time to politics; 
 socially he is a member of T. O. Howe 
 Post, No. 134, G. A. R., of which he is 
 chaplain 
 
 JOHN COENEN, for over forty-five 
 years an esteemed resident of De Pere 
 township. Brown county, and vicin- 
 ity, where he ranks among the pros- 
 perous self-made agriculturists, is a native 
 of Holland, born October 28, 1834. 
 
 He is a son of Theodore Coenen, a 
 farmer of that country, who had a family 
 of nine children — seven sons and two 
 daughters — of whom John was the third 
 son and the fourth child in the order of 
 birth. About 1848, seeing that his chil- 
 dren could have better opportunities in 
 the United States, Theodore Coenen sold 
 his little property and sailed with his 
 
 family from Rotterdam in a vessel bound 
 for Philadelphia. They landed in that 
 city after a voyage of forty-eight days, 
 and then, their destination being in Brown 
 county. Wis., proceeded at once by rail 
 to Albany, N. Y. , thence via the Erie 
 canal to Buffalo, and from there by the 
 old steamer "Michigan" to Green Bay, 
 Wis., where they landed early in June, 
 1848. The family was one of ten who 
 made their home in a house in Shanty- 
 town, where, one week after their arrival, 
 Mr. Coenen secured work. For a short 
 time they lived in De Pere, then but a 
 small village, and ne.xt moved across the 
 river to a place along the Ashwaubenon 
 pike, where they farmed for three years. 
 They then purchased forty acres in De- 
 Pere township (where our subject now 
 lives, which at that time was government 
 land and claimed by an individual), pay- 
 ing the claimant one hundred and fifty 
 dollars for his title and ten shillings an 
 acre to the government. Twelve acres of 
 this tract had been "lumbered over," but 
 the remainder was j'et in its primitive 
 state, the only improvement thereon be- 
 ing a small three-roomed log house, where 
 they lived for a time. Work was immedi- 
 ately begun on the farm, but money was 
 scarce, and, as the boys became old enough, 
 they worked for neighboring farmers, their 
 wages usually being fifty cents a day. Mr. 
 Coenen died on this farm in 1864, and 
 was buried in Allouez township; his wife 
 survived him until October 23, 1885, 
 when she passed away at the advanced 
 age of eighty-six j-ears, and was buried in 
 the Catholic cemetery at De Pere. After 
 the father's death the sons continued to 
 live on the farm, working it together. 
 The mother also had her residence there, 
 living with her son John, at whose home 
 she died. 
 
 John Coenen attended the schools of 
 his native country, where he received all 
 his education. When fourteen years old 
 he came with his parents to the United 
 States, and here he was soon put to work, 
 assisting on the farm. The land was new, 
 
j88 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and during his boyhood he became thor- 
 oughly familiar with all the details and 
 hardships incident to pioneer farm life in 
 the opening of a new country. On Au- 
 gust 24, 1863, John Coenen was married, 
 in Little Chute, Wis., to Miss Gertrude 
 Reynen, who is also a native of Holland, 
 born September 25, 1840, daughter of 
 John Reynen; she came with her father 
 to the United States when she was ten 
 years old, and, with the exception of a 
 six-months' residence in Green Bay, made 
 her home in Little Chute, Wis,, until her 
 marriage. Immediately after their mar- 
 riage the young couple took up their home 
 on the farm with his parents, and after 
 the death of his father, and working for 
 a while in partnership with his brothers, 
 John paid off the other heirs and became 
 the owner of the old homestead. The 
 place then comprised forty acres. to which 
 he has added from time to time, until he 
 now owns 200 acres in De Pere and Rock- 
 land townships, all of which is the result 
 of years of untiring industry and toil. He 
 has been a hard worker from boyhood, 
 and from a start of nothing has accumu- 
 lated a comfortable property, and placed 
 himself in an enviable position among 
 the well-to-do farmers of his township. 
 He has never speculated, and his success 
 shows what it is possible for a man to ac- 
 complish by perseverance and honesty 
 and a determination to win. His chil- 
 dren have been of great assistance to 
 him, the sons faithfully remaining on the 
 home place and taking their share of the 
 farm work. The farm is equipped with 
 substantial outbuildings, all erected by 
 Mr. Coenen, and in 1883 he built a com- 
 fortable brick residence. Our subject has, 
 in his days, seen the entire surrounding 
 country transformed from the dense forest 
 to beautiful, well-cultivated farms, and 
 he himself has taken no small part in this 
 important work. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Coenen were born 
 children as follows: Theodore, a farmer 
 of Wrightstown township; Anton, assist- 
 ing in the work on the home farm; Annie, 
 
 Mrs. Henry Verhagen, of Freedom town- 
 ship, Outagamie county; Martina, Mrs. 
 Arnold Smith, also of Freedom township; 
 John. William, Henry and Mary, all liv- 
 ing at home; and Hattie and another 
 child, who died in infancy. The entire 
 family are members of St. Mary's Catho- 
 lic Church, De Pere. In politics Mr. 
 Coenen is a Democrat, but no active party 
 worker. 
 
 CHRISTIAN SCHWARZ, lumber 
 merchant and proprietor of plan- 
 ing mill, Green Bay, is a native 
 of Germany, born in Baringau- 
 Thuringen February 7, 1834. Michael 
 Schwarz, father of our subject, was a 
 farmer (as was his father before him) and 
 dealer in lumber in Germany, and was 
 one of the most progressive and active 
 men in his part of the country. He died 
 at the age of seventy-seven years. His 
 wife, Elizabeth (Hoercher), who was a 
 native of the same part of Germany, is 
 now living at the advanced age of eighty- 
 four years ; she is the mother of three 
 children — Christian, Kline and Oscar — of 
 whom Eline is married and lives in her 
 native land. 
 
 At the age of eighteen years, in the 
 spring of 1852, the subject of this sketch, 
 along with several others from his neigh- 
 borhood, set sail from Germany for the 
 United States, the voyage to New York 
 occupying forty-nine days. From there 
 he came by way of the Hudson river and 
 railroad to Buffalo, N. Y. , where he 
 passed the winter, chopping cord-wood, 
 and the following spring he shipped as 
 deck hand from Buffalo to Chicago, mak- 
 ing several trips on the lakes as a sailor, 
 eventually finding himself in Chicago. He 
 finally shipped on a steamer coming north- 
 ward; but, on arriving at Mackinac Island, 
 left the vessel, and from that point made 
 his way to Green Bay, which he reached 
 in May, 1853. He was first employed here 
 in a brewery a short time, but, moving to 
 Oconto, worked in a sawmill till winter 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOaRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 389 
 
 time, when he engaged at lumbering in 
 the woods, resuming sawmilHng the fol- 
 lowing spring. Returning to Green Bay 
 in the fall of 1854, he commenced to 
 learn the carpenter's trade, which he fol- 
 lowed until 1865, in that year, in part- 
 nership with Theodore Kemmitz, starting 
 a planing-mill in Fort Howard, a venture 
 that proved a decided success, the concern 
 continuing for about thirteen years, dur- 
 ing which time, in 1866, John Voightwas 
 received as a partner. Mr. Kemmitz sold 
 his interest in 1877, from which time our 
 subject and Mr. Voight conducted the 
 mill until 1887, when Mr. Schwarz em- 
 barked in the lumber business, his late 
 partner continuing the planing-mill. Mr. 
 Voight and Mr. Kemmitz both came from 
 Germany on the same vessel as Mr. 
 Schwarz. In 1890 our subject, at the 
 desire of several friends, erected a planing- 
 mill in Green Bay, which has since been 
 in successful operation, its owner, by his 
 popularity as a good citizen and his close 
 attention to business affairs, having earned 
 for himself and his mill a wide and envi- 
 able reputation. 
 
 On November 7, 1857, at Fort How- 
 ard, Mr. Schwarz was married to Miss 
 Caroline Freytag, daughter of Christof 
 and Christiana (Schmideknechtj Freytag, 
 natives of Herschdorf, Schwarzburg-Son- 
 dershausen and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, 
 Thueringen, Germany, respectively. Mrs. 
 Schwarz came from Germany across the 
 ocean in the same vessel as her future 
 husband. To this union were born four 
 children; Lina, who died at the age of 
 two years; Emma; Carrie, wife of Ernest 
 Pecker, and Louisa, wife of Philip Lucas; 
 there is also an adopted son, Herman, 
 who was educated in the Northwestern 
 University at Watertown, Wis. , which is 
 connected with the Lutheran Synod of 
 Colleges in America (he is now a student 
 of pharmacy in Milwaukee). Mr. and 
 Mrs. Schwarz are active members of the 
 German Lutheran Church; in politics he 
 has been a Republican from the time he 
 became citizenized, and he gives all his 
 
 influence to whatever may tend to benefit 
 the town or county. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Schwarz are honored citizens of Fort 
 Howard, respected for their personal 
 worth, and held in the highest esteem by 
 all classes for their good qualities of head 
 and heart. 
 
 FATHER JAMES GAUCHE, retir- 
 ed, was born in Belgium, in 1825, 
 in the village of Messancy, and re- 
 ceived his literary education at 
 Bastogne Seminary, and at Grand Semi- 
 nary of Namur, at the latter educa- 
 tional institution also studying theology. 
 At the age of thirty years, on June 29, 
 1855, he was ordained priest, and was a 
 member of the Capuchin Order, near Fond 
 du Lac, as priest, twelve years; served at 
 Two Rivers six years; at Cooperstown 
 three years; and at Kaukauna eighteen 
 months. He was then at West De Pere 
 nine and a half years, and at Chilton three 
 years. For the past year and a half he 
 has been retired, and now lives modestly 
 at West De Pere in a neat and comfort- 
 able home, honored alike by all denom- 
 inations for his piety dnd benign de- 
 portment. 
 
 CW. LOMAS, attorney at law, 
 Fort Howard, was born in Wau- 
 kesha county. Wis., in 1855, a 
 son of John and Emma (Jones) 
 Lomas, natives of England, who settled 
 in that county in 1848. There the father 
 was engaged in farming until his death 
 in 1887, his wife having preceded him to 
 the grave some years previously. 
 
 Our subject received his preparatory 
 education in the schools of the county, 
 and for five or six years thereafter was a 
 school teacher. He attended the Law 
 Department of the University of Wiscon- 
 sin, at Madison, graduated in 1882, and 
 was admitted to the bar the same year. 
 The next year he was in practice with 
 Sloan, Stevens & Morris, in the capital 
 
290 
 
 COMMEMORAriVE BIOGUAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 city, and in 1883 settled in Fort Howard, 
 where he formed a partnership with P. V. 
 Cothell, now deceased, and since 1 887 
 Mr. Lonias has been alone. In his po- 
 litical affinities Mr. Lonias is an ardent 
 Prohibitionist. He was the candidate of 
 that party for Attorney-General of the 
 State in 1894; has served as city attorney 
 of Fort Howard eijjht years; has a good 
 practice, and has accnmulated some prop- 
 erty. He is a director of the McCartney 
 National Bank of Fort Howard. In 1885 
 he was married in Crawford county, Wis. , 
 to Miss Fannie Gay, who has blessed his 
 home with three bright little daughters: 
 Cora, Emma, and Loraine. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lomas are members of the Presbyterian 
 Church, in which Mr. Lomas is superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school; he is presi- 
 dent of the Y. M. C. A., and was superin- 
 tendent of the Fort Howard schools two 
 years, 1891,-92. They are highly respect- 
 ed as members of society and moral factors 
 in the community. 
 
 REV. FATHER JOHN VER- 
 STEGEN, pastor of St. Mary's 
 Parish, De Pere, Brown county, 
 was born in the Province of North 
 Brabant, Holland, April 9, 1840. He 
 was educated in the classics in Holland, 
 and in philosophy and theology in the 
 Angustinean College, Belgium, finishing 
 his studies at the Seminary of St. F"rancis, 
 Milwaukee, Wis.. He was ordained a 
 priest at Green Bay, Wis., June 10, 
 1870, bv Bishop Joseph Melcher, I). 1)., 
 and August 14, 1870, was placed in 
 charge of the congregation at Freedom, 
 where, through his energy, the new 
 church edifice (St. Nicholas) was com- 
 pleted and a new parochial school-house 
 erected. Of this new church he was the 
 faithful pastor until January, 1882, on the 
 seventh day of which month he was ap- 
 pointed to St. Mary's, or the Church of 
 the Immaculate Conception, at Ue Pere 
 — his present incumbency. Under his 
 wise administration the church buildintr 
 
 has been greatly enlarged and improved, 
 and he has also largely added to the 
 church property; he has, besides, erected 
 a substantial brick school edifice with a 
 capacity for 246 scholars, and in i 893 he 
 erected a fine and roomy building for the 
 accomodation of the Reverend Fathers 
 connected with the congregation. Father 
 Verstegen is still in the prime of life, is 
 active and alert, and never tires of doing 
 good for his beloved flock. 
 
 CHARLES R. DENIS. This gen- 
 tleman, for so many years favor- 
 ably known on and about the 
 lakes, especially by vessel owners, 
 is a Belgian by birth, bcirn February 17, 
 1849, a son of Leopold and Rosalie (Noel) 
 Denis, of the same country, who were the 
 parents of eleven children — six sons and 
 five daughters — Charles R. being the sec- 
 ond son. 
 
 In 1855, our subject being then nearly 
 seven years old, the family came to the 
 United States, the trip across the ocean 
 being made in the •' Henry Reed " sailing 
 ship, and, after landing in New York, pro- 
 ceeded to Buffalo, N. Y. , where they 
 passed their first winter; thence in the fol- 
 lowing spring traveled by rail to Fond du 
 Lac, Wis., and from there by team to 
 Green Bay. In Belgium the father had 
 followed agricultural pursuits, and, being 
 desirous of continuing the same vocation 
 in the New \N'orld, l)ought 160 acres of 
 totally uncleared timber-land in Brussells 
 township. Door Co. , Wis. , near Red 
 River. This, however, the family never 
 cleared, nor even lived on, though in later 
 years the father did some logging on it; 
 but in Allouez township they lived for 
 five years on Capt. Cotton's farm, where 
 is now the cemetery of that township. 
 Here he died January 22, 1892, his first 
 wife having preceded him to the grave 
 in 1866. He was a Democrat in politics, 
 and for eighteen years was assessor of his 
 township. They were the parents of thir- 
 teen children, viz. : Joseph, a steam tug 
 
^- 
 
 ^^^X//^:^ ^U^ 
 
 '/}^^^^^ 
 
COMMEMOHAriVE lilOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 291 
 
 captain in Green Bay; Victoria, wife of 
 Frank Garrett, of Green Bay; Charles R., 
 subject of sketch; Louis (an engineer), 
 who died in 1891 at Appleton; Alfonso, 
 who died while cii route to America; Vic- 
 tor, who died in Buffalo, N. Y. ; Leopold, 
 an engineer, with residence in Green Bay; 
 Juha, wife of X. Parnientier, city clerk 
 of Green Bay; Mary, wife of Alfonse 
 Hugot, of Allouez; Rosalie, wife (if Ralph 
 Soquet, a druggist; Charles A., of West 
 De Pere; and two, whose names are not 
 given, that died while en route to America. 
 Leopold Denis, father of this family, for his 
 second wife married, in 1867, Honore 
 Hitas, also a native of Belgium, to which 
 union were born five children, of whom the 
 living are Victor, Frank, |;uiies, and 
 Honorins. 
 
 Charles R. Denis, the subject of these 
 lines, received his education at the com- 
 mon schools of the period in Wisconsin, 
 and at the early age of fifteen commenced 
 working on steamboats plying between 
 Escanaba and Green Bay. Securing 
 employment on the vessels of the North 
 Western Steamboat Company, his first 
 job was tiring on jihe " George L. 13un- 
 lap " for three years, later on the " Sarah 
 Van Epps, " and still later on the "Sagi- 
 naw" and the " Escanaba," all belonging 
 to the North Western Company. After 
 firing for six seasons, he, in 1870, was 
 given the position of engineer on the high- 
 pressure tug "Ida S." in Green Bay har- 
 bor, at the end of two years was trans- 
 ferred to the tug "Escanaba," after an- 
 other year rejoining the " Ida S.," and at 
 the close of two more years' service on 
 her was made engineer on the " John 
 Gregory," which was built in Green Bay. 
 He assisted in putting the engines into 
 this boat, and ran her on her maiden trip. 
 (Prior to this he served as engineer of No. 
 2 fire engine in Green Bay). The " John 
 Gregory " plied between Green Bay and 
 Chicago, and from her Mr. Denis went to 
 the "John H. Hackley," in the same 
 capacity; but at the end of his second 
 season as engineer on her, he and his 
 
 brothers, Capt. Joseph and Paul Denis, 
 bought the "Ida S. Botsford," whicfi 
 they rebuilt and named "The Denis 
 Bros." Of her our subject was engineer 
 one season, and the following winter he 
 put the engine into the " W. L. Brown." 
 Selling out such interests as he had in 
 boats, Mr. Denis concluded to leave the 
 lakes, and in 1882 bought his present 
 farm of seventy-four acres in De Pere 
 township, moving thereon; but he can not 
 forsake his old love, the lakes, for every 
 summer he readily finds employment on 
 some steamboat or other as engineer. 
 He has sailed the lakes, either as fireman 
 or engineer, for nearly all the large vessel 
 owners in his part of the State, and has 
 in every instance proved himself as rom- 
 j)etent as he is reliable and trustworthy,. 
 qualifications in which he is second tO' 
 none. In addition to what has already 
 been here enumerated, he has put the 
 engines into several boats, including the 
 ' ' Fannie Hart. " He has never been ship- 
 wrecked, although he has experienced 
 many hairbreadth escapes, and he has. 
 often worked with wrecking parties, be- 
 sides meeting with not a few pioneer ad- 
 ventures. On one occasion, while on his 
 boat, which had run ashore, word reached 
 him that his mother was dangerously ill. 
 Without a moment's delay he left the 
 boat, and with the speed of an Indian 
 made a dash through the woods for his 
 home, either running or walking for forty- 
 five miles to a certain point, which he 
 reached in twenty-four hours. Here he 
 was enabled to take boat for his destina- 
 tion, which he reached in safet}-. In this 
 homeward journey he passed one; night in 
 the woods amid the bowlings of hungry 
 wolves, who would have made short work 
 of him had he not kept them at bay by 
 lighting occasional fires, fortunately hav- 
 ing some matches in his pocket. 
 
 On August 20, 1872, Mr. Denis was 
 married, in Green Bay,to Miss Eliza Lesses, 
 who was born September 7, 1849, in Bel- 
 gium, a daughter of August Lesses, who 
 came with his family to the United States 
 
•292 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in 1 87 1. The children of this union 
 ■were: Joseph. Annie, George, Willie (de- 
 ceased in infancy}, Laura, Lizzie, William, 
 Paul and Rosa. In politics our subject has 
 always been a stanch Republican, and he 
 and his wife are prominent members of 
 St. Francis Catholic Church, respected 
 and honored by all who know them. 
 
 JACOB JACOBSEN, a well-known 
 and prosperous citizen of Glenmore 
 township. Brown county, was born 
 June 30, 1855, in Norway. 
 His father, also named Jacob, was a 
 merchant and later a seafaring man, but 
 he met with reverses, and in 1869 con- 
 cluded to bring his family — which then 
 comprised six children — to the United 
 States, he having visited this country 
 two years previously, and purchased some 
 land in Ashwaubenon township. Brown 
 county, Wis. The family sailed from 
 Skien on the ' ' Rukan," and after a voyage 
 of eight weeks and three days landed in 
 Quebec, thence journeying by rail and 
 water to Chicago, 111., where they lived 
 four months. They then removed to the 
 farm in Ashwaubenon township, where 
 the father passed the remainder of his life, 
 dying in 1876; he was a member of the 
 Lutheran Church, and in political affili- 
 ation a Republican. The mother is now 
 living in Allouez township. Brown county, 
 with her son Peter, who is sexton of 
 Woodlawn cemetery, near Green Bay. A 
 brief record of their children is a follows: 
 Six were born in Norway — Jacob, who is 
 mentioned further on; Christ, who died 
 in this country at the age of twenty-one 
 years; Louis, who lives in Fort Howard; 
 Inge. Mrs. Louis Christopherson, of Ash- 
 waubenon; Martin, a resident of Glen- 
 more township; and Peter, who is sexton 
 of Woodlawn cemetery, near Green Bay; 
 and three were born in Wisconsin — Hans, 
 and Andrew, both now living in Green 
 Bay; and Neils, who died when six years 
 old. 
 
 Jacob Jacobsen received a good 
 
 common-school education in his native 
 country, and, when about fifteen years of 
 age, came with his parents to the United 
 States. He commenced to learn wood- 
 carving in Chicago, but shortly afterward 
 went on the lakes as cook. When 
 his parents removed to Wisconsin he 
 accompanied them, and, after working a 
 few months on his father's farm, began to 
 work for others. In the spring of 1870 
 he entered the employ of M. Sellers, a 
 merchant and horse dealer of Fort Howard, 
 and afterward worked seven months with 
 a surveying corps, laying out the northern 
 extension of the Milwaukee & Northern 
 railroad. He next worked as general 
 utility man for Lawyer Neville, and later 
 peddled ice for six years for Bennett & 
 Conley, after which he removed to Glen- 
 more township. On August 22, 1877, he 
 was married, at Fort Howard, to Miss 
 Augusta Siversen, who was born in Nor- 
 way, in October, 1854. daughter of Siver 
 Oleson, and in the fall of the same year 
 the young couple removed to the town of 
 De Pere, where, during the succeeding 
 winter, he chopped wood for fifty cents a 
 cord. The next spring he removed to the 
 city of Green Bay, and during the sum- 
 mer again worked for Bennett & Conley. 
 Later he purchased sixty acres of land in 
 Section 29, Glenmore township, going in 
 debt for it, as he had but twenty-five dol- 
 lars in money, and he and his wife took 
 up their residence in a small log house 
 which stood thereon. Only five acres of 
 this tract were cleared, and he immedi- 
 ately set to work to improve the rest; but 
 he only remained there one year, when he 
 was appointed sexton of the Woodlawn 
 cemetery at Green Ba}', and continued in 
 that position five years. In the fall of 
 1884 he came to his present farm, for 
 which he had in the meantime traded, and 
 here he has since resided, except during 
 the summer of 1886, when he worked in 
 Sheboygan for his former employer, Mr. 
 Conley. This place originally contained 
 eighty acres, to which he subsequently 
 added eighty more, but later sold forty. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 393 
 
 Mr. Jacobsen has carefully cultivated and 
 improved his farm, has remodelled his 
 residence and built a commodious barn, all 
 of which tends to enhance the value of 
 his property. At one time he owned al- 
 together 760 acres, but he has disposed of 
 the greater part of it. In connection 
 with his farming interests he has conducted 
 a store and cheese factory, and has met 
 with unbounded success in all his ventures. 
 Our subject has been indeed a self-made 
 man; beginning life without pecuniary 
 aid, he has risen by industry to the posi- 
 tion he now occupies among the leading 
 respected citizens of Glenmore township. 
 Being steady-going and reliable he won 
 the confidence of his employers, and he 
 has won and retained the esteem of his 
 fellowmen for his honestj- and square 
 dealing. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jacobsen have had eight 
 children, namel}': Emma, Jennie, Chris- 
 tina, Carl, Olena, Cigur and Clara, all 
 living, and Louisa, who died young. Mr. 
 Jacobsen has always been a Republican 
 in politics, and is one of the leaders of 
 the party in his township, where he has 
 been elected to various positions of honor 
 and trust. Since 1885 he has been school 
 clerk, and he served two terms as town- 
 ship treasurer, discharging the duties of 
 his office conscientiously and to the satis- 
 faction of all concerned. Socially he has 
 been a member of the Royal Arcanum, 
 Green Bay Lodge, since 1882, and in 
 religious connection he and his wife are 
 members of the Lutheran Church at 
 Glenmore, in which he has been trustee 
 since his residence in the township. 
 
 CASPER SCHADEN, a well-known 
 member of the farming commu- 
 nity of De Pere township. Brown 
 county, was born April 2, 1842, 
 in Prussia, son of Frank J. and Catherine 
 (Cornelius) Schaden, the latter of whom 
 died when Casper was an infant. The 
 father was subsequently married again, 
 this time to Gertrude Andre, by whom 
 
 he had four children : Mary, Gertrude, 
 Joseph and Anna Mary ; by his first wife 
 he had two children, Catherine and Cas- 
 per, and of the entire family, four children 
 are yet living. Frank J. Schaden was a 
 blacksmith, and a successful tradesman. 
 
 In 1852, his second wife having also 
 died, Frank J. Schaden concluded to 
 bring his family to America, and after an 
 ocean voyage of forty-eight days, they 
 landed in New York City, thence imme- 
 diately coming westward to Milwaukee, 
 Wis., where they visited friends. From 
 Milwaukee thej' came direct to De Pere, 
 Brown county, where Mr. Schaden had 
 two brothers-in-law living, and during the 
 first winter the family were scattered, the 
 father working hard to get a start. He 
 purchased twenty acres of new land, and 
 erected a log house thereon, in which the 
 family lived for some time, and, with the 
 aid of his sons, he eventually cleared the 
 farm and converted it into a cultivated 
 productive tract. He died September 23, 
 1886, at the home of his daughter, and 
 was buried in Denmark, Brown county. 
 
 Casper Schaden attended school in 
 his native land until he came with his 
 father to the United States, after which 
 he was obliged to give up school, as his 
 help was needed on the farm, where he 
 was thoroughly trained to agricultural 
 pursuits. When he first came to De- 
 Pere township there were no roads for 
 wagons, and he had to carry flour 
 on his shoulder from Green Bay. One 
 night his sister and one of the younger 
 boys went after the cows, but dark- 
 ness coming on before she reached 
 home with them, she lost her way and was 
 compelled to remain in the woods all 
 night. Our subject remained on the farm 
 continuously until i860, in the fall of 
 which 3ear he went to Pensaukee, \N'is., 
 and commenced to work in the lumber 
 regions, where he experienced hardships 
 and .privations which only the strongest 
 constitution could withstand. In the 
 spring he would return to the farm and 
 there remain during the summer, return- 
 
294 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BI06BAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ing to the lumber regions in the winter. 
 He worked in Stiles, Oconto county, one 
 winter, and was also employed by a man 
 named Raymen, in Denmark, for the Two 
 Rivers Company; for two winters he was 
 in the employ of Richie, from De Pere, 
 and together with this he also drove team 
 for sixteen winters. 
 
 On January 29, 1867, Mr. Schaden 
 was married to Miss Catherine Kohren, 
 and since then he has given his attention 
 exclusively to farming. He first purchased 
 twenty acres of land, which he paid for 
 with the pine timber cut from the place, 
 and by the united efforts of himself and 
 wife the land was cleared and improved, 
 and later added to, until they now own 
 sixty-five acres of fertile, well-cultivated 
 land. They have had twelve children, as 
 follows: Casper, born October 21, 1869; 
 Joseph, born January 2, 1871 (deceased); 
 Kate, born March 18, 1872 (deceased); 
 Peter, born Januar\- 25, 1873; Joseph, 
 born May 24, 1874 (deceased); Kate, 
 born February 28, 1876; Nick, born 
 October 17, 1 877; Mary M., born Decem- 
 ber 12, 1879; Elizabeth, born April 8, 
 1882; Gertrude, born March 10, 1884; 
 Ann A., born January 28, i 886; and John, 
 born October 28, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Schaden were originally members of the 
 Catholic Church in Green Bay, but now 
 belong to the church in New Denmark, in 
 which latter they celebrated their silver 
 wedding January 29, 1892, Rev. Father 
 Garus officiating. Politically our subject 
 is a Democrat, and has served his town- 
 ship as path master two years, and as 
 school director. He is an honest, upright 
 citizen, and has the esteem and respect of 
 all who know him. 
 
 PHILLIP FALCK (deceased), who, 
 in his lifetime, was one of the 
 leading pioneers and merchants 
 of Morrison township. Brown 
 county, was born August 9, 18 18, in the 
 village of Kondersheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, 
 German\-. 
 
 His father, George Falck, a tailor by 
 trade, was twice married in Germany, 
 and by his first wife, whose maiden name 
 was Hahn, he had three children — Phillip, 
 Margaret, and Elizabeth. In 1837 he 
 came to the United States with his family, 
 and landed in New York, whence he went 
 to Albany, N. Y. Here it was that Phil- 
 lip began business for himself by peddling 
 goods throughout the land from a pack on 
 his back. He made money in the East, 
 but finally determined to come to Wis- 
 consin, where homes were then cheap, 
 and he virtually walked from New York 
 to Milwaukee with his pack on his back 
 (excepting, of course, when he was obliged 
 to cross streams or lakes on vessels), sell- 
 ing goods on the way, and adding to his 
 stock of cash. In the early part of i 843 
 he reached his destination, and took up 
 some land at Germantown, Washington 
 county, at that time a wilderness. He 
 made a small clearing, built a log cabin, 
 and, with a comrade, Frank Snyder, kept 
 bachelor's hall until his marriage, which 
 took place in January, 1847, with Cath- 
 erine Hangen, who was born October 27, 
 1828, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, a 
 daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Balser) 
 Hangen. Of this family four sisters — 
 Apollonia, Christina, Catherine, and Eliz- 
 abeth — came from Germany in 1S43, 
 and settled in Germantown, Washington 
 county. Mr. Falck lived in Washington 
 county until the fall of 1855, when he 
 settled in Morrison township. Brown 
 county, where he had previoush' bar- 
 gained for 200 acres of land with Mr. 
 Morrison, after whom the township 
 was named. He cleared up twelve acres 
 of his land, and for a year he and his 
 family lived in a little log house, when a 
 larger and more commodious dwelling was 
 built. As the tilled land hardly produced 
 enough for the support of the family, Mr. 
 Falck entered into merchandising, and 
 for some years he carried on the first store 
 in Morrison township in a part of his 
 dwelling house. His trade increased, and 
 he built an addition to his home, later, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOEAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 295 
 
 another addition, and still later, a de- 
 tached store, where the business has ever 
 since been carried on by his descendants. 
 Mr. Falck lived until September 27, 1889, 
 when, after a year's suffering of helpless- 
 ness from paralysis, he passed away, and 
 was buried in the Lutheran cemetery; he 
 was a Lutheran in his rehgious views, and 
 in politics was a Democrat. He had fil- 
 ially provided a home for his father and 
 mother, who died in Morrison, the father 
 at eighty-five and the mother at about 
 the same age. 
 
 The children born to Phillip and Cath- 
 erine Falck are Jacob, a liquor dealer of 
 De Pere; Phillip, a sketch of whom fol- 
 lows; Frank, a farmer of Seymour, Outa- 
 gamie county; George, a hotel-keeper at 
 Seymour, all born in Washington county; 
 Peter, a hotel and saloon keeper at Bril- 
 lion. Wis. ; Marks, a farmer in Morrison 
 township; Catherine, now Mrs. August 
 Seefeldt, of Morrison; John, a farmer of 
 Morrison township; Daniel, also of Mor- 
 rison, and Louis, a cheesemaker of the 
 same place, these six being all natives of 
 Morrison township. Since the death of 
 Mr. Falck, his widow, who is still a well- 
 preserved lady for her time of life, has re- 
 sided at the old home in Morrison, and 
 has with her her venerable mother, now 
 at the advanced age of ninety-four years. 
 
 PHILLIP FALCK, of Morrison 
 township. Brown county, was born 
 in Washington county, Wis. , No- 
 vember 10, 1850, and was but 
 four years of age when brought by his 
 parents to Brown county. He was 
 reared to farming in Morrison township, 
 and received a very fair education at the 
 district school. When old enough he 
 was placed in his father's store — the first 
 established in Morrison — and after a short 
 service was sent to Milwaukee; where he 
 took a thorough course in the Spencerian 
 Business College. In 1876, in partner- 
 ship with his brother Frank, he purchased 
 his father's store, and carried on the 
 
 business under the firm name of Phillip 
 Falck & Bro. , until the fall of 1889, when 
 he became the sole proprietor. 
 
 In April, 1875, Mr. Falck married, 
 at Morrison, Miss Alvina Lemke, who 
 was born January 28, 1853, in Germany, 
 and came to the United States when 
 about fourteen years of age. The union 
 has been blessed with three children, 
 namely: William C, Frank P., and 
 Lydia B. C, the sons both assisting in 
 their father's store. For nearly twenty 
 years Mr. Falck has carried on this busi- 
 ness so early and successfully established 
 in the wilderness by his father, Phillip 
 Falck. Having been reared under the 
 careful and watchful eye of his vHse and 
 prudent father, and having been apt and 
 read}' at all times to oblige his patrons 
 and customers, Phillip Falck has secured 
 a long list of friends, whom he has "grap- 
 pled to his soul with hooks of steel," and 
 no other proprietor of a country store in 
 Brown county can boast of a larger pat- 
 ronage. In politics Mr. Falck is a Demo- 
 crat, and in November, 1893, was ap- 
 pointed postmaster of Morrison. 
 
 CHRIST HANSEN, one of the 
 well-known business men and 
 farmers of Preble township, 
 Brown county, is a native of 
 Denmark, born September 25, 1846, son 
 of Hans Hansen, who was a brickmaker 
 and wagon wright by occupation. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 the common schools of his native land, 
 and when a mere youth commenced to 
 assist his father in the brickyard, continu- 
 ing thus until he reached the age of seven- 
 teen, when he commenced to learn the 
 brickmaker's trade. He served a three- 
 years' apprenticeship, during which period 
 he received only his board, his parents 
 being obliged to clothe him; subsequently 
 he worked for a time as journeyman. 
 Being a natural mechanic, he was also 
 able to do blacksmith work, and for two 
 years conducted a shop of his own for all 
 
296 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 kinds of repair work, at the end of which 
 time he sold out. Mr. Hansen was mar- 
 ried in Denmark to Miss Mary Yorpjensen, 
 a native of the same localit}-, and in that 
 country one child, Hans, was born to 
 them. In 1872, concluding to seek a 
 home for himself and family in the 
 United States, our subject sailed from 
 Copenhagen on an Anchor Line steamer, 
 and on April 8 landed in New York with 
 a light purse but bright prospects. In 
 Perth Amboy, N. J., he worked a short 
 time, making fire-brick, and then com- 
 menced blacksmithing at that place, con- 
 tinuing in the same for two years; shortly 
 after his arrival he had sent for his wife 
 and child, who reached America in July, 
 1872. From Perth Amboy, N. J., the 
 family removed to Woodbridge, same 
 State, and there remained six months, 
 during which time Mr. Hansen conducted 
 a saloon; but, being dissatisfied, he discon- 
 tinued the business, and for one summer 
 worked on a farm; then, during the fol- 
 lowing winter, went back to his old home 
 in Denmark, where he remained from 
 December until March. Returning to 
 New Jersey Mr. Hansen did not remain 
 long, but came westward to Green Bay, 
 Wis., arriving April i, 1875, and here 
 commencing to follow his trade at a saw- 
 mill, doing repair work, etc., for two 
 years. Removing thence to Humboldt 
 township, Brown county, he purchased a 
 piece of land, and here engaged in black- 
 smithing for four and a half years, at the 
 end of that time coming to Preble town- 
 ship, where he has ever since resided. 
 After settling here he followed farming 
 and blacksmith work for many 3'ears, and 
 for the last eight seasons has conducted a 
 brickyard on his farm, in which time he 
 has turned out ever one million five hun- 
 dred thousand brick, all made by hand. 
 His life has been one of constant toil, but 
 he has succeeded in making for himself a 
 comfortable home, and has won and re- 
 tained the respect of all who know him 
 for his honesty and square dealing. He 
 is well known in his township, and has 
 
 served as school clerk and treasurer with 
 credit to himself and satisfaction to his 
 constituency, being faithful and efficient 
 in the discharge of all his duties. Until 
 the office was abolished at Weisert he was 
 postmaster there, having the office in the 
 brick storeroom on his farm, where, since 
 July, 1892, he has carried on a saloon 
 business. In political connection he is a 
 Republican. When he landed in the 
 United States he had four dollars; but, not 
 allowing himself to become discouraged, 
 he set to work with a will, and has met 
 with well-merited success. 
 
 To Mr. Hansen's first marriage were 
 born three children: Hans, who died in 
 New Jersey; a daughter that died in in- 
 fancy in Green Bay; and Christina, now 
 living at home. The mother of these 
 died in 1890, and was buried at Green 
 Bay; in January, 1891, Mr. Hansen mar- 
 ried Miss Caroline Neilson, who is a na- 
 tive of New Denmark, Brown county, 
 and to this union has come one child, 
 Carl Christ. 
 
 JH. LEONARD, life insurance agent 
 at No. 105 North Washington street. 
 Green Bay, was born in Brooklyn, 
 N. Y. , in 1843, a son of Stephen 
 and Mary (Howard) Leonard, natives of 
 England. Stephen Leonard was a sea- 
 captain, pl\'ing between Liverpool and 
 New York, and early took up his residence 
 in the latter city, where he died in 1845, 
 his widow surviving until 1859. 
 
 ]. H. Leonard was reared in that part 
 of Brooklyn then known as Williamsburg, 
 ami at the age of si.xteen came to Wis- 
 consin and first engaged in clerking in 
 Manitowoc. In 1860-61 he attended 
 school in Madison, Wis., and in April, 
 1 86 1, enlisted in the Manitowoc County 
 Guards, which company was later merged 
 with Company A, Fifth Wisconsin Infan- 
 try, enlisted for three years' service. This 
 regiment was assigned to the Sixth Army 
 Corps, Army of the Potomac, and partici- 
 pated in the battles of Williamsburg, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 297 
 
 Gainesville, White Oak Swamp. Malvern 
 Hill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancel- 
 lorsville, Gett3'sburg, Rappahannock Sta- 
 tion; through Gen. Grant's campaign, in- 
 cl uding SpottS3'lvania, Petersburg and Cold 
 Harbor. He was wounded by a gunshot 
 at Rappahannock Station, but happily 
 soon recovered. From private he was 
 promoted to sergeant, and for meritorious 
 and gallant conduct was offered a com- 
 mission as first lieutenant. He received 
 his discharge July 27, 1864, and returned 
 to Manitowoc, where he, for a while, was 
 engaged in teaching, and afterward at 
 Kewaunee. In July, 1874, he came to 
 Green Bay, and was employed as book- 
 keeper by the L. M. Marshall Lumber 
 Company. In politics Mr. Leonard is a 
 Republican, and for six and a half years, 
 from January, 1878, to July, 1885, was 
 city superintendent of schools; from 1889 
 to August, 1893, he was internal revenue 
 collector, since when he has been engaged 
 in his present business. The marriage of 
 Mr. Leonard took place in 1867, in Mani- 
 towoc county. Wis., to Miss Martha 
 Gould, a native of Racine, and daughter 
 of Edwin and Hester Ann (Barnes) Gould, 
 natives, respectively, of New York and 
 Massachusetts. Mr. Gould was a pioneer 
 of Racine, was a tanner by vocation, and 
 died in Green Bay; Mrs. Gould died in 
 Racine. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard had born 
 to them two children: Mattie Alice, wife 
 of F. F. Jones, of Harvey, 111. (she is a 
 graduate of the Green Bay high school, 
 and Lawrence University, Appjeton), and 
 C. J., who died at the age of three years. 
 Mr. Leonard is largely associated with 
 secret societies, being a member of Wash- 
 ington Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M. ; of 
 Warren Chapter No. 8; secretary of Pales- 
 tine Commandery, No. 20; member of 
 Pochequette Lodge, No. 26, K. of P. ; 
 Xavarino Lodge, No. 1384, K. of H. ; of 
 T. O. Howe Post No. 124, G. A. R., of 
 which he is post commander, and is past 
 chancellor in the K. of P., a record which 
 proves his great popularity, and the ex- 
 tent of the affectionate hold he has upon 
 
 his fellow-men. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard 
 are members of the M. E. Church at 
 Green Bay, of which he is a steward and 
 trustee; he was also formerly superintend- 
 ent of the Sunday-school, and is still a 
 teacher. He has witnessed much of the 
 substantial growth of Green Bay, and has 
 always been, since his residence in the 
 city, an eager promoter of its prosperity 
 by all means within his power. 
 
 HERBERT F. CAMM, of the in- 
 surance and real-estate firm of 
 Camm & Erbe, Fort Howard, 
 commenced business in 1891, cor- 
 ner of Main and Broadway, the firm 
 doing a general insurance business, and 
 handling city property. 
 
 Mr. Camm was born in 1866, in Fort 
 Howard. His father, Thomas M. Camm, 
 was also born in Fort Howard, in 1828, 
 in the government fort (old Fort Howard) 
 at that place.'in which his father, Orderly- 
 Sergeant John Camm (grandfather of our 
 subject) was stationed as a member of 
 the detachment from the United States 
 army then garrisoning the fort, and where 
 he had been since 1826. The worthy 
 Sergeant died in Michigan of cholera, 
 during the Black Hawk war of 1832, 
 when so many of the soldiers fell victims 
 to the same disease. He was a native of 
 England, and his wife, Martha (Campbell), 
 was a descendant of the noted Clan 
 Campell (Duke of Argyle's clan) of 
 Scotland. Their son, Thomas M., was 
 reared in the neighborhood where he first 
 saw the light, and was educated in the 
 schools of Green Bay. He is one of the 
 oldest pioneer merchants in the Green 
 Bay region, beginning as a clerk and at 
 length engaging in business for himself. 
 In 1864 he was married, at Fort Howard, 
 to Miss Caroline Gray, who was born in 
 Canada, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John 
 Gray, the former of whom was a native 
 of the North of Ireland, the latter of Penn- 
 sylvania, being descended from the early 
 Pennsylvania-Dutch settlers. Thomas M. 
 
29S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Camni has been in active business about 
 forty years. Politically a Republican, he 
 has been a member of the town board, 
 member of the school board, superin- 
 tendent of schools and postmaster at 
 Fort Howard, where he and his wife still 
 reside. Besides one son, Herbert F., 
 they had two daughters: Edith M., who 
 resides at home, and Ethel C, who died 
 at the age of twelve years. 
 
 Herbert F. Camm, like his father, was 
 reared and educated in Fort Howard. 
 When of proper age he began clerking in 
 his father's store, leaving there to take up 
 the study of architecture, while studjing 
 which he was tendered a position in the 
 McCartney National Bank, which he ac- 
 cepted, filling same for three years, and 
 then resigning to enter the line of busi- 
 ness in which he is now engaged. He is 
 in direct line from one of the oldest resi- 
 dents of Fort Howard, and, in all re- 
 spects, is " native here and to the manner 
 born." Politically he is 'independent, 
 voting for what he deems the best meas- 
 ures. By profession he is an architect, 
 and has done not a little in that line, as 
 many handsome structures testify, but 
 prefers the active life of business, hence 
 his present connection. He is a member 
 of the Y. M. C. A., having been one of 
 the founders of the local branch of that 
 sterling: institution. 
 
 CHESTER G. WILCOX, post- 
 master at De Pere, Brown county, 
 and well known as a manufac- 
 turer of harness, saddles, etc., 
 and albeit a politician of much shrewd- 
 ness and merit, was born May 29, 1848, 
 in Milford, Oakland Co., Mich., the day 
 on which the State of Wisconsin was ad- 
 mitted to the Union. 
 
 He is a son of Levi S. Wilcox, whose 
 biography will be found in the closing 
 paragraphs of this sketch. Chester G. 
 Wilcox received an excellent literary 
 education at the Union Seminary of Cam- 
 den, N. Y., and at Utica University, 
 
 Utica, Mich., which was supplemented 
 by a course of studj' in Bryant & Strat- 
 ton's Connnercial College, of Utica, from 
 which he graduated in bookkeeping, and 
 later taught a class in this art at the same 
 college. While a student at Camden he 
 began to learn the trade of harness mak- 
 ing, and finished at Rome, N. Y. In 
 1865, on June 17, he arrived at Milwau- 
 kee, Wis., being at the time the happy- 
 possessor of $17 in cash; thence he went to 
 Wheeler Prairie, Dane Co., Wis., where 
 he found employment on a farm. His 
 next permanent place of residence was 
 De Pere, where his uncle, E. I. Wilcox, 
 was principal of the high school. Here 
 he obtained a certificate as a school- 
 teacher, but never utilized it, as he found 
 a broader and more remunerative field in 
 the harness business in Green Bay, which 
 he followed three years, \vhen he returned 
 to New York on account of the illness of 
 his father, and from there to the Utica 
 University, already alluded to. In 1870 
 he again came to De Pere, and formed a 
 partnership with John H. McDonakl in 
 the harness business, their store being at 
 the corner of James street and Broad 
 way. For seventeen years the firm did a 
 prosperous business, and during that period 
 every other business house in De Pere 
 either failed, changed hands or dissolved. 
 In 1 87 I Mr. Wilcox entered into the real- 
 estate business on a small scale; but it has 
 continued to increase ever since — in fact, 
 from 1885 to 1894 it was estimated that 
 his transactions in this line exceeded those 
 of any other dealer in Brown county, and, 
 in the hundreds of real-estate deals he has 
 made, not a single deal or deed has been 
 questioned, nor has he ever foreclosed a 
 mortgage. He is now the owner of much 
 \aluable property in De Pere and the sur- 
 rounding country, including residences, 
 business houses and farms, and is also 
 owner of the " Broadway House" at Fort 
 Howard; but he nevertheless clings to the 
 harness business in De Pere. 
 
 In politics Mr. Wilcox is a Democrat. 
 In 1873 he was elected alderman of De- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 301 
 
 Pere against William P. Call, and served 
 three or four terms, resigning during his 
 last term; was elected to the school board, 
 was its president three terms, and is 
 president at the present time; was elected 
 to the county board in 1878, and, with 
 the exception of one year, served continu- 
 ously for fourteen years; in 1880 he was 
 elected to the State Assembly, and served 
 one term, being the youngest member of 
 that Legislature. He has been chairman 
 of the Brown County Central Democratic 
 Committee, and delegate time and again 
 to Democratic county and State Conven- 
 tions. Along with A. E. Decker, of 
 Fond du Lac, he was a State delegate to 
 the National Convention of the Knights of 
 Labor held at Richmond, Va. , in 1886. 
 At three different times he was appointed, 
 by the circuit judges of as majiy districts, 
 commissioner for the equalization of 
 ta.xes, and revised the tax lists of Outa- 
 gamie, Door and Oconto counties. On 
 December 12, 1893, he was appointed 
 postmaster of De Pere, and is now filling 
 the office to the entire satisfaction of the 
 public and the department, and with 
 credit to himself. As a citizen Mr. Wil- 
 cox has been more than ordinarily active 
 and useful. He was one of the project- 
 ors and organizers of the Brown County 
 Agricultural & Mechanical Association, 
 has been a member thirteen years, and 
 for three years filled the chair as presi- 
 dent; he has also been its treasurer and 
 superintendent. In 1871 he was one of 
 the organizers of the first fire company in 
 De Pere, drew up its first by-laws, and 
 has been a member ever since. No mem- 
 ber of the company ever beat him in 
 " nmning with the machine." Indeed, 
 Mr. Wilcox excels as a runner, has been 
 in many running matches of one hundred 
 yards, and has made the distance in ten 
 and one-quarter seconds, when he beat 
 John Gray, ex-champion of Canada, in 
 Oneida county, N. Y. In 1876 he was 
 captain and catcher in the De Pere Base 
 Ball Club, and won the championship 
 of Brown county. He has served as 
 
 17 
 
 president of the Business Men's Associa- 
 tion of De Pere, and is now treasurer; 
 is also the treasurer of the De Pere Elec- 
 tric Light & Power Compan}', which he 
 originated. He helped to organize the 
 Artesian Watei< Supply Company, and is 
 one of the largest stockholders therein; is 
 vice-president of the State Agricultural 
 Society, and superintendent of one of its 
 seven departments; he also helped in se- 
 curing the water-power for the paper-mill 
 at De Pere, and has been quite prominent 
 in forwarding numerous other enterprises 
 of great benefit to the city. He engineered 
 the deal resulting in the purchase of 1,200 
 acres of land for $120, 000, for the Allouez 
 Land & Improvement Company, in 1893, 
 and also secured the land at Little Rapids, 
 abutting the dam, for Davis Bros., besides 
 conducting manj' other important real- 
 estate transactions, too numerous to be 
 mentioned within the scope of this bio- 
 graphical sketch. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Wilcox took place 
 June 15, 1 87 1, with Miss Sarah J. Miller, 
 daughter of Godfrey Miller, a wealthy 
 farmer of Brown county, who died in No- 
 vember, 1893, and whose widow, Caro- 
 line fStuart) Miller, now resides in De- 
 Pere. To this union four children have 
 been born, two of whom: Levi S. and 
 Chester G., aged twenty years and one 
 year, respectively, are living. Frater- 
 nally, Mr. Wilcox is a Freemason. His 
 rectitude and abstemiousness arc remark- 
 able. He has never used tobacco in any 
 form, has never tasted a drop of beer or 
 liquor, except as medicine, has never 
 played a game of cards or any other 
 game of chance, has never been arrested, 
 and has never had a law-suit for himself. 
 He is not connected with any Church. 
 
 Levi S. Wilcox, father of Chester G. 
 Wilcox, was born December 3, 181 8, in 
 the town of Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. 
 Y. , and was a son of Chester Wilcox, a 
 farmer and live-stock dealer, who married 
 Lorelia Sperry, a native of Oneida county, 
 New York. 
 
 Levi S. W'ilcox was reared to farming 
 
302 
 
 COMMEilOHAriVE BWOliAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 on the north side of Oneida Lake, N. Y., 
 and at twenty-one years of age migrated 
 to Ohio, then considered to be in the 
 " Far West. " Here he worked a year 
 and a half at coopering and farming, and 
 then returned to New York State and 
 worked four years for Carter Bros., 
 farmers, tanners and merchants of Oswego 
 county. On April 20, 1846, he married 
 Isabella Lambic, who was born April 3, 
 1825, in Scotland, and at the age of six 
 years was brought to this country by her 
 parents, John and Jane (Allen) Lambie. 
 The father, John Lambie, was in failing 
 health when he left Scotland, and came 
 to America with the hope of recovery, but 
 he gradually declined, and died March 
 28, 1834, his remains being interred at 
 Camden, Oneida Co., N. Y. His widow 
 died at the home of her son-in-law, Levi 
 S. Wilcox, April 22, 1869, and her re- 
 mains now rest beside those of her hus- 
 baiul. She was the mother of ten chil- 
 dren, of whom two only survive — Mrs. 
 Wilcox and Jeannette, the wife of John 
 Carter, of Pleasant Valley, Oakland Co. , 
 Mich. Soon after his marriage Mr. Wil- 
 cox bought eighty acres of land in the 
 town of Highland, Oakland Co., Mich., 
 and on this land he lived five years, when 
 he returned to Camden, N. Y. , and for 
 sometime worked for a furniture company 
 as deliverer, etc. , using the identical team 
 that hauled him and his family back from 
 Michigan — going via Canada. He then 
 followed the livery and stage business for 
 eight or ten years, and also dealt in 
 horses, using New York City as a market. 
 Later, in company with John Lambie, he 
 built a gristmill, but, in a short time there- 
 after, he disposed of this property and re- 
 engaged in the livery business for three or 
 four years, and then moved to Lowville, 
 Lewis Co., N. Y., and followed the livery 
 business until the fall of 1S81, when he 
 came to Brown county, Wis. , and for a 
 year resided in De Pere, undisturbed by 
 business cares. About 1883 he purchased 
 the farm in I^rown county on which he 
 now resides, and which he has converted 
 
 into one of the prettiest homes on the 
 Fox river, The children born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. L. S. Wilcox were named as 
 follows: Chester G., whose sketch ap- 
 pears abo\e; Jane M., who was born in 
 Michigan, and is now the widow of A. S. 
 Fiheld, of De Pere; John, born in Oneida 
 county, N. Y. , now a harness maker at 
 Fort Howard, Wis. ; Lilly, now Mrs. 
 Dennis B. Foster, of Fairchild, Wis. ; 
 William, twin of Lill\-, who died at the 
 age of eight months. Mr. Wilcox is a 
 Democrat in politics, and in religion is 
 Presbjterian. 
 
 G 
 
 ODFREY MILLER (deceased), 
 was born October 8, 181 3, in 
 Warren county, N. Y., and was 
 married November 5, 1840, to 
 Caroline Margaret Stewart, daughter of 
 Robert D. Stewart. Mrs. Miller was 
 born June 4, 1817, and bore her husband 
 three daughters, as follows: Emma Cot- 
 ten, who was born June 25, 1843, was 
 married to Jerome Tyler, and is now a 
 widow, residing at De Pere; Amia Rose- 
 bery, born January 29, 1847, was mar- 
 ried to George Woodward, of Kaukaima, 
 in June, 1870; Sarah Jane, married to 
 Chester G. Wilcox in June, 1870. 
 
 Godfrey Miller was a wheelwright by 
 trade, and for seven years worked at his 
 vocation in Easton, Penn., having charge 
 of the shop most of the time. In 1837 
 he came to De Pere, Brown Co., Wis., 
 and in the sunnner of the same year built 
 a sawmill in Fond du Lac, there being 
 but two white families in the place at 
 that time. He then returned to De Pere 
 and continued to work at his trade until 
 1839, when he bought a farm of eighty 
 acres, one mile south of West De Pere. 
 The only gristmill was then at "Cocoa- 
 low," or Little Chute, and from De Pere 
 a skiff-load of grist would be taken down 
 one day, be ground, and returned the 
 next. In 1842 he moved into his house 
 on this farm, and there resided the re- 
 mainder of his days. Under the direc- 
 
COMMEMORATIVK niOGIlAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 303 
 
 tion of Mr. Miller the first dam, a spar 
 dam, was built across the Fox river at De- 
 Pere. Many sawmills in the neighbor- 
 hood were also built under his direction. 
 In politics Mr. Miller was a Reiiublican. 
 He was the first treasurer of Lawrence 
 township, which he had helped to organ- 
 i/;e, and filled the office many years; he 
 also served on the school board with much 
 efficiency. He was an active member of 
 the Presbyterian Church — first at Green 
 Bay; later, a member and trustee at De- 
 Pere. His death took place suddenly on 
 the night of November 2, 1893, his corpse 
 being found by his wife at seven o'clock 
 the ne.xt morning. Mr. Miller was one of 
 the most respected of the early settlers of 
 De Pere, honored for his sterling quali- 
 ties of both head and heart. He was 
 thoroughly versed in the topics of the day 
 and the affairs of the world, being a 
 studious reader. His widow now resides 
 at De Pere, aged seventy-si.\ years, and 
 is still bright and active. 
 
 WILLIAM COOK, one of the most 
 prosperous agriculturists and 
 lumbermen of Suamico town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a native 
 of New York State, born in Chazy town- 
 ship, Clinton county, October 12, 1841, a 
 son of John and Anna Cook. 
 
 John Cook, father of our subject, was 
 born in the city of York, England, whence, 
 at the age of fifteen years, he emigrated 
 to this continent, for some five years mak- 
 ing his home in Canada, then moving to 
 New York State (probably St. Lawrence 
 county), where he met and married Miss 
 Ann Leger, a native of Canada. She is 
 a daughter of Francis and Margaret 
 (Lorette) Leger, French Canadians by 
 birth, respectable farming people, who 
 ino\ed from Canada to New York State, 
 later to Wisconsin, where they passed 
 the remainder of their lives, dying at 
 the home of our subject's mother, he at 
 the great age of one hundred and three 
 years, she when seventy years old. 
 
 They were the parents of ten chil- 
 dren. John Cook was a day laborer until 
 coming to the United States; then, in St. 
 Lawrence county, N. Y. , he bought a 
 farm, and conducted same until 1856, 
 when he came west to Wisconsin, and 
 purchased the property still occupied by 
 his widow, in Suamico township. Brown 
 county, where he conducted a tavern. 
 Mr. Cook died on the homestead, in the 
 fall of 1890, at the ripe age of seventy- 
 eight years, and, when he was no more, 
 the community in which he had lived 
 felt that there had departed from their 
 midst a grand, good man. He and his 
 faithful wife accumulated several acres of 
 wild land, which, by honest /:oil and untir- 
 ing energy, they converted into fertile 
 fields, and here she is yet living, in the 
 old-time tavern that for over thirty-five 
 years has been known as one of the best 
 hostelries in this section of the country. 
 William Cook, the subject proper of 
 these lines, received a liberal education 
 at the schools of his native township, and 
 was reared to farming pursuits under the 
 tuition of his father. In 1856 he came to 
 Wisconsin with the rest of the family, 
 and in Suamico township. Brown county, 
 has since remained, actively engaged in 
 agricultural and lumbering pursuits, now 
 owning over 900 acres of prime farming 
 land. His success in life may be said to 
 have had its commencement, or at any 
 rate considerable impetus, in this way. 
 One day he set out to hunt up the cows, 
 and found them on land covered with 
 pine timber. He brought them home, 
 and that same night proceeded to Chicago, 
 where he bought two "forties" oi land 
 here, paying for same the sum of two 
 thousand dollars. Attorney Robert Lin- 
 coln, son of Abraham Lincoln, making out 
 the deed. Two weeks afterward William 
 Cook sold his purchase for two thousand 
 dollars per "forty," to A. Weed, who, at 
 that time, had a sawmill three miles from 
 Flintville, on the Suamico river. William 
 Cook is considerably interested in real 
 estate, owning, in the village of Flintville, 
 
304 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 several choice biiildinj; lots, as well as some 
 2,800 acres of timber land elsewere; and in 
 all respects is one of the leading, progres- 
 sive and affluent citizens of Brown county. 
 He is a representative self-made man, a 
 typical American hustler, in spite of his 
 impaired eyesight. In the first winter 
 after his marriage he commenced lumber- 
 ing, and his indefatigable, clever wife did 
 all the cooking for the camp, three long 
 winters, sometimes providing for as many 
 as from twenty-five to thirty men, in ad- 
 dition to which she kept the men's time 
 and her husband's accounts. After they 
 had succeeded in making sufficient clear- 
 ing, which took two or three years, 
 they commenced cultivating their present 
 fertile farm, situated a few miles from 
 their present home. At the present time 
 he owns and operates a large sawmill 
 ninety miles north of Green Bay on the 
 Milwaukee & Northern railroad, and he 
 expects to cut three million feet this 
 winter. 
 
 On November 27, 1865, Mr. Cook 
 was married to Mrs. Eliza Douglas {)ice 
 Millington), widow of G. Stephen Doug- 
 las, an Englishman by birth, to whom 
 she was married Maj- 3, 1856, and who 
 died, during the Civil war, at Antietain, 
 Md., September 16, 1862. Mrs. Eliza 
 Cook is a very refined and highly accom- 
 plished lady, and for some time was a 
 successful school teacher, first in the 
 academy where she was receiving instruc- 
 tion, afterward teaching in the town of 
 Vienna, Oneida Co., N. Y. , in the same 
 schoolhouse she used to attend when a 
 child; and, still later, a school in the 
 village of Cleveland, Oswego county, the 
 last of her teaching in New York State. 
 In Flintville, Wis., she taught four years, 
 during which time she also tended the 
 little store that will be spoken of farther 
 on. To Mr. and Mrs. Cook came two 
 children — William E. and Jay — both 
 born in the house where the family are 
 j'et residing, the former August 15, 1872, 
 the later October 3, 1875. Of these, 
 "William E. was educated at the district 
 
 schools and Green Bay Business College, 
 after which he kept books two years for 
 Cook & Boulet, merchants and lumber- 
 men. Jay was married in the fall of 
 1894 to Miss M3Ttle A. Huntington, who 
 was but seventeen years old on the 24th 
 of last September, and whom he had 
 known from childhood. The entire family 
 are identified with the Congregational 
 Church, in which Mrs. Cook is an active 
 worker; in his political proclivities our 
 subject has always been a Democrat. 
 
 Mrs. Eliza Cook is a native of New 
 York State, born in Oneida county, to 
 Thomas R. and Betsy (Hall) Millington, 
 the father also a native of Oneida county, 
 N. Y. (he has been blind for the past 
 fifty years of his life, and at the age of 
 ninety is 3'et living at the home of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Cook), the mother born in 
 Rochester, Mass., and died in New York 
 State, at the age of thirty-two; they had 
 one son and two daughters. The first of 
 the Millington family to come to this 
 country from Wales (where, by the way, 
 the name was spelled Myllington) was 
 Peter, in 1740, accompanied by his wife 
 (who had with her a two-year-old son, 
 named Peter), and his brother Isaac. 
 Peter was an officer in the French and 
 Indian war, stationed at Fort Wang, 
 where is now the city of Albany, N. Y. ; 
 Isaac was killed by the Indians. Their 
 father, David Millington, died in Wales 
 in 1745, leaving for his heirs in America 
 an estate that is now worth half a million 
 dollars, besides a considerable sum of 
 money in the bank. His son Peter mar- 
 ried an English lady named Anna Roberts, 
 and by her had seven children — three 
 sons, Peter, H. Gates and Asa, and four 
 daughters, Polly, Hester, Betsy and Millie. 
 His home was at Bennington, \'t. , and he 
 owned a farm on the banks of the Hoosac 
 river. He served in the Revolutionary 
 war, in the Green Mountain Rangers, and, 
 though he participated in many battles, 
 was never wounded; was taken prisoner 
 twice, however, but on each occasion 
 elTected his escape, the second time 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 305 
 
 through the bravery and cleverness of a 
 Miss Hannah Wright, who will again be 
 referred to. After the war he sold his 
 farm in Vermont, and moving to New 
 York State, located in Springfield town- 
 ship, Otsego county, near the head of 
 Lake Otsego, later making his home in 
 Vienna township, on the banks of Lake 
 Oneida, where he died in 1809, leaving 
 his widow well provided for. 
 
 H. Gates Millington, second son of 
 Peter and Anna (Roberts) Millington, was 
 Mrs. Eliza Cook's grandfather. He was 
 born June 20, 1777, and died May 26, 
 1849; married Miss Mary Roberts, who 
 was born Februar}' 25, 1782, married at 
 the age of seventeen, and died February 
 14, 1871 ; she was a daughter of Samuel 
 and Hannah (Wright) Roberts (the mother 
 being the heroine who in her girlhood 
 was the means of Peter Miilington's es- 
 caping from Burgoyne's soldiers, as al- 
 ready referred to). Samuel Roberts and 
 several brothers served in the war of the 
 Revolution, all escaping wounds or cap- 
 ture; he being a brother to Mrs. Peter 
 Millington, it shows that Mrs. Eliza 
 Cook's grandfather and grandmother were 
 first cousins. Samuel Roberts was killed 
 by a falling tree while he was clearing a 
 site at Crown Point, N. Y., near the 
 Vermont border line. H. Gates Milling- 
 ton had three sons and one daughter, 
 their names and dates of birth being as 
 follows: Thomas Ransom, November 4, 
 1804; Moremus, September 10, 1806; 
 Samuel, April 16, 1808, and Julia Ann, 
 March 3, 1812. 
 
 Thomas R. Millington, the eldest of 
 these, was Mrs. Eliza Cook's father. He 
 was married March 2, 1828, at the home 
 of the bride in Hastings township, Os- 
 wego county, N. Y., to Miss Betsy Hall, 
 who was born October 9, 1 804, daughter 
 of Jonathan and Abigail Hall, the former 
 a native of Vermont, born of English an- 
 cestry who came from England in the 
 "Mayflower" in 1620 (two brothers, 
 were Jonathan and William Hall). They 
 were married October 24, 1 784, and had 
 
 nine children — five sons: Heman, Hosea, 
 Hopestill, Josiah, and John ; and four 
 daughters : Irene, Betsy, Abigail, and 
 Harriet. The father died in the town of 
 Hastings, Oswego county, N. Y., at the 
 age of seventy-two years ; in the war for 
 Independence he served as a wagon-mas- 
 ter. Mrs. Eliza Cook's grandmother, 
 Abigail (Bisbee) Hall, was born October 
 
 21, 1767, in Massachusetts, the eldest 
 child of Hopestill and Abigail (Churchill) 
 Bisbee, the latter of whom was in some 
 way related to Lord Churchill, of Lon- 
 don, England. Mrs. Jonathan Hall's 
 father was the first to erect a furnace in 
 Massachusetts for the making of pew- 
 ter and Britannia metal dishes, etc. ; it 
 was built in North Rochester, but was 
 long ago converted into a saw and grist 
 mill, and the farm on which it stood has 
 never gone out of the Bisbee family, hav- 
 ing been handed down from father to son. 
 
 After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Thomas 
 R. Millington commenced housekeeping 
 in a neat, comfortable log house on the 
 shore of Lake Oneida, Oneida county, N. 
 Y. , and here were born one son and 
 two daughters, their names and dates of 
 birth being as follows : Marcus, Octo- 
 ber 25, 1829; Eliza (Mrs. William Cook), 
 November 6, 1834; and Betsy J., July 
 
 22, 1836. On February 19, 1838, the 
 mother died, of consumption, leaving the 
 three little children to the care of the 
 bereaved father, whose affliction was in- 
 tensified by his being nearly blind, the 
 result of an attack of measles he suffered 
 soon after marriage, on which account he 
 had subsequently to enter the Eye Infirm- 
 ary at Rochester. She was a faithful 
 wife, the kindest of mothers, and a true 
 friend to all ; in her housekeeping affairs 
 she was ever neat, tidy and industrious, 
 while no woman could be more clever 
 with the needle ; and her call from earth 
 was mourned not only by the husband, 
 children and other relatives, but also by a 
 wide circle of sorrowing friends. The 
 children, after the death of their mother, 
 were taken to the home of their grand- 
 
3o6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGIiAPII/CAL liECOUD. 
 
 parents, with whom they lived five years, 
 cnjoyiiij,' ever)' comfort and attention, the 
 grandfather especially, who was a devout 
 Christian man, being exceeding!}' kind to 
 them, lint, alas ! the pleasant, peaceful 
 home was destined to be broken up in an 
 unexpected and dire manner, the cosy 
 house and all its contents being burned to 
 the ground in a bright afternoon in the 
 fall of 1843, while all the inmates were 
 temporarily absent. After this Mr. Mil- 
 lington again took charge of his daughter 
 Eliza, and went to housekeeping, renting 
 part of a house occupied by a Quaker 
 family, who were very kind to her, one 
 and all taking an imseltish interest in her 
 welfare. After a time she went to li\e 
 with a married uncle (her mother's eldest 
 brother) in Onondaga Valley, and she 
 then went to district scIkioI and acad- 
 emy several terms, intending to qual- 
 ify for the profession of school teacher"; 
 which vocation she commenced at the age 
 of seventeen, continuing in same with 
 eminent success until her marriage with 
 G. S. Dcjuglas, as already recorded. 
 
 He was a nati\'e of the cit)' of York, 
 England, born May 9, 1830, of Scotch 
 descent on his father's side. In the 
 fall of 1856 her father set out for 
 Wisconsin, bought land, then returned 
 to New York State, sold his property 
 and once more, in the fall of 1861, 
 came to Wisconsin, his daughter, Mrs. 
 Douglas (at that time), and her little 
 daughter accompanying him, Mr. Douglas 
 having gone to the war, and, having saved 
 some money, bought land in Oconto 
 county, near the Hrown county line, 
 which he held several years and then sold. 
 On November 17, 1858, a little girl was 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, but was 
 carried off by scarlet fever in 1864, a most 
 interesting, lovable child, gone to mingle 
 with the angelic throng. In 1862, at this 
 place, which afterward came to be known 
 as Flintville, in Suamico township, 
 Thomas R. Millington and his daughter, 
 Mrs. Eliza Douglas, opened out a general 
 store, buying their stock of groceries in 
 
 Fort Howard, and their dry goods in Green 
 Bay, from which time, up to her marriage 
 with Mr. Cook, she assisted in her father's 
 store in l-'lintville, also teaching school, 
 as above stated. 
 
 When Mrs. Cook came to this part of 
 Wisconsin, she traveled by water from 
 Buffalo to Cireen Bay, to the place now 
 called Flintville, where she has always 
 resided since coming west, and she found 
 things in a very primitive condition. 
 There was no railroad, the nearest post- 
 office (Fort Howard) was twelve miles dis- 
 tant, and the only span of horses in the 
 township was owned by John Cook, her 
 present father-in-law, so that ox-teams 
 may be said to have been the only mode 
 of transportation. The first Sunday- 
 school in Flint\ille was organized in 1863 
 by a Mr. Lepard, of which school Mrs. 
 Douglas was made first superintendent. 
 Her father is well known and greatly 
 esteemed for his industry and thorough 
 business habits, and as one who h.-ismade 
 his way in the world by laudable ambi- 
 tion. In his (lolitical preferences he was 
 a Democrat till 1856, when he changed 
 his views, becoming a stanch Republican, 
 and has since remained a solid member 
 of that part}'. 
 
 JOHN GRATZA was born February 3, 
 1856, in Upper Silesia, Germany, 
 son of John and Caroline (Kuczera) 
 Gratza, the former of whom was a 
 successful farmer. They were the par- 
 ents of thirteen children: Frank, Johanna, 
 Geneva, Mar}', John, Frank and Joseph, 
 and six who died in infancy. The mother 
 of this family died in Germany, February 
 17, 1872, and in 1878 the father came to 
 America, settling in Clover Bottom, Mo., 
 where he passed the remainder of his life, 
 dying March 3, 1886. At the time of his 
 decease he was the owner of 600 acres of 
 land. 
 
 John Gratza received all his education 
 in Germany, and then in 1877 entered 
 the priesthood. Three months later he 
 
COMMEMOBATIVK JilOGUAPUK.'A L HHUORD. 
 
 307 
 
 came to America, sailing from Bremen to 
 New York, and thence journeyinf^ directly 
 to Alton, 111., where he remained until 
 July, 1893, at which time he entered 
 upon the duties of his charj^e in New Den- 
 mark, Brown county. Thisconp;regation 
 has been organiiied about ten years, and 
 now includes 120 families — one hundred 
 Polish, and twenty German. In his polit- 
 ical preferences Father Gratza is a Demo- 
 crat, and takes much interest in th(! suc- 
 cess of the party. 
 
 ESEIUS BEISSI':L. a thoroughly 
 representative respected old set- 
 tler of New Denmark township, 
 Brown county, is a native of the 
 State of Pennsylvania, born Auf^ust 27, 
 1824, in North Sunbury, Ntjrthumberland 
 county, son of Jacob and Mary (Adamsj 
 Beissel, the ffjrmer of whom was a farmer 
 by occupation, in which he was very suc- 
 cessful. There were ten children in his 
 famil}', of vvhf)ni Rachel died when nine 
 years old; Hosanna, Mrs, Snavelly, died 
 at Watson, 111., in February, 1894; Eseius 
 is the subject of these lines; Levi lives in 
 Wenona, 111. ; John is deceased; Priscilla 
 died at Tonica, III. ; Aaron lives in Kansas; 
 Jacob went to Missouri; two died in in- 
 fancy. In 1838 the father of this family 
 sold his farm of 190 acres in Pennsyl- 
 vania, and removed with his family to the 
 then new State of Illinois, i)urcliasinf,' 360 
 acres of wild land in Roberts township, 
 Marshall Co., 111., on which place he 
 passed the remainder of his busy life. 
 
 Our subject was reared to farm life by 
 his father, and in 1838 came with the rest 
 of the family to Illinois. Here he was mar- 
 ried, January 7, 1853, to Miss Margaret 
 Kahren, who was born January 17, 1835, 
 in the village of Marsdorf, Rhein Province, 
 Prussia, the eldest of ten children born 
 to J. Peter and Margaret TChimmer) 
 Kahren, as follows: Margaret; Jacob, who 
 was drowned in the East river, when thirty- 
 three years old; Catherine and Joseph, 
 who died in infancj"; Joseph, who died at 
 
 the age of thirty-three in Oshkosh, Wis. ; 
 Elizabeth and Catherine, deceased; Anna; 
 Michael, deceased; and Catherine, now 
 Mrs. Sharky, of Green Bay, Wis. In 1852 
 this family sailed from Germany, and, 
 after a voyage of thirty-three days, landed 
 in New York, thence coming directly to 
 Milwaukee, Wis., where they lived six 
 months, and then removed to Illinois. 
 At the time of his marriage Mr. Beissel 
 purchased eighty acres of land in Evans 
 township, Marshall ("o.. 111., where he 
 and his yoimg wife commenced their mar- 
 ried life; but son)etime later, owingtoher 
 illness, he sold the place and worked out 
 by the month, being thus engaged two 
 years. Then, going to Wenona, 111., he 
 bought a house and lot, and they resided 
 there until 1862, when they came to New 
 Denmark township. Brown Co., Wis., 
 where he jnirchased sixty acres of land 
 still in its primitive condition, and here 
 made a permanent home; at the time of 
 his settlement the land was still wild, but 
 with years of earnest, unremitting toil he 
 has succeeded in converting it into a well- 
 improved property. For sixteen years 
 after coming to the county he was en- 
 gaged in teaming between Green Bay and 
 Pine Grove. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Beissel were born 
 ten children, their names and dates of 
 birth being as follows: Mary, February 
 14, 1854; Amelia, January 14, 1857; 
 Charles, September 15, 1859; Louis, 
 March 30, r862; Jo.seph, January 28, 
 1865; Barbara, August 4, 1867; John, 
 January 21, 1870; Catherine, September 
 13, 1872; Jacob, April 25, 1875; and 
 Henry, January 7, 1878. Those deceased 
 are Mary, who died October 2, 1885; 
 Barbara, who dicfi September 25, 1868; 
 the rest all live at home, except Amelia, 
 Mrs. Sampson, of Fort Howard, and 
 Charles, now in Coleman, Wis. The 
 family are all adherents of Holy Trinity 
 Catholic Church, New Denmark, and in 
 his political preferences Mr. Beissel is a 
 Republican, though not a strict partisan. 
 He is well known and highly respected in 
 
3oS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the community, with whose interests he 
 has been identified so many years, and 
 has served his township as justice of the 
 peace six years and school treasurer nine 
 years, provinj;- a most reHable, faithful 
 official. 
 
 JAMES HOBBINS, the oldest living 
 settler in Rockland township. Brown 
 county, is a native of the Emerald 
 Isle, born in icSi6, in County Tip- 
 perary, son of Thomas Hobbins, a farmer. 
 The latter had a family of ten children — 
 seven sons and three daughters — of whom 
 James is the eldest son. 
 
 James Hobbins was reared to farming 
 pursuits, which he followed in his native 
 countr}- until 1846, when he decided to 
 immigrate to America. He had married 
 Miss Bridget Schooley, who bore him one 
 son, John, in Ireland, and in May, 1846, 
 the family took passage for New York 
 on a Black Star liner, landing after a 
 voyage of seventeen days. They pro- 
 ceeded at once to Philadelphia, where 
 they remained a short time, Mr. Hobbins 
 working in a stone quarry, also as over- 
 seer for a farmer, and then removed to 
 Oneida county, N. Y. Here the family 
 resided about four years, Mr. Hobbins en- 
 gaging in farm labor, and here two more 
 children were added to the family: 
 Thomas, who died in De Pere, Wis., 
 where he was a justice of the peace; and 
 Patrick, who also died in De Pere, Wis., 
 of which city he was marshal for seven 
 years. In May, 1850, attracted by the 
 cheap homes offered to settlers in Wis- 
 consin at that time, they came westward, 
 taking passage at Buffalo on the "A. D. 
 Patchen," and landing in Milwaukee, 
 thence coming to Green Bay, and losing 
 no time after their arrival in looking up 
 a good location. In Holland township. 
 Brown county, Mr. Hobbins purchased 
 160 acres of new land; but, being some- 
 what dissatisfied with that part of the 
 country, he invested, in the same year, 
 in eighty acres of land lying in Section 15, 
 
 Rockland township, and here he has 
 ever since made his home. There were 
 but three families in the township at 
 that time, no roads of any kind were 
 laiii out, and, in order to reach his 
 home, Mr. Hobbins had to cut a path 
 through the forest. He felled the first 
 tree ever cut down by a white man on the 
 place, and built the first dwelling, a log 
 cabin, about twenty rods from the site of 
 the present family residence. Game was 
 still plentiful, and deer were frequently 
 seen in the clearing. Mr. Hobbins ex- 
 perienced all the hardships and inconve- 
 niences incident to backwoods life and 
 the clearing and improving of a farm in a 
 new country. Even after the trees were 
 felled the stumps and roots remained, and 
 having no modern appliances for remov- 
 ing them, he could not use a plow suc- 
 cessfully, and was obliged to do the best 
 he could with a grub-hoe. Money was 
 very scarce, so, in order to obtain enough 
 for their needs, our subject worked, dur- 
 ing the winter season for several years, in 
 the lumber camps of Brown county. But, 
 in spite of the dangers and privations, he 
 remained on the farm, laboring early and 
 late to hew himself a comfortable home 
 from the dense forest, and he has lived to 
 see his place transformed from a wilder- 
 ness to a beautiful productive tract of 
 land, the result of long years of unrelent- 
 ing toil. As will be seen, he has resided 
 here continuously forty-four years, during 
 which period he has watched the pirogress 
 and development of his section, taking no 
 small part in the work himself. He is 
 now the oldest living settler of Rockland 
 township, where he is well known and 
 highly esteemed by a wide circle of friends 
 and acquaintances. He has served his 
 township in various positions of honor and 
 trust, having held the important office of 
 chairman several years, was school di- 
 rector eighteen years, and has also been 
 assessor. In political affiliation he is a 
 stanch Democrat. In religious faith he 
 is a Catholic, and was among the first to 
 take active steps in the formation of St. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 309 
 
 Francis Church at De Perc, of whicli he 
 is now the oldest Hving member, and 
 which at first was the place of worship 
 for all nationalities. Mrs. Hobbins passed 
 from earth February 1 1, 1886, at the age 
 of seventy-three years, and was laid to 
 rest in De Pere cemetery; since her de- 
 cease our subject has lived a compara- 
 tively retired life, making his home with 
 his eldest son, John (the only surviving 
 member of his family), who now conducts 
 the farm. 
 
 John Hobbins was born in April, 1845, 
 in County Tipperary, Ireland, whence, 
 when a year old, he was brought by his 
 parents to the United States, and was five 
 years of age when the family settled in 
 Rockland township. Here he was reared 
 to manhood on the pioneer farm, receiv- 
 ing a thorough training to agricultural 
 pursuits, and, at the same time, obtaining 
 such an education as the early district 
 schools afforded. In July, 1867, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Bridget 
 Ryan, who was born in County Tipperary, 
 Ireland, in 1 848. She is a daughter of 
 Patrick Ryan, who died in Ireland, leav- 
 ing a widow and seven children — four sons 
 and three daughters — and in 1853 this 
 family immigrated to the United States, 
 locating first in New York State, and sub- 
 sequently coming to Wisconsin. This 
 union has been blessed with the following- 
 named children: James, Thomas, Alice, 
 Nora, Mary, Ellen, Patrick, and P"lossie, 
 all living at home. Mr. Hobbins, like 
 his father, is a stanch member of the 
 Democratic party, and has served as 
 school clerk for thirteen years. In relig- 
 ious connection he antl his wife are mem- 
 bers of St. Francis Church, De Pere. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM BEAUPRE, the 
 well-known oculist and aurist, 
 whose skill in his profession has 
 gained for him a wide and envi- 
 able reputation, is a native of Canada, 
 born in what is now the Province of Que- 
 bec (Canada Bas) in 1830. 
 
 As his name indicates, the Doctor is- 
 of French descent, his grandfather, who- 
 was a military man, having been a native 
 of "La Belle France," whence in very 
 early times he emigrated to Canada, and 
 in the lower province (now yuebec) made 
 a settlement. There his son, H. N., 
 father of subject, was born and educated, 
 in early manhood taking up the mercan- 
 tile business, which was his life work. He 
 married Mile. Argauge Bargeron, also a 
 native of Canada East, and children as 
 follows were born to this union: Mary,, 
 who married Edward Pelicier, of Canada, 
 and died in 1864 ; Angeline, who became 
 the wife of i""rank Pelicier, and died in 
 1878 ; Maxima, a merchant, living in St. 
 Michel's, Canada ; Joseph, a professor,, 
 who was well known in Green Bay, Wis. ,. 
 died in 1891 in Montreal, Canada ; Philip, 
 married, living in St. Cloud, Minn., where 
 he is a judge of the Probate Court ; Eliza- 
 beth, wife of John Geer, of Ford River, 
 M'ich. ; Dr. Reauseau, a physician of Ford 
 River, Mich. ; Catherine, who died in 
 Canada, unmarried ; and William. The 
 father died of cholera, in 1832, in Quebec,, 
 the mother passing away in St. Michel, 
 same province, in 1853. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 and educated at his native place till the 
 age of fifteen (1845), at which time he 
 came to Wisconsin, landing in the then- 
 village of Green Bay on November i. 
 Here for four years he served as clerk in 
 the store of John F. Lessey, after which 
 he sailed the lakes from the port oi Green 
 Bay until the breaking out of the Civil 
 war, when his military ardor, inherited 
 from his grandfather, kindled into activity 
 by the youthful desire to "seek the bub- 
 ble reputation, e'en at the cannon's- 
 mouth." In 1861 he assisted in raising 
 Company G ("French Mountaineers," a 
 mounted company), Seventcentli Wiscon- 
 sin Infantry, which was attached to the 
 army of Tennessee. His command par- 
 ticipated in Sherman's march to the sea 
 and in the Carolina campaign. On March 
 II, 1862, he was commissioned first lieu- 
 
3'o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tenant, and August 31 following was pro- 
 moted to the captaincy of the same com- 
 pany. On June 6, 1864, he was wounded 
 by a grapeshot at Marietta, Ga. , but de- 
 clined hospital service. At Pocotaligo, 
 W. Va. , he was honorably discharged, 
 January 19, 1865, and returned to his 
 home in Green Bay. In 1867 he com- 
 menced reading medicine under the pre- 
 ceptorship of Dr. H. A. Woodbridge, 
 studying until 1871, and making a spe- 
 cialty of the eje and ear. Immediately 
 commencing the practice of his profession, 
 he traveled a circuit, visiting, among 
 other places, in Wisconsin and Michigan, 
 Menomonee, Escanaba, Marquette, Han- 
 cock, Red Jacket, Lake Linden, Wausau, 
 Grand Rapids, Merrill, Antigo, Ironwood, 
 finally, after an absence of four years, 
 locating in Green Bay, where he has 
 since been in the continuous practice of 
 his profession, his office being established 
 on Cherry street, between Washington 
 and Adams. 
 
 Dr. Beaupre has been three times 
 married, each time in Green Bay, on first 
 occasion to Miss Jane Matilda Beaudoin, 
 a native of France, daughter of Francis 
 Beaudoin, of the same nativity, who emi- 
 grated to the United States, taking up 
 his residence in St. Ignace, Mich. ; in 
 1840 moving to Green Bay, and making 
 his final home in Shantytown, where he 
 died. This wife was called from earth in 
 1 85 I, the mother of two daughters: Jane, 
 wife of S. B. Cornish, of Antigo, Wis., 
 and Emily, wife of H. H. Raiche, of 
 Menominee, Mich. In 1854 the Doctor 
 married Miss I. Raiche, who was born in 
 Green Bay, a daughter of Theodore 
 Raiche, a native of Canada, whence, in 
 1840, he came to Green Bay, dying there 
 in 1886. By this union there were two 
 sons: William A., who died in St. Louis, 
 Mo., in 1888, and James, now a resident 
 of Drummond, Wis. The mother of these 
 was called from earth July 2, 1862, and 
 for his third wife, our subject, in 1866, 
 wedded Miss Olive Trudell, born in Green 
 Bav, a daughter of Theodore Trudell, of 
 
 Canadian birth, coming, in 1845, to Green 
 Bay, where he was engaged in the grocery 
 business; he now resides in South Bend, 
 Wash. By his last marriage the Doctor 
 had six children, all girls, a brief record 
 of whom is as follows: Mary married 
 Frank Duchateau, and died October 11, 
 1892; Lydia Ann, born January 26, 1869, 
 died September 22, 1891, wife of S. W. 
 Lieblien; _Rose Delenia, born January 24, 
 1 87 1, died May 24, 1873; Lucy Martha, 
 born May 26, 1873, is the wife of Theo- 
 dore Remington, of Menominee, Mich. ; 
 Eva Lottie, born November 17, 1875, 
 resides in Menominee; Minnie Matilda, 
 born April 27, 1878, died July 2, 1879. 
 
 Dr. Beaupre, in his political associa- 
 tions, was a Democrat till 1 886, when he 
 changed his views and his colors, becom- 
 ing as zealous a Republican as he had 
 been a Democrat. He is a member of 
 the Catholic Church, and a highly re- 
 spected, useful citizen of Green Bay, 
 which, since his first arrival in the place, 
 fifty years ago, he has seen transformed 
 from a village of a few houses to a fine 
 city with a grand future yet before it, and 
 toward whose prosperity he has con- 
 tributed a goodly share. 
 
 CORNELIUS LEARY, prominent 
 among the prosperous agricultur- 
 ists and early pioneers of Glen- 
 more township. Brown county, is 
 a native of County Kerr}', Ireland, born 
 in 1824, a son of James and Margaret 
 (Catler) Leary, who had eight children — 
 four sons and four daughters. 
 
 When Cornelius was nine years of 
 age the family came to America, sailing 
 in the month of August from Cork on the 
 "Thomas Hanford," which arrived, after 
 a voyage of seven weeks, at St. John, New 
 Brunswick, where they lived five years. 
 They then moved to Boston, Mass., later 
 to Springfield, and resided in various parts 
 of the State until the spring of 1850, 
 when the father concluded to try his for- 
 tune in Wisconsin. In the month of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 3" 
 
 April they traveled bj-rail to Buffalo, and 
 one week later embarked on a vessel 
 bound for Milwaukee, thence continuing 
 their journey by stage and boat to Green 
 Bay, via Fond du Lac, Menasha, etc. 
 In Glenmore township, Brown county, 
 Mr. Leary purchased one-half of Section 
 22, and shortly afterward a quarter of 
 Section 15. At that time but three 
 other famihes — the Pattons, Ryans and 
 Caseys — lived in the township; no roads 
 had been laid out, and Cornelius and his 
 brother John cut a road from their farm 
 to De Pere. Mr. Leary built the first 
 house in Section 22, a cabin of logs 
 covered with boards, which stood a short 
 distance from the present residence. Wild 
 animals were numerous, and no clearing 
 whatever had been done, the trees being 
 so thick that a space had to be made for 
 the dwelling. Mrs. Leary died shortly 
 after the location in Glenmore, and Mr. 
 Leary passed away on his farm in 1880. 
 
 Cornelius Leary received but a limited 
 education, and in early boyhood com- 
 menced to work in the cotton mills in 
 New England. He was in the very prime 
 of life when he came with his parents to 
 Wisconsin, and, being the eldest son, 
 found plenty of work ready for him on the 
 land which his father had undertaken to 
 clear. About 1854 he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Julia Brennan, a native 
 of County Kerry, Ireland, daughter of 
 Frank Brennan. This union was blessed 
 by children as follows: Margaret, living 
 at home with her parents; James, who 
 died when five years old; Julia (Mrs. 
 James Dougherty), of Escanaba, Mich. ; 
 Catherine, deceased at the age of twenty- 
 three years; John, who died when twenty- 
 four years old; Morris, deceased when 
 one year old; Alice, of Escanaba, Mich. ; 
 Annie, living at home; Hattie, Mrs. John 
 Clune, of Escanaba, Mich. ; and Theresa, 
 at home. 
 
 Mr. Leary has been a successful 
 farmer, and now owns 160 acres of good 
 land, all of which he has seen trans- 
 formed from a wilderness to a highly cul- 
 
 tivated farm, a work in which he has 
 taken no small part. He is well known 
 and highly respected throughout his sec- 
 tion, for his industry and straightforward, 
 honest methods have placed him in an 
 enviable position among his fellow citi- 
 zens. Though now past three-score and 
 ten, he is well-preserved and hearty, and 
 still continues to direct the affairs of his 
 farm, though he does little of the active 
 work. In his party afftliations he is a 
 Democrat, and has served as roadmaster; 
 but he has given little attention to poli- 
 tics, preferring to devote his time exclu- 
 sively to his private affairs. In religious 
 faith he is a member of St. Mary's Catho- 
 lic Church, at Glenmore. 
 
 ALBERT WILLIAMS, a promi- 
 nent and influential citizen of Fort 
 Howard, is a native of Belgium, 
 and is a son of John B. and 
 Rosalie (Vandeborne) Williams, natives 
 of the same country, where they lived 
 and died. 
 
 Our subject was reared and educated 
 in his native land, where he learned the 
 trade of a bricklayer and worked at same 
 until his removal, in 1871, to the United 
 States. In that year he located at Fort 
 Howard, subsequently purchasing forty 
 acres of land in Wrightstown. After two 
 years he settled permanently at Fort 
 Howard, where he has since been engaged 
 in farming and market gardening, at 
 which occupations he has been very suc- 
 cessful. His present veneered brick resi- 
 dence was erected in 1873. Mr. Will- 
 iams, who is an independent reasoner in 
 political matters, has been the recipient 
 of certain official favors at the hands of 
 his constituents, and for a number of 
 years has served them as supervisor from 
 the Second ward of the citj-. He is 
 recognized as a valuable, upright citizen, 
 and commands the respect of all. In 
 1864, while yet a resident of Belgium, he 
 married Miss Rosa Vandeborne, and to 
 these worthy parents have been born six 
 
312 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 children: William, foreman of the Mil- 
 waukee & Northern shops; Bernard; 
 Lewis; Felix; Marj-, wife of Albert 
 Brunette, of the town of Howard; Nettie, 
 wife of Jack Osterman, of Green Bay. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Williams are members of 
 St. Willibrord's Church, Green Bay. 
 They came to Fort Howard at a time 
 when it lacked very much of being the 
 flourishing city it is at present, and have 
 witnessed its steady development. 
 
 JOHN SHAUGHNESSY, one of the 
 well-to-do and highly-respected old 
 citizens of Glenmore township, 
 Brown county, was born in 1824 
 in County Limerick, Ireland. His parents, 
 George and Hannah (Murphy) Shaugh- 
 nessy, were farming .people, who worked 
 industriously to support their large family, 
 which consisted of fourteen children — 
 eight sons and six daughters. 
 
 John Shaughnessy attended the com- 
 mon schools until fifteen years of age, and 
 then assisted his father on the farm until 
 he reached his majority. At this time, 
 receiving money from his parents to pay 
 his way to America, he bid his early home 
 and friends farewell, and took passage at 
 Cork on the "Louisiana," bound for 
 Quebec, where he landed in the month of 
 August, after a voyage of six weeks and 
 three days. He first found employment 
 with farmers, harvesting, and afterward 
 came to Milwaukee, Wis., taking the 
 water route, via Oswego, N. Y. Mr. 
 Shaughnessy purchased a horse and 
 wagon, and commenced the draying busi- 
 ness in Milwaukee, continued in that un- 
 til 1850, in the meantime saving some 
 money. Several railroads were then in 
 course of construction in New York State, 
 and he went to Buffalo, where he obtained 
 employment as a laborer on the New York 
 & Erie railway. 
 
 On May 29, 1850, Mr. Shaughnessy 
 was married in Buffalo to Miss Catherine 
 Flaherty, who was born June 24, 1828, 
 
 in County Kerry, Ireland. [These facts 
 have been taken from an authentic record 
 in the possession of Mrs. Shaughnessy]. 
 She is a daughter of Thomas and Mary 
 (Lynch) Flaherty, farming people of Ire- 
 land, and she came to the United States 
 when twenty j'ears old, with friends, sail- 
 ing from Cork on the " Lady Elgin," and 
 landing in Quebec, after a voyage of five 
 weeks and five days. She subsequently 
 came to Milwaukee, where she met Mr. 
 Shaughnessy. After their marriage they 
 kept boarders for about two years, and 
 then returned to Milwaukee, Wis., where 
 he again took up draying for two years. 
 In 1854 he came to Brown county, and 
 purchased eighty acres of wild land in 
 Section 21, Glenmore township, for eighty 
 dollars, and when they moved to their 
 new home there were still no roads to it, 
 and their nearest neighbor was three 
 miles distant. The forest was so dense 
 that a site had to be cleared for their 
 cabin, which was the first house in Sec- 
 tion 21, and, as he himself says, his hogs 
 to-day have a better house than the one 
 he first lived in. Wild animals were 
 numerous, deer were frequently seen near 
 the house, and bears and wolves played 
 havoc with the stock of the early settlers. 
 With an axe and a grub-hoe (the latter 
 made by "Old Newton," the blacksmith 
 of De Pere, who made many tools for the 
 pioneer farmers), the work of clearingwas 
 begun and persevered in until a comfort- 
 able property had been taken from the 
 woods. When they had butter or eggs 
 to sell they carried them to Green Bay, 
 sixteen miles distant, making the entire 
 journey on foot. On April 14, 1865, they 
 removed to Section 32, Glenmore town- 
 ship, where he had purchased a tract of 
 forty acres, and here lived in a shanty 
 until the completion of their log cabin, in 
 the erection of which the neighbors for 
 tniles around assisted. Here Mr. Shaugh- 
 nessy has since continued to reside, and 
 was actively engaged in agriculture until 
 1 89 1, when he disposed of his property 
 and retired. The farm at one time con- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 313 
 
 tained 160 acres, eighty of which he gave 
 to his sons. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Shaughness}- have had 
 nine children, of whom three sons and 
 two daughters died young: George, born 
 in New Yoric, is a farmer of Glenmore 
 township; Thomas, born in Milwaukee, 
 is a butcher of Escanaba, Wis. ; William, 
 born in Glenmore, is a resident of De- 
 Pere township; John, born in Glenmore, 
 lives in Milwaukee. Mr. Shaughnessy has 
 always been a stanch Democrat in poli- 
 tics, and held the office of roadmaster, 
 but has never been an aspirant for office. 
 In religious connection he and his family 
 are members of St. John's Church, in 
 Morrison township. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Shaughnessy are among the few old 
 pioneers left in Glenmore township, who 
 have seen the country converted from a 
 forest wild into smiling, productive farms. 
 They are well known and much respected 
 in their section. [Since the above was 
 written, we have been notified of the 
 death of Mr. John Shaughnessy, which 
 occurred October 3, 1894. — Ed. 
 
 ANDREW SIMONS, a thrifty, well- 
 to-do farmer of Humboldt town- 
 ship, Brown county, is a native 
 of same, born April 5, 1850, on 
 the farm where he yet resides, which was 
 then included in Scott township. 
 
 His parents Christoph and Anna M. 
 (Muller) Simons, early pioneers of this 
 section, were natives of Prussia, Germany, 
 and the father was a carpenter by trade. 
 They were married in their native coun- 
 try, and three children were there born 
 to them : Catherine, and Charles and 
 Seraphim (twins), with whom, in 1843, they 
 came to the United States. From the 
 port of landing they pushed westward at 
 once to their destination. Duck Creek, 
 Brown Co., Wis., during which journey 
 the twins, Charles and Seraphim, died of 
 small-po.x. After their arrival at Duck 
 Creek the father was taken sick with the 
 ague, then so prevalent, and as soon as 
 
 possible moved to Preble township, where 
 he took up forty acres of government 
 land, on which they lived three years. 
 Owing to the dampness of that locality 
 Mrs. Simons suffered greatly from rheu- 
 matism, and accordingly they removed to 
 Humboldt township, where they took up 
 another forty acres of land and thereon 
 made a permanent home. Mr. Simons 
 died on this farm November 5, 1871, and 
 here his widow, now aged eighty years, 
 still makes her home, living with her son, 
 Andrew. 
 
 Andrew Simons was born on his pres- 
 ent farm, and here received a thorough 
 knowledge of farming, commencing work 
 early in life, faithfully remaining at home 
 and assisting his parents. After the death 
 of his father the place came into his pos- 
 session, and by hard labor and good man- 
 agement he has improved and added to it, 
 now owning ninety acres of highly culti- 
 vated land. On November 26, 1878, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Hattie 
 Heim, daughter of Lawrence and Hattie 
 Heim, which union has been blessed with 
 nine children, viz.: Andrew W., Law- 
 rence C. , Louis P., Agnes A., Ma^y N., 
 KillianH., Joseph (deceased), Harriet B., 
 and Lena K. (deceased). During his 
 youth Mr. Simons had rather limited edu- 
 cational opportunities, and, appreciating 
 the value of a good literary training, he is 
 endeavoring to give his children all the 
 advantages possible in that line. In re- 
 ligious connection the family are members 
 of the Catholic Church. 
 
 D 
 
 R. ALBERT HAYDEN ELLS- 
 WORTH comes of one of the old 
 
 New England families which was 
 founded at a very early day in the 
 history of this country by three brothers 
 who settled in Connecticut. They were 
 farming people, but many of their de- 
 scendants were well-educated men, be- 
 coming prominent in professional circles 
 throughout the State. 
 
 The Doctor was born July 14. 1823, 
 
314 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Windsor, Hartford Co., Conn., and 
 acquired his education in the pubHc 
 schools of his native town. He also took 
 the high-school course, and afterward at- 
 tended school in Suffield, Conn. , for one 
 year, and also in Ellington, Conn. He 
 then engaged in teaching school, being 
 thus employed for one year in the State 
 of his nativity, and for one year in Mon- 
 mouth, N. J., after which he took up the 
 study of dentistry under Dr. Sherwood, a 
 prominent dentist and highly-respected 
 citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. He applied 
 himself assiduously in his new held of la- 
 bor, and, after a year of thorough and sys- 
 tematic study, located in I\Iilwaukee,Wis. , 
 in November, 1848. He was one of the 
 first dentists of that city, and met with 
 most flattering success, doing a large and 
 lucrative business, which kept constantly 
 increasing until failing health caused him 
 to retire. He was doing an excellent 
 business, having probably the best prac- 
 tice in the State, and to-day, in years of 
 continuous labor, he is the oldest prac- 
 ticing dentist in Wisconsin. 
 
 Dr. Ellsworth was a prominent mem- 
 ber of the Plymouth Congregational 
 Church of ^^ilwaukee, and took a very 
 active part in its work and everything 
 pertaining to its growth and upbuilding. 
 He was also an honored member of the 
 I. O. O. F. , belonging to Menomonee 
 Lodge. In social circles he and his fam- 
 ily occupied an enviable position, and he 
 is well remembered by the pioneers and 
 early settlers of Milwaukee. 
 
 In July, 1852, Dr. Ellsworth came to 
 Green Bay to spend his few remaining 
 months, as he supposed, for his life was 
 despaired of by his physicians, and he 
 thought that his days were numbered; 
 but the vigorous and bracing atmosphere 
 soon brought new life and strength to him, 
 and he* is to-day one of the hale and 
 hearty old gentlemen of Green Bay, pos- 
 sessed of the vigor of many a younger 
 man, his three-score-and-ten years rest- 
 ing lightly upon him. As soon as his 
 health permitted he began the practice of 
 
 his profession in Green Bay, and his skill 
 and ability soon again won recognition in 
 a large and lucrative patronage. He has 
 ever been a thorough student along the 
 line of his profession, and as a result has 
 been very successful. As his financial re- 
 sources increased the Doctor made sev- 
 eral judicious investments, which have 
 proved to him quite profitable, and gained 
 him a comfortable competence. 
 
 Since coming to Green Bay Dr. Ells- 
 worth has been identified with the Pres- 
 byterian Church. In his political views 
 he is a Democrat, but has never sought 
 or desired official preferment, giving his 
 entire time and attention to business and 
 other interests. He is a warm friend of 
 the cause of education, and, when the of- 
 fice of city superintendent of schools was 
 created, he was elected to that position, 
 which he has filled fourteen years. His 
 unselfish devotion and his untiring labors 
 have been productive of much good in the 
 educational field, and the present gener- 
 ation and the young people of the future 
 will have cause to hold him in grateful 
 remembrance for his earnest labors. 
 
 CHARLES J. LUCIA, a prosper- 
 ous farmer of Suamico township, 
 Brown county, was born July i 5, 
 1836, in Clinton county, N. Y. , of 
 French descent on the paternal side. 
 His parents, Alexander and Phebe (Bessie) 
 Lucia, natives of New York, had a family 
 of two sons and four daughters, of whom 
 the sons and two of the daughters are 
 still living. The family were all reared 
 on the farm, and the parents both lived 
 to advanced ages, the father dying when 
 eighty years old, and the mother when 
 seventy-five. 
 
 Charles J. Lucia left the home place 
 when fourteen years old and worked out 
 by the month until 1854, went he came 
 west, and located first in Suamico town- 
 ship. Brown countj', laboring in the 
 woods by the month. He also worked 
 in a sawmill in the same township, then 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 3'5 
 
 for a year or more was employed in 
 Oconto, in draying, sawing, and as wood- 
 man, after which he returned to Suamico. 
 On April I, 1858, he married Miss Caro- 
 line Cook, who was born February 28, 
 1839, in Clinton county, N. Y. , a 
 daughter of John and Ann Cook, and to 
 this union have been born six children, 
 as follows: Irving J., born May 1, 1859, 
 married in August, 1883, to Miss Cora 
 Barker, and they have one son and one 
 daughter; he is now a merchant of Bes- 
 semer, Mich. William H., born Septem- 
 ber 12, i860, was married June 28, 1882, 
 to Sarah Allen, who has borne him two 
 sons; he is now a merchant at Hurley. 
 Ella J., born January 19, 1867, was mar- 
 ried July 29, 1890, to Lawrence Head, 
 of Ashland, and has two sons. AnnaE., 
 Dorn January 4, 1869, was married July 
 29, 1 89 1, to Ed. A. Dunham, a farmer 
 of Minnesota. Charles G., born Octo- 
 ber I, 1876, and George O., born March 
 12, 1882. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Lucia was em- 
 ployed in logging, etc., then bought 
 seventy-seven and a half acres, of which 
 fifteen were cleared, and settled on his 
 place in 1865; to this land he has added 
 until he now owns about two hundred 
 acres, all purchased from his own earn- 
 ings, which were at the first $10 per 
 month. He is a Republican in his poli- 
 tical proclivities, but in local affairs votes 
 for the best man, regardless of party. 
 The family are all attendants of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 LARS JENSEN, prominent among 
 the agricultural citizens of New 
 Denmark township. Brown county, 
 was born August 12, 1843, in Den- 
 mark, son of Jens Hemmengson and Anna 
 (Nelson) Jensen, thrifty farming people 
 of that country. They had a family of 
 seven children: Lars, Anna (deceased), 
 Peter, Hemmeng, Anna, Margaret and 
 Nels. 
 
 Our subject remained at home with 
 
 his parents until he reached the age of 
 fourteen years, receiving in the common 
 schools a somewhat limited education. 
 The next two years he worked on a farm, 
 and then commenced to learn carpentry, 
 serving an apprenticeship of three years 
 at the trade, which he subsequently fol- 
 lowed six years. In his early manhood 
 he served two years in the arm}-. On 
 June 28, 1868, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Ellen M. Gerhardson, daughter 
 of Gerhard Nelson and Anna M. (Jensen) 
 Gerhardson, who were the parents of 
 seven children, viz. : Karen, Ellen, Stine, 
 Margaretta, two that died in infancy un- 
 named, and Wilhehnina. Shortly after 
 marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jensen came to 
 the United States, crossing to New York 
 in sixteen days, where they landed with a 
 capital of ninety-nine dollars, with which 
 to commense life in the Western World. 
 Journeying by rail to Green Baj', Wis., 
 via Chicago, they came thence to their 
 present place in New Denmark township, 
 Mr. Jensen purchasing thirty-four acres in 
 the midst of the forest, from which they 
 have made a comfortable home. For 
 about a year they lived with an uncle of 
 our subject, who followed his trade dur- 
 ing that time, and then set about the 
 erection of a log house on his land. But, 
 while engaged in hewing the timbers, a 
 falling log struck his limb and fractured 
 the bone, making it necessary for him to 
 stop work for several weeks, and the 
 money he had saved to pay on the land 
 went to the doctor. After his recovery 
 he completed the house, and made his 
 home therein for twelve years, during 
 which time he was busily engaged in clear- 
 ing and improving his land, from time to 
 time making other purchases, his farm 
 now containing 104 acres of highly-im- 
 proved land. He is truly a self-made 
 man, his present prosperity being due 
 solely to his own unceasing labor, and he 
 has won the respect of all who know him 
 b}' his square, honest methods in all his 
 dealings with his fellow men. Politically 
 he is a Democrat, and has held various 
 
3i6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 local offices of trust, serving his town- 
 ship faithfully as supervisor and school 
 treasurer. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Jensen have been 
 born twelve children, as follows: Gerhard 
 H., James C. , Nels C, Tourwal A., 
 Charles Edwin, Lawrence N., Anna C, 
 Toilette M., and four that died in infancy; 
 ■of these, Gerhard H. and Nels C, at- 
 tend the Normal School at Oshkosh; 
 James is a miner in Montana; Tourwal 
 lives in Green Bay; and the remaining 
 four live at home with their parents. 
 
 P 
 
 ETER JOSEPH BECKER, a 
 prosperous farmer of Green Bay 
 township, Brown county, is a 
 German by birth, born November 
 21, 1829, in the Kingdom of Prussia. 
 He is a son of Bartholomew and Maria 
 Eva (Schneider)Becker, well-to-do farm- 
 ing people, who had four children, as fol- 
 lows: Peter Joseph, whose name opens 
 this sketch; Mary, Mrs. Burkhart, of 
 Green Bay; Barbara, who married, and 
 died at the age of twenty-eight years, 
 leaving a husband and two children — 
 Eva and Mary — to mourn her early 
 death; and Eva, wife of Dr. Rhode, of 
 Green Ba\'. 
 
 In US43 Bartholomew Becker sold his 
 property in Germany and came with his 
 family to America, arriving in New York 
 after a voyage of forty-nine days, and 
 immediately pushing westward to Akron, 
 Ohio, where he found employment on 
 the canal for about a year. Part of this 
 time the family lived in a blacksmith 
 shop, but later purchasing an old log 
 house (for which they paid twelve 
 dollars) made that their home, and 
 they also cleared a small piece of 
 land near Akron. After a residence of 
 six and a half years in Ohio, they came to 
 Wisconsin, where for three years they 
 lived on a rented farm near Milwaukee. 
 Here the father died in 1852, and in the 
 spring of 1853 the widowed mother came 
 with her family to Green Bay township. 
 
 Brown county, the journey, which occu- 
 pied seven days, being made in a wagon 
 drawn by oxen. In Green Bay township 
 they purchased eighty acres of timber 
 land, all in its primitive state, but which 
 has since been cleared and improved by 
 our subject. Mrs. Becker died here in 
 1888, aged eighty-three years. 
 
 Peter J. Becker received an ordinary 
 common-school training in Germany, and 
 was reared to farming, in which vocation 
 he has been engaged the greater part of 
 his life. On June 9, 1861, he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Rosaline Aussloss, daughter 
 of Xavier and Johanna (Labus) Aussloss, 
 and to this union have been born nine 
 children, namely: Peter, Henry, Eva, 
 Anton, Mary, Catherine, Joseph, Anna, 
 and John. Since his settlement in Green 
 Bay township in 1853, Mr. Becker has 
 made his home continuously on his pres- 
 ent farm, except from 1870 to 1873, dur- 
 ing which- period he lived in the city of 
 Green Bay. He has added forty acres to 
 the original purchase, having at present 
 120 acres of fine land, highly improved 
 and cultivated, where he successfully con- 
 ducts a general farming business. Our 
 subject takes a lively interest in the wel- 
 fare of his township, of which he was the 
 first chairman, and he also served two 
 years as assessor, discharging the duties 
 of his office faithfully and satisfactorily. 
 In political affiliation he is a Democrat, 
 and in religious faith he and his family 
 are members of the German Catholic 
 Church at New Franken. 
 
 WILLIAM BASSETT WOOL- 
 F"ORD, general yardmaster for 
 the Chicago, Minneapolis & St. 
 Paul railroad, at Green Bay, 
 enjoys the enviable distinction of having 
 a record second to none as an efficient 
 railroad official, careful, faithful and 
 trustworthy. 
 
 He is a native of Ohio, born in Day- 
 ton, June 18, 1853, of English ancestry, 
 his grandfather having been a prosperous 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 319 
 
 farmer in England. William Woolford, 
 father of our subject, was one of a family 
 of six children born on the farm, and the 
 first few years of his life were divided be- 
 tween attending the parish school and 
 helping his father in his agricultural pur- 
 suits. When old enough, he learned a 
 trade, and in after years turned his 
 attention to railroad contracting, becom- 
 ing successful. But, while still young, 
 seeing a wider field in America for a man 
 of his broad caliber, he emigrated, and 
 after landing on the shores of the New 
 World at once proceeded westward to 
 Ohio, where, for a time, he assisted on the 
 construction of a railroad and the build- 
 ing of a bridge over the Susquehanna 
 river. His next venture was in Illinois, 
 where he had contracts on the North- 
 western railroad, then in course of con- 
 struction, and he proved to be one of the 
 most successful operators in his line of 
 business. Possessed of a great amount of 
 natural ability, he was a good business 
 manager and a close calculator on plans 
 and specifications. He also conducted a 
 farm in Illinois. Now, at the age of sev- 
 enty-eight years, hale and hearty, he is 
 living retired with his faithful wife, at 
 Rockford, Wright Co., Minn., in the full 
 enjoyment of the esteem of all who know 
 him. In religious faith he is a member 
 of the Methodist Church. His wife, 
 Eunice (Smithj, is a native of Point 
 Albino, and is the mother of ten children, 
 seven of whom — three sons and four 
 daughters — lived to maturity. 
 
 William B. Woolford, the subject 
 proper of these lines, received his educa- 
 tion at the schools of Palatine, 111., and 
 at the age of sixteen commenced to assist 
 his father on the farm. A year after- 
 ward, however, he took to railroading, 
 entering the service of the Chicago & 
 Northwestern Railroad Company as brake- 
 man, at which he continued four years, 
 when he was promoted to conductor. 
 In the latter capacitj' he served un- 
 til icS88 a period of fourteen years, 
 and then resigned in order to accept the 
 
 18 
 
 position of trainmaster for the Wisconsin 
 Central railroad. In 1 890 he was ap- 
 pointed to his present incumbency, and 
 removed to Green Bay. 
 
 On July 6, 1872, Mr. Woolford was 
 united in marriage in Janesville, Wis., 
 with Miss Alice McCaffrey, daughter of 
 James and Mary (Burns) McCaffrey, na- 
 tives of County Fermanagh, Ireland, of 
 Scotch descent. Five children have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Woolford, named 
 as follows: Mary A., Eunice B., William 
 B., Isabella A. and Henry E. Our sub- 
 ject has been a prominent member of the 
 F. & A. M. since uniting with the 
 fraternity in Milwaukee; he is associated 
 with Wisconsin Blue Lodge No. 13, 
 Chapter No. 7, Commandery No. i, and 
 the Consistory, having attained the thir- 
 ty-second degree. Mrs. Woolford is a 
 member of the Catholic Church. 
 
 GS. LAWRENCE, a pioneer 
 farmer of Pittsfield township, 
 Brown county, was born in Jeffer- 
 son county, N. Y. , August 4, 
 1837, a son of Charles and Lucy (Wals- 
 worth) Lawrence, and grandson of Elijah 
 Walsworth. There were seven children 
 in the family of Charles Lawrence, viz. : 
 Charles, who died at the age of twenty- 
 four; Harriet, wife of Oliver Crumb, of 
 Marshalltown, Iowa; Alpheus, a carpen- 
 ter, of Milwaukee, Wis., now in the 
 Soldiers Home; Alvin, who died at the 
 age of twenty; G. S., our subject; John, 
 who died at the age of thirteen; and Mor- 
 timer, of Marshalltown, Iowa. The father 
 of this family died in 1841, of heart 
 disease, and was buried at Clayton, 
 New York. 
 
 At the age of twelve G. S. Lawrence 
 was given to Eber Stevens; but, before he 
 had been with him a year, his mother had 
 moved to Chicago, and had there mar- 
 ried Peltier Barter, a sailor and ship car- 
 penter, and our subject was brought to 
 his mother and stepfather. Soon after 
 his marriage Mr. Barter bought forty 
 
3ZO 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 acres of land at Beaver Island and went 
 to farming; but had lived there only five 
 years when he was drowned. Left a 
 widow the second time, the mother sold 
 the farm a year later, and moved to Green 
 Bay, living with Mrs. Oliver Crumb two 
 years, and thence going to Oconto, where 
 she made her home with her son, Al- 
 pheus, about three years. She then re- 
 turned with her son to Chicago, and died 
 there in i860. After his mother's death, 
 our subject returned to Oconto, and 
 worked in sawmills, etc., about two years, 
 when became to Pittsfield and purchased 
 forty acres of timber land, on which he 
 had to clear a space large enough to per- 
 mit the eretion of a log cabin about 12x18 
 feet in dimensions, in which he lived alone 
 for about a year. On January 27, 1863, 
 he married Miss Mary Jane Tripp, daugh- 
 ter of Ivobert and Sarah (Ledger) Tripp, 
 who had a family of nine children, viz. : 
 Alvira, Sarah Ann, Mary Jane, Willard 
 B., Anna, Emeline, James W. , Ellen A. 
 and Harriet M., of whom seven are still 
 living. The father, who was a carpenter, 
 came from New York to Wisconsin in 
 1855, first taking up a piece of land in 
 Suamico township, where he remained 
 one year; was then taken sick, sold out 
 and bought forty acres in Pittsfield; on this 
 he lived si.x years, sold again, went to 
 Fond du Lac county, remained there a 
 year, then came back to Pittsfield and 
 bought another piece of land, on which 
 he resided fifteen years, and finally moved 
 to Stephenson, Mich., where he and his 
 family still reside. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Lawrence set 
 himself steadily to work at clearing up 
 his land, enduring every hardship of pio- 
 neer life, but adding to its comforts every 
 year, until, at the end of fivej'ears, he be- 
 came the proud possessor of a team. He 
 had had, however, a small pony, and when 
 he was in need of provisions he would 
 fell a pine tree, shave it into shingles, and 
 set off for Green Bay to make his pur- 
 chases with the proceeds, the round trip 
 requiring two days, as the roads were 
 
 bad. When he had cleared sufficient 
 ground, potatoes and corn were the first 
 crop planted among the stumps, and the 
 first wheat was sown by Francis Ledger, 
 Mrs. Lawrence's grandfather, who was 
 ninety-nine years old at this time. Mr. 
 Lawrence prospered with his toil, until 
 to-day he owns 120 acres of well-im- 
 proved land. To Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence 
 have been born three children: James 
 Mortimer, born January 31,1 864; Charles 
 Lee, born February 14, 1866; and Emme- 
 line, born October 7, 1880; Annie, an 
 adopted daughter, born January i, 1873, 
 has lived with them all her life. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lawrence are Seventh-Day Advent- 
 ists; politically he is a Republican, which 
 fact, however, is only made manifest by 
 his punctual atendance at the polls. [Since 
 the above was written Mr. Lawrence 
 passed from earth, and a notice of his 
 death, given at the time, is as follows: 
 " G. S. Lawrence, of the town of Pitts- 
 field, died shortly after midnight, Decem- 
 ber 10, 1894. Through his death Brown 
 county loses a man of sterling character, 
 much perseverance and loyaltj- to his 
 friends and country. He was one of the 
 few remaining pioneers, and will be missed 
 by a large circle of friends." 
 
 R' 
 
 EV. WILLIAM ROWBOTHAM, 
 of West De Pere, Brown county, 
 is a native of the city of Sheffield, 
 England, and was born November 
 10, 1819, a son of Amos and Lucy 
 (Hutchinson) Rowbotham. The former 
 was a cutler by trade, and when the son 
 William was nine months old, mo\ed to 
 the village of Horncastle, Lincolnshire, 
 where he followed his trade, also keeping 
 a store for the sale of cutlery, and here 
 both he and his wife passed the remainder 
 of their lives. 
 
 At the age of twelve our subject was 
 apprenticed for six years to a tailor in 
 Horncastle, and, after serving his appren- 
 ticeship, worked for some j'ears as a jour- 
 neyman; then, for two years, was engaged 
 
COMMEMOUATTVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 321 
 
 on his own account as a merchant tailor 
 at Wrangle, in the same county. On 
 April 15, 1 84 1, he married, at Boston, 
 Lincolnshire, Mary Aisthorpe, and in 
 1844 came to America, his family then 
 consisting of his wife and two children — 
 Amos and Naomi. Landing at New 
 York City, he there worked at his trade 
 nine months, and then, in July, 1845, 
 moved to Milwaukee, Wis., where, after 
 working as a journeyman for a while, he 
 established a merchant tailor's store op- 
 posite the present site of the ' ' Plankinton 
 House,'' in which business he continued 
 ten years. In the fall of 1855 he moved 
 to Green Bay, where for ten years he 
 conducted a clothing house, and then, for 
 nine years — 1865 to 1874 — was overseer 
 of the Brown County Poor House; ne.xt 
 he occupied the adjoining farm for sev- 
 eral years. 
 
 Mr. Rowbotham began his ministerial 
 labors when but eighteen years of age, 
 having been then licensed as a local 
 preacher in the Wesleyan Methodist 
 Church at Horncastle, England, where 
 he was in constant service until his coming 
 to America; he was ordained a deacon 
 at Kenosha, Wis. (then Southport), in 
 1848, by Bishop Morris, and as an 
 elder by Bishop Wiley, at the Division 
 Street M. E. Church, Fond du Lac, 
 October i, 1882. He had served the M. 
 E. Church at Sturgeon Bay during the 
 year 1880, and in the years 1882 and 
 1883 served at West Pensaukee ; then 
 three years at Seymour, four years at 
 Amherst, and was retired in 1890. The 
 first wife of Rev. Rowbotham died at 
 Amherst April 28, 1888, having borne 
 him three children after arriving in Amer- 
 ica, viz. : Lucy Jane, Mary Sophia, and 
 Martha Elizabeth. His second marriage 
 took place December 31, i88g, to Mrs. 
 Martha Phelps, widow of Henry Phelps, 
 of De Pere, and since 1890 Mr. and Mrs. 
 Rowbotham have resided in West De- 
 Pere, highly honored and beloved by all 
 all who know them. [Since the above 
 was written we have received information 
 
 of the death of Rev. Rowbotham late in 
 the fall of 1894. — Ed.] 
 
 Henry Phelps, the deceased husband 
 of the present Mrs. Rowbotham, was a 
 native of Jefferson county, N. Y. On 
 January i, 1844, he married Martha S. 
 Wright (now Mrs. Rowbotham) at the 
 town of Henderson, in his native county. 
 This lady was born February 15, 1824, in 
 Herkimer county, N. Y., a daughter of 
 Eli and Nancy (Kellogg) Wright, but was 
 reared by an uncle, Peter N. Cushman, 
 from the age of four years to fifteen, and 
 first came to Waukesha, Wis., in 1838, 
 where Mr. Cushman ended his days. 
 When Mr. Cushman settled in Waukesha 
 there were only three buildings in the 
 place, but he purchased 600 acres one 
 mile south of the village, and lived to see 
 the village become a populous town. 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Phelps 
 located in Milwaukee, where Mr. Phelps 
 worked at his trade of ship-carpenter, and 
 later at Janesville, but permanently set- 
 tled in De Pere in 1855, where, for about 
 fourteen years he lived on his farm of 
 ninety-six acres, but still followed his 
 trade of carpenter and joiner until his 
 death, which occurred in De Pere Octo- 
 ber II, 1888. He left no children. Mrs. 
 Rowbotham has been a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church since 1850, 
 but in youth had been reared within the 
 pale of the Congregational denomina- 
 tion. 
 
 DFLATLEY, who is one of the most 
 obliging liverymen in Green Bay, 
 was born in County Sligo, Ireland, 
 in 1836, a son of Patrick and 
 Catherine (Flinn) Flatley, both of whom 
 died in Ireland, leaving five children: 
 Mary, D. four subject), Anna, Ellen and 
 Sarah. Of these Mary was the first to 
 come to America, and about the year 
 1849 was followed by our subject, who 
 landed in Quebec, being then thirteen 
 years of age. 
 
 After some experience as a coachman 
 
328 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he reached Green Bay in 1855, and for 
 six years was employed at kimbering for 
 J. Ingalls; was next an assistant engineer 
 for a year at Fort Howard; then clerked 
 for two years for a half-brother, and was 
 next street superintendent for two years 
 under Mayor Klaus of Green Bay. In 
 1869 he went into partnership in the liv- 
 ery business with Don Harrison, on Pine 
 street. Green Bay, but bought out his 
 partner's interest a year later. He met 
 with much success, and about the year 
 1884 built his present commodious barns, 
 where fourteen horses are stabled, for the 
 accommodation of his prosperous trade. 
 In 1862 Mr. Flatley was married to 
 Miss Anna Redmon, daughter of Edward 
 Redmon, and to this union were born five 
 children: Edward, Catherine, E. W. , 
 George, and Idah (now Mrs. Hemnitz). 
 Mrs. Flatley was called to her last resting 
 place July 4, 1884, dying in the Roman 
 Cathohc faith. Mr. Flatley is a devout 
 Catholic, and is a member of the Order 
 of Cathohc Knights of Wisconsin. He 
 is fair and square in all his business trans- 
 actions, and has won for himself a repu- 
 tation of which any man might well feel 
 proud. 
 
 ANDREW A. EISENMAN, a pros- 
 perous young citizen of Bellevue 
 township. Brown county, is a son 
 of John and Apollonia (Barth) 
 Eisenman, early settlers of that county. 
 They had ten children who grew to ma- 
 turity — four sons and six daughters — of 
 whom Andrew A., the second son, was 
 born in Eaton township, Brown county, 
 November 1 1, 1867. 
 
 He received a good common-school 
 training in the district schools of the home 
 neighborhood, and intended to finish his 
 education in a college, but he was obliged 
 to abandon study on account of failing 
 eyesight. He was reared to farming pur- 
 suits, and, his father dying March i, 1882, 
 he remained on the home farm until his 
 marriage, assisting his widowed mother, 
 
 except for one winter, which he spent in 
 the lumber regions of northern Wiscon- 
 sin. Vov three years he and his brother 
 John also operated a steam threshing 
 machine. Mr. Eisenman was married, 
 October 18, 1888, in Green Bay, to Miss 
 Annie Peterson, who was born in New 
 Denmark township. Brown county, daugh- 
 ter of Erasmus Peterson, who came to 
 the United States from Denmark. For 
 a short time the young couple lived on 
 the Eisenman homestead, and then for a 
 year made their home in Pine Grove, 
 where he had purchased a saloon busi- 
 ness. He then purchased his present 
 place in Lot 16, Bellevue township, and 
 here they have resided since May i, 1891, 
 Mr. Eisenman conducting a saloon busi- 
 ness. In his political preferences he is a 
 Republican, and now serves as treasurer 
 of School District No. 2. In religious 
 connection he and his wife are members 
 of the Lutheran Church at Pine Grove. 
 They have one child, Henrietta, born No- 
 vember 18, 1892. 
 
 JOHN C. EISENMAN, a prosperous 
 farmer of De Pere township. Brown 
 county, where he is well known and 
 highly respected as an honest, up- 
 right citizen, is a member of one of the early 
 pioneer families of the section. He was 
 born September 11, 1855, in Eaton 
 township. Brown county, eldest in the 
 family of John and Apollonia (Barth) 
 Eisenman. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 the common district schools of the period, 
 proving an apt scholar; but work being 
 plentiful on the farm, and he being the 
 eldest son, there was but little time to give 
 to his literary training. The home farm 
 was not yet cleared, and he spent many 
 days in the woods, faithfully assisting in 
 the arduous task of transforming the forest- 
 covered land to a fertile farm, and re- 
 ceiving a thorough training to pioneer farm 
 life. On October 25, 1879, he was mar- 
 ried in Green Bay to Miss Caroline Schoen, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBWAL RECORD. 
 
 32s 
 
 who was born in Humboldt township, 
 Brown county, daughter of Frederick 
 Schoen, a native of Germany, and an 
 early settler of Humboldttownship. After 
 his marriage Mr. Eisenman came to the 
 farm he yet owns and resides upon, in 
 Section 25, De Pere, but five acres of 
 which were at that time cleared, the re- 
 mainder being still in its primitive state, 
 and contained no improvements of any 
 kind, and he built the first house on the 
 place. But he set to work courageously, 
 and by industry and persevering toil has 
 cultivated and developed the farm, until at 
 present he has a productive fertile tract, 
 comprising ninety broad acres. In ad- 
 dition to general agriculture, he has, for 
 the past eighteen years, been engaged in 
 threshing, in the pursuit of which occu- 
 pation he has become unusually well ac- 
 quainted throughout the county. Mr. Eisen- 
 man has been a life-long resident of his sec- 
 tion of the county, and has always done 
 everything in his power to encourage and 
 promote the advancement and improve- 
 ment of same, and, being much esteemed 
 for his sterling worth, he wields consider- 
 able influence for good. In politics he 
 was formerly a Republican, but of late 
 years he has identified himself with no 
 party, preferring to vote according to the 
 fitness of the candidate and the dictates 
 of his own conscience; he is not an aspir- 
 ant to office; but has served his town- 
 ship as path master and clerk of the 
 school board. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Eisenman have had born 
 to them children as follows: Louis, 
 Arthur, Edward, John, Jr., Fred, George, 
 and Charles, all living. The family are 
 all members of the Lutheran Church at 
 Pine Grove. 
 
 REV. MATTHEW BONGERS, 
 rector of the Church of the Holy 
 Martyrs of Gorcum, in Preble 
 township. Brown county, is a na- 
 tive of Holland, born December 27,1832, 
 at Arnhem, in the Province of Gelderland. 
 
 His classical studies and his philo- 
 sophical course were completed under the 
 Jesuit Fathers at the seminary in Culen- 
 burg, and he studied theology at the 
 seminary of the Archdiocese of Utrecht. 
 In May, 1861, he accompanied Bishop 
 Kistemaker to the West Indies, and was 
 ordained to the priesthood June 25, same 
 year, at St. Joseph's Church, CuraQoa, 
 by the above-named bishop. He was 
 appointed the bishop's secretary, also had 
 charge of the Sisters of Charity, and at- 
 tended the lepers for one year. After- 
 ward he labored earnestly as a missionary 
 in six different islands belonging to the 
 Netherlands until 1885, when, on account 
 of failing health, he was compelled to 
 leave the tropics for a cooler and more 
 congenial climate. Accordingly he came 
 to America, ostensibly to visit his sister, 
 Mrs. A. L. de France, Oconto, Wis., ar- 
 riving there June 5. On September _i, 
 same year, owing to the ill health of Rev. 
 Father Brown, our subject was appointed 
 assistant to the latter at St. Patrick's 
 Church, Fort Howard, Brown Co., Wis., 
 and in December following the death of 
 Father Brown, he received the appoint- 
 ment of rector of the same church. In 
 October, 1886, he was removed to Green 
 Bay, Wis., to take charge of St. Willi- 
 brord's Church, with which congregation 
 he continued three years and three 
 months — during which time he procured 
 a free school for 200 children — and on 
 February 6, 1 890, he assumed his present 
 charge. 
 
 He had much experience during his 
 twenty-four years of missionary life, and 
 found some time for literary work as well. 
 He published a work on the education of 
 children (entitled "Virtue and Duty of 
 Parents "), in the West Indies language 
 (" Papiamentoe"). He was the first in 
 the Diocese of Green Bay to establish the 
 free-school system, and he is known as 
 an able speaker. 
 
 During the thirty-three years of his 
 priesthood Father Bongers has, by his 
 tireless industry, zeal and devotion to his 
 
324 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 work, won the love and respect of all 
 with whom he has come in contact, and- 
 he still receives a pension from the Hol- 
 land Government, in recognition of the 
 good work done by him in the cause of 
 the Church. 
 
 AHREND S. BUCKMANN (de- 
 ceased), who, during his lifetime, 
 ranked with the most prosperous 
 and influential farmers of New 
 Denmark township, Brown county, was a 
 native of Oldenburg, Germany, born Oc- 
 tober 5, 1816. 
 
 Mr. Buckmann was married in Ger- 
 many, October 17, 1843, to Miss Henri- 
 etta Bartels, who was born there July 22, 
 181 3, daughter of Diedrich and Matie 
 (Maiborn) Bartels, the former of whom 
 was a saloonkeeper, and whose family 
 consisted of five children, namely: Jo- 
 hanna, Matie, Herman, Henrietta (who 
 remained at home until her marriage), and 
 Margaret. Mr. Buckmann carried on a 
 saloon, and was also engaged in farming, 
 on rented land, continuing thus until 
 i860, when he came to America with his 
 wife and family of four children, all of 
 whom were born in Germany, their names 
 and dates of birth being as follows: 
 Catherine, June 28, 1844; Diedrich, De- 
 cember 13, 1846; Metta, March 2, 1853; 
 H. F., March 24, 1855; (one son Henry, 
 born November 10, 1850, died in Ger- 
 many when one year old). They em- 
 barked at Bremen and landed at Balti- 
 more, Md., thence coming direct to New 
 Denmark township. Brown Co., Wis., 
 where Mr. Buckmann purchased eighty 
 acres of partly improved land, whereon 
 stood a log house, in which the family 
 lived for eleven years, when it was re- 
 placed by the beautiful frame dwelling in 
 which they now reside. Mr. Buckmann 
 was one of the most industrious of men, 
 and, by giving his undivided attention to 
 his business interests, increased the area 
 of his farm to 240 acres, all of which he 
 improved and brought to a high state of 
 
 cultivation. He also took great interest 
 in the welfare and advancement of his 
 township, and filled several positions of 
 trust, serving as supervisor (five years), 
 pathmaster, and for twenty-seven con- 
 secutive years as school-treasurer, winning 
 for himself an enviable position among 
 his fellowmen for his integrity and ster- 
 ling worth. On October 17, 1893, he and 
 his wife celebrated the golden anniversary 
 of their wedding, and three weeks later, 
 on November 6, he passed from earth, 
 aged seventy-seven years; his remains 
 now rest in New Denmark cemetery. 
 Since his decease his widow has continued 
 to reside on the farm, making her home 
 with her son H. F., who now owns the 
 place and successfull}' carries on the agri- 
 cultural work. 
 
 H. F. BUCKMANN was five years 
 old when he came with his parents to 
 America, and received his education in 
 the common district schools of New Den- 
 mark township. On May 25, 1881, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Adeline 
 Lange, daughter of Herman and Anna 
 (Meyer) Lange, and they immediately 
 took up their residence with his parents 
 on the farm. Like his father before him, 
 Mr. Buckmann is a stanch member of the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 CORNELIUS DOUGHERTY. 
 Prominent among the early set- 
 tlers and leading progressive citi- 
 zens of Brown county is found 
 this gentleman, who is a native of the 
 Emerald Isle, born about 1825 near the 
 town of Killarney, County Kerrj', son of 
 James Dougherty, who was a weaver by 
 occupation. The mother of our subject, 
 who was a Sullivan, died when he was 
 eighteen months old, leaving a family of 
 five children — four sons and one daughter 
 — of whom Cornelius is the youngest. 
 
 Our subject was reared by the older 
 members of the family, and, during his 
 youth, received a common-school edu- 
 cation. In April, 1847, having received 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 325 
 
 nioney from his brother Daniel, who had 
 immigrated the year previous, he con- 
 cluded to come to America, and, bidding 
 the home of his boyhood farewell, he 
 proceeded from Cork to Liverpotjl, from 
 which port he set sail April 15, and, on 
 May 15, arrived in Boston, where he was 
 obliged to remain in quarantine five days. 
 A few days later his brother sent him 
 money to come to Chicopcc, Mass., and 
 here he obtained employment as clerk for 
 a large merchant, John Haley, with whom 
 he remained two years. He then went 
 to Brookfield, Mass., where he learned 
 the trade of shoemaker, but, tiring of 
 that, removed to Holyoke, and later to 
 Springfield. In the latter city he was 
 united in marriage, in 1854, with Miss 
 Ellen Wrin, also a native of County 
 Kerry, Ireland, and, shortly afterward, 
 they set out for Wisconsin, coming to 
 Green Bay on the " Old Michigan." On 
 their arrival in that city they had but 
 twenty-five cents, so they walked from 
 Green Bay to De Pere, and thence to Glen- 
 more township, Brown county, where she 
 remained at the' home of his brother 
 Daniel. Mr. Dougherty found work on 
 the Kaukauna canal, then in course of 
 construction, and, being strong and active, 
 he made a good workman. 
 
 Mr. Dougherty finally managed to save 
 thirty dollars from his hard-earned wages, 
 which he invested in forty acres of 
 land in Section 22, Glenmore town- 
 ship, locating thereon about 1856, and 
 here he has ever since resided. The 
 land was entirely new, the trees being 
 so thick they had to clear a space for 
 a cabin, and he was the first one to 
 do any clearing on the tract. Having 
 but few implements, the work at first 
 progressed slowly, but he persevered, 
 and soon the place began to assume a 
 cultivated appearance. For a long time, 
 however, the wolves played sad havoc with 
 his stock, and he well remembers one 
 night when these animals attacked a large 
 steer, the only one he had. The noise 
 drew him to the scene, and he succeeded 
 
 in frightening the wolves away, but the 
 animal died. However, the wild beasts 
 were gradually driven out, and, with the 
 infiu.x of civilization, the forests gradually 
 gave way to beautiful, well-kept farms. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Dougherty were born 
 children as follows: James, now a resi- 
 dent of Ortonville, Minn. ; John, a 
 farmer, who is postmaster at Glenmore; 
 Mary, Mrs. Michael J. Clark, of Wau- 
 saukee, Wis.; Catherine, wife of Robert 
 Wilson, a barber, of Crystal Falls, Mich. ; ' 
 Josephine, Mrs. Mathias Matzke, of Glen- 
 more; and three children that died young. 
 The mother of these passed from earth 
 in May, 1867, and was buried in the 
 Catholic cemetery at De Pere. In Feb- 
 ruary, 1868, Mr. Dougherty wedded, for 
 his second spouse, Mrs. Julia Murphy 
 (widow of Daniel Murphy), 7ice Donohue, 
 who was also a native of County Kerry, 
 Ireland, where Mr. Dougherty knew her 
 before his emigration. 
 
 Since his settlement in Glenmore town- 
 ship our subject has continued to follow 
 agriculture, and at one time had 120 
 acres under cultivation. He has given 
 each of his sons eighty acres, having 
 bought eighty acres more in Section 7, 
 Glenmore township, which he had deeded 
 to his son James. All his property has 
 been accumulated by years of toil and 
 persevering industry, and too much credit 
 can not be given to these old settlers for 
 the part they have taken in the develop- 
 ment of the country. In his dealings 
 with his fellow men he has been straight- 
 forward and honest, and he is respected 
 by all who know him for his integrity and 
 upright bearing. Though now nearly 
 seventy years of age, he is still active and 
 well-preserved, and few men in the vicin- 
 ity are better or more favorably known 
 than "Con Dougherty, " as he is famil- 
 iarly called. He is foremost in every 
 movement of benefit and interest to his 
 community, and has been selected to fill 
 numerous offices of trust, serving for 
 thirty-two years as chairman of Glen- 
 more township, was township superin- 
 
326 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tendent of schools, and for years a justice 
 of the peace. PoHtically he has always 
 been a Democrat and a leader of the 
 party in his section. In religious con- 
 nection he and his wife are members of 
 St. Mary's Church, Glenmore, in which 
 he served as trustee five or six years, and 
 also as treasurer. 
 
 On October 4, 1864, Mr. Dougherty 
 enlisted at Green Bay, ,Wis., in the 
 Twenty-second Wis. V. I., and served as 
 clerk for Col. Chapman at Camp Randall. 
 He was honorably discharged May 18, 
 1865, and returned at once to Glenmore. 
 
 JOHN BROEREN, one of the repre- 
 sentative well-to-do farmer citizens 
 and mechanics of Holland township. 
 Brown county, deserves, because of 
 the lessons presented in his busy life, more 
 than a passing notice in the pages of this 
 volume. He is a native of Holland, born 
 March 16, 1828, youngest in the family 
 of eight children — four sons and four 
 daughters — born to Peter Broeren, who 
 was by occupation a farmer and maker of 
 straw thatching. 
 
 Our subject was reared on his father's 
 farm, receiving in his boyhood a meager 
 education at the schools of the neighbor- 
 hood of his home. He also learned the 
 trades of wooden shoe and thatch making, 
 which, in company with his brother 
 Mathias, he followed after the death of 
 their father, and in this way was enabled 
 to make a few dollars over and above what 
 he required for living expenses, for he was 
 always industrious and frugal. In 1856, 
 then twenty-eight years old, being de- 
 sirous of bettering himself, and casting 
 longing eyes in the direction of the West- 
 ern World, whither many of his country- 
 men had already betaken themselves, he 
 decided to emigrate and try his fortune 
 under new skies, where homes are cheaper 
 and wages higher. At Rotterdam he 
 boarded the American ship " South Caro- 
 lina," bound for New York, which port 
 she reached after a somewhat lengthy 
 
 passage of fifty-seven days, during which 
 he suffered much from sea-sickness. From 
 New York he came directly to Chicago, 
 and in some part of Illinois he found work, 
 cutting grass on the prairie. While so 
 engaged he attended church regularly each 
 Sunday, the nearest Catholic one being 
 seven miles distant. In the fall of the 
 same year he came to Green Bay by boat 
 from Chicago, and being a natural me- 
 chanic, and having with him his tools used 
 in making wooden shoes, he found some 
 carpenter work to do until winter, receiv- 
 ing in wages about ten dollars per month. 
 One day, meeting some farmers from 
 Calumet county, he was induced by them 
 to return with them to their part of the 
 State, in order that he might there 
 make wooden shoes for the country peo- 
 ple; and at this sort of employment he 
 was engaged all winter. The following 
 spring (1857) he again came to Green 
 Bay, where, for the three following years, 
 he worked at carpentry. In the fall of 
 i860, trade in his line being dull, and 
 having saved a few dollars, he thought it 
 would be a good opportunity to revisit his 
 native land; so, in company with three 
 other Hollanders, he set out on the journey 
 via New York, where the party took 
 steamer for Southampton, landing there 
 in thirteen days from time of sailing. 
 From that port they proceeded by rail to 
 London, thence down the Thames and 
 across the North Sea to Rotterdam, Hol- 
 land, and from there our subject soon 
 reached his old home and friends. In the 
 following spring he returned to the United 
 States by steamer, via Rotterdam and 
 New York, thence by rail to Chicago and 
 Appleton, at which latter point (the rail- 
 road terminating there at that time) he 
 took boat down the Fox river to Green 
 Bay, where, after a few weeks rest, he re- 
 commenced carpentry work with his old 
 employer. Soon after coming to Green 
 Bay Mr. Broeren built himself a small 
 boat — sixteen feet in length, with a wheel 
 paddle- in the rear — the craft, which was 
 propelled by a crank turned by hand, being 
 
^OT^U '^/-^u^f 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 329 
 
 quite a curiosity at the time and attracting 
 much attention. He passed many pleas- 
 ant hours with it on the waters of Green 
 Bay, and a perfect model of the boat — 
 wheel-paddle and all — now surmounts 
 his barn. 
 
 On February 17, 1862, Mr. Broeren 
 was united in marriage, at Little Chute, 
 Wis., with Mrs. Hannah Goerkes, {nee 
 Siemons), widow of John Goerkes, who 
 was drowned in the canal lock at Kau- 
 kauna, where he was lock-keeper at the 
 time. She is a native of Prussia, born 
 September 16, 1834, a daughter of Rine- 
 hart Siemons, a Hollander, who came to 
 the United States in 1848, and was one of 
 those who first settled Holland township. 
 Brown county, in that year. After mar- 
 riage Mr. Broeren continued to work in 
 Appleton at carpentry and pattern-making 
 until the spring of 1865, when, in com- 
 pany with Cornelius Gerrits, having pur- 
 chased of Hoel S. Wright, of Wrights- 
 town, a farm of forty acres, with a water- 
 power sawmill thereon, he moved thither 
 with his family. Soon afterward he 
 bought out his partner's interest, and in 
 about two years converted the water- 
 power of the sawmill into steam-power. 
 To these forty acres he subsequently added 
 forty more, and in Woodville township, 
 Calmuet county, he also purchased land, 
 now owning in all 140 acres. When he 
 first came to his farm it was completely 
 covered with timber and underbrush, but, 
 by indefatigable industry, heroic work, 
 and tireless energy, he has made the 
 quondam howling wilderness to blossom 
 as the rose. In connection with agricul- 
 ture, he has continued to conduct the 
 sawmill, to which he has added a plan- 
 ing-mill. 
 
 Mr. Broeren, in his political prefer- 
 ences, is a stanch Democrat, and served 
 his township as supervisor one year; he 
 and his wife are members of St. Francis 
 Catholic Church, and are held in the highest 
 esteem in the community. Their chil- 
 dren, eight in number, were: Peter, in 
 California; George, a farmer in Holland 
 
 township. Brown county; Francis W. , 
 who died December 10, 1869; Anna M., 
 organist of St. Francis Church; Cecilia 
 B., at home; Theodore, in Portland, Ore. ; 
 and Wilhelmina and William, both at 
 home. By her first husband Mrs. Broe- 
 ren had three children — Henry, John and 
 Mary — of whom the last named married 
 Martin Vandezagt, and died leaving no 
 children. Henry went to the Pacific coast 
 in 1882, soon afterward making a trip to 
 Australia; but, not liking the country, he 
 returned after a short stay, after which 
 time his home was, for the most part, in 
 Tulare county, Cal., until 1893, when he 
 removed to Alaska, and is now engaged 
 in mining along the Yukon river. John 
 went to the Pacific coast four years later 
 than Henry, and in the spring of 1894 also 
 went to Alaska, where he is now engaged 
 in mining with his brother. After Henry's 
 arrival in that country it was si.x months 
 before he reached the mmes, being de- 
 tained on account of the snow. The 
 brothers are both practical mechanics, 
 with the ability to turn their hands to 
 almost any kind of work, a fact which 
 accounts in a great measure for their suc- 
 cess in all their undertakings. 
 
 Gifted, as he is, with more than aver- 
 age natural ability and intellect, yet de- 
 nied in his boyhood and youth aught but 
 the most limited school advantages, there 
 is to be found in the career of Mr. Broeren 
 a potent lesson to the youth of this or any 
 other land, who, commencing life as he 
 did, an uneducated, penniless lad, is 
 striving to hew out for himself an honest 
 competence and honored name. Mr. 
 Broeren is never idle; whether in the field 
 among his crops, in his mills listening to the 
 hum of the machinery, or by his domestic 
 fireside in the bosom of his family, his 
 hand and mind are ever emplo3'ed — his 
 hand in labor, his mind in perusing Eng- 
 lish literature or the current events of the 
 day; and now his homestead is spoken of 
 by the newspapers of Outagamie and 
 Brown counties as the "model farm of 
 Holland township." 
 
33° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 THOMAS DUFFY, one of the pros- 
 perous farmers and representa- 
 tive citizens of Holland township, 
 Brown county, is a native of Berk- 
 shire county, Mass., born July 28, 1852, 
 son of James and Margaret (Martin) Duffy. 
 James Duffy was born in County Mon- 
 aghan, Ireland, where he learned the 
 trade of weaver, and when a young man 
 came to the United States, first locating 
 in Massachusetts. He was married in 
 that State, for his second wife, to Miss 
 Margaret Martin, a native of County Gal- 
 way, Ireland, and they remained there 
 until 1858, Mr. Duffy working in the 
 paper mills. Mr. Duffy had several chil- 
 dren by his first marriage, and in 1858, 
 with his entire family, which then con- 
 sisted of ten children, he came to Wis- 
 consin, land being cheap in that then new 
 country. They located in Brown county, 
 purchasing forty acres in Section 27, Hol- 
 land township, Ihe tract having no im- 
 provements whatever except a small log 
 house, in which the family made their 
 home. The task of clearing was a great 
 one, for, having no improved machinery — 
 an axe and a hoe being almost the only 
 implements used — it took many years of 
 toil to make the land tillable. He passed 
 through all the vicissitudes of pioneer life, 
 and lived to see his farm converted from 
 the woods into a fertile tract. In later 
 years he purchased another forty acres. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Duffy spent the remainder 
 of their days on the farm where they first 
 located, he passing away in July, 1887, 
 and his wife following him to the grave 
 in September, same year; their remains 
 now rest in Holland cemetery. They 
 were devout members of the Catholic 
 Church, and were everywhere respected. 
 In politics Mr. Duffy was a stanch mem- 
 ber of the Democratic party, and served 
 creditably in several positions of trust; 
 in 1863-64, and again in 1874, he served 
 as township treasurer, and he also held 
 offices in his school district. 
 
 Thomas Duffy was the third son of 
 James and Margaret (Martin) Duffy. 
 
 When si.\ years old he came with his par- 
 ents to Wisconsin, and, having never at- 
 tended school up to that time, he received 
 all his educational training in the district 
 schools of Holland township, his first 
 teachers being Martin Finnerty and 
 Michael Vandenberg. But in those early 
 days the schools were far from thorough, 
 and the education acquired, even when 
 attending regularly, was somewhat limited. 
 But work at home was the first con- 
 sideration, and he received a thorough 
 training to agriculture under his father 
 on the home farm, which he now resides 
 upon. On November 23, 1880, he was 
 united in marriage, in East Holland, to 
 Miss Ellen Clancey, who was born in 
 Holland township, February 17, i860, a 
 daughter of William Clancey, who came 
 from County Limerick, Ireland. The 
 young couple took up their residence on 
 the homestead which he now owns, as 
 well as eighty acres across the road, and 
 here he has always resided, excepting for 
 a few months when he lived in Kaukauna. 
 To this union children have been born as 
 follows: John, August 17, 1881; Maggie 
 Ellen, June 16, 1883; Mamie A., Septem- 
 ber 6, 1884; James, October 8, 1886; 
 Willie, June 19, 1889; Jennie Elizabeth, 
 July 22, 1891; and Florence L. , July 
 19, 1893. 
 
 Mr. Duffy is a progressive, go-ahead 
 farmer, and has, to a great degree, been 
 the architect of his own fortune, for, being 
 one of a large family, he had to do for 
 himself. He is very popular in his locality, 
 where he has many friends and is well 
 known. In political connection he is a 
 Democrat, and one of the local leaders 
 of the party, being stanch in the support 
 of its principles. He has served as treas- 
 urer of his township for a longer term 
 than any other one man, having held the 
 office continuously since 1881, with the 
 exception of a year, discharging the duties 
 of his position in a highly satisfactory 
 manner. In religious connection he and 
 his family are members of St. Francis 
 Church, of Holland. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 33' 
 
 JOSEPH LEITERMANN, a success- 
 ful farmer of Glenmore township, 
 Brown county, was born February 
 28, 1847, in Bohemia, Austria, son 
 of Peter Leitermann, a farmer. The latter 
 had nine children — four sons and five 
 daughters — Joseph being the eighth in the 
 order of birth and the third son. 
 
 When six years old our subject com- 
 menced to attend school, continuing until 
 he reached the age of twelve or thirteen 
 years. He then began the trade of 
 wagon-maker, following that about eight 
 years, or until the spring of 1867, when 
 he concluded to emigrate and seek his 
 fortune in America. His father gave 
 him money to pay the expenses of the 
 journey, and, sailing from Bremen he 
 landed in New York after a voyage of 
 nineteen days, immediately after arrival 
 proceeding to Manitowoc, Wis. Having 
 found work near that city as a farmhand, 
 he resided there a year and a half, when 
 he came to Brown county, and purchased 
 forty acres in Section 25, Glenmore town- 
 ship, going in debt for same. The only 
 improvement on this place was a log 
 shanty, which stood five or six rods 
 southeast of his present residence, and 
 the land was entirely new. In Novem- 
 ber, 1869, Mr. Leitermann was married, 
 in Glenmore, to Miss Mary Hebel, also a 
 native of Austria, who was born May 10, 
 1844, daughter of Mathias Hebel, and 
 the young couple at once commenced 
 housekeeping in the log house above 
 mentioned, where they made their home 
 until the erection of their present com- 
 fortable dwelling. Here their children 
 were all born, as follows: Barbara, born 
 December 20, 1870, now Mrs. Xavier 
 Rank, of Kewaunee county. Wis. ; Peter 
 J., born April 6, 1873; Joseph, born 
 April 7, 1874; Mary, born July 19, 1875; 
 John, born October 8, 1876; Annie, born 
 February 4, 1879; Louis, born June 4, 
 1884, all residing at home; and one that 
 died in infancy unnamed. 
 
 It required many years of stern toil 
 to clear and improve the farm, and Mr. 
 
 Leitermann not only did that, but from 
 time to time added to his original pur- 
 chase, and now has a fine farm of 1 20 
 acres, thoroughly equipped with substan- 
 tial outbuildings. His family have as- 
 sisted him greatly with the general farm 
 work, and he has also been a hard worker, 
 by good management and systematic meth- 
 ods making a success of his life work. In 
 connection with general farming he is also 
 engaged in stock-raising to some extent. 
 He has been a Democrat in politics, but 
 not an active party man, preferring to 
 give all his time to his farm. In religion 
 he and his family are members of St. 
 Mary's Catholic Church, at Glenmore, 
 and they are highly respected throughout 
 their community. 
 
 M 
 
 ATHEW RIPP, an industrious 
 young farmer of Green Bay 
 township. Brown county, is a 
 son of Peter and Christina (Van- 
 hatten) Ripp. Christina Vanhatten was 
 born February 14, 1844, in Germany, 
 and in 1853 came to America with her 
 parents, Peter and Elizabeth Vanhatten, 
 whose family at this time consisted of four 
 children: Christina, Elizabeth, Catherine 
 and Mary. One child, Margaret, was 
 born in America. The family landed in 
 New York after a remarkably pleasant 
 voyage of twenty-three days, and impie- 
 diately after arrival proceeded to a place 
 about thirty miles distant from Rochester, 
 N. Y., where they purchased sixty-one 
 acres of wild land, which they cultivated, 
 and made their home there for thirteen 
 years. They then migrated westward to 
 Wisconsin, and took up their residence 
 about thirty miles from Milwaukee, re- 
 maining there seven years, or until 1873, 
 when they came to Brown county, settling 
 on a farm in Green Bay township, where 
 the parents passed the remainder of their 
 lives. 
 
 In 1862 Christina Vanhatten was 
 united in marriage with Peter Ripp, and 
 their union was blessed with six children. 
 
332 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL MECORD. 
 
 viz. : Elizabeth, Katie, Mathew (who 
 married Miss Bkindy), Mary (Mrs. Blundy), 
 Anna, and Margaret (deceased). Mr. and 
 Mrs. Ripp came to Green Bay township 
 with the Vanhatten family in 1873, and 
 here he died about six weeks later. Mrs. 
 Ripp purchased a tract of eighty acres in 
 Green Bay township, which her son 
 Mathew has cleared and cultivated, and 
 on which they make their home; in ad- 
 dition to this place he owns and cultivates 
 a piece of land in Humboldt township. 
 Since his father's death he has been the 
 principal support of his widowed mother, 
 proving a faithful and devoted son in every 
 respect. 
 
 SYLVESTER BOEHM, now living 
 retired in the township of Belle- 
 vue. Brown count}', with whose 
 agricultural interests he has been 
 actively identified for nearly forty years, 
 is a native of Bavaria, Germany, born De- 
 cember 30, 1828. His father, George 
 Boehm, a hard-working, thrifty farmer in 
 the Fatherland, had a family of eight 
 children — four sons and four daughters — 
 of whom our subject is the seventh in the 
 order of birth. 
 
 Sylvester Boehm attended the schools 
 of his native place, receiving a liberal 
 common-school education. When seven- 
 teen years old he commenced to learn the 
 stone-mason's trade, at which he served 
 an apprenticeship of three years, and then 
 embarked in the business for himself, his 
 earnings being all turned over to his par- 
 ents. In the spring of 1853 he proceeded 
 to Liverpool, from which port he sailed 
 for America, landing in Philadelphia after 
 a voyage of fifty days. Going at once to 
 New York he obtained employment as a 
 mechanic (his wages being fifty cents per 
 day), continuing thus but a short time, 
 however, for he went to Detroit, Mich., 
 where he worked at his trade. In 1857 
 he was married in New Baltimore, Mich., 
 to Miss Theresa Wygal, who was born 
 September 8, 1830, in Prussia, daughter 
 
 of Joseph Wygal, who came to the United 
 States in 1854, and located near Detroit. 
 Shortly after his marriage Mr. Boehm 
 came to Green Bay, Wis., and for one 
 summer followed his trade; then, in 1859, 
 purchased forty acres of heavily wooded 
 land in Bellevue township, going into 
 debt for same, and on this tract, in a 
 log cabin 12x12, he and his wife took up 
 their residence. He has since devoted 
 his attention e.xclusively to agriculture, in 
 which he has met with most encouraging 
 success, the just reward of industry and 
 thrift. On that farm he remained until 
 1892, in which year he came to his pres- 
 ent home, a pleasant farm of twenty-eight 
 acres, where he now lives a partly re- 
 tired life. He has been a self-made man, 
 for, when he landed in the United States, 
 he had a capital of only five dollars with 
 which to commence life in the New World, 
 and from this small beginning he has ac- 
 cumulated a comfortable property. He 
 and his wife are known as good, kind- 
 hearted neighbors, and their hospitality is 
 almost proverbial. They had seven chil- 
 dren: Louis, now a resident of Florida; 
 Catherine, Mrs. Frank Rinehart, of Duck 
 Creek, Wis. ; Margarette, Mrs. Ferdinand 
 Ellinger, of Bellevue township; Caroline, 
 Mrs. Frank Nachtwey, of Bellevue town- 
 ship; and three children — one son and two 
 daughters — that died young. Mr. Boehm 
 is an adherent of the principles of the 
 Democratic party, but in voting he usually 
 selects the best man, regardless of politics. 
 He and his wife are members of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 HUGH FINNEGAN, an influential 
 farmer-citizen of Holland town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a worthy 
 representative of one of its early 
 pioneer families. 
 
 Patrick Finnegan, his father, was born 
 in 1 8 19 in County Sligo, Ireland, where 
 he married Margaret Graham, and in 
 their native country one child was born — 
 Andrew. Mr. Finnegan was a tenant 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 333 
 
 farmer, and, though a hard-working man, 
 he could barely make a comfortable liv- 
 ing. In the spring of 1848 he concluded 
 to immigrate to the United States, where 
 the workingman had a chance to better 
 himself, and, gathering together what 
 capital he could — a few dollars realized 
 from the sale of his effects and a small 
 sum he had saved — he left his home, and 
 proceeded with his little family, via Dub- 
 lin, to Liverpool. Here they took pas- 
 sage on a sailing vessel bound for New 
 York City, where they landed after a 
 weary voyage occupying several weeks. 
 Their first home in the New World was 
 made at Schenectady, N. Y. , where Mr. 
 Finnegan found employment as laborer 
 on the canal, and there they resided a 
 few years, or until about 1851, when, at- 
 tracted no doubt by the cheap homes of- 
 fered to early settlers, he decided to set- 
 tle in the then new State of Wisconsin. 
 They took passage at Buffalo on the ' ■ Old 
 Michigan," then plying on the lakes be- 
 tween that city and Green Bay, and, after 
 arriving at the latter city, came up the 
 Fo.x river to Kaukauna, where they re- 
 mained several years, Mr. Finnegan work- 
 ing as a laborer on the canal. He then 
 purchased 160 acres of new land in Sec- 
 tion 22, Holland township, Brown county, 
 totally unimproved, and he built the first 
 house thereon — a small log structure, 
 which stood a short distance east of the 
 present family residence. Not a stick 
 had been cut from the land, and, although 
 he set about the clearing of the farm at 
 once, it yielded no support for himself and 
 his family for several years, and he con- 
 tinued to work in Kaukauna during the 
 summer time. Having but a limited sup- 
 ply of farming implements, and no im- 
 proved machinery, the work of improving 
 and cultivating progressed slowly; but he 
 persevered, keeping ever before him the 
 prospect of one day having a comfortable 
 property which he could call his own. 
 With constant care and industr}- his quar- 
 ter-section of land finally was converted 
 into a smiling, productive farm, to which, 
 
 in later years, he added an adjoining forty 
 acres, the whole making a fine tract. The 
 log cabin was in time supplanted by a 
 substantial farm residence, in which he 
 passed the remainder of his life, dying in 
 November, 1878, and he was laid to rest 
 in Holland township. His first wife passed 
 from earth in 1858, and was buried in 
 Holland township, and Mr. Finnegan 
 subsequently married Miss Ellen McBride, 
 a native of Ireland, who survives him. 
 The children born in the United States to 
 his first marriage were: Bridget, now 
 Mrs. Joseph Redline, of Green Bay; Mi- 
 c'hael, a resident of Ingalls, Mich.; Hugh, 
 a sketch of whom follows, and Thomas, 
 of Menomonee, \\'is. Andrew, the eldest 
 of this family, who was born in Ireland, 
 also resides in Menomonee. To the sec- 
 ond marriage came children as follows: 
 Mary, Mrs. Peter Golden, of Wrights- 
 town; and Maggie, Mrs. John Cox, of 
 Holland township. 
 
 In politics Mr. Finnegan was a strong 
 supporter of the principles of the Demo- 
 cratic party, but he never aspired to office, 
 preferring to give all his attention to his 
 farm. In religious faith he was a mem- 
 ber of St. Francis Church, De Pere. One 
 of the earliest settlers in Holland town- 
 ship, he lived to see his farm and the sur- 
 rounding country converted from a dense 
 forest to a productive tract of land, 
 changes which those pioneers effected by 
 many years of stern toil. He was a self- 
 made man, for, though in comfortable cir- 
 cumstances at the time of his death, he 
 began life with nothing but a willing 
 heart and hands, and won success by in- 
 dustry and good business management, 
 and his honesty and fair dealing won him 
 the respect of all who knew him. 
 
 Hugh Finnegan, son of this old 
 pioneer, was born July 13, 1855, in Hol- 
 land township, on the farm where he j'et 
 makes his home. He received such an 
 education as could be obtained at the 
 common district schools of his time, his 
 attendance being somewhat irregular, for 
 he was reared to farm life, and, as the 
 
334 
 
 COMMEMORA Tl VE BIOUBAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 home place was still in its primitive con- 
 dition, there was plenty of work at home 
 to occupy his time. From the time of 
 his mother's death, up to the ajje of thir- 
 teen, he was reared by his grandmother 
 Finnefjan, who then lived in Holland 
 township, after which he made his home 
 with his father. On November 9, 1887, 
 he was married in Holland township, to 
 Miss Ellen Finerty, who was born there 
 January 13, 1859, danghter of Thomas 
 and Catherine (Keaton) Finerty. After 
 their marriage the young couple immedi- 
 ately came to the home farm, where they 
 have ever since resided, and which Mr. 
 Finnegan now owns; it comprises 200 
 acres of prime land, all in Holland town- 
 ship. This union has been blessed with 
 three children, viz.: Carrie M., born 
 September 17, 1889; Thomas A., born 
 April I, 1 891; and Robert P., born De- 
 cember 15, 1893. Mr. Finnegan has 
 been very successful in his farming opera- 
 tions, and to-day ranks among the most 
 prosperous citizens in his township. He 
 takes an interest in every movement which 
 tends to promote the welfare of his local- 
 ity, and is foremost in the rank of pro- 
 gressive farmers Politically he is a 
 Democrat, but, though stanch in his sup- 
 port of the party, gives no time to politics, 
 being fully occupied with his business af- 
 fairs. In religious connection the family 
 are members of St. Francis Catholic 
 Church, De Pere. 
 
 P1:TEK CALLAHAN, a well- 
 known farmer citizen of Glen- 
 more township. Brown county, 
 was born in November, 1837, in 
 County Monaghan, Ireland, son of James 
 Callahan. When Peter was but a boy 
 his parents immigrated to Canada with 
 their family of eight children — four sons 
 and four daughters — and here he was 
 reared. His mother died when he was 
 about fifteen years old, and, this event 
 breaking up the home, he then com- 
 menced sailing on the lakes, a business in 
 
 which he continued, "off and on," for 
 some years. His father conducted a 
 livery stable and hack line, and during 
 the winter season Peter assisted him. 
 
 In 1863 our subject came to Brown 
 county. Wis., sailing from Buffalo to 
 Green Bay, and here obtained work as 
 wheelsman and fireman on the "Arrow" 
 and the "Van Epps." He remained on 
 the " Arrow" until she gave out, and in- 
 tended to continue his work on the 
 " Dunlap, " to which vessel the machinery 
 from the "Arrow" was being transferred; 
 but, in the fall of 1S63, he enlisted at 
 Green Bjiy, in Company H, Thirty-fifth 
 Wis. V. I., and went to Camp Wash- 
 burn, Milwaukee. The command was 
 sent to Louisiana, and they engaged in 
 various skirmishes, but their first regular 
 engagement was at Spanish Fort. Then 
 followed the engagements at Fort Blakely, 
 whence they were sent to Mobile, and 
 later to Brownsville, Texas, protecting 
 the frontier from the encroachments of 
 the Mexicans during the disturbances in 
 that country. Mr. Callahan was dis- 
 charged in Brownsville, Texas, in March, 
 1866, and returned to Madison, Wis., 
 thence to De Pere, where he made his 
 home for about a year; while in the 
 service he had suffered from exposure, 
 and returned with his health seriously 
 impaired. During his residence in De- 
 Pere he worked in the stave mills, and 
 in 1867 he came to Glenmore township, 
 where he was employed in the sawmill of 
 Bowen, Thompson & Hulburt, who were 
 getting out lumber. In i 868 he removed 
 to his present farm, in the N. W. \, 
 Section 14, Glenmore township, which, 
 at that time, was an eighty-acre tract of 
 new land (with the timber thereon re- 
 served by others), and here he built the 
 first house, and made all the improve- 
 ments on the place. The work of clear- 
 ing this farm involved a great deal of 
 hard work, but, by continued industry, 
 he has reduced it to a fertile condition. 
 In 1892 he built a store on the northwest 
 corner of his farm, where he now con- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 335 
 
 ducts a saloon, in addition to carrying on 
 his agricultural work. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, and always supports the prin- 
 ciples of that party in State and National 
 elections, but in local affairs he votes in- 
 variably for the best man. He is a close 
 reader, and keeps himself well informed on 
 general topics and the issues of his party. 
 In the fall of 1863 Mr. Callahan was 
 married, in Green Bay, to Miss Johanna 
 Dwyer, a native of County Tipperary, 
 Ireland, daughter of John Dwyer, and to 
 this union wore born two children: Mary 
 E., now Mrs. Warner, of Montana, and 
 James E., of Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Callahan are members of St. Mary's 
 Catholic Church, of Glenmore. 
 
 LAMBERT WELLENS. Many of 
 the thrifty, industrious, well-to-do 
 citizens of Brown county can 
 boast of Holland birth, and promi- 
 nent among these ranks the subject of 
 these lines, who is a resident of Bellevue 
 township. He was born December 6, 
 1836, in the village of Schaijk, near the 
 city of Grave, Holland, son of John H. 
 Wellens, a farmer, and the youngest of 
 eight children — all sons — four of whom 
 grew to maturity. 
 
 Lambert Wellens received a good 
 common-school education in the schools 
 of his neighborhood, was reared a farmer 
 boy, and remained at home until he 
 reached the age of twenty, at which time 
 he decided to seek his fortune in America. 
 His father had died, and having the 
 money received from the estate to pay his 
 expenses, he set sail from Antwerp, land- 
 ing in New York after an ocean voyage 
 of twenty-one days. It was his original 
 intention to go to De Pere, Wis., but 
 being influenced by an acquaintance he 
 went instead to Grant county, that State, 
 where he arrived with but five dollars, and 
 immediately hired out as a farm hand, con- 
 tinuing to follow agricultural pursuits for 
 two years, during five months of which time 
 he worked with his two brothers, Seeman 
 
 and Albert, who had come to the United 
 States a few months after him. In the 
 spring of 1859 these three brothers were 
 seized with the "western fever," and 
 taking a team of oxen to haul provisions, 
 they set out across the plains for Pike's 
 Peak, the journey occupying six weeks. 
 But not being satisfied with the prospects 
 there, they remained only ten days, and 
 then pushed on farther westward to Cali- 
 fornia with the same team, taking five 
 months and ten days to make the trip. 
 They prospected in Shasta county, Cal., 
 remaining there four and a half years, and 
 then went to Idaho Territory, where they 
 sojourned four years, prospecting and 
 mining the greater part of the time, and 
 making about $5,000 apiece. In the fall 
 of 1867 they returned by stage to Sacra- 
 mento, Cal., thence by water to San 
 Francisco, and from there, via the Nicar- 
 agua canal route, to New York, where 
 they took passage for Liverpool, and in 
 October, 1867, arrived at their old home 
 in Holland. 
 
 In January, 1868, our subject was 
 married at his old home in Holland, to 
 Miss Barbara Johnson, who was born 
 October 25, 1840, in the same neighbor- 
 hood, daughter of John Johnson, ^ farmer, 
 and to this union have been born six chil- 
 dren, viz. : John, Mary, William, Albert, 
 Theodore and Nettie, all living but Theo- 
 dore, who died on the present farm in 
 Wisconsin in March, 1888. After return- 
 ing to his native land, Mr. Wellens took 
 up farming, and at the same time con- 
 ducted a grocery and a mercantile busi- 
 ness, continuing in this until 1883, when 
 he again concluded to come to America. 
 In the spring of that year he and his 
 family sailed from Rotterdam on the 
 " P. Caland," arriving in New York after 
 a voyage of eighteen days, and, their des- 
 tination being De Pere, Wis., they im- 
 mediately proceeded thither. In Bellevue 
 township, Brown county, Mr. Wellens 
 purchased eighty-four acres of partly im- 
 proved land, where he has ever since made 
 his home, devoting his attention pricipally 
 
336 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to the cultivation and improvement of his 
 farm. The place has undergone many 
 changes since he has had charge, and it 
 is now one of the best improved farms in 
 the township; he has also added sixty 
 acres adjoining, and is engaged extensively 
 in general agriculture, his remarkable suc- 
 cess in this Ime being directly due to his 
 good business management and shrewd 
 financiering, for which he is well known. 
 He is a representative self-made man, 
 active and intelligent, having accumulated 
 a goodly share of this world's goods by 
 hard work and perseverance. He has 
 traveled considerably', more than the 
 average farmer, having crossed this coun- 
 try from New York to San Francisco, 
 visited Central America, and, in 1893, took 
 a six-weeks' pleasure trip to his native 
 country; he has crossed the Atlantic four 
 times. Politically he is a Democrat, but 
 he gives little attention to party affairs, 
 preferring to devote his time to his busi- 
 ness interests. The family are all mem- 
 bers of the Catholic Church at De Pere. 
 
 JOSEPH E. DUAIME, a representa- 
 tive thorough-going agriculturist, of 
 Lawrence township, Brown county, 
 was born May 16, 1841, in St. 
 Francis, Canada, and is of French descent. 
 Our subject received the greater part 
 of his education from his mother, who 
 was a French scholar, and had been a 
 school teacher. His father, Bruno Du- 
 aime, was a ship carpenter, and among 
 other boats built the "Fanny Fisk. " On 
 July 15, 1850, the family came to Green 
 Bay, Wis. , and, the parents being in only 
 moderate circumstances, Joseph com- 
 menced to work at an early age, for when 
 fifteen years old we find him in the lum- 
 ber camps of northern Michigan, where 
 he earned from twelve to fifteen dollars 
 per month. At the breaking out of the 
 Civil war he was working on a farm near 
 Fond du Lac, Wis. , and he enlisted at 
 once in the Union army, but his father 
 succeeded in obtaining his release. Later, 
 
 however, he went to Brown count}', and 
 in the spring of 1864 again enlisted, this 
 time in Company C, Twelfth Wis. V. I., 
 with which he went south to Cairo, 111., 
 soon afterward joining Sherman at Big 
 Shanty, Ga. Their first regular engage- 
 ment was at Kenesaw Mountain, thence 
 following the campaign to the coast. On 
 July 28, 1864, near Israel's Chapel, to 
 the right of Atlanta, Mr. Duaime was 
 wounded, receiving a ball in the neck, 
 and was sent to Marietta Hospital, where 
 he remained thirty days. He then came 
 home on furlough, and. Green Bay sur- 
 geons failing to extract the ball, he went 
 to Harvey's Hospital, at Madison, Wis. , 
 where it was removed by Dr. Culverson. 
 In March, 1865, he went by rail to New 
 York, and thence by boat to Morehead 
 City, N. C, where he joined his com- 
 mand about two weeks before Lee's sur- 
 render. He was present at the Grand 
 Review in Washington, D. C. ; was mus- 
 tered out July 15, 1865, at Louisville, 
 Ky., recei\ed an honorable discharge at 
 Madison, Wis., and immediately returned 
 to Brown county. 
 
 On September 11, 1865, Mr. Duaime 
 was married to Miss Mary Boyea, who 
 was born April 5, 1844, in New York, 
 daughter of August Boyea, who came to 
 De Pere in 1855. At this time our sub- 
 ject had saved some two hundred and fifty 
 dollars, and with this money he purchased 
 a lot in Green Bay, on which he built a 
 house, and lived there two years. He 
 obtained employment in the lumber mills 
 of Marshall, Speer & Co., at Sturgeon 
 Bay, and his former experience in this 
 line, coupled with natural ability as a 
 mechanic, which he possessed to a marked 
 degree, made him so competent a work- 
 man that for eight years he was foreman 
 and filer for this firm. Being thrifty and 
 economical, as well as a steady worker, 
 he saved a considerable sum, and in a few 
 years was able to purchase a farm in 
 Lawrence township, for which he paid 
 two thousand dollars cash. Here he made 
 his home for ten or twelve years, follow- 
 
ef'.^.S^^t^ 
 
 OC^-TT-'-l/Z^' 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 339 
 
 ing farming, and in the spring of 1882 
 purchased the tract of ninety acres, where 
 he- now lives, and removed thereon. 
 Since then he has improved the tract in 
 many ways, erecting new buildings, re- 
 pairing old ones, and systematically cul- 
 tivating the land, to which he has also 
 added forty-seven and one-half acres, 
 now owning a fertile, productive farm of 
 I 37i acres. Though not a lifelong farmer, 
 Mr. Duaime has proven himself the equal 
 of any in his township, and has made a 
 complete success of his vocation. He and 
 his wife have had five children born to 
 them, namely: Joseph E. (who is a 
 teacher, and a correspondent for the De- 
 Pere Danocrat),]oseY>h.me (a dressmaker), 
 William (a carpenter), Emma (a teacher), 
 and Sophie (also engaged in teaching). 
 In his political preferences Mr. Duaime 
 was formerly a Republican, but since 
 1884 he has supported the principles of 
 the Democratic party, though in voting he 
 usually considers the fitness of candi- 
 dates, especially in township and county 
 elections. He has been elected to vari- 
 ous offices of trust; served with credit as 
 chairman, and, for ten or twelve years, 
 as supervisor of the township board. He 
 was repeatedly elected to the office of 
 clerk of the school board, by which the 
 school profited by his untiring efforts to 
 make it a pleasant and progressive place. 
 After the northwestern fire of 1871, he 
 was chosen commander of a small army 
 of twenty men got together to bury the 
 dead in Williamsonville, Door county. 
 The horror of the time is indescribable. 
 As a sailor he has filled the place of cap- 
 tain on a sailing vessel. In religious con- 
 nections he is a member of the Roman 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 ANTON VAN DYKE, a respected 
 well-to-do farmer of Rockland 
 township. Brown county, was 
 born November 30, 1853, in Hol- 
 land, son of John \'an Dvke, a farmer. 
 
 19 
 
 The latter died when Anton was twelve 
 years old, and, his mother having passed 
 from earth six years before, our subject 
 lived with his older brothers until he was 
 twenty-two years of age, principally en- 
 gaged in farm work. He had received 
 his education in the common schools of 
 his birthplace, which he attended up to 
 the age of eleven years. 
 
 In the spring of iSSi, having managed 
 to save a small sum from his hard-earned 
 wages, Mr. Van Dyke left his native 
 country, and, going to Liverpool, took pas- 
 sage on a vessel bound for New York, 
 arriving in that city July 4. He imme- 
 diately came westward, via Chicago and 
 Milwaukee, to De Pere, Wis., where he 
 had a cousin, Martin Van Dyke, and 
 shortly afterward commenced to work for 
 John Coenen, with whom he remained 
 some time. He then came to Rockland 
 township to work for Martin Hubers, one 
 of the early settlers of this locality, who, 
 coming to Wisconsin from Holland a poor 
 boy, had settled on the farm our subject 
 now owns, and by industry and thrift rose 
 to an enviable position among the farmers 
 of his township, where he was highly 
 respected. He had but one child, Mary 
 Hubers, born November 28, 1861, on the 
 farm where she yet resides, and on De- 
 cember 28, 18S2, she and Anton Van- 
 Dyke were united in marriage. To this 
 union have come children as follows: 
 Mary, Annie, George and Martine, living, 
 and John, who died in infancy. Since 
 his marriage Mr. Van Dyke has always 
 remained on the farm, which he now 
 owns. It comprises fifty-seven acres of 
 prime farming land, to the cultivation of 
 which he gives his exclusive attention. 
 He is a hard worker and a self-made 
 man in the strictest sense of the word, 
 and by his honesty and fairness he has 
 won for himself the respect of all who 
 know him. Politically he is a Democrat, 
 but not active in party affairs, and in 
 religious connection he and his wife are 
 members of St. Mary's Catholic Church, 
 De Pefe. 
 
34° 
 
 COilMEMOHATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 THOMAS McLEAN. The " North 
 of Ireland!" What a wonderful 
 race of men has been sent to all 
 parts of the civilized world from 
 the region to the northward of a line 
 drawn through the bays of Dublin and 
 Galway, and more especially from the 
 district embraced in the Province of Ulster. 
 How familiar are the names Donegal, 
 Londonderry, Antrim, Down, Tyrone, 
 Armagh, Fermanagh, Monaghan and 
 Cavan, counties comprising the province 
 named. The sturdy, Scotch-Irish ele- 
 ment, which has peopled numerous locali- 
 ties in the United States, has proved the 
 loyalty of its blood through many a con- 
 flict where the right was assailed, and al- 
 most without exception has arrayed itself 
 on the side which readers of its history 
 might be led to expect. The Scotch-Irish 
 are a proud race, and they have earned 
 the privilege. 
 
 Thomas McLean was born November 
 20, 1 8 16, in the Parish of Finway, town 
 of Darragh, County Antrim, Ireland, and 
 when not yet twelve and a half years of 
 age, sailed with the family of his father. 
 Hector McLean, for America, the party 
 consisting of the father, mother and four 
 children — Nail, Mary, Thomas and Alex- 
 ander. They started April 14, 1829, 
 from Belfast, the trip being made on the 
 ship "Helen," of Aberdeen, bound for 
 Quebec. John, Elizabeth and Ann, the 
 other children, had crossed the previous 
 fall. The elder McLean was a poor man, 
 and was obliged to start in the humblest 
 manner. He settled upon and cleared a 
 farm in York township, twenty miles from 
 the city of Toronto, Canada, he and his 
 wife residing there until 1842, when they 
 joined their son Thomas, at Milwaukee, 
 Wis. Here the mother died at the age of 
 sixty-eight, the father's death occurring 
 subsequently at the home of the same 
 son in Stockbridge, Calumet Co., Wis., 
 when he was aged seventy-two. 
 
 Thomas McLean, a worthy son of a 
 worthy sire, was enabled to have but six 
 month's schooling, but it maybe imagined 
 
 he made the most of his opportunities 
 during that time. He continued to re- 
 side with his parents until 1841, when he 
 removed to Milwaukee, Wis., then a vil- 
 lage of but 900 people. With money he 
 had succeeded in saving from his earnings 
 in America he purchased a farm four miles 
 northwest of the place, partly cleared, 
 together with some village property. The 
 fourth brick house in Milwaukee was 
 erected by Mr. McLean, at the corner of 
 Fifth and Chestnut streets. On Ma}- 25, 
 1843, in the then insignificant "Cream 
 City," Mr. McLean was united in mar- 
 ried with Catharine Flood, \\\\o was born 
 May 9, 1822, in the Parish of Killellen, 
 Pickettstown, County Meath, Ireland, 
 daughter of Patrick and Bridget (O'Reiley) 
 Flood. Mrs. McLean sailed from Liver- 
 pool for the United States in 1834, on 
 the "Chesapeake," the voyage occupying 
 about four weeks, and landed at New 
 York, proceeding thence to her destina- 
 tion, the city of Rochester, N. Y. At a 
 later date she removed with a married sis- 
 ter to Wisconsin. 
 
 For ten years Mr. McLean and his 
 family resided in their brick dwelling in 
 Milwaukee, removing thence to Calumet 
 county and locating on a farm in the 
 village of Stockbridge. Twent}- years 
 later, in 1873, they removed to Brown 
 county and located on a farm of 125 
 acres near Green Bay, which has since 
 been their home, the present homestead 
 consisting of twenty-five acres adjoining 
 the corporation of Green Bay; a fine 
 brick residence was erected the year ot 
 their removal. The children of this- 
 couple are: Catharine, now Mrs. Pat. 
 McCool, of Chilton, Wis. ; Patrick, a 
 farmer of Allouez township; Jarfe, who 
 married Hugh Dougherty, and died at 
 Green Bay; Harriet, now Mrs. Daniel 
 Lynch, of Oakes, S. Dak. ; Mary, de- 
 ceased in infancy; Eliza, who became 
 Mrs. Frank Robinson, and died at Chil- 
 ton; Josephine, now Mrs. James Dough- 
 erty, of Oakes, S. Dak. ; Mary, now Mrs. 
 Joseph O'Callihan, of Sagola, Mich.;. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 34' 
 
 and John, residing at home. Mr. Mc- 
 Lean, during his residence in Milwaukee, 
 was engaged in merchandising on Chest- 
 nut street. He has also at different 
 periods followed the occupation of 
 a wagon-maker, a brickmason and a 
 farmer, and for a time conducted a mill 
 at Stockbridge, Wis. He has ever been 
 a citizen of undisputed public spirit, and 
 has contributed liberally of his time and 
 means toward the furtherance of various 
 enterprises. He has been able to assist 
 his children to some extent, and the 
 needy have always found in him a friend 
 and helper. That his generosity may 
 have been at times taken advantage of 
 by unscrupulous people is possible, as few 
 men of his disposition will live to old age 
 without in some instances incurring ex- 
 pensive experiences along such lines, but 
 he has everywhere won the respect of his 
 fellow-citizens, and in his old age is able 
 to look back upon a life well spent. Politi- 
 cally he is a Democrat, and in 1864 was 
 elected by his party to the State Legis- 
 lature, as representative from Calumet 
 county. In religious faith he and his 
 wife are earnest and consistent Catholics, 
 and the Church has more than once felt 
 its obligations to him for substantial 
 favors extended. He was a member of 
 the committee that built St. John's 
 Cathedral in Milwaukee, and is the sole 
 survivor of that committee. At one time 
 he was the owner of i, 100 acres of land 
 in Calumet county, and was interested in 
 various industries. He built a church at 
 Stockbridge and donated it to the Catho- 
 lics, presented the priest with a sleigh, 
 and boarded him for nearly a year. His 
 zeal in behalf of his church has always 
 been marked, and no enterprise tending 
 to its benefit ever lacked his support. 
 
 When a half century of wedded life had 
 been rounded out, the children at home, 
 in May, 1893, planned a golden wedding 
 for their parents. Notwithstanding the fact 
 that the latter were both sick when the 
 eventful day arrived and the festivities 
 were interrupted in consequence, the oc- 
 
 casion was not without its pleasures. 
 With the best wishes of all who know 
 them, they approach the sunset time in 
 the calm enjoyment of the fruits of a cor- 
 rect and happy life, and their people will 
 at the end rise up and call them blessed. 
 
 PATRICK BAILEY, a leading rep- 
 resentative self-made farmer of 
 Glenmore township, Brown coun- 
 ty, was born about 1821 in Coun- 
 ty Kerry, Ireland, son of John and Nellie 
 (Bresnehen) Bailey, who had three sons, 
 of whom Patrick is the only one living. 
 The mother died when he was three 
 years old, and about a year later the 
 father remarried. 
 
 Patrick Bailey had fair educational 
 advantages in his youth, and was reared 
 from boyhood to farming, remaining at 
 home until he reached the age of nine- 
 teen years. Wages were low in Ireland, 
 so when Patrick determined to come to 
 America his father supplied him with 
 means to pay his way, and in the spring- 
 of 1843 he sailed from his native town, 
 Blennerville, on the "Joan," landing in 
 Quebec after a voyage of six weeks. 
 Here he was given employment helping 
 to unload the vessel and then to reload 
 her with lumber, and, after this, went to 
 Montreal, where he worked for some 
 time on the Lachine canal. He next 
 went to New York City, thence after a 
 few days to Boston, Mass. , and thence to 
 Lowell, where he found employment as a 
 laborer between Lowell and Andover for 
 a few weeks, working on improvements 
 along the Merrimac river. His next move 
 was to Fitchburg, same State, where he 
 worked on the Fitchburg & Massachusetts 
 railroad, and he subsequently worked in 
 various places in Massachusetts, in almost 
 every part of the State; thence went to 
 Keene, N. H., working there as laborer 
 on a railroad, and later engaged in the same 
 line of work at Brattleboro, Vt., after 
 which he again came to Massachusetts, 
 and worked in South Hadlev. 
 
342 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 On January 8, 1848, Mr. Bailey was 
 married, in Cabotville, Mass., to Bridget 
 Moran, who was born about 1830 in 
 South Boston, daughter of John and Kate 
 (Donohue) Moran, both natives of Ire- 
 land. In the summer of 1848 our subject 
 went to Buffalo, N. Y. , and there worked 
 on city improvements for a while; thence 
 removed to Springfield, Ohio, where he 
 was employed on a railroad to Cincin- 
 nati, then in course of construction, and 
 subsequently lived for a time in Sidney, 
 Ohio. The ague being prevalent here, 
 another move was made, this time to 
 Chillicothe, Ohio, where Mr. Bailey also 
 worked on railroads, and he next worked 
 on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern 
 railroad, near Marietta, Ohio, and partly 
 bargained for a farm in Washington coun- 
 ty, but hearing of the cheap land offered 
 to settlers in the then new State of Wis- 
 consin, he concluded to abandon railroad 
 work and commence farming on his own 
 account. Three children had been born 
 to them in Ohio — John, in Sidney; Ellen, 
 in Chillicothe; and Mary A., in Wash- 
 ington county; and, with his wife and 
 family, Mr. Bailey came to Wisconsin in 
 the summer of 1854, journeying via Co- 
 lumbus to Cleveland, where they took 
 the boat for Green Bay, landing in that 
 city in July. Leaving the family in Green 
 Bay, Mr. Bailey went to Kaukauna, where 
 he obtained employment on the canal 
 then building, and shortly afterward pur- 
 chased eighty acres, at $2.50 per acre, in 
 Section 7, Glenmore township. Brown 
 county, which tract was totally unim- 
 proved, and the family lived with a neigh- 
 bor, Thomas Lawlor, while their log cabin 
 was being built. The forest was so dense 
 that a space had to be cleared even for 
 the small dwelling, into which they moved 
 October 10, 1854, and at this time there 
 was no road to this farm, only a path 
 through the woods. They had hired a 
 man to bring out their few household 
 goods, but the driver, finding it difficult to 
 proceed with the horse and wagon the 
 latter part of the way. the goods were 
 
 left in the road, where Mr. Bailey found 
 them, and it took him several days to 
 get them to the house, one of the 
 neighbors, "Con" Leary, loaning him 
 an ox-team for the purpose. The work 
 of clearing was begun at once, but it 
 was many years before the farm became 
 productive, and Mr. Bailey worked at 
 lumbering during the winter season to 
 earn enough to support his family. A 
 large amount of lumber was cut, but as 
 there was scarcely any demand for it 
 then, they had to burn many thousand 
 feet of valuable beech and maple to rid 
 the land of it. Those pioneers endured 
 many trials and privations in improving 
 and cultivating their tract, but they suc- 
 ceeded in converting the dense forest into 
 a comfortable farm, and Mr. Bailey has, 
 by his own unaided efforts, risen to a 
 position among the respected, prosperous 
 agriculturists of this section, his life show- 
 ing what may be accomplished by energy 
 and determination, coupled with perse- 
 verance and honesty. He now owns 160 
 acres of excellent land, on which he con- 
 ducts a successful farming business. He 
 has served two terms as supervisor in his 
 township, giving satisfaction to all; but 
 he prefers to give his attention to his pri- 
 vate affairs, and is not an active partisan, 
 voting for the man he considers best 
 qualified for the office. In religious faith 
 he is a member of St. Francis Church, 
 De Pere. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have had four- 
 teen children, three of whom were born 
 in Ohio, as above recorded, and the others 
 in Wisconsin, a brief record of them be- 
 ing as follows : John is a resident of 
 Minneapolis, Minn. ; Ellen is the wife of 
 Milan Smith, of Fond du Lac, Wis. ; 
 Mary A. is the wife of John Sloan, of 
 De Pere ; Kate is living in Ashland, Wis. ; 
 James died when eighteen months old ; 
 Bridget is the wife of James Jennings, of 
 Scott township. Brown county; Agnes is 
 the wife of John Rurnmel, of Ashland, 
 Wis. ; Lizzie is the wife of James Mills, 
 of Ashland ; Alice is living at home ; 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 34S 
 
 Thomas is a resident of Montana; George 
 is living in Washington; Steven lives in 
 Glenmore township; Patrick is at home; 
 and one child died in infancy. 
 
 On March 13, 1865. Mr. Bailey en- 
 listed in Company F, Fiftieth Wis. V. I., 
 and did duty through northern Missouri, 
 at Fort Leavenworth, Kans. , and Fort 
 Rice, Dak., during his service contracting 
 rheumatism, from which he has ever since 
 suffered. He was discharged in July, 
 1866, and returned at once to his home 
 and family. Our subject is well and 
 favorably known throughout his section, 
 and stands prominent among Glenmore 
 township's most respected citizens. 
 
 JOHN BARTELME, one of the prom- 
 inent, influential farmer citizens of 
 New Denmark township, Brown 
 county, ■ was born November 25, 
 1810, in France, of German descent. His 
 parents, George and Mary (Schneider) 
 Bartelme, were well-to-do farming people 
 of Germany, who reared a family of nine 
 children (of whom our subject is the eld- 
 est), as follows: John, Peter, Johanna, 
 Nicholas, Michael, Christoph, George, 
 Frank, and Belthasar. 
 
 John Bartelme remained in his native 
 land until twenty-five years of age, work- 
 ing principally in a nail factory from early 
 boyhood. In the spring of 1836, receiv- 
 ing help from friends, he came with sev- 
 eral others to America, landing in New 
 York in July, after aweary voyage lasting 
 seven weeks. He obtained employment 
 at once in a nail factory, and worked thus 
 some time, but the factory closing, he lost 
 one hundred and two dollars, and found 
 himself with but a dollar in money. Again 
 borrowing from his friends he proceeded 
 to Albany, N. Y. , and for five years worked 
 on a farm near that city, receiving one 
 hundred dollars a year for his services, 
 out of which he managed to save and pay 
 back all the money he had borrowed. 
 Then, in company with two other men, 
 he invested three hundred dollars in a 
 
 canal-boat, but the venture proved a fail- 
 ure, and he lost all but a hundred dollars. 
 His younger brother, Belthasar, having 
 come from Germany, Mr. Bartelme now 
 went to New York to meet him, and, after 
 remaining another nine months in that 
 city, set out for the then " Far West, " 
 coming first to Two Rivers, Wis. , where 
 he remained about a year. At the end 
 of that time he came to De Pere and 
 purchased forty acres of new land in New 
 Denmark township, the nucleus of his 
 present fine well-improved farm of 180 
 acres, which he has acquired by unceasing 
 labor and good management. The first 
 dwelling on this place was a rude log 
 house, which in later years was supplanted 
 by the fine stone dwelling in which the 
 family now reside, this being but one of 
 the many improvements which had been 
 made on the place. 
 
 When our subject came to this place 
 the old Manitowoc road was the only one 
 which passed through the town, and he 
 was actively interested in building the 
 roads to De Pere and Cooperstown, tak- 
 ing a prominent part in that, as well as all 
 other movements for the benefit of his 
 locality. He was the first postmaster at 
 Denmark, and held the office for thirty- 
 six years from the time of his appoinment, 
 in 1854. For twelve years he filled the 
 important office of chairman of his town- 
 ship, and for six years was township 
 treasurer, invariably giving satisfastion to 
 all concerned by his ability and efficiency 
 in every capacity. 
 
 Mr. Bartelme was married at Two 
 Rivers, Wis., to Miss Almenia Ench, and 
 their union has been blessed with five 
 children, viz. : John (who is sheriff of 
 Brown county), Balthasar, Catherine, 
 Frank, and Michael, of whom Balthasar 
 lives on the homestead, caring for his aged 
 parents; his mother has been totally blind 
 for the last eighteen years. 
 
 Balthasar Bartelme has been twice 
 married: his first wife died leaving two 
 children, Jacob and Catherine, and he 
 wedded for his second wife. Miss Lizzie 
 
344 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Machtel, to which marriage have come 
 five children, namely: Minnie, George, 
 Uizzie, Nettie, and Frank. In religious 
 faith the family are all Catholics. 
 
 JOSEPH BOEHM. This getlenian, 
 who is now living retired in the city 
 of De Pere, has for many years been 
 prominently identified with the agri- 
 cultural interests of Brown count}', where 
 he is still an extensive landowner. 
 
 Mr. Boehm was born March 13, 1833, 
 in Bavaria, Germany, son of John George 
 Boehm, a farmer. Joseph received his 
 education in the common schools of his 
 native place, and was reared to farm life, 
 which he continued to follow in Germany 
 till he was about twenty-four years of age, 
 working for small wages. Being hard- 
 working and economical, he had managed 
 to save a little from his hard-earned 
 wages, and, concluding he could find bet- 
 ter opportunity for advancement in the 
 United States, he bid farewell to his home 
 and friends, and in May, 1857, set sail 
 from Bremen, on the "Gungson," this 
 being her second trip. They crossed the 
 Atlantic in thirty-five days, and on June 
 30, 1857, our subject landed in New 
 York, with just seventy-five cents in his 
 pocket. His ticket carried him to De- 
 troit, Mich. , where he arrived almost 
 penniless, a total stranger, but honest and 
 willing to work. In the course of three 
 or four weeks he had earned enough to 
 bring him to Green Bay, Wis. , where he 
 arrived in the latter part of July, 1857, 
 making the trip from Detroit on the old 
 steamer " Michigan." He came to De- 
 Pere, and first worked on the " Old Stone 
 Schoolhouse," which was then in course 
 of construction, after which he went to 
 Kaukauna, where he found employment 
 on the canal. We next find him in Belle- 
 vue township, chopping cordwood for 
 three shillings a cord, and boarding him- 
 self, and, although the work was hard and 
 the wages small, he did it rather than re- 
 main idle. At the age of twenty-five he 
 
 received but ten dollars a month for his 
 services as a farm hand, and found it was 
 useless to expect more. In 1859 he went 
 to the Lake Superior country, and there, 
 for three and a half years, followed 
 mining. While here he was married to 
 Miss Marcella Boyle, a native of Ireland, 
 and to this union were born six children, 
 viz. : Christ, a farmer of Bellevue town- 
 ship; Anna C, widow of Joseph Long, of 
 Green Bay; John, a farmer of Bellevue 
 township; Theresa, now Mrs. Joseph 
 Vandermost, of Rockland township; Mary, 
 who died young, and one that died in in- 
 fancy, unnamed. The mother of these 
 died in Bellevue and was buried in De- 
 Pere. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Boehm removed to Belle- 
 vue township, Brown Co., Wis., where 
 he had purchased forty acres of entirely 
 new land, upon which, at that time, there 
 was not even a house. He set to work at 
 once to clear and improve the place, and 
 by dint of incessant toil and perseverance 
 succeeded in converting it into a good 
 farm, from time to time he also making 
 additions to his first purchase, until he 
 now owns over 300 acres of prime land 
 in Bellevue and Rockland townships. He 
 continued to follow farming until 1889, 
 when he moved into the town of De Pere, 
 and here he has since lived a retired life. 
 He is strictly a self-made man, having 
 from a start of nothing accumulated a 
 comfortable property and a snug compe- 
 tence. In connection with agriculture he 
 was for many years engaged in cattle 
 dealing, and during his long experience in 
 that line became an excellent judge of 
 stock. He has seen great changes in his 
 section of the country, and has taken 
 an active part in its development and 
 progress. He has held various township 
 of fices, having served as school clerk, 
 supervisor, path-master, etc. . with sat- 
 isfaction to all. In his political prefer- 
 ences he is a Democrat, and in religious 
 connection he and his wife are members 
 of St. Francis Catholic Church, De Pere. 
 On January 29, 1889, our subject was 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 345 
 
 married, in De Pere, for his second wife, 
 to Mrs. Margaret Raster, widow of Peter 
 J. Raster. She was born February 2, 
 1836, in Prussia, daughter of Francis 
 George and Anna (Pies) Wentling, who 
 came to the United States in 1852, going 
 first to Liverpool, whence they sailed for 
 New York. In Utica, N. Y., Mr. Went- 
 ling was taken sick, and the family re- 
 mained there two months, after which 
 they went to Milwaukee, Wis., where 
 they lived two years, thence coming to 
 Green Bay, where they made a perma- 
 nent home. 
 
 EDWARD BAUMGART. This gen- 
 tleman, who is ranked among the 
 public-spirited progressive farmer 
 citizens of Bellevue township, 
 Brown county, is a native of Schlesien, 
 Germany, born July 5, 185 1, son of 
 August and Gertrude Baumgart. 
 
 August Baumgart was by trade a 
 butcher, and he also owned a farm and 
 engaged in the manufacture of bricks, 
 having often as many as fifty or sixty men in 
 his employ. He had considerable prop- 
 erty in Germany, but in 1868 he disposed 
 of all his interests and came to America, 
 bringing his family. They sailed from 
 Bremen on the " Schiller," and, after a 
 voyage of eight weeks and three days, 
 landed at Baltimore, Md., from which city 
 they immediately proceeded to Brown 
 county. Wis., coming over the B. & O. 
 R. R. via Columbus, Ohio, where they 
 were on July 4. Mr. Baumgart purchased 
 seventy-two acres of new land in Bellevue 
 township, on which at that time there was 
 not even a dwelling, and resided there 
 until 1883, when he removed to his 
 present farm in the same township. 
 Here he and his wife are yet living, 
 and, though now seventy-five years old, 
 he is still an active man. To them 
 were born seven children, as follows: 
 Charles, who died young, in Germany; 
 Joseph and August, of Glenmore town- 
 ship; Edward, our subject; John, of Mani- 
 
 towoc county, Wis. ; Paul, a farmer of 
 Bellevue township; and Caroline, Mrs. 
 Joseph Landmer, of Duck Creek, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Edward Baumgart attended the schools 
 of his native place until he reached the 
 age of thirteen, and was seventeen years 
 old when he came with his parents to 
 America. He remained under the pa- 
 rental roof until he was twenty-four years 
 old, doing farm work, or anything else 
 at which he could earn an honest dollar, 
 and turning his wages over to his parents. 
 On February 22, 1876, he was united in 
 marriage with Miss Annie Hutter, who 
 was born August 7, 1845, '" Manitowoc 
 county. Wis., daughter of Joseph Hutter, 
 a native of Bavaria, Germany. After his 
 marriage Mr. Baumgart located on a new 
 farm, which he at once began to clear and 
 improve, and there made his home until 
 1880, when he came to his present farm 
 in Bellevue township, which contains one 
 hundred acres. Though now a well-cul- 
 tivated tract, it was then all in the woods, 
 and he has done all the clearing and made 
 all the improvements himself. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Baumgart have come children 
 as follows: Joseph, Edward, Caroline, 
 Annie, Henry, John, Mary, Rosa, Anton, 
 and one that died in infancy. Mr. Baum- 
 gart is not identified with any political 
 party, but votes independently, selecting 
 the man best qualified for office, regardless 
 of politics. He has served his township 
 as roadmaster, supervisor, and for two 
 years as chairman, and he is recognized 
 as a thoroughly progressive citizen, al- 
 ways ready to assist in any enterprise for 
 the benefit of his township and county. 
 He and his wife are members of the Ger- 
 man Catholic Church at Green Bay. 
 
 M 
 
 ARTIN BARTH, who, for the 
 past forty years, has been a 
 farmer of Glenmore township. 
 Brown county, is a native of 
 the Fatherland, born June 18, 1825, in 
 Wurtemberg, son of Jacob and Lena 
 
346 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 (Schenaucr) Barth, who were the parents 
 of nine children. The father, who was a 
 tailor by trade, died when Martin was 
 five years old. 
 
 Our subject was reared and educated 
 in the land of his birth, and there learned 
 the weaver's trade. In his early man- 
 hood he served three years and seven 
 months in the German army, and shortly 
 afterward came to America, landing in 
 New York, July i6, 1854, after an ocean 
 voyage of forty-seven days. He imme- 
 diately came to Wisconsin, arriving in 
 Green Bay, August 3, with $11.75 i" his 
 pocket, and thence went to New Franken, 
 where he remained with an uncle ten 
 days. For three weeks he worked for a 
 Mr. Eisenman in De Pere, and then went 
 to Oconto, where he was employed three 
 months in a mill, after which he returned 
 to New Franken. Again coming to 
 Oconto, he worked here ten months raft- 
 ing lumber, and then returned once more 
 to his uncle, with whom he made his 
 home until he bought land of his own. 
 His first purchase was eighty acres of 
 totally wild land, on which the timber 
 was so dense that a space had to be 
 cleared for the 14 x iS log cabin which 
 he built himself. At this early date the 
 Indians had not all left the country, and 
 wild animals were numerous and trouble- 
 some, especially the wolves, who made 
 night hideous with their howling. There 
 were no roads, and Mr. Barth has made 
 many a trip on foot to Green Bay, over 
 an Indian trail through the woods. In 
 order to earn a living he had to do various 
 kinds of work, as the farm yielded no 
 support the first few years, and the work 
 of clearing progressed slowly, for he had 
 only a few rude implements, and it was 
 twelve years after his settlement here be- 
 fore he owned a yoke of o.xen. One year 
 he worked forty-seven days on the road 
 for nothing. 
 
 On February 22, 1865, Mr. Barth en- 
 listed in Company F, Fiftieth Wis. V. I., 
 served sixteen months in Missouri, Kansas 
 and Dakota, and was honorably discharged 
 
 June 17, 1866, returning to his home in 
 Brown county. Mr Barth was united 
 in marriage January 29, 1867, with Miss 
 Emma Kahren, daughter of Peter and 
 Maggie (Zimmer) Kahren, farming people, 
 who were the parents of ten children, 
 viz. : Maggie, Jacob, Lizzie, Kate, Joseph, 
 Joseph, Kate, Emma, Kate and Michael. 
 When Mrs. Barth was three years old they 
 came to America, landing in New York 
 City, thence coming to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 and thence to Illinois, where they lived for 
 some time. They then returned to Mil- 
 waukee, and later, about three years after 
 their landing in this country, came to 
 New Denmark township, Brown county, 
 where they invested in i 20 acres of land. 
 Here Mr. Kahren passed the remainder 
 of his days, dying July 8, 1862; his wife 
 survived until July 19, 1880. They were 
 well-known among the early settlers in 
 their localitj-, and were highly respected 
 for their sterling worth. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 Barth lived a year in the small log house 
 he had first built, and then moved into a 
 more commodious dwelling, also of logs, 
 in which they remained until the present 
 comfortable residence was erected. Their 
 union has been blessed with eight chil- 
 dren, named as follows: Lena, Mary, 
 Martin, Jacob, John, Louis, Andrew and 
 Henry. Mr. Barth is a Republican in his 
 political affiliations, but takes no interest 
 in politics except as a regular attendant 
 at the polls. He and his wife are, in 
 religious connection, members of the 
 Lutheran Church, in which he has been 
 director. 
 
 ANDREW ANDERSON, a repre- 
 sentative farmer of New Denmark 
 township. Brown county, is a 
 native of the Kingdom of Den- 
 mark, born May 24, 1828, son of Andrew 
 and Karen (Anderson) Hansen, farming 
 people, the former of whom died when 
 our subject was thirteen weeks old. He 
 left a family of eight children, viz. : Peter, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 347 
 
 James, Lars, Elizabeth, Kersten, Hans, 
 and Andrew and Karen (twins). 
 
 The mother, having thus to provide 
 for a large family, the children were obliged 
 to assist as soon as they were old enough, 
 and our subject commenced to work at 
 the early age of seven years, herding 
 sheep, in which occupation he engaged 
 until he reached the age of fourteen 
 years, receiving only his clothing for his 
 services. He remained in his native land 
 until he was twenty-eight years old, when, 
 having saved enough to bring him to the 
 United States, he decided to seek his 
 fortune in the New World. He sailed 
 from Hamburg, and, crossing the ocean in 
 six weeks, landed at New York, coming 
 thence without delay to Brown count}-, 
 Wis., where in New Denmark township 
 he invested in forty acres of new land, 
 which he at once commenced to clear and 
 improve. Ten years later he purchased 
 another forty acres, which he also cleared 
 himself, and has since added sixt\' acres 
 more, now having a fine farm of 140 
 acres, all highlj- improved and under cul- 
 tivation. This property has all been ac- 
 quired by his own honest toil, for he 
 commenced with no capital but a pair of 
 willing hands, and he is everywhere re- 
 spected for his honest}' and industry. 
 
 In i860 Mr. Anderson was married, in 
 New Denmark township, to Miss Mary 
 Hansen, a daughter of Hans Paulson and 
 Karen Hansen, who reared a family of 
 five children, as follows: Maren Sophia, 
 Andrews, Mary, Anna C, and Peter. 
 When thirty-four years of age she came 
 to America with a brother and sister, and 
 ten years after her marriage her parents 
 also came to Wisconsin, making their 
 home with her as long as they lived. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have been born 
 six children, namely: Aldrich, Tine (Mrs. 
 Anderson, of Marinette, Wis.), Laura, 
 Olof, Peter, and Hans, of whom Olof 
 lives at home, and has the principal care 
 of the farm work. The family are mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran Church, in which 
 Mr. Anderson takes an active interest 
 
 and has served as treasurer and trustee; 
 in his political preferences he is a Repub- 
 lican, and he takes a deep interest in all 
 movements tending to promote the wel- 
 fare of his community. 
 
 JOHN SULLIVAN, who tor many 
 years has been well-known in Brown 
 county, and especially in Lawrence 
 township, as a prosperous, system- 
 atic agriculturist, is a native of the 
 "Emerald Isle," born December 24, 
 1830, in Kenmare, County Kerry. His 
 parents, James and Ellen Sullivan, had a 
 family of seven children — six sons and 
 one daughter — of whom John is the eldest. 
 At an early age our subject commenced 
 to attend the common schools, and at the 
 same time was reared to agricultural pur- 
 suits under his father's tuition, the latter 
 being a well-to-do landowner and farmer. 
 However, the father died when John was 
 yet a lad, and the mother subsequently 
 married, for her second husband, Jere- 
 miah Sullivan. In 1845, disposing of the 
 property, the entire family immigrated to 
 America, first taking passage on the 
 " Ajax " from Cork to Liverpool, where 
 they remained a few days at " Sheflin's 
 Hotel." They then embarked on the 
 " Moses Wheeler," Capt. King, bound for 
 Boston, in which city they landed after a 
 voyage of twenty-two days, strangers in 
 a strange land. They located in the town 
 of Winchendon, Worcester Co., Mass., 
 and John commenced to learn the trade 
 of tanner and currier, at which he served 
 an apprenticeship of seven years, receiv- 
 ing at the very beginning one dollar a 
 day, which materially assisted his mother. 
 A brief record of her family is as follows: 
 John is the subject proper of this sketch; 
 Patrick is a resident of Winchendon, 
 Mass. ; Daniel lives in Melbourne, Aus- 
 tralia; Dennis lives in Winchendon, 
 Mass. ; Mortimer resides near Winchen- 
 don; Bartholomew died in this country 
 when young; Mary is the wife of William 
 Devins, of New Hampshire. By her 
 
348 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 second marriage Mrs. Sullivan had one 
 child, Patrick, now a barber of Fitchburg, 
 Mass. The mother is yet living at an 
 advanced age. Her husband died some 
 years ago. 
 
 John Sullivan remained in Winchen- 
 don, following his trade, for over fourteen 
 years, his wages, up to the time of his 
 marriage, all going to his mother, and on 
 his wedding day she gave him two hun- 
 dred dollars in gold. On October i, 
 1854, he was married in South Boston, 
 Mass., by Rev. Father Linden, to Miss 
 Ellen Harris, who was born in County 
 Kerry, Ireland, daughter of Gerald and 
 Ellen (Lynch) Harris, and came to the 
 United States when a young girl to live 
 with her sister in Boston. The young 
 couple commenced housekeeping in Win- 
 chendon, where he had purchased a home, 
 and there he continued to follow his trade 
 until failing health compelled him to 
 abandon it. His employer, Ephraim 
 Murdock, at one time the most extensive 
 wooden-ware manufacturer in the world, 
 was a large land-owner, and Mr. Sullivan 
 located on one of his farms, a change 
 which proved beneficial to his health, and 
 he remained three years, succeeding well 
 in agriculture. He had been correspond- 
 ing with an old school teacher of his, 
 whom he had known in Ireland, and who 
 then lived in Leavenworth, Kans. , and our 
 subject concluded to emigrate to that 
 State. His family at this time consisted 
 of three children, all of whom were born 
 in Winchendon, namely : Ellen, now Mrs. 
 Charles Davis, of Lawrence township, 
 Brown county, Mary, Mrs. Michael Eagan, 
 of De Pere, Brown county; and James, a 
 farmer of Lawrence township, who lives 
 with his father (he married Geneva Mc- 
 Abee, and they have one child, Ellen, 
 born March 3, 1892). 
 
 On August I. 1864, Mr. Sullivan and 
 his family started for the then "Far 
 West," going to Chicago, 111., via the N. 
 Y. C. &. H., and the Lake Shore rail- 
 roads, thence by the Burlington and the 
 Hannibal & St. Jo railroads to St. 
 
 Joseph, Mo., thence to Weston, Mo., 
 and thence to Leavenworth, Kans. , by 
 boat, as there was no railroad to the city 
 at that time, although it was the largest 
 in Kansas. There he conducted a hotel 
 for about a year, when he entered the em- 
 ploy of the St. Jo Railway Co., keeping 
 boarders and acting as overseer of a num- 
 ber of men. Subsequently he was em- 
 ployed on the Atchison & Pike's Peak 
 railroad, then in course of construction, 
 as overseer, his family meantime residing 
 in Weston, Mo., whither he returned 
 later, owing to a suspension of work 
 caused by an absconding paymaster. 
 One day, while talking with a Wisconsin 
 soldier in Weston, he accidentally heard 
 of a sister of his wife, living in De Pere, 
 Wis., who had come to the United States 
 many years before, and of whom they 
 had lost all trace. A correspondence was 
 at once opened, which eventually led to 
 their emigrating to Wisconsin in about 
 1866, the family taking up their home in 
 De Pere, Brown county, with Mrs. Sulli- 
 van's sister, while Mr. Sullivan went to 
 look for work. He found employment at 
 his trade in Two Rivers, Manitowoc Co., 
 Wis., with the Wisconsin Leather Co., 
 and after remaining with them ten months 
 returned to De Pere, where for a short 
 time he worked for the Chicago Tight 
 Stave Co. He then purchased eighty 
 acres of land at five dollars per acre, all 
 of which was still in the woods — not a 
 stick having been cut — and was without 
 improvements of any kind, and on the site 
 of his present residence he built a log 
 house which served as a home for the 
 family for several years, until in 1880 the 
 comfortable dwelling they now occupy 
 was erected. Under Mr. Sullivan's man- 
 agement, this place has been gradually 
 cleared and improved, and has also been 
 added to, till it now consists of i 20 acres 
 of excellent farming land. He has met 
 with success in his farming operations; 
 but it is only the just reward of years of 
 thrift and persevering toil, for he has been 
 a hard worker, and, though now over sixty 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 349 
 
 years of age, is jet active, and able to 
 perform a good day's work. 
 
 Mr. Sullivan is well known in his com- 
 munity, and has for the past twenty-three 
 years held various offices of trust in his 
 township, invariably discharging the du- 
 ties of his position with satisfaction to all; 
 he has also served as deputy sheriff of 
 Brown county. In his political faith he 
 is a stanch adherent of the principles of 
 the Democratic party, to which he gives 
 his unfailing support. In religious con- 
 nection he and his wife are members of 
 St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Wrights- 
 town, in which he is trustee. One child 
 has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan 
 on their present farm, John M., a bright 
 intelligent lad, who was given good edu- 
 cational advantages, and intended to study 
 law, but on May, i, 1887, he passed from 
 earth, deeply mourned by the bereaved 
 family. He was buried in Snider cemetery. 
 
 IVI 
 
 ARK ENGLISH, who, in every 
 respect, is an admirable speci- 
 men of the self-made men of 
 whom this country is so proud, 
 often modestly declares that he owes his 
 success to the greatness of his friends, 
 but on the other hand it is confidently 
 affirmed that he owes his friends to his 
 own grit, energy and integrity. 
 
 Mr. English is an Ohioan by birth, a 
 native of Cuyahoga county, having been 
 born November 20, 1837, to Mark and 
 Christina C. (Collins) English, natives of 
 Connecticut and Ohio, respectively. They 
 came from Ohio to Michigan in 1839, and 
 in the town of Jackson he carried on a 
 dry-goods business for several years, dying 
 there January 28, 1854; his widow re- 
 turned to Ohio, where on September 24, 
 1873, she, too, passed away; Children 
 were born to them as follows: Dorlisca 
 Marilla, born June 22, 1832, is the wife 
 of Edson Herrington, of Ionia, Mich. ; 
 Christina Grace, born July 30, 1834, is 
 the wife of Thomas Newsom; Mark is the 
 subject of this sketch; George Q., born 
 
 March 6, 1843, is married and resides in 
 Escanaba, Michigan. 
 
 Mark English was but a small boy 
 when his parents brought him to Jackson, 
 Mich. , where he was reared and educated 
 and also learned the mason's trade. In 
 the spring of 1853, being then sixteen 
 years old, he went to Marquette, Mich. ; 
 where he first engaged in the fishery 
 business, afterward in contracting, taking 
 the contract for and erecting the Union 
 school building, which was the first brick 
 building erected in Marquette. In Octo- 
 ber, 1865, he came to Green Bay and or- 
 ganized the Lake Superior Stage Co. , of 
 which he was made president and super- 
 intendent, establishing a stage route' from 
 Green Bay to Escanaba (Mich.) by via.y 
 of Oconto, Marinette and Menomonee. 
 It was a daily line, employing 120 horses 
 in all, each Concord coach, in summer, 
 or sleigh, as the case might be, being 
 drawn by four horses, which were changed 
 every ten miles. At Escanaba the line 
 connected with the upper peninsular 
 division of the Chicago & Nortfi Western 
 railroad. In addition to the American 
 Express it carried the United States mail 
 for the entire upper peninsula, the aver- 
 age weight of which alone was over 
 1 500 pounds. This important under- 
 taking Mr. English carried on from 1869 
 to 1877, at which time, the railroad hav- 
 ing been completed to Monomonee, he 
 sold out and turned his attention to other 
 affairs. He soon became one of the or- 
 ganizers of the "Green Ba}' Iron Co.," 
 and was one of its board of directors for 
 a short time. In 1885 he interested him- 
 self in vessel property, becoming the 
 owner of the schooner "Cascade" and 
 afterward of the propeller "Union," 
 which vessels plied on the lakes and were 
 principally engaged in the carrying of 
 freight. He also became quite extensively 
 interested in contracting and building — a 
 vocation which still claims his attention. 
 He is also the owner of a stone quarry at 
 Kewaunee, from which he ships stone to 
 all points on the lakes. 
 
35° 
 
 COMMEMORATiyE BIOGRAPHICAL llECORD. 
 
 It may with propriety be said that 
 Mr. English is one of the best known men 
 in northern Wisconsin, and his entire 
 career has been one of action and enter- 
 prise. Coming to Marciuette in his early 
 manhood, when but about twenty-four 
 years of age, he was from the start a 
 prominent figure and factor in its busi- 
 ness, social and political life. In 1861 
 he was made city marshal of Marquette, 
 a position that required, at that time, 
 a man of courage and resolution, as 
 the city was filled with a floating popula- 
 tion of 6,000 or 7,000, consisting princi- 
 pally of miners and sailors of an unruly 
 and roistering disposition. He held the 
 office 'four years, during the war also 
 serving as United States enrolling of- 
 ficer, and was a United States deputy 
 marshal four years. He was elected and 
 served two years as high sheriff of the 
 county, thus serving as a public officer 
 for eight consecutive years as incumbent 
 of some one of the above-named posi- 
 tions, during which time he made a repu- 
 tation highly honorable to himself, and 
 was an actor in many stirring scenes while 
 in the discharge of his official duties. He 
 was the first city marshal of Marquette, 
 and the only one while he resided in that 
 city, with the exception of about three 
 months when he was recovering from in- 
 juries received while discharging his duties, 
 after which he was again induced to take 
 the office for $1,000 a year and one-half 
 the fines. When the locks were built on 
 the Fox river at Appleton, Wis., he was 
 appointed United States Government In- 
 spector, and the lock at that point, known 
 as No. 2, was built under his supervision. 
 Mr. English has passed through many 
 experiences, and doubtless reali;ces, in a 
 keener degree than many, the vast changes 
 that have taken place in the past thirty- 
 five years in the means of transportation 
 from one distant point to another. Pre- 
 vious to his organization of the stage line, 
 during one winter in the early "sixties," 
 he conveyed the United States mail from 
 Marquette to Houghton (Mich.) on a 
 
 sled drawn by dogs. In politics Mr. 
 English is a Republican, and he and his 
 wife are members of the M. E. Church. 
 He is also a member of the Knights of 
 Honor, Navarino Lodge, No. 1,384. 
 
 On June 25, 1859, Mr. English was 
 married, at Port Sarnia, Canada, to Miss 
 Mary Annvilla Hall, a daughter of Horace 
 and Lavina (Porter) Hall, all natives of 
 Whitby, Canada, but at that time resi- 
 dents of Port Sarnia. The parents moved 
 to Marquette, Mich., and later to Green 
 Bay, Wis. , where they both died in 
 March, 1882, and were buried the same 
 day. To Mr. and Mrs. English have 
 come two children — Nettie C. , born July 
 6, 1864, and Lester A., born March 19, 
 1877. Since 1867 Mr. English has made 
 his home continuously in Green Bay, 
 where he has a commodious and pleasant 
 residence. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL MARTIN (deceased), 
 who, during his lifetime, was a 
 well-known farmer of Rockland 
 township. Brown county, was a 
 nati\e of County Carlow, Ireland. He 
 was born in 1828, son of Bernard and 
 Mary (McCabe) Martin, farming people 
 who had a family of seven children — five 
 sons and two daughters. 
 
 Our subject received a conmion-school 
 education and was reared to farming pur- 
 suits. In early manhood he emigrated 
 from his native land to the United States, 
 and coming to Herkimer county, N. Y. , 
 remained there four years, in the vicinity 
 of West Winfield, working for Lorenzo 
 Brown, a farmer. In 1854 he was mar- 
 ried, in Utica, N. Y., to Miss Mary Foley, 
 a native of County Ca^rlow, Ireland, born 
 in 1832, daughter of James Foley, who 
 died in 1840. In 1850 she left her birth- 
 place, and proceeding to Liverpool took 
 passage on the " Columbus," bound for 
 New York, in which city she landed after 
 a voyage of six weeks, thence continuing 
 her journey to Utica, near which city she 
 worked until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 351 
 
 Martin resided in Utica for two years, and 
 then, in about 1856, came westward to 
 Wisconsin, leaving their only child, Mary 
 Ann, in New York with Mr. Martin's 
 mother. They came to Milwaukee by 
 rail, thence to De Pere, and shortly after- 
 ward purchased eighty acres in Section 9, 
 Rockland township, the price of the tract 
 being two hundred and forty dollars, two 
 hundred of which he paid down. It was 
 all new land, covered with timber, and a 
 small log house, built by Mr. Martin 
 himself, was the first dwelling on the 
 place. The clearing of the place was com- 
 menced at once, but, being equipped with 
 only the rude tools of those early days, the 
 task was a long and difficult one. But 
 those years, though full of hardship and 
 privation, were hapyy ones, for the pros- 
 pect of having a comfortable home and 
 farm which they could call their own was 
 ever before them and cheered them through 
 the hardest trials. In a fe^v years a more 
 substantial residence supplanted the log 
 cabin, the land became productive and 
 fertile as a result of their perseverance 
 and unremitting care, and prosperity re- 
 warded their early years of toil. 
 
 On this farm the remainder of their 
 children were born, as follows: Ellen, 
 Mrs. William Michaud, of Talbot, Mich. ; 
 Edward, living on the home farm, which 
 he works; James, at home; Michael, a 
 school-teacher; John, living at home, who 
 is one of the leading Democrats in the 
 township, and has served as chairman; 
 William (twin of John), who died when 
 si.x years old; and Bridget E. and Anna 
 C, at home. Mary Ann, the oldest child, 
 is the wife of John Milan, of Pound, 
 Wis. The father of this family was ac- 
 cidentally killed January 13, 1874, bv a 
 falling limb, and his lifeless body was 
 found by his wife when she went to call 
 him to his mid-day meal. He was buried 
 in the Catholic cemetery at De Pere, and 
 his funeral, which was attended by a great 
 number of people from the surrounding 
 country, w-as one of the largest ever seen 
 here up to that time. He was a member 
 
 of St. Francis Church, De Pere. In his 
 party preferences he was a Democrat, 
 and, though not particularly active in 
 politics, held several offices of trust, serv- 
 ing on the school board and as pathmaster 
 of the township. A kind, indulgent 
 father and an accommodating neighbor, 
 he was very popular, and was respected 
 by all who knew him, for his industry and 
 sterling integrity. At the time of his de- 
 cease he was the owner of 160 acres of 
 good land, all of which had been accumu- 
 lated by hard work, for when he landed 
 in this country he had no capital but a 
 pair of willing hands. After his death 
 his widow took charge of the farm, and 
 continued in the management until her 
 sons became competent to relieve her. 
 In 1 89 1 a comfortable residence was 
 erected, in which the family now live. 
 They are all members of St. Francis 
 Church, De Pere, and are highly esteemed 
 in tfie community in which they reside. 
 
 NIELS PETERSON. Among the 
 respected self-made farmer citi- 
 zens of New Denmark township, 
 Brown county, none is more de- 
 servmg of mention than this gentleman. 
 He was born October 2, 1832, near Mar- 
 ibo, Denmark, a son of Peter and Mary 
 (Jensen) Peterson, the former of whom 
 was a farmer by occupation. There were 
 six children in the family, of whom two 
 are deceased ; of the others, Stine still 
 lives in Denmark, while Jens, Niels (our 
 subject), and Rasmus are in New Den- 
 mark township. Brown Co., Wisconsin. 
 Our subject lost his parents by death 
 when he was but eight years of age, and 
 from that time on was in the employ of 
 farmers in the neighborhood of his birth- 
 place. At the age of twenty-seven years 
 he immigrated to America, proceeding 
 from his native land to Hamburg, whence 
 he sailed to New York, the voyage occu- 
 pying forty-nine days. After landing he 
 came at once to Brown countv. Wis. , and 
 
35= 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in New Denmark township engaged in 
 farm labor for two and a half years fol- 
 lowing, or until his enlistment, May 2, 
 1862, in Company K, Thirty-third Wis. 
 V. I. He was in active service until the 
 close of the war, participating in many 
 important engagements, among which 
 were Cold Water, Vicksburg, Jackson, 
 Meridian, Pleasant Hill, Centerville, 
 Marksville, Yellow Bayou, Tupelo, Nash- 
 ville, Spanish Fort and Fort du Russy. 
 His record for bravery and gallantry is 
 one of which he may well feel proud, and 
 in recognition of his noble conduct the 
 government presented him with a silver 
 medal, on which are inscribed the names 
 of the battles in which he took an active 
 part. He was twice injured, on one oc- 
 casion receiving a bullet wound in the 
 left side, and at another time having his 
 hearing forever destroyed by a blow upon 
 the right ear ; he now receives a pension. 
 On August 9, 1865, Mr. Peterson was 
 honorably discharged at Vicksburg, and, 
 returning to New Denmark township, 
 once more resumed the pursuits of peace, 
 for almost ten years working at the shoe- 
 maker's trade. 
 
 On March 11, 1867, our subject was 
 united in marriage with Miss Martine Jen- 
 sen, daughter of Hans and Maren (Ras- 
 niussen) Jensen, and about that time pur- 
 chased the forty acres of land where he 
 yet resides. He constructed a small log 
 house, in which they lived for the first 
 year, and then erected another dwelling 
 (now occupied by his nephew), which in 
 turn was supplanted by the commodious 
 residence they now occupy. The farm is 
 equipped with all necessary outbuildings, 
 put up by Mr. Peterson himself, and is 
 well improved in every way, and under a 
 high state of cultivation, yielding the 
 owner a comfortable income. His success 
 has been the result of honesty and in- 
 dustry, and he has won the esteem of all 
 who know him, by his upright methods in 
 all his dealings with his fellowmen. He 
 is a Republican in political preferences, 
 but takes no active interest in party affairs. 
 
 PETER MARCUSSEN, farmer of 
 New Denmark township. Brown 
 county, was born July 9, 1854, 
 in Denmark, son of Marks Peter- 
 son, a laborer. The latter married Mary 
 Peterson, and they reared a family of four 
 children, as follows: Peter, whose name 
 opens this sketch; Charles, now a resident 
 of New Denmark township. Brown Co.; 
 Wis.; Sophia, living in Washington; and 
 August, of New Denmark township. 
 
 In 1858 this family immigrated to 
 America, embarking at Liverpool and 
 landing in New York after a voyage of 
 si.\ weeks. From there they came to 
 Manitowoc, Wis. , and thence directly to 
 New Denmark, in which township the 
 father purchased twenty acres of land 
 and cleared a space large enough for a 
 log house, wherein the family resided for 
 some time, and which is still standing, 
 near Fontenoy postoffice. There the 
 father passed the remainder of his days, 
 dying in July, 1865. The year following 
 the widow married Fred Mogland, and to 
 this union were born two children, both 
 of whom died in infancy. After a short 
 residence in New Denmark township Mr. 
 and Mrs. Mogland removed to Franklin, 
 Wis., where he owned a farm, and there 
 made their home until Mrs. Mogland's 
 death, after which her husband sold the 
 place and came again to New Denmark 
 township, Brown county, where he is 
 now living. 
 
 When about twenty years of age Peter 
 Marcussen went to Pensaukee, Wis., 
 where he was employed in a sawmill for 
 three summers. For si.x winters he 
 worked for the Two Rivers Company in 
 New Denmark township, logging, and 
 then, during the spring, engaged in driving 
 logs, continuing in this vocation up to 
 the time of his marriage. On October 
 16, 1875, he wedded Miss Minnie John- 
 son, daughter of John and Carrie (Nelson) 
 Peterson, and, for the first two 3'ears 
 thereafter, the young couple lived in a 
 rented house near Fontenoy, Mr. Mar- 
 cussen working for D. Benkle in the sum- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBWAL RECORD. 
 
 353 
 
 mer and in the woods during the winter, 
 until he bought the farm of forty acres in 
 New Denmark township, where he now 
 makes his home. He erected the present 
 dwelhng house, and they immediately re- 
 moved to the farm, which was then yet 
 in its primitive condition, not a tree having 
 been cut from the place; but he has since 
 been busily engaged in clearing and im- 
 proving it, and, in addition, has worked 
 to some extent at the carpenter's trade. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Marcussen have been 
 born seven children, as follows: John, 
 Josie, Agnes, Arthur, Emma, Louis and 
 Tony, all of whom are living at home. 
 Mr. Marcussen, having been given but 
 little opportunity during his youth to ob- 
 tain a good education, is a hearty sup- 
 porter of the common schools and takes 
 great interest in their advancement and 
 improvement in his section. Politically 
 he is a Democrat, has served his township 
 faithfully as assessor for four years, 1887- 
 91, and in the spring of 1894 was elected 
 supervisor. 
 
 HE. MOWERS, of Pittsfield town- 
 ship. Brown county, was born 
 January 20, 1844, in Schwarz- 
 burg-Rudolstadt, Germany. His 
 parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Rust) 
 Mowers, had but two children, H. E., 
 our subject, and Frederick, the latter of 
 whom died at the age of about six and a 
 half years. 
 
 In 1853 Henry Mowers, with his wife 
 and son, came to Wisconsin, for about 
 one year living in Green Bay, and then 
 went to Stiles, later moving back to Green 
 Bay and remaining two years. He then 
 went to Bellevue township. Brown coun- 
 ty, where he pre-empted eighty acres of 
 wild land, on which the family lived five 
 years, and had cleared about twenty acres, 
 when, in 1861, the land was sold for a 
 very small price, and the family moved to 
 Scott township and rented a farm for 
 two years. The father then went to work 
 in a sawmill for" about three years, 
 
 next engaged in teaming for Willard 
 Lamb's mill two years, and moved into 
 a house on the mill grounds and continued 
 in its employ another year. He then 
 went to Suamico township, and worked 
 for Lamb, Watson & Co. for seven years 
 with his team, and then for five years 
 with our subject. After this he went to 
 various places, returning twice, and died 
 in 1893, at the age of seventy-six years. 
 
 On March 4, 1865, H. E. Mowers en- 
 listed in Company D, Fifty-second Wis. 
 V. L, served in Missouri and Kansas, and 
 was discharged at Fort Leavenworth 
 July 28, 1865. Returning to Green Bay, 
 he made a neat sum in a speculation in 
 standing pine timber; then, the follow- 
 ing spring, teamed for Willard Lamb on 
 the dock, and in the fall bought a thresh- 
 ing machine for $725 in company with 
 Milo Burkert, and worked through the 
 country. The winter following he bought 
 more standing timber and one team of 
 horses and one team of oxen, but did not 
 succeed well, and sold the threshing ma- 
 chine. In the spring of 1867 he worked 
 around a mill, and in the fall went to 
 Flintville and teamed two years, then 
 sold the team and worked in the mill un- 
 til 1870, when he was made foreman in a 
 sawmill on Section 23, in the town of 
 Pittsfield, where he had charge of forty- 
 five men, five pairs of horses and seven 
 yoke of cattle; the next spring he had 
 charge of the drive; he then worked two 
 years on the river, flooding logs ; and 
 next for two years drove a supply team 
 for his old employers. Lamb, Watson & 
 Company. 
 
 On March 15, 1874, Mr. Mowers mar- 
 ried Miss Amelia, daughter of Frederick 
 and Minnie (Schultz) Gothe. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Gothe were born in Germany, and 
 were the parents of eight children, viz. : 
 Hannah, Ferdinand, Amelia, Caroline, 
 Earnestine, August, Louise, and Herman. 
 The parents came to the United States 
 in 1853, lived temporarily at Duck Creek, 
 where the father worked for twenty-five 
 cents a day, and then settled in Pittsfield, 
 
354 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQllAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 where he made a homestead, on which 
 he Hved until 1890, when he went to 
 Marinette county, returning thence in 
 1894. When Mr. Mowers married he 
 bought eighty acres of land at $4. 50 per 
 acre, and for eleven years lived in a 
 log shanty that stood on the farm, which 
 has been replaced by a fine modern frame 
 dwelling. For seven years he continued 
 working for others, and then commenced 
 to clear his own farm, now in fine con- 
 dition. Four children have been born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mowers, viz. : George W. , 
 born December 18, 1874, deceased Janu- 
 ary 30, 1893; F"rederick H., born June 
 20, 1876, deceased June 8, 1877; Edward 
 E. , born July i, 1878, and Lewis O., 
 born July 30, 1880. The parents are 
 members of the Methodist Church, in 
 which Mr. Mowers is class leader, trustee 
 and Sunday-school superintendent. Po- 
 litically he is a Republican. He was a 
 member of the town board in 1876, and 
 served as town clerk from 1883 to 1890, 
 inclusive, and was re-elected in 1894. 
 He is a self-made man in every respect, 
 and as such is honored and esteemed by 
 all who know him or know of him. 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN \V. JOHANN, 
 proprietor of an extensive sash, 
 blind and door factory in West 
 De Pere, was born June 17, 1837, 
 near the city of Homburg, Rhenish Ba- 
 varia, on the road usually taken by trav- 
 elers through central Germany to and 
 from Prussia, and made historic by the 
 fact that the great Napoleon sent the 
 larger part of his army over it on the ad- 
 vance to Moscow, and later by the fact 
 that the first battle of the Franco-Prus- 
 sian war was fought in ifs vicinity. John 
 W. Johann is a son of Nicholas Johann, 
 a coal miner, who married Elizabeth 
 Nieder. On March 2, 1846, Nicholas 
 Johann, with his wife and three sons — 
 Peter, Nicholas, and John W. — left the 
 old countrx', landing in Milwaukee, Wis., 
 
 the following May. Of the sons, Peter 
 married Catharine Witmann, and died in 
 1889, his widow now residing in Port 
 Washington, Wis. Nicholas died, un- 
 married, in 1866. 
 
 John W. Johann attended school in 
 Germany from the age of five until the 
 date of his leaving for America, a period 
 of three years, and this comprised the 
 whole of his scholastic studies. In the 
 year of his arrival, 1846, the father, 
 Nicholas Johann, entered eighty acres of 
 wild timbered land, near Port Washing- 
 ton, Wis., which land he subsecpiently 
 subdued and developed from it a fine 
 farm, the three sons materially assisting 
 in the work. In 1862 John W. Johann 
 enlisted in Company C, Thirty-fourth 
 Wis. V. I., and soon after was commis- 
 sioned second lieutenant. Nine months 
 later he received an honorable discharge, 
 and almost immediatelj' re-enlisted, on 
 this occasion entering Company F, Thirty- 
 fifth Wis. V. I., and from the organi- 
 zation served as first lieutenant — com- 
 manding his company until 1865, when 
 he was promoted to the captaincy and 
 served in that capacity until his final dis- 
 charge at Madison, Wis., April 15, 1866. 
 Of his active duty during this long period 
 of devotion to the protection of the in- 
 tegrity and freedom of his adopted coun- 
 try, wc can give only this brief record: 
 After a running skirmish near Memphis, 
 Tenn. , he fought near Morganza, La. ; 
 then at St. Charles, Ark. ; Brownsville, 
 Ark. ; Spanish Fort, Ala. ; Whistle Sta- 
 tion, six miles from Mobile, Ala., this 
 being among the last fights of the Re- 
 bellion. On his return to Wisconsin he 
 opened a general store at Port Washing- 
 ton in 1866, but sold out in 1869 and 
 bought an interest in the woolen mill at 
 Cedarburg, Wis., and was secretary of 
 the company until 1880, when he bought 
 an interest in the Hilgen Sash cS: Door 
 Manufacturing Co. At Cedarburg he also 
 served as postmaster from 1869 until 
 1884, acting in the meanwhile as secre- 
 tary for the Hilgen "Company until the 
 
J. .^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOGRAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 357 
 
 latter part of 1883. In 1884 he moved to 
 De Pare and bought the larger part of E. 
 \\'. Person's sash, door and blind mill, 
 which business he later organized as a 
 joint-stock company, denominated the 
 Nicolet Sash, Door & Blind Co., of which 
 he served as president until 1891, when 
 he bought the entire plant. The mill is 
 of brick, with a capacity of one hun- 
 dred doors per day, in addition to sash 
 and moldings, and when running on full 
 time Mr. Johann employs some thirty-five 
 hands. 
 
 On August 7, 1866, Mr. Johann was 
 united in marriage, at Cedarburg, Wis. , 
 with Miss Eliza F. Hilgen, daughter of 
 Fred Hilgen, the manufacturer, and to 
 this union three children have been born, 
 viz.: Albert H., who married Emma 
 Davis, and is living in De Pere; J. Emil 
 and Nellie, both still at home with their 
 parents. Fraternally Mr. Johann has 
 been a Freemason since 1858, having 
 joined the lodge at Port Washington in 
 that year; he is also a member of Chapter 
 No. 20, Green Bay, and Sir Knight of 
 Palestine Commandery, No. 18, at the 
 same place; also a member of the Blue 
 Lodge (Master Mason, third degree). No. 
 85, at De Pere; and of Harrison Post 
 No. 91, G. A. R. , of De Pere, in which 
 he has held the offices of senior vice- 
 commander, junior vice-commander, and 
 quartermaster. In politics Mr. Johann 
 is a stanch Republican, has served as 
 delegate to State and Congressional con- 
 ventions six different times, and was 
 chairman of the county committee of 
 Ozaukee county for twelve years. At 
 one time he was prominently mentioned 
 for State treasurer, but declined a nomi- 
 nation. At Cedarburg, in 1880, he had 
 the pleasure of shaking the hand of Gen. 
 Grant, and also had the honor of intro- 
 ducing several of his acquaintances. 
 Prior to this he had seen all the more 
 distinguished generals of the Civil war, 
 and has met every governor of Wisconsin 
 since he has lived in the State, Gov. 
 
 Rusk having been an especial friend. 
 20 
 
 JOSEPH CORMIER, one of the 
 prosperous, respected agriculturists 
 and business men of Howard town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a native of 
 Wisconsin, born October 8, i 841, in Green 
 Bay. 
 
 He is a son of David and Adeline 
 (Goodchild) Cormier, the father a native 
 of Three Rivers, Canada, the mother of 
 Montreal; she died when our subject was 
 but two years of age. David Cormier 
 married, for his second wife, a Mrs. Mal- 
 let, by whom were born two children — 
 both sons, and both now deceased. David 
 Cormier was a blacksmith, and in 1837 
 located in Green Bay, where he followed 
 his trade for a considerable time, and for 
 two years was in the government employ; 
 then engaged in the fish business until 
 1850, when he moved to a place near the 
 present home of his son, Joseph, on which 
 he died in 1888, aged seventy-one years. 
 David was a son of Fabian and Geneve 
 Cormier, Canadians, who came to Wis- 
 consin and also located in Green Bay in 
 1837. but subsequently removed to near 
 our subject's home in Howard township, 
 where Fabian Cormier died at the age of 
 sixty, and his wife at about the age of 
 eighty years. They were the parents of 
 eight children — four sons and four daugh- 
 ters. 
 
 Joseph Cormier passed his years on 
 the farm of his father until his marriage 
 in 1864 with Miss Mary Lonzo, a native 
 of Fort Howard, who was born April 30, 
 1 841, daughter of Joseph and Judah 
 (Greenwood) Lonzo, v^'ho came to Green 
 Bay, Wis., about 1837, and in 1848 set- 
 tled on a farm in Duck Creek, where they 
 passed the remainder of their days, both 
 dying at the age of seventy-five years. 
 They had a family of five children, of 
 whom four are still living. To the mar- 
 riage of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cormier 
 have come two children, viz. : Delia, born 
 June 25, 1876, and George, born June 8, 
 1878. Joseph Cormier and his young 
 wife began their married life in a little 
 log home on a forty-acre tract belonging 
 
358 
 
 COMMEMOaATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to Mr. Cormier's father, and lived in this 
 house for two years, when they built their 
 present comfortable residence and added 
 forty acres to their farm. Mr. Cormier 
 also became interested in a stone quarry 
 his father sold to the Chicago & North 
 Western Railwa}- Company, and was en- 
 gaged in running scows on the lakes for 
 ten years; his father conducted the Bru- 
 nette quarry for ten years. Mr. Cormier 
 is a man of most generous impulses, and 
 is withal a first-class business man, al- 
 though of domestic proclivities. With 
 his wife he is a member of the Catholic 
 Church, as were his forefathers in Can- 
 ada, and he lives faithfully up to its 
 teachings. His benevolent disposition 
 has been manifested by the adoption, at 
 the age of nine years, of a lad named S. 
 E. Marcotte, who is now grown to man- 
 hood, and is employed as a commercial 
 traveler. 
 
 JOSEPH NORTON. Among the 
 leading farmers and extensive land- 
 owners of Rockland township. Brown 
 county, none holds a more enviable 
 position in the esteem of his fellow citi- 
 zens than this gentleman, who has been 
 prominently identified with the interests 
 of his section for the past forty years. 
 He is a native of Ireland, born January 
 20, 1824, in County Wicklow, eldest son 
 of James and Catherine (Kelly) Norton, 
 the former of whom was an indu.strious 
 farmer in his native country, cultivating 
 a rented farm. There were fourteen chil- 
 dren in the family — four sons and ten 
 daughters — of whom our subject was the 
 second in order of birth. 
 
 Joseph Norton attended the common 
 schools of Ireland up to the age of fifteen 
 years, when he commenced farming, re- 
 ceiving his first instruction in this voca- 
 tion under his father. He continued farm- 
 ing there until 1850, when he concluded 
 to try his fortune in America, and, receiv- 
 ing some assistance from his father, he left 
 his home on March 1 7 of that year, pro- 
 
 ceeding to Liverpool, where he took pas- 
 sage on the "Kossuth," a sailing vessel 
 which had been recently fitted up and 
 was then one of the largest vessels afloat, 
 carrying 700 passengers. Mr. Norton 
 landed in New York after a voyage of 
 thirty-three days, and, finding himself 
 short of funds, abandoned his original in- 
 tention to proceed west at once and 
 commenced to work as a farm hand in 
 Onondaga county, N. Y. His employer, 
 Caleb Brown, was one of the leading 
 farmers of that section of the State, and 
 during the five years he remained there 
 Mr. Norton gathered some very useful 
 ideas on agriculture. In October, 1S55, 
 our subject came to De Pere, Brown Co., 
 Wis. , and, with his savings, purchased 
 eighty acres of wild land in Section 15, 
 Rockland township, to which he added 
 another eighty acres the following year, 
 this being the farm of 160 acres where 
 he now makes his home. Finding that 
 he could make more mone}- at sawmilling. 
 for the first five years he obtained em- 
 ployment with Mr. Ritchie in the sawmills 
 near De Pere, and being industrious and 
 stead}' was able to save considerable from 
 his earnings. 
 
 On July 24, 1858, Mr. Norton was 
 married, in Green Bay, to Miss Bridget 
 Forestal, a native of County Kilkenn\-, 
 Ireland, whose father, Thomas Forestal, 
 died before she was born, and she came 
 to America with her mother and two 
 brothers, Thomas and Edward; their \oy- 
 age across the Atlantic occupied si.x weeks 
 and three days. After his marriage Mr. 
 Norton settled on his farm, on which a 
 few improvements had been made, a 
 house and barn built, etc. ; bat the land 
 was still for the most part in its primitive 
 condition, and wild animals abounded. 
 After years of tireless, unremitting in- 
 dustry he found himself the possessor of 
 the highly productive, well-improved farm 
 where the family yet reside, and which 
 has supplanted the unbroken forest which 
 stood there when he first came to this 
 section. Mr. and Mrs. Norton have had 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOaitAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 359 
 
 the following children: Katie C, who 
 lives at home; Mary A., Mrs. William 
 Powers, of Nahma, Mich., who was a 
 school-teacher for some time; Sarah, 
 Mrs. John Shaughnessy, of Fort Howard; 
 James, Timothy and Anna S., at home. 
 
 Mr. Norton has given agriculture his 
 principal attention, and has few, if any, 
 eciuals in that line in Brown county. He 
 is now the owner of 6oo acres in Wrights- 
 town and Rockland townships, which he 
 has accumulated through industry and 
 hard work, and his success in his life- 
 work shows what a young man may 
 accomplish if persevering and diligent. 
 Forty-four years ago he landed in New 
 York with but ten dollars in money, to- 
 day he is ranked among the successful 
 self-made men of his community. His 
 energy, economical habits and physical 
 strength have been important factors in 
 his success, but his business sagacity and 
 good judgment have also proved of no 
 small value. Honest and trustworthy, 
 he has always enjoyed the confidence of 
 all who have had dealings with him in 
 any way. He has lived to see the sur- 
 rounding country transformed from a for- 
 est, and has himself taken an active part 
 in the advancement and improvement of 
 the region, especially in his own neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 Politically he is a Democrat, and has 
 always been stanch in supporting the 
 principles of his party, invariably voting 
 that ticket in National and State af- 
 fairs, in local elections, however, giv- 
 ing his support to the candidate whom 
 he considers best fitted for the office. 
 He has never aspired to political honors 
 himself, his own extensive interests de- 
 manding the greater share of his time and 
 attention, but he served as school director 
 in his district. In religious connection 
 he and his wife are members of St. Francis 
 Catholic Church, of De Pere. Though 
 now over seventy years of age, Mr. Nor- 
 ton is in good health, and can perform a 
 a day's work that would be a credit to a 
 man many years his junior. On Febru- 
 
 ary I, 1865, Mr. Norton enlisted at Green 
 Bay in Compan}' A, Fifty-second Wis. 
 V. I., and was sent to St. Louis, but saw 
 no service, as he was taken ill with small- 
 po.\, and received his discharge. 
 
 G 
 
 EORGE W. SENSIBA, a retired 
 business man and farmer of Su- 
 amico. Brown county, was born 
 January 14, 1824, in Delaware 
 son of Alfred Sensiba, 
 of Samuel and Mary 
 Samuel was a native 
 died in Utica, N. Y. , 
 
 county, N. Y. , a 
 who was a son 
 (Taylor) Sensiba. 
 of Germany, and 
 
 an e.xile from his native land on account 
 of his father's activity in the patriot army 
 during the German war. Mary (Taylor) 
 Sensiba was of English descent, and died 
 in Onondaga county, N. Y., at the age of 
 seventy years. 
 
 Alfred Sensiba was one of a family of 
 seven children, and was born in Massa- 
 chusetts. W'hen a boy he hired out as a 
 farm hand, but sustained a permanent 
 injur}' to his health by contracting a cold, 
 and abandoned farming for canal-boating, 
 running on the Erie canal three or four 
 years. At the end of that time he went 
 to Jordan, N. Y. , and established a soap 
 and candle business, 
 Seneca Falls, N. Y. , 
 in the same business 
 1842, he went to Indiana, where he con- 
 tinued to make soap and candles until his 
 removal to St. Joseph, Mich. Here he 
 bought a farm, but finally sold out and 
 came to Suamico, Brown Co., Wis., 
 where he died at the age of seventy-seven. 
 Alfred Sensiba was married, when twenty- 
 three years old, to Miss Nancy Houghtal- 
 ing, who was born in Delaware county, 
 N. Y. , and is still living at the home of 
 our subject, George W\, who is her only 
 child. 
 
 George W. Sensiba worked at various 
 employments until 1844, when he came 
 West, worked in Chicago one year, and 
 then went to Lorkjiort, N. Y., with a 
 stock of goods. The next year he re- 
 
 later moving to 
 where he engaged 
 a while; then, in 
 
36d 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE DIOGRAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 turned to Chicago and enlisted, in i S46, 
 in the Mexican war, but was prevented 
 from going by an attack of measels. In the 
 fall of the same year he came to Brown 
 county. Wis., and for two or three years 
 carried on a cooper shop at Green Bay, 
 following which he was engaged in the 
 fish trade on the lakes six or seven years. 
 On August 26, 1850, he wedded Miss 
 Maria Wiltsey, who was born in London, 
 Canada, and during the Mexican war 
 came to the United States with her par- 
 ents, Hiram and Susan Wiltsey, farming 
 people, who died in Michigan; they were 
 the parents of sex'en children. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. George W. Sensiba have been 
 born eleven children, of whom ten are 
 living, \\z. : Amanda, who married and 
 had three children, two of whom are 
 married and have two children ; Georgi- 
 ana ; Arvilla, married ; Alfred, married 
 and has four children ; Frank ; W^illiam ; 
 Effie ; George C. ; Burgess ; and Irving. 
 Mr. Sensiba resumed the fish trade 
 for several years after his marriage, and 
 then went on the farm where he now 
 lives, and, after cultivating it for several 
 years, went north, again entering the fish 
 trade. For several years following he 
 handled cedar posts, and about 1 860 re- 
 turned to his old farm. In 1864 he 
 shipped in the navy, serving until August 
 22, 1865, when he again returned to his 
 farm for a time, and next removed to 
 Fort Howard, there following the grocery 
 and fish trade until 1870, in which year 
 he sold out and retired to live in peace 
 and ease on his homestead in Suamico. 
 Mr. Sensiba is a Republican in his politi- 
 cal affiliations, and was originall)' an 
 old-line Whig, casting his first vote for 
 Gen. Zachary Taylor. He has been 
 quite active in local politics, and is now 
 servingas a justice of the peace. He and 
 his family are consistent members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, in which 
 congregation Mrs. Sensiba is especially 
 active, and for which she acts as Sunday- 
 school superintendent. Mr. Sensiba's in- 
 dustrious business career has won for him 
 
 the admiration of his fellow citizens, 
 while his persevering economy has se- 
 cured for him a competency that enables 
 him to enjoy his declining years, bereft of 
 the cares that so long engaged his atten- 
 tion. He is regarded as an upright, char- 
 itable gentleman, at all times ready to 
 aid, with his time and purse, any move- 
 ment calculated to advance the well-being 
 of his township and county and enhance 
 the happiness of his neighbors, young and 
 old, and in consequence enjoys their un- 
 feigned esteem. 
 
 JOHN CRAANEN, farmer and stock 
 raiser, and owner of a fine farm of 
 200 acres in Scott township. Brown 
 county, is a native of same, born 
 Januar}' 30, i860, youngest child of Chris- 
 tian and Theodora (Hooken) Craanen. 
 
 Our subject received his early educa- 
 tion in the then primitive log cabin schools 
 of Scott township, and subsequently for 
 three years attended the parochial schools 
 at Calvary, Wis. He was reared to agri- 
 cultural life, and, after his school days 
 were over, commenced to assist his father 
 on the home farm, where he always re- 
 mained up to the time of his marriage. 
 On April 26, 1892, he was married, at 
 Bay Settlement, to Miss Jennie Noonyen, 
 who was born in Scott township in 
 1872, daughter of Leonard Noonyen, 
 a native of Holland, and this union has 
 been blessed with one child, Frank, born 
 May II, 1893. After marriage Mr. 
 Craanen located in his present home, and 
 here conducts a successful general farm- 
 ing and stock-raising business. As before 
 mentioned, he has a prime farm of 200 
 acres, and is without an equal in his town- 
 ship among the farmers of his age. He 
 is thoroughly conversant with every depart- 
 ment of his chosen vocation, having been 
 engaged in agriculture from his early boy- 
 hood, and to-day he ranks among the 
 most prosperous of the agriculturists of 
 his locality. Diligent and thorough, he 
 has shown himself fully competent to sue- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 361 
 
 cessfully inanag;e his extensive interests, 
 to which he gives his undivided attention. 
 In religious connection he and his wife 
 arc members of the CathoHc Church at 
 Bay Settlement, and in politics he is a 
 Democrat, but gives little time to party 
 affairs. 
 
 JARED D. MASON, farmer of Pitts- 
 field township, Brown county, was 
 born June 13, 1830, in Grafton, 
 Rensselaer Co., N. Y. , and is de- 
 scended from Revolutionary stock, his 
 great-grandfather, Capt. John Mason, an 
 Englishman, having been burned at the 
 stake by the Indians during that patriotic 
 but fearful struggle for American inde- 
 pendence. Jared D. Mason is the eldest 
 of seven children born to John and Doro- 
 thy Mason, who died on their farm of 160 
 acres in their native State, New York, 
 and were interred at Sand Lake (or Pres- 
 ton Hill), Rensselaer county. 
 
 Jared D. Mason was reared on the 
 home farm, on which he remained until 
 about twenty-three years of age, when 
 he married. May 31, 1853, Catherine 
 Lawlor, daughter of Edward and Mary 
 (Fitzpatrick) Lawlor, of Irish descent. 
 Mr. Mason now bought sixty acres of land 
 from his father at five dollars per acre, 
 on which farm some few improvements 
 had been made, and here he and his wife 
 lived until 1865, when they came to Wis- 
 consin, stopping at Green Bay, because 
 the railway stopped there, and thence 
 being drawn to the woods by Henry 
 Howard with a team of horses. Here 
 Mr. Mason rented a log cabin, 16x20 
 feet, in which he lived one year, working 
 for Brown & Evins, lumbermen, for two 
 dollars per day. He then bought 160 
 acres of timbered land, but let a brother- 
 in-law, Mr. Lynch, have eighty acres of 
 the tract. All the vicissitudes of pioneer 
 life were here gone through; the cabin of 
 18x26 feet is now a comfortable dwelling, 
 and the forest changed to a fertile farm, 
 but all this required years of unceasing 
 
 and patient toil by himself, his wife and 
 his sons, when the latter became old 
 enough to lend their aid. The children 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Jared D. Mason 
 were ten in number, viz. : An infant, born 
 April 8, 1854, who died unnamed; Albert 
 L. , born April 8, 1855, who died August 
 8, 1858; Marcus J., born January 11, 
 1857; Mary, born February i, 1859; 
 Sarah C. , born March 17, 1861, who 
 died February 9, 1862; Martha A., born 
 April 25, 1863, who died May 3, 1865; 
 George B., born June 23, 1865; Minnie 
 J., born March 26, 1866; Cora B., born 
 April 26, 1870, and Bertie C. , born Octo- 
 ber 14, 1875. Mrs. Mason is a devout 
 member of the Methodist Church. In 
 politics Mr. Mason is a Democrat, and 
 has served his fellow citizens with much 
 credit as member of the side board for 
 three years, and as town clerk for one year. 
 
 AG. KURZ, a prominent photogra- 
 pher, of Green Bay, having a fine 
 studio located at Nos. 210 and 
 212 Cherry street, is the only 
 child of G. and Minnie (Donner) Kurz, 
 both natives of Germany. The father 
 came at an early date to Ripon, Wis., 
 was later married in Chicago, and finally, 
 in 1866, settled upon a new farm in Win- 
 nebago county. About 1871 he removed 
 with his family to Green Bay, established 
 a marble yard, and engaged at his old 
 trade of marble cutting. After a number 
 of years he retired from business, and he 
 and his wife are both yet living. 
 
 Our subject was born in 1867, in Eu- 
 reka, Winnebago Co., Wis., and when 
 about four years of age came with his 
 parents to Green Bay. Here he received 
 his education in the public schools, and 
 fitted himself for commercial pursuits by 
 attending business college under Prof. J. 
 N. McCunn. At the age of fourteen years 
 he began to learn the art of photography, 
 and four years later, in the fall of 1885, 
 launched out in business at De Pere. His 
 original preceptor in the artist's line was 
 
363 
 
 COMMEMOKATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 T. W. Schneider, and the lessons were 
 well learned. He formed a partnership 
 with Mr. Nuss, under the tinn name of 
 Kurz & Nuss, with a studio on Washinp;- 
 ton street, which was continued until 
 1892. Upon the dissolution of this part- 
 nership Mr. Kurz engaged in business in 
 Milwaukee, but in February, 1894, located 
 in Green Bay. At this place, in i S90, he 
 married Miss Augusta Straubel, tlaughter 
 of Ernest Straubel, an earlj' settler of 
 Brown county, who now resides in Green 
 Bay. Two children have come to grace 
 their home. Mr. Kurz is a member of 
 Green Bay Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F. ; 
 Pochequette Lodge, No. 26, K. of P. ; 
 also of the Royal Arcanum and the Order 
 of the Maccabees. In politics he is an 
 earnest Republican. 
 
 REV. P. J. CAUTEREELS, the 
 worthy and much-beloved pastor 
 of the Church of the Holy Cross, 
 in Hay Settlement, Brown county, 
 is a native of Belgium, born in the city of 
 Antwerp, January 3, 1833. 
 
 His elementary education was received 
 at the parish schools of Antwerp, after 
 leaving which he studied the classics, 
 philosophy and theology in the seminary 
 of Malines, in which institution he was 
 appointed professor of Latin after his con- 
 secration to the priesthood, at Malines 
 (or Mechlin), in December, 1857. In 
 1862 he resigned this incumbency, and, 
 returning to Antwerp, was given the posi- 
 tion of chaplain to Ste. Elizabeth Hos- 
 pital, which he filled with characteristic 
 diligence and Christian zeal until 1872, in 
 which year he was given charge, as priest, 
 of the church at the village of Hemixem, 
 Antwerp. At the end of ten years, in 1 882, 
 he resigned his charge, and having ex- 
 pressed a desire, and received permission 
 from his superiors, to engage in the labor 
 of love among his countrymen and others 
 in the Far West of America, he was 
 saluted with many a hearty ' ' bon voyage " 
 on leaving Antwerp on the 25th of June, 
 
 that year, on board the Red Star Line 
 steamship " Westerland," for New York, 
 where he arrived July 10 following. From 
 there he came direct to Wisconsin, and 
 in the township of Humboldt, Brown 
 count}-, he was stationed as priest, hav- 
 ing charge, in all of four congregations up 
 to the year 1892, when he came to the 
 Church of the Holy Cross, at Bay Settle- 
 ment, his present benefice. Mr. Caute- 
 reels is also rector of St. Francis Convent, 
 where are employed twenty-two teachers, 
 and here, as in his congregation, he is 
 held in the highest regard as a pious 
 Christian servant of the Master. 
 
 JOSEPH HUSSIN, farmer and hotel- 
 keeper in the village of Duck Creek, 
 Brown county, iS one of eight chil- 
 dren — three sons and five daughters — 
 still living of a very large family born to 
 Joseph and Florence (Toussaint) Hussin, 
 natives of Belgium, the former of whom 
 was born in the Province of Liege in 1 8 1 2, 
 and the latter in the Province of Namur 
 in 1816. 
 
 Joseph Hussin, our subject, was born 
 in the Province of Liege, and on June 20, 
 1856, sailed with the family from Ant- 
 werp for New York, at which port they 
 arrived after a passage of six weeks, and 
 next day proceeded on their way to Green 
 Bay, Wis. The father at once engaged 
 at his trade of stone-cutting, working at 
 same until October, when he moved to 
 Duck Creek and built a log cabin, 20 x 20 
 feet, in the dense woods which at that 
 early day still covered the country, and 
 here his family resided for two years. He 
 then rented a farm, on which he lived 
 three or four years, and then bought his 
 present farm, following his trade in the 
 meantime about five years. Joseph Hus- 
 sin, whose name opens this sketch, worked 
 on the home farm, and at intervals hired 
 out by the month until his marriage, Feb- 
 ruary 8, 1869, to Miss Octavie Lumay, 
 a native of the Province of Brabant, Bel- 
 gium, and daughter of John J. and Fran- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 363 
 
 ces Luinay. The Lumay family came to 
 the United States about the same year in 
 which tile Hussin family immigrated. 
 The father was a tailor, a trade he fol- 
 lowed all his life, but on his arrival in 
 America he rented a farm in Door county, 
 Wis. , on which he died at the age of sixty- 
 six years, and his wife at the age of sixty- 
 two. They were the parents of several 
 children, four of whom are living; the 
 others died in infancy. 
 
 To our subject and wife have been 
 born eleven children, of whom ten are 
 yet living; the eldest son is married and 
 has three sons. After his marriage Mr. 
 Hussin settled on a farm in the vicinity of 
 his father's place; but. after a residence 
 there of four years, sold out and bought 
 his present property in the village, open- 
 ing a hotel and saloon, where his accom- 
 modating disposition and pleasing man- 
 ners have won him hosts of friends. His 
 surplus earnings have been invested in 
 farm property, and he is the owner of one 
 or two choice tracts of land in the neigh- 
 borhood. Politicall}' he i^ a Democrat, 
 and cast his first Presidential vote for 
 Samuel J. Tilden; but he is a man who 
 thinks for himself and is capable of form- 
 ing his own opinions. For four years he 
 served as township treasurer, having been 
 elected on the Independent ticket — a fact 
 which gives evidence of his great popu- 
 larity with the people — and for seven or 
 ■eight years he tias served as assessor, be- 
 ing the present incumbent of that office. 
 He is secretary of the Grange, and is 
 recognized everywhere as a man of ability. 
 The family are all devout Catholics. 
 
 JOHN G. FINDEISEN, who for over 
 forty years has been indentified with 
 the interests of Scott township. Brown 
 county, as a farmer and landowner, 
 is a native of Wittenberg, Germany, born 
 August 5, 1 8 14, son of Gottlieb Findeisen, 
 a farmer, who had three children — one 
 son and two daughters — of whom the son, 
 John G., is the eldest. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 the common schools of his native coun- 
 try, which he attended from the time he 
 was six years old until he reached the age 
 of fourteen, also attending the Sabbath- 
 school four years, as required by law. 
 He was reared to farm life; but his father's 
 place being a small one, he usually worked 
 for others, his earnings being very meager, 
 never exceeding twenty-five dollars a 
 year. Yet,- in three years, he had saved 
 enough to pay his way to America, where 
 he hoped to find better opportunities for 
 advancement, and, leaving Germany, he 
 proceeded to England, where he em- 
 barked, at London, on the sailing vessel 
 "Maggie Evans," bound for New York, 
 the voyage lasting from May 13 to June 
 19 (1848). His destination being Green 
 Bay, Wis., he journeyed from New York 
 to Albany l^y boat, thence by rail to 
 Buffalo, from there coming by water to 
 Milwaukee, where he remained a week, 
 waiting for another boat. To Peshtigo 
 he came on a lumber vessel, thence by a 
 smaller one to Green Bay, where he 
 landed July 20. Here he found work 
 cutting cordwood for a merchant, and 
 subsequently came to New Franken, 
 which at that time was included in Bay 
 Settlement. In Green Bay township he 
 purchased a tract of forty acres (for which 
 he paid $1.25 per acre), directly opposite 
 his present farm, the place at that time 
 being all in the woods and totally un- 
 improved, not a stick having been cut 
 or a habitation of any kind erected. 
 He set to work and built a log cabin, 
 20x28, and also commenced the clear- 
 ing of the land, which for a long time 
 yielded scarcely anything; but he ob- 
 tained a small income by the manufac- 
 ture of shingles by hand, for which he re- 
 ceived one dollar a thousand. On this 
 farm he remained twenty-nine years, and 
 then removed across the road into the 
 township of Scott, erecting another log 
 house on the site of his present substan- 
 tial residence, which was built in 1885. 
 Mr. Findeisen now owns 155 acres of 
 
364 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 prime farming land, lying in Scott and 
 Green Bay townships, all accumulated 
 from the nucleus of forty acres of wilder- 
 ness and timber land that he owned in 
 1848. His success has been achieved by 
 ceaseless industry and unremitting toil. 
 He has seen his land transformed from a 
 dense forest abounding with wild animals 
 to a well-cultivated productive farm,- 
 which he and his children now enjoy, the 
 trials, privations and hardships of those 
 early days being forever past. Mr. Fin- 
 deisen was actively engaged in general 
 farming and stock-raising until about 
 1880, when he practically retired from 
 the work, his farm now being conducted 
 by his sons, John, Andrew and George, 
 who have shown themselves fully com- 
 petent to manage the affairs of the place. 
 Few farmers in the township have met 
 with more gratifying success, and Mrs. 
 Findeisen also deserves her share of 
 credit, for, by her economy and thrift, 
 she has been of no small assistance in 
 the accumulation of the property. During 
 the first winter of their marriage Mr. 
 Findeisen was employed in Green Bay, 
 cutting wood at six shillings a cord (and 
 boarding himself), and during that time 
 his wife remained alone in their cabin in 
 the forest — but a single illustration cf the 
 many inconveniences endured in those 
 early days. 
 
 Mr. Findeisen was married in Green 
 Bay to Miss Margaret Hoffman, who was 
 born July 13, 1824, in Wittenberg, Ger- 
 many, and came to America with her 
 future husband, their marriage taking 
 place July 21, 1848. This union was 
 blessed with children as follows: Sophia 
 (now deceased), who married Henry Senn, 
 and had four children; Louis W., a 
 hardware merchant of Green Bay, who 
 is married and has two children ; Leonard, 
 a member of the firm of Findeisen Bros. , 
 hardware merchants of Green Bay, who 
 is married and has one child; Conrad, 
 Andrew, George and John, all living on the 
 home farm; Henry, a general merchant of 
 Antigo, Wis. ; Caroline, deceased at the age 
 
 of nine years; Edward, deceased at the age 
 of five; and Emma, living at home. Of 
 these ANDREW, GEORGE and JOHN 
 are engaged in conducting the home farm, 
 and they are recognized as intelligent, in- 
 dustrious young men, successful in their 
 chosen vocation, in which they rank 
 second to none. Two of the other sons, 
 Louis W. and Leonard, carry on one of 
 the most e.xtensive and profitable hard- 
 ware businesses in Green Bay. 
 
 John G. Findeisen cast his ballot for 
 Abraham Lincoln in 1 864, and since that 
 time has been a stanch Republican, taking 
 no active part in politics, however, though 
 he is deeply interested in the success of 
 his party. His seven sons are also mem- 
 bers of that party, and keep themselves 
 well informed in its movements. In re- 
 ligious connection he and his wife are 
 members of the German M. E. Church, 
 in which he has been trustee, and the 
 other members of the family at home are 
 also identified with the same society. 
 
 JACOB FALCK, a progressive busi- 
 ness man of De Pere, Brown coun- 
 ty, is a native of Wisconsin, born 
 December 13, 1848, in Milwaukee 
 county. Wis., the eldest son of Philip 
 and Catherine (Hanger) Falck. 
 
 Our subject was but seven years of 
 age when his parents came to Brown 
 county, settling in Morrison township, 
 where they purchased 290 acres in Section 
 7, and also 160 acres in Section 22. On 
 the first-named property Jacob was reared 
 to manhood, receiving such education as 
 the meager school facilities of the day 
 afforded. As the eldest boy in the fam- 
 ily, the greater portion of the work in 
 assisting on the farm fell to his lot, and 
 he was but fifteen or si.xteen years old 
 when a team was placed in his hands, 
 with which to help the hired man. He 
 labored hard and faithfully until nearly 
 twenty-six years of age, and acquired 
 those steady habits which have so much 
 benefited him in his subsequent business 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 367 
 
 career. In August, 1874, he established 
 himself in a saloon in the basement of 
 Wheeler's drug store in De Pere, where 
 he made many friends and prospered for 
 two years; his increasing trade caused his 
 removal to a buildiug owned by C. G. 
 Wilcox in the business part of the city, 
 which building, with forty-eight feet fron- 
 tage, he subsequently purchased, but in 
 April, 1888, these premises were de- 
 stro}ed by fire. With his usual energy, 
 however, he erected at once a more sub- 
 stantial structure, which forms one of the 
 best business blocks in the city, and here 
 he is doing a better trade than ever. 
 
 On August 28, 1878, in Manitowoc 
 county. Wis., Mr. Falck married Miss 
 Mar}- Meyer, a native of that county, born 
 April 16, 1859, a daughter of Frederick 
 and Sophia (Kasten) Meyer. The chil- 
 dren resulting from this marriage were 
 named George E., born June 14, 1879, 
 and died July 10 of the same year; Alma 
 E. Iv. , born August 6, 1880; Walter R., 
 born November 6, 1882; Elsa C. S., 
 born December 17, 1884; and Erven J., 
 born February i, 1894. In National and 
 State politics Mr. Falck usually supports 
 the Democratic nominees, but in county 
 and municipal matters he votes for the 
 candidate he considers best fitted for 
 office. He has himself served creditably 
 two terms on the board of aldermen, but 
 has declined further nomination. He 
 and his wife are consistent members of 
 the Lutheran Church, and both stand well 
 in the esteem of the public. In 1893 Mr. 
 Falck built one of the most modern resi- 
 dences in De Pere. He has the reputation 
 of conducting "the most orderly saloon 
 in the city," and is a very popular citizen, 
 is quiet and unassuming, makes friends 
 with all who meet him, and retains them. 
 
 M 
 
 Erie 
 
 II^O AMES, a successful farmer 
 
 and lumberman of Pittsfield 
 
 township. Brown county, was 
 
 born January 14, 1842, in 
 
 county, Penn., son of Nathaniel 
 
 and Miranda (Madison) Ames, the former 
 a successful carpenter and farmer; he was 
 twice married, first to Miranda Madison, 
 and had eleven children. 
 
 On September 10, 1861, Milo Ames 
 enlisted in Company K, Eighty-third P. 
 V. I., in response to the call for 75,000 
 men, and served until February 2, 1863, 
 when he re-enlisted and served until July 
 3, 1864. He was in every battle in which 
 the army of the Potomac was engaged 
 during this period, and was wounded at 
 Gaines' Mills. After his recovery and 
 discharge from the hospital he was ap- 
 pointed dispatch courier, and served in 
 this capacity until his discharge at Harris- 
 burg, when he returned to his home and 
 passed some time in the oil country* On 
 February 22, 1866, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Loisa Baker, one of the thir- 
 teen children born to W'illiam H. and 
 Loisa (Stowell) Baker, the former a native 
 of New York, and the latter of Vermont; 
 the father is a successful farmer, and is 
 still living in Erie county, Penn., where 
 he owns 500 acres of land. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ames were school children together, and 
 were married in Erie count}', where they 
 remained nearly four years after their 
 union, he being employed in lumbering on 
 the Allegheny river in the meanwhile. In 
 1869 they came b)^ rail to Green Bay, 
 Wis., and thence directly to Pittsfield, 
 where for six years Mr. Ames v\'as em- 
 ployed by Oscar Gray in the lumber busi- 
 ness. He then bought eighty acres of 
 timber land, on which stood a log house, 
 and he cleared this land by his own labor, 
 and added to it until he atone time owned 
 120 acres; but of this he sold forty acres, 
 leaving him a well-improved tract of eighty 
 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Ames have been 
 blessed with three children, viz. : Rose, 
 born July 11, 1869, now the wife of 
 Charles Huntington, of Pittsfield; Emma 
 M., born February 3, 1876; and Harry, 
 born April 30, 1882. The parents are 
 members of the Congregational Church, in 
 which Mr. Ames was a deacon, and of 
 which he is now trustee. Politically he 
 
368 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOEAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 was a Republican until last year, when 
 he gave his franchise to the Prohibitionists. 
 He has served as chairman of the town 
 one year, and as member of the side board 
 two terms, and is very highly respected 
 by all who know him. 
 
 WILLIAM CONEN, an upright 
 citizen and successful farmer, 
 of De Pere township. Brown 
 count}', is a native of Holland, 
 born June i8, 1844, son of Theodore 
 Conen. When four years of age he was 
 brought by his parents to America, and to 
 Brown county, Wis., where, in the prim- 
 itive schools of that early day, he received 
 all Ifis education. Early in life he was 
 put to work on the farm, as the country 
 was new, and the farmers of that period 
 had to work hard to earn a living from 
 their land; besides, wages were low, and 
 if a boy earned his board he was doing 
 well. When William was twenty years 
 old his father died, and for some years 
 afterward he and his brothers were in 
 partnership. When the property was di- 
 vided he received forty acres in De Pere 
 township, part of his present farm, which 
 at that time was all new land, without 
 a single improvement, and he himself 
 built the first house on the place. 
 
 In April. 1870, Mr. Conen was mar- 
 ried in De Pere to Anna Stylties, who was 
 born August 22, 1840, in Germany, daugh- 
 ter of Anton Stylties, a farmer, and the 
 young couple immediately commenced 
 housekeeping on the new farm. To their 
 union have been born children as follows; 
 Theodore, Anton, Anna, John, Hattie, 
 and Mary, all living, and two that died 
 young. Mr. Conen has all his life been 
 a hard-working farmer, and his present 
 prosperity is all the result of toil and in- 
 dustry. He has increased the area of his 
 farm from forty to 140 acres, all in De- 
 Pere township, and has transformed it 
 from a stumpy, brush-covered piece of 
 ground to a well-cultivated and fertile 
 tract. This has only been accomplished 
 
 by years of unceasing toil, but his chil- 
 dren have been of great help to him, the 
 sons all remaining on the farm and as- 
 sisting much with the agricultural work. 
 Mr. Conen has, during his long residence 
 in the county, acquired an enviable repu- 
 tation for honesty and fair dealing, and 
 he is universally respected for his many 
 good qualities. In religious connection 
 he and his family are members of St. 
 Mary's Catholic Church, De Pere; in po- 
 litical preferences Mr. Conen is a stanch 
 supporter of the principles of the Demo- 
 cratic party. 
 
 JAMES SHERLOCK, a systematic 
 progressive farmer citizen of De Pere 
 township. Brown county, is a native 
 of the same, born April i, 1854. 
 
 Our subject received a fair common- 
 school education, and was reared to practi- 
 cal farm life on the home place until sixteen 
 years of age, after which he commenced to 
 follow other pursuits. He spent si.xteen 
 winters in the lumber camps of northern 
 Wisconsin and Michigan, enduring all the 
 vicissitudes and hardships of camp life in 
 the winter, and also becoming familiar with 
 the hazardous work of " driving logs " in 
 the spring. On October 28, 1886, Mr. 
 Sherlock was married in St. Francis 
 Church, De Pere, by Father Rine, to Miss 
 Anna Hughes, who was born in i860, 
 alqng the Canadian and lower Michigan 
 line, daughter of Hugh and Margaret 
 (Dalton) Hughes, natives of Ireland, who 
 settled in 1869 in Glenmore township, 
 Brown Co., Wisconsin. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage Mr. 
 Sherlock settled on his present farm, 
 where he has since continuously resided, 
 and on which he has made many improve- 
 ments. It is one of the oldest farms in 
 East River valley, and consists of 115 
 acres of excellent land. In State and 
 National affairs Mr. Sherlock votes the 
 Democratic ticket, but in local matters he 
 pays more attention to the fitness of the 
 candidate than to party connection. In 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 369 
 
 1 89 1 he was elected chairman of the 
 township, in which office he has since 
 served with credit to himself and satisfac- 
 tion to his constituents. He is a reader, 
 and well informed on general topics. In 
 religious connection he and his wife are 
 both members of St. Francis Catholic 
 Church at De Pere. They have had five 
 children, namely: Ralph J., Maggie V., 
 Annie V., Mary E. and Philip E. 
 
 HERMANN HAYMAKERS, than 
 whom there is no more success- 
 ful or progressive citizen in Preble 
 township. Brown county, is a na- 
 tive of Holland, born December 24, 1829, 
 in the village of Venraij, Province of Lim- 
 burg, son of Leonard Raymakers,who was 
 a laborer in his native land. 
 
 Hermann Raymakers received a com- 
 mon-school education, and then learned 
 the carpenter's trade, which he com- 
 menced to follow when eighteen years old, 
 working around at various places, and, 
 being industrious and ambitious, he pros- 
 pered. While engaged in this he invested 
 in six acres of land (going into debt for 
 same), the cultivation of which he carried 
 on in connection with his trade. On 
 April 28, 1856, he was united in mar- 
 riage, in Holland, with Miss Alliegonde 
 Vullengs, also a native of Venraij, and six 
 children were born to them in Holland, 
 as follows: Leonard, who is now a mer- 
 chant of Green Bay, Wis. ; Christian, of 
 Oakland, Cal., and Martin, Andrew, 
 Catharine, and Helena, living at home. 
 After carrying on his trade some years in 
 his native country, Mr. Raymakers con- 
 cluded he could better his condition by 
 coming to the United States, and in June, 
 1868, he and his family sailed from lliver- 
 pool on the vessel " Nestorian," landing 
 at Quebec after a voyage of nine days, 
 and thence proceeding to Green Bay, 
 Wis., where they arrived sixteen days 
 after leaving Liverpool. In Preble town- 
 ship. Brown county, Mr. Raymakers pur- 
 chased forty acres of new land, entirely 
 
 unimproved, on which, in a day and a 
 half afterward, a rude home had been 
 constructed, and in this house, which had 
 not even a window, his wife and six chil- 
 dren lived for a short time, until a better 
 one could be built. Mr. Raymakers 
 worked around at various kinds of labor, 
 but could get no money, the first cur- 
 rency he ever received in the United 
 States coming from the sale of three loads 
 of hay, which brought him eleven dollars. 
 Some time after locating on the forty 
 acres of land he removed to Green Bay, 
 but later came back to the farm and built 
 thereon a house from a twenty-five-dol 
 lar pile of lumber, which was the resi- 
 dence of the family until 1893, when the 
 present magnificent home, the finest farm 
 house in the township, was erected. The 
 sons, Leonard, Martin. Henry, John, 
 William, Peter, and Gerard, are all with 
 their father in the business of the firm of 
 H. Raymakers & Sons, which comprises 
 a market garden in Preble, three miles 
 from the city of Green Bay, and a gen- 
 eral produce store in the city. The store 
 is in charge of Leonard and Henr\', while 
 Mr. Raymakers operates the garden. All 
 the children of our subject live at home 
 with the exception of Henry, who resides 
 in the city, being married, and Christian, 
 who is settled in California. The entire 
 family are members of the Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 Mr. Raymakers lived " in the woods," 
 as he expresses it, and literally converted 
 his farm from its primitive state to its 
 present fertile condition, toiling early and 
 late for sixteen years to free his home 
 from debt, during which time he and his 
 family endured their full share of the 
 hardships incident to pioneer farm life. 
 But success has rewarded his untiring en- 
 ergy, as his beautiful farm and home now 
 testify. When Mr. Raymakers bought the 
 place the land was quite swampy, the east 
 half being covered with deep muck, and, 
 knowing this to be an excellent fertilizer, 
 he set himself to work to make the most 
 of it. Always a reader, he obtained an 
 
370 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 idea from the 0/iio Fanner on the subject 
 he was so greatly interested in, and his 
 plans were no sooner formed than he pro- 
 ceeded to carry them out. Digging out 
 the muck from the eastern part of the 
 farm, which rises above the western part, 
 he hauled it away to fertilize the rest of 
 the land, thus leaving a reservoir for the 
 water to gather in, which is fed by springs 
 and drains, and provides irrigation for the 
 land, besides affording a constant supply 
 of running water for his house, barns, 
 hothouses, stock, etc. ; over ten thousand 
 feet of drainage and tiling have been laid 
 on the farm. The reservoir, which has 
 been well stocked with German carp, is 
 ninety feet wide and 600 feet long, and 
 the excellent arrangements make it pos- 
 sible to distribute water to the most dis- 
 tant parts of the farm, in carts or hose, 
 when necessary. With such facilities the 
 land is exceptionally well-adapted for 
 profitable gardening, and thirty acres are 
 devoted to that branch alone, supplying 
 various markets, especially Green Bay, 
 whither a load of vegetables is sent daily, 
 he and his sons conducting a prosperous 
 produce business in the city; the celery 
 beds on the farm are unusually fine. 
 
 Mr. Raymakers has spared neither 
 money nor pains to make an ideal farm 
 and home out of what was once a dense 
 wilderness, his fine residence, barn and 
 other buildings are all in keeping with the 
 other improvements, and he is regarded 
 as one of the most enterprising, substan- 
 tial farmers in Preble township. He 
 takes an active interest in political mat- 
 ters, studying carefully the leading ques- 
 tions of the day. Formerly a Republican 
 and Protectionist, he changed his ideas 
 after much study and thought on the sub- 
 ject, and is now an advocate of the Free- 
 trade system. He is very fond of reading, 
 keeping himself well informed on general 
 topics and public issues, and his home 
 contains a well-selected library. He is 
 an earnest advocate of thorough educa- 
 tion, and believes a country school should 
 possess the same advantages and as com- 
 
 plete an equipment as a city school for 
 the instruction of the young. In 1890 
 Mr. Raymakers paid a short visit to his 
 native country, but returned convinced 
 that though Holland is good, America is 
 better. 
 
 HENRY LANCASTER, a system- 
 atic, skillful farmer of Howard 
 township, Brown county, was 
 born in January, 1832, in Man- 
 chester, England, son of Joseph and 
 Catherine (Burke) Lancaster, and was 
 a lad about twehe years of age when 
 he came alone to this country. His 
 father was the son of a coal dealer in 
 England, and was a veteran of Waterloo, 
 and a pensioner ; he died when Henry, 
 our subject, was still a mere lad of seven 
 or eight years. Mrs. Catherine Lancas- 
 ter subsequently remarried, and came 
 with her husband to the United States 
 about 1 841, Henry following in about 
 three years. 
 
 On reaching America our subject went 
 to Oswego, N. Y., where he passed two 
 or three years with his mother and step- 
 father, and then worked at various places 
 until 1850, when he came to Wisconsin, 
 to which State his mother had removed 
 about a year previous. Here she died 
 at an advanced age, the mother of eight 
 children, of whom but three are now liv- 
 ing. Mr. Lancaster for the first two 
 years after his arrival in Wisconsin, rent- 
 ed land from his stepfather in Pittsfield 
 township. Brown county, and then moved 
 to Duck Creek, where he worked in a 
 mill until his enlistment, on January 25, 
 1862, in the Seventeenth Wis. V. I. 
 This regiment being full, however, he 
 was transferred to Company L, of an 
 Illinois Light Artillery regiment, and took 
 part in every battle in which the com- 
 mand was engaged, and in all of its 
 marches, until the close of the war, with 
 the exception of three months, during 
 which he was confined in Libby Prison as 
 a prisoner of war, and another three 
 
COMMEMOIlATrVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 371 
 
 months when he was in hospital on ac- 
 count of a wound received in the Shen- 
 andoah Valley, while fightinj^ against the 
 Confederate, Gen. Early. He was hon- 
 orably discharged in April, 1865, and is 
 now receiving a pension for his services. 
 After his return to Duck Creek Mr. Lan- 
 caster again worked in the mill for a 
 time, and also cleared off forty acres of 
 his land and bought forty acres addi- 
 tional. In November, 1869, he married 
 Miss Catherine Maher, who was born 
 in Green Bay, a daughter of Edmund 
 and Hannah (Handerhan) Maher, natives 
 of Ireland. This union has been blessed 
 with seven children, named as follows: 
 Joseph, Ella, Maggie (wife of Louis 
 Jagers, of Kiel, Manitowoc Co., Wis.), 
 Hannah, John, Agnes, and Nora. 
 
 Mr. Lancaster, after his marriage, 
 brought his bride to his present farm, 
 which, under his skillful management, is 
 now in a state of luxuriant cultivation, 
 and here they have lived ever since, with 
 the exception of one year, when they re- 
 sided in Fort Howard. He raises mixed 
 crops, and the general appearance of his 
 fields and the air of comfort and neatness 
 surrounding his dwelling and farm build- 
 ings give indication of the watchful eye and 
 trained industry of the master, and the 
 willing, tasteful and deft employment of 
 the hand of his helpmeet, who is known 
 to all as a most industrious, cheerful 
 
 woman, a good wife and 
 
 a thoughtful 
 
 mother. Socially Mr. Lancaster is an 
 honored member of T. O. Howe Post, 
 No. 124, G. A. R., and he and his family 
 are regarded as most desirable neighbors 
 in Howard township. 
 
 E N R V B O R M A N, one of the 
 
 eading agriculturists of De Pere 
 
 H 
 
 I I township, Brown county, was born 
 March 18, 1846, in Belgium, son 
 of Gregorie Borman, who was a farmer 
 in comfortable circumstances. 
 
 Conluding he could better his condi- 
 tion by coming to America, the father of 
 
 our subject in 1857 sold his propertj' and 
 set out with his family for the United 
 States, landing in New York City. Thence 
 they at once journeyed westward to Green 
 Bay, Wis. , and, shortly after their arrival, 
 located in Allouez township, where Mr. 
 Borman was for two years employed in a 
 brickyard. They then came to De Pere, 
 at that time but a small village, and for 
 seven years made their home on a farm 
 (now included in the town of De Pere) 
 which they rented from John Lacey. 
 Then, in the fall of 1866, they purchased 
 and removed upon the farm of seventy 
 acres now owned by our subject, which 
 at that time was covered with a dense 
 forest. They immediately cleared a spot 
 for a house, and erected a frame dwelling, 
 which in later years was supplanted by a 
 neat brick cottage, and here Mr. Bor- 
 man passed the remainder of his days, 
 dying in 1883; his wife survived him eight 
 years, and their remains now rest in De- 
 Pere cemetery. They were l)oth mem- 
 bers of the Catholic Church, and in poli- 
 tics he was a Democrat. 
 
 Henry Borman attended school in Bel- 
 gium until the family came to the United 
 States, after which he completed his edu- 
 cation in the then primitive schools of 
 Allouez and De Pere townships. On 
 June 21, 1873, he was married, in De- 
 Pere, to Hortense Lhost, a native of Bel- 
 gium, born March 8, 1856, daughter of 
 John Lhost, who came to the United 
 States in 1869 with his family of seven 
 children and settled in Brown county. 
 Wis. Immediately after his marriage 
 Mr. Borman took up his residence on the 
 farm where he yet lives, and here he has 
 been engaged in general farming, of which, 
 by good management and untiring energy, 
 he has made a success. His farm com- 
 prises seventy acres of excellent farming 
 land, all of which has been taken from 
 the woods, involving many years of un- 
 relenting toil before the place was reduced 
 to its present fertile condition. Mr. Bor- 
 man is one of the best-known men in 
 De Pere township, where he is highly re- 
 
37- 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 spected. He is a leader in all enterprises 
 which promise to benefit his township or 
 county, and is regarded as a public-spirited, 
 progressive citizen. Politically he is a 
 Democrat, is a stanch supporter of the 
 principles ol that party, and in 1893 was 
 elected treasurer of his township, for ten 
 or eleven years previous to which he had 
 served as supervisor, giving complete sat- 
 isfaction in that office: He and his wife 
 are members of St. Francis Catholic 
 Church at Ue Pere. They have had chil- 
 dren as follows: Mary, John E., Victor J., 
 Victoria, Emily, Constant, Julia, Celia, 
 Willie, living, and others who died in 
 infancy. 
 
 WS. WHITCOMB, a long-estab- 
 lished contractor and builder of 
 Green Bay, was born in Ann 
 .\rbor, Washtenaw Co., Mich., 
 August 31, 1832, a son of Levi and 
 Roxalana (Putnam) Whitcomb, the former 
 a nati\-e of Pennsylvania, the latter of 
 Connecticut. The father was accident- 
 ally killed, in J869, in Howard township. 
 Brown Co., Wis., and the mother, who 
 was a great-granddaughter of Gen. Israel 
 Putnam, the Revolutionary hero, died in 
 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Levi Whitcomb 
 were the parents of six children, namely: 
 Sarah, who died at the age of four; Joseph, 
 who died in Brown county. Wis., in the 
 fall of 1865; Lucius, who died in Michi- 
 gan; ^^^ S., the subject of this sketch; 
 Lucretia, wife of Christian Johnson, of 
 Graham county, Kans., and Levi, who 
 resides in McPherson county, Michigan. 
 Our subject remained in Michigan un- 
 til May, 1844, when he came to Green 
 Bay, and here served three years at the 
 carpenter's trade, also three j-ears at 
 coopering, working twenty-eight years in 
 Green Bay at the latter business with D. 
 W. Britton. in 1861 he enlisted in Com- 
 pany H, Twelfth Wis. V. I., for three 
 years; was assigned to the army of the 
 West, and fought at Jackson, Tenn., 
 Port Gibson, Raymond Hill, siege of 
 
 Vicksbnrg, and at Natchez. He then re- 
 enlisted in the same company and regi- 
 ment for another period of three years, 
 and was with Sherman on his march to 
 the sea, was in the Carolina campaign, 
 and in the Grand Review at Washington, 
 D. C. He received an honorable dis- 
 charge at Louisville, Ky., in July, 1865, 
 and, returning to Green Bay, worked for 
 a time at laboring, and then opened up a 
 farm in Howard township. 
 
 Mr. Whitcomb was married May 12, 
 1 86 1 , to Miss Martha D. Athey, a native 
 of Green Bay, and a daughter of Charles 
 W. and Sarah (Gibson) Athey, the former 
 of whom, a native of Virginia, when 
 twenty-one years of age. or about 1839, 
 came to Green Bay, worked at lumber- 
 ing, and was married on Washington 
 street. Green Bay. He lost his wife in 
 1869, and he followed her to the grave in 
 1889. To Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb were 
 born nine children, viz. : George, of Ash- 
 land, Wis. ; Charlotte, who died at the 
 age of twelve years; Martha, wife of 
 Gustave Waters, of Fort Howard; Anna, 
 wife of Emil Ammerman, of Iron River, 
 Mich. ; Edward, residing at Pound, Wis. ; 
 Lillian, Nona and Mabel, at home, and 
 Maggie, who died at the age of four 
 years. Mr. Whitcomb is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and for nine years was town 
 clerk of Howard township. He is a 
 member of the Royal Arcanum, Iron Gate 
 Lodge, No. 546, and he and his wife are 
 consistent members of the Presbyterian 
 Church. Mr. Whitcomb has ever mani- 
 fested a lively interest in the progress of 
 Brown county, and is never backward in 
 lending his aid to any project calculated 
 to advance its growth and prosperity. The 
 family enjoy the utmost respect of the 
 communitN'. 
 
 JACQUES DUCAT, an energetic, 
 hard-working farmer of De Pere 
 township. Brown county, where he 
 is highly respected for his honest, 
 straightford methods and sterling worth, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 373 
 
 is a native of Belgium, born August lO, 
 1 83 1. He is a son of Lombard Ducat, 
 a farmer, who had fifteen children, of 
 whom our subject was the eldest son, and 
 the youngest of three children by his first 
 wife. Four of this large family died in 
 Belgium, and in 1855, the parents, with 
 the remaining children, came to America, 
 sailing from Antwerp, and after a voyage 
 of forty-eight days arrived in New York, 
 thence immediately proceeding to Green 
 Ba\', Wis. Here, in Green Bay town- 
 ship, Brown county, the father purchased 
 fort\' acres of land, and on this farm he 
 passed the remainder of his life; Mrs. 
 Ducat also died in Green Bay township, 
 and their remains now rest in Bay Set- 
 tlement cemetery. 
 
 lacques Ducat was reared from boy- 
 hood to farm life, at which he was en- 
 gaged in his native land; but, after coming 
 to Wisconsin, he found work principally 
 in lumber camps, loading vessels with lum- 
 ber, and as a general laborer around saw- 
 mills. On August II, 1859, he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Margaret Henrigillis, who 
 was born June 24, 1834, in Belgium, 
 daughter of Hubert H. Henrigillis, and 
 the young couple commenced housekeep- 
 ing in Peshtigo, Wis. For a few years 
 he continued to work in lumber mills and 
 camps, and then, in 1864, came to De- 
 Pere township. Brown county, to the 
 farm where he yet resides. He first pur- 
 chased forty-six and a half acres (on 
 which "there was not a stick amiss "), 
 and here erected a log house, which still 
 stands. During his residence of twenty- 
 eight 3'ears on this farm he has cleared 
 and improved it, and added thereto, until 
 it now comprises sixty-two and a half acres 
 of fertile land, and, in 1892, he erected 
 a new residence on the place. All this 
 has been accomplished by years of econ- 
 omy and thrift, and unceasing industry, 
 and Mr. Ducat is recognized as one of the 
 hardest workers in his section. He is 
 Self-made in every respect, and from a 
 start of nothing has prospered, having 
 now a comfortable home and well-culti- 
 
 vated farm. In politics our subject is a 
 stanch Republican, and in religious con- 
 nection he and his wife are members of 
 St. Francis Catholic Church. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Ducat have been born children 
 as follows: Alphonse J., who died at the 
 age of sixteen years; Mary, who died at 
 the age of ten years; Lucy, deceased in 
 infancy; Eugene, a cigarmaker, of Sioux 
 City, Iowa; Bernardine, now Mrs. Louis 
 Evrard, of De Pere township; John, who 
 died when five years old; Josephine, of 
 Chicago, III; Eliza, of Green Bay; and 
 Leona, Peter Joseph and David J., at 
 home. 
 
 PATRICK E. AND JOHN DOL- 
 LARD, well-known progressive 
 farmers of De Pere township, 
 Brown county, were born on the 
 farm where they yet make their home, 
 the former in August, 1851, the latter in 
 August, 1854. 
 
 Their father, John Dollard, was born 
 June 5, iSoi, in County Kilkenny, Ire- 
 land, where he married Bridget Heffer- 
 nan, and while in Ireland two children 
 were born to them, viz. : Kate, now the 
 wife of Joseph Whalen, postmaster at 
 South Milwaukee, Wis. , and Ellen, Mrs. 
 Michael Murray, of St. Paul, Minn. 
 About 1850 John Dollard set out, with 
 his family, for America, and, sailing from 
 Waterford, landed at Quebec after a 
 long voyage. His brother Patrick was a 
 priest in Kingston, Canada, and there the 
 family remained while John proceeded 
 farther west, seeking a home for them. 
 After journeying over the State of Michi- 
 gan, he crossed Lake Michigan to Mani- 
 towoc, Wis., and thence came on foot to 
 Green Bay, a distance of thirtj'-five 
 miles, through the woods, during which 
 trip he met the first wolves he had ever 
 seen, and other wild animals were also 
 numerous. The only road was the one 
 over which the United States mail was 
 carried, and frequently there was nothing 
 to guide him and point out the way except 
 
374 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 blazed trees. After looking over the 
 land around Green Bay, Mr. Dollard 
 selected a tract of i6o acres, in Section 
 31, De Pore township, Brown county, for 
 which he paid five hundred dollars. The 
 place was uncleared and totally unim- 
 proved, and Mr. Dollard made a few rude 
 preparations for his family before return- 
 ing to Canada and bringing them to their 
 new home in the midst of the forest. 
 The first cabin stood about twenty rods 
 from the spot where the present substan- 
 tial brick residence was built in 1885. 
 The father commenced the work of clear- 
 ing the farm, an arduous task, and more 
 especially so as daring the first year he 
 had no beasts of burden, and he hauled 
 100,000 feet of lumber to a point on East 
 river, with a hired team of cattle, before he 
 became the owner of a pair of oxen. The 
 first crops raised on the farm consisted of 
 oats and potatoes, and for some time 
 their only farming implement was a hoe. 
 On this place Mr. Dollard passed the re- 
 mainder of his life, dying January 30, 
 1888; he was buried in De Pere cem- 
 etery. 
 
 In his political affiliations he was a 
 stanch Democrat, and he held almost 
 every office in the gift of the township. 
 He was chairman of the township, and of 
 the county board; was the first township 
 superintendent of schools elected under 
 the new school laws, and continued to 
 hold the office until it was abclished, 
 being thus the only man to serve in that 
 position in De Pere township. In what- 
 ever capacity he acted, his service was 
 ever marked by the highest ability and 
 integrity and satisfactory discharge of his 
 duties. He was a self-made man in the 
 strictest sense, having won abundant suc- 
 cess from a small beginning, by hard 
 work and energy and application to his 
 business. In his early life he had re- 
 ceived a thorough education, attending 
 school until he was twenty-four years old, 
 and few, if any, farmers of his time and 
 section were his equals in this respect. 
 From the time of his settlement he re- 
 
 sided continuously on the same farm, 
 and saw it transformed from a wilderness 
 abounding with wild animals to the fertile 
 and productive tract it now is, taking, also, 
 an active and prominent part in every 
 movement of interest or benefit to his 
 township generally, and was always ready 
 and willing to assist any worthy enter- 
 prise. He was widely and favorably 
 known all over the county, and had con- 
 siderable influence in his community, his 
 advice being sought on many questions. 
 He also took a leading interest in Church 
 matters, and was treasurer and trustee of 
 St. Francis Catholic Church, of which he 
 and his wife were both members. Mrs. 
 Dollard survived her husband until April 
 22, 1891, when she was laid by his side 
 in De Pere cemetery. 
 
 Patrick E. and John Dollard were 
 reared on the home farm, and received 
 an education in the common schools of 
 the home district. They have always re- 
 mained on the homestead, which they 
 now own, and where they carry on a 
 general farming and stock-rairing business, 
 in connection with the latter branch being 
 extensive breeders of sheep. In their 
 political affiliations they follow in the foot- 
 steps of their father, manifesting great 
 interest in the welfare of the Democratic 
 party, but having no aspirations for office, 
 as they devote their time exclusively to 
 the farm. They are systematic, indus- 
 trious and prosperous agriculturists, and 
 quiet, unassuming men. Both are un- 
 married. 
 
 FERDINAND QUATSOE, a pros- 
 perous farmer of De Pere town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a native of 
 Belgium, born December 8, 1847, 
 son of Peter Quatsoe, and is the fourth 
 in a family of five children, named re- 
 spectively: Angeline, Albert. John, Ferdi- 
 nand and Deziria. 
 
 Peter Quatsoe was a farmer is his na- 
 tive land, in comfortable circumstances. 
 
^ :%^ 
 
 0p 
 
 uj. 
 
 ciA^^^c^^- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECOUD. 
 
 ^11 
 
 About 1855 he sold all his jiroperty, and 
 came with his family to the United 
 States, the voyaf^e from Antwerp to New 
 York, which was made on a sailing vessel, 
 occupying sixty days. On his arrival in 
 New York, Peter Ouatsoe exchanged a 
 considerable amount of foreign money, 
 which he had, for American gold, and, in 
 so doing, was observed by some truck- 
 men, who, it was afterward evident, im- 
 mediately planned to rob him. By mis- 
 representation they induced Mr. Ouatsoe 
 to let them convey the family and their 
 baggage to the cars, which left in two 
 hours, instead of which, however, they 
 took them to an obscure hotel. The 
 family, becoming alarmed, refused to enter 
 the hotel, and the truckmen, in trying to 
 compel them, attracted the attention of a 
 Belgian gentleman who lived in New 
 York, and spoke both the English and Bel- 
 gian languages. He stopped to ask Mr. 
 Quatsoe what the trouble was, and, receiv- 
 ing an explanation of the affair, called a 
 policeman, who compelled the truckmen 
 to carry the family to the steam ferry 
 boat, which landed them at the railroad 
 station, and, boarding the cars, they once 
 more joined the party of countrymen with 
 whom they had crossed the ocean. Their 
 destination was Green Bay, Wis., whither 
 they came by rail and water, and shortly 
 after their arrival Mr. Ouatsoe purchased, 
 in Allouez township. Brown county, forty 
 acres of land along the Fox river, the 
 greater part of which was heavily wooded, 
 and it required no small amount of hard 
 labor to clear it and reduce it to a fertile 
 condition. In connection with farming 
 he also ensfaged in lumbering until his 
 death, which occurred in 187 1. He was 
 buried in Shantytown cemetery. Mrs. 
 Ouatsoe, who has now reached the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-four, makes her 
 home with her son Albert, in Lawrence 
 township. She. as was also her husband, 
 is a member of the Catholic Church. 
 After the death of the father the sons 
 took his real and personal propertv, pay- 
 ing their sisters for their share. Several 
 21 
 
 years previously they had embarked in 
 the threshing business, operating the iirst 
 horse-power threshing-machine in this 
 section of the county; and they were also 
 extensively engaged in the lumber busi- 
 ness, completing several verj' large con- 
 tracts in this line which had been secured 
 by their father. 
 
 Ferdinand Ouatsoe was but seven or 
 eight years old when he came with the 
 rest of the family to America, and such 
 education as he received was obtained in 
 the primitive schools which flourished in 
 the neighborhood at that early da\'. At 
 an earl}- age he was put to work on the 
 farm, assisting in the clearing of the 
 same, and he resided at home, helping 
 his parents, until the death of his father, 
 when he commenced life on his own ac- 
 count. On January- i, 1880, he was 
 united in marriage, in Duck Creek, to 
 Miss Lizzie Ver Hulst, a native of that 
 town, born July 22, 1858, daughter of 
 John B. and Catherine Ver Hulst, who 
 came to the United States from Belgium 
 in 1854, and located in Duck Creek (now 
 in Suamico township). Brown Co., Wis. 
 Their voyage consumed sixty-two days, 
 during which time the provisions of most 
 of the emigrants were exhausted, and 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ver Hulst, having plenty, 
 divided with those who were less for- 
 tunate. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Ouatsoe have come 
 three children, namely: Fred, Peter, 
 and I^ouisa. Immediately after marriage 
 they settled on their present farm, where 
 his widowed mother made her home with 
 them for several years. The place now 
 contains 1 1 1 acres, which, by patient toil 
 and constant attention to the details of 
 his work, he has reduced to a fertile con- 
 dition. He is now fully engaged with his 
 agricultural interests, to which he gives 
 his undivided attention, and has won the 
 respect of the entire community for his in- 
 dustrv. his honesty and his sterling worth. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ouatsoe are members of 
 St. Francis Catholic Church in De Pere; 
 in politics he is a Democrat. 
 
378 
 
 COMMEMOliATIVE BIOGHAPUIVAL RECORD. 
 
 JAMES T. MORAN. register of deeds 
 at Green Bay, was born in Glen- 
 more, Brown Co. , Wis , March 20, 
 1856, a son of Michael and Cath- 
 erine (Shea) ^^oran, the former a native 
 of Vermont, the latter of Ireland. The 
 father came to Brown county in the year 
 1853, and settled on a farm in Glenmore 
 township, where he has ever since made 
 his home. Mr. and Mrs. Moraii reared a 
 family of six children, named as follows : 
 Daniel, who resides in Athens, Wis. ; 
 James T., the subject proper of this 
 sketch; John, who lives on the old home- 
 stead; Minnie, wife of H. Asselstine, of 
 Ashland, Wis. ; Patrick, a resident of 
 Mineral Lake, Wis., and Thomas H., who 
 died December 23, 1893. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was edu- 
 cated in the sohools of Glenmore town- 
 ship and Green Bay, and for fourteen 
 years taught school in Brown county. In 
 1890 he settled in the city of Green Bay 
 and entered, as a student, the law office of 
 Hood & McGruere. He was thus en- 
 gaged in study, when, in 1892, he was 
 elected by the Democratic party, of which 
 he is a stanch member, register of deeds, 
 and entered upon the performance of his 
 duties in January, 1893. Mr. Moran is a 
 member of the Catholic Order of Fores- 
 ters, and also of the Young Men's Colum- 
 bian Club. By his upright and manly 
 bearing he has made for himself a host of 
 friends. 
 
 A A. L. ADRIAENSSEN. This 
 well-known citizen of Green Bay, 
 who was born September 10, 
 1859, in Belgium, is a son of 
 Anton and Sedonie (Gelbert) Adriaenssen, 
 also natives of Belgium, who came to 
 New York in 1872, and removed to Green 
 Bay in 1874. The father was a pattern 
 maker by trade, and followed same until 
 his death in 1876; his widow resides with 
 her son, above named, on Harvey street 
 in Green Bay. But three of her nine 
 children are now li\'ing: F. H., a car- 
 
 penter b}' trade, residing at Kewaunee, 
 Wis. ; Desire, now the wife of Jule 
 Polain, and still a resident of Belgium; 
 and A. .A. L. , the subject of this sketch. 
 
 A. A. L. Adriaenssen, who was thirteen 
 years of age when he accompanied his 
 parents to the United States, received a 
 partial education in his native country, 
 completing it in the schools of New York 
 and Green Bay. He speaks five lan- 
 guages, a fact showing that his oppor- 
 tunities for learning were not neglected. 
 Upon his arrival at Green Bay in 1874 he 
 found emplo\'ment as a machinist, but 
 having learned the jeweler's trade he was, 
 later, for some time engaged in that line 
 of business on Main street. In 1891 he 
 decided to change his pursuit, and ac- 
 cordingly became interested in the saloon 
 business, at No. 1347 Main street. In 
 1883 he took to himself a wife in the 
 person of Flora M. Biemeret, born at 
 Peshtigo, Wis., in 1864, and daughter of 
 Gregain and Bertime (Vander \'est) 
 Biemeret, natives of Belgium who came 
 at an early date to Wisconsin. Her 
 father, who is yet living, was a member 
 of the Green Bay police force for fourteen 
 years. Her mother is deceased. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Adriaenssen have been born 
 three children: Pearl Irene, Feli.x Chase, 
 and Alta. 
 
 Mr. .Adriaenssen is a member of Po- 
 chequette Lodge, No. 126, K. of P. He 
 has always taken an active interest in 
 politics, and since attaining his majority 
 has been identified with political move- 
 ments in his county, always, to the best 
 of his judgment, for the good of his con- 
 stituents and their public affairs. .An 
 ardent Republican, he has been secretary 
 of the county conventions of that party 
 for the past ten years. He was a mem- 
 ber of the city council from 1889 to 1893. 
 serving four years on the finance com- 
 mittee, also for the same period as chair- 
 man of the committee on taverns and 
 groceries, as well as for a time on the 
 committee on public buildings. .As alder- 
 man from the Fifth ward his services have 
 
COMMEMOHATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 379 
 
 been of undoubted value to the city. With 
 an earnest desire for the advancement of 
 his city in all respects, looking; to its 
 welfare and prosperity, this public-spirited 
 gentleman will in the nature of 
 continue to be a useful citizen. 
 
 things 
 
 OKIN S. KITTELL. This gentle- 
 man, one of the prosperous agri- 
 culturists of De Pere township, 
 Brown county, was born Novem- 
 ber I, 1836, in Binghamton, Broome 
 Co., N. Y., and is descended from sturdy 
 New England ancestry. Grandfather Kit- 
 tell was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, 
 during which struggle he was wounded 
 and was obliged to use crutches the re- 
 mainder of his life. By trade he was a 
 weaver. 
 
 William F. Kittell, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Massachusetts, where he 
 learned tannine and glove-making. From 
 here he removed to Binghamton, N. Y., 
 where he followed his trades until 1 848 or 
 1849, when he took up his residence on a 
 farm near Colesville, for which he had trad- 
 ed. He had married, in Massachusetts, Miss 
 Eliza Collins, who was also born in that 
 State, daughter of John Collins, and to 
 their union came children as follows : 
 Juliette, who died when eleven years old; 
 Amasa D., a resident of Sheboygan Falls, 
 Wis.; John H., who died at Sheboygan 
 Falls, in 1893, aged sixty-four years; 
 Nancy A., who married Samuel Rouns- 
 ville, and died at Sheboygan Falls in 
 1892; Harriet, wife of Norman F. Pierce, 
 justice of the peace and government 
 guager at Sheboygan Falls; Edgar, who 
 died in 1859 at Meeme, Manitowoc Co., 
 Wis. ; Ethan, a mechanic, of La Crosse, 
 Wis. , where he is foreman in a carriage 
 factory; Orin S.. whose name introduces 
 this sketch; Jennie, nowthewifeof Capt. 
 A. J. Lumsden, of Sheboygan Falls; and 
 Augusta, deceased in infancy. Mr. Kit- 
 tell resided on the farm until 1853, in the 
 early summer of which year he disposed 
 of all his property, and came west to 
 
 Wisconsin, bringing his wife and the two 
 children who were yet living at home — 
 Orin S. and Jennie. He had been per- 
 suaded to come hither by his son-in-law, 
 Samuel Rounsville, an Indian trader and 
 extensive landowner, who, with his brother 
 Albert, made the first permanent settle- 
 ment in Sheboygan Falls; Albert Rouns- 
 ville built the first sawmill in Sheboygan 
 county. The family journeyed by rail to 
 Buffalo, thence by boat to Sheboygan, 
 Wis., where they landed in July, 1853. 
 At Sheboygan Falls Mr. Kittell purchased 
 several lots and ten acres of improved 
 land, and here commenced to follow the 
 carpenter's trade, a knowledge of which 
 he had acquired, though he never served 
 an apprenticeship at same; but he was a 
 natural mechanic, and for many years 
 even made his own shoes. In Sheboygan 
 Falls he followed carpentry until his death, 
 which occurred in 1882; his wife survived 
 him three years, and their remains now 
 rest in the cemetery at that place. Both 
 were members of the Baptist Church, Mr. 
 Kittell for over fifty years; in his political 
 preferences he was originally a Whig, 
 later a Republican, but he took little or 
 no interest in politics, giving his attention 
 exclusively to his business interests. 
 
 Orin S. Kittell received a common- 
 school education in the schools of Bing- 
 hamton, N. Y. , and later attended high 
 school. WHien seventeen years old he 
 came with his father to Sheboygan Falls, 
 Wis., where he commenced to learn the 
 blacksmith trade under Mark Brainerd, 
 serving an apprenticeship of ten months. 
 He then went to Chicago with his brother 
 Amasa to work on the Chicago & North 
 Western railroad, and, through the influ- 
 ence of a relative, Orin obtained a situa- 
 tion as fireman, continuing thus for four 
 months, and then for a time worked with 
 the construction crew bet\yeen Fox River 
 fill.) and Silver Lake (Wis.). Returning 
 to Sheboygan Falls, he commenced driv- 
 ing the stage running from that town to 
 Fond du Lac fa distance of forty-two 
 miles), his drive being to Plymouth (fif- 
 
38o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 teen iniles), but he also covered the whole 
 distance by relays. He was engaged in 
 this for two years, and next obtained em- 
 ployment in the liverj' stable of John De- 
 Bass, of Sheboygan, for about a year and 
 a half, after which he went to Manitowoc 
 county, and for one winter worked in the 
 lumber regions for his brother-in-law, 
 Samuel Rounsville. 
 
 On April 13, 1858, Mr. Kittell was 
 married, in St. Nazianz, Wis., to Miss 
 Catherine Tracy, who was born February 
 3, 1841, in Kings county, Ireland, daugh- 
 ter of Patrick and Mary (Malloy) Tracy. 
 They came to the United States in 185 i, 
 sailing from Liverpool on the "William 
 Rathbone," a Black Star liner, and, after 
 a voyage of eight weeks, landed in New 
 York City. From there they proceeded 
 to Buffalo, N. Y., where they remained 
 one year, and in 1854 came to Liberty 
 township, Manitowoc Co. , Wis., locating 
 on an unimproved farm, where Mrs. Kit- 
 tell resided _ until her marriage. After 
 their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kittell lived 
 in a log house at Meeme, Manitowoc 
 county, where he was emploved in saw- 
 mills as a saw filer, and in various other 
 capacities, for several years. In 1 864 he 
 enlisted at Fond du Lac in the Fourth 
 Wisconsin Cavalry, was sent to Baton 
 Rouge, La., and participated in his first 
 engagement under Col. Moore. He next 
 went to Mobile, and was present at the 
 fall of that city; marched through Ala- 
 bama and Georgia; returned to Mont- 
 gomery, Ala. , thence to Vicksburg, thence 
 to Shreveport, and from there to Browns- 
 ville, Texas. He returned sick to Baton 
 Rouge, and after his recovery was de- 
 tailed as orderly to the colonel of the 
 Eighth Cavalry, carrying discharges to 
 hospitals. In 1865 he was discharged at 
 St. Louis, and came back to his home 
 with his health much impaired by ex- 
 posure and hardship. 
 
 Some time after his return from the 
 army Mr. Kittell resumed work as a saw 
 filer, and followed same until 1871, when 
 he removed to Green Bav, and in the fall 
 
 of the same year located on a farm in 
 Glenmore township. Brown county, in 
 addition to his agricultural work engaging 
 in saw-milling and hauling coal. In the 
 fall of 1882 he purchased and removed 
 upon his present farm in De Fere town- 
 ship (situated in Sections 32 and 33), then 
 comprising fifty-three acres, which he has 
 since added to until it now contains 
 ninety-five acres. Since Mr. Kittell has 
 resided here he has greatly improved the 
 home and farm, and he conducts a suc- 
 cessful general farming business. He has 
 also been engaged in charcoal-burning, 
 and has done no small amount of work in 
 this line for the National Furnace Com- 
 pany, of De Pere. In his political pref- 
 erences our subject is a staunch Repub- 
 lican, and takes great interest in the suc- 
 cess of the party, of whose movements 
 he keeps himself well informed. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Kittell have been 
 born children as follows: William O., a 
 liveryman, of De Pere, who is married 
 and has two children; Lawrence, \vho is 
 an engineer on the Lake Shore & West- 
 ern railroad; Mary E., Mrs. John Dun- 
 bar, of Liberty, Manitowoc county; Ed- 
 ward, of Kaukauna, a fireman on the 
 Lake Shore & Western railroad; Cather- 
 ine, Mrs. Albert Handeyside, of Menasha, 
 Wis. ; John E., who is attending the State 
 University at Madison, Wis. ; E. Jennie, 
 at home, who attends the De Pere high 
 school; Charles C, at home, and Daniel 
 E., who died when five years and seven 
 months old. Mrs. Kittell is a member of 
 St. Francis Catholic Church at De Pere. 
 The entire family are highly respected in 
 the community in which they reside, 
 where they are leaders in every enter- 
 prise for advancement or improvement. 
 
 FRANK SNYDER has been en- 
 gaged in the livery business in 
 Green Bay since 1886, and is one 
 of the leading men of his calling 
 in the cit}' and county. 
 
 He was born in Washintrton countv. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 38. 
 
 N. Y. , May 2, 1852, one of the family of 
 nine children of Levi and Helner Louise 
 Snvdcr, the other eight being George and 
 Washington, both of Idaho; Adeline, 
 Mrs. H. Humphrey, of Iowa; Marion; 
 John; Emma; Fred, now in Minnesota, 
 and Lewis, who died in infancy. Frank 
 Snyder was but tiftecn years of age when 
 he left the parental roof to seek his for- 
 tune. He first went to Michigan, and 
 was engaged in railroading until 1886, 
 when he came to Green Bay and estab- 
 lished his present livery business, in which 
 he has been so successful — owning at the 
 present moment the best stables, prob- 
 ably, to be found in the city. 
 
 Mr. Snyder was married, December 
 29, 1879, to Miss Mary A., daughter of 
 Barney McLaughlin, and the eldest in a 
 family of five children, who lost their 
 mother when they were little more than 
 infants. Margaret, Catherine and Eliza- 
 beth are the names of her sisters; her 
 only brother is deceased. The father of 
 Mrs. Snyder was a hotel-keeper, and for 
 years had been a railroad man. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Snyder have been born five 
 children, namely: Bernard G., Freder- 
 ick, Earl, May R. and Franklin, of whom 
 four are attending school. The family 
 are Catholic in rehgion, while fraternally 
 Mr. Snyder is a member of Washington 
 Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M. ; Warren 
 Chapter, No. 8, R. A. M. ; and Palestine 
 Consistory, No. 20. The business suc- 
 cess of Mr. Snyder is a result of his own 
 individual attention to his affairs, and his 
 urbanity and straightforward treatment 
 of his patrons, who have never known 
 him to misrepresent the quality, conduct 
 or performance of his stock under any 
 circumstances. 
 
 JOHN EISENMAN, who during his 
 lifetime was one of the well-known 
 farmers and extensive land-owners 
 of De Pare township, Brown county, 
 was born .April 10, 1S17, in Bavaria, Ger- 
 
 many. He received an education in the 
 common schools, and learned the butch- 
 er's trade, at which he worked in Leipsic 
 for ten years. 
 
 About 1845 Mr. Eisemnan emigrated 
 from his native country to the United 
 States, and, finding employment at his 
 trade in New York, remained there one 
 winter. Having saved some money, he 
 removed farther west, but wenk was 
 scarce and he could earn but eight dollars 
 per month at his trade, although he was 
 an adept. However, he was willing to do- 
 any honest labor, and, obtaining employ- 
 ment on a canal in western Pennsylvania, 
 then in course of construction, received 
 one dollar a day, boarding himself. He 
 next went to Illinois, and for a short 
 time worked in slaughter houses at Chi- 
 cago and Peoria. About 1 847 he came to 
 Green Bay, Wis., and, with a few dollars 
 left of his hard-earned savings, formed a 
 partnership with Frank Hagemeister in 
 the butcher business on W'ashington 
 street, in which he continued two years. 
 About 1850 he purchased from his brother 
 Michael 160 acres in Eaton township, 
 which the latter had received for his serv- 
 ices in the Mexican war. There was not 
 even a house on this place, which was 
 yet in its primitive state, not a tree hav- 
 ing been felled at that time, and wild 
 animals still abounded in the forests, such 
 game as bears, deer, wolves, etc., being 
 very plentiful. Mr. Eisenman spent two 
 summers on the place, clearing and im- 
 proving it, during the winter seasons go- 
 ing to Chicago and Peoria, 111., where he 
 followed his trade, for being a most in- 
 dustrious man, he took every opportunity 
 to earn money to pay for his land. 
 
 On April 10, 1853, he was married, in 
 Green Bav, to Miss Apollonia Barth, 
 born April 20, 1837. in Bavaria, Ger- 
 many, daughter of Christoph and Mag- 
 dalena Barth, who came to the United 
 States in 1S49, sailing from Havre, on the 
 "Oregon," and landing in New York 
 after a voyage of four weeks. Their 
 destination was Green Bay, Wis. , so they 
 
382 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 proceeded bj- \va)' of the Erie canal 
 to Buffalo, N. Y., from there by the 
 steamer " Michigan " to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 and thence by propeller to Green Bay. 
 They located in Scott township. Brown 
 county. Mr. and Mrs. Eisenman first com- 
 menced housekeeping in Eaton township 
 in a log house he had built before his 
 marriage, and which is still standing. In 
 December, 1869, he removed to the farm 
 where he died March i, 1882, at which 
 time he was the owner of 270 acres of 
 land. For thirteen years before his death 
 he was postmaster at Pine Gro\e, and he 
 also conducted a hotel and saloon for the 
 accommodation of travelers along the 
 Manitowoc road. He was buried in the 
 cemetery in the southeast corner of De- 
 Pere township. In religious connection 
 he was a member of the Lutheran Church 
 at Green Bay; politically he was a Re- 
 publican, and held the office of township 
 clerk for sixteen years. To Mr. ami Mrs. 
 Eisenman were born children as follows: 
 Christoph, deceased in infancy; John C, 
 a farmer of De Pere township; Lena, now 
 Mrs. Andrew Eisenman, of North Dakota; 
 Maggie, wife of Louis Schone, of Hum- 
 boldt township; Mary, wife of Richard 
 Schone, of Humboldt; Amelia, Mrs. Otto 
 Langosch, of Glenmore; Andrew .\., of 
 Bellevne; Henry E. and Fred A., at 
 home; Emma, of Chicago; and Lessetta, 
 at home. 
 
 Mr. Eisenman came to the United 
 States a poor boy, with no capital but 
 health and energy and a determination 
 to succeed. But he was honest, and ever 
 ready to work, and his success shows 
 what may be accomplished by energy and 
 perseverance. He became one of the 
 most extensive landowners in his town- 
 ship, and he was much esteemed by all 
 who knew him, becoming one of the 
 leading German citizens of his section. 
 His widow, who has continued to make 
 her home on the farm since his death, is 
 also held in high respect; her careful and 
 economical management of the household 
 affairs was no small factor in her husband's 
 
 success, and she deserves great credit for 
 the part she has taken in the accumulation 
 of their property. She is a member of 
 the Lutheran Church. The farm is now 
 conducted by her two youngest sons, 
 Henrv E. and Fred A. 
 
 in Fort 
 grocery, 
 or 1857 
 
 FRANK C. SMITH, of Green Bay, 
 was born in Fort Howard, Brown 
 Co., Wis., in 1852, a son of Michael 
 B. and Josephine (Forsyth) Smith, 
 the former of whom was born in Ger- 
 many, but in early life came to America 
 and took part in the war with Mexico, 
 winning a medal for meritorious service 
 on the field of Chapultepec. 
 
 Michael B. Smith married 
 Howard, and engaged in the 
 liquor and fur trade. In 1856 
 he moved to Sugar Creek, Door Co 
 Wis. , and embarked in general merchan- 
 dising, which he continued until 1867 or 
 1 868, when he settled in Green Bay, and 
 here bought what is now the "Adams 
 House," but retired in 1872. While at 
 Sugar Creek he was postmaster and town- 
 ship trustee, also a justice of the peace 
 of Door county. His death took place at 
 Fort Howard in December, 1S77, that of 
 his widow in December, i8gi. Mrs. 
 Josephine (Forsyth) Smith first came to 
 I3rown county in 1832, was married to 
 John Snavely, who located on the site of 
 the "Bay City House;" after his death 
 she was married to Michael B. Smith. 
 By the first marriage there were born 
 George A., proprietor of the "Adams 
 House; " Louisa, wife of David Coffin, of 
 Gardner, Door Co., Wis. ; Lewis C. ,who 
 enlisted in the Seventeenth Wis. W I., 
 and died in Memphis, Tenn. To the 
 second marriage were born Frank C, 
 Nellie, wife of Louis Bender, of the Red 
 Banks, Wis., and O. W. Smith, purchas- 
 ing agent for Valentine Clark Co., Chicago. 
 
 Frank C. Smith was reared and edu- 
 cated in Green Bay, and began business 
 in the employ of the Manufacturers' & 
 Builders' Supply Co. In 1873 he went 
 
GOMMEMOnATIVE BIOGRAPIIICAL RKCORD. 
 
 383 
 
 to Michagamine, Mich., where he en- 
 gaged in the h(iii<)r business with George 
 A. Snavely; in 1874 he returned to Green 
 Bay, and was employed as clerk at the 
 "Adams House" until 1879; then went 
 west, and was employed as iirst pantry- 
 man on the "Dakota," plying between 
 Hismarck, D. T. ,and Fort Benton, Mont. 
 Returning to Green Bay he was engaged 
 by Hon. U. M. Kelly to act under T. P. 
 Bingham, private secretary for D. M. 
 Kelly, general manager of the Green Bay, 
 Winona & St. Paul railroad. After the 
 death of T. P. Bingham in 1884, Mr. 
 Smith took up the liquor business in 
 Green Bay, and is now proprietor of "The 
 Office," No. 123 Washington street. 
 
 AB. GONION, dealer in farming 
 implements, and one of the best- 
 known farmers of Scott township. 
 Brown count\', is a native of the 
 county, born February 20, 1847, in 
 Green Bay. 
 
 John B. Gonion, his father, was born 
 in St. Francis, Canada, and was of French 
 descent, his father having been born in 
 France. He engaged in farming in his 
 native country until 1834, in which year 
 he came to Green Bay, Wis., and here 
 married Miss Mary Brunnott, who was 
 also of French extraction. To their union 
 were born children as follows: A. B., 
 who is mentioned farther on; Dominick, 
 of Iron Mountain, Wis. ; Samuel, of Rhine- 
 lander, Wis. ; Mary, Mrs. Theodore Cham- 
 pou, of Wallace, Mich. ; Louisa, Mrs. 
 Abraham LaClare, of Menominee, Mich. ; 
 Joseph, of Rhinelander, Wis. ; Kate, Mrs. 
 John Burkhardt, of Kaukauna, Wis. ; 
 Edward, a farmer of Scott township. 
 Brown county; and others who are de- 
 ceased. In an early day John B. Gonion 
 removed to Scott township, and he and 
 his wife are now living in Bay Settle- 
 ment, he at the age of eighty years. In 
 religion he is a Catholic, and in politics a 
 Democrat. 
 
 A. B. Gonion received a somewhat 
 
 limited education in his youth, and when 
 but nine years of age commenced to work, 
 driving team and hauling lime to Green 
 Bay, remaining at home and turning all 
 his earnings over to his parents. On May 
 20, 1864, then but little over seventeen 
 years of age, he enlisted at Bay Settle- 
 ment in Company G. Forty-first Wis. V. 
 I., was sent to Milwaukee, and thence to 
 the seat of war, the first engagement he 
 participated in being at .Memphis, Tenn. 
 The command proceeded from there to 
 Old Spring, Tenn., thence to La Grange, 
 and then back to Memphis, where Mr. 
 Gonion was discharged from the service 
 January 25, 1865, being mustered out in 
 Milwaukee, and returning to the parental 
 roof, where he remained unt;l his marriage. 
 On lunc 9, 1866. he widded Miss 
 Emily Champou, who was born in Bay 
 Settlement, daughter of Philip Champou, 
 a French Canadian, and to this marriage 
 were born eight children, \\/.. : Napoleon 
 H., Hubert, Joseph, Mary, Emily, Cliffer, 
 Rosa, and Robert, all living. The mother 
 of these was called from earth August 6, 
 1887, and Mr. Gonion subsequently mar- 
 ried Miss Emily Crevier, who is a native 
 of Scott township, daughter of Francis 
 Crevier. To this union have come four 
 children: Mamie fliving), and three that 
 died young, .\fter his marriage our sub- 
 ject commenced farming, and followed 
 that exclusively until 1880, when he also 
 engaged in the sale of farming imple- 
 ments, establishing his store on Main 
 street, in the city of Green Bay. He has 
 continued in this business ever since, 
 meeting with gratifying success, and is 
 now agent for the Osborne reapers and 
 other farm machinery; for fourteen years 
 he handled the "Minnesota Chief" 
 thresher, and the "Chamberlain Stump 
 Puller," as well as many other leading 
 makes in the same line. Politically a 
 Republican, Mr. Gonion has for the past 
 seven years been the efficient chairman of 
 Scott township, and he is widely and 
 favorably known throughout his section 
 of Brown county, having also an exten- 
 
3H 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sive acquaintance in other counties. So- 
 cially he is a member of the G. A. R. , 
 T. O. Howe Post, No. 124, Green Bay. 
 In religious faith he is a member of the 
 Bay Settlement Catholic Church. 
 
 DEDRICK OTTO ANDERSEN, 
 farmer and butcher of New Den- 
 mark township, Brown county, 
 was born April 13, 1844, in the 
 Kingdom of Denmark. His parents, An- 
 drus and Paulina (Nelson) Carlsen, had 
 seven children, viz.: John, Peter, Christ, 
 Catherine, Olof, Lars and Dedrick Otto. 
 The father, who was a successful fisher- 
 man, died when our subject was but a 
 year and a half old. 
 
 Dedrick Otto Andersen engaged in 
 sailing, fishing ar.d hunting from the time 
 he was seventeen years old until he 
 reached the age of twenty-two, when 
 he came to America. Sailing from 
 Liverpool, he landed at Quebec and 
 inmiediately came to New Denmark 
 township, Brown Co., Wis., after a 
 few days going to Fort Howard, where 
 he was employed in a sawmill one 
 month. From there he went to Oconto, 
 where he worked si.x months in sawmills, 
 and then, after spending two weeks in 
 Ripon, Wis., went to Pensaukee to work 
 in the lumber woods. He remained there 
 three years, in the employ of Mr. Thomp- 
 son, and at the end of that time came to 
 New Denmark and invested in eighty acres 
 of wild land, shortly afterward disposing 
 of half of this tract. After clearing part 
 of his land he exchanged it for property 
 on the De Pere road, and opened a butcher 
 business, which he has conducted ever 
 since. In 1876 he purchased the forty 
 acres of cleared land in New Denmark 
 township, on which he has ever since re- 
 sided, engaging in farming as well as 
 butchering. In 1892 he slaughtered 200 
 head of cattle, besides other stock, and 
 has been very successful in all his busi- 
 ness operations. 
 
 Mr. Andersen was married in New 
 
 Denmark township, to Miss Anna C. 
 Paulsen, daughter of Paul and Sarah 
 (Oleson) Nelson, the former of whom was 
 a butcher; he had four children, Peter, 
 Ole, Anna C. and Nels, of whom Anna C. 
 crossed the ocean in 1869, landing in Que- 
 bec; she came to Green Bay, where she 
 remained about one year, and then passed a 
 year in Eaton, Brown county. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Andersen have been born seven chil- 
 dren, as follows : Sofus, Charles, Sarah, 
 Almine, Mar}', Olof and Emma. Politi- 
 cally Mr. Andersen was originally a Re- 
 publican, but has supported the Prohibi- 
 tion party since its organization. Though 
 not an office seeker, he has been elected to 
 various positions of trust, has served his 
 township faithfully as supervisor, and is 
 now a member of the school board. 
 
 FH. FULLER, the popular and 
 trusted agent of the United States 
 Express Co., at Green Bay, was 
 born in Peoria, 111., in 1865. His 
 father, Marvin O. Fuller, is a native of 
 New York, and was married in Peoria, 
 111., to Miss Emma C. Evans, a native of 
 Pennsylvania, and whose father is a mem- 
 ber of the Peoria (111.) Candy Company. 
 
 Our subject, after receiving a very 
 good education in the public schools of 
 his native cit}', entered the eniplo}' of the 
 United States Express Co. in 1880, as 
 clerk, and for thirteen years has been 
 constant in the performance of his duties 
 in various capacities, not having lost even 
 one day from illness. In December, 1S87, 
 he came to Green Bay as messenger on 
 the route between this city and Winona, 
 Minn. , but a few months later was ap- 
 pointed route agent for the compan\-, and 
 then (1888), express agent at Green Bay, 
 on the lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee & 
 St. Paul, the Green Bay, Winona & St. 
 Paul, and the Kewaunee, Green Bay & 
 Western, winning in each position the 
 confidence of the company, and each 
 year advancing in the esteem of its patrons. 
 
 Mr. Fuller was married, in Mitchell, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 385 
 
 Iowa, August 26, 1S92, to Miss Emma C. 
 Vanderpool, a daughter of C. A. Vander- 
 pool, of that place. In poUtics our sub- 
 ject is a stanch Republican, and frater- 
 nally he is a member of Twin City Lodge, 
 No. 25, K. O. T. M. He is universally 
 recognized as being one of the foremost 
 of the young and promising residents of 
 Green Bay, and as being made of that 
 stuff which constitutes the best materials 
 for aiding in the building up of a moral 
 and progressive community. 
 
 HM. HITTNER, M. D., the well- 
 known physician and surgeon, of 
 Green Bay, was born in Cincin- 
 nati, Ohio, in i 868, a son of Dr. 
 H. M. and Margaret (Doherty) Hittner. 
 
 The father was a native of Germany, 
 was educated at Munich, and at twenty 
 years of age located in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 where he began practice. Through the 
 Civil war he was assistant surgeon to 
 Prof. Kepler, and after its close resumed 
 his residence in Cincinnati, where he was 
 for several years chief clinical assistant to 
 Prof. Bartholow. He moved to Milwau- 
 kee, Wis., in 1877, whence he moved to 
 Two Rivers, Wis., where he died in 1892, 
 and where his widow, a native of Ohio, 
 still resides. They were the parents of 
 six children, as follows: Lizzie, wife of 
 H. W. Luckon, of St. Paul, Minn.; Dr. 
 James, residing in Seymour, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis. ; Maggie, married to J. R. Zet- 
 tleman, of Chicago, 111. ; Dr. H. M., sub- 
 ject of this sketch; Kate and Bertha. 
 
 Our subject was nine years of age 
 when taken by his parents to Milwaukee, 
 and twelve years old when they moved to 
 Two Rivers, in 18S0. His carl\' educa- 
 tion was received at Milwaukee, and in 
 1882 he graduated from the high school 
 at Two Rivers; he next attended Cincin- 
 nati Business College, from which he 
 graduated in 1884. He then read medi- 
 cine with his father until prepared to 
 enter Bellevue Hospital Medical College, 
 New York, in which he took one course. 
 
 1889-90, and this was followed by three 
 consecutive courses at Rush Medical 
 College, Chicago, 111. , from which he 
 was graduated with the class of 1893, im- 
 mediately after which he became the asso- 
 ciate of Dr. Minahan, devoting his fore- 
 noons to practice at St. Vincent's Hopital, 
 and his afternoons to office practice. The- 
 Doctor has built up a lucrative practice at 
 Green Bay, making a specialty of surgery 
 in connection with general routine duties. 
 He is equally popular with his fellow- 
 professionals as with the public, and is a 
 member of the Fox River Medical Society. 
 
 M 
 
 RS. ELSIE JORGENSEN was 
 born December 15, 1852, in 
 Denmark, daughter of Christ 
 and Anna (Nelson) Jensen, the 
 former of whom was a successful farmer. 
 They had a family of nine children, viz. : 
 Niels, James, Christ, Jens C, Dorothea, 
 Elsie, Angeline, Anna and Mary. Elsie 
 received all her education in Denmark, 
 and when seventeen years old came to 
 America, joining her parents in New Den- 
 mark township, Brown Co., Wis., whither 
 the}' had preceded her. x\bout a year 
 later she was united in marriage with 
 Hans Jorgensen, a farmer of New Den- 
 mark township, and took up her resi- 
 dence on the farm where she has ever 
 since resided, consisting of 120 acres of 
 excellent land. At that time it was only 
 partly cleared, but Mr. Jorgensen labored 
 earnestly to reduce the place to a condi- 
 tion of fertility, and successfully con- 
 ducted a general farming business up to 
 the time of his death, which occurred 
 December 15, 1S92. He left a family of 
 eight children, namely: Arthur, Walter, 
 Elsie (Mrs. Herman Lange) Emma, Dag- 
 mar, Alexander, Alvina and Jurgena, of 
 whom Arthur, the eldest, now attends to 
 the affairs on the home place. The en- 
 entire family are held in the highest es- 
 teem among their fellow citizens in New 
 Denmark township. In religious faith 
 they are Lutherans. 
 
3S6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 c 
 
 HARLES MEISTER has been 
 superintendent of the Park at 
 Green Bay since June 3, 1890, 
 but is a carpenter and contractor 
 by occupation. He was born in Germany 
 in 1852, and is a son of Christoph and 
 Dorothea (Morlag) Meister, who came to 
 Green Bay in 1853, the father being now 
 the oiliest contractor in the city. 
 
 Charles Meister was reared and edu- 
 cated in Green Bay, and here served an 
 apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, 
 which, in connection with contracting, he 
 followed until appointed to his present 
 position. This park comprises fifty-eight 
 acres, and contains an exhibition building, 
 a club house, a grand stand, and one of 
 the best half-mile tracks in the State, as 
 well as quite a number of animals; it is 
 also contemplated to build, in addition, a 
 $10,000 club house. Mr. Meister is a 
 Republican in politics, is a member of the 
 Royal Arcanum, Order of Tonti, German 
 Benevolent Society, and of the Turn- 
 verein. His marriage took place in Green 
 Bay, in 1881, to Miss Frances Peters, a 
 native of Kewaunee county. Wis., and a 
 daughter of John Peters. Five children 
 were born to this union, as follows: Lillie, 
 Clare, Louis and Flora, still living, and 
 Carl, deceased. As will be seen, Mr. 
 Meister is a member of one of the early 
 families of the county, and he has himself 
 seen many changes take place since his 
 childhood. He has always taken great 
 interest in the welfare of the city and 
 county, and his life has been such as to 
 win the respect of all who know him, as 
 well as a fine reputation with the general 
 public. 
 
 ARNOLD CORSTENS. Among the 
 many industrious, loyal citizens 
 which the little Kingdom of Hol- 
 land has given to Brown county, 
 may be mentioned this gentleman, who 
 is a thrifty, well-to-do farmer of Scott 
 township. 
 
 John Corstens, father of Arnold, was 
 
 born in Holland, September 10, 1810, 
 and there learned the trades of shoemaker 
 and tanner. He was married in his na- 
 tive country to Dora Steegs, who was 
 born there in August, 1815, and they be- 
 came the parents of the following named 
 children: Arnold (whose name opens this 
 sketch), Peter (a farmer of Scott town- 
 ship), Catherine (Mrs. Joseph Lernuzen, 
 of De Fere), all three born in Holland, 
 and Hendrika, born in America, now 
 Mrs. Joseph Allorn, of Door county, 
 Wis. ; there were other children, who died 
 when young. At the time of his mar- 
 riage John Corstens was engaged in a 
 prosperous business, but, in 1854, be- 
 lieving that the New World offered bet- 
 ter advantages to himself and family, he 
 disposed of his interests and emigrated. 
 Thev proceeded to Liverpool, England, 
 in the spring of that year, sailing from 
 that port on a vessel bound for New York, 
 where they arrived after a voyage of six 
 or seven w eks, and immediately after land- 
 ing came to Wisconsin, passing their first 
 winter in Milwaukee, where the father 
 found employment at his trade. They 
 then came to Green Bay, Brown county, 
 for about a year living on rented property, 
 at the end of which time they removed 
 to Bav Settlement, Scott township, where 
 Mr. Corstens purchased si.x acres of land, 
 on which there was a small log dwelling. 
 In this house the familv resided for some 
 time, and he also engaged in shoemaking 
 there to some extent, in connection con- 
 ducting a small tannery until within a 
 short time before his death. In later 
 years he purchased more land, and with 
 the help of his sons gathered a property 
 of eighty-three acres. He was laid to 
 rest in August, 1876, in Bav Settlement 
 cemetery, where his wife also rests, she 
 following him to the grave December 18, 
 1889. Both were members of the Cath- 
 olic Church, and in politics he was a 
 Democrat, taking but little active interest, 
 however, in such matters. 
 
 Arnold Corstens was born January i, 
 1847, ^nd was but a child when he came 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 38/ 
 
 with his parents to Wisconsin. He 
 commenced going to school in Scott 
 township, and received all his education 
 in the primitive institutions of learning in 
 vogue in those pioneer days, attending 
 until he reached the age of about fifteen 
 years, when he began to work on the 
 home farm. In addition to his agricul- 
 tural duties he learned the trade of shoe- 
 maker under his father, and also engaged 
 in tanning in the old way. Being the 
 eldest son, he had much to do, and he 
 faithfully assisted his parents, always re- 
 maining on the home farm, the manage- 
 ment of which devolved upon him after 
 the death of his father, and he carried it 
 on for his mother during her lifetime. 
 Since her decease he and his brother 
 Peter have been working together, and 
 the present fertile condition of the place, 
 which now comprises 230 broad acres, is 
 principally due to their industry and un- 
 ceasing attention to all the details of 
 their work. 
 
 On June 19, 1876, Mr. Corstens was 
 marr el to Miss Cornelia Busch, who was 
 born in Green Bay, February 6, 1856, 
 daughter of Herman J. Busch, a native 
 of Germany. To this union have been 
 born children as follows: John, Her- 
 man, Dora, Rosa, Henry, Mary, Lena, 
 George, and Andrew, ail living, and 
 Peter and Joseph, who died in infancy. 
 In his political preferences Mr. Corstens 
 is a member of the Democratic party, 
 but gives no time to politics, being fully 
 occupied with his business affairs. In 
 religion he and his wife are members of 
 the Bay Settlement Catholic Church. 
 
 REV. JACOBUS BOZMACK was 
 born May i, 1848, in Austria, son 
 of Valentine and Constantia Boz- 
 mack, who had a family of eight 
 children, all of whom are deceased ex- 
 cept our subject. The parents both died 
 in their native country. 
 
 Jacobus Bozmack received his early 
 education in the common-schools of the 
 
 land of his birth, and, at the age of 
 twenty-seven years, entered the priest- 
 hood. In 1893 he came to America, 
 and after a very rough voyage landed in 
 New York City, thence coming directly 
 to his charge in Eaton township. Brown 
 Countv, Wisconsin. 
 
 JOSEPH HEBERT, vice-president 
 and general manager of the Green 
 Bay Carriage Co. , is a native of 
 Quebec, Canada, born in 1850, of 
 French ancestry. His parents, Julian 
 and Sophia (Jarard) Hebert, also natives 
 of Canada, died in Cohoes, New York. 
 
 Our subject first came to Green Bay, 
 Wis., in 1869, thence moved to Missouri 
 and learned carriage-making; in 1872 
 he went to New York, thence to Chicago: 
 then again took up his residence in New 
 York and other eastern cities, where he 
 worked in car shops, etc , until 1877, the 
 year of his coming to Green Bay, with 
 which city he has been identified ever 
 since — a period now of some eighteen 
 years. In 1877 he commenced work in 
 the repair shops, and in 1879 entered the 
 manufacturing department of the firm of 
 Wagner, Chartrand & Co., on Pine street; 
 in 1883 the firm style was changed to 
 Wagner, Suavely & Co.; in 1886 Mr. 
 Snavely sold his interest to W^agner & 
 Hebert, and under this name the business 
 was conducted until the organization of 
 the Green Bay Carriage Co., which took 
 place in 1890, with A. Weise as president, 
 H. B. Baker as secretary and treasurer, 
 and Joseph Hebert as vice-president and 
 manager, the object being to manufacture 
 all kinds of carriage work. They have 
 an extraordinarily fine plant, it being a 
 two-story brick building, 126 feet frontage 
 on Adams street and 160 feet frontage on 
 Cedar street, giving employment to fifty 
 hands. This extensive establishment is 
 considered to be one of the conspicuous 
 industrial plants of the city, and is looked 
 upon with much pride. 
 
 Mr. Hebert was married in Cohoes, 
 
3SS 
 
 COMMEMOUATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 N. Y., in 1 87 1, to Matilda Manville, a 
 native of Ouebec, Canada, and this union 
 has been blessed with six children, vi^. : 
 Rosa, Henry. Lydia, Eva, Lizzie and 
 Philemon. Fraternally Mr. Hebert is a 
 member of Washington Lodge, No. 21, 
 F. & A. M., and of the ^fodern Wood- 
 men; in politics he is a Republican, but 
 is by no means an office-seeker. Having 
 been for manj* years a resident of Green 
 Bay, he has, of course, witnessed its 
 giant strides in the inarch of improve- 
 ment, and not one of its citizens takes 
 greater delight than he in its progress. 
 The family is recognized for its refine- 
 ment and grarinns manners, and is highlv 
 esteemed. 
 
 WILLL\M KENNEDY, chief of 
 the Fire Department of Green 
 Bay, was born, in 1862, in 
 Canada. His parents, Henry 
 and Mary (Fitz Gibbons) I\ennedy, also 
 natives of the Dominion, came, in 1872, 
 to Wisconsin, and .settled on a farm in 
 Forestville township. Door countv, the 
 tract comprising 800 acres, of which, only 
 fifteen acres were cleared. On this farm 
 the parents still reside. They had born 
 to them nine children, viz.: Ann, de- 
 ceased; Sarah, deceased; Mary; Ella; 
 Cornelius; James, deceased; W^illiam, our 
 subject; Henry, deceased; and Michael. 
 William Kenned\- rendered consider- 
 able assistance to his father in making 
 the Door county farm habitable and 
 profitable, ami, at about the time of his 
 majority, went to Sturgeon Bay, Wis., 
 shortly afterward, in 1887, moving to 
 Menominee, Mich., where he was con- 
 nected with the Fire Department five 
 years. From that point he came to 
 Green Bay, and here organized the paid 
 Fire Department. From his exhaustive 
 report to the common council for the 
 year ending December 31, 1893, the fol- 
 lowing extracts are made as showing the 
 effective equipment of the Department: 
 Twelve active members, besides the chief; 
 
 seven horses; one Amoskeag fire engine; 
 three hose carts, to be drawn by two 
 horses; one hook and ladder truck; two 
 sleighs, for winter use; one set of truck 
 bobs; two haiid hose carts; 3,500 feet of 
 two and one-half inch cotton lead hose, 
 in first-class condition; 1,500 feet of two 
 and one-half inch rubber lead hose, in 
 good condition; two exercise wagons; two 
 six-gallon extinguishers; two three-gallon 
 extinguishers. 
 
 In commenting on the service ren- 
 dered by the Department, the chief re- 
 marks: "I take pleasure in congratu- 
 lating the citizens of Green Bay on the 
 fact that they have escaped serious loss 
 by fires during the past year. This goes 
 to show the value of a Paid Department, 
 b\' their prompt action in responding to 
 the several alarms, and the successful 
 way in which fires were handletl. Al- 
 though the Department has responded to 
 thirty-seven alarms of fire, the total loss 
 paid by insurance companies aggregate 
 only $14,855.65; a fact which shows the 
 great \alue of a well-equipped Depart- 
 ment." It is to be regretted that the 
 scope of this sketch affords no room for 
 further extracts from this valuable re- 
 port. 
 
 The marriage of William Kennedy 
 took place in Menominee, Mich., in 1891, 
 to Miss Eliza Hayes, who was born in 
 Saginaw county, Mich., a daughter of 
 Martin and Mary (Waters) Ha}es, natives 
 of Canada. The two children born to 
 AYilliam Kennedy and his wife are named 
 Gladdies and Martin Joseph. In his 
 fraternal relations Mr. Kennedy belongs 
 to the Royal Arcanum; in religion he 
 and his wife are members of St. John's 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 JOHN VAN VONDEREN, one of 
 the self-made prosperous agricultur- 
 ists of Rockland township. Brown 
 county, is a native of Holland, born 
 July 9, 1835, son of John Van Vonderen, 
 a farmer, who died when our subject was 
 
COMMEMORA TIYE DIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 3S9 
 
 nine years old. He was twice married, 
 and left seven small children, two sons by 
 his first wife, and four sons and a daugh- 
 ter by his second, John being the eldest 
 chi -d born to the second marriage. 
 
 The family lived on a rented farm, and 
 the children commenced to work as soon 
 as they could be of assistance, so that 
 John had very limited opportunities for 
 an education, attending school but little 
 after his father's death. In 1862 he 
 married Miss Joanna De Groot, who was 
 born June 3, 1835, in Holland, and in 
 that country three children were born to 
 them: John, who is now a farmer of Rock- 
 land township; Barney, of De Pere, and 
 Catherine, Mrs. Peter De Hoble, of De- 
 Pere. In 1867 Mr. \'an Vonderen sold 
 what property he had in Holland, and 
 sailed with his family from Rotterdam to 
 Glasgow, where they embarked on a vessel 
 bound for New York, in which city they 
 arrived after a stormy voyage of twentv- 
 three da3's. They immediately set out 
 for Wisconsin, and on May 6 arrived at 
 Little Chute, Outagamie county, where 
 they rented land and made their home 
 for two years. On March 12, 1869, they 
 came to Rockland township. Brown 
 county, and purchased (on credit) a tract 
 of eighty acres, thirty of which had been 
 cleared. Here the family lived in a 
 small log house, and Mr. Van Vonderen 
 labored diligently to clear and improve 
 his farm, an arduous task, but one in 
 which he has met with unbounded suc- 
 cess. He has also increased the area of 
 the place, which now comprises 1 20 acres 
 of prime land acquired by years of 
 earnest, unremitting toil, and he has won 
 the respect of all who know him for in- 
 dustry and honesty. On this farm chil- 
 dren as follows have been born: Chris- 
 tina, who died young; Christina (2), Mrs. 
 Henry Ver Straten; Annie, Frank and 
 Mary, at home; and Hattie, William and 
 William (2), all three deceased. One 
 child was born at Little Chute, namely 
 Andrew, who is now a resident of De- 
 Pere township. Our subject is a Demo- 
 
 crat in his political preferences, and has 
 served as treasurer of the school board 
 for twelve years. In religious connection 
 the famil\- are members of St. Mary's 
 Church, at De Pere. 
 
 HANS HANSEN, dealer in farm 
 implements. New Denmark town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a native 
 of the Kingdom of Denmark, born 
 August 28, 1840. He is a son of Rasmus 
 and Anna C. (Olson) Hansen, who were 
 the parents of eleven children, viz. : 
 Catherine, Hans, Mary, Niels, Jens, 
 Peter, Christ and Stine, and three that 
 died in infancy. The father was a fisher- 
 man by occupation, and, as the family 
 was a large one, the children were obliged 
 to assist as soon as they were old enough 
 to work. 
 
 Hans Hansen served as a soldier in 
 his native country under Frederick VII 
 and Christian IX, and subsequently was 
 in the government employ as a stage 
 driver. He continued thus until 1867, 
 when he decided to seek his fortune in 
 America, and leaving Denmark he pro- 
 ceeded to Liverpool, England, and em- 
 barked on an outward-bound vessel, land- 
 ing in Quebec after a pleasant and com- 
 parativeh- short voyage. He came 
 thence to Green Bay, Wis. , and thence 
 to Oconto, where he commenced work in 
 a sawmill, and, after engaging in that oc- 
 cupation for two years, went to Fond du 
 Lac, where he was employed on a farm 
 for about a year. Coming from there 
 directly to New Denmark township, Brown 
 county, he purchased a tract of eighty 
 acres, totally unimproved, and commenced 
 at once to clear it and prepare the land 
 for cultivation, but as he had little ex- 
 perience in this line, the work at first 
 progressed very slowly. On June 16, 
 1870, he was united in marriage with 
 Mary (Van Seggern) Asterloh, and they 
 immediately came to the farm, where they 
 shared all the hardships and privations of 
 those early years in the wilderness. Their 
 
39° 
 
 COMMEMORATIi'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 union has been blessed with eight chil- 
 dren, as follows: Rasmus P., Henry 
 William, Herman H., Anna C. , M. C, 
 Fred M., Christ H., and Charles N. T., 
 who died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hansen lived in a log 
 house on the farm for twenty-two years, 
 at the end of which time he disposed of 
 his farm and built a saloon; subsequently 
 he commenced to deal in farm imple- 
 ments, and now carries on both businesses, 
 meeting with gratifying success. In polit- 
 ical connection Mr. Hansen has always 
 been identified with the Republican party, 
 and has served in various official positions 
 in his township and county, as follows: 
 As deputy sheriff, four years; town as- 
 sessor, two years; constable, eight years; 
 and justice of the peace, five years, giving 
 satisfaction to all concerned, and winning 
 the respect of all who have had dealings 
 with him. In religious faith he and his 
 wife are members of the Lutheran Church. 
 
 JOHN CALMAN, who, during his life- 
 time, was a well-known farmer of 
 De Pere township. Brown county, 
 was a native of County Cork, Ire- 
 land, born January 7, 1822. His father, 
 Dennis Caiman, was a farmer, and for a 
 number of years rented land in County 
 Cork, but later the family took up their 
 residence in the city of Cork, where John 
 spent a portion of his boyhood days. 
 
 When a young man our subject came 
 to the United States, and for some time 
 worked in a type foundry in Boston, 
 Mass. His father had died, and after 
 John secured employment he sent for his 
 widowed mother, who came to the home 
 he had provided, accompanied by his 
 brother, William, and sister, Hannah. 
 In 1S52 John, with his brothers, Dennis 
 and William, came westward to Wiscon- 
 sin, and located on a farm in De Pere 
 township. Brown county, where he passed 
 the remainder of his life. At that time it 
 was all in the woods, an Indian trail be- 
 ing the onl}- road from De Pere, and here 
 
 they built a small log shanty for them- 
 selves, their mother and sister residing, in 
 the meanwhile, in De Pere, which was 
 then but a small village. After a resi- 
 dence of four years on this farm John 
 Caiman returned to Boston, where he was 
 shortly afterward united in marriage with 
 Miss Kate Heffernan, also a native of the 
 Emeral Isle, born in 1828 in the Parish 
 of Glenmore, County Kilkenny, daughter 
 of John Heffernan, who died in Ireland. 
 Kate Heffernan came to the United 
 States in 1850 with her brother-in-law, 
 Thomas Fanning, crossing the Atlantic in 
 four weeks, and locating in Boston, where 
 she was yet living at the time of her mar- 
 riage. 
 
 After their union Mr. and Mrs. Cai- 
 man spent a year and a half in Boston, 
 where he was again employed in a type 
 foundry, and here one child, Mary H., 
 now Mrs. Thomas Connelly, of De Pere 
 township, was born. He then brought 
 his wife and child to De Pere township. 
 Brown Co., Wis., and they took up their 
 home on the farm, where his mother and 
 brother, Dennis, also resided. The other 
 brother, William, had gone to California, 
 where he is yet living, and John and 
 Dennis Caiman farmed together until the 
 latter's death, when John took entire 
 charge of the place. He cleared and 
 improved it, and added thereto, until at 
 the time of his death he had a fertile, 
 highly-cultivated tract of two hundred 
 acres. This was the direct result of years 
 of patient industry and unrelenting toil, 
 for when he purchased the place it was a 
 veritable wilderness. He was a thor- 
 oughly self-made man, having, from a 
 start of nothing but a strong will and de- 
 termination to succeed, become a pros- 
 perous farmer and a highly-respected 
 citizen. He passed from earth October 
 31. 1S90, and was buried in De Pere 
 cemeterv. In religious connection he 
 was a member of St. Francis Catholic 
 Church, of which he was trustee for 
 years. Politically he was a strong sup- 
 porter of the principles of the Democratic 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 391 
 
 party, and as such was elected chairman 
 of the township for two years, discharg- 
 ing the duties of his office with ability and 
 credit and to the complete satisfaction of 
 his constituents, but he declined re-elec- 
 tion on account of failing health. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Caiman were born children 
 as follows: Dennis, now a farmer of 
 South Dakota; Ellen, now a resident of 
 Denver. Colo. ; Kate, also in Denver, 
 Colo. ; Esther, William, and John, at 
 home; and Alice, a school teacher, of 
 Seymour, Wis. Since Mr. Caiman's 
 decease his widow has continued to make 
 her home on the farm, which is now 
 conducted by the younger sons, William 
 and John. She is a member of St. 
 Francis Church, De Pere, and is highly 
 respected in the community in which she 
 resides. 
 
 GEORGE W. HAYDEN, farmer 
 and e.\-soldier, of Pittsfield town- 
 ship. Brown county, was born in 
 Fitzwilliam, N. H., May i, 1839. 
 His parents were Silas and Betsey Hay- 
 den, who reared a family of thirteen chil- 
 dren, of whom, however, our subject is 
 the only one living. 
 
 George W. Hayden was but thirteen 
 years of age when his parents sold their 
 farm in the East and came to Wisconsin, 
 settling on a tract of forty acres of wild 
 woodland in Pittsfield township. Brown 
 county, among the Indians, bears and 
 wolves. They were a hardy couple, and 
 the mother, on one occasion, walked to 
 and returned from Green Bay in one day, 
 after her sixtieth birthday, bearing a bur- 
 den of twenty pounds. Of their large 
 family only four of the children lived to 
 come West to aid their parents in carving 
 out a home from the wilderness. When 
 our subject was but fourteen years old an 
 axe was placed in his hands, and from 
 that time onward he has earned his own 
 living. The first winter he worked in the 
 woods at twelve dollars per month, but 
 later on his pay was increased to twenty 
 
 dollars, the highest price then paid to 
 woodsmen. The father kept steadily at 
 work clearing up his land, and added six 
 acres to his original forty. Mrs. Hayden 
 died in 1869, and her remains are in- 
 terred in the Rural Cemetery at Flintville. 
 George W^ Hayden remained with his 
 parents until 1861, when he responded to 
 his country's call and enlisted in Company 
 H, Twelfth Wis. V. I., being assigned to 
 the army of the Tennessee, under Sher- 
 man. He obtained a furlough of thirty 
 days, however, came home and married 
 Alice E. Brown, daughter of James and 
 Abigail (Tillbrook) Brown, of the State of 
 Maine, where the father had been a fish- 
 erman. They came to Wisconsin about 
 the year 1855 ^"d settled at Mills Center, 
 Pittsfield township, on land purchased by 
 Mr. Brown, on which they lived until 
 1863, when they sold out and moved to 
 the northern part of the township, where 
 the father died, after which the mother 
 lived with her daughter, Mrs. Ha}den. 
 His thirt3'-days' furlough having expired. 
 Mr. Hayden rejoined his regiment and 
 took part in all its marches and engage- 
 ments until his discharge, at Louisville, 
 Ky., July 16, 1865. He had fought at 
 the siege of Vicksburg, at Chattanooga 
 and at Atlanta, and had followed Sher- 
 man to the sea, experiencing hardships 
 and privations that very few could endure, 
 but during all his long service was in hos- 
 pital only two weeks. When he returned 
 home he took possession of a forty-acre 
 tract of land he had purchased from the 
 Fox River Improvement Company, on 
 which no tree had yet been felled. He 
 cleared a space large enough for the frame 
 dwelling, in which he still lives, and the 
 work of clearing was prosecuted with vigor 
 until the wilderness was conquered. He 
 has increased his possessions to 160 acres, 
 and is altogether prosperous, his elder 
 sons of late years having assisted him 
 materially. He has had born to him 
 eight children, viz.: Clare (deceased in 
 infancy). William, Charles, George, 
 Frank, Carrie, and Harvcj' and Harry 
 
392 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE DIOGUAl'UICAL RECORD. 
 
 (twins). Mr. and Mrs. Hayden are mem- 
 bers of the Congregational Church, and 
 in pohtics Mr. Hayden is a Repubhcan, 
 and cast his first \'ote for Abraham 
 Lincoln. 
 
 of 
 24. 
 
 PliTEK KOLB, postmaster at Kolb, 
 and one of the well-known citizens 
 of De Pere township, Brown 
 county, is a native of the village 
 
 Bruttig, Rhenish Prussia, born June 
 1828. His father, Gottfried Kolb, 
 who was a boatman on the river Moselle, 
 was twice married, and became the father 
 of twenty-one children, of whom our sub- 
 ject was the third son and the sixth child 
 in order of birth. 
 
 Peter Kolb attended school until he 
 was fourteen years of age, after which he 
 worked with his father as ferryman. 
 Peter's mother died when he was six years 
 old. Having recei\'ed some money from 
 her estate, he, in the spring of 1852, bade 
 farewell to his home and friends, and set 
 out for the United States. He first pro- 
 ceeded to Antwerp, from which port he 
 sailed, landing, after an ocean voyage of 
 two months, in New York City, April 10, 
 1852. His destination was Green Bay, 
 Wis., where some of his schoolmates had 
 previously located, and thither he jour- 
 neyed, going by rail to Buffalo, N. Y., 
 where, after a delay of two or three weeks, 
 waiting for navigation to open, he took 
 passage on the steamer "Michigan," and 
 arrived in Green Bay about May to. He 
 immediately went to Peshtigo, Wis., and 
 for four years was employed in the mills at 
 that place. He also spent a winter at 
 Meeme, Manitowoc county, where his 
 sister, Gertrude fwho had come to the 
 United States a short time after him), was 
 residing, and it was here he met the lady 
 who soon afterward became his wife. Miss 
 Margaret Adolff. She was born in i8.v, 
 in Munster Mayfeld, Coblentz, Germany, 
 daughter of Rhinearous Adolff, who came 
 to the United States in 18^4 The voune 
 couple were married March V. 1857, and 
 
 shortly afterward took up their residence 
 on Main street, in Green Bay, where Mr. 
 Kolb, having saved some money, had pur- 
 chased a home of his own. Being a skill- 
 ful mechanic, he erected his own house, 
 and they resided there one year, when he 
 sold the place and moved to Meeme, 
 Manitowoc county, where for six years 
 they lived on rented land. During this 
 time he was also engaged in clearing land. 
 In July, 1 863, he came to the farm in De- 
 Pere township. Brown county, where he 
 has ever since made his home, situated in 
 Section 33, Township 23, Range 21 ■ He 
 first purchased forty acres, but half of 
 which was cleared, and an old log house 
 was the only residence the place afforded; 
 but he added to the farm until at one time 
 it comprised 236 acres, and he now has 
 186 acres. In addition to his agricultural 
 labors he also conducts a saloon on the 
 farm. To Mr. and Mrs. Kolb have been 
 born children as follows: Jacob, a farmer, 
 of De Pere; Peter, residing in Green Bay; 
 Margaret, now Mrs. Michael Coregan, of 
 De Pere township; Elizabeth, living at 
 home; Anna, Mrs. Nicholas Meyer, of 
 Menasha, Wis. ; Joseph, a farmer of De- 
 Pere township; and Anton, of Seymour, 
 Outagamie county. 
 
 Mr. Kolb's life presents a striking ex- 
 ample of what may be accomplished by 
 industry, preservance and a strong, willing 
 pair of hands. On landing in Green Bay 
 in the spring of 1852, he found himself 
 four dollars in debt ; but not allowing 
 himself to become discouraged, he set to 
 work, engaging at any honest labor he 
 could find, and always working with the de- 
 termination to succeed. He was anxious to 
 have a comfortable home of his own, and 
 after purchasing his land he spent many 
 years of hard, unrelenting toil in its culti- 
 vation and improvement. He is one of 
 the few old settlers in De Pere township, 
 now living, who have endured the trials 
 and hardships of those early times, and, 
 though now over sixty-six years of age, he 
 is still hale and hearty. He is well known 
 in his community, and is highly respected 
 

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 395 
 
 by all who know him. In his political 
 affiliations Mr. Kolb is a stanch member 
 of the Democratic party, always support- 
 ing its principles in State and National 
 elections, but in local affairs he votes in- 
 dependently, selectinf,' the best man, re- 
 gardless of politics. He has filled various 
 offices in his township; for twelve years 
 he served satisfactorily as chairman, de- 
 ■clining further re-election; for five years 
 he was supervisor, an office which came to 
 him unsolicited ; and since 1887 he has 
 been postmaster at Kolb, Brown county, 
 which office was named after him. In 
 religious connection he and his wife are 
 members of the Cathedral Church at 
 •Green Bay. 
 
 NICHOLAS WEBER, a well-known 
 resident of the township of De- 
 Pere, Brown Co., was born in 
 1 840, in Luxemburg, Germany. 
 He came with his parents to America, 
 locating with the family in New Denmark 
 township. Brown Co., Wis., where they 
 shared the hardships and privations inci- 
 dent to pioneer life. For many winters 
 our subject worked in the lumber regions, 
 and he specially remembers one winter 
 spent at Pensaukee, when he experienced 
 trials and dangers that few would be able 
 to withstand. He also worked for sev- 
 eral firms in New Denmark township, 
 and his work was invariably so satisfactory 
 that he could always find employment 
 with the same cr.mpany a second time. 
 In 1865 he enlisted in Company F. Fif- 
 tieth Wis. V. I., and served until the fall 
 of the same year, when he was discharged, 
 returning home at once. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Weber was married to 
 Miss Catherine Daniels, whose father, 
 Mathias Daniels, and mother died when 
 she was an infant. Our subject purchased 
 ■eighty acres of new land in De Pere town- 
 ship, which he cleared and improved, re- 
 siding thereon until 1892, when he sold it, 
 and now makes his home with his chil- 
 dren. To Mr. and Mrs. Weber were 
 
 born nine children, vi;;. : Hubbard, Nich- 
 olas, Mathias, Annie, Catherine, Josie, 
 Joseph, Mary and George, all of whom 
 have received good educational advan- 
 tages. The mother of this family was 
 called from earth February 7, 1891, 
 deeply mourned by her family and friends. 
 She was a member of the Catholic Church 
 at Pine Grove, as is also her husband. 
 Politically he is a Democrat, and takes 
 much interest in the welfare of his party. 
 
 ABBOTT WILLIAM SLAUGH- 
 TER, M. D., was born December 
 I, i860, at Westport, Mo. (a 
 suburb of Kansas City), son of 
 Alfred and Laura (Abbott) Slaughter. 
 
 The Slaughters come of an old Virginia 
 family of English and Scotch ancestry, 
 who came to America during Colonial 
 times. The proverbial three brothers 
 figure in the family, and the progenitor of 
 this present family settled in Virginia, 
 where they became prosperous, well-to-do 
 planters, representing one of the old aris- 
 tocratic families of that State. According 
 to the customs of the country they held 
 slaves, to whose interests they were as de- 
 voted as if they belonged to the family, 
 the slaves being well fed, well clothed, 
 housed and provided for. Grandfather Wil- 
 liam Slaughter owned 1,800 acres of land 
 in Culpeper county; his father, William, 
 lived in Rappahannock county. The 
 grandfather was a large-hearted man, hav- 
 ing a big, robust frame, and well built. 
 He was a strong believer in Democratic 
 principles and State Sovereignty, a leader 
 in his neighborhood in all matters pertain- 
 ing to literar}' and political matters and 
 local government, was well educated, and 
 a lawyer by profession. He was chosen 
 judge of the people, led a noble life, es- 
 teemed and beloved by all, reached a good 
 old age, and quietly passed away one day 
 while sitting in a chair. He was the 
 father of a large family, of whom on y 
 Daniel F. Slaughter, of Virginia, and A - 
 fred Slaughte- ^^f Green Bay, are yetliv- 
 
396 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE DIOGRAPIIJCAL RECORD. 
 
 ing. The latter was born in Culpcper 
 county, Va., where he received his pri- 
 mary education, and, making teaching his 
 profession, taught about forty-three years, 
 during whicli time he was principal of 
 Lexington (Mo.) High School about nine 
 years, of the Prairie Home Institute also 
 nine years, and principal of the McCune 
 College, Louisiana, ^fo., five years. He 
 also taught as principal in the Glenville 
 (Ky. ) school two years, but receiving a 
 stroke of paralysis was disabled from fol- 
 lowing his chosen profession longer. 
 Chiefly self-educated, he was at the same 
 time well educated, and was atypical gen- 
 tleman of the old Southern school of chiv- 
 alry; he now resides with his son in Green 
 Bay. He married Miss Laura Abbott, 
 of West Virginia, who is yet living, and 
 their marriage was blessed with three 
 children : Louisa Frances, Laura Slaugh- 
 ter, and Abbott William, our subject. 
 
 Dr. Slaughter received his literary edu- 
 cation principally from his father, and his 
 boyhood dream being to relieve pain and 
 help the sick and afflicted, he entered the 
 office of Dr. S. B. Ajers, of Louisiana, 
 Mo., a prosperous, prominent physician. 
 In 1 88 1 he entered St. Louis Medical 
 College, where he studied faithfully dur- 
 ing a three-years' term, graduating in 
 1 884. The joung Doctor at once located 
 in Silex, Mo., where in three years he 
 built up a large practice; thence moved 
 to Whiteside, where he also practiced 
 three years, and later, in 188S, attend- 
 ed the Louisville (Ky.) Post - Graduate 
 School. That spring he returned to 
 Whiteside, where he continued practice 
 until 1 892 . He was then induced to come 
 to Green Bay in order to enter into part- 
 nership with Dr. F. L. Louis, which part- 
 nership continued about one j'ear. He 
 has built up a good practice and enjoys 
 the Cfjufidence and esteem of the people 
 to an eminent degree. 
 
 The Doctor was married in Carson, 
 Mo., at the old homestead of his wife's 
 grandparents, to Ivuth Reeds, who was 
 educated at the Montgomery High School. 
 
 She is the mother of three children : Al- 
 fred (who died at the age of six years), 
 Laura Louisa, and Delias. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Slaughter are both active members of the 
 Baptist Church. He is affiliated with the 
 F. & A. M. and K. O. T. M., is a mem- 
 ber of the Fox River Valley Medical So- 
 ciety, and the American Medical Socie- 
 ty, the latter being a national associa- 
 tion. Politically he is identified with the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 JAMES SMITH, a prominent citizen 
 of De Pere township. Brown county, 
 where, in partnership with his 
 brother, Alexander, he is success- 
 fully engaged in general farming, is a 
 native of Banffshire, Scotland, liorn May 
 I, 1855, son of George and Isabell Smith, 
 who both died in their native land. They 
 had nine children, namely: Isabella, 
 John, George, Helen, James, Adam, 
 Margaret, Alexander, and Christina. 
 
 The first of this family to leave Scot- 
 land was the son George, who immi- 
 grated to the United States in 1872, and 
 coming to \\'isconsin, settled in Brown 
 county, where he passed the remainder of 
 his life. He followed farming, renting 
 land in different parts of the county, 
 mostly in Rockland township, and died 
 March 27, 1891, in De Pere township, on 
 the farm now owned by his brothers 
 James and Alexander. George Smith 
 was for many years a sufferer from pa- 
 ralysis, which rendered him helpless, and it 
 was principally on this account that his 
 brother James came to America. 
 
 James Smith was educated in the 
 common schools of his place of birth, 
 and lived with his parents until he reached 
 the age of fifteen, when he commenced to 
 work as a farm hand. When twenty 
 years old he commenced to learn garden- 
 ing, and ser\ed a three-\ears' apprentice- 
 ship at Hatton Castle, at the conclusion 
 of which he became head gardener for a 
 Scotch gentleman Watson, of Blackford, 
 in which position he remaineil one year. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPIHCAL RECORD. 
 
 397 
 
 In June, 1881, Mr. Smith decided to 
 come to the United States to care for his 
 invalid brother, George, and accordingly 
 took passage at Liverpool, England, on 
 the "City of Montreal," for New York, 
 whence he immediately proceeded to his 
 destination, De Pere, Wis., arriving June 
 27. He came here with money he had 
 earned and saved himself, and soon after his 
 arrival he became interested, in company 
 with his brother, in general agriculture 
 and stock-bu\ ing. In 1887 he purchased 
 his present farm of seventy-si.x acres, and 
 shortly afterward moved thereon. In 
 connection with this farm he now owns 
 another tract of eighty acres, and on this 
 land he and his brother Alexander conduct 
 a profitable general farming business. 
 
 Alexander Smith was bor'n July 29, 
 1S63, in Banffshire, Scotland, received a 
 public-school education, and was reared 
 to farming. In 1886 he sailed from Glas- 
 gow on the "State of Nebraska," and 
 came directly to Wisconsin, where he and 
 his brother James are now engaged in ag- 
 ricultural pursuits. For several years 
 after coming to Wisconsin the brothers 
 spent the winter months in the lumber 
 camps, and both are thoroughly familiar 
 with the hardships and dangers of lum- 
 bering. As agriculturists they are thor- 
 oughly progressive, and, being full of de- 
 termination and energy, have made a 
 complete success. James Smith is a nat- 
 ural mechanic, and has fitted up a black- 
 smith shop on the farm, where he attends 
 to all work in that line needed by a farmer, 
 shoeing his own horses, etc. He and his 
 brother are self-made in every respect, 
 and, though they have not resided in the 
 township for any great number of years, 
 are highly esteemed for their industrious 
 habits and sterling worth. They have won 
 and kept an enviable reputation for up- 
 rightness and fair dealing, and are every- 
 where regarded as substantial business 
 men and model citizens. The brothers 
 are both members of the Republican 
 party, and ardent advocates of the prin- 
 ciples of Protection: in religious faith 
 
 they are members of the Presbyterian 
 Church. They are both unmarried, Mrs. 
 George Smith, their brother's widow, 
 keeping house for them. 
 
 w 
 
 ILLIAM HOFFMAN. While 
 transmitting to posterity the 
 memor)- of such men as is the 
 subject of this sketch, it will 
 instill in rhe minds of our children the im- 
 portant lesson that honor and station are 
 the sure reward of continual exertion; and 
 that, compared to a good education, 
 abundant experience, coupled with habits 
 of honest industry and judicious economy, 
 the greatest fortune would be but a poor 
 inheritance. 
 
 Mr. Hoffman is a native of Germany, 
 born December 14, 1831, in Neustadt-on- 
 the-Warthe, in the Province of Posen. 
 In that town, as far back as the history 
 of the family can be traced, the Hoffmans 
 were merchants of high standing. Dr. 
 Wolf Hoffman, grandfather of our subject, 
 was an educated man and occupied a 
 prominent position among his fellow-citi- 
 zens. He died at an advanced age, leav- 
 ing an honorable record as a useful, con- 
 scientious man and a true Christian gen- 
 tleman. He had a large family, of whom 
 one son, Louis, learned mercantile busi- 
 ness, but while yet a young man he was 
 pressed into the army of Napoleon I, who 
 had just overrun Prussia on his triumph- 
 ant march on Russia. Young Louis Hoff- 
 man participated in this memorable cam- 
 paign, and marched as far as Moscow, 
 the burning of which magnificent city, by 
 the Russians themselves, he witnessed; 
 and then, in the depth of a terrible winter, 
 the French ommenced that fatal and 
 fearful retreat southward that disorgan- 
 ized and destroyed the grandest army that 
 ever followed the banners of Napoleon. 
 When the Prussian contingent neared 
 their native land, they deserted the French 
 eagles, uniting with the Gernum troops, 
 and in turn fought against Napoleon. 
 .\t the close of his service, Louis Hoffman 
 
39S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 returned to his home in Neustadt, and 
 became a prosperous general merchant, 
 well known and highU' respected. By 
 his first wife, who was also a native of 
 Neustadt-on-the\\'arthe, he had four chil- 
 dren, as follows: Michael, Augusta, Ida, 
 and Minnie. For his second wife he 
 wedded Hannah Neuman, and they had 
 eight children, viz. : Rosalie, Bertha, 
 Rebecca, Fredericka, William, Adolph, 
 Hanchen and Isidor. The father died at 
 the age of seventy-eight years, the mother 
 when eightj'-two. 
 
 The ninth in the order of birth of all 
 the children above named is William, the 
 subject of this sketch. He was educated 
 at the public schools of his native town, 
 and, when in his fifteenth year, started out 
 into the world to seek his fortune on his 
 own individual merits. Proceeding to 
 London, England, he there found em- 
 ployment at various kinds of work, and, 
 after a sojourn of one year in the me- 
 tropolis of the world, journeyed to Liver- 
 pool, where he took passage for America. 
 The good ship " West Point " arrived at 
 New York in February, 1848, after a 
 pleasant voyage, and here our subject 
 found employment as clerk in a general 
 store, where he remained till January, 
 1852. At this time he turned his eves 
 westward, and, determining to try his for- 
 tune in California, set out with bright 
 hopes and stern resolutions, his route 
 being via the Isthmus of Panama direct 
 to San Francisco, where, after clerking 
 about one year, he opened a clothing store 
 on his own account. In this enterprise 
 he met with well-merited success, al- 
 though he had the misfortune to be burned 
 out twice. After the first fire he engaged 
 in mining in the "gold diggings," but 
 this not being so congenial to his nature 
 as merchandising, he soon returned to 
 San Francisco, and again ooened a gen- 
 eral store. In 1857 he sold out, and, 
 coming north to Chicago, III, embarked 
 in the flour and feed business, which in 
 turn he sold out the following year (1858), 
 and, attracted by the promising outlook 
 
 in Wisconsin, came "with business in- 
 tent" to the town of Sharon, near where 
 he had some friends living. Here he opened 
 a store, which at the end of about a year 
 he left in charge of his brother-in-law, 
 Henry Mitchell, and for the benefit of his 
 health took a trip to Clayborn, Ala. 
 There he clerked during the first winter 
 and following spring, selling his establish- 
 ment in Sharon, Wis. (whither he re- 
 turned for that purpose), again went south, 
 and for another winter clerked in a store 
 in Alabama. At this time, the Civil war 
 having broken out, he was pressed into 
 the Confederate army, but took the first 
 opportunity to escape, leaving behind all 
 his possessions. Coming north with com- 
 mendable speed, he arrived in Chicago, 
 111., in May, 1861, and here he remained 
 until the following September, when he 
 once more turned his steps in the direc- 
 tion of Wisconsin. 
 
 At Janesville, on the 17th of that 
 month, he was married to Miss Malinet 
 A. Pease, daughter of Enos and Lucy 
 (Finley) Pease, of Marengo, 111., and 
 shortly afterward the young couple came 
 to Green Bay. Here, in partnership with 
 Mr. Philip Lewin, Mr. Hoffman opened 
 a clothing store, the firm name being 
 Hoffman & Lewin, which so continued 
 until 1868, when Mr. Lewin sold out his 
 interest to his partner and moved to 
 Philadelphia. Since then our subject has 
 conducted the business in part alone, and 
 in part asssociated with his sons Louis 
 and George, with unbounded success — a 
 success in ever\' sense well merited, as 
 his stock is at all times thoroughly replete 
 in all departments, whilst the proprietor 
 himself, for courteous and gentlemanly 
 bearing, consummate business tact, un- 
 flagging enterprise and tireless energy, 
 has established for himself an enviable 
 and wide popularity. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman have been 
 born six children, to wit : Bertha is the 
 wife of Frank Topliff, a merchant of 
 Oshkosh, W^is. ; Louis Wolf and George 
 P. are associated with their father in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 399 
 
 business, Louis traveling in the interest 
 of the merchant tailoring department; 
 Ada B. died in infancy ; Elmer A. died 
 in his nineteenth year ; Harold W . , the 
 youngest, is at home with his parents. 
 Mr. Hoffman, in politics is a Democrat ; 
 he was elected alderman of the First 
 ward, and has served as such, in all, the 
 long period of eighteen years, a fact that 
 in itself testifies to his popularit)- as well 
 as the esteem in which he is held. For 
 about fifteen years he was a member, 
 and for a considerable time foreman, of 
 the old Green Bay Fire Company, 
 "Guardian No. 2." Socially he is a 
 member of the F. & A. M., t."0. O. F., 
 and K. of P., Green Bay, of which latter 
 order he is a charter member. 
 
 M 
 
 AJOK LEVf HOWLAND, real 
 estate and lumber dealer, Fort 
 Howard, and member of the 
 Vermillion Range Lumber Com- 
 pany of Afinnesota, is descended from 
 sturdy New England ancestry. Heisone 
 of nine children born to Thomas and 
 Elizabeth (Davis) Howland, the former 
 of whom was a native of New I^edford, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 When sixteen years of age Thomas 
 Howland came with his parents, John 
 Howland and wife, from ISIassachusetts, 
 and settled on a farm in Brown county, 
 Ohio, which borders on the Ohio river 
 and is also noted as having been for a 
 number of years the home of the Grant 
 family, Gen. Grant himself having been 
 appointed to West Point from that county. 
 John Howland died in that locality. His 
 son, Thomas, married a daughter of Vir- 
 ginia, who was at that time a resident of 
 Kentucky, andini83i removed to Cook 
 county. 111., then on the border of west- 
 ern settlements. In 1835 he took up a 
 farm in Ivenosha county, Wis., and lived 
 in that State for many years. While a 
 resident of Illinois, in 1832, he served as 
 a soldier in the memorable Black Hawk 
 war, a short-lived conflict which terrorized 
 
 the few inhabitants then in the region 
 and retarded settlement greatly, but which 
 put an effectual end to Indian depreda- 
 tions east of the Mississippi. Mr. How- 
 land died at Fort Howard, W'is., about 
 1877, his excellent wife having preceded 
 him to the shadowy land in 1862. Besides 
 our subject, they had children as follows: 
 Lewis, who was killed in Kansas in 1856, 
 during the border ruffian warfare; Mere- 
 dith, who died at Kenosha, Wis., in 1869; 
 Lorinda S., wife of Thomas Dyke, re- 
 siding in Missouri; Seth, a resident of 
 California, whither he went in 1850; Ruby 
 E. , wife of John Sauber, also of Cali- 
 fornia; Wiltshire, who enlisted in Cali- 
 fornia early in the war of the Rebellion, 
 in Col. Baker's regiment, and, like his 
 lamented commander, was missing and 
 supposed to be killed at Ball's Bluff; 
 Ichabod, twin brother of Levi, who en- 
 listed in April, 1861, at Kenosha, Wis., 
 for three months in Company G, First 
 Wis. V. I., re-enlisted at the expiration of 
 his term of service in the First Wisconsin 
 Cavalry, served in the army of the Cum- 
 berland, and was killed at Varnell Station, 
 Ga., May 9, 1864; Alfred, who enlisted 
 in the same regiment with Ichabod in 
 1 86 1, for three months, re-enlisted in the 
 First Wisconsin Cavalry and served three 
 years, and now resides in California. 
 
 Levi Howland was born in 1840, in 
 Kenosha county. Wis., and was reared 
 on his father's farm, one mile from Keno- 
 sha, receiving his education in the high 
 school of that city. Like his two brothers, 
 he enlisted, in April, 1861, in Company 
 G, First Wis. V. I , for a period of three 
 months. After a lively term of service 
 in the Shenandoah Valley under Gen. 
 Patterson, the young soldier, who had 
 been a second lieutenant in the infantry, 
 re-enlisted as a private in Company A; 
 First Wisconsin Cavalry for three years, 
 on September 2, 1861, receiving a first 
 lieutenant's commission in that arm of the 
 service. He was subsequently, Novem- 
 ber 20, 1862, commissioned captain of 
 Company C, and major of his regiment 
 
400 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Januarj- 6, 1865. He saw active and 
 arduous service, participating in the bat- 
 tles at Chickamauga, Dandridge, Tenn. ; 
 Anderson Cross Roads. Cape Girardeau. 
 Mo. ; Chalk Bluffs, and later, after trans- 
 fer to the army of the Cumberland, at 
 Resaca, Cassville, Burnt Hickory (Ga.), 
 Barnesville, Kenesaw Mountain. Atlanta. 
 Campbelltown (Ga.), Franklin (Tenn.), 
 Hopkinsville, Nashville, Selma (Ala.), 
 the skirmishes between Montgomery and 
 Tuskegee. and West Point (Ga. ). The 
 Major was mustered out at Nashville, 
 Tenn., in July, 1865, and returned to 
 Kenosha. He next went west, and passed 
 two years as contractor on the Kansas 
 Pacific railroad, finally, in 1867, locating 
 in Fort Howard, since when he has been 
 a continuous resident of that city. Upon 
 his arrival he entered the lumber trade 
 as a member of the firm of Clinton. Laird 
 & Co., afterward J. P. Laird lS: Co., 
 which relation continued a number of 
 years, and he is now the only member of 
 this old firm residing in Fort Howard. 
 
 Maj. Howland is a familiar figure in 
 political, educational and society circles. 
 By virtue of his honorable service in de- 
 fense of his country, he is a member of 
 T. O. Howe Post, G. A. R., and holds 
 membership also in the Loyal Legion. 
 Socially he is a member of Washington 
 Lodge, No. 21. F. & A. M. ; Warren 
 Chapter, No. 8, R. A. M. ; Palestine 
 Commander}-, No. 20, K. T. ; and Wis- 
 consin Consistory. An active Repub- 
 lican in politics, he has served his fellow 
 citizens as county supervisor, and as a 
 member of the school board, and takes a 
 lively interest in all public affairs, exert- 
 ing his influence toward the furtherance 
 of all plans for the benefit of his city and 
 county. During his twenty-seven years' 
 residence in Fort Howard he has wit- 
 nessed the accomplishment of great and 
 beneficial changes, to which he has per- 
 sonally contributed in no small degree. 
 
 Recognizing the truth of the adage 
 that "it is not good for man to live 
 alone," Maj. Howland was married in 
 
 Kenosha, in 1867, to Edith L. Sj-kes, a 
 native of New York, and daughter of 
 Byron and Antoinette (Torrey) Sykes, 
 earl}' settlers in the county named. Mrs. 
 Howland's mother is deceased, but her 
 father is yet living, and resides with his 
 daughter at Fort Howard. Major and 
 Mrs. Howland have two living children : 
 Ebcn W. , a graduate in the class of 1894 
 from the Wisconsin State University at 
 Madison, and Maud A., attending St. 
 Marguerite College at Chicago. 
 
 ROBERT JACKSON, merchant, of 
 De Pere, was born February 2, 
 1826, in Fifeshire, Scotland. His 
 father, Henry Jackson, who was a 
 blacksmith by trade, was married to An- 
 nie White, who bore him the following 
 children: Margaret; Henry, who died in 
 Marquette in 1893; Robert, our subject; 
 Elspet, now Mrs. William Michie, of 
 West Superior; Walter, of Buffalo county. 
 Wis.; Thomas, of ^^'est De Pere; Alex- 
 ander, of Winona, Minn., and Peter, of 
 Milwaukee. The parents of this family 
 died in Scotland, and later all the chil- 
 dren came to America, Robert being the 
 first to make the voyage. When a lad of 
 fourteen, Robert entered upon an appren- 
 ticeship of four years to a blacksmith in 
 Scotland named David Lyle, and also 
 became a machinist, and later worked as 
 a smith for his father. 
 
 On June i, 1848, bidding farewell to 
 his native land, he sailed from Greenock 
 on the "Charlotte Harrison," and. after 
 a voyage of six weeks, landed in New York 
 with but a few dollars in his pocket. 
 From New York he proceeded to Albany, 
 and thence over the old "strap road" 
 to Buffalo. N. Y. , thence via the lakes, 
 to Kenosha, Wis., where he found work 
 and remained two years; from there he 
 went to Oconto county (then a part of 
 Brown county). Wis., where for two years 
 he acted as engineer for a sawmill. In 1852 
 he came to De Pere and bought out a 
 blacksmith shop, which he carried on for 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 401 
 
 several j-ears, and then took charge of a 
 sawmill for Ritchie, Reed & Ritchie, of 
 the same city, with whom he remained 
 fourteen years, or until the firm dissolved. 
 About this time the citizens of the East 
 side formed a stock company and erected 
 a furnace, in the construction of which 
 Mr. Jackson acted as master mechanic, 
 putting in all the machinery; he was then 
 sent to Menomonee, where he superin- 
 tended the erection of another furnace and 
 also conducted it for several years. He 
 then engaged with Kirby, Carpenter & 
 Co., at that time the most extensive lum- 
 bermen of the Northwest, and for four 
 years was an engineer in one of their large 
 mills at Menomonee. He next contracted 
 for the building of a furnace at Charlevoix, 
 Mich. , and after its completion built a fur- 
 nace at Florence, Wis. ; then at Marcel- 
 lone, Mich., he commenced to build an- 
 other furnace, but left before its comple- 
 tion, returning to De Pere, where he was 
 instrumental in ha\ing erected, near by, a 
 large sawmill, known as the Potts mill, 
 the construction of which he superin- 
 tended. In company with Andrew Reed, 
 Mr. Jackson built the first tug-boat owned 
 in De Pere, which boat was used in the 
 towing of logs, doing good service for sev- 
 eral years, and was then rebuilt and re- 
 fitted under the superintendency of Mr. 
 Jackson, who was probably without an 
 equal at that time in mechanical skill, and 
 who, even now, though nearing his seven- 
 tieth year, is often consulted in regard to 
 intricate portions of disabled machinery. 
 Mr. Jackson has been identified, beyond 
 doubt, with more enterprises than any 
 other individual now living in De Pere, 
 and was especially active in the agitation 
 of the waterworks question. He is a great 
 lover of athletics, and still indulges with 
 great zest in curling, at wiiich he is an 
 expert. 
 
 In the spring of 1849 Mr. Jackson 
 married, in Kenosha. Wis., Miss Elizabeth 
 Heggie, a native of the same part of 
 Scotland whence he came. The result of 
 this union has been the birth of the fol- 
 
 lowing children: Henry, a machinist; 
 and Charles W., Robert, and Frank (all 
 three merchants), all of De Pere. With 
 his two sons, Charles and Robert, Mr. 
 Jackson now conducts the most extensive 
 general store in De Pere. Although at 
 one time a Democrat in his political 
 affinities, he is now a Republican, and 
 cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham 
 Lincoln. He is strong in his belief in the 
 principles of the party, and is one of its 
 most stanch supporters. Under its au- 
 spices he has, at different times, been 
 called upon to serve as alderman, and no 
 one has filled that office with greater 
 credit and ability, nor given greater satis- 
 faction to the citizens. He and his wife 
 are conscientious members of the Presby- 
 terian Church, to the support of which he 
 is a most liberal contributor, and of 
 which he is a trustee and substantial 
 pillar. Although coming to the United 
 States a poor boy, Mr. Jackson has 
 reached wealth and prominence through 
 the exercising of those sterling principles 
 of integrity, industry and perseverance, 
 which seem to be inherent in the race to 
 which he belongs. His career is worthy 
 the close study of young men who have 
 yet to make their way in the world, and 
 his nobility of character well worthy their 
 emulation. His amiable wife also de- 
 serves great credit for her share in the 
 good work that has been done toward the 
 accumulation of the worldly wealth that is 
 now making their declining years com- 
 paratively days of rest, and assuredly of 
 solid comfort; and the respect in which 
 the family is held gives evidence that 
 their many virtues are fully appreciated 
 by their fellow citizens. 
 
 AUGUST THIELE, the partner of 
 William Handeyside in the most 
 popular livery establishment of 
 the city of De Pere, was born 
 September 29, 1848, in Brandenburg, 
 near Berlin, Germany, son of Gottlieb 
 
402 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and Hannah (Pfeiffer; Thiele, who both 
 died in that country. They were the 
 parents of Karl, August, Hannah, Gusta 
 and Wilham, of whom WiUiani and Au- 
 gust are the only ones living in America. 
 August Thiele was reared as a day la- 
 borer, beginning at the age of nine as a 
 driver of cattle, and afterward working as 
 a farm hand. He was industrious and 
 saving, and by 1872 had accumulated 
 money sufficient to bring him to America. 
 Landing at New York, he at once took his 
 departure for Wisconsin, and here worked 
 at Waukesha, in the lime kilns and at 
 other work, until he had earned money 
 enough to take him to Morrison, Brown 
 Co. , Wis. , where he worked in all for ten 
 years in Morrison town and in the town 
 of Glenmore.in Fenton's sawmill, and also 
 in Evans' sawmill. He then made a trip 
 to Dakota, worked a year, after which he 
 came to De Pere, where he worked a year 
 for his brother-in-law, Mark Snyder, then 
 engaged in the livery business. At the 
 end of the year he bought Mr. Snyder 
 out. At that time the barn contained 
 only nine horses; now the stables contain 
 sixteen. Soon after his return from Da- 
 kota Mr. Thiele was married, April 24, 
 1882, to Mrs. Christine (Snyder), widow 
 of Adam Kammern (to whom she was 
 married May 11, 1869) and daughter of 
 Frank and Appolonia (Hangan) Snyder, 
 who were the parents of six children : 
 Philip, Christine, Mark, Libbie, William 
 and Alary. The father of this family was 
 a mason and also a tanner, and at the age 
 of twenty came to America, and for a 
 while lived in Jackson, Washington Co. , 
 Wis.; thence he moved to Town 10, about 
 twenty miles from Milwaukee, where he 
 was married at about the age of thirty, 
 and finally came to Brown county, where 
 he owned a sawmill. Here he died after 
 a residence of thirty years in the township. 
 His widow died in De Pere, while residing 
 with Mr. Thiele. Mrs. August Thiele 
 had, by her first husband, one daughter 
 named Abbie M. Kammern, born in Mil- 
 waukee, Wis., June 23, 1872, who now 
 
 makes her home with her mother, but at 
 the present time is teaching school. 
 
 For five years after coming to De Pere 
 Mr. Thiele carried on the livery business 
 on his sole account, making, in the inter- 
 val, many improvements in the stock and 
 stable ; then joined Mr. Handeyside, and 
 has since enjoyed a most successful busi- 
 ness. The children born to Mr. Thiele, 
 two in number, are Frank and Philip, who 
 are attending school at De Pere. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Thiele are members of the Ger- 
 man Evangelical Church. In politics he 
 is a Republican, and fraternally he is an 
 Odd Fellow. As a business man he is 
 recognized as one of the foremost in De- 
 Pere, all being conscious of the fact that 
 he has raised himself, by his industry and 
 enterprise, from comparative obscurity to 
 his present prosperity. 
 
 EDWARD FLYNN (deceased). 
 This gentleman, who, during his 
 lifetime, was well-known among 
 the farmers of Holland township, 
 Brown county, was a native of Ireland, 
 born in March, 1827. 
 
 His parents, Eugene and Alice (Mc- 
 Guren) Flynn, who were farming people 
 of Ireland, lived and died in their native 
 country. They had a family of three 
 children, namely: James, Bridget, and 
 Edward, of whom Edward was the only 
 one who came to America. He was 
 reared to farming, which he followed in 
 Ireland until 1848, when he came to the 
 New World, landing at Quebec. He 
 subsequently came to Wisconsin, and in 
 Holland township. Brown county, pur- 
 chased 160 acres of new land, where he 
 made a permanent home. After coming 
 to America he was married, and by this 
 union had two children, John and James. 
 The mother of these died, and on April 
 29, 1872, he wedded, for his second wife, 
 Miss Bridget Finnegan, who was born 
 in May, 1833. in Ireland, daughter of 
 Charles and Bridget (Golden) Finnegan, 
 who were the parents of the following 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 403 
 
 named nine children: Mary, Patrick, 
 John, Ceha, Sarah, Thomas, Margaret, 
 Bridget, and Hannah, of whom but two 
 are now Hving, Bridget and Patrick. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Finnegan ne\er came to the 
 United States, but three of their children 
 emigrated at different times. Mrs. Flynn 
 left Ireland in the spring of 1852, and 
 landed in New York City on the sixth of 
 May, after a rough voyage of thirty-six 
 days. She remained in the city a few 
 days and then continued her journey to 
 Schenectady, N. Y., where her two 
 sisters, Sarah and Margaret, were living, 
 and after a three-years' residence there 
 she went to Buffalo, N. Y. , where she 
 kept house for Bishop Ryan about six- 
 teen years. When she came to Holland 
 township the farm was still partly un- 
 cleared, and for a time they lived in a log 
 cabin, which was the first building erected 
 on the place, and it is still standing. Mr. 
 Flynn devoted his time exclusively to his 
 farm, and met with encouraging success 
 in his vocation, continuing to follow same 
 up to the time of his death, which oc- 
 curred November 7, 1882, the result of 
 kidney disease; his remains were interred 
 in Holland cemetery. He was a self- 
 made man in the truest sense, for he 
 had amassed a comfortable competence 
 by persevering industry, and he was re- 
 spected by all who knew him for his 
 honesty and fair dealing. His widow 
 continues to reside upon the homestead, 
 the management of which is now in the 
 hands of the son John. 
 
 JOHN F"LYNN was born November 
 25, 1864, in Holland township. Brown 
 Co., Wis., and was reared to farm life on 
 the homestead under the direction of his 
 father. At the latter's death he and his 
 brother James, who now conducts a sa- 
 loon business in Chicago, became owners 
 of the farm, eighty acres of which are 
 highly cultivated. On June 26, 1891, 
 John Flynn was united in marriage with 
 Miss Catherine Finnegan, daughter of 
 Michael and Sarah Finnegan, natives of 
 Ireland, who immigrated to America in 
 
 1848, and settled in Woodville township, 
 Calumet county, where Mrs. Flynn lived 
 until her marriage. To this union has 
 come one child, Angeline, born October 
 II, 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Flynn are de- 
 vout members of the Catholic Church, 
 and they are highly esteemed throughout 
 their section, Mr. Flynn being regarded 
 as one of the substantial, progressive 
 young men in his township. In his po- 
 litical preferences he is a Democrat, but 
 he takes no part in politics except as a 
 regular attendant at the polls. 
 
 CHARLES CLEEREMANS, gar- 
 dener and farmer, Fort Howard, 
 came to the place in 1882 and set- 
 tled on a ten-acre tract purchased 
 on the Wolf creek road. This he sold 
 later and purchased the twenty-acre prop- 
 erty he now owns on the line between 
 Fort Howard and Ashwaubenon. He is 
 also owner of a lot on Wolf creek, and 
 has this year (1894) erected a residence. 
 Mr. Cleeremans was born in 1841, in 
 Belgium, and came to the Bay Settlement 
 April I, 1867, with his parents, Frank and 
 Mary (De Long) Cleeremans, the family 
 locating upon and clearing up a farm in 
 Scott township. The father died in 1877, 
 the mother in 1872. Our subject was 
 educated thoroughly in the schools of 
 Belgium, spending twelve years in those 
 educational institutions. He was mar- 
 ried in 1870, and the same year settled 
 upon a farm in Kewaunee county. Wis. , 
 selling out and removing to Fort Howard, 
 after clearing forty acres. His wife. Miss 
 Caroline Arkins, was born in Belgium, 
 and came, in 1856, to Kewaunee county 
 with her parents, John Bertis and Mary 
 E. (Randall) Arkins, both of whom are 
 now deceased. Twelve children ha\e been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Cleeremans: John 
 B. , Jennie, Mary, Joe, Frank, Aleck, 
 Peter, Julia, Felix, Rosa, Anton, and 
 Susan. The parents are members of St. 
 Willibrord's Church, at Green Bay, Mr. 
 Cleeremans being also a member of the 
 
404 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPIHCAL RECORD. 
 
 Catholic Knights at that place, and of the 
 Catholic Order of Foresters. Green Ba\' 
 land Fort Howard have undergone won- 
 drous changes in the thirty years since Mr. 
 Cleeremans came to the locality, and he 
 has, to a considerable degree, contributed 
 personally to this development. 
 
 BP. SWEENEY. This gentleman 
 ranks among the leading success- 
 ful farmers of Glenmore township, 
 Brown county, where he is highly 
 esteemed and well known, having been a 
 resident of same for almost forty years. 
 
 His father, Peter Sweeney, was born 
 in County Kerry, Ireland, and there mar- 
 ried Ellen Brennan, who bore him three 
 children in Ireland, Patrick, Catherine and 
 Ann. About 1840 they came to the 
 United States, and for a time lived in the 
 Eastern States, where two more children 
 were born to them, B. P. (our subject) 
 and Jeremiah. In 1854 the family came 
 westward to Wisconsin, where, the coun- 
 try being then new, cheap homes could 
 be had. Mr. Sweeney found employ- 
 ment on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul railroad as a day laborer, his family 
 living along the road near Horicon, Wis., 
 for two years, where they kept boarders. 
 Then, in 1857, they came to De Pere, at 
 that time a small village, containing but 
 one store, and here the father worked 
 as a laborer until the fall of the year, when 
 he came to Section 14, Glenmore town- 
 ship, purchasing forty acres for one hun- 
 dred and twent}' dollars cash. The place 
 was then literally a " howling wilderness," 
 wild animals were numerous, and the only 
 signs of civilization were the trails which 
 led through the forest. Not a tree had 
 been felled, and Mr. Sweeney erected the 
 first house on the place, a log one, and 
 commenced the task of clearing at once. 
 He was hard-working and persevering, and 
 the farm soon began to put on a cultivated 
 appearance and to afford its owner an in- 
 come. Those days of toil and hardship 
 are no more, and, as the old pioneers are 
 
 in August 
 vanced age 
 
 one by one rapidly passing away, the story 
 of their lives is all that is left to coming- 
 generations of the trials and hardships 
 which they endured. Mr. Sweeney con- 
 tinued to reside on the farm in Glenmore 
 township until his death, which occurred 
 1892, when he was at the ad- 
 of ninety years. His wife 
 preceded him to the grave in March, 
 1882, and they now rest side by side in 
 Glenmore cemetery. Both were members 
 of St. Mary's Church, at Glenmore. For 
 several years prior to his decease Mr. 
 Sweeney led a retired life, making his 
 home with our subject. 
 
 B. P. Sweeney, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, was born August 23, 
 1849, in Springfield, Mass., came west- 
 ward with his parents to Wisconsin, and 
 is now the only member of the family re- 
 maining in Brown county. Here he was 
 reared to manhood, and at the early age 
 of eight years commenced to assist his 
 father in the clearing up of the farm he 
 now owns and resides upon, where he re- 
 ceived a thorough training to agricultural 
 life. He received his literary education 
 in the common schools of the period 
 the first school he attended being in 
 District No. 2, Glenmore township, and 
 Maurice Casey was his first teacher. 
 At that time lumbering was the most 
 popular pursuit for young men in that 
 region, and he also worked in the luinber 
 camps. 
 
 On July 4, 1872, Mr. Sweeney was 
 married, in Cedarburg, Wis., to Miss 
 Johanna Sullivan, who was born in that 
 town, daughter of Michael Sullivan, and 
 the young couple took up their home on 
 their present farm, living with his parents 
 during their lifetime. Shortly after his 
 marriage he purchased eighty acres of the 
 farm, following agriculture thereon, any 
 in later years added the other eightd 
 acres to the place. In 1890 he erected 
 the comfortable dwelling in which the 
 family now live, which is the third resi- 
 dence built on the farm. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sweeney were born eight children, viz. : 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOdliAI'IIlCAL RECORD. 
 
 405 
 
 Nellie, John, Mary, Catherine. Julia, 
 William, Celia and Frances, all living. 
 The mother was called from earth in the 
 fall of 1894. Our subject has given his 
 farming interests the closest attention, 
 and has become one of the foremost agri- 
 culturists in his section, taking a lively 
 interest in every movement for its benefit 
 or improvement. He has held ever}' 
 office in the gift of the township, and is 
 now serving as clerk, to which office he 
 was appointed in 1 890. and has been 
 elected each time since; he was treasurer 
 five years, chairman of the township four 
 years, as well as assessor and supervisor, 
 and for years justice of the peace; and in 
 every capacity he has shown himself an 
 earnest, efficient worker. fn his party 
 preferences he is a Democrat, and he is 
 a member of St. Mary's Church, as was 
 also his wife. He is highly respected for 
 the part he has taken in the opening up 
 and development of his section, where he 
 is widelv known. 
 
 OTTO N. OLDENBURG, of the 
 firm of G. Oldenburg & Co., fur- 
 niture dealers and undertakers, 
 was born in i860, at Fort Howard, 
 where he now lives, and is a son of Ger- 
 hard and Margaret ( Berner) Oldenburg. 
 The former, a native of Schleswig-Hol- 
 stein, Germany, came to Fort Howard 
 when a 3'oung man, with the family of his 
 father, Anton Oldenburg, whose wife had 
 died in Germany. Anton Oldenburg died 
 in Madison, Wis., during the war of the 
 Rebellion. 
 
 Gerhard Oldenburg, who was a cabi- 
 net-maker and millwright by trade, was 
 married at Fort Howard, in 1853, to Miss 
 Margaret Berner, who was born in Ger- 
 many, and had come in an early day to 
 Green Bay, Wis. Mr. Oldenburg fol- 
 lowed his trade until the breaking out of 
 the war, when he was appointed State 
 carpenter and stationed at Madison, where 
 he remained during the war. Returning 
 to Fort Howard in 1865, he established 
 
 himself in the furniture business. He 
 was a Republican in politics, serving as 
 supervisor from the Fifth ward. He held 
 membership in Washington Lodge, No. 
 21, F. & A. M., and was an e.xcellent citi- 
 zen. His death occured June 9, 1890, 
 he having lived to see remarkable changes 
 and developments in the region he had 
 chosen for his home so many years before. 
 His widow yet resides in F"ort Howard. 
 Their children were : Sophia, wife of 
 Rev. A. H. Kopplin, West Bend, Wis. ; 
 Anton, married and residing in Fort How- 
 ard ; Henry, married and located in the 
 practice of law at Carlton, Minn. ; Otto 
 N. ; Amelia, unmarried ; Margaret, de- 
 ceased when but four years oldT and 
 Lewis. 
 
 Otto N. Oldenburg received his edu- 
 cation in the public schools of Fort How- 
 ard, and attended the Green Bay Busi- 
 ness College, under Prof. Blackman. He 
 has since been engaged in business as first 
 noted, the firm dating its establishment 
 to 1865. As a decendant of a pioneer 
 family, and himself a native of Fort How- 
 ard, Mr. Oldenburg, although yet a 
 young man, has grown up with his city 
 and seen its development. He was 
 married January 3, 1894, to Miss Joseph- 
 ine Anderson, who was born in Sturgeon 
 Bay, Wis., where her father, Charley 
 Anderson, was an early settler ; he is now 
 deceased. Politically Mr. Oldenburg is 
 a Republican, and in religious connection 
 a member of the Moravian Church. He 
 belongs also to Washington Lodge, No. 
 21, F. & A. M., and to Warren Chapter, 
 No. 8, R. A. M. 
 
 HENin' A. STRAUBEL, retired 
 citizen of Green Bay, was well 
 known in the city eighteen \'ears 
 as the senior member of the firm 
 of Straubel & Eberling, millers. He is a 
 native of Germany, born May 11, 1841, 
 in the village of Blankenburg, Schwarz- 
 burg-Rudolstadt. 
 
 His parents, Frederick and Caroline 
 
4o6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 (Lenke) Straubel, also natives of Ger- 
 many, immigrated with their family to Wis- 
 consin in 1846, settling in Green Bay, 
 where the father followed his trade, 
 blacksmithing, until retiring from active 
 work. He died in 1885, the mother in 
 
 1872. They were the parents of six chil- 
 dren, a brief record of whom is as follows: 
 Carl was drowned about the year 1856; 
 Dorothea married Lewis Loher, and re- 
 sides at Calumet, Wis. ; Minnie married 
 A. Friedman, moved to New York, and 
 died there in 1872 ; Ernest followed black- 
 smithing for a time in Green Bay, and 
 since 1873 has been engaged in the manu- 
 facture of brick ; Henry A. is the subject 
 of this sketch ; Adoph died in the United 
 States at the age of three and a half years. 
 
 Henry A. Straubel was five years old 
 when the family immigrated to the Western 
 World and took up their new home in the 
 town of Green Bay. Here, at the com- 
 mon schools, he received a somewhat limit- 
 ed education, and learning the trade of 
 wagon-maker, followed same from the 
 time he was twelve years of age until 
 
 1873, when he embarked in the milling 
 business, continuing therein successfully 
 for eighteen years ; he retired from active 
 l)usiness life March i, 1894. Between 
 the years i859and 1861 Mr. Straubel was 
 traveling throughout the South and West, 
 and in the latter year he enlisted in Com- 
 pany H, Ninth Wis., V. I., for three 
 years' service, being mustered in at Mil- 
 waukee. His regiment was attached to 
 the army of the West, and participated 
 in the Missouri and Arkansas campaigns, 
 and at the battle of Newtonia our subject 
 was taken prisoner, remaining in the hands 
 of the Confederates, for three months. 
 In 1863 he received an honorable dis- 
 charge, and returning to Green Bay com- 
 menced the carriage and wagon making 
 business, subsequently, in 1873, embark- 
 ing in the milling business, in which, in 
 1877, he formed a partnership with J. H. 
 Eberling, . The mill is a fine brick build- 
 ing, erected by Straubel & Eberling on 
 the site of the former's wagon shop, and 
 
 is thoroughly equipped, having a capacity 
 of 300 barrels per day. Mr. Straubel also 
 owns a half interest in "Cook's Hotel," 
 a four-story, seventy-room brick building, 
 located on the corner of W^ashington and 
 Cherry streets. Green Bay ; is a stock- 
 holder in the Columbia Bakery, Green 
 Bay, in the Brown County Fair and Park 
 Association, in the Green Bay Planing- 
 mill. Electric Light Plant, etc., and since 
 1884 has been a director of the Citizens 
 National Bank, of which he was one of 
 the organizers. 
 
 On November 17, 1868, Henry A. 
 Straubel and Miss Minnie Altman were 
 united in marriage. She is a native of 
 Wisconsin, born in Manitowoc county, a 
 daughter of early settlers of that section, 
 now deceased. To this union two chil- 
 dren have been born, viz. : Carl, who was 
 bookkeeper for the Citizens National Bank 
 for five years, and Arthur. In politics 
 our subject is a Republican, and has served 
 as a member of the city council some si.\ 
 years. Socially he is a member of Her- 
 man Lodge, No. Ill, I. O. O. F. (in 
 which he has passed all the chairs), and of 
 T. O. Howe Post, No. 124, G. A. R. 
 Mr. Straubel is the owner of real estate 
 in Green Bay and a productive farm of 
 seventy-eight acres in Allouez township ; 
 he has won his position in the world by 
 his own energy, industry and good man- 
 agement, and is a deservedly success- 
 ful man. 
 
 JAMES DRAKE, proprietor of the 
 Green Bay Nursery, and a promi- 
 nent, enterprising citizen, is by birth 
 an Englishman, born September i, 
 1826, in the village of Prelerton, War- 
 wickshire, a son of Isaac and Elizabeth 
 f Punn ) Drake, also natives of England. 
 In 1 840 the family came to the United 
 States, first locating in Monroe county, N. 
 Y. , on a farm, but some time later, about 
 1855, moving to Wisconsin, opening up a 
 farm in Sheboygan county, where the 
 father died May 4, 1894, the mother about 
 
coMMEMon.y Tivh: nioauAPnicAL record. 
 
 407 
 
 the year 1859. They were the parents of 
 eight cliildren, of whom tlie following is a 
 brief record: Mar\- is the widow of Simeon 
 Pond, who was a member of Company F, 
 Twenty-seventh Wis. V. I., and died in 
 1864, at Helena, Ark., from disease con- 
 tracted in the service; James is the subject 
 of this sketch; George, a farmer, resides 
 in Minnesota; John enlisted in Sheboygan 
 county in Company F, Twenty-seventh 
 Wis. V. I., and died in 1864 at Memphis, 
 Tcnn. ; Eliza and William both died in 
 Sheboygan county, the former in 1859, 
 the latter in 1868; Jennie died of con- 
 sumption in 18 — ; Isaac P. lives in Min- 
 nesota, where he is an extensive stock 
 raiser. 
 
 James Drake, whose name opens this 
 sketch, was fourteen years old when he 
 left his native Warwickshire — the county 
 that gave Ijirth to the greatest of all 
 poets — and consequently received all his 
 education there. In this country he 
 worked on farms till soon after the break- 
 ing out of the Civil war, when, fired with 
 military ardor, he enlisted in August, 
 1862, in Company F, Twenty-seventh 
 Wis. V. I., for three years, and was 
 mustered in at Milwaukee the following 
 October. He participated in the battle of 
 Cape Girardeau, Mo., and the siege of 
 Vicksburg, after which he was taken sick 
 and confined to hospital at Helena, Ark. 
 In May, 1865, he was honorably dis- 
 charged at Memphis, Tenn., for disability, 
 and returned home. In 1866 he com- 
 menced in the nursery lousiness, in which 
 he has since continued with the most sat- 
 isfactory results, having met with un- 
 bounded success; in 1879 he permanently 
 located in Green Bay. In 1855 he was 
 married, in New York, to Miss Roxana 
 Davis, by which union there is one child, 
 James H., now a resident of Milwaukee, 
 Wis. , proprietor of a livery stable there, 
 and a dealer in horses. This wife dying, 
 Mr. Drake, in 1870, was married, in 
 Fond du Lac, Wis., to Miss Jennie E. 
 Prink, daughter of Rev. Peter and Eu- 
 retta P. (Collins) Prink, all natives of 
 
 New York City, who came, in 1844, to 
 Oshkosh, Wis., where Mr. Prink erected 
 the third frame house. He was a Bap- 
 tist missionary, and resided there three 
 years, or until 1847, when he moved to 
 Weyauwega, Waupaca county, where he 
 passed the rest of his useful life, dying in 
 1865; his wife died in Green Bay, March 
 25, 1885. He was widely known as a 
 zealous and faithful divine, and he organ- 
 ized churches of the Baptist denomina- 
 tion in Appleton, Neenah, etc. Twelve 
 children were born to him, as follows: 
 Laura, who married Matthew Crinell, of 
 Albany, N. Y., and died in 1886; Edwin, 
 who was one of the first settlers of Med- 
 ford. Wis., and the first judge of Taylor 
 county, died in 1885 (he served during 
 the Civil war in a New York regiment); 
 Collins, who died in Wisconsin in Feb- 
 ruary, 1874 (he served in the Ci\il war as 
 a member of the First Wisconsin Cav- 
 alry); Amanda, who married William 
 Graves, of New York City, and died De- 
 cember 20, 1893 (Mr. Graves served in 
 the regular army); Ruth, wife of Lindall 
 H. Crosby, of Walnut Grove, Mo. ; Sarah 
 Ermetta, residing at Oshkosh; Oscar 
 Henry, who served three years in the 
 F"irst Wisconsin Cavalry, now residing in 
 Oilman, Iowa; Jennie E., Mrs. Drake; 
 Eugene, who also served three years in 
 the First Wisconsin Cavalry, and now re- 
 sides at Eau Claire, Wis., where he is a 
 gardener and proprietor of a meat market; 
 W^illiam, now a resident of Oilman, Iowa, 
 who served two years in the First Wis- 
 consin Cavalry; Elijah, a lumberman; 
 and Emma H., wife of E. A. Williams, a 
 surveyor, both of Stevens Point, Wis. 
 When the younge.T. '' these was thirty- 
 two years old, all tuc members of the 
 family were alive. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Drake is in- 
 dependent, always supporting men and 
 measures that he considers best for the 
 general good; sociallv, he is a member of 
 T. O. Howe Post, No. 124, 0. A. R. He 
 and Mrs. Drake are members of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, She is identified with 
 
4oS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUWAL llECOUD. 
 
 many beneficent works; was one of the 
 organizers of the Woman's Relief Corps, 
 was president during the first three terms, 
 and was an officer of the Department in 
 1892. She is also superintendent of the 
 Children's Home Society of Green Bay. 
 
 AUGUST F. RADOE (deceased), 
 for many years a much esteemed 
 citizen of Eaton township, Brown 
 county, was a native of the Father- 
 land, born March 26, 1820, in the village 
 of Arnswaldc, Prussia. His parents, Daniel 
 and Sophia (Leipsite) Radoe, had a family 
 of five children, as follows: August F. , 
 the subject of this sketch; Christian F., 
 who lives in Africa, where he owns 1,020 
 acres of land; John, who died leaving a 
 wife and several children; Ernest, who 
 lives in Russia; and Henrietta, Mrs. Vclse, 
 who resides in Germany. The parents 
 were only in moderate circumstances, and 
 consequently the children commenced to 
 earn a living early in life. 
 
 When our subject was fifteen }'ears 
 old he hired out as a shepherd boy, and 
 continued in that occupation two years, 
 receiving ten dollars a year for his services. 
 For the nc.\t two years he served as 
 coachman to a private family, and then 
 commenced to learn the trade of wagon- 
 maker, at which he served an apprentice- 
 ship of three years, and for which his 
 parents paid tvventv-five dollars. After 
 completing his apprenticeship he worked 
 as journeyman at various places in Ger- 
 many until 1843, when he married Miss 
 Henrietta Coldeme, who died eight years 
 after, leaving five children. Tn 1854 Mr. 
 Radoe wedded Miss Augusta Harder, and 
 the following year they emigrated to Amer- 
 ica, landing in Quebec after an eight-weeks' 
 voyage, thence coming directly to Mil- 
 waukee by boat, and from there to Water- 
 town, Wis., where Mr. Radoe entered the 
 employ of a wagonmaker. After working 
 for his employer two months, our subject 
 rented the shop and conducted it on his own 
 account two years, at the end of which 
 
 time he came to Eaton township, and 
 purchased eighty acres of land, where he 
 passed the rest of his days. At that early 
 date there were but four or fi\e other set- 
 tlers in the town, and their nearest trading 
 point was Green Bay, a trip to the mill and 
 back occupying three days; and, as there 
 was but one ox-team in the town, all the 
 neighbors would arrange to send their grist 
 at the same time, Mr. Radoe cleared and 
 cultivated his land, converting it into a 
 highly improved tract, where he and his son 
 conducted a profitable farming business. 
 Hediedjuly2, 1894, universally respected 
 in Eaton township, where he was recog- 
 nized as a kind-hearted neighbor and loyal 
 citizen. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Radoe liad a fannly of 
 nine children, their names and dates of 
 birth being as follows: ^^aria P., August 
 31, 1855; Albertina A., December 28, 
 1857,; William D., January 19, i860; Carl 
 R., February y, 1862; Gustave A., March 
 6, 1864 (deceased July 28, 1865); Aim 
 R. and Herman T. (twins), April 13, 
 1866; Augusta L., December 9, 1869; and 
 Louis M., December 22, 1873. The 
 mother of this family passed from earth 
 November 22, 1888. Mr. Radoe was a 
 Methodist in religious belief, and, though 
 there is no church of that denomination 
 in Eaton township, he was nnich inter- 
 ested in all church work; he donated the 
 land for the cemetery in Eaton township, 
 and gave a ready support to all beneficial 
 movements of interest to the comnumity 
 in general. In 1891 he made a trip to 
 his native country, returning after a pleas- 
 ant visit of about four months. 
 
 JOHN MEEHAN, a well-known agri- 
 culturist of New Denmark township. 
 Brown county, is a native of Ire- 
 land, born July 19, 1836, son of 
 Thomas and Mary (Jordan) Meehan, who 
 were farming people of that country. 
 They had children as follows: John. 
 Ellen, Kate, Ann, Mary, and Christopher, 
 of whom John is the subject of this sketch; 
 
COMMEMORATIVE Bl()(iIlAI'ni(JAL RECORD. 
 
 409 
 
 Ellen became Mrs. John Moore, of Den- 
 mark, Hrowii Co., Wis.; Kate is the wife 
 of P. Fagan, of Denmark; Ann died in 
 infancy, and Mary keeps house for her 
 brother Jolui. 
 
 In 1 849 the parents disposed of their 
 belongings in Ireland, and, proceeding to 
 Liverpool, embarked on an American- 
 bound vessel, landing in New York City. 
 Going at once to Troy, N. Y. , they lived 
 in that city one year, and then removed 
 to Lanesboro, Mass., where they made 
 their home about three years, Mr. Meehan 
 finding employment at the iron works. 
 From there the family removed westward 
 to Brown county. Wis., and settled on 
 160 acres of wild land which they had 
 purchased in New Denmark township 
 (the farm now occupied by our subject), 
 making their home for several years in a 
 log house, which is still standing. The 
 surrounding country was still unimproved, 
 and wild beasts and Indians were yet 
 numerous in the neighborhood. They 
 lived here about a year before they could 
 afford to buy a team, in the meantime 
 borrowing the o.x-team that belonged to 
 their neighbor, Mr. Bradley paying for 
 its use in work. Their trading was gen- 
 erally done in Manitowoc. On this farm 
 the parents passed the remainder of their 
 days, the father dying in 1870, the 
 mother in 1892, at the ripe old age of 
 ninetj'-two \ears. 
 
 John Meehan, being the eldest in the 
 family, commenced to w^ork at an early 
 age, and he had his full share of the pri- 
 vations and hardships of pioneer farm 
 life. He and his brother gave valuable 
 assistance to their father in the clearing 
 of the farm, which was no small task, as 
 the land had to be literally taken from the 
 forest. Work being so abundant at home, 
 he had but little opportunity to attend 
 even the .schools that flourished in the 
 neighborhood in those early days, but he 
 has acquired a practical business training. 
 In 1862 he went to Coles county. 111., 
 where he entered the service of the gov- 
 ernment, being employed to care for 
 
 horses for the army; and after remaining 
 there three years came home. Six 
 months later he went to Winona, Minn., 
 where he commenced railroading and 
 continued in that occupation six months, 
 since which time he has lived on the 
 homestead in New Denmark township. 
 His sister Mary has also remained on the 
 farm, and, as above mentioned, keeps 
 house for him. Mr. Meehan is an indus- 
 trious, progressive farmer, and is profit- 
 ably engaged in general agriculture. Po- 
 litically he is a Republican, and takes 
 great interest in the affairs of his party; 
 he has filled several minor offices, such as 
 supervisor and school director of his 
 township, with credit t(j himself and sat- 
 isfaction to all concerned, and is a di- 
 rector in the Farmers Insurance Com- 
 pany, of which he also served one year 
 as president. 
 
 CHRISTIAN KUNTZ, who, for the 
 past ten years, has been living re- 
 tired in Glenmore township, Brown 
 county, was born November 14, 
 181 3, in the village of Ottweiler, Rhine 
 Province, Prussia, son of Christian and 
 Sophia (Walsinger) Kuntz. They had 
 four sons — Christian, Jacob, Lewis and 
 Conrad — all of whom are now deceased, 
 except our subject. The mother died 
 when Christian was six years old, and his 
 father subsequently remarried. He died 
 in Germany, where he was a life-long 
 farmer. 
 
 Christian Kuntz attended the schools 
 of the Fatherland, was reared to farming, 
 which he continued to follow, and in his 
 early manhood, as is the custom in Ger- 
 many, ser\-ed three years in the army, 
 from 1833 to 1837. In the latter year, 
 his father having provided him with 
 money to come to the United States, he 
 proceeded to Havre, there embarking on 
 a vessel bound for New York, where he 
 landed after a voyage of twenty-eight 
 days. For two years he worked for a 
 farmer near Rochester, N. Y., and while 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BTOGRAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 in that State was married, in 1S38, to 
 Miss Caroline Conrad, also a native of 
 Germany. In the spring of 1843 they 
 came by water to Wisconsin, landing at 
 Milwaukee, whence Mr. Knnt/: went to 
 Washington (now Ozaukee) county, and 
 purchased a piece of new land. The 
 county had not _vet been divided into town- 
 ships, and he was the first settler in his 
 section. Clearing up his farm he resided 
 thereon until 1858, when he came to 
 Brown county, and here purchased 320 
 acres of wild land in Section 9, Morrison 
 township, on which tract he built the first 
 house and made the first improvements, 
 ha\'ing his home there until 1SS4, when 
 he came to Glenmore township. Here 
 he has since lived, retired from active 
 work, residing with his son-in-law, Adolph 
 Glawe. He was very successful in his 
 farming operations, being an industrious 
 worker and a good manager, and has also 
 been fortunate in his real estate invest- 
 ments. 
 
 Mrs. Caroline Kuntz died in 1857, in 
 Ozaukee county, where she was buried, and 
 Mr. Kuntz subsequently married in that 
 county Miss Elizabeth Klugg, a native of 
 Germany, to which union have come three 
 children : Henrietta, now Mrs. Adolph 
 Glawe, of Glenmore township ; Albert, a 
 farmer of Clark county. Wis. ; and Emma, 
 Mrs. Josejih Ivank, of Chippewa count}', 
 Wis. By his first wife there were chil- 
 dren as follows : Philip, who died young ; 
 Charles, who died in Brown county (he 
 served in the Civil war) ; Louis, who died 
 in New York State at the age of twenty- 
 three ; Caroline, Mrs. Powell Probstfeld, 
 of Missouri ; Henry, of Chippewa Falls, 
 Wis. ; Christian, of Marshfield, Wis. ; 
 Sophia, Mrs. Ernest Hafer, of Superior, 
 Wis. ; William, of Grand Rapids, Wis. ; 
 and Anna, also of Grand Rapids. 
 
 Mr. Kuntz has, until recent years, been 
 one of the most active men in his local- 
 ity, public-spirited, enterprising and ever 
 ready to encourage any measure of benefit 
 or interest to the community. He is an 
 adherent of the principles of the Demo- 
 
 I 
 
 cratic part\-, but uses his own judgment 
 in voting, always supporting the liest 
 man. He was seven times elected chair- 
 man of Morrison township, and also 
 served as supervisor, and for three terms 
 as assessor. In religious faith he is a 
 member of the Evangelical Church. He 
 has traveled more than the average 
 farmer. In 1841 he paid a visit to his 
 native land, spending a month there, and 
 again went to Europe in 1S84, this time 
 remaining four months in France, Hol- 
 land and Germany ; he has also journej'ed 
 extensively over Canada and the United 
 States, visiting almost every State in the 
 Union, and in all has traveled over twen- 
 ty-five thousand miles, some seventeen 
 thousand by water. Mr. Kuntz is well 
 preserved, has a good memory, and was 
 extremely robust until 1892, when an 
 attack of "la grippe" somewhat im- 
 paired his health. [Since the above was 
 written we have received intimation of the 
 death of Mr. Christian Kuntz. — Editou. 
 
 JOHN B. HEYRMAN, senior mem- 
 ber of the popular printing firm of 
 Heyrman & Kujpers, proprietors of 
 the Brown County Democrat, and 
 the Dc ]'olksstfiu, is one of the most 
 prominent of all the pioneers who came 
 to northern Wisconsin, conspicuous not 
 onlj' as such, but as one of the best-known 
 and most widel}- respected citizens in this 
 portion of the State. 
 
 Mr. Heyrman is a native of Belgium, 
 born in the town of Bornhem, Province 
 of Antwerpen, a son of John and Anna 
 Catherine (De Jonghe) Heyrman, also of 
 Belgian nativity, born respectively at 
 Basele, Province of East Flanders, and 
 at Bornhem, Province of Antwerpen. In 
 1856 the parents, accompanied by their 
 eldest son, Charles Louis, took second- 
 class passage on a sailing vessel for 
 America, and after an uneventful voyage 
 landed at New York — that is, the father 
 and son did, for the mother was fated 
 never to see land again, having, after a 
 
?'5^ (^ V^^-' 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 4'3 
 
 brief illness, died on mid-ocean, finding- a 
 grave in the deep bosom of the Atlantic 
 Ocean. From New York the bereaved 
 father and motherless son proceeded by 
 rail to Detroit, Mich., where two other 
 sons, John B. and Joseph, joined them, 
 thej' having arrived in the country the 
 previous year, as will be presently related. 
 The quartette then at once came to Wis- 
 consin, landing in Green Bay in 1856. 
 Here, in the town of Preble, they bought 
 a half section of timberland which they 
 immediate!)' began clearing with a view 
 to making a permanent stay. The father 
 died on this farm in 1874. The son, 
 Charles Louis, continued to reside there- 
 on, and cultivated it, until his decease in 
 1 89 1, after a prosperous career as an 
 agriculturist; he married, and had a family 
 of three sons and three daughters; and 
 when he died he left a widow and two 
 sons and two daughters. 
 
 John B. Heyrman, the subject proper 
 of this sketch, received a liberal education 
 at the common schools of his birthplace, 
 his instruction being in both the Flemish 
 and French languages, and in 1855, ac- 
 companied by his brother, Joseph, board- 
 •ed a sailing ship as passenger for the 
 United States, landing at New York. 
 From there they traveled to Philadelphia, 
 at which city they made an arrangement 
 with an American firm, owners of a large 
 tract of land in Luzerne county, Penn.,to 
 begin the clearing up of a portion of this 
 land for a Belgian colony, our subject be- 
 ing appointed superintendent of the work. 
 Accordingly, he and his brother, Joseph, 
 assisted by two other Belgians, com- 
 menced the work of clearing up a passage 
 to said land through a densely-timbered 
 wilderness. Arrived at their destination, 
 the first thing the party did was to put 
 up a log shanty, which, thanks to the 
 kindly assistance of the far-distant neigh- 
 bors, was ready to shelter them in a few 
 weeks. The nearest neighbor, an .Amer- 
 ican, was a true friend to the little pioneer 
 party of foreigners, and would willingly 
 
 have given his last crust of bread and 
 23 
 
 sacrificed his life in their defense; but 
 there was no danger, for there was plenty 
 of game to be had for the killing, and 
 nothing worthy of apprehension more 
 dangerous than an occasional visit from a 
 vagabond bear or wolf, themselves hunt- 
 ing for the necessaries of life. The near- 
 est tavern to this embryo colony was sit- 
 uated somewhere at the foot of the Alle- 
 ghany Mountains, on the Bloomsburg and 
 Towanda pike, the most popular hostelry 
 between these two points, and was kept 
 by a German named Keizer; while the 
 nearest store, at which they could pro- 
 cure their provisions, etc. , was no less 
 than thirty-five miles distant, a good day's 
 journey for a few pounds of tea or tobac- 
 co. On this wild piece of land these 
 four intrepid Belgians continued to live, 
 keeping a sort of "Bachelor's Hall," 
 hewing down the trees and clearing away 
 the brush, until the following spring, when 
 they "broke camp." The brothers Heyr- 
 man, having learned of the arrival of their 
 parents in the country, then set out for 
 Detroit, Mich., where they awaited them; 
 and, on the reunion of the family, the 
 party came direct to Wisconsin, as above 
 related. 
 
 During the first twelve years of his 
 residence in Wisconsin, John B. Heyr- 
 man lived on the farm with his father and 
 brothers, and then, having married, he 
 kept a general store at Bay Settlement, 
 Brown county, but at the end of two 
 years, owing to failures and fire, he lost 
 his all. At this time he hired out as a log 
 scaler to a lumberman for one winter, and 
 during the ensuing summer worked as 
 filer in the sawmill at New Franken, in 
 the town of Scott, Brown county. In 
 the fall of 1 87 1, having removed with his 
 family to De Pere, he recommenced mer- 
 cantile business, opening a general store 
 in that city, which he successfully con- 
 ducted seven years; then selling out in 
 order to be better at liberty to give his 
 attention to journalism, for which he had 
 a natural penchant. The paper he estab- 
 lished was the De Pere Standai-ii, at that 
 
414 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 time the only Catholic newspaiier in the 
 United States published in the Holland 
 language, and for twelve years he and his 
 associate conducted it with eminent abil- 
 ity and careful management. Mr. Heyr- 
 man then sold out his interest in the 
 Sftr/it/irn/ to iiis partner, and in January, 
 1890, in company with John Anton Kiiy- 
 pers, purchased the Brown County Dem- 
 ocrat (established m 1877), a weekly 
 paper printed in the English language, 
 and shortly afterward they commenced 
 the publication of a new Holland weekly, 
 Dc ]'o/ksstfii/, in connection with which 
 they conduct a general printing estab- 
 lishment, equipped with all modern im- 
 provements and facilities to be found in a 
 tirst-class office. The business is carried 
 on under the firm name of Heyrman & 
 Kuypers, and is steadily expanding. 
 
 On May 6, 1867, Mr. Heyrman was 
 united in marriage with Miss Barbara 
 Isabella De Both, also a native of Belgium, 
 born at Ottenburg, Province of Brabant, 
 and ten children — five sons and five 
 daughters — were born to them, of whom 
 two sons and two daughters died in in- 
 fancy; the survivors are Henry, Anna 
 Catherine, Mary Magdeline, Peter, Julia, 
 and Alexander, all grown to manhood 
 and womanhood. In his political sympa- 
 thies Mr. Heyrman has been a consistent 
 Democrat from the day he cast his first 
 vote, in 1856, to the present time; in 
 1875 he was elected a justice of the peace, 
 but rcsignetl the office before the close of 
 two years. For two successive years 
 he served as alderman of De Pere, since 
 when, in 1894, he was elected a member 
 of the county board of supervisors for 
 three years. Since 1872 he has been a 
 member of St. Joseph's Catholic Society 
 in De Pere. 
 
 Daily engaged in the details of his 
 prosperous business, faithful in the dis- 
 charge of all social and other obligations, 
 Mr. Heyrman yet finds time to make a 
 cordial and practical response to the calls 
 of philanthropy, and to join with his fel- 
 low citi;ecns in measures that tend to pro- 
 
 nTDte good government. He is honored 
 and respected by all who know him, and 
 enjoys a reputation for unflinching adher- 
 ence to the principles of right, justice and 
 freedom, which any man might covet. 
 
 JOHN G. GROSS, farmer, dairyman 
 and lumberman of Morrison town- 
 ship. Brown county, was born in 
 1 829, in Bavaria, Germany, where 
 he was reared and received his education. 
 He immigrated to America at the age of 
 twenty-one, and after remaining three 
 years in New York came to \\'isconsin, 
 first to Germantown, Washington county, 
 and thence to Morrison township. Brown 
 county, where he owns about 320 acres of 
 land, a portion of which has l)een cleared 
 and developed by his individual labor. In 
 1867 he commenced lumbering, a busi- 
 ness in which he met with such success that 
 in 1875 he purchasetl the mill which he now 
 manages. He also became a stockholder 
 in the first cheese factory established in 
 the town, an enterprise which proved 
 very profital)le to the people. For twenty- 
 five years he has assisted in the local civil 
 government, serving in various county and 
 town offices, representing his town on the 
 county hoard for eight years, and has also 
 taken a lively interest in educational af- 
 fairs. In 1853 Mr. Gross married Mar- 
 garet Moschel, and to their union have 
 come nine children — four sons and five 
 daughters. 
 
 CHARLES PRUST, of Morrison 
 township. Brown county, was 
 born March 8, 1846, in Germany, 
 a son of John and Charlotte 
 (Combis) Prust, who were the parents of 
 nine children, vi;;. : Frederick, Austine, 
 William, Charles, August, Johanna, and 
 Henry, all living; and Mary and Anna, 
 deceased. Charles Prust served a three 
 j'ears' apprenticeship at wagonmaking in 
 Germany, receiving for his last year's labor 
 fifteen dollars. The famih- then came to 
 
COMMEMORATIVE lilOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 4'5 
 
 America, sailing from Hamburg and land- 
 ing in Quebec, whence they came to 
 Wrightstown, Brown Co., Wis., where 
 the father bought a tract of forty acres of 
 cleared land. They remained at Wrights- 
 town until 1888, then removed to Marsh- 
 field, Wis., where the father also bought 
 forty acres of land, and there lived until 
 his death, May 12, 1*890. 
 
 After his arrival in Brown county our 
 subject went to Glenmore, and worked at 
 carpentering for two years, continuing to 
 work at that trade, for the most part, until 
 1887, when he started in the machine 
 business in De Pere, moving thence to 
 Morrison, where he engaged in the same 
 line of business until May, 1893; he had 
 bought eighty acres of land, mostly wild, 
 but in May, 1893, he sold his farm 
 and businesss and started a saloon. Mr. 
 Prust was united in marriage, December 
 5, 1869, with .Augusta Conrad, daughter 
 of Ludvvig and Caroline (Prust) Conrad, 
 and they have had nine children, as follows: 
 Minnie, Mary, Augusta, Ann, William, 
 
 Bertha, John, Harrison, and ■ . 
 
 In religious connection they are members 
 of the Evangelical Association, of which 
 Mr. Prust has been a trustee fifteen years, 
 treasurer thirteen years, and for four years 
 he was preacher. In politics he is a Re- 
 publican, and has served as supervisor, 
 assessor, and for two years as chairman. 
 Mr. Prust has made many friends in Mor- 
 rison, is popular in his business as well as 
 in his political relationship, and his family 
 are all highly respected as honest and 
 peaceable neighbors. 
 
 JH. TAYLEK, cashier of the McCart- 
 ney National Bank at Fort Howard, 
 Brown county, was born here in 
 1859, and is a descendant of a very 
 ancient English family. He is a son of 
 Joseph and M. V. TKennan) Tayler, the 
 former of whom came from England to 
 Xeenah, Wis., in 1852, soon after remov- 
 ing to Green Bay, where he engaged in 
 
 the commission business until 1857, the 
 year of his removal to Fort Howard ; 
 here he was engaged in mercantile busi- 
 ness for some years, but is now acting as 
 insurance agent. For about twenty years 
 he was postmaster at F"ort Howard, and 
 for a number of years has been cit)' treas- 
 urer, being always recognized as a first- 
 class business man and a model gentleman. 
 
 J. H. Tayler was reared and educated 
 in Fort Howard, and after leaving school 
 began his business life as assistant post- 
 master, holding the position with credit 
 for ten years ; he was city treasurer two 
 years, and since his connection with the 
 McCartney National Bank has also held 
 the office of mayor of Fort Howard. His 
 banking experience began with the or- 
 ganization of the E.xchange Bank in 1881, 
 of which David McCartney was the presi- 
 dent and Mr. Tayler the cashier ; in 1892 
 the McCartney National Bank was organ- 
 ized, with the same officials. During 
 this period of fourteen years Mr. Tayler 
 has maintained his position as cashier to 
 the entire satisfaction of the business pub- 
 lic, and his uniformly pleasant method of 
 performing his duties has made him a 
 favorite with the bank's customers and the 
 citizens generally. He is also a director 
 of the Green Bay and Fort Howard Water 
 Works Company. 
 
 Mr. Tayler was married, in 1889, to 
 Miss Eleanor J. Richardson, who was 
 born in Wisconsin, daughter of George 
 and Susan Richardson, the former a na- 
 tive of England who settled in Fort How- 
 ard about the year 1865. The only child 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Tayler, named 
 George R. , was taken from them in his 
 earliest childhood, causing a void in their 
 otherwise happy home that is felt most 
 keenly. Mr. Tayler is in politics a Re- 
 publican, believing that the principles pro- 
 mulgated by that party are the best adapt- 
 ed to the good of the people of the State 
 and Nation. In the social circles of Fort 
 Howard he and his wife are shining lights 
 and recognized ornaments, and in the 
 sterner and more serious conduct of local 
 
4i6 
 
 COMMEMOUATIVK BIOQRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 proj;;ress Mr. Taylcr's advice is eaj^erly 
 sought and is freely given, while he him- 
 self never fails to bear his full share of the 
 labor and cost of public improvements 
 — material, religious and educational. 
 
 M 
 
 j. CORBETT, wholesale and 
 retail grocer, Fort Howard, 
 Brown county. This gentle- 
 man, who is one of the promi- 
 nent business men and stanch citizens of 
 Fort Howard, has had an interesting and 
 varied experience. He was born in Ot- 
 tawa City, Canada, son of Lawrence 
 Corbett, a native of Ennis, County Clare, 
 Ireland, who died in Ottawa, Canada; 
 the mother of our subject died when he 
 was an infant. 
 
 M. J. Corbett was educated in a pri- 
 vate school in his native city. At the 
 age of fifteen years he went to Buffalo, 
 N. v., where he worked in a stone-yard 
 one season, and in the fall of 1866 shipped 
 as a boat hand and came to Fort How- 
 ard, Wis., here engaging in boating on 
 Green Bay, first on the "Sarah Van 
 Epps, " when she ran on the east shore, 
 later on the steamer "Ozaukee," and 
 afterward on the "Katie Reed." After a 
 few years' service on the Bay he entered 
 the boiler works of D. M. Burns, and 
 after remaining there some time served a 
 three or four years' apprenticeship as a 
 machinist in the Monitor Iron Works. 
 He next worked as a journeyman in the 
 Green Bay & Winona shops until 1877, 
 going thence to Lake City, Colo. , on a 
 prospecting tour, and later to Texas and 
 Alabama, where he followed his trade. 
 He was in the employ of the I. & G. N. 
 R. R. at Houston, Texas, as a machinist, 
 and later worked in the same capacity in 
 the H. & T. C. shops at Galveston, re- 
 maining in the South until about 1880, 
 when he returned to Fort Howard and 
 commenced business for himself in a small 
 building now occupied as a boot and shoe 
 store, buying and shipping potatoes. He 
 jiurrhased and inii)rcived his present tw'o- 
 
 story brick veneered building in 1884, 
 and, from the small beginning made in 
 1880, has grown the extensive business 
 which he now enjoys. Mr. Corbett is at 
 this time the leading merchant of F"ort 
 Howard, carrying a complete line of 
 groceries, crockery and glassware, flour 
 and feed, gi\ing emploj'ment to six clerks 
 and enjoying an extensive custom in 
 northeastern Wisconsin and northern 
 Michigan. The wholesale branch of this 
 business was established about 1 890, 
 and his large double store on Main street, 
 80x60 feet in dimensions, is a busy center 
 of trade. 
 
 In addition to his mercantile affairs, 
 Mr. Corbett finds time also to devote 
 to social and public matters, and is a 
 thoroughly public-spirited citizen. Po- 
 litically he votes with the Republican 
 party, and has served as alderman at large 
 for his city. He is a member of Poche- 
 quette Lodge, K. of P., of the A. O. U. 
 W. at Fort Howard, and is a director and 
 manager of the Fort Howard Building 
 and Loan Association. He is fully identi- 
 fied with the interests of the city, and in 
 all resjjccts is a valuable citizen. 
 
 EPHRAIM CROCKER, ex-sheriff 
 of Brown county. Wis., farmer 
 and liveryman, was born July 16, 
 iSkj, in Colerain, Mass., a son of 
 William Crocker, who was a native of 
 Washington count)', N. Y. , born near 
 Crocker's Falls, named after the grand- 
 father of our subject. 
 
 William' Crocker, who was a farmer, 
 settled in 1833 in Ohio, where he died at 
 the age of forty-eight \ears. He had 
 married Miss Elizabeth Potter, also a 
 native of Washington county, N. Y. , who 
 became the mother of ten children, all 
 but two of whom grew to maturity. She 
 died in Ashtabula, Ohio, at the age of 
 about seventy years. As far as Mr. 
 Crocker knows, he has one brother, Will- 
 iam H., living in Australia; another, 
 Charles, in Arizona; and one. Levi, in 
 
COMMKMOHA TI VK BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 417 
 
 Wisconsin, all engaged in mercantile trade. 
 Old-time war reminiscences are plen- 
 tiful in the Crocker fainilw ami, among 
 others, it is related that l-^phraim's father 
 was on I^ake ("harni)lain, September 11, 
 1 8 14, when the famous battle was raging, 
 and could distinctly hear the roar of the 
 cannon. Both grandfathers were officers 
 under Washington in the Revolution; a 
 granduncle, in the same struggle, was 
 taken prisoner and consigned to Canada, 
 and while crossing a river was set to row- 
 ing a boat; but, i^retcnding he could not 
 row, he fell behind, and, by diverging 
 from the proper course, escaped; after 
 reaching the shore he applied to a house 
 for sonu'thing to eat; the lady told him 
 her husband was a Tory, but she was true 
 blue, and concealed him tmder the floor 
 in the cellar until an opportunity offered 
 for his escape, thus saving his life. 
 
 Ivphraini Crocker lived on the home 
 farm until the death of his father, which 
 occurred when he was about sixteen years 
 of age. Times being hard and his mother 
 poor, he then started out in life for him- 
 self, and his meanderings were varied and 
 long. He made a start for Columbus, 
 Ohio, but beforci reaching his destination 
 found employment in a hf)tel; he ne.\t 
 drove team at Zaiicsvilh;, where he re- 
 mained awhile, and then went back again 
 to his last employer and cared for horses 
 two years. Going next to Wheeling, W. 
 Va. , he engaged in teaming, and for about 
 three years was a driver on the National 
 road for Stockton, Falls & Co., after 
 which he bound himself as an apprentice 
 to a millwright in Cumberland, Md. Ac- 
 companying his employer to Harrisburg, 
 Penn., he helped to build a sawmill, and 
 worked six moths in same, thence going 
 to Smithland, Ky., where he built a 
 steam tannery and a gristmill. His ap- 
 prenticeship expired there eighteen months 
 later, and he returned to Ashtabula, Ohio. 
 After working for a time on a vessel he 
 went to Buffalo, and then to New York 
 City, where for thre(> years he worked at 
 shipbuilding for William Webb; then went 
 
 to St. Louis, Mo., and worked one winter 
 on a large steamer; then reached Chicago, 
 where he wcjrked in a shijiyard, and while 
 thi;re helped to build tin; lirst boat that 
 passed through the Illinois canal. 
 
 Mr. Crocker now returned to Ohio, 
 and November 20, 1848, was married to 
 Miss HaTmah S. Hewitt, who was born in 
 New York Stati', a (laught(!r of David and 
 Sally Hewitt, natives of New York, who 
 early settled in Ohio, dying in Ashta- 
 bula. To this marriage were born seven 
 children, two of whom are yet living, 
 vii;. ; Sarah C. , who is the wife of Rob- 
 ert Henderson, and has three sons; and 
 Frank C, who married Miss Irwin, and 
 has a son and a daughter (he is a resident 
 of Iron Mountain, Mich., and is register 
 of deeds there). After his marriage Mr. 
 Crocker returned to Chicago for a year, 
 and in 1850 came to Fort Howard, where 
 he has ever since remained, with the ex- 
 ception of the time occupied in making a 
 trip to California. Here he first engaged 
 in general building, which he followed 
 until 1854, when he started a li\ery stable 
 which he has conducted, with the excep- 
 tion of two years, 'until the present time, 
 owning, besides, a large tract of valuable 
 land (]uite near the city. In 1S73 and 
 1874 he was sheriff of Brown county, and 
 his career was a most exciting one in that 
 capacity; three-card monte men infested 
 the region and held officers, attorneys and 
 the pof)ulace under intimidation; but 
 Sheriff Crocker proved to be a match for 
 them. The great trouble was that indi- 
 viduals who were swindled by them were 
 terrorized and dare not apjjcar against 
 them when arrested. But Sheriff Crock- 
 er, as it were, took the law in his own 
 hands, and on one occasion entered the 
 courtroom, took out the thief, and forced 
 him to disgorge $40 of his ill-gotten gains, 
 and on another occasion compelled the 
 culprit to surrender over $200. The 
 sheriff's name became a terror to the 
 desperadoes, and, despite all threats of 
 personal violence against himself, he 
 tenaciously clung to his duty and extermi- 
 
4iS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 nated the evil-doers from the region. 
 Sheriff Crocker was possessed of great 
 nerve, and at one time captured four 
 desperadoes single-handed, his only 
 weapon being a revolver that was utterl\' 
 unfit for use. He is a man of strict 
 honor, and one the people have always 
 implicitly relied upon for uprightness. In 
 politics he was formerly an Old-line 
 Whig, and cast his first vote for Gen. Will- 
 iam Henry Harrison; he now affiliates 
 with the Republicans, and was chairman 
 of the first I'iepublican caucus held in 
 Fort Howard, which met in 1856 in the 
 office of his present liver}' barn. He and 
 his family are members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, of which for seven 
 years he was Sunday-school superintend- 
 ent. His standing socially is very high, 
 and as a business man he is without 
 reproach. 
 
 WH. PETERSON, liverjinan, 
 Main street. Fort Howard, was 
 born at Stowe, Lamoille Co., 
 Vt. , in 1850, and is a son of A. 
 and Mary Ann (Soniers) Peterson, na- 
 tives of the same State, in which they 
 lived and died. The senior Peterson was 
 a farmer by occupation, and died in 1885, 
 his wife preceding him in 1 866 to the 
 mysterious beyond. Their four children 
 were : Edward, who resides in Green 
 Ba\', and is engaged in the milling busi- 
 ness at Cooperstown, Wis. ; Gustie, who 
 is married, and resides at Nashua, Iowa ; 
 W'. H., of Fort Howard, and Alfred, who 
 died in Stowe, \'t., about 1890. The 
 grandfather of Mr. Peterson was also a 
 native of the Green Mountain State, born 
 of Scotch ancestry, and was a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary war. 
 
 W. H. Peterson, who was reared and 
 educated among the rugged mountains of 
 his native State, early became interested 
 in the trotting-horse business in eastern 
 Vermont, and continued until his removal 
 to Fort Howard in 1870. He had mar- 
 ried, the previous year, Eunice Kimball, 
 
 daughter of Luke Kimball, both Ver- 
 monters. Death parted the jouthful 
 couple in 1872, and the wife's remains 
 now rest beneath the soil of her native 
 State. Mr. Peterson was again married, 
 in 1874, at Milwaukee, this time to Mrs. 
 Anna Rice, a widow with one daughter, 
 who is now Mrs. Nellie Wheeler, of Mil- 
 waukee. Upon coming to Fort Howard 
 Mr. Peterson engaged in teaming for some 
 time. When the Milwaukee & Northern 
 railroad was constructed to this point he 
 became its transfer agent, continuing un- 
 til 1876, when he became interested in 
 milling in Eaton township. Fire destroyed 
 the property in 1880, and he again turned 
 to his first love, trotting horses, final!}- 
 establishing himself in the livery business. 
 He has taken pride in handling fine stock, 
 getting fancy prices when making sales. 
 In politics Mr. Peterson is a Republican ; 
 socially he is a member of the K. O. T. 
 M., and was one of the originators of the 
 Fair and Park Association, at whose fairs 
 he has alwa}s served as marshal. He 
 has witnessed very man}' changes since 
 coming to Fort Howard, and has alwa\s 
 been interested, as a true American citi- 
 zen should be, in all that would enhance 
 the prosperity of his home, cit}' and count}'. 
 
 PH. CARLIN, one of the prosper- 
 ous business men of Green Bay, 
 Brown county, where he conducts 
 a flourishing liver}' establishment, 
 is a native of Kingston, Canada, born 
 January 6, 1856. 
 
 William Carlin, father of subject, was 
 a native of Ireland, and by trade a mill- 
 wright, also engaging in lumbering. He 
 married Ann Nefcy, and their union was 
 blessed with fourteen children — eight sons 
 and six daughters — eleven of whom are 
 yet living. In 1867 William Carlin came 
 to Green Bay, bringing his wife and 
 fainil}', which then consisted of seven 
 children, and after a short residence here 
 removed to Oconto, Wis., living in that 
 vicinitv the remainder of his life. He 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 419 
 
 was a man of means, and owned a good 
 farm, being also engaged to a consider- 
 able extent in lumber dealing. During 
 his youth he had received but a limited 
 education, but he acquired a practical 
 business training, and was altogether a 
 self-made man. He passed from earth 
 October 3, 1877, and was burled at 
 Oconto, at which place his widow, now- 
 aged sixty-two years, still makes her 
 home. In politics he was a Democrat, 
 and in religious faith a member of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 P. H. Carlin attended the common 
 schools in Canada until his twelfth year, 
 when he came with his parents to Wis- 
 consin, a ad here finished his education in 
 the schools of the time. When eighteen 
 years of age he went out with a surveying 
 corps as helper and compassman, prior to 
 which he had assisted his father, at the 
 age of sixteen having charge of a camp of 
 eighty-five men in the lumber regions. 
 He continued as helper to surveyors until 
 he became competent to work for him- 
 self, and in following this business he has 
 been over a considerable portion of Lower 
 Canada, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Min- 
 nesota, having continued in the pursuit of 
 the profession more or less for the last 
 twenty years. He has also engaged in 
 the lumber business for his own account, 
 and for five or six years was superin- 
 tendent for the Murphy Lumber Co. He 
 has also bought lumber for others, his 
 competence and sound judgment being 
 everywhere recognized and fully appreci- 
 ated, and in this capacity has probably 
 purchased over ten million dollars' worth 
 of lumber. On July 6, 1892, Mr. Carlin 
 purchased from J. A. Cusick the profit- 
 able livery business, in the conducting of 
 which he is now engaged, having one of 
 the largest and best establishments in that 
 line in Green Bay, where he is well known 
 as a substantial business man; he also 
 owns two farms in Oconto county, and 
 several tracts of timber land in northern 
 Wisconsin, which are carefully looked 
 after. He has been a self-made man in 
 
 every way, and besides making his own 
 way in the world has faithfully assisted 
 his parents, and for several years after 
 the death of his father was the head of 
 the family. 
 
 On February 4, 1894, Mr. Carlin and 
 Miss Margaret Runnel were united in 
 marriage in Green Hay, in which city she 
 was born, daughter of Adam Runnel. 
 Our subject cast his first vote for James 
 A. Garfield, and has always been a stanch 
 Republican and Protectionist; though tak- 
 ing a lively interest in the success of his 
 party, he is no aspirant for office and 
 has declined nomination on various occa- 
 sions. In religious faith he and his wife 
 are both members of the Catholic Church. 
 
 THOMAS LAWLOR, a retired 
 farmer, now residing in De Pere, 
 Brown count}', was born in No- 
 vember, 1822, in County Kerry, 
 Ireland, son of John and Ellen ("Bahan) 
 Lawlor. He lost his father in 1832, 
 and his mother being thus rendered un- 
 able to keep her family together, our sub- 
 ject commenced work at the age of fif- 
 teen. His first place was with Rev. 
 Father Thomas Fitzgerald, with whom 
 he remained two years, afterward finding 
 employment with the farmers of his 
 county, where he worked hard and saved 
 all the money he earned. 
 
 In 1845 Mr. Lawlor married Mary 
 Connor, who was born in 1828 in County 
 Kerry, daughter of Timothy and Mary 
 (Murphy) Connor, and for two years 
 thereafter worked as a farm hand, at low 
 wages. To this marriage one child was 
 born in Ireland, named Patrick, who 
 died in Glenmore township, Brown Co., 
 Wis., at the age of eighteen. Mr. Lawlor 
 having decided to come to America, he 
 set sail from Liverpool, February 12, 
 1847, embarking with his family on the 
 sailing vessel "Siddons," and arriving 
 April I , of the same year, in New York, 
 went thence to Greenfield, Franklin, 
 Co., Mass., and for five years worked for 
 
420 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the fanners of the neif^hborhood. Here 
 were born two daughters, Ellen and 
 Mary, the former of whom is married to 
 Robert Wilson, and the latter to William 
 Patten, a fanner. By this time our sub- 
 ject had saved $600, and in the fall of 
 1852 he came with his little family to 
 Wisconsin. Reaching Green Ba\' in 
 September, he located his famil\- in West 
 De Pere and went to work on the canal 
 at Kaukauna, Outagamie county, for a 
 month or more, after which he returned 
 to Brown county and bought eighty acres 
 of wild land in Glenmore township. Not 
 a road was on or near the place, and he 
 blazed the trees to mark his path. He 
 found shelter for his family in a neighbor's 
 cabin until he could clear a space for 
 building a cabin of his own, a task which 
 was soon accomplished, and here the 
 family lived very happily. Wolves were 
 numerous, their howling being heard at all 
 hours in the night, and game was also 
 plentiful, Mr. Lawlor on one occasion 
 killing a bear on his own farm, and the 
 animal served for many good meals. But 
 what was then a wilderness is now a broad 
 expanse of well-tilled fields, occupied b}' 
 well-to-do farmers After many years of 
 labor devoted to clearing up and develop- 
 ing his farm — now one of the finest in 
 Glenmore townshipi — Mr. Lawlor built a 
 hewn log house and, later, a substantial 
 brick dwelling, which still stands and is 
 likely to stand for many years }et to 
 come; he also erected three fine barns. 
 After thirty-six years of good hard work 
 on this farm, he sold all his real estate, 
 and in August, icS88, came to De Pere, 
 where he has since passed his days in re- 
 tirement, respected for his many virtues 
 by all who know him. 
 
 The children born to Mr. and j\frs. 
 Lawlor in Wisconsin were named John, 
 Sarah, Thomas and Maggie ftwins), Fan- 
 nie, Michael and William, of whom two 
 sons and three daughters yet survive. In 
 politics Mr. Lawlor is a stanch Democrat, 
 but has never sought office. His dealings 
 with his fellow men have always been 
 
 straightforward and honest; he owes no 
 man anj'thing, neither has he ever bor- 
 rowed money from any man. In religious 
 connection he and his faithful wife are 
 members of St. Francis Church, De Pere, 
 and they are most sincere in their faith. 
 Few people have lived together as hap- 
 pily and contentedly as this honored 
 couple, and there are few in Brown count}' 
 who have made more friends. They are 
 esteemed by all who know them for their 
 manj' good qualities of head and heart, 
 and their lives have been an example 
 worthy of imitation by the young people 
 of the Fox River Vallev. 
 
 JASPER STEPHEN CHASE, the ex- 
 tensi\e lumberer and flour-mill pro- 
 prietor, of De Pere, Brown county, 
 was born at Port Huron, Mich., Sep- 
 tember 17, 1853, a son of Nathan B. and 
 Ann M. ( McClure ) Chase, who were of 
 English and Scotch ancestry, respectively. 
 The paternal grandfather, Stephen Chase, 
 came from England to Woodstock, Can- 
 ada, about the year 1 800, and by vocation 
 was a farmer. His son, Nathan B. 
 Chase, became a prosperous lumber 
 dealer and proprietor of two sawmills at 
 Port Huron, which he sold out in 1854, 
 and next engaged in mercantile trade at 
 Green Bay, Wis. . \\ here, through the 
 trickery of a partner, he lost over fort}' 
 thousand dollars. In 1856 here-engaged 
 in the milling business, which for eight 
 years he carried on at Wrightstown, and 
 then mo\ed his mill to Oconto count}', 
 where he continued the business until' 
 1870, when his son, Jasper S.. in com- 
 pany with Isaac Dickey, purchased the 
 mill property, and Nathan B. Chase re- 
 turned to his farm in the vicinity of Green 
 Bay, where he passed the remainder of 
 his days, dying in February, 1884. 
 
 Jasper S. Chase acquired a very good 
 education in the schools of De Pere and at 
 the Green Bay Business College; he next 
 clerked for L. Day, a wholesale grocer at 
 Green Bay, for three years, then bought 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 421 
 
 his interest in the niilHnj,' husiness in 
 Oconto county, in which he continued 
 seventeen years, during which time he 
 cut from sixty miUion to seventy miUion 
 feet of himber. Mr. Chase became 
 very influential in the region of the mill, 
 and the township in which it was located 
 was named "Chase, " in his honor. For 
 eight years he was a member of the 
 county board of commissioners, and for 
 an equal length of time was chairman of 
 of the township board of trustees. Since 
 settling in De Pere, in 1889, he has served 
 as supervisor one year, also as county 
 treasurer one year, and is now serving as 
 city alderman. His social and business 
 relations are extensive and complex. He 
 is president of the De Pere Lumber & Fuel 
 Compan\', which handles all kinds of lum- 
 ber that grows in this climate, as 
 well as pine and other lumber indi- 
 genous to the south, and does a busi- 
 ness averaging fifty thousand dollars per 
 annum; he is secretary of the John P. 
 Dousman Milling Company; secretary of 
 of the De Pere Light & Power Company, 
 all of which companies he took an active 
 part in organizing, and is also a member 
 of the board of directors of the Artesian 
 Water Supply Company. His business 
 activity and enterprise are universally rec- 
 ognized, and his interest in the material 
 advancement of De Pere is equally well 
 conceded. Socially he is a member of 
 the Knights of Pythias. The marriage of 
 Mr. Chase took place, in 1879, to Flora 
 Call, daughter of W. P. Call, a retired 
 business man, the result of the union 
 being three children, named Rena, Mor- 
 ris and Hazel. 
 
 THEODORE COLBURN, a well- 
 known and highls-respected citi- 
 zen of De Pere, Brown county, 
 was born December 9, 1830, near 
 the city of Quebec, Canada, son of Fran- 
 cis and Angeline (Thomas) Colburn. 
 
 Francis Colburn was a son of Jean 
 Colburn, who was a native of France. 
 
 Francis was a farmer in Canada, also near 
 Plattsburgh, N. Y., and of his fifteen chil- 
 dren ten were sons. He lost his wife in 
 New York State, and later moved to 
 Michigan, thence coming to De Pere, 
 where he passed the remainder .of his 
 days. Theodore Colburn received but 
 one week's schooling, and was reared to 
 hard labor on the farm. He was married 
 at Plattsbnrgh, N. Y. , February 3, 1851, 
 to Miss Celia Demro, who was born April 
 3, 1835, in Canada. He was at that time 
 a poor young man, but self-reliant and 
 strong. He rented a farm eighteen miles 
 from Plattsburgh, worked hard for nearly 
 two and a half years, made some money, 
 and in the fall of 1853 disposed of his 
 personal effects and started for Wisconsin 
 with his wife and surviving child, Mar- 
 shall (now of Stiles, Wis.j, having lost 
 one child in New York State. In Novem- 
 ber, 1853. he landed in Green Bay, and 
 shortly afterward came to De Pere, 
 where he rented a house, and for three 
 years worked in the woods for James 
 Ritchie. In 1854 he went in debt for 
 five acres of land at that time in the 
 woods, but now a part of the city, 
 and built the first house erected on 
 the tract, the whole costing $150. 
 He lived on this place until a short time 
 before the breaking out of the Rebellion, 
 and then bought sixty acres on the East 
 river, in De Pere township. This was 
 also a wilderness, in which he built the 
 first house. He next moved to Rockland 
 township, where he burned charcoal 
 for a time, then lived in the cityof De Pere 
 for a while, returning thence to his 
 East river farm, which he soon sold, 
 going to Black Creek, Outagamie county, 
 where he bought a steam sawmill, but 
 within a year and a half lost $10,000; 
 then bought forty acres near De Pere; 
 next removed to Dakota, and for three 
 years and a half lived near Big Stone 
 City, where he owned 700 acres; then 
 returned to Wisconsin and built a hotel 
 at Marinette (then known as "Pound"), 
 which he conducted, and also kept a saloon ; 
 
422 
 
 commemorath'k biographical record. 
 
 then moved to Clreen Bay, and about 
 4882 settled in De Pere, where he has 
 since made his home. 
 
 Mr. Colburn had a short war experi- 
 ence. In March, 1865, he enlisted at 
 Green Ba}' in a Wisconsin infantry rej.:;i- 
 ment, his avoirdupois being then 204 
 pounds; he ser\'ed in Missouri, doing pa- 
 trol and guard duty until July, 1865, 
 when he was discharged on account of 
 sickness, his weight being at that time 
 i 60 pounds, and he has been an invalid 
 ever since. The children born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Colburn were named as follows: 
 Louis, now of De Pere: Celia, now Mrs. 
 J. H. l-iosell, of Plainficld, Wis.; John, 
 of Ingalls, Mich. ; Sophia, at home with 
 her parents; Frank, who died at the age 
 of five vears; Mary, who died at the age 
 of two and one half-years; \'irginia. who 
 also died young; Ida, now Mrs. Michael 
 Lawlor, of De Pere; and Xa\ier and 
 Clara, who both died young. Mr. Col- 
 burn is a Democrat, and has always 
 voted with that party; he and his wife are 
 members of St. |()SO]ih's Catholic Church. 
 
 CHAl'iLES L. DAVIS, farmer and 
 stock raiser, and one of the pro- 
 gressive, public-spirited citizens 
 of Lawrence township. Brown 
 county, was born July 25, 1848, in the 
 town of l\o\-alton, Niagara count\'. New 
 York. 
 
 His father, E. B. Davis, was a native 
 of Schenectady county, N. Y. , where he 
 married Polly Schadd, and while living in 
 New York they had children as follows: 
 John, a member of Company I, Third 
 Wisconsin Cavalry, who died at Madison, 
 Wis.; George, who died in Elyria, Ohio; 
 and Charles L. , whose name introduces 
 this sketch. Mr. Davis was a farmer in 
 New York State, and in 1 849 he removed 
 to Lorian county, Ohio, and purchased a 
 farm in Carlisle township, where he con- 
 tinued to follow agricultural pursuits, and 
 here he also dealt extensively in lumber, 
 principally the purchasing of staves for a 
 
 Buffalo firm. In Lorian county was born 
 another child, Jane C. who married 
 Bruce Lindsley, and died in Flintville, 
 Brown Co., Wis. Mrs. Polly Davis died 
 in Lorian county, January 17, 1857, and 
 was buried in Elyria, same county, and 
 Mr. Davis then married Miss Susan Oak- 
 Icy, who died in Lorian county July, i i, 
 1858. In 1859 he wedded, in Lockport, 
 N. Y., for his third wife. Miss Mary Bar- 
 rett. In i860, the lumber business hav- 
 ing gradually declined with the clearing 
 away of the forests, Mr. Davis concluded 
 to remove farther west, and brought his 
 family to Brown county, Wis. , traveling 
 by rail to Oshkosh, and from there by 
 stage to Wri^htstown, Brown county, 
 where they located. Mr. Davis again 
 engaged in the stave business, buying 
 timber from farmers, and he put consider- 
 able money into circulation here, as his 
 trade was an extensive one. He invested 
 in a large amount of land in Brown 
 county, and pre-empted over 300 acres 
 of government land. He was a well-built 
 man, of splendid physique, and was well 
 known and highly respected in his com- 
 munity. At the time of his death, which 
 occurred March 11, 1878, he was com- 
 fortably situated. In his political belief 
 he was a Democrat, and a stanch sup- 
 porter of the party, but was not an active 
 politician. He lies buried in Wrights- 
 town cemetery. 
 
 Charles L. Davis received his first 
 school training in Carlisle township, 
 Lorain Co., Ohio. After the death of 
 his mother he returned to Niagara county, 
 N. Y. , and for two years made his home 
 with his grandfather, then, in i860, com- 
 ing to Wisconsin. In October, 1864, 
 then but a little over sixteen years of 
 age, he enlisted at Green Bay, Wis., in 
 Company H, Twelfth ^^'^isconsin In- 
 fantry, was sent South, and, joining the 
 regiment at Marietta, Ga. , participated 
 in the entire campaign through the Caro- 
 linas. He took part in the Grand Review 
 at Washington, D. C, was mustered out 
 at Louisville, K}'. ; and received an hon- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 423 
 
 orable discharge at Madison, Wis. 
 \\'hen he first came to Wisconsin, the 
 schools were verj' poor and he did not 
 attend much, as he assisted his father in 
 the latter's extensive lumber business, 
 becoming familiar with the details of 
 same when yet a mere boy. After the 
 war he became partner with his father in 
 the business and continued to hold an in- 
 terest in same until 1879. 
 
 On April 9, 1877, at Wrightstown, 
 Wis., by Rev. Father De Wilt, Mr. 
 Davis was united in marriage with Miss 
 Ellen Sullivan, who was born January 
 22, 1857, in Winchendon. Worcester 
 Co., Mass., eldest child of John and 
 Ellen (Harris) Sullivan. For five years 
 previous to her marriage she followed the 
 profession of school teaching, in the 
 meantime having her residence in Law- 
 rence. In 1882 Mr. Davis purchased 
 his present farm in Lawrence township, 
 and moved thereon, at the same time 
 severing completely his connection with 
 the lumber business. Since that time he 
 has been exclusively engaged in general 
 farming and stock-raising, and he now 
 has a fertile, well-improved farm of 
 ninety-nine acres. In politics he is one 
 of the leaders of the Democratic party in 
 his section, and for three years has been 
 chairman of the Democratic committee. 
 He is always among the foremost men in 
 the township in any enterprise tending to 
 benefit the community in general. To 
 him and his wife have come children as 
 follows: Jennie E., born August 2, 
 1879; Mamie L. , born February 4, 1881, 
 died February 7, 1882; John E., born 
 June 18, 1882; Harriet C. , born Mav 24, 
 I 886, died May 7, 1887; and Charles F. , 
 born April i, 1889. 
 
 J 
 
 OHN G. GROSS, chief of the Fort 
 Howard Fire Department since Janu- 
 ary, 1894, and for three years a 
 member of that organization, takes 
 pride in the fact that he is at the head of 
 a thoroughly equipped volunteer depart- 
 
 ment, having one engine and all the neces- 
 sary auxiliaries. There is but one paid 
 man in the department. 
 
 John G. Gross, father of our subject, 
 was born in Bavaria, and came to New 
 York in 1850. Pushing westward in 1852 
 to Milwaukee, Wis. , he there married Mar- 
 garet Moschel, and settled, six months after 
 arriving in Milwaukee, on a farm in Mor- 
 rison township. Brown Co., Wis., which 
 he cleared and improved. Later he en- 
 gaged in the lumber and milling business, 
 and he and his wife still reside on the 
 farm on which they originally settled. 
 Their children were nine in number: 
 August resides in Morrison township, 
 where he is engaged in sawmilling and 
 conducts a cheese factory; Caroline, wife 
 of Frank Falck, resides in Seymour, Wis. ; 
 John G. is the subject of this sketch; 
 Louisa is the wife of Joseph Leonard, of 
 Medford, Taylor Co. , Wis. ; Fred P. re- 
 sides in Fort Howard; Maggie, wife of 
 Daniel Schunk, resides on the old farm; 
 Sophia is the wife of William Peters, of 
 Brillion, Calmuet Co., Wis.; Christina is 
 the wife of Charley Furstenburg, of Bril- 
 lion; Gottfried, unmarried, resides with 
 his brother, John. 
 
 Our subject was born January 21, 1858, 
 on the home farm in Morrison town- 
 ship. Brown Co., Wis., and when he was 
 fourteen years of age went to work at 
 teaming, milling and farming, continuing 
 until his removal to Fort Howard in 1883. 
 In the latter year he established a saloon 
 and billiard parlor at the corner of Main 
 and Pearl streets, which he still conducts. 
 In 1882 he was married, in Morrison 
 township, to Miss Bertha Schultz, who 
 came to the township in i 866 from Prussia, 
 with her parents, Ferdinand and Anna 
 (Timm) Schultz, the family locating upon 
 a new farm, which they improved. Mr. 
 Schultz died in 1890; his widow still re- 
 sides on the old homestead. Their other 
 children are: August, married and re- 
 siding on the old farm; Albert, married 
 and living in Morrison township; Hannah, 
 wife of Albert Sorwald, of P>rillion, \\'is. 
 
424 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BJOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gross are the parents of 
 two children. William and Clarence. Mr. 
 Gross was reared in the Lutheran faith. 
 He is a member of Green Bay Lodge, No. 
 119, I. O. O. F. , and of the American 
 Legion of Honor at Fort Howard. For- 
 merly a Democrat in politics, he has found 
 reason to change his political belief, and 
 now casts his vote with the Republican 
 party. Since his boyhood, although that 
 period is not remote, he has witnessed 
 great changes in the region around 
 his home. 
 
 M 
 
 tht 
 
 RS. OLIVE I. SHERWOOD, 
 of Howard township, Brown 
 county, was born April 2, 1822, 
 in Oneida county, N. Y., and 
 widow of the lamented Edison 
 Sherwood, who was born May 21, 181 3, 
 in Fairfield, Conn., a son of Wakeman 
 Sherwood. 
 
 Edison Sherwood was a gentleman of 
 considerable prominence in the early days 
 of Green Bay, lia\ing migrated hither as 
 early as 1S35. He had been reared a 
 farmer, and on coming here went to the 
 Mission building in the capacity of an 
 agriculturist. In 1843 he married Miss 
 Olive I. Holmes, and then engaged in 
 general stock business in partnership with 
 her brother, A. G. E. Holmes, conduct- 
 ing same for almost forty years with un- 
 varying success, and with unswerving 
 adherence to the principles of mercantile 
 integrity. His death took place January 
 25, 1880, in Green Bay, and was most 
 deeply mourned by all who had ever been 
 associated with him in any of the trans- 
 actions of life — domestic, social or com- 
 mercial. After his decease his widow 
 lived with her brother, A. G. E. Holmes, 
 until thirteen years ago, when she moved 
 to the home of her sister, Mrs. A. B. 
 Oatley, with whom she has ever since re- 
 sided. Mrs. Sherwood adopted two chil- 
 dren, whom she reared with affectionate 
 attention and care, viz. : Carrie L. , who 
 
 was born October 9, 1858, and died in 
 Milwaukee, February 17, 1893, leaving a 
 daughter thirteen years old; and Fannie 
 E., who was born December i, 1873, 
 married Dr. (iilbert, and is now a resi- 
 dent of Fond du Lac (she has one daugh- 
 ter). Mrs. Sherwood was always promi- 
 nent in social circles until her husband's 
 death, and has always been an active 
 member of Christ's Episcopal Church, 
 Green Bay, of which he was also a 
 member. Of the seven children born 
 to her parents, Alvah and Sophronia 
 (Ellis) Holmes, four sons and two daugh- 
 ters still survive. [Since the above was 
 written Mrs. Olive I. Sherwood was taken 
 sick, which sickness terminated in her 
 death, September 10, 1894, at the age of 
 seventy-two years; her remains were laid 
 to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery, beside 
 those of her beloved husband]. 
 
 Albert B. Oati.kv was born Octo- 
 ber 12, 1832, in Burlington, N. Y. , a son 
 of Benedict and Rosanna (Green) Oat- 
 ley, the former of whom was a native of 
 Rhode Island. 
 
 His father, Benedict Oatley, Sr. , 
 also a native of Rhode Island, and 
 in Onedia county. N. Y. , at the 
 of seventy, his wife at the age of sixty; 
 he had been a soldier in the Revolution- 
 ary war. Benedict Oatley, Jr., who was 
 the eldest in a famdy of eight children — 
 five sons and three daughters — was reared 
 to farm life in Oneida county, N. Y. , and 
 there died at the age of si.xty-two. His 
 wife, Rosanna, who was born in New 
 York, was a daughter of Simeon and 
 Rosanna (Budlong) Green, natives of 
 Connecticut, the former of whom was a 
 soldier in the Revolution, at the close of 
 which struggle he settled in Bridgewater, 
 Oneida county, N. Y. , and built a hotel 
 or tavern, which is still standing, and 
 which he conducted many years, after- 
 ward purchasing a farm which he culti- 
 vated about five years and then retiring to 
 Bridgewater, where he died at the age of 
 eighty, his wife at about the same age. 
 They were the parents of eleven chil- 
 
 was 
 
 died 
 
 age 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWOBAPUXCAL RECORD. 
 
 425 
 
 dren — six sons and Hve daughters — of 
 whom one son and one daughter are yet 
 living. Mrs. Rosanna (Green) Oatley 
 died in Utica, N. Y. , at the age of fifty- 
 five. 
 
 Albert B. Oatley is a member of a 
 family of ten children, seven of whom 
 are still living — farmers and business men. 
 He was reared a farmer, and has practi- 
 cally followed that vocation until the 
 present time. On January 27, 1850, he 
 married Lavantia C. Holmes, who was 
 born April 17, 1832, in Bridgewater, N. 
 Y. , a daughter of Alvah and Sophronia 
 Holmes, and to this , union have come 
 five children, as follows : Ella S., born 
 March 12, 185 i, who is married to Wil- 
 liam Finnegan ; Alva H. , born February 
 14, 1853, deceased when two and a half 
 years of age ; Nettie H., born September 
 6, 1859, and married to H. B. Havland, 
 now of Horton, Kans., engaged in rail- 
 roading (they have had five sons and one 
 daughter, the latter of whom died at the 
 age of two and a half years); Edison S., 
 born November 20, 1864, married to Nel- 
 lie Atead, and has charge of the old home- 
 stead; and Olive R., born September 10, 
 1869, wife of Robert Delaney. After his 
 m arriage Mr. Oatley bought a farm 
 of 120 acres in the town of Suamico, 
 Brown county. Wis. , and erected a block 
 or hewed-log house, 16x20 feet, in which 
 he lived twelve years, after which he 
 came to the town of Howard, Brown 
 county. Wis., and bought the farm where 
 he now resides, in the winter of 1874 
 erecting his present dwelling. In politics 
 Mr. Oatley is a Democrat, and voted for 
 James Buchanan. He has served as jus- 
 tice of the peace several years, and is 
 regarded with great respect in the com- 
 munity. Several members of his family 
 served through the Civil war, including 
 three brothers, one of whom was wounded 
 in battle and died in Washington. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Oatley are members of the 
 Presbyterian Church, and are among 
 the most respected people of the town- 
 ship. 
 
 RE\'. ELSEAR i)K WILT is a na- 
 tive of Holland, born July 8, 1827, 
 at Uden, North Brabant, in which 
 province the name of de Wilt is 
 an old one, the family having resided 
 there for many generations, some being 
 farmers, others business men. 
 
 Grandfather Francis de Wilt was a 
 man of considerable ability, also a fine 
 hunter and a very courageous man. Dur- 
 ing the French revolution a party of 
 French soldiers and sympathizers at- 
 tempted to tear down a large statue of St. 
 Peter in the gable of the church at Uden, 
 and he was just returning from hunting, 
 accompanied by his dogs, when he dis- 
 covered their designs. To these vandals 
 he announced that if they persisted a 
 Frenchman would come to ground sooner 
 than St. Peter, and it is needless to say 
 the statue remained standing. At another 
 time he saved the same church from being 
 burned down. The steeple had been 
 struck by lightning, and, the sacristan re- 
 fusing to give up the keys, Mr. de Wilt 
 pitched him out of the window, took the 
 keys from him, and climbed the tower, 
 where already the rafters were on fire. 
 He stamped out the fire, and thus saved 
 thechurch, although himself badly burned. 
 The sacristan sued him for damages, but 
 lost the suit, and Grandfather de Wilt was 
 rewarded for his braver}' by a permanent 
 seat in the church which descended to his 
 children. He was a man of commanding 
 appearance, and of great influence in his 
 town. He reached the great age of four- 
 score years, and at the age of seventy was 
 still a great hunter. He reared a family 
 of seven children, of whom the second 
 son, Martinus, afterward inherited the old 
 homestead and resided there till his death. 
 He was more of a business man, became 
 one of considerable consequence, took an 
 interest in church matters, and lived a 
 good Christian life. He was born May 
 29. 1797. and died January 28, i860. In 
 the prime of life he married Maria Anna 
 \'an Den Broek. born at Uden, Holland. 
 May 9, 1804, who became the mother of 
 
426 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 six children, of whom our subject is the 
 eldest child. 
 
 Rev. Father de Wilt received his 
 primary education in his native town, 
 and later on studied in Bruges, West 
 Flanders, Belgium, where he made his 
 noviciate in the Order of St. Francis, and 
 afterward was ordained a priest by the 
 bishop of Tournay. He soon after be- 
 came professor of philosophy, and later 
 professor of theology at Enghien; taught 
 for about eight years, and was then sent 
 to England to assist the bishop of 
 Shrewsbury, where he presided as pastor 
 of the parish at the city of Flint, Flint- 
 shire, Wales. After two and a half years 
 he was recalled to Antwerp, where a 
 monastery was erected, and from there 
 served as a missionary through Belgium, 
 Holland and France. Finally he was 
 placed in Brussels, his work remaining 
 the same, until he got permission from 
 Rome to proceed to America, which he 
 did in 1868, when the diocese of Green 
 Bay was organized by Bishop Melcher. 
 He first took charge at Duck Creek, 
 where he brought the congregation to- 
 gether, and where they have had a priest 
 ever since. In 1S69 he moved to Little 
 Chute, and here resided about live years; 
 then was placed at Montello, where he 
 remained till he came to Wrightstown, in 
 1876, and began the erection of a resi- 
 dence. He changed the church into a 
 parochial school, and in 1885, with his 
 own money, began a new church edifice 
 in the name of the congregation. It is a 
 large brick structure, and is as fine a 
 church building as can be found in the 
 Fo.x River Valley; the interior of it was 
 recently (1894) finely painted and decor- 
 ated at an expense of about si.\ hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 AUGUST HOCHGRE\'E, 
 (deceased), was born October 11;, 
 1832, in Herzberg, Hanover, Ger- 
 many, the eldest in a family of 
 eight children — three sons and five daugh- 
 
 ters- -and, like his father, who bore the 
 same name, became in his younger 3'ears 
 a proficient brewer and cooper, trades 
 which he learned in his father's establish- 
 ment in Germany. 
 
 Having received an excellent educa- 
 tion, learned his trades, and fitted him- 
 self for the struggles of life, Mr. Hoch- 
 greve left his German home at the age of 
 twenty years, and, sailing from Hamburg, 
 arrived at length at New York City. Af- 
 ter remaining there for one year, working 
 as a cooper, he removed to Manitowoc, 
 Wis., and engaged in the same business. 
 In the summer of 1861 he located in 
 Allouez township. Brown county, and in 
 company with Henry Rahr, who had 
 worked in the same establishment with 
 him at Manitowoc, founded the brewery 
 which is now conducted by his family, 
 and which has become one of the princi- 
 pal institutions of Brown county. After 
 eight or nine years, the firm ha\ing 
 greatly prospered, they built another 
 plant, now the H. Rahr's Sons' Brewery, 
 and for some time conducted both estab- 
 lishments; but the partnership was finally 
 dissolved, Mr. Hochgreve taking the orig- 
 inal plant and Mr. Rahr the one on East 
 River, Green Bay. The former's business 
 increased to such proportions that in 1874 
 he built the present substantial brirk 
 structure, where the business is now car- 
 ried on by Mrs. Hochgreve and her sons. 
 A new and handsome dwelling has also 
 been erected, and prosperity continues to 
 smile upon the family. 
 
 On October 20, 1862, Mr. Hochgre\e 
 was married at Manitowoc, to Caroline 
 Kiel, who was born June 18. 1842, in 
 Lippe-Detmold, Germany. Her father. 
 Christian Kiel, was a farmer, who came 
 with his family to the United States in 
 the spring of 1851, landing at New York 
 at the end of a seven-weeks' \oyage from 
 Bremen, and removing thence to Manito- 
 woc. The children of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hochgreve are: August, residing in Green 
 Bay, Wis. ; Lena, widow of Henry Freck- 
 man, now residing in Milwaukee; .\ugusta, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 437 
 
 Adolph, Louisa, Etta, Christian and 
 Mamie, at home; of these, Adolph is 
 superintendent of the brewery. Christian 
 being bookkeeper. Mr. Hochgreve died 
 February 23, 1877, and his remains rest 
 in Woodland cemetery. During life he 
 was an upright citizen, a stanch Republi- 
 can in politics, and a prominent Odd 
 Fellow. His widow is a member of the 
 Lutheran Church. The family is num- 
 bered among the leading ones of Brown 
 county, and the memory of its founder is 
 respected by all who knew him. 
 
 ANDREW C. MAILER, M. D., 
 one of the leading practitioners of 
 medicine of Brown county, Wis., 
 was born April 4, 1853, at De- 
 Pere. His parents, Andrew and Barbara 
 (Caldwell) Mailer, were natives, respect- 
 ively, of Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scot- 
 land, and in 1849, came to the United 
 States, locating first in Milwaukee, Wis., 
 whence they shortly afterward removed to 
 De Pere, same State. The father engaged 
 in various business enterprises in the city 
 up to the time of his death, which occujxed 
 in 1878; Mrs. Barbara Mailer now resides 
 with a daughter in Portland, Oregon. 
 
 Dr. A. C. Mailer was educated in the 
 public schools of his native city, at Law- 
 rence University, Appleton, Wis., and in 
 the University of Michigan, after which 
 he taught school for a few terms and then 
 engaged in the drug business at De Pere 
 for four or five years, reading medicine 
 while thus employed. He next attended 
 medical lectures at the University of 
 Michigan at Ann Arbor during the ses- 
 sions of 1874 and 1875. In 1877 and 
 1878 he took a course at Rush Medical 
 College, Chicago, from which he gradu- 
 ated in the spring of 1878, and soon after 
 began practice at De Pere in partnership 
 with his former preceptor. Dr. Fisk, a 
 connection which lasted eleven years, 
 since the expiration of which time he has 
 been in business on his own account. 
 After his first three years' practice the 
 
 Doctor supplemented his studies by a 
 course at Bellevue Hospital Medical Col- 
 lege, New York, receiving an ad ciiiidciii 
 degree from this institution in the spring 
 of 1882. 
 
 In politics Dr. Mailer is an ardent Re- 
 publican, and has served in different ca- 
 pacities under the auspices of that party. 
 He has been for six years a member of 
 the board of education, of which he acted 
 as president for two years. He has twice 
 been elected mayor of the city, a position 
 he still holds. The Doctor is a member 
 of the American Medical Association, 
 State Medical Society, and Fox River 
 Valley Medical Society, and is surgeon to 
 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul rail- 
 road. He is associated with several fra- 
 ternal and social societies, among which 
 are the Masons, Knights of Pythias, etc. 
 His professional standing is of the high- 
 est. 
 
 Dr. Mailer was united in matrimony, 
 at De Pere, on ]une 1, 1887, to Miss 
 Alice Belle Winegard, a native of De- 
 Pere and a daughter of a Union soldier 
 who died in the arniv during the war for 
 the preservation of the Union. One child, 
 Katharine, adds sunshine to their pleasant 
 home. The Doctor is by birthright a 
 Presbyterian, and Mrs. Mailer is an Epis- 
 copalian, and their walk through life has 
 won for them the respect of all their neigh- 
 bors and the citizens in general. 
 
 REV. FATHER CHARLES J.GAL- 
 LAGHER, of St. Francis Xavier 
 Church, De Pere, Brown county, 
 was born July 8, 185 i, at No. 74 
 Sands street, Brooklyn, N. Y., within two 
 blocks of the site of the present renowned 
 Brooklyn bridge. His parents were Mi- 
 chael and Jane fStephensj Gallagher, and 
 were natives, respectixely, of Sligo and 
 Ballyshannon, Ireland. Michael Galla- 
 gher was a journalist, and some of his 
 sons followed the same profession — one, 
 especially, Barclay Gallagher, ha\-ingbeen 
 city editor of the New York I'rHntnc un- 
 
428 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 der Horace Greelew and being connected 
 with the Associated Press down to the 
 present time. 
 
 Father Gallagher received his prepar- 
 atory education at the Jesuit College, 
 of Fordhain, N. Y., from which he 
 graduated in 1 870, taking a collegiate 
 course at that institution, and afterward 
 taking a theological course at Mount St. 
 Mary's, Emmittsburg, Md. In 1875 he 
 was ordained priest at St. James' Cathe- 
 dral, Brooklyn, N. Y. , by Bishop Laugh- 
 lin, and for twelve years was assistant to 
 the vicar general of the diocese of Brook- 
 lyn. In 1888 he was given charge of St. 
 Thomas Church at Poygan, Wis., the 
 church property at which place was much 
 improved under his earnest efforts; at 
 Omro, Wis., he entirely rebuilt St. Mary's 
 Church, and also rebuilt the church at 
 Winueconne, Wis. In June, 1893, Father 
 Gallagher was given charge of St. Francis 
 Xavier Church at De Pere — the first 
 Catholic Church erected in the place. The 
 congregation of this Church comprised 
 175 families, and its parish school has 
 accommodation for 200 scholars. Father 
 Gallagher is very popular with and is 
 greatly beloved by his people, and his 
 well-known energy and wisdom will doubt- 
 less soon result in greater improvement to 
 his flock and to the parish. 
 
 JOHN ANTON KUYPERS. It would 
 be hard to find a better illustration 
 of the facility with which, under the 
 liberal institutions of this great coun- 
 try — be they Republican or be they Dem- 
 ocratic — a man of ability and integrity, 
 whether native-born or of foreign birth 
 and impressions, may rise to any station, 
 perhaps among the most exalted, than 
 is afforded in the history of the gentle- 
 man whose name here appears, and who 
 is fast ascending the ladder of public 
 fame. 
 
 Mr. Kuypers is a native of Holland, 
 born in the village of Oeffelt, North Bra- 
 
 bant, March 2, 1869, a son of Michael 
 and Joanna (Emonsj Kuypers, both also 
 of North Brabant nativity, the father 
 born in Oeffelt, the mother in St. Hubert. 
 Until the age of eleven years he attended 
 the conunon school of his native village, 
 and then took a regular high-school course 
 at Boxmeer, at the same time studying 
 French and German, as well as, for a 
 few months, the English language. At 
 the age of fourteen he entered the Nor- 
 mal School in the same town, in order to 
 prepare himself for the profession of 
 teacher; but his plans in this regard were 
 interrupted, before he had finished his 
 course, by the emigration of the famih" — 
 his parents and their children (two broth- 
 ers and three sisters — Theodore, Arnold, 
 Algonda, Antonia and Bertha, the latter 
 now deadj — to the United States. Land- 
 ing, after an ocean voyage of three weeks, 
 at New York, January 25, 1886, they at 
 once proceeded westward to Wisconsin, 
 settling in the thriving city of De Pere, 
 Brown county, and here stoically com- 
 menced a new home in a new countr\', 
 with but little knowledge, if any, of its 
 language, laws and customs. 
 
 On the first day of February, 1886, the 
 subject of these lines, with a determination 
 to succeed, a determination not to be ob- 
 structed by any obstacle, precipitated him- 
 self into the arena of journalism b}^ 
 entering the employ of the Standard 
 Printing Co., in the role of "devil." 
 From this Arcadian, though somewhat 
 nondescript position, he soon rose to the 
 more dignified one of "typo," his natural 
 ability and perseverance soon manifesting 
 itself, quickly observed by his employers 
 and his associates. With this firm our 
 subject remained till December, 1889; 
 and so rapidly had he mastered the de- 
 tails of the profession and fathomed its 
 mysteries, that, during the last two years 
 he was in the employ of the Standard 
 Printing Co., he acted in the capacitj- of 
 one of the editors of the De Pere Stand- 
 ard, a newspaper published by them in 
 the Holland language. In January, 1890. 
 
COMME^fORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL liECORD. 
 
 431 
 
 in company witli Jolm li. Heyrnian, he 
 purchased the Brown County Democrat 
 (estabHshed in 1877), a weekly paper 
 printed in the EngUsh lanji;uage, and 
 shortly afterward they conunenced the 
 publication of a new Holland weekly, 
 Be VolK'sstcin, conducting-, in connection, 
 a general printing establishment, equipped 
 with all modern improvements and facili- 
 ties for turning out good work. The 
 business is carried on under the firm 
 name of Heyrman & Kuypers. The 
 Deiiiocrat has a circulation of 1,300, the 
 Volkxstein, of 1,250, and both are influ- 
 ential papers. The Diiiiocrat, true to its 
 name, is an able exponent of Democratic 
 principles, while the Volksstem is more of 
 a newspaper in the literal sense of the 
 word, being confined to religious and 
 secular matters of interest, and is read by 
 Holland and Flemish Catholics in every 
 State of the Union. Both are eight-page 
 papers, 15x22, and are both edited by 
 Mr. Kuypers, whose untiring efforts and 
 hard work have largely contributed to the 
 bringing of them to their present standard 
 of excellence. He is a charter member 
 of Columbus Court, No. 315, Catholic 
 Order of Foresters, ahd its recording sec- 
 retary; is also a member of Branch No. 
 46, Catholic Knights of Wisconsin; direc- 
 tor of the De Pere Business Men's Asso- 
 ciation; member of the city council; and 
 secretary of the Fire Department. 
 
 When Mr. Kuypers came to this coun- 
 try nine years ago, a rosy-cheeked lad of 
 seventeen sunmiers, he knew but little of 
 the English language — merely the rudi- 
 ments — and never attended school here; 
 yet, by assiduous and ino.st persevering 
 home study, he has succeeded in making 
 himself master of it in a comparatively 
 short time. By attending strictly to 
 business, and using all his leisure time to 
 advantage, he has succeeded in attaining 
 his present position, and securing a well- 
 earned popularity with all classes. He 
 takes an active part in public matters, 
 and is recognized as one of De Pere's 
 most enterprising young men. 
 
 24 
 
 PHILIP SHERLOCK. This gen- 
 tleman, an influential well-to-do 
 farmer citizen of De Pere town- 
 ship. Brown county, is a member 
 of one of the oldest pioneer families of 
 same. 
 
 Andrew Sherlock (father of Philip) 
 was a native of County Wexford, Ireland, 
 where he was born in 18 13, son of Philip 
 Sherlock. Andrew learned the carpen- 
 ter's trade, and also engaged in merchan- 
 dising, dealing in coal, etc. He was mar- 
 ried in 1843 to Anne Sinnot, who was 
 born in County Wexford in December, 
 18 16, daughter of James and Catherine 
 fBrownj Sinnot, and two children were 
 born to this union in Ireland, nartiely: 
 Margaret, who died unmarried in De Pere 
 township, when aged twenty-nine; and 
 Anne, who died in De Pere at the age of 
 eighteen years. In 1849, Mr. Sherlock 
 having managed to save a small sum of 
 money, the family left Ireland, sailing 
 from New Ross in "The Jane, "and after 
 a voyage of ten weeks and three days 
 landing at Quebec, where they were de- 
 tained ten days in quarantine, as cholera 
 had broken out on board the vessel and 
 many died. From yuebec they pro- 
 ceeded westward, coming via Buffalo and 
 Detroit to Milwaukee, Wis., where they 
 resided {ox about a twelvemonth, during 
 w^iich time Mr. Sherlock followed his 
 trade, carpentry. Here one child, Philip 
 (subject proper of this sketch), was born 
 to them December 15, 1850. In May, 
 1 85 1, they came to De Pere, Brown 
 county, at that time but a small village, 
 making the trip from Milwaukee by water, 
 via Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay, thence 
 by wagon to their destination, and shortly 
 after his arrival here Mr. Sherlock pur- 
 chased a house and lot. In the summer 
 of 1850 he took up a tract of 200 acres 
 in De Pere township, along the East river 
 (the tract whereon his sons Philip and 
 James now reside), removing his family 
 thither in the fall of 1852. The previous 
 spring he had erected a temporary abode, 
 which later was replaced by a frame 
 
432 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 house. The land was all in the woods, 
 and althoug;h some of the timber was cut, 
 no clearing had been done, and the stumps 
 and brush remained. Here the following 
 children were added to the family: An- 
 drew, a farmer of Dakota; James, a farmer 
 of De Pare township; Catherine, who died 
 when ten years, two months and eleven days 
 old; John, residing in the State of Wash- 
 ington; Ambrose, who died at the age of 
 thirty-one years in Colorado; and Raphael, 
 of Dakota. After locating on this land 
 Mr. Sherlock labored diligently to clear 
 and improve it, and by the time of his 
 death had transformed it into a fertile 
 farm. He was a self-made man in every 
 way, and was much respected for his in- 
 dustry and sterling worth. On January 
 27, 1885, he passed from earth, and was 
 buried in De Pere cemetery. After his 
 decease his widow resided on the home 
 farm with her son Philip until December, 
 1893, when she took up her residence at 
 the Home of the Sisters of the Good 
 Shepherd, in Green Bay, where she yet 
 remains. 
 
 Philip Sherlock received his elemen- 
 tary education in the early schools of De- 
 Pere township, and afterward attended 
 the "Old Stone School" in De Pere a 
 short time, the first school in that city. 
 He was reared to farm life, and being the 
 eldest son was put to work as soon as he 
 was old enough, remaining on the farm 
 altogether until he was about seventeen 
 years old. He then commenced to fol- 
 low lumbering in the winter seasons in 
 the lumber regions of northern Wisconsin 
 and Michigan, and continued therein for 
 sixteen or seventeen winters, enduring all 
 the vicissitudes and hardships of camp 
 life. He was engaged during the spring 
 for fifteen years in the hazardous work of 
 driving logs. In thore days lumbering, 
 though arduous and dangerous work, was 
 very profitable, and during his long ex- 
 perience in the business our subject be- 
 came familiar with all its details. 
 
 On July 7, 1892, Mr. Sherlock was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann 
 
 Hughes, daughter of Hugh and Margaret 
 (Daltonj Hughes, who came to the United 
 States when Mary A. was an infant. Mr. 
 Sherlock has resided on his present farm 
 ever since coming to Brown county, with 
 the exception of the time he was away 
 lumbering. He has taken several pleasure 
 trips, and in 1S91 made a tour of the 
 Northwest, going over the Canadian 
 Pacific railroad and returning over the 
 Northern Pacific railroad, and during his 
 trip he visited the leading cities in the 
 Northwest along the Pacific coast and in 
 the State of W^ashington, and also Vic- 
 toria, British Columbia. Mr. Sherlock, 
 having come here when the country was 
 almost entirely new, has seen his entire 
 neighborhood transformed from its primi- 
 tive condition into productive farms. His 
 own place now consists of 145 acres of 
 fertile land, on which he conducts a profit- 
 able farming business. In local political 
 affairs our subject votes independently, 
 caring more for the fitness of a candidate 
 than for party lines, but in state and na- 
 tional elections he supports the principles 
 of the Democratic party. He is no 
 aspirant for office, his time being fully 
 occupied in looking after his private in- 
 terests. In religious connection he and 
 
 his wife are members of St. 
 Catholic Church at De Pere. 
 
 Francis 
 
 FLORENTINE FRISOUE, the 
 well-known enterprising merchant 
 tailor of Green Bay, is a native 
 of Belgium, born August 27, 1849, 
 in the town of Grez-Doiceau, Province of 
 Brabant. 
 
 He comes of a long line of talented 
 musicians, performers upon various in- 
 struments, including the church organ, his 
 grandfather being an especially highly 
 educated musician, and excelling as a 
 teacher. He, the grandfather, led an 
 honorable, temperate life to a good old 
 age, dying in his ninety-third year, and 
 retaining his faculties to the last. In 
 Belgium, his native country, he married 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 433 
 
 Miss Marie Delvaux, a lady of education 
 and culture, who lived to be seventy-five 
 years old, and their family numbered five 
 sons and three daughters, of whom one 
 daughter, Mrs. Bernardine Maireese, is 
 yet living, her age being eighty-nine 
 years. 
 
 One of the sons, by name Florentine, 
 father of our subject, was a graduate of 
 the Conservatory of Music at Brussels, on 
 church organ, and was an exceptionally 
 able musician, master of several instru- 
 ments. He died in Belgium of typhoid 
 fever at the age of thirty-seven years, and 
 his early taking away with all the brilliant 
 prospects before him was a source of the 
 very deepest regret to his many relatives, 
 friends and admirers. His wife was Miss 
 Rosalie Van Drisse, a Belgian lady, daugh- 
 ter of Joseph Van Drisse, a well-known 
 surgeon who had a diploma from Napo- 
 leon Bonaparte for valuable services ren- 
 dered on the field of Waterloo. After 
 the death of Mr. Frisque she married, in 
 1856, George La Marre, of Grez-Doi- 
 ceau, farmer at Bay Settlement, Brown 
 county, by whom she has four children, 
 as follows: Jule, Desire, Matilda and Mary. 
 By her first husband, Mr. Frisque, Mrs. 
 La ^farre had also four children, viz. : 
 Rosalie, Florentine (our subject), Leo- 
 cadie and Zelia. They are all living ex- 
 cept Zelia fthe youngest of the first fami- 
 ly), are all married, and have families. 
 
 Florentine Frisque, whose name in- 
 troduces this sketch, received his educa- 
 tion in his native land, and learned the 
 trade of tailor, which he followed there 
 till February, 1871, when, in company 
 with his mother and the rest of the family, 
 he emigrated to the United States, and 
 made a settlement in Brown county, Wis. 
 In 1876 he came to Green Bay, 
 and established his present prosperous 
 business. In 1873 Mr. Frisque was mar- 
 ried in Brown county to Miss Josephine 
 Grossell. daughter of Louis Grossell, a 
 native of Belgium, and seven children 
 have been born to them, viz. : Zelie, John, 
 George, William, Marv, Louis and Charles. 
 
 In his political preferences our subject has 
 been identified with the Republican party. 
 In social affairs he is a member of the I. 
 O. O. F. , Order of Tonti, and Knights of 
 Honor. In 1889 he took an extended 
 trip to Europe, visiting England, Scot- 
 land, Ireland, Belgium, Germany and 
 France, visiting the Paris Exposition of 
 that year. In 1893, along with his family, 
 he visited the World's Fair at Chicago. 
 Painstaking, and honorable in all his deal- 
 ings, Mr. Frisque well merits the esteem 
 in which he is held by the community at 
 large. 
 
 DANIEL H. MARTIN, the genial 
 and courteous county clerk of 
 Brown county, is a native of 
 Waukesha county. Wis., born 
 June 10, 1846. 
 
 Patrick and Bridget (Cain) Martin, 
 parents of our subject, were natives of 
 Ireland, born in County Meath, whence 
 in 1844 they migrated to this country and 
 to Wisconsin, making their first home, in 
 the Western World, in Milwaukee. From 
 there shortly afterward they proceeded to 
 Waukesha county, where the father, who 
 was an agriculturist, conducted a farm 
 during the remainder of his days. He 
 died there in 1845; his widow now resides 
 in Fond du Lac county. Wis. Their 
 family numbered two children: T. C, 
 county judge of Waukesha county. Wis., 
 and Daniel H., the subject proper of this 
 sketch. 
 
 Daniel H. Martin received his educa- 
 tion at the schools of Waukesha county 
 and Carroll College. In 1868 he came 
 to Brown county, locating in Morrison 
 township, where he was engaged in the 
 dual vocations of farming and teaching, 
 in which he continued until January, 1 893, 
 when he took office as county clerk, hav- 
 ing been elected in 1892. In 1873 he was 
 married in Morrison township. Brown 
 county, to Miss Mary Josephine Gibbons, 
 a native of the county, daughter of Pat- 
 rick and Hannah (Clancy) Gibbons, early 
 
434 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 settlers of Morrison township, where they 
 yet reside. Three children have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin, viz. : Mary, 
 Tessie and John. The family are mem- 
 bers of St. John's Catholic Church, 
 Green Bay. 
 
 In his political predilections our sub- 
 ject is a Democrat. In 1878 he was 
 elected a member of the county board, 
 and was a member of same at the time of 
 his election to the county clerkship. He 
 served as a justice of the peace many 
 years, and, taking him all in all he is one 
 of the most popular and useful of Brown 
 county's much esteemed citizens. 
 
 WE. FAIRFIELD, M. D., has 
 been identified with Brown 
 county for the past seven years, 
 as one of the ablest and most 
 successful physicians and surgeons in 
 northern Wisconsin, though one of the 
 youngest. 
 
 The Doctor is a native of Clarence- 
 viile. Province of Quebec, Canada, born 
 in 1861, a son of David and Eliza 
 (Mosher) Fairfield, also natives of Can- 
 ada. James Fairfield, grandfather of 
 subject, was a native of England, whence 
 in an early day he emigrated to Canada, 
 being among the first settlers in Missisquoi 
 county, Lower Canada ("Canada Bas"), 
 now known as the Province of Quebec. 
 The subject of these lines received his 
 elementary education at the public schools 
 of the neighborhood of his place of birth, 
 and in 1882, having matriculated in arts 
 in Ontario, commenced reading medicine 
 at Montreal, Canada. In the same year 
 he entered the University of Bishop's 
 College, Faculty of Medicine, where he 
 graduated with the class of '86. He was 
 then appointed house surgeon to the 
 Woman's Hospital in Montreal, serving 
 in that capacity some eighteen months. 
 At the end of that time, in 1887, he came 
 to Wisconsin, taking up his residence in 
 Scott township. Brown county, where he 
 commenced the practice of his profession. 
 
 In July, 1893, he moved to Green Bay, 
 and here has since continued in the prac- 
 tice of medicine and surgery, having met 
 with eminent success. 
 
 In 1889 Dr. Fairfield was married in 
 Noyan, Canada, to Miss Winifred Der- 
 rick, a native of that country, and a mem- 
 ber of the Episcopal Church. The Doctor 
 is a "gold medalist" of the University of 
 Bishop's College, Montreal, having re- 
 ceived two medals — one for having passed 
 the best e.xamination in surgery, the other 
 for having passed the highest examination 
 in all the subjects of examination. He is 
 a licentiate of the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons of the Province of Quebec; 
 a member of the Fox River Valley Medi- 
 cal Society, and of the Brown County Medi- 
 cal Society; also a member of the Board 
 of Pension Examiners. Socially he is a 
 member and noble grand of Green Bay 
 Lodge No. 19, I. O. O. F. ; politically he 
 is a Democrat. 
 
 ALBERT WEISE is a son of Mar- 
 tin and Caroline (Lincke) Weise, 
 natives of Blankenburg, Schwarz- 
 burg-Rudolstadt, Germany. Mar- 
 tin Weise, who was a cooper by occupa- 
 tion, died of typhoid fever October 15, 
 1822, in Blankenburg, when his son, John 
 Henry William Albert Weise, our subject, 
 was not quite two years old. His widow 
 subsequently married Christoph Frederick 
 Straubel, of Blankenburg, a blacksmith, 
 and in September, 1846, they came to 
 Green Bay, Wis., where Mr. Straubel 
 followed his trade till his death; Mrs. 
 Straubel also died in Green Bay. She 
 was the mother of seven children by her 
 last husband, viz. : Dorothea, Wilhel- 
 mina and Charley (deceased), a son that 
 died in Germany, Ernest, Adolph (de- 
 ceased), and August H., who is a wide- 
 awake business man of Green Bay, a 
 miller by occupation. 
 
 Albert Weise, our subject, received a 
 good common-school education in his 
 native country. Before reaching the age 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 435 
 
 of fourteen he was apprenticed to learn 
 wagonmaking, and after serving a three- 
 years' apprenticeship traveled three years 
 in Germany, perfecting himself in his 
 trade, and visiting the cities of Dresden, 
 Leipsic, Hamburg and Bremen. Return- 
 ing to his native town in 1840, he was 
 sent to the army, and the next year, on 
 June 3, 1 84 1, left his German home and 
 embarked on a sailing vessel for New 
 York, where he arrived August 9. He 
 tried to get work in New York Cit\'. but, 
 failing, went to Newark, N. J., where he 
 obtained employment in a carriage fac- 
 tory, making carriage wheels, and was 
 paid six shillings per day (a "shilling" 
 being twelve-and-a-half cents in the East 
 in those days), two-thirds of which 
 amount he was obliged to spend in the 
 company's store, and his board cost 
 him eighteen shillings per week. The 
 foreman of the factory received but eight 
 shillings a day. However, small as these 
 wages may seem, they were much bet- 
 ter than what was paid in Germany, where 
 he received but forty cents a week and 
 his board, the best wages he could earn 
 there, working fourteen hours a day. 
 What a lesson this is to the workingmen 
 of to-day, with their eight hours a day 
 and good wages! But these stern exper- 
 iences only served to bring out the better 
 qualities of the young German lad, who 
 steadily worked on, and saved money from 
 his meager earnings. In the spring of 
 1842, a machine for making spokes hav- 
 ing been manufactured, he and five others 
 were thrown out of employment. Later 
 he made a dollar a day, and saved money 
 enough to come to Green Bay (also giving 
 ten dollars to another man to come here), 
 arriving October 4, 1842. In that spring 
 the citizens of the town had raised one 
 thousand dollars, with which, and another 
 thousand contributed by the Astor Com- 
 pany of New York, they sent Hamil- 
 ton Arndt to New York to secure emi- 
 grants for Green Bay. He advertised 
 in the German papers of that cit)', 
 one of which fell into Mr. Weise's 
 
 hands, and being promised ten to 
 twelve shillings a day and a shop to go to 
 work in, he was persuaded to come hither. 
 He found neither, but was induced by John 
 B. Arndt to conunence for himself, and 
 Mr. Arndt furnishing the shop and lumber 
 Mr. Weise, having his own tools, went to 
 work. He paid $2.25 for board and shop 
 rent, which was taken out in work. Mon- 
 ey was not to be seen every day, but 
 nevertheless Mr. Weise prospered, taking 
 his pa}' in store goods and lumber. Part 
 of the time he worked as ship and house 
 carpenter at ten shillings a day, store pay or 
 trade, working twelve hours a day. He also 
 made cradles and other implements, and 
 was in all respects a useful man to the 
 new community. He was connected with 
 railroad enterprises, the first being the 
 Lake Shore from Manitowoc to Green 
 Bay. The sum of three hundred thousand 
 dollars was voted, and grants for depot 
 secured. In addition to this enterprise, 
 he always took an active part in getting 
 a railroad to Green Bay. He assisted in 
 starting the Green Bay & Madison rail- 
 road, for which the city voted seventy- 
 five thousand dollars. The citizens of 
 Green Bay held a "working bee" to as- 
 sist in the building of the road between 
 that city and De Pere, and he became a 
 director of the road, taking two thousand 
 dollars worth of stock; and his enthusiasm 
 in the scheme was so great that he was 
 verj' nearly induced to morgage his farm, 
 but did not. He worked hard for the 
 Green Bay and Minnesota road. 
 
 On July 9, 1844, Mr. Weise married 
 Maria Holtzknecht. a native of Ellar, 
 Prussia, on the Mosel, born August 12, 
 1823. She was a true type of the thrifty 
 German housewife, who could turn her 
 attention to almost any kind of housework 
 successfully, and the young couple com- 
 menced keeping house immediately. 
 Green Bay being the land office, they 
 concluded to keep boarders, charging a 
 shilling a meal, and one-half a shilling for 
 lodging, thus making some money. Mr. 
 Weise, who had his wagon shop and a 
 
436 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 number of men working for him, soon be- 
 gan to manufacture finer grades of work, 
 and called his shop ' ' Weise's Carriage 
 Factory." He conducted the business un- 
 til 1876, meeting with great success, and 
 then gave it over to his son, George 
 Albert Weise. Much of his work he 
 traded for lumber, brick and stone. In 
 1846 he built a house, which is still stand- 
 ing, on which a half dozen carpenters 
 labored, each working out a score they 
 owed Mr. Weise for work done. Since 
 then he has put up many buildings in 
 Green Bay. He also owns a table fact- 
 ory in Green Bay, which gives employ- 
 ment to fifty hands. To Albert and 
 Maria Weise were born children as fol- 
 lows: Peter E. ; George A. ; Mary, wife 
 of Rev. G. C. Reim, of La Crosse, Wis. ; 
 Carrie, wife of William Snelflohn, of 
 Marinette, Wis. ; Herman F. ; Charles 
 W. ; Augusta, wife of F. A. Hollman; 
 Dorothea, who died at the age of two 
 years; Lena, wife of F. R. Jeffrey, of 
 Leadville, Colo. ; and Amanda, wife of 
 F. H. Straubel; all yet living except Doro- 
 thea. The mother of these died Decem- 
 ber 3, 1887, at the age of sixty-three 
 years, four months, and for his second 
 wife Mr. Weise married, February 16, 
 1888, Mrs. Amelia Miller, mother of 
 Frank Miller. 
 
 Mr. Weise got his first good start in 
 
 1845, at which time he inherited three 
 hundred dollars which was sent him from 
 Germany. He bought a lot on Cherry 
 street on which he built a shop, and from 
 this small beginning his large business 
 grew. In 1849 he bought another lot, on 
 which he moved his old shop, adding 
 thereto a blacksmith and paint shop. His 
 stepfather, who came to Green Bay in 
 
 1 846, carried on the blacksmithing until 
 1849, when he too engaged in the wagon 
 business. In 1870 our subject, in part- 
 nership with James Poole, embarked in 
 the china and Crocker}^ business, after one 
 j-ear becoming sole proprietor of same, 
 which he and his son, Herman F. con- 
 ducted for many 3-ears, or until the latter 
 
 moved to Winona, Minn., where he also 
 carried on a crockery store; he is now in 
 the State of Washington. At present Mr. 
 Weise's partners are his two sons-in-law, 
 F. A. Hollman and Frederick H. Strau- 
 bel, the firm, which is known as Weise, 
 Hollman & Co., doing an extensive whole- 
 sale and retail business through the north- 
 ern part of Wisconsin and Michigan. Mr. 
 Weise is president of the Green Bay Carri- 
 age Company. He was formerly president 
 of the Green Bay Savings Bank, and he has 
 identified himself with almost every in- 
 terest tending to benefit the town; has 
 been one of the leading spirits in various 
 enterprises, some disastrous to him finan- 
 cially, but many of which benefited the 
 town, as they furnished employment for 
 several men and brought comfort to not a 
 few homes. He has been interested in 
 starting a furnace, was in the oil business 
 in Pennsj'lvania, and in the iron-mining 
 business in northern Michigan. He has 
 always been enterprising, and even at the 
 opening of the Kaukauna plank road, poor 
 as he then was, he donated a new wagon, 
 thereby showing his public spirit. 
 
 In religious faith he is a member of 
 the German Lutheran Church, in which 
 he has always taken an active interest. 
 He assisted in the organization of the 
 Moravian Societ}', and helped to erect the 
 church building; later on, when a Luth- 
 eran missionary came to Green Bay, he 
 assisted in the building of the German 
 Lutheran Church, and has ever since 
 contributed liberally toward its support. 
 He was also actively interested in the or- 
 ganization, January i, 1850, of the Ger- 
 man Benevolent Society of Green Bay, 
 he being one of the original thirteen char- 
 ter members, and to-day, with the ex- 
 ception of one other, is the only survivor. 
 This society, which has been of vast ben- 
 efit in German circles, was started by Mr. 
 Weise and George Oldenburg, the latter 
 of whom was its first treasurer, Mr. Weise 
 being its president for twenty years from 
 its incipienc)-. In his political prefer- 
 ments he has always been a strong pro- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 437 
 
 tective-tariff Republican in national af- 
 fairs, but in civic matters he usually casts 
 his ballot for the man he considers best 
 adapted to the office, whatever it may be. 
 He has served on the city council board, 
 and as chairman of the same, as well as 
 alderman, having been elected against his 
 will. In fact, there is no more useful 
 citizen in Green Bay than Albert Weise, 
 and he is held in the highest esteem by all 
 who know him. 
 
 DH. GRIGNON, justice of the 
 peace at Green Bay, is a native 
 of that city, born February 17, 
 1843, a son of Peter Bernard and 
 Rachel (Lawej Grignon. 
 
 Peter Grignon v\as born in Green 
 Bay, Wis., June 12, 1806, a son of Pierre 
 Antoine Grignon, also a native of Wis- 
 consin. He was a son of Pierre Grignon, 
 in the long ago a merchant in Montreal, 
 Canada, who married a daughter of 
 Charles DeLanglade. Together they — 
 Mr. and Mrs. Grignon and Mr. DeLang- 
 lade — came in an earlj' da}' to Green Baj', 
 being among the first settlers of the place. 
 Pierre Grignon was engaged in the Green 
 Bay fur trade, as well as in merchandis- 
 ing, and passed the rest of his days in 
 that place. Pierre Antoine Grignon, 
 grandfather of our subject, and the eldest 
 son of Pierre Grignon, b}- his marriage 
 with Domitille DeLanglade, continued 
 the store business, established by his 
 father, for twenty-eight years, that being 
 the only store at Green Bay prior to the 
 war of 18 1 2. Peter Bernard Grignon, 
 son of Pierre Antoine, received his edu- 
 cation in Green Bay, and in after life 
 filled various public positions of trust, such 
 as clerk of the district court; first sheriff of 
 Brown county; deputy United States mar- 
 shal; contractor for carrying the mail 
 both on foot and on horseback to Mani- 
 towoc, Sheboygan, Milwaukee, Chicago 
 and Fort Snelling. Politically he was a 
 Democrat. He married Miss Rachel 
 Lawe, a daughter of Judge John Lawe, 
 
 an early pioneer of Brown count}', who 
 with his wife died in Green Bay. To 
 this union were born four children, as 
 follows: D. H., subject of this sketch; 
 Maria Jane, who died single; Cynthia 
 Anna, wife of Jerome G. Vieau; and 
 Martin L. , who died in 1870. The 
 father was called from earth in June, 1888, 
 the mother February 16, 1876. Pierre 
 A. Grignon owned a considerable amount 
 of real estate in Wisconsin, a portion of 
 it being whereon the city of Green Bay 
 now stands. 
 
 D. H. Grignon, the subject proper of 
 these lines, received a liberal education 
 at the schools of Green Bay. After leav- 
 ing school he read law, and in 1866 was 
 admitted to the bar. In 1875 he was in- 
 stalled in his present position as justice of 
 the peace. 
 
 On October 15, 1870, Mr. Grignon 
 was united in marriage with Miss Louise 
 C. Hamilton, a native of Green Bay, 
 daughter of Finley Fisher and Catherine 
 fBoyd) Hamilton, early settlers of Green 
 Bay (both now deceased), the latter of 
 whom was the daughter of Col. George 
 Boyd, Indian agent. To this union have 
 been born three children, viz. : Rachel 
 Maria and Catherine A. (twins), and 
 Ouincy, who died November 13, 1893. 
 Rachel M. is a teacher in Freedom, Wis. 
 Politically Mr. Grignon is a Democrat; in 
 religious faith he is a member of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 WILLIAM GOW, one of the re- 
 spected citizens of De Pere, 
 Wis., was born at Cairney Hill, 
 Fifeshire, Scotland, September 
 10, [819. 
 
 His father, William Gow, Sr. , was a 
 native of the city of Perth, and his mother, 
 Martha (Broughj Gow, was born in the 
 village of Pittencrief, Fifeshire. William 
 Gow, Sr. , was a plasterer by trade, and 
 expired in the city of Glasgow. \\'illiam 
 Gow, the subject proper of this sketch, 
 was educated in the parochial schools of 
 
438 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGEAPHICAL UECOliD. 
 
 his native place, and at the age of sixteen 
 began an apprenticeship at wagon mak- 
 ing, which apprenticeship was completed 
 after a service of four years. The fol- 
 lowing three years he acted as foreman of 
 the shop, and then for three and a half 
 years was employed in a foundry at Ren- 
 frew in the manufacture of derricks and 
 their erection through Scotland and En- 
 gland. On March 12, 1847, ^t Dumbar- 
 ton, near Glasgow, Mr. Gow married Miss 
 Mary McKinley, daughter of Duncan and 
 Agnes (Irving) McKinley. The McKin- 
 leys were an ancient clan of Highlanders 
 from Argyleshire, and the Irvings were of 
 an equally ancient family from near Car- 
 lisle, on the border of England, where 
 numerous members of the family still re- 
 side. Three years, three months and 
 three days after marriage Mr. Gow set 
 sail on the "Three Bells" for Canada, 
 and after a voyage of nine weeks arrived 
 at Quebec, whence he soon after went 
 about two hundred miles southwest, to the 
 village of Metis, Canada, where he pur- 
 chased eighty acres of wild land and en- 
 gaged in farming; but the farm not 
 proving to be a profitable investment, he 
 relinquished its cultivation at the end of 
 that period and came to De Pere, Wis., 
 arriving the Saturday before the Fourth 
 of July, 1S53. The first work in which 
 he here engaged was on a dam across the 
 Fox river, but subsequently was employed 
 at wagon making by O. W. Kingslcy. On 
 October i, 1S55, ^'r. Gow bought out 
 the business of Mr. Kingsley, and the 
 same day his wife, Mrs. Mary (McKinley) 
 Gow, reached De Pere from Scotland, 
 having landed at New York after a pass- 
 age of six weeks from Liverpool on a 
 sailing vessel. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gow have been devout 
 'members of the First Presbyterian Church 
 of De Pere for the past twenty-tive years, 
 and enjoy the respect of the entire com- 
 munity. Mrs. Gow has been a faithful 
 member of the denomination for fifty-five 
 years, having originally united with the 
 Wall Park Presbyterian Church, on Lady 
 
 Well street, Glasgow, Scotland, in Oc- 
 tober, 1S39. Mrs. Gow has always taken 
 an active part in Church work and Church 
 societies. In politics, Mr. Gow is a Re- 
 publican, and has served as member of 
 the city council of De Pere for two terms 
 and as city assessor for two years. He 
 is a member of Lodge No. 85, F. & A. M. 
 at De Pere, and also of Brown County 
 St. Andrew's Society. Although Mr. 
 Gow did not bear arms in the Civil war 
 for the integrity of the Union, his sympa- 
 thies were strongly in favor of the govern- 
 ment, which he aided by every means in 
 his power, being particularly active in rais- 
 ing supplies for the sanitary commission 
 and for the support of the army hospitals. 
 
 CHARLES A. COTTON, engineer 
 of the Chicago & North Western 
 raihva>', and stationed at Fort 
 Howard, was born in Green Bay, 
 Wis. (then known as Astoria), in 1845, a 
 son of John Winslow and Mary B. (Arndt) 
 Cotton, who were among the early set- 
 tlers of Brown county. 
 
 John Winslow Cotton was born in 
 1800, in Plymouth, Mass., of old Puritan 
 stock. He was graduated from the 
 United States Military Academy at West 
 Point, N. Y. , July 4, 1823; connnissioned 
 second lieutenant Third Infantrj', July 
 I, 1823, commission signed by James 
 Monroe; promoted to first lieutenant 
 same regiment, October 4, 1827, signed 
 by J. Q. Adams; promoted to captain 
 November 15, 1836, signed by Andrew 
 Jackson. As early as 1824 he was 
 stationed at Fort Howard, being after- 
 ward transferred to Jefferson Barracks, 
 Mo. He was married in Green Bay, in 
 1825, to Mary B. Arndt, and on his 
 resignation from the regular service lo- 
 cated on a farm in Allouez township, 
 Brown county, where he became a promi- 
 nent citizen, serving as town clerk and 
 school superintendent of the township. 
 He was a Mason, and for a number of 
 years was a leader of the choir in the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 439 
 
 Episcopal Church. On the loth day of 
 September, 1878, he passed from life, 
 leaving behind an honored and respected 
 name. 
 
 j\Irs. Mary B. Cotton was born in the 
 Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, and was 
 a daughter of John P. and Elizabeth (Car- 
 penter) Arndt. The father was a native 
 of the Keystone State, of German descent, 
 was a ship carpenter by trade, and early 
 carne to Green Bay, where he built the 
 first vessel on Fox river. He was a much 
 respected gentleman, and for some time 
 filled the position of judge. He lost his 
 wife in i860, and followed her to the 
 grave in 1861. The children born to 
 John P. and Elizabeth Arndt were: Mary 
 B. (Mrs. Cotton); John Wallace, of De- 
 Pere; Mrs. Elizabeth Eastman, of Benton 
 Harbor, Mich. ; Charles, who was shot 
 and killed by James R. Vineyard, of 
 Grant county, in the Senate chamber at 
 Madison, Wis., February 11, 1842, and 
 Hamilton. To John Winslow and Mary 
 B. Cotton were born five children, as fol- 
 lows: John R. , a native of Plymouth, 
 Mass. , and now a resident of Chicago, 
 111. ; Elizabeth, wife of Charles R. Tyler, 
 died in 1S88; Priscilla, the wife of Hon. 
 J. H. Howe, died in Allouez township, 
 Brown Co., Wis., July 4, 1857; Mary 
 Gordon, also married to Hon. J. H. Howe, 
 died in Kenosha, Wis., in September 1887, 
 and Charles A., our subject. On July 6, 
 1861, Mrs. Mary B. Cotton was mustered 
 into the service as nurse, at Racine, Wis., 
 and served one year, during which time 
 she was stationed in Baltimore, Md. (the 
 old " Relay House " ), and Newport News, 
 Va. , until the regiment was ordered to 
 New Orleans. 
 
 Charles A. Cotton was educated in 
 the public schools of Green Bay, and at 
 the early age of sixteen, July Ci, 1861, en- 
 listed in Company H, Fourth Wis. V. C, 
 for three years or during the war. He 
 was mustered into the service at Racine, 
 Wis., and assigned to duty, at tirst, in 
 the Army of the Potomac, and later saw 
 active service at 'New Orleans, Baton 
 
 Rouge and Port Hudson, La., Vicksburg, 
 Miss., and in the Red River campaign. 
 On February 9, 1865, he received an 
 honorable discharge at Baton Rouge, and 
 on his return to Green Bay was employed 
 by the Chicago & North Western Railway 
 Company, with which he has been ever 
 since. At Chicago, December 25, 1867, 
 he was married to Miss Mary J. Whit- 
 field; his second marriage in 1877, also 
 at Chicago, was to Miss Alline Kennedy, 
 a native of Ireland, who bore him four 
 children, to wit. : Elizabeth S. ; John 
 Rossiter and James K., both of whom 
 were drowned November 25, 1892, at the 
 respective ages of twelve and ten years, 
 and Priscilla Augusta. In politics Mr. 
 Cotton is a stanch Republican, and soci- 
 ally he is a member of Washington Lodge, 
 No. 21, F. & A. M., at Green Bay. Mrs. 
 Cotton is a pious lady, a faithful adher- 
 ent of the Church of Rome, and is a 
 member of St. John's Congregation of 
 Green Bay. 
 
 JAMES KERR, editor and proprietor 
 of the Fort Howard Rc%'iew, was 
 born in Montrose, Forfarshire, Scot- 
 land, November 4, 1830, and when 
 five years of age came to this country 
 with his parents and two brothers, Rob- 
 ert and Andrew, arriving in Charleston, 
 S. C. The family remained only about 
 two years in that city, when they returned 
 to Montrose, Scotland. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received a 
 common education. During many of his 
 spare hours he was fond of visiting one of 
 the printing offices in the city of his birth, 
 and gained the esteem of the foreman. 
 He was a studious lad, and a great reader, 
 and his ambition was to be a printer. To 
 this his father was a little opposed, but 
 found favor with his mother, consequently, 
 on February 8, 1844, he entered the 
 Standard printing office as an appren- 
 tice. He proved to be such an excellent 
 "devil" that he was promoted over two 
 apprentices who were in the office before 
 
440 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 him, and ' ' got a case " on the newspaper. 
 He became a good compositor, not a fast 
 one, but accurate, and always had a 
 "clean proof." Not having a great 
 liking for newspaper work at setting type, 
 he during spare hours would be in the 
 border case, and even changing lines in 
 standing jobs and advertisements. This 
 attracted the attention of the foreman, 
 and he was promoted to hold the " Adv. 
 Case " — or rather he got all the adver- 
 tisements to "set up." From this he 
 was placed in the job-room, and long be- 
 fore his seven-years' apprenticeship was 
 finished had charge of the job depart- 
 ment. 
 
 During the term of his apprenticeship 
 he attended night school, and was also a 
 pupil of Isaac Pitman, who was then 
 traveling through Scotland, giving lessons 
 in his "Shorthand." Although not in 
 love with newspaper work at the case, he 
 nevertheless was local correspondent for 
 two outside newspapers, as well as doing 
 a little home work, and ultimately be- 
 came connected in the management of the 
 Montrose Citizen. 
 
 After entering on the last year of his 
 apprenticeship, he was offered a position, 
 to take charge of a new printing office to 
 be started in the city by a Mr. Rodgers. 
 The position to a young man not out of 
 his apprenticeship was a flattering one, 
 as well as a lucrative one, compared to 
 the wages of an apprentice in the last 
 year of his "time," and as a matter of 
 course James accepted the position. 
 From Mr. Rodger's office was issued Tlie 
 Montrose Citizen, previously spoken of, 
 and Mr. Kerr held his position in that 
 office up to the time he left for the United 
 States. 
 
 The writer of this sketch obtained his 
 information from Mr. Kerr, in conversa- 
 tion, he not dreaming that it would ever 
 appear in " cold type " or printed. He 
 also gave some facts in regard to ' ' patent 
 insides " now in so general use by news- 
 papers in this country. ' ' Thej' talk 
 about these ' patent insides ' being first 
 
 used in this country; they were in use in 
 the old country many years before they 
 appeared here. Why, the Montrose Citi- 
 zen, with which I was connected," said 
 Mr. Kerr, "was printed on so-called 
 ' patent insides,' a.nd fill l_v illustrated, too; 
 and what is more, news plates were fur- 
 nished, similar to those now in use — but 
 not to such perfection, I allow. I have a 
 file of the Montrose Citizen, and proofs 
 of the plates in my possession, so you see 
 that the bottom is knocked out of the 
 claim that the so-called 'patent insides' 
 and plates were first used in this coun- 
 try." Speaking, also, of all-brass galleys, 
 on which Hoe, of New York, claimed a 
 patent, Mr. Kerr says: " All-brass galleys 
 were in use when I was a boy serving my 
 apprenticeship. ' 
 
 Mr. Kerr left the "land of heather" 
 August 26, 1854, leaving Montrose on 
 the sailing vessel "Helen," bound for 
 Quebec, Canada. Two days before his 
 departure, August 24, he was married by 
 Rev. Colin McCulloch, of the Estab- 
 lished Church of Scotland, to Miss Eliza- 
 beth Birnie Dickie, daughter of George 
 Dickie, shipbuilder, Montrose, and before 
 leaving they were the recipients of valua- 
 ble gifts from their many friends. The 
 voyage was a tedious and stormy one, 
 and their travel by rail was greatly de- 
 la3'ed, so that it was the 20th of October 
 before they reached the point of their 
 destination — Milwaukee, Wis. Here they 
 met Andrew Murison, formerly of Mont- 
 rose, a schoolmate and a "chum" 
 printer of Mr. Kerr's, and who had left 
 Scotland some few years before. Mr. 
 Kerr's youngest brother, Andrew Brand 
 Kerr, was also one of the party which 
 left with them August 26, 1854. He 
 died (at Milwaukee) April 23, 18S6. He 
 was married to Miss Harriet Travers, 
 daughter of an early partner of the late 
 John Plankinton, of Milwaukee. He 
 left a widow, two sons and a daughter. 
 Robert, the eldest son, is a widower 
 with one daughter, who resides with her 
 grandmother in New York City; Andrew, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 441 
 
 the other son, is unmarried; the daughter, 
 Henrietta, is married, and resides in Aber- 
 deen, Washington. 
 
 Mr. Murison, then in Milwaukee, was 
 a member of the firm of Chapman & 
 Murison, job printers. Mr. Chapman, 
 the well-known map publisher, being de- 
 sirous of selling out his interest in the 
 printing office, an arrangement was made 
 by which James Kerr purchased his inter- 
 est on November 4, his anniversar\- birth- 
 day, and the business firm became Muri- 
 son & Kerr. On the following year they 
 sold out their printing office, and both 
 entered the Daily Neivs office in the job 
 department. A short time after Mr. Kerr 
 had taken a position in the Xci^'s office, 
 he was offered a situation in Port Wash- 
 ington, Ozaukee Co., Wis., to take charge 
 of the 0:zaukec County Advertiser office, 
 which he accepted. C. F. Huntsman, 
 who was superintendent of the N'eivs, 
 greatly regretted the step he had taken, 
 as he desired his services in the job de- 
 partment; but Mr. Huntsman informed 
 Mr. Kerr that if the position did not suit 
 him, or if he desired to return to Mil- 
 waukee at any time, he would find a situ- 
 ation open for him in the iVeius office — 
 which was very flattering to Mr. Kerr, as 
 well as evidence of Mr. Huntsman's ap- 
 preciation of his services. 
 
 The 0:;aiikee County Advertiser was 
 owned by R. L. Gove, who was post- 
 master, and Mr. Iverr attended to the 
 management of the office. During that 
 year Seymour G. Wait and Mr. Kerr pur- 
 chased the office, and enlarged and other- 
 wise improved the paper, greatly to the 
 satisfaction of the business community. 
 But Mr. Gove was ill at ease; the paper 
 was not run according to his political 
 standard; his editorials were rejected; and 
 he found his influence fading. He held 
 a chattel mortgage on the office, with an 
 "iron-clad" condition, which he ulti- 
 mately foreclosed without an hour's warn- 
 ing. This as a matter of course led to a 
 lawsuit. Sheriff Luetfringtook possession, 
 and Kerr & Wait employed Mr. Blair, an 
 
 able attorney, to look after their interest. 
 Many of the business men were indignant 
 at the course Mr. Gove had taken, and 
 agreed to secure funds enough to start a 
 new office and newspaper; but as Mr. 
 Wait preferred to go East and Mr. Kerr 
 returning to Milwaukee, nothing was done 
 toward starting a new paper. Suit was 
 commenced in the circuit court, but a 
 change of venue was taken to Racine 
 county. About one year afterward the 
 case of Iverr & Wait -vs. R. L. Gove came 
 for trial at the city of Racine, and it was 
 settled by Mr. Gove paying a certain 
 amount of damages. 
 
 After leaving Port Washington Mr. 
 I\err again held a position in the Mil- 
 waukee Neivs office, and remained on that 
 paper nearly seven years. During these 
 years many were the changes which took 
 place in the business and editorial man- 
 agement of that paper — Benton, Clason, 
 Huntsman, Hon. Beriah Brown, Joseph 
 Lathrop, Hon. John R. Sharpstein, Dr. 
 Orton, J. Lyon, Hon. George H. Paul, 
 etc. "I must relate to you, Sir," said 
 Mr. Kerr, as the writer was making his 
 notes, "a circumstance which occurred, 
 and which elevated me considerably. It 
 was during the Buchanan campaign. Mil- 
 waukee was the headquarters, and the 
 election tickets were printed in the Neivs 
 office, from where the different points 
 were supplied, especially north. These 
 tickets were being printed in several dif- 
 ferent languages, and there was a small 
 room almost filled with tickets, all cut 
 and packed ready for shipment. I spoke 
 to Mr. Huntsman one day about them, 
 stating that they would be worthless, and 
 that only tickets printed in the English 
 language could be used, no matter where 
 the election was held. He said I was a 
 good job printer, but a "greenhorn" in 
 these matters. However, Mr. Huntsman 
 spoke to one or two of the committee 
 about what the " green " Scotchman had 
 said in a sort of derision; the matter to 
 them had a more serious aspect; a com- 
 mittee meeting was called at once, and 
 
442 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 the result was that all the ' ' foreign " 
 tickets were consigned to the flames and 
 the presses had to run night and day on 
 ' Buck and Breck ' tickets in order to 
 get them out in time for election. " ' ' To 
 this circumstance, " continued Mr. Kerr, 
 " I owe my elevation — in the AVii'.? office; 
 for, a few weeks afterward, I was given 
 the position of foreman of the office and 
 my wages considerably increased." 
 
 In the spring of 1856 Mr. Kerr's 
 brother, Robert Laing Kerr, and wife 
 came to Milwaukee from Montrose, Scot- 
 land, and in the fall of the same year his 
 parents with three si.sters also arrived 
 from Scotland in Milwaukee. Robert L. 
 Kerr now resides in Monmouth, 111. He 
 married Elizabeth Reoch at Brechin, 
 Scotland, and has a family of sons and 
 daughters — one son and daughter mar- 
 ried — Mrs. Frank Foster, of Beloit, Wis. , 
 and Andrew Kerr, of Duluth, Minnesota. 
 
 On August 9, 1S57, George Dickie 
 Kerr, a son of James Kerr, died; and on 
 December 25, samej-ear, his sister, Mary, 
 died; in the following year, on February 
 21, his infant daughter, Margaret Jane 
 Kerr, died; and on May 26, i860, his 
 mother, Margaret Taylor-Kerr, died. All 
 these deaths occurred in Milwaukee, and 
 the remains interred in the family grounds 
 in Forest Home Cemetery. 
 
 In 1863 Mr. Kerr's father and his two 
 sisters, Georgianna Allardice Kerr and 
 Elizabeth Clark Kerr, returned to Scot- 
 land and their native home. 
 
 In the same year Mr. Kerr left the 
 AVt('.s- office, and for a time was in the 
 W'iseonsiii office. In the fall he made 
 his mind up to enlist in the army, with 
 which intent he went to the mustering and 
 disbursing office, desiring, however, to 
 enlist in the Twenty-fourth Wis. V. I., 
 as many of his friends were members of 
 that regiment, and they were at that time 
 filling up the old regiments with new men 
 to keep the companies full. The Twenty- 
 fourth had been filled up; Mr. Kerr had a 
 friend in the mustering office, a Mr. Leach, 
 who was chief clerk, and he gave him a 
 
 position in the office. In the fall of the 
 following year Gen. Grant issued an order 
 for all men who had "soft snaps" at 
 home offices to get to the front, and Mr. 
 Kerr had "to get." The Forty-sixth 
 Wisconsin Regiment was then being 
 formed, and a recruiting officer was get- 
 ting up a company in Milwaukee. This 
 company — Company F — Mr. Kerr joined, 
 and was appointed first sergeant. The 
 regiment rendezvoused at Camp Randall, 
 Madison, and was organized under Col. 
 Fred S. Lovell. Henry B. Williams was 
 captain of Company F. The regiment 
 did not leave the State until the begin- 
 ning of March, when it proceeded to 
 Louisville, Ky., and thence to Athens, 
 Ala., where it was assigned to guard duty 
 against bushwhackers and guerrillas. The 
 regiment remained at Athens until called 
 to Wisconsin, being mustered out at 
 Nashville, Tenn., paid off in Madison, 
 and disbanded early in October. 
 
 When the regiment reached Chicago 
 Mr. Kerr received the sad intelligence of 
 the death of his four-year-old son, Albert 
 Edward Kerr, on the 24th of September, 
 but a few days before, and after the regi- 
 ment disbanded at Madison he made all 
 haste to his home of mourning at Milwau- 
 kee, which he had left less than a year 
 before, with hopes of returning joy and 
 happiness. "At the time I enlisted," said 
 Mr. Kerr, ' ' I was robust and hearty, and 
 weighed 198 pounds; but on my return 
 home I only weighed 1 14 pounds! " Dur- 
 ing the time Mr. Kerr was in the army he 
 wrote some very interesting letters for the 
 ]Viseonsi)i. 
 
 After remaining at home a short time 
 Mr. Kerr accepted a position in Horton 
 & Leonard's office in Chicago. He re- 
 mained in Chicago about a year, when he 
 returned to Milwaukee to accept the 
 management of the book department in 
 Starr's printing establishment; he also 
 became foreman of the job department. 
 In Starr's office he remained for several 
 years. Mr. Kerr was offered a lucrative 
 position in the foiinieil of Commerce 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 443 
 
 printing establishment, which he ac- 
 cepted. This was a new office, and he 
 had the entire management of the con- 
 cern until it changed hands in 1874. Mr. 
 Kerr was interested with Mr. Baile}- in 
 the publishing of directories in Milwau- 
 kee, as well as engaged in publishing sev- 
 eral meritorious advertising literature, 
 etc. During his long residence in Mil- 
 waukee — from 1854 to 1874 — he was 
 considered a first-class printer in all de- 
 tails, and authority in the settlement of 
 any disputes among the craft. He was a 
 valuable member of the Typographical 
 Union, and for many years president of 
 the organization, is a member of the In- 
 ternational Typographical Union, and 
 represented Milwaukee at its convention 
 in the city of Albany, N. Y. ; was a mem- 
 of the I. O. O. F. , No. 20; was a charter 
 member of Sheridan Post No. 6, G. A. 
 R., and was adjutant of the post for sev- 
 eral terms and also vice-commander. 
 
 In 1874 the proprietors of the Jouniai 
 of Commerce sold out their establishment 
 to practical printers, and Mr. Kerr being 
 offered a position in Green Bay, to take 
 charge of the job department of the State 
 Gazette, he at once accepted, and the 
 early days of the month of March, 1874, 
 found him on duty with Hoskinson 
 & Follett, the then proprietors. 
 Shortly afterward he assumed the 
 duties of local editor, and held that 
 position until April, 1884. During the 
 time he was "localizing" on the Daily 
 Gazette, he published and managed the 
 Fort Howard Revieiv. The history of the 
 ups and downs of the lives of newspapers 
 in Fort Howard is so remarkable that the 
 city was named, by neighboring contem- 
 poraries, as the "newspaper cemetery," 
 and from an article published on ' ' The 
 Press of Brown County — past and pres- 
 ent," which appeared in August, 1S86, 
 we glean the following facts: 
 
 The first paper published was the Era, 
 on 20th April, 1855; the second number 
 was never published; the Fort Howard 
 Times was the next paper, but the office 
 
 was destroyed b)' fire October 22, 1872, 
 and publication was never resumed. In 
 the same year the Fort Howard Monitor 
 was started, and after going through many 
 changes in its management suspended in 
 March, 1877. The .!/('////'<:'/- had the con- 
 tract for city printing, and the proprietor 
 turned over the . contract to the Rcvieiv. 
 The Review was then printed in Green 
 Bay, and ordinances, etc., had to be pub- 
 lished in a paper printed in the city. The 
 Fort Howard Herald was then printed in 
 Fort Howard, and the proprietor claimed 
 the contract ; but Mr. Kerr was sufficient 
 for the emergency. J. H. Tayler had an 
 amateur press, and Mr. Kerr had the or- 
 dinances and other official matter "set 
 up " in Green Bay and printed the matter 
 on the small press in Fort Howard, which 
 covered the provision of the city charter, 
 and satisfied the city council, much to the 
 chagrin of the proprietor of the Herald. 
 The Herald was established in 1872, but 
 had a checkered life; it passed into other 
 hands in 1 877, and changed hands in 1 878, 
 when the name was also changed to the 
 Broivn Coiiuty Herald, and published but 
 a short time. In 1879 the Fort Howard 
 Journal appeared, but lived only a short 
 time; then followed the Morning Journal, 
 and after its demise came the Brozcn 
 County Demoerat, which followed the 
 /f);/7V/rt/after a short life. In June, 1882, 
 the Fort Howard Sentinel made its ap- 
 pearance, and continued publication until 
 February, 1890, when it followed the fate 
 of those gone before. The Fort Howard 
 Rcviccv was started by David M. Burns 
 as an advertising sheet for his own busi- 
 ness in September, 1875, and published 
 monthly. It was a small three-column 
 four-page publication. In November, 
 1876, Mr. Burns turned over the Review 
 to James Kerr, who enlarged the paper to 
 a five-column folio, and gave attention to 
 local matters. It was received by the 
 public with so much favor that on the 
 following January he commenced publish- 
 ing the Review weekly, and enlarged it to 
 a six-column folio. 
 
444 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 When Mr. Kerr left the Green Bay 
 Gazette to commence business in Fort 
 Howard, his son, Charles Stuart, became 
 partner, and shortly afterward the Kc- 
 viciu was enlarged to a six-column quarto 
 — the standard size — and has been printed 
 and published continuously under their 
 management up to the present day. The 
 article on "The Press of 13 rown County," 
 previously mentioned, in speaking of the 
 Rcviciv and its proprietors, says: "Con- 
 sidering the sad fate of so many attempts 
 at journalism in Fort Howard, and the 
 many disadvantages the Rcviczv has had 
 to contend with, its present position is 
 both a matter of pride and gratification to 
 its proprietors and originators." 
 
 In September, 1880, Mr. Kerr's 
 mother-in-law, Mrs. George Dickie, died, 
 and was consigned to the grave on the 
 memorable day of the Great Fire in Green 
 Bay. After her husband's death in Mil- 
 waukee, in i860, Mrs. Dickie became one 
 of the family circle, and resided at Mr. 
 Kerr's home for nearly twenty years. She 
 was a kind-hearted, cheerful and affec- 
 tionate woman, and her loss was keenly 
 felt by the entire family. 
 
 Mr. Kerr's father died on March 18, 
 1 88 1, at Montrose, in his native land, 
 after a long illness, where he was attended 
 with constant care and devotion, which 
 only two loving daughters could give. 
 After his death, all tender ties being 
 broken — /u- biiiig the last of the family 
 raee in Seotland- — they left for America, 
 coining to Fort Howard in the fall of 
 1 88 1, and resided with their brother, 
 James Kerr, for over a year, when they 
 removed to Milwaukee to make that city 
 their home. 
 
 In the same year, and but little over 
 three months after the death of Mr. 
 Kerr's father, he lost a son. James Tay- 
 lor Kerr was aged about seventeen years 
 at the time of his death. He was a 
 bright and intelligent young lad, far above 
 his years, and gave promise of a brilliant 
 and useful life. His death was a heavy 
 blow to the parents, and a sorrowful one 
 
 to all his acquaintances and those who 
 came in close contact with him. The 
 Green Bay Globe of July 13, 1881, in 
 speaking of his death, said: 
 
 The unlooked-for death of Jiniinie Kerr is 
 the occasion of profound sorrow in the printing' 
 offices, where he was well known, as it is among 
 all who knew him. He was one of the most g'en- 
 tlemanly unobtrusive and intellifjent little fel- 
 lows we ever met with. It seemed to us, when- 
 ever he came to our sanctum, that his kind, 
 earnest, serious face was itself a prophecy of a 
 life that would expand to greatness and useful- 
 ness as the years grew. But God plucks his 
 choicest flowers first. The prophecj- may not 
 reach its fulfillment, unless the influence of his 
 life and aspirations shall inspire his compan- 
 ions with higher aims and better purposes. Jini- 
 mie was in his seventeenth year. He had been 
 suff^ering since the Fourth with an attack of 
 cholera morbus, which was not considered dan- 
 gerous; but it took an unfavorable turn on Mon- 
 day evening, and he died before midnight. 
 
 On the evening of October 21, 
 
 1884, 
 Death seemed for a time to hover o'er the 
 the family circle, but through the mercy 
 of Divine Providence took wings, and the 
 threshhold was not passed. But that 
 night was a sad and melancholy one with- 
 in their home, as well as a dark and dreary 
 one outside; the parents frantic with grief 
 and sorrowing and kind friends bestowing 
 all assistance and sympathy that bleeding 
 hearts could offer — when the almost life- 
 less body of their son, \^'illiam Lowe 
 Kerr, of but fourteen years of age, was 
 carried to his home; and as Dr. Brett 
 stated to a friend — "it was one of the 
 most pitiful sights he ever saw." The 
 boy had met with an accident, and been 
 run over by the cars on the North West- 
 ern road. The accident was one which 
 aroused the sympathy of every one, for 
 the lad was well known, and was a fa\or- 
 ite with all who knew him. Of the sad 
 accident the local papers spoke in the 
 most feeling terms, and we make an ex- 
 tract from an extended account which ap- 
 peared in the Fort Howard Sentinel. 
 
 The unfortunate lad was the carrier of the 
 Miliraiihi Journal for this city. He had gone to 
 the Milwaukee & Northern station, in Green 
 Bay, as was his custom, and returning boarded 
 the C. & N. W. incoming train to ride to the 
 lower part of the city, which was not customary 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 445 
 
 with him. It is supposed that he jumped from 
 the train when opposite the fire entwine house, 
 as his hat and bundle of papers were subse- 
 quently found at that point, and had fallen in 
 such a manner as to cause one arm and one 
 hand to cross the track, and it is probable that 
 several wheels passed over them. He bore his 
 injuries with rem,irkable fortitude; after re- 
 ceiving- them, he rose and walked to the spot 
 where he was afterward discovered lyinjj, and 
 where it is evident he tripped over a projecting- 
 board and fell to the g-round, he seemingly 
 unconscious of the terrible character of his 
 injuries. 
 
 Doctors Bartran and Brett were summoned, 
 and it was found that it would be necessary to 
 amputate the right arm near the shoulder, and 
 the whole of the left hand, save the upper por- 
 tion and the thumb, and the operation was suc- 
 cessfully performed. The unfortunate lad is 
 doing as well as possible under the circum- 
 stances, but he will, of course, be helpless for 
 life, which is more particularlj' regretful since 
 he was a boy of much energy and activity, and 
 gave good promise of a life of much usefulness. 
 
 Contrary to expectation, and not- 
 withstanding the severity of his injuries, 
 the young man rapidly recovered, and in 
 the course of a few weeks was out again 
 and attending school as usual, the rapid- 
 ity of his recovery from such fearful injur- 
 ies being a matter of wonder to the com- 
 munity and the medical fraternity. He 
 soon learned to hold a pen or pencil with 
 his thumb and mutilated left hand, and 
 in a short time was enabled to write leg- 
 ibly in a flowing back-handed style of pen- 
 manship, which admitted of his keeping 
 books, and attending to ordinary matters 
 of business apparently without trouble or 
 inconvenience. He continued his studies 
 until he graduated from the High School, 
 with honors heaped upon him, and at the 
 " Commencement " was the recipient of 
 many valuable gifts from friends. Since 
 his graduation he has taught in the public 
 schools with satisfactory results to the 
 school board and pupils. He has twice 
 been elected city clerk, at present hold- 
 ing that position; is also secretary-treas- 
 urer of the local lodge of the K. O. T. M. 
 He is now twenty-four j'ears of age, in 
 full and perfect enjoyment of health, and 
 every indication points to many years of 
 usefulness to the community and prosper- 
 ity for himself. 
 
 Again the Grim Reaper enters the 
 family, and cuts off Mr. Kerr's youngest 
 sister. Just as the city bells in Milwau- 
 kee were ringing out the hour of noon on 
 the 5th day of January, 1895, with a soft 
 and almost silent sigh, life departed — her 
 soul went out to meet the Maker — a ling- 
 ering and painful illness of nearly three 
 years was ended, endured with true Chris- 
 tian patience and fortitude, often deceiving 
 her friends by her cheery smile and jocular 
 remarks which were assumed to hide her 
 intense suffering. Elizabeth Clark Kerr at 
 the time of her death was fifty-two years 
 of age. She was a true tender-hearted wo- 
 man, naturally of a cheerful disposition, 
 which served her well during her long^sick- 
 ness. Her remains were laid to rest along- 
 side the grave of her mother, in the family 
 grounds at Forest Home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. James Kerr reside in an 
 unpretentious residence on the corner of 
 Broadway and Hubbard streets, one of 
 the most prominent and pleasant street 
 corners in the city; he also owns some 
 valuable residence and business property, 
 has the most extensive private library in 
 the city, and is the possessor of many 
 rare and valuable articles of virtu. Their 
 surviving family consists of two sons and 
 one daughter. 
 
 Charles Stuart, their eldest son, is as- 
 sociated with his father in the steam job- 
 printing business, and the publishing of the 
 Fort Howard Reinnv. He is a member 
 of the Sons of Veterans, Modern Wood- 
 men of America, the Knights of the Mac- 
 cabees, the Green Lake Quartette — a lo- 
 cal musical organization of considerable 
 note — besides several social clubs in Fort 
 Howard and Green Bay. He is a young 
 man of good principle, and a hustler in 
 a business way. Socially, he is very 
 popular. 
 
 Their daughter, Harriet Ann Taylor, 
 is married to D. M. Hagerty, district 
 illuminating oil inspector, and an influen- 
 tial and prominent citizen of Green Bay. 
 She is an accomplished lady and a favorite 
 in society. She can set type or take 
 
446 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the youngest son of 
 already spoken of in 
 
 charge of the editorial department of a 
 newspaper, both of which she has done in 
 her father's office. They have one child, 
 Mildred. 
 
 William Lowe, 
 the family, I ha\e 
 detail. 
 
 Mrs. Kerr is a model wife and mother, 
 and possesses an exemplar}' Christian 
 character. She is a member of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, taking an active interest 
 in all that pertains to that society. In 
 appearance she is petite, of a pleasant 
 disposition, extremely social, making 
 friends easily, and holding their regard 
 and esteem. She has three sisters — Mrs. 
 Martin Durward (Isabella, twin sister), of 
 Milwaukee; Mrs. William S. Lowe (Mary), 
 of Spottsylvania, \'a. ; and Mrs. David 
 Dickie (Ann), of Dunedin, New Zealand. 
 Mrs. Lowe and Miss Isabella Dickie were 
 of the party that accompanied Mr. and 
 Mrs. Kerr to this country in August, 
 
 1854. 
 
 James Kerr is in his sixty-fifth 3'ear, 
 and though the frosts of many winters have 
 limned his head as with a halo, he is still 
 as hale and hearty, genial and pleasant, 
 as when, forty \-ears ago, he first left the 
 land of brown heath and shaggy woods. 
 Time has dealt gently with him, his portly 
 form and jovial, expressive face indicat- 
 ing a life well spent and the possession of 
 a contented mind. He has during his 
 residence in Fort Howard been a member 
 of the county board of supervisors, and 
 an officer in Green Bay Lodge, I. O. O. 
 F. , No. 19; is an active and valuable 
 member of Howard Lodge, A. O. U. W. , 
 No. 72 ; and a member of the Grand Lodge 
 of the State, having been elected for three 
 terms to represent No. 72 in that body, 
 and is D. G. M. W. for the district. He 
 is also a member of T. O. Howe Post, G. 
 A. R. , an influential citizen and highly 
 respected in the community. He has one 
 brother and one sister living, namely: 
 Robert Laing Kerr, of Monmouth, 111., 
 and Georgianna Allardice Kerr, of Mil- 
 waukee. 
 
 Mr. Kerr has resided in Fort Howard 
 since the first day of his arrival, and T/ie 
 Kcz'iczc has been continuously printed and 
 published under his charge. The paper 
 is Republican in politics, and being al- 
 ways watchful for the best interests of the 
 cit}', and enjojing a large circulation, it 
 has naturall}- a wide inBuence. The office 
 is well equipped with power presses run 
 by steam, and all modern material, 
 being one of the best appointed in north- 
 eastern Wisconsin. — J. W. S. 
 
 WELLINGTON B. COFFEEN, 
 M. D. Every profession has its 
 prominent men, some made such 
 by long membership, others by 
 their proficiency in their calling. The 
 subject of this sketch is made conspicuous 
 among the physicians of Brown county, 
 not so much by the length of time he has 
 devoted to the calling — for he is as 3'et a 
 young man — as by the eminent success 
 he has already made of it. 
 
 He is a native of Wisconsin, born 
 August 26, 1S5S, in Taycheedah, Fond 
 du Lac county. The progenitor of the 
 famil)- of which he is a member was a 
 young Irish lad who boarded a vessel in 
 Ireland and worked his passage across the 
 ocean, his labor being subsequently sold 
 out in Boston. to pay the rest of his pass- 
 age. He prospered, married, and had 
 several sons who settled in different 
 States, one in New York State, probably 
 in Watertown, Jefferson county, where 
 his decendants became well-to-do farmers. 
 Grandfather David Coffeen, who was a 
 farmer of Watertown, N. Y. , was a very 
 active man, and in middle life removed 
 with his famih" to Calumet county. Wis., 
 where he resided till he was seventy-two 
 years of age, when, having always ex- 
 pressed a desire to die in his old home at 
 Watertown, he removed thither and died 
 a few weeks afterward. He was a stanch 
 Republican, taking a deep interest in 
 local and State politics, was a man of the 
 
c4Ky/B. ^ 
 
 Q^.^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 447 
 
 most positive character, and possessed of 
 great will power. He married in Water- 
 town, and had a family of children named 
 respecti\ely: Curtis, David, Louis, Por- 
 ter and Emma. Of these, Louis was born 
 in Watertown, and was a young man 
 of about si.\teen when he came to Wis- 
 consin, where he worked for eight dol- 
 lars per month until he was enabled to 
 buy a piece of land in Fond du Lac 
 county, afterward accumulating there con- 
 siderable property, including several fine 
 farms. He now resides in Vassar, Mich. 
 His wife, Lucy (A^bner), died at the 
 age of forty-nine years, the mother of 
 live children, of whom our subject is the 
 second. 
 
 Dr. Coffeen is principally a self-made 
 and self-educated man, his earlier educa- 
 tion having been limited to the district 
 schools of Fond du Lac county, Wis. At 
 the age of eighteen years he entered the 
 State Normal School at Oshkosh, paying 
 his own way there, and also through the 
 medical course, later on. After a two- 
 years' course at the Normal, he entered 
 the office of Dr. Louis Grasmuck, a well- 
 known and successful physician of Men- 
 asha, who subsequently removed to Colo- 
 rado. At an earl}' age, even in childhood, 
 our subject had a great desire to become 
 a physician, which desire was probably 
 inherited from his mother, who was a 
 splendid nurse and a great blessing to the 
 sick in her family and neighborhood. She 
 had the gentle ways of the Sister of 
 Charity, and the hope that springs from 
 affection. After studying in the office for 
 two years he proceeded to Ann Arbor, 
 Mich., and entered the Homeopathic 
 Medical Department of the University of 
 Michigan, where he labored diligently at 
 his books, and took his Freshman and 
 Junior studies in one year. From there 
 he went to the Homeopathic Medical 
 College, Chicago, 111., from which insti- 
 tution he graduated March 4, 1884, and 
 immediately located at Fort Howard and 
 Green Bay, where he has continued to 
 practice ever since. In 1889 he removed 
 
 25 
 
 his residence to Green Bay, and has built 
 up a good practice. 
 
 Dr. Coffeen was married, in Fort 
 Howard, September 29, 1886, to Miss 
 Nellie Camm, a native of that place, 
 daughter of Capt. James M. Camm and 
 Dr. Mary Bass Camm, the former of 
 whom was an officer in the Florida war, 
 Mexican war and the war of the Rebellion. 
 In the Mexican war Capt. Camm was 
 shot through the neck, the vocal cords 
 being severed, but is a hale and hearty 
 man to-day, now residing in Valentine, 
 Neb. The mother of Mrs. Dr. Coffeen 
 was a well-known Homeopathic physician, 
 with a lucrative practice in Fort Howard 
 and Green Bay, where she is held in 
 loving and kindly remembrance for her 
 many acts of charity and devotion to the 
 sick and afflicted. She died of pneumonia, 
 in March, 1889, at the house of her 
 daughter, at the age of fifty-five years. 
 Dr. Coffeen has two sons: James How- 
 ard and Lew Wallace. The Doctor has 
 been a member of the Royal Arcanum for 
 nine years, and was examining physician 
 of same for many years; is a past Regent, 
 having filled all the offices, and is a mem- 
 ber of the Grand Council of the State of 
 Wisconsin. He is also a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America, Green Bay 
 Lodge, and is its examining physician; is 
 also a memberof the Knights of the Mac- 
 cabees of the World, is its examining 
 physician, and is now its commander. At 
 the last biennial session of the State con- 
 vention, held in Green Bay, April 3, 1895, 
 he was also elected representative to the 
 Supreme Tent from this State. He is a 
 member of the Brown County Medical 
 Association, the State Homeopathic Medi- 
 cal Association, and the American Insti- 
 tute of Homeopathy. 
 
 Dr. Coffeen is one of those men who 
 may be said to have chosen well. Pos- 
 sessed of a kind, sympathetic nature, a 
 keen sense of discrimination, a natural 
 taste for the various branches of the medi- 
 cal profession, he has made a signal 
 success. 
 
448 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 CA. NEWELL. This gentleman 
 has been a resident of Green Bay 
 for the past quarter of a century, 
 during which time he has earned 
 the respect of the community, both as a 
 private citizen and as a tradesman. 
 
 He is a native of New York State, 
 born in Delaware county, in 1825, a son 
 of Harry and Jerusha (Foot) Newell, both 
 of New York birth. The father was a 
 farmer in Delaware county, and on re- 
 tiring from active work made his home in 
 New York, dying there in 18 — ; his wife 
 passed away in 1848. Grandfather Rob- 
 ert Newell was a native of New York, a 
 sea captain by occupation, and partici- 
 pated in the war of the Revolution. 
 
 After his school days were over, 
 which were passed in his native county, 
 our subject commenced to learn the trade 
 of carpenter, completing same in Wiscon- 
 sin, whither he came in 1845, arriving in 
 Milwaukee, and locating first in Dodge 
 county. After remaining there some 
 years engaged closely at his trade, he 
 moved to Waupun, Fond du Lac county, 
 and from there came in 1869 to Green Bay 
 which has since been his home. This 
 was not his first visit, however, to the 
 town, for in 1854 we find him working here 
 in the shipyards. He was also engaged 
 in shipbuilding in Pensaukee and Little 
 Sturgeon, and among the vessels he 
 helped to build may be mentioned the 
 schooner "Fannie Gardner," steamer 
 "Union," brig " F. B. Gardner," and 
 others, A. Gilson, of Oshkosh, Wis. , his 
 brother-in-law, being the master ship- 
 builder. Our subject is now engaged chiefly 
 in contracting for residence buildings, and 
 in Green Bay, alone, there are to be seen 
 many evidences of his skill, such as the 
 " Kellogg House," the Orphan Asylum, 
 the "Albright House," the Pierce resi- 
 dence and many others, besides the Court 
 House for Ontonagon county, Mich. He 
 also owns three lots in Green Bay, and 
 has built thereon two residences. In ad- 
 dition to his other interests, he carries on 
 a cabinet shop, doing desk and fine cabi- 
 
 net work of all kinds, chiefly expert 
 work. 
 
 On November 11, 1851, Mr. Newell 
 was married in Winneconne, Winnebago 
 Co., ^^'is , to Miss Isabella Hall, daugh- 
 ter of Thomas and Isabella Hall, all na- 
 tives of Canada, whence they came to 
 Wisconsin in 1849. One child, a daugh- 
 ter, Imogene, was the result of this union, 
 born October 11, 1854, died November 
 7, 1855. On February 26, 1858, Mr. 
 Newell was married in Door county. 
 Wis., to Miss Mary Howlett, a school 
 teacher of Sturgeon Bay, daughter of 
 James and Alice (Finch) Howlett, all na- 
 tives of England, who about the year 1 848 
 came to Wisconsin, settling on a farm in 
 Fond du Lac county, where the mother 
 died, the father subsequently removing 
 into the town of Waupaca, where he died 
 in 1888. In his political preferences Mr. 
 Newell is a Republican, a zealous sup- 
 porter of the principles of the party. He 
 and his amiable life partner enjoy the 
 highest esteem on the part of their many 
 friends, and they are useful members of 
 society. 
 
 REV. CHRISTIAN ANTON 
 FREDERICK POPP. Among 
 the pioneer ministers of Wiscon- 
 sin, who faithfulh' represented the 
 German Lutheran Church, we must men- 
 tion Rev. Popp, who was born August 5, 
 1825, in Bayreuth, Bavaria, German}'. 
 
 He comes from an old German family 
 who, in the time of the Duchess of Bran- 
 denburg, resided in Bayreuth, Anspach, 
 which was the home of his ancestors for 
 many generations. A great many of the- 
 progenitors of Rev. Popp were teachers. 
 His grandfather, Stephen Popp, was a 
 soldier in Germany, and musical director 
 of the regimental band. In June, 1777, 
 he and three thousand fellow soldiers 
 •were sold by the Markgrave Casimir of 
 Brandenburg, and when preparations were 
 made to ship them to America the regi- 
 ment rose in mutiny, at Marktbreit-on- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 449 
 
 the-Main. Markgrave Casimir, however, 
 had received an enormous sum for the 
 use of the troops, and he was bound to 
 fulfill his contract. He surrounded the 
 regiment with his body-f^uard, disarmed 
 the soldiers and put them in chains, nine 
 of the leaders being hanged. This inhu- 
 man act was witnessed by the remaining 
 soldiers of the regiment, who were then 
 taken to boats and shipped to Rotterdam, 
 Holland, where English frigates were in 
 readiness to receive them and bear them to 
 America, to swell the army of Lord Corn- 
 wallis. Stephen Popp participated in the 
 Revolutionary war, and was taken pris- 
 oner at Yorktown. After peace was de- 
 clared he settled in York, Penn., where 
 he married the daughter of a German 
 farmer by the name of Baumann, and by 
 her had six children, all of whom they 
 lost by death. After the war he turned 
 his musical talents to account, and, be- 
 coming quite a prosperous man, in course 
 of time set out to return to Germany 
 with a small fortune, but the ship in 
 which he took passage was lost together 
 with all his valuables, he and his wife 
 barely escaping with their lives; and thus 
 they reached their home, poor in worldly 
 possessions, but rich in faith in God. 
 Soon after they settled in Neustadt-on- 
 the-Aesch, where a son, Johann George, 
 was born November 27, 1796. Thus, 
 after many adventures and much tribula- 
 tion, a life as varied as a romance, a 
 blessing in the birth of a son came to 
 them in the evening of life. The mother, 
 however, gave up her life in giving birth 
 to the son. The father of this child was 
 afflicted with blindness during the last 
 twenty years of his life, and died in 
 Neustadt in 1821, at the age of si.xty-two. 
 The son, Johann George Popp, was 
 educated in Neustadt, and become a 
 teacher in the public schools in Bayreuth, 
 where he taught about twenty-five years. 
 He died. May 28, 1845, of grief at the 
 loss of his beloved wife, Johanna Kather- 
 ine (Kroher), whose death occurred Jan- 
 uary 22, 1838; she was born April 27, 
 
 1804. The couple were much devoted to 
 one another, and lived an ideal married 
 life. The marriage was blessed with six 
 children, viz: Christian Anton Frederick 
 Popp (our subject); a brother, now super- 
 intendent of the Lutheran church at 
 Wiesenbroun, Germany; Henrietta, who 
 died of croup at the age of four years; 
 Franz, deceased, who was procurist (con- 
 fidential clerk) in the Rothschild Bank at 
 Vienna; Carl, who became a wanderer, 
 led an adventurous life, and fought with 
 Kossuth in the Turkish service against 
 Russia (after peace was declared, he went 
 to England, where he married a banker's 
 daughter in Birmingham; he served a 
 number of years as Imperial German 
 Consul) ; and Elenore, married to a teacher 
 named Lindner. 
 
 Rev. C. A. F. Popp studied first in 
 Bayreuth, and later in the University of 
 Erlangen, where he made a specialty of 
 theology from 1841 to 1845. He after- 
 ward became a private teacher in the 
 family of Baron Keinhardt, of Bavaria, 
 in which capacity he served for a year 
 and a half, at the end of which time he 
 received a call from the Consistory to the 
 ministry, which he obeyed. He was or- 
 dained May 5, 1848, and took charge as 
 administrator of the church Parochy at 
 Marktbenten, at the end of one year be- 
 coming assistant pastor at Mistlegau, 
 near Bayreuth. Later in the year 1849, 
 he emigrated to America (^where many of 
 his friends and fellow students had pre- 
 ceded him), taking with him letters of 
 recommendation to the Lutheran Synod 
 of Pennsylvania, of which he became a 
 member, his membership continuing from 
 1850 to i860, during which time he had 
 charge of the Lutheran Church at Bir- 
 mingham, Penn. In 1855 he moved to 
 Ouincy, 111., where he preached six years, 
 and then went to Warsaw, 111., remain- 
 ing six years as pastor of a Lutheran 
 Church of that place, and his next pas- 
 torage was in Bethlehem, 111., where he 
 served two years. As a means of build- 
 ing up his health which, by reason of his 
 
450 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Rev. 
 
 many years • hard work had become im- 
 paired, he in 1868 left Bethlehem for 
 Oshkosh, Wis., and in 1870 removed to 
 Kenosha. In 1881 he took up his abode 
 in Wrightstown, where he assumed charge 
 of the I^utheran Church. He has be- 
 come well known as an earnest and valu- 
 able worker, both in the Church and in 
 the parochial schools, which latter, under 
 his supervision, are scattered over four 
 townships and thirteen school districts, 
 and are limited to children from thirteen 
 to sixteen years of age. He is held in 
 high esteem b}- his people, who value him 
 as a friend, and wherever he has been he 
 is remembered as a pastor who has the 
 welfare of his parishioners at heart. He 
 is a preacher of the old school, and has 
 the mien of a patriarch, his influence over 
 the people of his congregation bein 
 abundantly felt throughout life 
 Popp was married in Mistlegau, Germany, 
 June 16, 1849, to Miss Emeline Wilhel- 
 mina Christiana Hagen, who was born 
 May 18, 1830, in Neudrossenfeld, daugh- 
 ter of Rev. Christian Hagen, a Lutheran 
 minister, and fourteen children were born 
 to this union, of whom the following are 
 now living: Anna Margaretha, Franz 
 Johannes, Sophia Maria E., Fred Peter 
 August, Godfrej' George Ludwig, Rosa- 
 linda F. J. A. and Carl Jacob F. A. Of 
 these, 
 
 Godfrey G. L. Popp was born May 
 28, 1868, in Bethlehem, 111., was edu- 
 cated in Kenosha and Wrightstown, stud- 
 ied pharmacy at Racine and Baraboo, 
 Wis., and in September, 1890, received a 
 license from the State of Wisconsin. He 
 opened a drug store in Wrightstown in 
 the fall of i8Sg, and has continued in 
 same ever since with eminent success. 
 He was married November 20, 1890, to 
 Miss Emma Rather, a native of Wrights- 
 town, daughter of Albert Rather, a hard- 
 ware merchant. Two children have 
 blessed this union, Viola Caroline E. and 
 Ida Nellie. Mr. and Mrs. Popp are mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran Church; politically he 
 is identified with the Democratic party. 
 
 APTAIN H. W. WEBSTER, ply- 
 
 ing on the lakes between Green 
 
 r 
 
 V ^ Bay and Chicago and intervening 
 ports, was born in De Pere, Wis., 
 in 1847, and is a son of Levi and Mary 
 P. (Smith) Webster. 
 
 Levi Webster was a native of Ver- 
 mont, and in 1S33 or 1834 came to Wis- 
 consin, locating in Green Bay, and then 
 settled at De Pere, and assisted in putting 
 in the locks. He later purchased and 
 moved to a farm near the city, and made 
 it his home till his death, which occurred 
 in October, 1862, being followed by his 
 wife in February, 1863; both were mem- 
 bers of the Presbyterian Church at De- 
 Pere, of which she was a charter member. 
 They reared a family of four sons, viz. : 
 Lewis B., who resides in Rutland, Vt., 
 was a three-years' volunteer in the Fifty- 
 eighth 111. V. I., but was discharged on 
 account of disability in 1862, probably 
 within a year after enlisting; he is now 
 employed at the Howe Scale Works. 
 Levi H., the second son, enlisted in the 
 Twentieth Wis. V. I. for three years; 
 took part in the battle of Pittsburg Land- 
 ing, and in the fights on the Gulf; he is 
 now a fanner in Minnesota. Edgar E. , 
 the third son, served his full three years, 
 in the Civil war, in the Fourteenth Wis- 
 consin Infantry. 
 
 Capt. H. W. Webster, the fourth son, 
 was reared on his father's farm, and edu- 
 cated in Lawrence township, Brown 
 county. In 1869 he entered on his lake 
 life as a fireman on a steamer, and in 1871 
 reached a captaincy. He was married, 
 at Green Bay, to Miss Sarah N. Lewis, a 
 native of Montello, Marquette Co., Wis., 
 and a daughter of Thomas and Asenath 
 (Buck) Lewis, natives of Ohio. This 
 union has been blessed with one child, 
 Herbert Lewis Webster. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Webster are conscientious members of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church ; in poli- 
 tics the Captain is a Prohibitionist; social- 
 ly he is a member of the Royal Arcanum, 
 Lodge No. 546. Grandfather Smith was 
 a native of Vermont, and one of the pio- 
 
COMMEMORATTVI-: UlOGHAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 451 
 
 neers of Green Bay. Of Green Baj' the 
 Captain has witnessed much of the re- 
 markable development, as well as of the 
 complete growth of Lawrence township. 
 His temperate and upright life has won 
 for him many sincere friends, as well as 
 the respect of his fellow citizens of Brown 
 county. 
 
 CHARLES L. DAVIS, farmer and 
 stock raiser, and one of the pro- 
 gressive, public-spirited citizens 
 of Lawrence township, Brown 
 county, was born July 25, 1S48, in the 
 town of Royalton, Niagara county, New 
 York. 
 
 His father, E. B. Davis, was a native 
 of Schenectady county, N. Y., where he 
 married Polly Schadd, and while living in 
 New York the\- had children as follows: 
 John, a member of Company I, Third 
 Wisconsin Cavalry, who died at Madison, 
 Wis.; George, who died in Elyria, Ohio; 
 and Charles L. , whose name introduces 
 this sketch. Mr. Davis was a farmer in 
 New York State, and, in 1 849, he removed 
 to Lorain county, Ohio, and purchased a 
 farm in Carlisle township, where he con- 
 tinued to follow agricultural pursuits, and 
 here he also dealt extensively in lumber, 
 principally the purchasing of staves for a 
 Buffalo firm. In Lorain county was born 
 another child, Jane C, who married 
 Bruce Lindsley, and died in Flintville, 
 Brown Co., Wis. Mrs. Polly Davis died 
 in Lorain county January 17, 1857, and 
 was buried in Elyria, same county, and 
 Mr. Davis then married Miss Susan Oak- 
 ley, who died in Lorain county Jul}' 11, 
 1858. In 1859 he wedded, in Lockport, 
 N. Y., for his third wife, Miss Mary Bar- 
 rett. In 1 860, the lumber business hav- 
 ing gradually declined with the clearing 
 away of the forests, Mr. Davis concluded 
 to remove farther west, and brought his 
 family to Brown county. Wis., traveling 
 by rail to Oshkosh, and from there by- 
 stage to Wrightstown, Brown county. 
 where they located. Mr. Davis again 
 
 engaged 
 
 the stave bu 
 
 m tne stave busmess, .buying 
 timber from farmers, and he put consid- 
 erable money into circulation here, as his 
 trade was an extensive one. He invested 
 in a large amount of land in Brown county, 
 and pre-empted over three hundred 
 acres of government land. He was a 
 well-built man, of splendid ph\sique, and 
 was well-known and highly respected in 
 his communit}-. At the time of his 
 death, which occurred March 11, 1878, 
 he was comfortably situated. In his polit- 
 ical belief he was a Democrat, and a 
 stanch supporter of the party% but was 
 not an active politician. He lies buried 
 in Wrightstown cemetery. 
 
 Charles L. Davis received his first 
 school training in Carlisle township, Lo- 
 rain Co., Ohio. .After the death of his 
 mother he returned to Niagara county, 
 N. Y. , and for two years made his home 
 with his grandfather, then, in i860, com- 
 ing to Wisconsin. In October, 1864, 
 then but little over sixteen years of age, 
 he enlisted, at Green Bay, Wis. , in Com- 
 pany H, Twelfth Wisconsin Infantry, 
 was sent South, and, joining the regiment 
 at Marietta, Ga. , participated in the en- 
 tire campaign through the Carolinas. He 
 took part in the Grand Review at Wash- 
 ington, D. C. , was mustered out at 
 Louisville, K\'., and received an honorable- 
 discharge at Madison, Wis. When he 
 first came to Wisconsin, the schools were 
 very poor, and he did not attend much, 
 as he assisted his father in the latter's 
 extensive lumber business, becoming 
 familiar w'ith the details of same when 
 yet a mere boy. After the war he be- 
 came partner with his father in the 
 business, and continued to hold an inter- 
 est in same until 1879. 
 
 On April 9, 1877, ^t Wrightstown, 
 Wis., by Rev. Father De Wilt, Mr. Davis 
 was united in marriage to Miss Ellen 
 Sullivan, who was born January 22, 1857, 
 in Winchendon, Worcester Co., Mass., 
 eldest child of John and Ellen (Harris) 
 Sullivan. For five years previous to her 
 marriage, she followed the profession of 
 
452 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 school teaching, in the meantime having 
 her residence in Lawrence. In i 882 Mr. 
 Davis purchased his present farm, in 
 Lawrence township, and moved thereon, 
 at the same time severing completely his 
 connection with the lumber business. 
 Since that time he has been exclusively 
 engaged in general farming and stock 
 raising, and he now has a fertile, well- 
 improved farm of ninety-nine acres. In 
 politics he is one of the leaders of the 
 Democratic party in his section, and for 
 three years has been chairman of the 
 Democratic committee. He is always 
 among the foremost men in the township 
 in any enterprise tending to benefit the 
 community in general. To him and his 
 wife have come children as follows: Jen- 
 nie E., born August 2, 1879; Mamie L. , 
 born February 4, 1881, died February 7, 
 1882; John E., born June 18, 1882; Har- 
 riet C, born May 24, 1886, died May 7, 
 1887; and Charles F., born April i, 1889. 
 
 OJ. B. BRICE. The Kingdom of 
 Belgium has given to the United 
 States many of her industrious, 
 lo}al and prosperous citizens, 
 among whom may be justly numbered the 
 gentleman whose name here appears — a 
 name in northern Wisconsin as "familiar 
 as household words." 
 
 Mr. Brice has the distinguished honor 
 of representing his native land as consul 
 for \\'isconsin, Minnesota and the two 
 Dakotas, his appointment, over the sign- 
 manual of the King of the Belgians, dating 
 June 16, 1880, the United States being 
 at the time under the administration of 
 Gen. R. B. Haves. In addition to his 
 consular duties Mr. Brice carries on exten- 
 sive real-estate and insurance businesses, 
 and is ticket agent for Ocean steamship 
 lines. He was born April 6, 1837, in the 
 city of Jodoigne, Province of Brabant, 
 Belgium, a son of John Louis and Mary 
 J. (Straele) Brice, also of Belgian nativ- 
 ity. They had a family of nine children, 
 
 of whom five died in infancy, and the 
 others (four brothers; came to Brown 
 county. Wis., viz.: Joseph, who settled 
 in the town of Scott, Brown county, in 
 1856; Louis and Albert, both house and 
 sign painters, and residing in Green Bay; 
 and our subject. The father died in Bel- 
 gium in 1849; the mother came to Green 
 Bay in 1859, and died here in 1861. 
 
 The subject proper of this memoir was 
 reared and educated in his native country 
 up to the age of eighteen years, at which 
 time, in the spring of 1855, he immi- 
 grated to the United States, locating at 
 first in Milwaukee, where he worked at 
 the trade of house and sign painter (which 
 he had learned in Belgium). In the fall 
 of the same year, he moved to West Tro)', 
 Walworth Co., Wis., where he worked as 
 wagon and carriage painter, and whence, 
 in the early part of 1856, he moved to 
 Green Bay. His first work, after arriv- 
 ing at Green Baj', was on a farm in the 
 town of Green Bay, in said county, but 
 at the end of nine months he aban- 
 doned the plough (the axe and hoe, 
 rather) for the counter, engaging as 
 clerk in a grocery and provision store in 
 Green Bay. For some j'ears thereafter 
 he followed his trade of house and sign 
 painter. In 1863 he was appointed dep- 
 uty sheriff under George Longton; in 1868 
 he was elected sheriff, and served in that 
 capacity till 1871. In 1871-72 he was 
 jailer, and in the fall of 1872 he engaged 
 in mercantile business, but on account of 
 ill-health sold out the same in 1874. In 
 1875 he was elected chief of police. In 
 1877 he was elected justice of the peace 
 for the term of two years; in 1879 he 
 was elected police justice, serving two 
 years, at the end of which time he was 
 again elected police justice, and again in 
 1883, an incumbency he filled up to the 
 spring of 1885. The capabilities of Mr. 
 Brice were now further substantially rec- 
 ognized by his election to the office of 
 city clerk, in which he served two years, 
 and was immediatel}' re-elected to his old 
 position of police justice, holding same 
 
COMMEMOEATrVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 453 
 
 this time for four years, or up to the spring 
 of 1893. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Brice was united in mar- 
 riage in Green Bay with Miss Odile Fon- 
 taine, a native of Belgium, daughter of 
 John Remy and Elizabeth Fontaine, who 
 came to Brown county in 1855, where 
 they died. To Mr. and Mrs. Brice were 
 born four children, of whom one died in 
 infancy; the following is a brief record of 
 the other three: Jules R. is married, 
 and is a stenographer and typewriter in 
 the general freight offices of the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad at Chi- 
 cago; Alfred L. , married, is an attorney- 
 at-lawin Minneapolis, Minn.; Ella D. is 
 the wife of Louis Schimel, of Chicago, 
 111. The mother of these died in 1876, 
 and in 1879 Mr. Brice married Miss Mary 
 Rebecca Gray, a Philadelphia lady. They 
 attend the services of the Presbyterian 
 Church, in the choir of which Mr. Brice's 
 fine bass voice is heard each Sabbath of 
 the year. Socially he is a member and 
 past chancellor of Pochequette Lodge No. 
 26, Knights of Pythias; politically he is a 
 pronounced Republican. 
 
 H PORTER CAMPBELL, the well- 
 known nurseryman, and the pres- 
 ent city treasurer of Green Bay, 
 was born in Scott township. Bay 
 Settlement, Brown county. Wis., in 1840, 
 and is the son of John and Elizabeth 
 (Davenport) Campbell. 
 
 John Campbell, the father, was born 
 and reared in Scotland, whence when a 
 young man he emigrated to America, lo- 
 cating at Mackinac, Mich., later coming 
 to Brown county. Wis. , where he settled 
 on a farm. About the year 1842 he re- 
 ceived the appointment of government 
 blacksmith at Grande Traverse, remain- 
 ing there about nineteen years, and then 
 returning to Brown county, where his 
 death occurred in July, 1864, his wife 
 surviving him until 1 87 1 . They were the 
 parents of eleven children, as follows: 
 Hiram, drowned at Green Bay; Robert, 
 
 died on the old homestead in Scott town- 
 ship in 1869; John, still living at Bay 
 Settlement, Wis. ; Samuel, died in Michi- 
 gan; Sylvester, died at the age of seven; 
 William, who enlisted, in 1864, in the 
 Thirteenth Wis. V. I., and died in a hos- 
 pital in Texas; Hannah, died in Michigan; 
 Elizabeth and an infant unnamed, also 
 died in Michigan; Henry, of Two Rivers, 
 Wis., and H. Porter, the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 H. Porter Campbell was reared among 
 the Indians at Grande Traverse, and 
 learned the language of the Ottawa tribe, 
 living with them when there was only one 
 other white family among them, until 
 1845. In i860 he returned to Scott 
 township. Brown county, and settled on 
 a farm. In August, 1864, he enlisted in 
 Company B, Forty-fourth Wis. V. I., and 
 was assigned to the Western army. He 
 took part in the battle of Nashville, Tenn. , 
 and was then placed on garrison duty at 
 Paducah, Ky. ; served as acting sergeant 
 until July 4, 1865, when he was promoted 
 to orderly sergeant and was honorably 
 discharged at Paducah in September of 
 the same year. Returning home, he re- 
 sumed farming, which he followed until 
 iSSo, when he removed to Green Bay 
 and engaged in the dairy business; later 
 opened a restaurant, and finally engaged 
 in handling nursery stock. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was married in 1866, in 
 Winnebago county. Wis., to Miss Eliza- 
 beth Townsend, a native of that county, 
 and a daughter of Lucius B. and Lucy 
 (Bowker) Townsend, who came from Ver- 
 mont to Racine, Wis., at an early daj', 
 and in 1846 to Winnebago county. The 
 father was a farmer, and 1867 removed 
 to Minnesota, then came to Bay Settle- 
 ment, Brown count}-. Wis., but again 
 went to Minnesota, and there died in 
 1 892 ; the mother passed away in Winne- 
 bago county. Wis., in 1874. To the mar- 
 P. Campbell and wife have 
 viz. : Lucius 
 T. , of Fort Howard; Maud, living in 
 Green Bay; John, of Chicago; Nora, who 
 
 riage of H 
 
 been born eight children 
 
454 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 died in infancy; Samuel, in Chicago; 
 Frank, in Green Ba\';, Charles, died at 
 the age of one year, and Harry, attend- 
 ing school. In politics Mr. Campbell is 
 a Republican; while on his farm he was 
 school district clerk in 1878; was also 
 elected chairman of the town of Scott, 
 and in the spring of 1894 was elected to 
 his present position of city treasurer of 
 Green Bay. Fraternally, he is a mem- 
 ber of F. O. Howe Post No. 124, G. A. 
 R., being its adjutant. 
 
 Fj. B. DUCHATEAU. This gen- 
 tleman, who is one of the most 
 enterprising business men of 
 Green Bay, is a native of that 
 city, born, in 1867, of French and Belgian 
 ancestry. 
 
 His father, Abelard Duchateau, by 
 birth a typical son of " La Belle France," 
 came to the United States in 1856, and 
 for some years was engaged in the wine 
 and liquor trade as a traveling salesman. 
 About 1867 he came to Green Bay, and 
 at Shoemaker's Point established a grocery 
 and trading business, which he carried on 
 until 1870, when he opened in Green Bay 
 a wholesale liquor concern. In 1874 he 
 and his brother, L. A. R. Duchateau, 
 built a commodious business block, two 
 stories high with basement. In 1888 
 the father died, and his widow and son, 
 F. J. B., have since conducted the busi- 
 ness. Abelard Duchateau was married 
 in Green Bay to Miss Felicite Delwiche, 
 a lady of Belgian birth, and five children 
 have blessed their union, viz. : Heloise, 
 wife of W. E. Duncan, of Westboro, 
 Wis. ; Arthur H. ; Lizzie, wife of C. D. 
 Brower, of Milwaukee, Wis.; F. J. B., 
 subject of sketch; and Rose, wife of 
 William Hope, with her mother, who is 
 still living in Green Bay. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 and educated in his native town, and was 
 brought up to the business he is engaged 
 in. In 1890 he was married in Green 
 Bay to Miss Mary Beaupre, who was born 
 
 in that city, a daughter of Dr. William 
 Beaupre, who now resides at Merrill, 
 Wis. To this union were born two chil- 
 dren, one of whom, Olive Felicite, is liv- 
 ing. The mother of these died in 1892, 
 and in 1893 Mr. Duchateau wedded Mrs. 
 Julia (Lucas) O'Leary, daughter of Abe 
 Lucas, an early settler of Green Bay. 
 In politics our subject is a Republican; 
 has served as a member of the council 
 two years, and has been elected for two 
 more terms. He is associated with the 
 K. of P., Vigilant Lodge No. 120, Kewau- 
 nee, Wisconsin. 
 
 M 
 
 J. McCORMICK.agent at Green 
 Bay for the Lackawanna and the 
 Goodrich Transportation lines, 
 is a nati\'e i)f Brown county, 
 Wis., born in 1S54. 
 
 His parents, John and Mary (Earlev) 
 McCormick, who were born in Ireland, 
 came in 1S50 to the United States, first 
 locating in New Jersey, but in 1852 moved 
 to Wisconsin and settled in Suamico 
 township. Brown county, where they 
 hewed a farm out of the wilderness. 
 John McCormick died in 1865 on the 
 home place, and his widow now resides 
 in Green Bay. They had born to their 
 marriage three children, viz. : Sarah, 
 Amelia and M. J., the two sisters now 
 making their home with our subject. 
 
 M. J. McCormick was reared in his 
 native township until 1 870, when he came 
 to live in Green Bay. The two years of 
 1872 and 1873, however, he passed in 
 Escanf..ba, in the employ of Day & Mc- 
 Kenna, a grocery firm, and at the close 
 of 1873 returned to Green Bay, where he 
 became bookkeeper for the Monitor Iron 
 Works, of Fort Howard; later was book- 
 keeper with Pres. N. C. Foster, in a lum- 
 ber yard until 1876, when he engaged in 
 the grain and feed business, which in 
 1885 he relinquished. In 1878 he be- 
 came the agent for the Goodrich Trans- 
 portation Co., and in 1886 the agent for 
 the Lackawanna Co. In the winter of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 455 
 
 1892 he erected the large warehouse, 
 84 X 140 feet, at the foot of Pine street, 
 and here he conducts his present business. 
 Since 1885 he has also been agent for the 
 Northwestern Fuel Conipan\'. 
 
 In politics Mr. McCormick is a Demo- 
 crat, in religion he is a Catholic. He is 
 secretary of the Business Men's Associa- 
 tion, and has always been alive to and 
 identified with the promotion of the best 
 interests of Green Bay, of which he has 
 so long been a resident, and in which he 
 has seen so many changes for the better. 
 
 PATRICIA Mccormick, of the 
 firm of McCormick & Flatley, 
 dealers in hay, oats, wood and 
 coal. Green Bay, was born April 3, 
 1848, in Ireland, and is a son of John and 
 Ann (Dunn) McCormick, who came to 
 America about 1851, and located in Fond 
 du Lac county. Wis. , where they opened 
 up a farm in the woods, on which the 
 father still resides, and where the mother 
 died in 1863. They reared a family of 
 eight children, of whom the following six 
 still survive: Patrick, whose name opens 
 this sketch; Thomas, of Oregon, Wis.; 
 William, of Wausau, Wis. ; Bridget, wife 
 of John Mullin, of Fond du Lac county; 
 Anna, now Mrs. McCullen, of the same 
 county, and Jane, married to Milton Kerr, 
 of St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 
 Patrick McCormick was reared in 
 Fond du Lac county until sixteen years 
 old, at which early age he enlisted, in 
 May, 1864, at Madison, Wis., in Com- 
 pany K, Thirty-seventh Wis. V. I., for 
 three years or during the war. He was 
 assigned to the army of Virginia, first met 
 the enemy at the battle of Mine Run, 
 and from that time on was with his regi- 
 ment in all its marches and engagements 
 until the close of the war; after passing 
 through the Grand Review at Washing- 
 ton, D. C, May' 23-24, 1865, he was 
 honorably discharged at Madison, Wis., 
 in September, 1865, and returned to 
 Fond du Lac county. In 1867 he came 
 
 to Green Bay and worked for P. Flatley, 
 for four years. His marriage took place 
 in Green Bay, in 1872, to Mary Harram, 
 a native of Liverpool, England, and 
 daughter of John and Sarah (Flatley) 
 Harram, natives of Ireland and pioneers 
 of Green Bay. To this union have been 
 born eleven children, viz: John, William 
 (clerk in the Citizens Bank), Mary, Anna, 
 Sadie, Edward, Thomas, Jennie, James, 
 Charley and Rosaline. Mr. McCormick 
 started his present business in 1886 — first 
 in Paul Fox's block, Washington street, 
 Green Bay; in 1890 he bought the 
 George Cook dock, and in 1891 built an 
 elevator with a capacity of i 5,000 bushels, 
 besides several storage sheds, and has 
 been successful from the start. Mr. and 
 Mrs. McCormick are devout members 
 of the Catholic Church. In his politics 
 he is independent, and gives his vote to 
 the best men and for the best measures, 
 as his judgment may dictate. He was 
 one of the promoters of the Brown 
 County Fair & Park Association, and is 
 one of the board of directors. 
 
 CAPT. GEORGE A. GAYLORD, 
 keeper of the Tail Point Light- 
 house, distant some seven miles 
 from Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a 
 shrewd, careful, weather-beaten, life-long 
 sea-faring man, having commenced sail- 
 ing the lakes in boyhood. 
 
 He is a native of Ohio, born in Dela- 
 ware county in 1826, a son of Eleazer 
 and Anna (Earl) Gaylord, the mother 
 born in Clinton county, N. Y., but reared 
 in Ohio. The father was born, in 1790, 
 in Luzerne county, Penn., a son of 
 Eleazer Gaylord, of Connecticut birth, 
 who came to Pennsylvania, and in 1800 
 moved to Delaware county, Ohio, where 
 he passed the rest of his days. Our sub- 
 ject's father was by trade a miller, which 
 he followed in Delaware county, in later 
 life moving to Sandusky, Erie county, 
 where he died in 1890, his wife in 1887. 
 They had a family of seven children. 
 
456 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 namely: George A., subject of sketch; 
 Earl, a resident of Livingston county, 
 111. (he was a sailor, spending four years 
 of his life at sea); William, drowned at 
 the age of three years; James, who died 
 in Delaware county, Ohio, when six 
 years old; Edwin; William, a physician 
 and surgeon, and Catherine, wife of Solon 
 Stanley, all three residents of Sandusky, 
 Ohio. 
 
 The subject of these lines was reared 
 and educated in Delaware county, Ohio, 
 and at the age of sixteen years commenced 
 the life of a sailor, making his first trips 
 between Sandusky and Buffalo. By close 
 application to his duties, and rapidly 
 making himself acquainted with the 
 science of navigation, he found speedy 
 promotion through the various grades up 
 to captain in 1852, from which time for- 
 ward he had command of vessels till re- 
 tiring from the vocation. In 1866 he 
 brought his family to Green Bay, between 
 which port and Buffalo he had captained 
 the steamer " Rocket" since 1862. In 
 1878 he made his last trip, retiring into 
 private life after a successful career of 
 thirty-five years on the lakes. In the 
 spring of 18S0 he was appointed to his 
 present position, in which, it is almost-un- 
 necessary to say, he exercises the same 
 care and vigilance as he did while a 
 mariner, whose motto might well be 
 "eternal vigilance is the price of safety." 
 
 In 1855 Capt. Gaylord was married 
 to Miss Deborah Landsdowne, who was 
 born in Sandusky, Ohio, a daughter of 
 Samuel Landsdowne, a native of En- 
 gland, who with his wife Rachel emi- 
 grated to this country, settling in 
 Sandusk)', Ohio, where the}' died. To 
 our subject and wife were born four chil- 
 dren, viz. : George, single, in the cattle 
 business at Folsom, N. Mex. ; Catherine, 
 a teacher in the public schools of Green 
 Baj-; Marion, at home with her parents; 
 and Edith, who died at the age of twenty- 
 three years. In his political preferences 
 Capt. Gaylord is a stanch Republican; 
 socially he is a member of Washington 
 
 Lodge No. 21, F. & A. M., and of War- 
 ren Chapter No. 50; he received his 
 initiation in Science Lodge No. 30, San- 
 dusky. During the thirty-two \ears from 
 the first day he set foot in Green Bay he 
 has seen some marvelous changes in the 
 place, and has been identified with it as 
 an honored, upright citizen, well-known 
 and highly respected. 
 
 WILLIAM PERRY WAGNER. 
 This well-known gentleman, the 
 popular and esteemed cashier 
 of the Citizens National Bank 
 of Green Bay, by virtue of his prominent 
 position in the commercial as well as 
 social world of northern Wisconsin, is de- 
 serving of more than a passing notice in 
 the pages of this volume. 
 
 He was born March 5, 1859, in Mount 
 Morris, Ogle Co., 111., a son of Reuben 
 and Leah (Brubaker) \\'agner, natives 
 respectively of Washington county, Md., 
 and Huntington county, Penn., and de- 
 scendants of the early German settlers of 
 those States. Reuben Wagner is at pres- 
 ent in the stock business in Chicago, a 
 member of the firm of Wagner Bros. & 
 Co. The mother of our subject died in 
 Ogle county. 111., in 1876, aged forty- 
 three years. 
 
 William P. Wagner received his edu- 
 cation at the schools of Polo, Ogle Co., 
 111., and having completed his studies, it 
 became necessary for him to select a pro- 
 fession, or to decide what occupation he 
 would pursue in future life. He was suc- 
 cessful in securing employment in the 
 Exchange National Bank of Polo, and 
 from that time pursued the even tenor of 
 his way, confidently anticipating the ar- 
 rival of the turning point which always 
 attends the promotion due to industry 
 and integrity. In this and other banking 
 institutions in that county he remained 
 until I 886, when he went to Chicago, and 
 for a short time was employed in the pri- 
 vate bank of S. A. Kean & Co. , of that 
 city. In the summer of the same year, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 457 
 
 his services being sought by K. B. Kel- 
 logg, he came to Green Bay, and for the 
 following two years was employed in the 
 Kellogg National Bank, at the end of 
 which time he organized the Citizens 
 National Ikink of Green Bay with a capi- 
 tal of $100,000. That this institution 
 has proven a financial success goes with- 
 out saying, and the deposit accounts now 
 average from $550,000 to $500,000, rep- 
 resenting about half of the business de- 
 posits of the city. A dividend of six per 
 cent, was declared in 1 890, and seven per 
 cent, annual dividends have been de- 
 clared each year since then, besides accu- 
 mulating a surplus of over $20, 000, which 
 in itself speaks more than well of the 
 financial management of the concern. 
 
 In January, 1881, Mr. Wagner was 
 married to Miss Emma Whitcomb, of 
 Minneapolis, who died in December of 
 the same year in Ogle county, 111., leav- 
 ing an infant son, named Paul W. On 
 October 17, 1888, Mr. Wagner, for his 
 second wife, was married in Polo, 111. , to 
 Miss Anna Shumway, a daughter of R. G. 
 Shumwa)-, a banker at that place, and to 
 this union have come two children: Perry, 
 born April 5, 1890, and Eugenia, born 
 August 9, 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner 
 are members of the Presbyterian Church, 
 and of the choir. In social organizations 
 he is a member of the Knights of Pythias. 
 Still young, and with all the buoyancy of 
 youth, a host of friends and deserved 
 prosperity, he is certainly a man to be 
 contented — and to be envied. Politically 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 M 
 
 AGNUS JOHNSON. The 
 
 Scandinavian peninsula has sent 
 thousands of its sons and 
 daughters to the United States, 
 where they have become substantial, 
 thrifty and public-spirited citizens. The 
 gentleman for whom this sketch has been 
 prepared was born in 1837 in Gotten- 
 borg, Sweden, being one of a family of 
 four children reared by Johan Magnuson 
 
 and Angeline (Nelson), both natives of 
 the same country. The father died in 
 1868, the mother in 1S72. Of their chil- 
 dren, Andrew yet resides in Sweden; John 
 lives in Colorado, and Loue in Minne- 
 sota. 
 
 Magnus Johnson was educated in the 
 schools of his native country, relying up- 
 on his own efforts to store his mind with 
 practical knowledge, of usefulness to a 
 man battling with the grave problems of 
 life. He early learned, the trade of ship 
 carpenter, and was so proficient as to be 
 made foreman at the age of nineteen. 
 For twelve years he sailed the Atlantic, 
 between Sweden and the West Indies, 
 the Cape of Good Hope, Brazil and the 
 principal European ports, his knowledge 
 of ship carpentry more than once being 
 the means of saving his vessel. In 
 1858 his fortunes were united with those 
 of Miss Anna Helen Johnson, also of 
 Swedish parentage and nati\'ity. Her 
 parents, John Bergenson and wife, lived 
 and died among the scenes of their nativ- 
 ity. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the par- 
 ents of children as follows: Angeline, 
 who died at Green Bay aged twenty 
 years; Charlotte, residing in Green Bay; 
 Maly, who married Allie Britton, and 
 died in Green Bay when but nineteen 
 years of age; John, a resident also of 
 Green Bay; Tene, now Mrs. Williams, of 
 Milwaukee; Henry, Laura and Jennie, at 
 home; another child, named Charlotte, 
 died young. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Johnson immigrated with 
 his family to Green Bay, and for about 
 sixteen years was employed at the blast 
 furnace, working also for some years at 
 his old trade of ship carpenter. For the 
 past eight years he has been engaged in 
 the line of contracting and building, and 
 at the present time employs about twenty 
 men. Many of the city's residences and 
 business houses have been erected under 
 his supervision. He holds the position of 
 city plumber and inspector, and is super- 
 visor of the Fourth ward, which he also 
 represented one term in the city council. 
 
458 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In politics Mr. Johnson is a Repnblican. 
 Both he and his wife are members of 
 Christ Church. He is a prominent Odd 
 Fellow, having passed through the chairs 
 of both the Subordinate Lodge and En- 
 campment. For several \'ears he has 
 been chairman of the board of trustees of 
 Green Bay Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., 
 and has also served the local branch of 
 the Royal Arcanum as a trustee. That 
 such a man should be ranked among the 
 stanch citizens of Green Bay is but just 
 in the light of his honorable record. 
 
 H.\. W OTTER, M. D. This 
 gentleman, one of the leading 
 physicians and surgeons of north- 
 ern Wisconsin, is a native of the 
 State, born August 21, 1855, in Green- 
 ville township, Outagamie county- 
 Frederick and Helen (Schaefer) Wot- 
 ter, parents of our subject, natives of 
 Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, immi- 
 grated to the United States in 1855, set- 
 ling on a farm in Greenville township, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis. Here the father 
 died in 1891; he was a Democrat in his 
 political associations, and held various 
 township offices. The mother is now a 
 resident of Appleton, Wis. Their family 
 numbered eight children, all residents of 
 Appleton except the Doctor, as follows; 
 B. C. is a dealer in farm machinery, 
 hardware, etc. ; H. A. is the subject of 
 this sketch; Frederick; Henry is a cigar 
 manufacturer; Otto; Dora is the wife of 
 J. L. Pringle; Lotta is the wife of Julius 
 Waite, and Helen is the \\ife of George 
 Hanchett. 
 
 H. A. Wotter was reared on his fath- 
 er's farm up to the age of sixteen, receiv- 
 ing his earlier education at the common 
 schools of the neighborhood, after which 
 he attended the high school at Appleton. 
 He then for a time taught school in Outa- 
 gamie count}', in the evenings reading 
 medicine with Dr. Charles \'on Hiddeson, 
 of Appleton, after which, in 1878, he en- 
 tered Rush Medical College, Chicago, 
 
 where he graduated in the class of '81. 
 Dr. Wotter commenced the practice of his 
 profession in Fountain City, Wis. ; from 
 there moved to Oconto, same State, thence 
 in 1 89 1 coming to Green Bay, where he 
 has since been engaged in regular practice, 
 meeting with the most gratifying success. 
 In 1884 he took a post-graduate course at 
 the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
 New York. 
 
 Dr. Wotter is a member of the Fox 
 River Medical Society ; socially he is 
 affiliated with the I. O. O. F., and of the 
 Iron Gate Council, Royal Arcanum. He 
 is interested in the G. B. Hess Co. flour- 
 ing-mill, built in 1893, having a capacity 
 of 200 barrels per day, and he is recog- 
 nized as a useful, wide-awake, loyal 
 citizen. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM FRANCIS VAN- 
 ROOSAIALEN, pastor of St. Wil- 
 lil)rord's Catholic Church at Green 
 Bay, is a native of Holland, born 
 February 13, 1857, in 's Hertogenbosch, 
 where his paternal ancestry had resided 
 for man\' generations. 
 
 The city of 's Hertogenbosch was 
 built in 1 1 13, and the old house erected 
 by the Duke of Brabant is still standing. 
 As far back as 1600 mention is made in 
 the Church records of the Van Roosmalen 
 family, who were then residents of that 
 city; they were descendants of a noble 
 house, and held offices of trust in 's 
 Hertogenbosch. Christianus Van Roos- 
 malen, paternal great-grandfather of the 
 subject of this sketch, was a merchant, 
 as was also the grandfather, whose busi- 
 ness is known to have been that of a 
 grocer. James Van Roosmalen, son of 
 the latter, and who still resides in Hol- 
 land, is an architect and contractor, 
 highly esteemed and beloved by many. 
 He married Miss Adriana Van de Ven, 
 who was born at Cromvoirt, Holland, 
 and is still living, the mother of two chil- 
 dren, William Francis (our subject), and 
 Mary (wife of Henry Kitzlaar). 
 
VOMMEMOllAriVE DIOQBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 459 
 
 The subject proper of these lines at- 
 tended the schools of his native town, 
 later the gymnasium at Gemert, whence 
 after two years he proceeded to Bruges, 
 Belgium, where for four years he read in 
 the classical course; the main object of 
 his going there, however, being to be- 
 come more familiar with the French lan- 
 guage, which the citizens of Belgium 
 speak almost exclusively. On finishing 
 his course he returned to Holland, and 
 from there, after a sojourn of ten months, 
 emigrated to the United States with the 
 view of preparing himself for the priest- 
 hood in this country. Arriving in New 
 York December i, 1881, he proceeded to 
 Notre Dame, Ind., where he studied 
 philosophy under Rev. Father Fitt until 
 June 16, 1883. during which time he also 
 acted as assistant professor of the Latin 
 and French languages in the university. 
 On September 7, 1883, he moved to Mil- 
 waukee, and at St. Francis Theological 
 Seminary completed his course in 
 theology. On June 24, 1886, he was or- 
 dained a priest bj' the late Archbishop 
 Michael Heiss, and immediately after- 
 ward was appointed pastor of the Holy 
 Cross Church in Mishicot, Manitowoc 
 Co., Wis., of which he had charge three 
 years and five months. The congrega- 
 tion being composed of Germans and 
 French, and the children having no op- 
 portunity to learn those languages, he 
 found himself obliged to preach in three 
 different languages — German, French and 
 English. On February 12, 1890, he was 
 appointed, b}' Bishop Katzer, to his pres- 
 ent charge of St. Willibrord's Church, 
 Green Bay, where he has ever since been 
 a faithful and earnest pastor, all his tem- 
 poral as well as spiritual relations having 
 been conducted in a meritorious manner. 
 The old church was presided over by the 
 Rev. Father Bongers, who laid the 
 foundation stone of the new church 
 building, the completion of which Bishop 
 Katzer entrusted to Father \'an Roos- 
 malen. On May i, 1891, the first brick 
 was laid, and the church was completed 
 
 December 12, 1893; its dimensions are 
 I 36 X 50 feet, the steeple being 240 feet 
 high and containing one of the Howard 
 clocks and bell weighing 4,000 pounds. 
 The entire building will forever be a 
 monument to Father Roosmalen's in- 
 tegrity, and will speak of him when he is 
 no longer numbered among the living. 
 His people have come to understand his 
 good intentions, and are aiding him in 
 every way possible. His life is like a 
 poem in its far-reaching benefits. He 
 has a spmpathy for all afflictions and a 
 kind and encouraging word for those who 
 are downcast and careworn — in, a word, 
 he represents the true shepherd that 
 guards well his flock. 
 
 DR. COLONEL ORMAN GAGE, 
 who is successfully engaged in the 
 practice of dentistry in Green Bay, 
 is one of the native sons of Wis- 
 consin, having been born near Fond du 
 Lac, June 11, 1861. 
 
 The Gage family is one of English 
 origin. The Doctors father, Capt. 
 Nathaniel Gage, who was a native of 
 Rome, N. Y. , was one of a family of nine 
 children. He there obtained his educa- 
 tion, and afterward owned a packet and 
 passenger boat on the Erie canal, con- 
 tinuing his residence in the Empire State 
 until 1840, when with his family he emi- 
 grated westward, taking up his residence 
 in Dodge county. Wis. There he en- 
 gaged in dealing in real estate, also buy- 
 ing and selling fine horses. He became 
 a well-known and prominent citizen of 
 Dodge county, a leader in political circles, 
 and was frequently called to positions of 
 honor and trust, serving for many years 
 as chairman of the board of supervisors 
 and in various other offices. He was an 
 active and earnest Republican, and dur- 
 ing the Rebellion strongly supported all 
 war measures; but on account of impaired 
 health was unable to enter service in the 
 field, so had to content himself with his 
 
460 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 labors at home in behalf of the army. He 
 induced many to enter the service, acted 
 as enrolling master in Dodge county, and 
 helped to raise the quota of troops. 
 He became well and favorably known 
 throughout this part of the State, and 
 wherever he went won friends who held 
 him in high regard. His death occurred 
 in October, 1 866. Capt. Gage was mar- 
 ried in Utica, N. Y. , to Miss Lodoska 
 Rose, daughter of Elisha Rose, and she 
 still survives her husband. In the family 
 were twelve children, five of whom are 
 yet living: Walter M., who is now a 
 resident of California; Jasper D., a dental 
 surgeon; Colonel Orman, subject of this 
 sketch; Mrs. Hattie Jones, of Seattle, 
 Wash. ; and Mrs. Nellie Gage, of De- 
 Pere, Wisconsin. 
 
 Dr. C. O. Gage, whose name opens 
 this sketch, obtained his primary ed- 
 ucation in the schools of his native 
 city, later pursuing his studies in De- 
 lavan. Wis. . and subsequenth' in the 
 Episcopal Parish School of Fond du Lac. 
 His first independent effort in life was in 
 the line of railroad work, he entering the 
 employ of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- 
 road Company; but his active mind soon 
 tiring of this, he sought a wider field of 
 usefulness. At the age of twenty he took 
 up the study of medicine in the office of 
 Dr. R. L. Moore, of Spring Valley, Minn., 
 and after a year's preparation, went to 
 Austin, Minn., where he began the study 
 of dentistry in the office of Dr. H. A. 
 Avery, a well-known dentist of that place. 
 Having fitted himself for practice, he then 
 opened an office in \\'aupun, Wis., in the 
 spring of 1883, and soon had all the busi- 
 ness that he could well attend to, for his 
 merit and ability were recognized. Com- 
 ing to Green Bay. he was alike successful 
 in this place, in a very short period build- 
 ing up a fine business. He is especially 
 qualified to take up the constitutional 
 treatment of his patients, and has been 
 very successful in that line. The fine 
 quality of his work is indicated by his 
 constantly increasing patronage, and in 
 
 the high reputation which he bears among 
 his professional brethren. 
 
 On the 1 6th of June, 1886, at Oak- 
 field, \Ms. , Dr. Gage was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Hattie R. Smith, daugh- 
 ter of L. S. Smith, and their union has 
 been blessed with one child, Bessie Ruth. 
 The Doctor and his wife are members of 
 the First Presbyterian Church; fraternally 
 he is connected with the Knights of Pyth- 
 ias, in politics, with the Republican party, 
 the principles of which he warmly advo- 
 cates. In social circles he and his wife 
 hold an enviable position, and their home 
 is noted for its hospitality. 
 
 P 
 
 of G. 
 also 
 
 J. VAN DEUREN, engaged as a 
 general merchant at Green Bay, 
 Wis. , was born in the Province of 
 Brabant, Belgium, in 1850, a son 
 J. and Mary (Avant) \'an Deuren, 
 natives of Belgium, who left that 
 country in 1857, locating for a year in 
 Bellevue township. Brown county, and 
 then settled in Green Bay. 
 
 Here the father followed his trade of 
 tailoring until 1865, when he engaged in 
 the clothing business in partnership with 
 H. J. Bush until i86g, at which time the 
 latter sold his interest to H. Watermolen, 
 the style of the firm being changed to 
 Van Deuren & Watermolen, the firm 
 name so continuing until 1871, when Mr. 
 Van Deuren bought the entire interest, 
 and conducted the establishment under 
 his exclusive name until 1880, in which 
 year his son, P. J. , was admitted to a part- 
 nership. Van Deuren & Son carried on 
 the business until January i, 1894, when 
 the son assumed the entire charge, the 
 father retiring in comfort. G. J. Van- 
 Deuren was twice married, first time to 
 Miss Mary Avant, by whom he had chil- 
 dren as follows: Elizabeth, widow of 
 Joseph Heyrman; P. J., our subject; 
 Henry, city treasurer; John B., a cigar 
 manufacturer, and August. The mother 
 of these died in 1866, and in 1868 Mr. 
 Van Deuren married Miss Caroline De- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 461 
 
 Graff, a native of Belgium (daughter of 
 Anton UeGraff), who came to Brown 
 county, Wis., in 1852, and died some 
 years ago. 
 
 P. J. Van Deuren, who was but seven 
 years of age when he came to America, 
 received his education in Green Bay, and 
 his first employment was one year at the 
 tailoring business. He then carried a 
 general stock of goods on Adams street, 
 in 1873 erecting a two-story brick build- 
 ing, 22 X 80 feet, which he carried on until 
 he united in business with his father; in ad- 
 dition to this he also carries on an insur- 
 ance business. He was married in Green 
 Bay in 1875, to Adeline Motto, a native 
 of France, whose father was a pioneer of 
 Brown county, Wis., and an early hard- 
 ware merchant. The union of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Van Deuren has been blessed with 
 seven children, viz. : W. L. , Caroline, 
 Emma, Mary, Lizzie, Mark and Lenore. 
 The family are devout members of St. 
 Willibrord's Catholic Church, and their 
 position in society is a most enviable one. 
 In politics Mr. Van Deuren is a thorough- 
 going Democrat, and has three times 
 served as alderman from the Third ward; 
 fraternall}' he is a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen. He is one of the old-time 
 business men of Green Bay, one worthy 
 of being intrusted with the management 
 of the city's public affairs 
 
 EDWARD ENGELS, of the firm 
 of Engels & Mohr, boot and shoe 
 dealers of Green Bay, was born 
 in the Province of Liege, Belgium, 
 September 28, 1839, a son of John B. 
 and Gertrude fSerron) Engels. 
 
 John B. Engels, who was a tailor, 
 brought his family to America in 1856, 
 sailing from Antwerp, and after a voyage 
 of forty-si.x days landed at Quebec, from 
 which point they reached Green Bay, 
 having in their possession only eighteen 
 Belgian francs. In the fall of 1856 Mr. 
 Engels purchased 120 acres in Humboldt 
 township. Brown county, of which twenty 
 
 acres were cleared, and began the manu- 
 facture of shingles. Here the mother 
 died April 26, 1878, and the husband in 
 
 1887, having cleared sixty acres of the 
 original one hundred and twenty, and 
 left a well-improved farm to his heirs. 
 The parents were pious Catholics, and 
 contributed to the erection of four differ- 
 ent church edifices in Brown county. 
 They reared a family of seven children, 
 viz.: Edward, subject of sketch; Peter, 
 who was in the lumber business in Brown 
 and Oconto counties, but went to Wash- 
 ington in 1874; Henry, on the homestead 
 in Humboldt township; William, proprie- 
 tor of the " Champion Hotel," Green Bay; 
 Rosa, who was married to a Mr. Koenen 
 in Belgium, but became a widow and re- 
 married, coming to the United States in 
 18S2, the wife of Gerhart Schuurmans, 
 and now residing in Oconto county. Wis. ; 
 Julius, still in Belgium, on the maternal 
 homestead; and Nicholas, born in the 
 town of Humboldt, in 1859, and now re- 
 siding in Fort Howard, Wisconsin. 
 
 Edward Engels was educated in Bel- 
 gium, and on coming to Wisconsin assist- 
 ed in clearing up the farm, etc., until 
 1867, and in cutting timber in Brown and 
 Oconto counties. In 1867 he married, 
 in Brown county, Mary V. Vincent, a 
 native of Belgium and daughter of John 
 B. and Anna (Bredaal) Vincent, who set- 
 tled in Humboldt township. Brown 
 county, in 1856, on a farm, but in 1869 
 moved to Green Bay and engaged in the 
 furniture business — owning two stores on 
 Main street. His death occurred in 
 
 1888. In 1867 Mr. Engels came to 
 Green Bay, erected a brick building on 
 Main street, carried on a grocery and 
 saloon business until 1889, and then en- 
 gaged in the boot and shoe trade on 
 Washington street, in which he has be- 
 come most popular and prosperous. In 
 politics he is a stanch Democrat, and in 
 1882 was a member of the city council; 
 he was city weighmaster for five or six 
 years, and in 1 890 was city treasurer. 
 
 In 1885 Mr. Engels was deprived by 
 
462 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 death of his wife, who had borne him ten 
 children, viz.: John B. ; Henry; W'ilhani, 
 a tailor of Ashland, Wis., of the firm of 
 Welch & Engels; Louis, a clerk; Edward 
 and August, attending school; Louis J., 
 who died in 1874; Angeline, who died in 
 1884; Rosa, who died in 1883; and Anna, 
 who died in 1885 at the age of ten 
 months. Mr. Engels is a member of St. 
 Willibrord's Church, of which he was 
 treasurer nine years. He is a member of 
 the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, and 
 in 1894 a delegate to the State conven- 
 tion of that Order; he is also a member 
 of the St. Joseph Societ}-. He is a self- 
 made man, having begun business on a very 
 small capital, but he has never ceased his 
 contributions to the worthy public aid of 
 Green Bay and Brown county. 
 
 FRANK B. SEYMOUR, superin- 
 tendent of the Green Bay, Winona 
 & St. Paul, and the Kewaunee, 
 Green Bay & Western railroads, 
 has a reputation second to none as a care- 
 ful, painstaking and vigilant railroad of- 
 ficial. He came to Green Bay in 1872, 
 and was engaged as brakeman on the 
 Green Bay & Lake Pepin railroad, first 
 on freights, later on passenger trains, and 
 from May, 1874, to August, 1878, as 
 freight conductor. At the latter date he 
 was promoted to passenger conductor, run- 
 ning passenger trains till January 1 8, 1 887, 
 when he was appointed assistant superin- 
 tendent of the roads of which he has been 
 superintendent since November i, 1890. 
 Born in Jefferson county, N. Y., in 
 1856, Mr. Seymour is yet young, and has 
 in all human probabilit}- the best and 
 most important years of his life yet to 
 come. He is a son of Gilbert and Mary 
 (McDonald) Seymour, natives, the father 
 of France, the mother of County Clare, 
 Ireland. Gilbert Seymour immigrated to 
 this country with his father, who was also 
 of French birth, and about 1832 they 
 located in Plattsburg, N. Y., where grand- 
 father Seymour died. Gilbert there mar- 
 
 ried INfiss Mary McDonald, and in the fall 
 of 1863 they came to New London, Outa- 
 gamie Co., Wis. In August, 1864, he 
 joined Company A, Forty-second Regi- 
 ment Wis. V. I., and after the close of 
 the war worked at the carpenter trade 
 until 1883, when the family moved to 
 Green Bay to make their home with their 
 son, Frank B. Here the father died 
 July 23, 1892, and here the mother yet 
 resides. They had a family of five child- 
 ren, of whom the following is a brief 
 record; Frederick is a clerk in a railroad 
 freight office at Ft. Howard; Frank B. is 
 the subject of this sketch; William H. 
 and Albert were both killed while in the 
 employ of the Chicago & Northwestern 
 railroad, William in December, 1879, at 
 St. Peter, Minn., and Albert in August, 
 1883, at Utica, Minn. ; John J. is a pass- 
 enger conductor on the Green Bay, Win- 
 ona & St. Paul railroad, with residence 
 at Ft. Howard. 
 
 Frank B. Sejmour, the subject proper 
 of tfiese lines, was about seven years of 
 age when the family moved to New Lon- 
 don, and he here received his education. 
 In Ma\\ 1 87 1, he commenced work, as a 
 day laborer, grading on the Green Bay, 
 Winona & St. Paul railroad, then laying 
 iron, after which he was a brakeman on 
 a construction train, e.\tra conductor on 
 freight, and finally as conductor on way 
 freight and passenger train until January 
 18, 1887, the date of promotion, as al- 
 ready related. Mr. Se3'mour was mar- 
 ried at La Crosse, Wis., to Miss Delia 
 M. Vincent, a nati\e of that town, daugh- 
 ter of James \'incent, an earl}' pioneer of 
 La Crosse and well-known lumber dealer. 
 By this union there is one child, Ida M. 
 A Republican in politics, our subject is 
 active in the interests of that party. He 
 is a member of Washington Lodge No. 
 21, F. & A. M., of Warren Chapter No. 
 8, of Palestine Commandery No. 20, and 
 of the Wisconsin Consistory; is also a 
 member of the I\. of P., No. 26, Green 
 Bay, and is a charter member of the 
 Lodge at La Crosse. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPJIICAL RECORD. 
 
 463 
 
 HUMPHREY PIERCE, ex-mayor 
 of Appleton, by virtue of the dis- 
 tinguished position he has held in 
 the government of the city of his 
 adoption, his long residence in the locality, 
 and his extensive business interests, is 
 entitled to prominent mention in the 
 pages of this work. 
 
 Mr. Pierce was born February 5, 
 1847, at Gorham, Maine, a son of Charles 
 Pierce, a native of South Hampton, N. 
 H., born August 8, 1801, a son of Moses 
 Pierce. At Gorham, Maine, Charles 
 learned the trade of mason, which he fol- 
 lowed in the East till 1845, the year of 
 his moving to Illinois, in which State, 
 near the town of Peoria, he conducted a 
 farm a few years. Passing his declining 
 years in Alton, Madison Co., 111., he died 
 there February 4, 1861, aged nearly sixty 
 years. In Illinois he was engaged in 
 milling as well as farming and stock rais- 
 ing, and was an energetic go-ahead man, 
 noted for his integrity, uprightness and 
 honesty of purpose, and for promptness 
 in the discharge of all business obligations. 
 His wife, Hipsabeth (Lordj, was a lady of 
 English extraction, bright and intellectual, 
 and well-read in both Scripture and cur- 
 rent literature; she was born, in 1801, in 
 New England, and died near Gorham, 
 Maine, about the year 1849. She and 
 her husband were both members of the 
 M. E. Church, in which he filled the 
 office of deacon for many years. They 
 were the parents of eight children, their 
 names being Charles, Mary, Henry, 
 Julia, Angelina, Humphrey, Jonathan, and 
 Moses (the last named being killed at the 
 battle of Vicksburg in the war of the 
 Rebellion). Two other children, Jane 
 and Sarah, were born to Charles Pierce 
 by a second wife. 
 
 Humphrej' Pierce, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, after leaving the com- 
 mon schools, entered Lawrence (Appleton, 
 Wis.) University, class of 1862, where he 
 took the scientific course, after which he 
 attended the Harvard Law School, gradua- 
 ting there in the class of 1866. Returning 
 
 26 
 
 to Appleton in 1868, he was admitted to 
 the bar and commenced the practice of 
 law, and by assiduous labor, pronounced 
 ability and devoted attention to his pro- 
 fession, soon rolled up a good paying 
 clientage. A prominent lawyer, he has 
 been distinguished for his straightforward, 
 uncompromising honesty, his refusal to 
 accept any cases of whose justice he felt 
 a conscientious doubt, and his hearty, 
 enthusiastic devotion to the clients whose 
 causes he championed. In connection 
 with his law practice, Mr. Pierce became 
 largel}' interested in real-estate business, 
 his father having made extensive land in- 
 vestments in and near Appleton. His 
 profession naturally leading him into poli- 
 tics — both local and State, in which he 
 took considerable interest — our subject 
 was elected city attorney, afterward as 
 alderman, and in 1871 to the office of 
 district attorney, serving in 1872-73; in 
 1 88 1 and 1882 he filled the mayor's 
 chair with dignity and efficiency two suc- 
 cessive terms. In 1882 he was sent to 
 the State Legislature by an appreciative 
 constituency, where he did good service. 
 He was on the joint committee on Appro- 
 priations, Corporations and Charters; 
 fought valiantly against the railroad land 
 grant, and altogether made a good record 
 as a legislator who had at heart the in- 
 terests of the people at large, the convic- 
 tions of an honest representative, and the 
 courage of his convictions. On his return 
 from the Legislature he resumed the toga 
 of private life in his law and real-estate 
 office, but was not long permitted to 
 remain political!}' inactive. In 1884 he 
 was a delegate to the State Democratic 
 Convention held in Madison, Wis. , and in 
 the spring of 1893, so warmly is he 
 esteemed and admired, and so justly are 
 his abilities appreciated, he was again 
 elected to the mayoralty of Appleton. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Pierce was married, at 
 Milwaukee, Wis., to Miss Emily J. 
 Hauser, daughter of Capt. Hauser, a lake 
 captain whose vessel was wrecked on 
 Lake Erie in 1875 ^^^ its brave com- 
 
464 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 mander drowned. To this union have 
 been born eight children, named as 
 follows: Dudley H., Frederick H., 
 Florence J., Jessie E. and Ella C. (twins), 
 Genevieve A. , Lawrence R. and Byron 
 W. Mrs. Pierce is a member of the 
 Congregational Church. In his social 
 affiliations our subject is a member of the 
 Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of 
 America, National Union, Royal Arcanum 
 and I. O. O. F. (in which he has passed 
 all the chairs) and the Encampment; in 
 the Modern Woodmen of America he has 
 been a delegate to the Head Camp 
 several times, and served as an officer 
 and member of the auditory committee. 
 One of the pioneers of Appleton, Mr. 
 Pierce has been an eye-witness to its 
 marvelous growth, and of material assist- 
 ance in its development. He helped to 
 chop down the trees on the main street 
 and College avenue; also laid out and 
 graded the streets in the western portion 
 of the city, and laid the first sidewalk 
 west of the big ravine. Widely respected, 
 earnest and persistent in his advocacy of 
 reform, and eloquent in his writings and 
 speeches, his influence constantly in- 
 creases and can not be safely ignored. 
 
 HIRAM G. FREEMAN, cashier of 
 the Commercial National Bank 
 of Appleton, and secretary of the 
 Fox River Paper Co. , was born 
 in Concord, N. H., January 3, 1844. 
 
 He is a son of Rev. Hiram Freeman, 
 a native of Vermont, who for several 
 years was pastor of the East Congre- 
 gational Church of Concord, N. H., or 
 until 1845, when with his little family he 
 moved westward to Wisconsin, locating 
 first, in 1846, in the town of Potosi, but 
 in two }'ears thereafter moving to Osh- 
 kosh, becoming the first pastor of the 
 First Congregational Church there. In 
 1858, Mr. Freeman having been one of 
 the organizers of Brockway (now Ripon) 
 College, he with his family removed to 
 
 Ripon, Fond du Lac county, and there 
 they remained five years. Pastoral duties 
 then called him to other fields, in Illinois 
 and Iowa, he finally settling in the latter 
 State, at Sioux City, where at the 
 patriarchal age of eighty-three years he is 
 now residing. In Rochester, Vt. , he had 
 married, January 9, 1840, Miss Adaline 
 W. Guernsey, a Vermont lady, and three 
 children were born to them, viz.: Hiram 
 G., one that died in infancy, and Ella, 
 living with her father in Sioux City. 
 Rev. Hiram Freeman is a lineal descend- 
 ant of John Freeman, one of the original 
 proprietors of Sudbury, Mass., in 1639, 
 whose son. Sergeant Joseph Freeman, 
 about the year 1692, removed with his 
 family to Preston, Conn., where they and 
 their descendants lived for many genera- 
 tions until Capt. Constant Freeman, 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
 moved to Vermont. 
 
 Hiram G. Freeman, whose name 
 introduces this sketch, received his 
 elementary education at the common 
 schools of the several towns where his 
 boyhood was passed, and completed his 
 studies at Ripon College, though he did 
 not graduate. At the age of fifteen he 
 commenced clerking, and was engaged in 
 stores at Ripon, Oshkosh and other places. 
 In May, 1864, he enlisted in Company B, 
 Forty-first Wis. V. I., serving until the 
 following September, when the regiment 
 was mustered out, and he then returned 
 to Oshkosh, to resume clerking. In 1867 
 he removed to Green Bay, having secured 
 the position of bookkeeper for the First 
 National Bank of that place, but after 
 three years he received the appointment 
 of cashier for the City National Bank of 
 Green Bay, which was succeeded, Jan- 
 uary I, 1874, by Kellogg's National 
 Bank. Mr. Freeman remained as cashier 
 of this institution until 1S81, in which 
 year he came to Appleton to accept his 
 present position in the then newly-organ- 
 ized Commercial National Bank of that 
 place. In 1884 he was appointed secre- 
 tary of the Fox River Paper Co., and in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 465 
 
 both these positions of trust he has proved 
 himself capable and faithful. 
 
 On November 20, 1S86, Mr. Free- 
 man was married to Miss Susie W. Smith, 
 youngest daughter of Reeder Smith, one 
 of the earliest settlers of Appleton, com- 
 ing here in 1848 in the interests of Law- 
 rence University. One daughter has 
 blessed this union, named Angeline Smith. 
 In his political predilections Mr. Freeman 
 is a Republican, and he is widely respect- 
 ed as an enterprising, energetic and suc- 
 cessful business man. 
 
 HON. SAMUEL RYAN was born 
 March 13, 1824, in Sacket's Har- 
 bor, Jefferson Co., N. Y. , son of 
 Samuel Ryan, who was a native 
 of Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland, 
 where the family had resided for many 
 generations. 
 
 Col. Samuel Ryan, Sr. , came to the 
 United States when a young man of 
 twenty-five, on board an English man-of- 
 war, having been impressed into the serv- 
 ice in 1808 in England, whither he had 
 gone for employment. He had enjoyed 
 the advantages of a good education, and 
 this fact becoming known to the captain 
 of the ship, he was put in the purser's 
 department, in which capacity he was 
 brought to America in 18 14, during the 
 latter part of the war of that period. At 
 the battle of Plattsburg he left with a 
 boatload of British soldiers, and going 
 ashore at once deserted to the United 
 States army stationed on the lake fron- 
 tier near the Canada boundaries. Later 
 he was promoted to sergeant in the quar- 
 termaster's department, and after the war 
 continued in the same service many years, 
 but finally refused to enlist. His services 
 however had been valuable to the govern- 
 ment, and he was retained in the quar- 
 termaster's department at Fort Howard, 
 Wis., which then was in the Territory of 
 Michigan. He became familiar with In- 
 dian life and habits, and always accom- 
 panied Gov. Cass, of Michigan, when the 
 
 latter made the treaties with the Indians, 
 notably the treaty with the powerful 
 Menominees, who furnished 5,000 war- 
 riors to the government in the Blackhawk 
 war, which treaty was signed at Butte 
 des Morts (Hill of the Dead), near 
 Neenah, Wis. After the Blackhawk war, 
 Gov. Dodge commissioned him a colonel. 
 His home was at Fort Howard, and there 
 he organized companies to protect the 
 frontier against Indian attacks. In the 
 quartermaster's department he continued 
 until about 1850, when he resigned and 
 accepted the position of deputy register 
 of the United States Land Office at 
 Green Bay. .When the office was re- 
 moved to Menasha he went with it, and 
 soon after was appointed receiver of the 
 United States Land Office, holding that 
 position until i8'6i, when he resigned and 
 retired. He had rendered valuable ser- 
 vice to the United States Government in 
 the capacities of soldier and receiver, and 
 could not be wholly inactive in those stir- 
 ring times, so he drilled troops at Men- 
 asha, Appleton, Neenah and Oshkosh. 
 His services were gladly accepted by the 
 "boys in blue," who were for the most 
 part inexperienced in army tactics. He 
 rendered efficient service in the summers 
 of 1 861 and 1862, and at the mass meet- 
 ings of the people held in various places 
 he was a noted figure, making speeches, 
 and urging enlistments. After a useful 
 and well-spent life he died in Menasha, 
 April 12, 1876, at the advanced age of 
 almost eighty-seven years. He was nearly 
 six feet in height, sparely built, but a 
 soldier every inch. He was a well-known 
 and well-liked figure in his chapeau and 
 old colonel's uniform at Fourth of July 
 celebrations and public gatherings. Like 
 others in his day he was a positive char- 
 acter, brave and determined. At one 
 time he captured, single-handed, a band 
 of Indians that had plotted to rob the 
 Indian agent of twenty-six thousand dol- 
 lars. In religion he was a Methodist, 
 and in politics a Democrat of the Doug- 
 las school. Samuel Ryan, Sr. , was mar- 
 
466 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ried at Erie, Penn., to Martha Johnston, 
 a native of the North of Ireland, but of 
 Scotch descent, being a member of the 
 old Scotch family of Fife. Mrs. Martha 
 Ryan was a strong pioneer character. 
 
 Judge Ryan received his primary edu- 
 cation in the military school at Fort 
 Howard, and later on received instruction 
 from an old Presbyterian missionary to 
 the Stockbridge Indians, among whom he 
 lived. After this he attended private 
 school for three years, and when he 
 caught up with his teacher in the branches 
 taught he stopped attending school. In 
 1 84 1, at the age of seventeen years, he 
 entered the printing office .of the Green 
 Bay Republican and learned the printer's 
 trade. After three years he became 
 editor of the paper, the editor, C. C. P. 
 Arndt, having been shot in the council 
 chamber at Madison by a fellow member. 
 The young editor wrote the editorials for 
 about four years, then removed to Fond 
 du Lac, where he published the Fountain 
 City two years, and then sold out. Re- 
 turning to Green Bay, he, in 1851, com- 
 menced another paper, the Green Bay 
 Spectator. In January, 1853, he was 
 persuaded to remove to Appleton, where 
 he started the Crescent, then a little six- 
 column weekly paper, which has since 
 grown into a wide-awake daily; he was 
 the pioneer editor of Appleton, and his 
 journal is the'pioneer paper of the county. 
 When the first issue was about to be 
 printed the doors had to be locked, as the 
 pioneers and backwoodsmen thronged the 
 office and printing-room, many of them 
 never having seen a printing office. The 
 Crescent has been uniformly successful, 
 and is to-day the favorite paper among 
 the early settlers; the weekly continues 
 to be published, and has a large circula- 
 tion. Up to 1890, Judge Ryan was the 
 chief editor, and his clear pen and fertile 
 brain ably conducted the paper; but 
 since that time he has led a semi-retired 
 life. 
 
 During the Civil war our subject 
 raised a company for the Fourteenth Wis. 
 
 V. I., but enlisted in the Third Wis. V. C. 
 On the day of enlistment he was ap- 
 pointed quartermaster-sergeant; the next 
 day was detailed into the commissary de- 
 partment, and from that time served on 
 detail duty. He was an officer of the 
 guard at times, but always on detail duty, 
 being stationed principally in Kansas 
 under Major-Gen. Blunt. At Leaven- 
 worth, Kans. , he was taken sick, and 
 received an honorable discharge in 1863. 
 Judge Ryan has been thrice married, 
 first time June i, 1847, to Laura E. 
 Knappen at Green Bay, who died in 
 1850; next in 1853, to Calista M. Crane, 
 who died in 1869; his present wife, 
 Martha S. Driggs, of Fond du Lac, is a 
 native of Rome, N. Y. Before the war 
 Mr. Ryan studied law, and in April, 1865, 
 he was elected county judge of Outa- 
 gamie county, which office he held eight 
 years. In the fall of 1 864 he was elected 
 to the Assembly, serving one term. 
 Socially he is identified with the G. A. R. 
 and I. O. O. F., taking a very active 
 part in the latter Order, which he joined 
 in 1847. In 1858 he joined the Grand 
 Lodge, of which he has ever since been a 
 member. In 1869 he was elected grand 
 master, in 1870 re-elected, and in that 
 capacity traveled all over the State. He 
 has been elected to the Sovereign Grand 
 Lodge for five years, and has performed 
 much useful and meritorious work for the 
 Order. In 1895 comes the announce- 
 ment that he has been appointed United 
 States Consul to St. Johns, the capital of 
 Newfoundland. 
 
 COL. H. A. FRAMBACH. This 
 prominent and progressive citizen 
 has earned a place among those 
 of Kaukauna's business men who 
 are entitled to the honor of having so suc- 
 cessfully aided in promoting the building 
 and operating of important industries of 
 that place. 
 
 Col. Frambach was born in Syracuse, 
 N. Y. , November 21, 1840, a son of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 469. 
 
 Charles Augustus and Mary Elizabeth 
 (Mader) Frambach, natives of Frankfort- 
 on-the-Main, Germany. They were mar- 
 ried in their native land, and in 1838 
 emigrated to this country, making Syra- 
 cuse, N. Y. , their first home in the 
 Western World. Here the mother died 
 in 1846, after which, in the same year, 
 the father, with his little family of four 
 young children, removed to Racine, Wis., 
 where he passed the rest of his days, 
 dying in 1854. He was by profession a 
 linguist, writer, and professor of languages 
 of considerable note, his services bemg 
 secured for some of the best colleges. 
 They were the parents of four children, as 
 follows: Mary Elizabeth, married to 
 Monroe Eastman, of Richland county. 
 Wis.; H. A., the subject of this sketch; 
 John Stovekin, adopted, after his father's 
 death, by a family of the same name, 
 and who is now residing in Milwaukee; 
 and Catharine, a Sister of Charity, having 
 charge of St. Vincent Academy in Buffalo, 
 New York. 
 
 The subject of these lines, as will be 
 seen, was about six years old when the 
 family came to Racine, at the schools of 
 which town, and those of Mt. Pleasant, 
 Racine county, he received his education, 
 which was brought to a close when he 
 was in his seventeenth year. Building 
 upon this, the good foundation thus laid at 
 school, he made the best use of such oppor- 
 tunities as in after life he could find for 
 study, and was diligent and thrifty. Pos- 
 sessed of innate grit and determination, he 
 in early life developed an ambition to scale 
 the ladder of success, and excel in social 
 position. One of his cardinal rules of 
 life has been from his earliest boyhood 
 to lay down a method for everything, and 
 stick to it invariably — a true Chesterfield 
 maxim. 
 
 In 1857 he set out for the wild West, 
 in company with Albert S. Johnson, 
 crossing the Plains to Salt Lake City, 
 but soon thereafter returned to St. Louis, 
 Mo., where he followed river boating, 
 and was thus employed on the Illinois 
 
 river at the time of the breaking out of 
 the Civil war. On the first news of hos- 
 tilities, fired with the spirit of patriotism, 
 he enlisted at Carrollton, 111. , in the Sixty- 
 first 111. V. I., Company G, and was 
 mustered into the army of the West at 
 St. Louis, Mo. He was with Grant in 
 the campaign down the Mississippi, serv- 
 ing as a private until after the battle of 
 Shiloh, when he was detailed into the 
 secret service department, one of the 
 most dangerous and responsible of all 
 army work. In this service he continued 
 until the close of the war, when he was 
 honorably discharged, having served faith- 
 fully and gallantly in the department of 
 Tennessee under Gens. Logan, Brayman 
 and others until 1863, in which year he 
 was appointed chief of the secret service 
 in the department of Arkansas, with the 
 rank of colonel. After the close of the 
 war he again took up his residence in St. 
 Louis, retaining his connection with the 
 secret service, and at the same time en- 
 gaging in mercantile business in that city. 
 In 1872 Col. Frambach came to Kau- 
 kauna, where, in company with his brother, 
 John Stovekin, he built the first paper 
 mill in the place, and while operating 
 this he was to some extent engaged in 
 mercantile business. In 1876 he was 
 chairman of the board of supervisors of 
 Kaukauna. From 1878 to 1880 he operat- 
 ed the Menasha Paper & Pulp Company's 
 mills at Menasha, returning to Kaukauna 
 in the latter year, where, till its destruc- 
 tion by fire in August, 1880, he con- 
 ducted the Eagle Paper Mill, in which he 
 had been formerly interested. Col. Fram- 
 bach rebuilt the mill, and it was afterward 
 operated under the name of ' ' Frambach 
 Paper Mill. " In 1 88 1 , with Mr. Rogers, of 
 Appleton, Wis., and the Van Nortwicks, 
 of Batavia, 111., he organized the Union 
 Pulp Company. In 1884 he sold his in- 
 terest in both of the above industries to 
 the Van Nortwick syndicate, then, in com- 
 pany with Hon. Joseph Vilas, of Manito- 
 woc, organized the Badger Paper Co., 
 and commenced building the plant, which 
 
47° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was completed, ready for work, in 1885. 
 The plant consists of three mills, 350.\- 
 1 50 feet, each three stories high, and 
 employment is given to 250 hands the 
 year round, the chief product being paper, 
 sulphite ground wood pulp, and wall 
 paper; since 1895 the latter branch has 
 belonged to the National Wall Paper 
 Association. At the present time he is 
 vice-president and general manager of the 
 entire business. In 1885, in addition to 
 his extensive paper deals, he found time 
 to establish a private bank in Kaukauna 
 which in 1888 merged into the First Na- 
 tional Bank of Kaukauna, of which, since 
 its organization, he has been president. 
 
 In 1865, at Springfield, 111., Col. 
 Frambach was united in marriage with 
 Miss Fannie M. Claspill, a native of In- 
 diana, and daughter of John and Sarah 
 (Lambertson) Claspill, who in 1880 came 
 to Kaukauna, where the father died in 
 1886, and the mother is yet living. By 
 this marriage there are five children, 
 namely: Catherine (wife of W. H. Gray, 
 of Kaukauna), John Henry, Arthur, Ed- 
 win and Charles. 
 
 During his long residence in Kaukauna 
 Col. Frambach has, by his enviable rep- 
 utation as a public-spirited, honorable and 
 generous-minded man, gained the respect 
 and confidence of the community at large, 
 who in 1885 showed their appreciation 
 for his merits by electing him to the may- 
 oralty of Kaukauna, he thereby becom- 
 ing the first mayor of the city under the 
 new municipal administration, in the con- 
 summation of which he was one of the 
 leading promoters. A stanch Republi- 
 can in politics, he has ever been a strong 
 supporter of the principles laid down b}' 
 the platform of the party, and at the 
 present time he is chairman of the Re- 
 publican County Committee. In 1892 he 
 was a candidate for Congress from the 
 Eighth District. In religion, he is a mem- 
 ber of the Congregational Church. So- 
 cially, he is a member of Kaukauna Lodge 
 No. 233, F. & A. M. ; of Chapter No. 47, 
 Appleton; of Palestine Commandery, 
 
 Green Bay, and of Wisconsin Consistory, 
 K. T. ; he is also a member of the I. O. 
 O. F., Lodge No. 47, Appleton. In ad- 
 dition to his many other interests, Col. 
 Frambach is largely interested in real es- 
 tate. He is gifted with native talents of 
 a high order, with a vast stock of knowl- 
 edge — scientific, political and business — 
 eminently fitting him for all the relations 
 of life. His knowledge is general and 
 varied, well qualifying him, not only for 
 every usefulness and success, but also to 
 adorn and delight the highest social cir- 
 cles. With an elevated position in so- 
 ciety; with ample fortune for all the aims 
 and ambition in private and public enter- 
 prise; with a spotless reputation, and the 
 respect and confidence of all classes in 
 the State, we know no man better worthy 
 of the emulation of the youth of our land 
 than Col. H. A. Frambach. 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN M. BAER, regis- 
 ter of deeds for Outagamie count)', 
 was born in Wyandot county, 
 Ohio, near Upper Sandusky, 
 October 14, 1845. His grandfather, 
 John Jacob Baer, a native of Prussia, 
 came to America about the year 18 10, 
 becoming, about 1818, one of the 
 pioneers of the county in Ohio in which 
 his grandson was born. 
 
 John Jacob Baer, Jr., father of our 
 subject, was born in Somerset county, 
 Penn., July 4, 18 12, and died on the farm 
 of his son, Capt. John M. Baer, in Black 
 Creek township, in December, 1872. 
 Somerset county, Penn., was the home 
 of five brothers and an uncle of the senior 
 Baer, and they came to this country pre- 
 vious to his arrival. The father of the 
 Captain was married in Ohio, in 1838, to 
 Miss Nancy Palmer, a native of Maryland, 
 a lady of German descent, whose father, 
 Samuel Palmer, was in an early da)' a 
 "freighter," employed in transporting 
 goods over the mountains with teams, be- 
 tween Pittsburg, Philadelphia and Cleve- 
 land, returning with provisions. His old 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 4/1 
 
 farm in Maryland was a portion of tlie 
 famous battleground of Antietam, over 
 which such a storm of conflict swept 
 September 17, 1862. John Jacob Baer 
 was a minister originally of the Methodist 
 denomination, but in 1850 associated 
 himself with the Winebrenner branch of 
 the United Brethren Church, and preached 
 until his health failed, in 1S60. He 
 located in Appleton, Wis., in 1863. and 
 remained three years. Capt. Baer is the 
 only one of his children now living. 
 
 John M. Baer, who is the youngest 
 but one in his father's family of five chil- 
 dren, when twelve years of age, conclud- 
 ing that the home discipline was rather 
 severe, decided to cast adrift and shift 
 for himself. A friend furnished him with 
 capital to the amount of two dollars, and 
 with that he started. After walking 
 about seventy-five miles, till he found 
 himself near Lucas, Richland county, 
 Ohio, he secured employment in a woolen 
 mill, and there remained during the ne.xt 
 four years. Meantime, in 1859, he ex- 
 pended one hundred dollars in the pur- 
 chase of a Mexican war land warrant, and 
 paid an attorney ten dollars to locate it 
 for him. It proved to be near his present 
 farm in Outagamie county. Wis. In 
 April, 1862, when but a boy of sixteen 
 summers, he enlisted in Company I, 
 Eighty-sixth O. V. I. , and four months 
 later, its term of enlistment (three months) 
 having more than expired, the regiment 
 was mustered out, having served in Vir- 
 ginia in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry. 
 Eleven days after his discharge, on Octo- 
 ber II, 1862, he was again in the service, 
 having enlisted in Company H, One Hun- 
 dred and Twentieth O. V. I. ; two days 
 later he was made a sergeant, was pro- 
 moted to first sergeant, December 28, 
 1862; to second lieutenant, June 18, 1863; 
 and to first lieutenant, March 21, 1864. 
 He was transferred to Company K, One 
 Hundred and Fourteenth O. V. I., 
 November 27, 1864; to Company E, 
 Forty-eighth O. V. I., July 24, 1865, and 
 discharged October 14, 1865, at which 
 
 latter date he held a captain's commission, 
 but was never mustered in that rank. 
 The young man's experience while in the 
 service was of a very severe nature: He 
 was wounded in the shoulder during the 
 desperate fighting at Vicksburg, Miss., 
 May 22, 1863, and at Snaggy Point, La., 
 Maj- 3, 1864, was shot through the bowels. 
 His regiment, numbering about five hun- 
 dred officers and men, was aboard a boat, 
 and only 1 20 succeeded in getting away, 
 the others being either shot, drowned, 
 scalded to death or taken prisoners. The 
 Captain was shot after leaving the boat, 
 and was captured four days later while on 
 board the steamer "John Warner, " going 
 down the river in company with four gun- 
 boats, his capture occurring at the same 
 locality where he was wounded. He was 
 sent to Cheneyville, in central Louisiana, 
 from which place he escaped, on crutches, 
 on the 22nd of June following, and suc- 
 ceeded in getting within a mile of the 
 Union lines when he was recaptured and 
 sent to Alexandria, La. Four days later 
 he was paroled and sent to New Orleans, 
 where the ball which had caused him so 
 much trouble was extracted by Surgeon- 
 General Hammond. He soon reported 
 to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was 
 placed in command of the paroled prison- 
 ers, remaining until December 28, 1864, 
 on which day he was exchanged. 
 
 Upon rejoining his regiment at New 
 Orleans, January 7, 1865, Capt. Baer 
 found it consolidated into two companies 
 and assigned to the One Hundred and 
 Fourteenth O. V. I., his company re- 
 ceiving the letter "K." Joining Gen. 
 Steele at Pensacola, Fla., he was detailed 
 as acting aide-de-camp on the General's 
 staff, and served with him during the . 
 Florida campaign. With two companies, 
 being the remnant of the One Hundred 
 and Twentieth Regiment, he charged the 
 enemy's works at Fort Blakeley, Ala. , 
 capturing their main line and taking pos- 
 session of the village, a portion of his 
 men carr\'ing axes, in places of rifles, with 
 which to cut away the obstructions they 
 
47^ 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 encountered. From that point the com- 
 mand proceeded to Mobile, and joined 
 the division of Gen. C. C. Andrews. In 
 June, 1865, they were sent to Texas, and 
 Capt. Baer was appointed ordnance offi- 
 cer of the District of Texas, serving on 
 the staffs of both Gen. Andrews and Gen. 
 Joseph A. Mower until his discharge. 
 His position was a difficult and responsi- 
 ble one, as all arms were turned over to 
 him while the troops were being dis- 
 charged. Capt. Baer was finally dis- 
 charged in October, 1865, and came at 
 once to Outagamie county, settling imme- 
 diately upon his farm, previously located 
 by his attorney as noted, and commenced 
 at once to clear and improve it. 
 
 In November, 1867, he was married 
 to Miss Libbie C. Riley, a native of Cler- 
 mont county, Ohio, and daughter of 
 Garad P. Riley, who was chaplain of an 
 Ohio regiment during the war of the Re- 
 bellion, and had four brothers in the ser- 
 vice, all members of Ohio regiments. He 
 carried on his farms in Ohio until his re- 
 moval to Indiana, where he now resides. 
 Mrs. Baer is deeply interested in all mat- 
 ters pertaining to the welfare of the old 
 soldiers, and is active in effort in their 
 interest. She is gifted with genius, and 
 is a writer of rare merit, her productions 
 appearing in various magazines and peri- 
 odicals. As to his political views, Capt. 
 Baer has been independent, and he has 
 tilled numerous positions of trust. At 
 the age of twenty-one he was elected 
 town clerk, serving two years; then 
 elected assessor, serving also two years. 
 At this point he was burned out, and 
 moved to Ohio in 1869. On his return 
 to Appleton from Ohio in 1874, he was 
 at once elected a justice of the peace, a 
 position he filled with trust and ability; 
 was also chairman of his township, and 
 member of the county board six years. In 
 November, 1 887, he was elected to his pres- 
 ent position of register of deeds of Outa- 
 gamie county, in which incumbency he 
 gives eminent satisfaction. He is at pres- 
 ent postmaster at Appleton, Wisconsin. 
 
 ALFRED GALPIN. Man has been 
 endowed with reason, will and 
 physical power, and it is by 
 patient industry only that he can 
 open up a pathway to the enduring pros- 
 perity of a community. There is no 
 Eden in nature. The earth might have 
 continued a rude uncultivated wilderness, 
 but for human energy, power and indus- 
 try. These enable man to subdue the 
 wilderness, and develop the potency of 
 labor and enterprise. " Possuitt quia 
 credent posse;" moreover, the fittest sur- 
 vive, and, in writing the biographies of 
 men of that caliber, it is a pleasure to 
 meet with such striking examples of in- 
 dustry and integrity as is the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 Mr. Galpin b}' birth is an English- 
 man, born July 20, 1841, in Weymouth, 
 Dorsetshire, of an old Saxon family. The 
 branch under present consideration dates 
 back to E. Galpin, great-grandfather of 
 the gentleman whose name introduces 
 this sketch. He was a resident of Wey- 
 mouth, where his son William was born 
 June I, 1 79 1. This William Galpin 
 married Ann Cook, August 7, 1810, and 
 died August i, 1862, his wife following 
 him to the grave March 31, 1867, at the 
 age of about seventy-eight years. He 
 was a tall, square-shouldered man, of 
 very dark complexion and stern counten- 
 ance. Thirteen children — seven sons and 
 six daughters — were born to him and his 
 wife, twelve of whom grew to maturity, 
 the date of the birth of the eldest being 
 November 11, 181 i, that of the youngest 
 September 21, 1831. 
 
 Alfred Galpin (father of subject), one 
 of the seven sons, was born June 20, 
 1 81 3, in Weymouth, and became a 
 draper by occupation, carrying on his 
 business in his native town. He was 
 there married to Mary Scott, of Bath, 
 England, a daughter of George P. Scott, 
 who during the later years of his life was 
 an innkeeper in Bath; he had served in 
 the British cavalry at Waterloo, and was 
 a genial man, suave and gentle in his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 473 
 
 manner of speech. In 184S Alfred Gal- 
 pin, Sr., emigrated to the United States, 
 bringing his family, consisting of wife, 
 two sons and one daughter, and journey- 
 ing westward to the new State of Wis- 
 consin located on a farm in Eagle town- 
 ship, Waukesha county, where for the 
 following eight years he followed agri- 
 cultural pursuits. In July, 1856, the 
 family removed to the town of Apple- 
 ton, where the youngest son, William 
 G., was born. After leaving the farm 
 Mr. Galpin engaged in the planing-mill 
 business, and in 1862 went into partner- 
 ship with a Mr. Russell in a hardware 
 establishment at Appleton. In 1865 he 
 bought his partner out, and continued the 
 business alone until 1878, when his sons, 
 Harold and x\lgernon Sydney, assumed 
 control, and are still conducting the store 
 in the building erected by their father. 
 Alfred Galpin, Sr. , died at Madera, Gal., 
 June 6, 1882, while on one of "Cook's 
 E.xcursion " tours. His wife had passed 
 away in 1857 at Appleton, at the early 
 age of thirty-six years, the mother of 
 nine children, of whom the following 
 named grew to maturity: Alfred (subject 
 of this noticej, Mary S., Harold, Anne, 
 Cromwell, Algernon S. and William G. 
 Alfred Galpin, Sr. , was a Republican in his 
 political views, and from 1849 to 1854 was 
 a pronounced advocate of free trade. He 
 was a conservative man of the old school, 
 well and fa\orably known in Appleton, 
 whose welfare he had at heart, and he 
 filled some of the town offices with much 
 care. During the " Unaerground Rail- 
 road " period he was an enthusiastic con- 
 ductor, assisting many a runaway slave in 
 his efforts to reach Canada and freedom; 
 and for his sympathies he suffered no 
 little discomfort and even a great deal of 
 reproach; but he was a manly man, and 
 had the courage of his convictions. 
 
 * Alfred Galpin, the subject proper of 
 these lines, was seven years old when the 
 family came to Wisconsin, and in Wau- 
 kesha county, at the old log school house 
 of the period, he received his primary ed- 
 
 ucation. Leaving this primitive institu- 
 tion, he entered Lawrence University, and 
 after a three-years' course there devoted 
 his attention to teaching, two winters, at 
 the end of which time he commenced 
 learning the drug business at Sheboygan 
 Falls, Wis., as clerk in a drug store. He 
 was thus engaged in 1861, the year of the 
 breaking out of the Civil war, when, fired 
 with military ardor, he enlisted in Sep- 
 tember in Company H, First Wis. V. I., 
 Gen. Starkweather's old regiment. He 
 served in all three years, two-thirds of 
 the time on detached duty, on one occa- 
 sion, after the battle of Perryville, as 
 steward of " Hospital No. 1, " held in an 
 old Presbyterian church at Danville, Ky. 
 In December, 1862, he rejoined his reg- 
 iment, and was at once detailed to the 
 First Independent Battery of Kentucky 
 Artillery- (Stone'sj, in which he served 
 about three months, while stationed at 
 Murfreesboro, Tenn. He was next de- 
 tailed to A. K. Bush's Fourth Indiana 
 Battery, and remained with that com- 
 mand till the battle of Mission Ridge, 
 when he rejoined his regiment, which 
 then lay in reserve at Chattanooga. In 
 February, 1864, he was detailed to take 
 the place of J. R. McCullough, hospital 
 steward of the First W^is. V. I., who had 
 been captured by the enemy, Mr. Gal- 
 pin's knowledge of drugs securing him 
 this post. After this he was employed in 
 various hospital duties, even acting in the 
 capacity of nurse, and assisting surgeons 
 at the operating table. On October 12, 
 1864, he was honorably discharged, and 
 returned to his home at Appleton, where 
 he remained about one month, at the end 
 of which time he secured a position as 
 clerk in the Bank of Neenah (Wis.), re- 
 moving to that town. In September, 
 1 87 1, he returned to Appleton, where he 
 helped to incorporate and organize the 
 Manufacturers National Bank of that city, 
 capital fifty thousand dollars, which in 
 October, 1885, was consolidated with the 
 Commercial Bank, whose capital was one 
 hundred thousand dollars, thus giving the 
 
474 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 reorganized Commercial Bank a capital 
 of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
 Of the Manufacturers National he was 
 elected first cashier, which position he 
 held until the changes in the bank took 
 place, when he retired, carrying with him 
 the well-earned reputation of being a 
 financier of undoubted ability. Since his 
 retirement from the Bank Mr. Galpin has 
 been confining himself exclusively to the 
 management of his own private affairs, 
 which to a man of wealth means a far 
 greater amount of work and care than ap- 
 pears on the surface. There is in his life 
 a lesson for the young men of our land — 
 his expenses at all times were less than 
 his income, and he has made that one of 
 the leading golden rules of his life. He 
 received from nature a strong and sharp 
 understanding, and a rare firmness of 
 temper and intensity of will, which is 
 only equaled by his courage and nerve. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Galpin was married to 
 Frances C. Wilkes, daughter of John 
 Wilkes, of Painesville, Ohio, and who in 
 early life was left an orphan. She died 
 at Appleton, January 31, 1892, an estim- 
 able lady, honored and beloved for her 
 many virtues. Her character was pro- 
 nounced, and marked by a strong individ- 
 uality, whilst she was gifted with a keen 
 observation and quick perception. 
 
 JOHNR. WOOD, a prominent banker 
 of Appleton, is one of the foremost 
 business men of that city, and a 
 citizen commanding universal respect 
 wherever known. 
 
 Alexander Wood, grandfather of our 
 subject, was a merchant in New York 
 City; but in 181 2 he sold his interests 
 there and removed to Canada, where he 
 became a farmer, and there died in 1871. 
 He was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, 
 and when twenty-one years of age had 
 come to New York, where he married 
 Isabella Sutherland, also a native of 
 Scotland. They had a family of seven 
 children — two sons and five daughters — 
 
 of whom Joseph S. Wood, father of John 
 R. , was the elder son. He was born in 
 the city of New York in 1805, and was 
 reared on the farm in Canada, to which 
 the family had removed in 1812. There 
 he married Miss Ellen McVichie, a native 
 of Canada, and they became the parents 
 of eleven children — ten sons and one 
 daughter: Alexander, Duncan, Joseph, 
 John, James, Isabella, Peter, Gordon, 
 Daniel, Charles and Thomas E. Of 
 these, Peter and Gordon died in infancy, 
 Charles at the age of twenty-one, Duncan 
 at fifty, and Isabella at thirty-eight. Mrs. 
 Wood's people were farmers, who came 
 to Canada at an early day and settled 
 near the Wood family in Lancaster town- 
 ship, Glengary Co. , Ontario, where both 
 parents died. Mrs. Wood was one of a 
 family of five children — two sons and 
 three daughters. In 1883 Mrs. Wood 
 died. Her husband sold his interests in 
 Canada in 1888, and joined his children 
 at Duluth, Minn., where his death oc- 
 curred in January, 1S90. 
 
 John R. Wood was born June 4, 
 1845, in Ontario, Canada. He passed 
 his boyhood on his father's farm, and was 
 educated in the common schools. In 
 1862, when seventeen years of age, he 
 left home and came west, stopping for a 
 few months at Bay City, Mich., where he 
 found employment in a salt block. In 
 the spring of 1864 he went to the Lake 
 Superior copper region, in the employ of 
 the Sault Ste. Marie Mineral Land Com- 
 pany as a prospecter and woodsman, 
 searching for copper. In November of 
 the same year he returned to his home, 
 intending to pass further time at school, 
 but, his father being well-advanced in 
 years and unable to perform all the neces- 
 sary work upon the farm, the young man 
 rolled up his sleeves and assisted for one 
 year. Then, in November, 1865, he 
 proceeded to Marquette, Mich. , where he 
 has since owned interests, and been en- 
 gaged in mining. Selling out at that 
 point in 1887, he established the Pen- 
 insula Bank at Ishpeming, Mich., also 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPnWAL RECORD. 
 
 475 
 
 the First National Bank at Iron Moun- 
 tain, Mich. He has been president of 
 the latter since its opening, and spends 
 most of his time at that place, although 
 his family has been located in Appleton 
 since 1882, finding superior educational 
 advantages at this point. The splendid 
 home of the Wood family is one of the 
 finest in Appleton. 
 
 Mr. Wood was married July 10, 1871, 
 to Bessie Houston, a native' of Chatham, 
 Ontario, and daughter of Robert Hous- 
 ton, a sturdy farmer, who was born in 
 Glasgow, Scotland; her mother, Anna 
 Campbell, a native of Inverness, Scot- 
 land, died in 1881; the father is yet 
 
 living, aged ninety-four years. 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 Wood was one of a family of seven child- 
 ren, and is herself the mother of si.x: 
 Ellen M., Anna G. , Bessie H., Charlotte, 
 Florence and Ethel. Mr. Wood has 
 seen hard struggles in his attempts to 
 acquire a competence; but his native 
 energy and the Scotch blood in his veins 
 have helped him vi^onderfully, and he can 
 view with satisfaction the result of his 
 efforts. He has always been a hard 
 worker and an active man in business. 
 When but eight years of age he ' ' hired 
 out " on the Grand Trunk railroad to 
 carry rivets used in building iron bridges, 
 and that was the commencement of his 
 life of earnest labor. What he has is 
 certainly the harvest of his own deter- 
 mined work. He holds membership in 
 the F. & A. M., Knights Templar and 
 Knights of Pythias. In religious faith 
 the members of the family are Presby- 
 terians; politically he is a Republican. 
 His business interests are entirely in 
 n(5rthern Michigan, partly in real estate, 
 but mostly in banks. 
 
 REV. ALFRED KINGSLEY 
 GLOVER, rector of GraccEpis- 
 copal Church, Appleton. To be 
 an American citizen is, in this day 
 of advancement and great achievements, 
 a proud distinction, and to be able to 
 
 clinch the title through a long line of 
 honorable ancestry is a special privilege. 
 
 The gentleman whose name intro- 
 duces this article traces his lineage to the 
 Hon. John Glover, who came to this 
 country in 1630 in the historic vessel 
 "William and Mary," and settled in the 
 vicinity of Boston, Mass. His great- 
 grandfather, Dr. Samuel Kingsley Glover, 
 was a surgeon in the Revolutionary war, 
 and participated in many of the principal 
 battles of that heroic struggle for inde- 
 pendence. William Glover, grandfather 
 of Alfred, was a merchant in Boston. 
 The family has always taken a strong in- 
 terest in educational matters, and its 
 members have been people of note. 
 Lieut. Alfred R. Glover, father of Alfred 
 K. , was born in Boston in 1828. He was 
 an officer of the "New England Guard" 
 at the breaking out of the Rebellion, and 
 went into the army as a member of the 
 Fifty-third Massachusetts Volunteers. 
 Like thousands of other brave men he 
 gave his life in defense of the starry ban- 
 ner and the principles it represented, 
 meeting death in action at Port Hudson, 
 La., June 14, 1863. His wife was Mary 
 L. Bodge, daughter of John Bodge, of 
 Roxbury, Mass., their marriage occurring 
 December 11, 1855. Two children were 
 given them: A daughter, who died in 
 infancy, and Alfred K., subject of this 
 notice. The mother died September 10, 
 1864. 
 
 Alfred Kingsley Glover was born Janu- 
 ary 4, 1 86 1, in Boston, Mass., and when 
 but little more than three years of age 
 was deprived of both father and mother, 
 leaving him alone in a great world, with 
 life a problematical page before him. 
 That he was well and tenderly cared for, 
 his present position and standing among 
 men afford ample testimony. He was 
 thoroughl}- educated in the schools of 
 New York, Columbia College, the Insti- 
 tute of Technology at Boston, and the 
 Theological Seminary at Meadville, Penn. 
 In 1889 he was pastor of the Unitarian 
 Church at Grand Haven, Mich. ; but. 
 
476 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 after taking orders in the Episcopal 
 Church, he was ordained, in 1891. by 
 Bishop Knickerbocker, of Indiana, and 
 for two years served as rector of the 
 Episcopal Church at Madison, Ind. In 
 April, 1893, he came to Appleton to take 
 charge of the parish over which he still 
 presides. He was married, November 
 26, 1882, to Miss Frances Starr Smythe, 
 a native of Hudson, N. Y., and daughter 
 of Charles and Aurelia (Beebe) Smythe. 
 Her father, who was a merchant in both 
 New York and Baltimore, came to Amer- 
 ica from Trier, Germany, and was for- 
 merly a Polish nobleman, the old family 
 name being De Kovalski. His family 
 had been exiled from Poland during a 
 revolution in the early part of the cen- 
 tury, and the name had been changed 
 subsequently to that event. Mrs. Glover's 
 mother, whose maiden name was Beebe, 
 was of English ancestry, a descendant of 
 John and Ruth Beebe. Rev. and Mrs. 
 Glover have one daughter, an only child, 
 Edith Starr Glover, born July 27, 1887. 
 
 In political affairs our subject is an 
 active Republican, and while a resident of 
 Indiana was prominently before the 
 National Department of State as a fit per- 
 son for United States Minister to China, 
 for which position he was earnestly recom- 
 mended by the Governor and Republican 
 leaders of that State. His father's noble 
 record, and his own able writings upon 
 the lands of the Orient, the latter show- 
 ing deep research and thorough know- 
 ledge of his subject, brought his name be- 
 fore the authorities for the post of honor 
 mentioned. With such an exceptional 
 family record for pure and strong Ameri- 
 canism, it is not strange that the clergy- 
 man should also be endowed with high 
 and noble patriotic impulses, and love for 
 the land which gave him birth. These 
 qualities he has inherited in a marked de- 
 gree. He is an active member of the 
 P. O. S. of A., and of the Sons of A'eter- 
 ans, U. S. A. 
 
 When but twenty-four years of age 
 Mr. Glover began to make a mark in the 
 
 literar}- world. He published in Decem- 
 ber, 18S5, in the Xortlt Auicricctn Rc- 
 vicii\ an article on ' ' Rome and the Inquisi- 
 tions," following it, in April of the succeed- 
 ing year, with a " Criticism of Ouida's 
 • Fallacies of Science.' " His subsequent 
 contributions have been numerous, in 
 published articles, in manuscripts and in 
 lectures. From March, 1889, to May, 
 
 1 890, the following appeared in Mcnorah, 
 the organ of Jewish-American scholarship: 
 " Jews of India;" " Commercial Activity 
 of Antiquity in the East;" "Jews of the 
 Chinese Empire," "Jews of the Chinese 
 Empire (China proper)," fac-simile of 
 manuscripts of the Jews of India and 
 China, " Temple at Kai-fung-foo, China;" 
 "Tablet Inscriptions," the latter with 
 notes. In the [cwis/i Messenger, 1889, 
 appeared "Jews in Modern Times (Jews 
 at Kai-fung-foo, China)." In press and 
 lectures: "Savonarola, his work and 
 worth;" " Forgotten Gods," a lecture on 
 the Scandinavian religion; "Christianity 
 and Cremation," a lecture; "The Earth's 
 History," geological lecture (illustrated), 
 in Warren Street Chapel, Boston, 1881; 
 " From Unitarianism to Trinitarianism," 
 Chicago, Evansville, Ind., Crawfordsville, 
 Ind., and Madison, Ind., 1892. In the 
 Magazine of American History, Januarj-, 
 
 1 89 1, " ^^'as America discovered by the 
 Chinese .' " In eleven issues of the Baby- 
 lonia 11 and Oriental Keeord, 1891-92, 
 "The Chinese Inscriptions of the Jews of 
 Kai-fung-foo, China," with an exhaustive 
 commentary on the same. Miscellaneous 
 and scientific: Seientifie A)neriean, Aug- 
 ust 9, 1884, "The chemistry of animal 
 charcoal, with a method of analysis;" 
 "The Chinese language not monosylla- 
 bic;" " Ethnographic scope of the Tenth 
 Chapter of Genesis ; " ' ' The Jewish Maiden 
 of Kai-fung-foo," a Christmas story based 
 on the author's researches; "The Dis- 
 covery of America — its primal cause," a 
 lecture at Madison, Ind., October 21, 
 
 1892, and at Appleton, Wis., June 4, 
 
 1893, He is also a contributor to Bi/'lia, 
 the American organ of Oriental research. 
 
COMMEMORArrVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 477 
 
 The crowning event in his Hterary career 
 occurred in November, 1894, when he 
 was elected to the "Victoria Institute," 
 or "Philosophical Society of Great 
 Britain," as a mark of honor conferred 
 by the most learned society in Europe. 
 
 JOSEPH POTTER HAWLEY, who 
 has been a leadmg and progressive 
 resident of Appleton for the past 
 forty years, is a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, born October 24, 1823, in the town 
 of New Milford, Susquehanna county. 
 
 Newton Hawley, his father, was of 
 Connecticut birth, from which State he 
 moved to New Milford, Penn., later, about 
 the year 1836, taking his family ever the 
 hills to the town of Liberty, distant about 
 eight miles. Here he bought one hun- 
 dred acres of land, the most of which, 
 with the assistance of his sons, he suc- 
 ceeded in clearing, erecting thereon a 
 iirst-class gristmill; there was already a 
 sawmill on the premises. He married 
 Miss Elsie Potter, a daughter of Joseph 
 Potter, a farmer, and five children — three 
 sons and two daughters — were born to 
 this union, of whom two are yet living, 
 Mrs. Judge Myers, of Appleton, and 
 Joseph P. The father died December 
 30, 1852, the mother in 1855. Dr. Ira 
 N. and George R. Hawley, the other 
 sons, were among the earliest settlers of 
 Kaukauna, Wis. , locating there about the 
 year 1851, and building there the first 
 sawmill on the North side. 
 
 The subject of this notice received his 
 elementary education at the public schools 
 of his native town, after which he at- 
 tended Harford Academy, in the same 
 county, two winters. During his vaca- 
 tions he worked in his father's mills, 
 chiefly in the flouring-mill, and when he 
 left school he devoted nearly his entire 
 time to the business, spending in all some 
 fifteen years either as apprentice or as 
 journeyman. For three terms he taught 
 school. At the age of twenty-three years 
 he was given an interest in the mill, work- 
 
 ing it on shares with his father, and 
 about 1848 assumed entire charge. About 
 this time his father, being now well- 
 advanced in years, decided to divide 
 his property, which he did, Joseph buying 
 the two mills, but in 1850 sold them, and 
 from that time until 1854 was engaged 
 in settling up his father's estate and 
 the business generally. Shortly after his 
 father's death in 1852, Joseph paid a visit 
 to Appleton, Wis., and, being favorably 
 impressed with the prospects of the rising 
 town, concluded to make it his future 
 home. During the winter of 1854-55 
 he served as deputy register of deeds of 
 Outagamie county, and there being an 
 immense influx of settlers at that time, 
 necessarily involving no small amount of 
 real-estate business, his office was any- 
 thing but a sinecure, especially as all 
 forms, deeds, etc., had to be written in 
 full by hand, such a thing as a printed 
 form being a 7-ara avis in this region forty 
 years ago. In 1855 he had to make a 
 trip to Pennsylvania in order to complete 
 the settling up of his father's estate, the 
 task occupying about two years, at the 
 end of which time, in the fall of 1857, 
 he returned to Appleton. During his 
 absence his mother died in Appleton, in 
 1855. In i860, the place having now 
 become one of considerable promi- 
 nence, Mr. Hawley opened a photograph 
 gallery in a building where now stands the 
 Odd Fellows Block; but in 1865, having 
 erected a brick store in another part of 
 the town, he moved his gallery there and 
 continued the photograph business until 
 1880. In that year, on account of im- 
 paired health, he concluded to retire and 
 sold out, retaining the building and lot, 
 since when he has been exclusively en- 
 gaged in the real-estate business. In all 
 his ventures he has met with well-mer- 
 ited success. 
 
 On May 14, i860, Mr. Hawley was 
 married to Miss Mary O. Wing, a native 
 of the State of Maine, and daughter of 
 Joshua Wing. She died without issue 
 May 9, 1887, and October 24, 1889, Mr. 
 
47^ 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Hawley for his second wife wedded Mrs. 
 Mary M. Blood, a native of New Jersey, 
 widow of H. L. Blood, and whose maiden 
 name was Mary M. Brown. Her father, 
 Ezra Brown, also of New Jersey birth, 
 and a miller by trade, moved to Pennsyl- 
 vania, where he died in 1845, his widow, 
 Mrs. Amy Brown, coming to Appleton, 
 and dying here in 1877. Mrs. Hawley 
 has always been an active member of the 
 Methodist Church, and is well known for 
 her many good social qualities. In his 
 political preferences Mr. Hawley has been 
 a Republican since i860, prior to which 
 time he was a Democrat. For three 
 years he served as commissioner of the 
 poor in Appleton; while in Susquehanna 
 county, Penn. , he was elected and served 
 two terms as justice of the peace; and in 
 Appleton he served in the same capacity 
 in the First ward, two years — 1862 and 
 I 863. At one time he was a director of 
 the Manufacturers National Bank of Ap- 
 pleton, which was afterward consolidated 
 with the Commercial National Bank. 
 
 REV. JOHN L. RUNI<:EL, Evan- 
 gelical minister, Appleton, was 
 born in Rengsdorf, Prussia, Ger- 
 many, August 2, 1843. His father 
 John P. Runkel, who was a farmer, 
 brought his family to America in 1854, 
 and located permanently in Waumandee, 
 Buffalo Co., Wis., being one of the three 
 first settlers in that part of the county. 
 He died February 24, 1872, his widow 
 still surviving. They had a family of 
 four sons and four daughters, all \e\. liv- 
 ing, John L. being the eldest cliild. 
 
 Our subject attended the common 
 schools until he was eighteen years old, 
 when he spent a year in the graded school 
 at Mondovi, Wis. He then took a two- 
 years' course at the North Western 
 College, Plainfield, 111. (which insti- 
 tution is now located at Naperville, 
 111.), and in 1866-67 taught in the 
 public schools. In 1868 he entered 
 the ministry of the Evangelical 
 
 Association, his first charge being at 
 Sparta, Wis. , where he was located for 
 two years, and he has subsequently been 
 at different places in the State of Wiscon- 
 sin, engaged in ministerial work, among 
 others, Prairie du Chien, Fond du Lac, 
 twice at Milwaukee, and now, the second 
 time, at Appleton. His work has been 
 blessed with success, more or less, 
 wherever he has been sent, in building 
 churches, parsonages and otherwise 
 strengthening the work assigned to a mis- 
 sionary and pastor. In the Evangelical 
 Association the ministers are stationed by 
 the Bishop, assisted by the Presiding 
 Elders, and are stationed only for a defi- 
 nite time, which accounts for the many 
 places the reverend gentleman has served 
 at. Rev. Runkel is a gentleman of cul- 
 ture, possessed of broad views, and labors 
 earnestly to build up his Church and Sun- 
 day-school, the former of which has a 
 membership of 200, the latter an attend- 
 ance of 140. On January 10, 1871, Rev. 
 John L. Runkel was married to Miss 
 Lorana Stein, of Medina, Wis., a native 
 of Pennsylvania, and they had three chil- 
 dren: \\'allace \\'illiam, Allen Erwin and 
 Etta Alvina. Mrs. Runkel died at 
 Prairie du Chien, Wis., November 21, 
 1874, and three years later, March 15, 
 1877, Mr. Runkel married, at Fond du 
 Lac, Miss Carrie B. Smith, who was born 
 in Milwaukee, Wis. Five children are 
 the fruits of this union: Lorana H. ; 
 Lillie C. ; Lucy C. ; Elmer Lewis and 
 Luella Mina. Like his father before him, 
 Mr. Runkel is a sincere believer in the 
 principles of the Republican party. 
 
 JOHN H. FINKLE. Among the 
 many substantial self-made citizens 
 of Outagamie county stands this 
 gentleman, who has been promi- 
 nently identified with the agricultural in- 
 terests of Grand Chute township for the 
 past quarter of a century. He was born 
 September 30, 1844, in Canada, son of 
 George Finkle, who was also a native of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 479 
 
 that country, where he followed farming. 
 He married Maria Ray, and they had a 
 family of eight children — two sons and 
 six daughters — of whom John H. is the 
 eldest son ; the parents both died in 
 Canada. 
 
 Our subject obtained all his education 
 in the common schools of his native 
 country, and commenced to work at an 
 early age, as his parents were only in 
 moderate circumstances and needed his 
 help. Agriculture has always been his 
 principal vocation, but while living with 
 his parents he worked several winters in 
 the lumber woods with his father's team, 
 receiving but one dollar a day for his 
 labor. In the fall of 1866 he came to 
 Wisconsin in search of a home, but did 
 not purchase land immediately, not hav- 
 ing the means, having worked during the 
 last year at home for one-fourth of the 
 crops. The money thus acquired and a 
 span of horses, which he brought with 
 him, comprised all his capital, and when 
 he arrived in Appleton he did not have 
 enough money to buy a pair of whipple- 
 trees, to say nothing of harness; but a 
 Mr. Spencer, with whom he secured em- 
 ployment in the lumber woods near New 
 London, furnished the necessary equip- 
 ment for the horses, and after teaming 
 all winter Mr. Finkle sold the team and 
 in the spring commenced ' ' driving logs " 
 for Mr. Spencer. The next fall our sub- 
 ject and his brother,' George L. , rented 
 land (what is now the Outagamie Asylum 
 Farm) near their prasent home, and com- 
 menced farming on their own account. 
 In the autumn of 1S70 Mr. Finkle was 
 united in marriage, in Grand Chute town- 
 ship, with Miss Jane Mereness, and to 
 this union came one child, Ina, who lives 
 at home. The mother died in 1873, and 
 was buried in Greenville cemetery, and 
 in 1877 Mr. Finkle married Miss Jennie 
 Royce, by whom he had no children. In 
 1882 he wedded, for his third wife. Miss 
 Carrie Clark, a native of New York, and 
 two children blessed this marriage, Ray 
 and Earl. 
 
 In about 1872 Mr. Finkle bought, in 
 partnership with his brother, 1 20 acres of 
 land in Section 28, Grand Chute town- 
 ship, five or six acres of which tract had 
 been cleared, and the rest lumbered over. 
 They went into debt three thousand dol- 
 lars for the land, but they were indefati- 
 gable workers and soon cleared their prop- 
 erty of all incumbrance. Shortly after- 
 ward each brother took sixty acres and 
 began to farm alone, and they have ever 
 since followed general agriculture. Be- 
 sides clearing his land and improving it 
 in every possible way, Mr. Finkle erected, 
 in 1877, a comfortable residence, which 
 he has since, from time to time, improved 
 and beautified, until it is now a model 
 country home. Mr. Finkle has been al- 
 most a lifelong farmer, and his prosperity 
 is the result of earnest toil and untiring 
 energy coupled with good management 
 and fair dealing. He bears a reputation 
 second to none for integrity, and is one of 
 the representative farmers of his section. 
 Politically he has always been a stanch 
 supporter of Republican principles, but 
 though interested in the success of his 
 party he does not care to hold office, pre- 
 ferring to give his entire attention to his 
 business. In local political affairs he 
 casts his vote for the best man regardless 
 of party. In addition to general agricul- 
 ture he pays considerable attention to 
 garden farming, which requires a very 
 high condition of the soil, and his success 
 in this line is an evidence of the care and 
 skill with which the farm has been con- 
 ducted. 
 
 THOMAS PEARSON, the efficient 
 superintendent of the Atlas Paper 
 Mills, Appleton, is a typical rep- 
 resentative of the plodding, care- 
 ful and honorable Canadian, so many of 
 whom have become loyal and industrious 
 citizens of this great Republic. 
 
 Mr. Pearson was born, August 13, 
 1847, in Georgetown, Province of On- 
 tario, Canada, a son of Richard and 
 
4So 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mary (Rap;get) Pearson, natives of Ire- 
 land, the father boriT in 1812. Mrs. 
 Pearson's father, Thomas Ragget, was a 
 farmer, and the owner of an estate in Ire- 
 land. Richard Pearson, who was also an 
 agriculturist, came to Canada in 1830, 
 and there followed farming till 1865, when 
 he moved to Saginaw, Mich., and em- 
 barked in the lumbering business. He 
 died there in 1883, his wife surviving him 
 till 1893, when she, too, passed to the 
 Great Unknown. 
 
 The subject of our sketch received but 
 a limited education at the public schools 
 of his native town — limited because at 
 the early age of ten years he was placed 
 in the paper-mill of Barber Bros., George- 
 town, to learn the business. For seven 
 years, or until 1863, he remained in this 
 mill, diligently attending to his duties, 
 and earning by his industrious habits the 
 good-will of his employers. In that year 
 the young lad, desirous of seeing some- 
 thing of the outside world, packed up his 
 few personal effects, and, bidding adieu 
 to his friends and all the associations of 
 his boyhood, set out for the United States, 
 the loadstar of many a Canadian youth. 
 Learning that there was a paper-mill in 
 Saratoga county, N. Y. , he made that 
 locality his objective point, and on his 
 arrival at once found employment in the 
 mill. For five years he remained here, 
 working steadily, and before attaining his 
 majority was superintendent of one of the 
 then largest mills in the country. From 
 here he went south to accept a similar 
 position with the Bromaker Moore Paper 
 Co., at Louisville, Ky. , and in that in- 
 cumbency remained ten years, leaving 
 only to better himself by accepting a 
 similar position with the Atlas Paper Co. , 
 Appleton, which he has since filled with 
 his characteristic ability, sound judgment 
 and energy, in all respects proving him- 
 self to be "the right man in the right 
 place." He is a stockholder in the con- 
 cern, and also a stockholder in and vice- 
 president of the Riverside Fibre Com- 
 pany, which enterprise was organized in 
 
 1893. In June, 1877, Mr. Pearson was 
 married, at Louisville, Ky., to Miss Lena 
 Ranch, a native of France, where her 
 parents died when she was a child, and 
 whence at the age of fifteen years she 
 emigrated to this country with friends. 
 To this marriage have been born four 
 bright children: Harvey G. , Jennie H., 
 Aline F. and George Webster, all attend- 
 ing school. 
 
 In politics Mr. Pearson is a Republi- 
 can, and has served as a member of the 
 council two terms; although living in a 
 Democratic ward, he received, in 1893, 
 the nomination for mayor, and at the 
 election reduced the Democratic majority 
 from 1,200 to 300, thus laying the foun- 
 dation for the Republican victory in 1894. 
 He is president of the Orphans Home, 
 and takes an active interest in all benevo- 
 lent enterprises and works of charity. 
 In social matters he is a member, in good 
 standing, of the Masonic Fraternity, and 
 of the Commandery at Louisville, Ky. , 
 and in Church connection he is closely 
 associated with the Congregationalists. 
 Such is a brief sketch of Thomas Pear- 
 son, once a poor boy of humble parent- 
 age, with no patronage but his own 
 talents, integrity and genius. 
 
 CAPTAIN WELCOME HYDE. 
 It is needless to remark on the ex- 
 tended information and delight to 
 be derived from the multiplication 
 of portraits by engraving, or on the not 
 less important advantages resulting from 
 the study of biography. It is, however, 
 from the combination of portrait and 
 biography that we reap the utmost degree 
 of utility and pleasure which can be 
 derived from them. As in contemplating 
 the portrait of Capt. Hyde we long to be 
 instructed in his history, so in considering 
 his actions we are anxious to behold the 
 countenance of the individual, the better 
 part of whose life has been so closely 
 interwoven with the leading business 
 interests of northern Wisconsin. 
 
/C^^ 6^j~tt^l /S^^^z/Ji 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 483 
 
 Our subject is a native of Vermont, 
 born iMa}' 23, 1824, in the town of Mil- 
 ton, Chittenden county, and is a lineal 
 descendant of Lord H\'de, of England. 
 The first of the family to come to America 
 was Humphrey Hyde, who in 1645 se- 
 cured a grant of land in Windsor, Conn. , 
 later, in 1649, receiving a large grant at 
 Fairfield, same State, where he died in 
 1684, and where some of his descendants 
 are _\et living. 
 
 Eli Hyde, the father of Welcome 
 Hyde, was born in 1769, became a 
 wealthy farmer and shipbuilder, but lost 
 his fortune by the French despoliation of 
 his vessels in the West Indies. In order 
 to repair his losses, he removed to Ver- 
 mont (where others of his relatives had 
 already settled), and again became a land 
 owner, later in life following mercantile 
 pursuits, and operating a sawmill, which 
 was destroyed by fire. He married Pollie 
 Campbell, a lady of Scotch descent, and 
 ten children — five sons and five daughters 
 — were born to them, viz. : Salena, Laura, 
 Samuel Mills, Mary Ann, Eli, David, 
 Laura, Nelson, Welcome and Martha, 
 all now deceased except Welcome. About 
 the year 1836 the family moved to Ohio, 
 where, in Munson, Medina county, the 
 father died in 1851; the widowed mother 
 subsequently came to Wisconsin, and 
 passed from earth in Waukesha at the 
 advanced age of eighty-five years. 
 
 Capt. Welcome Hyde was twelve 
 years old when the family removed to 
 Geauga county, Ohio, where, as soon as 
 able, he assisted his father in his lumber 
 business, making himself thoroughly fa- 
 miliar with all the details of that industry. 
 At the age of about nineteen j'ears he en- 
 tered Rock River Seminary, in Ogle 
 county. 111., remaining there but one year, 
 prior to which he had been able to 
 attend a district school only. This single 
 year's training at the seminary he found 
 of invaluable assistance in after life; it 
 was like the finish given to a rude piece 
 of casting, or the polish to a rough dia- 
 mond. After laying aside his books for 
 
 27 
 
 good, he again turned his attention to 
 lumbering, and with that object in view 
 went to Edgar county. 111. ; but circum- 
 stances changed his plans, and he found 
 it more profitable at that time to take up 
 the live-stock business, which, in part- 
 nership with John Matkin, who furnished 
 the capital, he followed two years. Mr. 
 Hyde then came to Wisconsin, and in 
 Rosendale township, Fond du Lac county, 
 he made the acquaintance, for the first 
 time, of his future bosom friend and part- 
 ner, Mr. Philetus Sawyer, who took an 
 immediate interest in the young man, en- 
 gaging him to look up, locate and survey 
 pine lands for him. Capt. Hyde re- 
 mained with him several years, ' ' a glori- 
 ous time" (to use his own words) for the 
 young surveyor and embryo lumberer, a 
 period of his life that he recalls with the 
 liveliest interest; and even now, when 
 they chance to meet, the two inseparable 
 friends discuss those bygone days with 
 genuine delight. Their joint business in- 
 terests, sometimes as partners, from day 
 to day developed a friendship which 
 neither time nor political changes have 
 ever disturbed, bringing ever pleasant re- 
 flections to both. Afterward, in pros- 
 pecting for his own account, Capt. Hyde 
 located man}' sections of pine lands as far 
 north as Michigan, which he soon after 
 sold at a good profit without cutting a 
 single stick of timber, and it was not long 
 before he discovered the most suitable 
 localities to invest his savings. He first 
 located land on Wolf river, and for years 
 operated on that stream and its tribu- 
 taries. By buying judiciously and selling 
 at a good profit, he in course of time 
 amassed a comfortable fortune, which 
 now in his advancing years he is enjoy- 
 ing " do/cc far nicntc," and no man de- 
 serves his wealth better or employs it 
 more liberally and judiciously. Nor did 
 our subject in his vast speculations limit 
 himself to pine-land transactions, for we 
 find that he has been interested more or 
 less in mining property- in northern Wis- 
 consin and Michigan. 
 
484 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In the busy life of Capt. Hyde is pre- 
 sented a lesson for the encouragement of 
 youths, who without fortune or influential 
 friends are struggling to overcome ob- 
 stacles in the acquirement of wealth. In 
 the example before them they will dis- 
 cover how difficulties were surmounted, 
 and what an enviable climax was reached 
 by perseverance, industry, clearsighted- 
 ness, shrewdness and sound judgment. 
 
 On May 13, 1848, Capt. Hyde was 
 married in Edgar county, 111. , to Miss 
 Sarah Merkley, whose parents were Ken- 
 tucky people of German lineage. In May, 
 1854, Capt. and Mrs. Hyde removed to 
 Wisconsin and settled on a farm on Bear 
 creek, most of which lay within the limits 
 of Outagamie county, on the confines of 
 Waupaca county. At that time it com- 
 prised about 640 acres, to which from 
 time to time he has added till now it con- 
 tains some twenty-five hundred acres, 
 about one thousand being under cultiva- 
 tion. It is now being operated by the 
 son, Fred M., who also controls a mill 
 and general store When the family first 
 came to the farm there was not another 
 house nearer than a distance of eight 
 miles; but they were very comfortable, 
 happy and contented, and their woodland 
 home came to be known far and wide for 
 the genial hospitality of its inmates. At 
 the end of a twelve-years' residence there, 
 Capt. and Mrs. Hyde removed into the 
 town of Appleton, where in 1876 they 
 built a comfortable and commodious resi- 
 dence, their present home, and where he 
 owns considerable property. In Church 
 connection they are strict Presbyterians, 
 and Mrs. Hyde in the proverbial goodness 
 of her heart takes much active interest in 
 deeds of charity. Three children have 
 been born to this honored couple, viz. : 
 Fred M., alreadj' referred to; De Forest, 
 a dealer in real estate in Appleton; and 
 Francis, who died November 11, 1893. 
 
 Gifted by nature with a hardy consti- 
 tution and a wiry frame, Capt. H\de has 
 been enabled to successfully accomplish 
 Herculean tasks, and few men have done 
 
 more active work, encompassed greater 
 dangers, or surmounted more colossal 
 difficulties. 
 
 HON. GEORGE CLARK JONES. 
 Intellect and industry are never 
 incompatible. There is more 
 wisdom, and will be more ben- 
 efit, in combining them, than scholars like 
 to believe, or than the ordinar}' people of 
 the world imagine. Life has time enough 
 for both, and its happiness will be in- 
 creased by the union. To this combina- 
 tion add these other important qualities 
 — enterprise and energv' — business tact 
 and public spirit — and the sum total is 
 the make-up of that class of men in 
 which the subject of this sketch stands in 
 prominent relief. 
 
 Mr. Jones was born near the city of 
 Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y. , October i, 
 1829. His great-grandfather, William 
 Jones, was a native of Wales, whence 
 when a j'oung man he emigrated to 
 America, for a time making his home in 
 New York, but later removing to Rut- 
 land, Vt., where he followed farming. 
 He there married, and reared a family, 
 one of his sons, also named William, 
 grandfather of subject, serving through- 
 out the war of the Revolution — seven 
 years in all. It is said of him that at the 
 age of sixteen, having expressed a desire 
 to enlist 'in the patriot army, he was taken 
 b\' his father to Rouse's Point, on Lake 
 Champlain, for that purpose, but his 
 measurement being half an inch shorter 
 than the regulation height he was not ac- 
 cepted. Not to be baffled, however, in 
 his determination, he went to a shoe- 
 maker and had a half inch added to the 
 soles and heels of his shoes, returned to 
 the recruiting officer, was remeasured, 
 accepted and passed muster. He served 
 under Gen. Ethan Allen, being with that 
 intrepid old hero at the capture of Ticon- 
 deroga; participated in many of the deci- 
 sive battles of the Revolution, and was 
 present at the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 485 
 
 He developed into a man of magnificent 
 physique, standing nearly six feet in his 
 stockings, weighing about 180 pounds, and 
 was a typical Revolutionary soldier. He 
 participated in numerous engagements, but 
 received only a few slight flesh wounds. 
 .\t the close of the struggle he returned 
 from the scenes of strife and carnage to 
 his peaceful home in Rutland, Vt., mar- 
 ried a Miss Clark, who was born of Welsh 
 ancestry, and they then settled near 
 Plattsburg, in the State of New York, 
 but a few years later returned to Ver- 
 mont and settled near Middlebury, where 
 they passed the rest of their lives, chiefly 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits. During 
 the latter part of his business life he was 
 associated with his son-in-law, John Hunt, 
 in a flouring-mill. He died at the patri- 
 archal age of ninety-three years, active to 
 the last, and retaining all his faculties; 
 his wife had passed away several j^ears 
 before, also at an advanced age; they 
 were consistent members of the Congre- 
 gational Church. Eight children were 
 born to them — two sons and six daughters 
 — all of whom reached maturity. • 
 
 William C. Jones, son of this vener- 
 able couple, was born in Middlebury, Vt. , 
 in 1 800, and was reared to agricultural 
 pursuits. He married Miss Lucy Strong, 
 and the young couple shortly afterward 
 removed to Orleans county, N. Y. , 
 settling in Barre township, where Mr. 
 Jones bought a tract of land which he im- 
 proved and farmed. Here they remained 
 until 1842, when they left for Michigan, 
 where they settled, and in Springfield 
 township, Oakland county, he bought a 
 still larger farm, which he successfully 
 conducted for many years, dying thereon 
 in 1883, aged eighty-three years. His 
 wife, who died in 1870, at the age of 
 sixty-seven years, was born in Bennington, 
 Rutland Co., Vt., in 1803, and was known 
 as an active, earnest Christian woman, a 
 model mother, whose home was her king- 
 dom, where she ruled with a loving heart. 
 They were both leading members of the 
 Presbyterian Church, although they had 
 
 been reared in the Congregational Church; 
 in the Presbyterian Church he served as 
 elder, and he was recognized as an up- 
 right, just man in all his walks in life, 
 honored and beloved by all. In his poli- 
 tical predilections he was originally 'a 
 strong Whig, and at the birth of the Re- 
 publican party he became an ardent 
 supporter of it, and a warm advocate of 
 the principle of protection. Seven chil- 
 dren were born to this honored couple, 
 four of whom reached maturity: Caroline 
 R. , George C, William S. and Mary J., 
 all married. 
 
 George Clark Jones, the subject proper 
 of this biographical memoir, was about 
 thirteen years old when his parents moved 
 to Michigan, and the better part of his 
 education was received in the winter sea- 
 son at the schools near Pontiac, his sum- 
 mers being occupied in working on his 
 father's farm. At the age of twenty-one 
 he entered as student the law office of 
 Hon. H. L. Stevens, in Pontiac, but at 
 the end of two years, Mr. Stevens having 
 been elected to Congress, our subject 
 transferred himself to the office of Bald- 
 win & Draper, attorneys at law, in the 
 same city. In the spring of 1853 he was 
 admitted to the bar, and in September of 
 that year he located in Ontonagon, same 
 State, in what is known as the Lake 
 Superior copper countrj'. Here he prac- 
 ticed his chosen profession with flattering 
 success, enjojing a wide clientage till 
 1 868, when, desirous of giving his sons a 
 first-class education, he closed his office 
 in Ontonagon and removed with his fam- 
 ily to Appleton, Wis. Here he resumed 
 practice, continuing in same for a few 
 years longer, most of his time, however, 
 being employed in the real-estate busi- 
 ness, for the most part in northern Wis- 
 consin and northern Michigan, where he 
 is still interested in mineral (iron and 
 copper) and timber lands. Although his 
 interests at a distance precluded him from 
 actively identifying himself with the busi- 
 ness and manufacturing interests of Ap- 
 pleton, still he has never been indifferent 
 
486 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to the progressive welfare of his adopted 
 city. 
 
 On October 23, 1854, Mr. Jones was 
 united in marriage at Ontonagon, Mich., 
 with Miss EHzabeth Hannah Weller, who 
 w'&s born near Rome, N. Y. , a daughter 
 of John and Anna (Farquharson) Weller, 
 who were of German and Scotch descent 
 respectively. Five children, all sons, 
 have been born to this union, of whom 
 the following is a brief record: Charles 
 William is an attorney at law by profes- 
 sion, but is now engaged in mining in 
 Arizona; George Clark is a graduate of 
 Lawrence University, and is now looking 
 after timber and lumber interests in the 
 States of Washington and Oregon. Fred- 
 erick Weller graduated at Madison Uni- 
 versity and Rush Medical College, for a 
 time practiced medicine in Montana, but 
 is now a resident of Chicago, 111. ; William 
 Strong is a graduate of Appleton High 
 School, and is now a fruit grower in 
 Southern California; the youngest son, 
 Edward Garfield, who graduated at Law- 
 rence University and at the Law School 
 in Madison, Wis., is now living in Chi- 
 cago, Illinois. 
 
 A pronounced and loyal Republican, 
 Mr. Jones, while a resident of Ontona- 
 gon, Mich, was honored by an apprecia- 
 tive people with election at different times 
 to various public offices of trust, among 
 which may be mentioned those of district 
 attorney, circuit court commissioner and 
 filling the office of county judge of pro- 
 bate. In 1862 he was nominated for and 
 elected, on the Republican ticket, repre-. 
 sentative to the Legislature, serving two 
 years, during which time he rendered 
 valuable service while on the committee of 
 Judiciary, of which he had official charge, 
 most of the time its chairman, and acting 
 as speaker of the House; he also served 
 on the committee of Mines and Minerals. 
 Having in his wide experience given a 
 great deal of attention to the organization 
 of mining interests, and the development 
 of mining property, Mr. Jones became 
 so thoroughly conversant with the laws 
 
 of governing such interests, together 
 with the value of that class of prop- 
 erty, that he came to be regarded 
 and frequently consulted as an able 
 authority on matters pertaining to the 
 development of mines, his decisions being 
 highly prized. Mr. Jones early in his 
 young life became a member of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, Mrs. Jones of the Con- 
 gregational Church, and both were pio- 
 neers in Church work at Ontonagon. 
 They assisted in the organization and 
 establishment of the Presbyterian Church 
 and Sabbath-school in that place, con- 
 tinued active members of the Church for 
 fifteen years, and when they settled in 
 Appleton united with the Congregational 
 Church of that city. Mr. Jones was an 
 elder in the Presbyterian Church at On- 
 tonagon, and superintendent of the Sab- 
 bath-school for about fifteen years. 
 
 JS. BUCK, the second white man to 
 settle in Appleton, in August, 1848, 
 was born November 20, 18 16, in 
 Great Bend, Susquehanna Co. , Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 His father, Silas Buck (who was also 
 a native of Pennsylvania), was a son of 
 Daniel Buck, who was born in Connecti- 
 cut, became a Presbyterian clergyman, 
 and had also studied medicine; he served 
 as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
 Silas Buck, who was a merchant, married 
 Phila Munson, who was born in Connecti- 
 cut and went to Pennsylvania when a 
 child; her father. Almond Munson, a 
 farmer, had served in the Revolution, and 
 was with Washington at Valley Forge. 
 To Silas and Phila Buck were born three 
 sons and three daughters; the father died 
 in 1832, the mother a few years later. 
 
 J. S. Buck assisted his father in the 
 store in his early jouth, and never had 
 an opportunity of attending school more 
 than three months each year. After the 
 father's death the mother closed the store 
 and retired to the farm, while our subject 
 continued to clerk in different stores until 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECOBD. 
 
 487 
 
 he was twenty-one years old, when he 
 was elected constable and appointed 
 deputy or under-sheriff of his county, an 
 office he filled three years. He then 
 worked at various employments until 
 1843, when he married Miss Margaret 
 McCullom, a lady of Scotch descent, and 
 in 1844 they came to Wisconsin, which 
 was then a Territory, and settled in 
 Dodge county, his wife's family coming at 
 the same time. Mr. Buck settled on a 
 piece of wild land, where he lived until 
 1846, at which time his wife died (with- 
 out issue). He then returned East on a 
 visit, but remained two years, working as 
 foreman and helping to build the New 
 York & Erie railroad east of Binghamton, 
 N. Y. , part of the time, and in the win- 
 ter of 1847-48 had a contract for furnish- 
 ing ties for forty miles of the main road 
 and its sidings, between Deposit and 
 Binghamton, N. Y. , which contract he 
 filled in six months. In 1848 he took, 
 for his second wife. Miss Elsie M. Haw- 
 ley, also a native of Pennsylvania, daugh- 
 ter of Newton Hawley, which union was 
 blessed with two children. Dr. S. N. 
 Buck and Elsie M. (Mrs. John Bottensek). 
 In March, 1848, he returned to Wiscon- 
 sin, bringing his wife with him, passed 
 the months of July and August in Nee- 
 nah, late in the latter month coming to 
 Appleton in a canoe, preceded only by 
 one white man, John F. Johnston, who 
 had been here about one week. Mr. 
 Buck at once took up a claim of eighty 
 acres, and in 1849 built a shanty in what 
 is now the First ward of the city, and 
 which property has ever since been his 
 home. 
 
 For a number of years Mr. Buck fol- 
 lowed the insurance and real-estate busi- 
 ness, and for three years was in the mer- 
 cantile trade under the firm name of Buck, 
 Lyon & Co. He has always been active 
 in public affairs, taking great interest in 
 the welfare of the city and county. He 
 is a Democrat, and took part in the 
 division of the county; served as register 
 of deeds three years; was alderman of his 
 
 ward, and was also president of the coun- 
 cil. He was influential in securing the 
 railroads to Appleton, the improvement 
 of the water facilities and the upbuilding of 
 the manufacturing industries. In June, 
 1862, he was elected a trustee of Law- 
 rence University, Appleton, which position 
 he still holds, and he has been secretary 
 of the board for more than two-thirds of 
 the time. In 1871 he was the superin- 
 tendent of the building of the railroad 
 from Manitowoc to Appleton, and his in- 
 fluence has been felt in every movement 
 of note that has conduced to the improve- 
 ment of the city. On February 26, 1875, 
 he laid to rest the mortal remains of his 
 second wife. Mr. Buck is now living in 
 quiet retirement, honored and respected 
 for the good he has done and venerated 
 as one of the founders of Appleton. 
 
 HERBERT BATTLES TANNER, 
 M. D. Among the eminent phy- 
 sicians of Outagamie county none 
 stands higher in the confidence 
 and esteem of the community than this 
 well-known disciple of i^sculapius. 
 
 Dr. Tanner is a native of Wisconsin, 
 born in 1859 in the city of White Water, 
 Walworth county, a son of Ford and 
 Mary A. (Battles) Tanner, and a grand- 
 son of Dr. Cuyler Tanner, of New York, 
 who was a surgeon in the patriot army 
 during the war of 1812, his certificate of 
 services dating April i. 18 14. He died in 
 1857, the father of nine children — two 
 sons and seven daughters — as follows: 
 Imogene, born in New York, who mar- 
 ried Henry Stanton, a match manufac- 
 turer of Syracuse, N. Y. (she is now de- 
 ceased); Harriet, widow of Cyrus Yeo- 
 mans, of Chicago, 111. ; Julia Ann, widow 
 of James Eaton, of Utica, N. Y. (he was 
 one of the organizers of the Diamond 
 Match Co.); Mary Jane, widow of Hiram 
 Danforth, of New York (she resides with 
 her son. Dr. Loomis Danforth, who is a 
 prominent physician and professor of ob- 
 stetrics in the New York Homeopathic 
 
48S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Medical College); Ford, a resident of Ap- 
 pleton, \\'is. ; Emih', who married Cray- 
 ton Belknap (both died in Illinois); Ljdia 
 R., widow of Hiram Salisbury, residing 
 in Connecticut with a married daughter; 
 Luc}', who became the wife of Cornelius 
 Spencer, of Illinois, where she died; and 
 K. W. , a resident of Milton Junction, 
 Wis. (he became a member of the Twelfth 
 Wis. V. I., served through the Civil war, 
 and was mustered out as sergeant). 
 Grandfather Dr. Jason B. Battles was 
 born in Boston, Mass., and in early days 
 came to Illinois, settling in Griggsville, 
 Pike count}', where he died in 1890, aged 
 ninety years; he did not commence the 
 stud}' of medicine until he was over forty 
 years of age, graduating at Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, in 1848. One son of his served in 
 the Civil war. 
 
 Ford Tanner, father of our subject, 
 was born in New York, coming to Illinois 
 in 1850. In Pike county, that State, 
 he married Miss Mary A. Battles, and in 
 1857 they located in the town of White 
 Water, Wis. , where he followed farming, 
 sawmilling, etc. From there they moved 
 to Watertown, Jefferson county, thence 
 to Indiana, and recently to Appleton, 
 Wis. , where they are now living. At 
 one time they had their home in LaFay- 
 ette, Ind., where Mr. Tanner was en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of baskets. He 
 was twice married, and by his first wife, 
 Lydia (Huntley), has one son living — 
 James C, of Morro, Cal. By his second 
 wife he has four children, as follows: 
 Herbert Battles, subject of this memoir; 
 Walter Scott, married, residing in Law- 
 rence, Kans. ; Harr3'C. , residing in Rich- 
 mond, Ind., where he is engaged in the 
 mercantile business; and Stella Ford, 
 who resides at home. 
 
 Herbert Battles Tanner was a five- 
 year-old boy when he removed with his 
 parents to LaFajette, Ind., and he was 
 there reared, receiving at the common 
 schools of the place his elementary edu- 
 cation, after which, the family having 
 moved to Chicago in 1872, he received 
 
 further instruction at the public schools 
 of that city, and passed a year in Drew's 
 Business College. After leaving school 
 he spent some time in clerking till 1876, 
 in which year he went to Philadelphia for 
 the dual purpose of attending the Centen- 
 nial Exposition and selling baskets for a 
 Chicago firm with which his father was 
 connected. The outcome of this trip was 
 his drifting into commercial traveling, 
 which he followed for some time. Having 
 been strongly urged by relatives, espe- 
 cially by his maternal grandfather. Dr. J. 
 D. Battles, to adopt the medical profes- 
 sion, he decided to make it his life work. 
 In 1876 his father moved to Indianap- 
 olis, Ind., which afforded the son a 
 favorable opportunity to attend one of 
 the best medical schools in the country, 
 the Indiana Medical College, the Medical 
 Department of Butler University, where 
 he graduated in the class of 1878. The 
 Doctor then for a time sojourned in Chi- 
 cago, but in 18S0 he came to Kaukauna, 
 Wis., arriving on July 27. Since com- 
 mencing practice here he has met with 
 the most encouraging success, and has 
 established a first-class practice. On 
 September i, 1881, Dr. Herbert B. Tan- 
 ner and Mary G. M. Boyd were united in 
 marriage. She is a native of Brown 
 county. Wis. , and a daughter of James M. 
 and Maria M. (Lawe) Boyd, father born 
 in Washington, D. C. , in 18 16. He was 
 a son of Col. George Boyd and his wife, 
 Harriet (Johnson) Boyd, a sister of the 
 wife of Pres. John Ouincy Adams. Her 
 father, Joshua Johnson, was an intimate 
 friend of George Washington, and was a 
 pioneer of Maryland; he was the first U. 
 S. consul appointed at London, England. 
 Col. George Boyd was a lifelong govern- 
 ment official, and was a bearer of dis- 
 patches to Ghent at the time of the 
 celebrated "Treaty of Ghent," when the 
 treaty of peace between the United States 
 and Great Britain was signed in 18 14. 
 After this he was sent to Europe to pur- 
 chase arms and works on military tactics 
 for the United States Government. Later 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 489 
 
 he was commissioned to purchase hard- 
 ware, etc., to be used in the rebuilding 
 of the White House and the Capitol at 
 Washington. In 18 18 he was appointed 
 Indian agent at Mackinac, coming west in 
 the following year, and bringing his fam- 
 ily in 1820. In 1832 he was transferred 
 to Green Bay, Wis., where he died in 
 1846, his wife surviving him a few years. 
 They were the parents of nine children, 
 of whom the following is a brief record: 
 Archibald died in infancy; John Ouincy 
 served in the U. S. Navy, and died of 
 yellow fever at Norfolk, Va. ; Joshua John- 
 son became an Indian trader, and was 
 killed in 1832 at Sturgeon Bay; Thomas 
 A. B., a merchant, located at Savanna, 
 111. (he died of cholera while in Detroit, 
 Mich.); George, Jr., at one time clerked 
 for his father; James Madison resides with 
 our subject; Robert D., an Indian trader, 
 died at La Pointe, Wis.; William H. C. , 
 who was a farmer in Brown county, Wis., 
 died at Oconto (he served in the Twelfth 
 Wis. v. I.); Catherine married F. F. 
 Hamilton (both are now deceased). To 
 James M. and Maria M. (Lawe) Boyd 
 were born four children, viz: John Lawe, 
 who died in 1871 from disease contracted 
 while in the United States service (he 
 was a member of the Thirty-second 
 Wis. W I.); Joshua Johnson, who died 
 April 9, 1865, at Davids Island, N. Y. , 
 his death being caused b}' the amputation 
 of both his limbs for injur}' recei\ed while 
 serving in the army; Nathan B. C, a 
 resident of Iowa; and Mar}- G. M., Mrs. 
 Tanner. To Dr. and Mrs. Herbert B. 
 Tanner have come four children, named 
 as follows: Kenneth Boyd, Blanche Lawe, 
 Harold Ford and Herbert Johnson. In 
 addition to his extensive professional prac- 
 tice. Dr. Tanner has for the past few 
 years been largely interested in real estate, 
 in the summer of i 890 forming a partner- 
 ship with his brother, H. C. Tanner, with 
 whom he has since been actively engaged 
 in the business. They platted two addi- 
 tions to the city of Kaukauna — Lot 35 A 
 and Lot 1 2 A. Altogether the firm is one 
 
 of the busiest and most prosperous in the 
 city. 
 
 Dr. Tanner has been city physician 
 for Kaukauna eight years, and he has 
 also served on the board of education. 
 He is secretary-treasurer of the Fo.\ River 
 Medical Society, member of the State 
 Medical Society, of the American Medical 
 Society, and of the National Association 
 of Railway Surgeons. For several years 
 he was secretary of the Pension Board. 
 Socially he is a member of Kaukauna 
 Lodge No. 233, F. & A. M., and of Ap- 
 pleton Lodge No. 47, R. A. M. ; member 
 and past grand of the I. O. O. F., 
 Kaukauna Lodge No. 297; member of 
 the K. of P., Fo.x River Lodge No. 90; 
 and of the Endowment Rank, Section 
 1746; and of the I. O. F., Kaukauna 
 Court No. 949. Politically he is a stanch 
 Republican, and he and his wife are 
 prominent members of the Congregational 
 Church at South Kaukauna, Wisconsin. 
 
 The Doctor's first office in the city of 
 his adoption was in the "Commercial 
 Hotel," on the North side, Thomas 
 Mitchell being "mine host," and his first 
 case in Kaukauna was the bandaging up of 
 one of Miss Mitchell's fingers, which had 
 been injured by one of the hotel windows 
 falling on it. In 1881 he had about de- 
 cided to leave Kaukauna, but having for- 
 tunately met the lady who afterward be- 
 came his wife he changed his mind and 
 remained. In 1886 he moved to the South 
 side and established an office in his resi- 
 dence till the Patten block was completed, 
 when he opened his present office there. 
 He is justly recognized as one of the most 
 liberal and public-spirited men in Kau- 
 kauna to-day, and his popularity among 
 all classes and nationalities is unbounded, 
 a fact which was fully demonstrated at 
 the last election of April 3, 1894, when 
 he was elected to the mayoralty of Kau- 
 kauna, enjoying the distinction of being 
 the first Republican mayor of the city, 
 which has hitherto been a Democratic 
 stronghold. In January, 1895, Governor 
 William H. Upham appointed him super- 
 
490 
 
 COMMEMORATIVK BWORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 visor of inspectors of illuminating; oils for 
 the State of Wisconsin, one of the best 
 positions in the gift of the Governor, thus 
 recognizinj:; the Doctor in a substantial 
 nianiier for his political work, and thus 
 testifying, also, to the confidence bestowed 
 upon him, as the patronage of the office 
 is great, the Doctor having the appoint- 
 ing of about sixty deputies throughout 
 the State. 
 
 JUDGE JOHN GOODLAND. Bio- 
 graphical sketches of those who 
 have attained merited distinction in 
 American law have a charm and 
 force in them that commend them to 
 every sound thinker. We naturally feel 
 an interest in tracing the footsteps of 
 those who have reached elevated positions 
 in public confidence, and have wielded 
 their influence for public good; who, lov- 
 ing truth and integrity for their own 
 sakcs, have undeviatingly followed their 
 dictates, no matter what the personal 
 consequences might be. Records of this 
 kind arc calculated to raise the ministra- 
 tions of law in public estimation, and are 
 guides for the junior members of the pro- 
 fession in their pnirsuit of reputation, dis- 
 tinction and position. 
 
 Judge Goodland is a native of Eng- 
 land, born in the town of Taunton, Som- 
 ersetshire, August lo, 1 83 1, a son of 
 William Goodland, a merchant in Taun- 
 ton of good standing, whose wife, Abigail 
 (Sharman), also a native of England, was 
 a daughter of industrious, respectable 
 farming people. Mr. and Mrs. William 
 Goodland were the parents of eight child- 
 ren — five sons and three daughters — of 
 whom the daughters all died— young; the 
 eldest son, James, was a sailor, and was 
 lost at sea; Joseph lives at La Crosse, 
 Wis.; Walter is in New Zealand; Will- 
 iam is still a resident of Taunton, Eng- 
 land; and John is the subject of this 
 sketch. The latter received a liberal 
 education at the schools and academies 
 of his native town, proving an apt scholar, 
 
 and a clever one, he and a "chum," 
 named Jeboult, carrying off the first prizes 
 at the examinations. 
 
 At the age of eighteen the judge i/i 
 /^ossc, appreciating what he had read and 
 heard in regard to the marvelous growth 
 and expanse of the United States, where 
 ' ' there is always room at the top, " resolved 
 to emigrate hither, and with the teeming 
 millions try his fortune. Accordingly, in 
 1849, he came to the New World, mak- 
 ing his first stop in Oneida county, N. Y. , 
 until 1854, when he came to Wisconsin, 
 and in Walworth county engaged in vari- 
 ous pursuits, such as teaching school, 
 clerking in stores, etc. For a time he 
 conducted a grocery business in Sharon, 
 but unfortunately was burnt out; he also 
 served as justice of the peace and as town 
 clerk in that village. In 1864, having 
 been given a clerkship in the service of 
 the Chicago cS: North Western Railway 
 Company, at Chicago, he removed thither, 
 remaining until 1867, when he was offered 
 and accepted the position of agent for 
 the same company at Appleton, Wis. 
 This incumbency he filled with the high- 
 est satisfaction to both the railroad com- 
 pany and the public, for a period of 
 seven years, at the end of which time he 
 resigned in order to take up the study of 
 law, in the meantime conducting an in- 
 surance business. In 1878-79 he was 
 clerk of the Judiciary Committee of the 
 Assembly. In 1879 he was admitted to 
 the bar of the circuit and supreme courts, 
 and the following jear was admitted to 
 practice in the district and circuit courts 
 of the United States. In 1888 he was 
 elected district attorney; re-elected in 
 1890, resigning in 1891, in which latter 
 year he became a candidate for circuit 
 judge of the Tenth Judicial District, com- 
 prising the counties of Outagamie, 
 Shawano, Langlade, Forest and Florence, 
 was elected in April, 1891, to take his 
 seat in 1892. Owing, however, to the 
 death of Judge George H. Meyers in 
 August, 1 89 1, which caused a vacancy, 
 he was appointed by Gov. Peck to fill the 
 
. ^^^^^t/£a^4^^^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 493 
 
 unexpired term, and accordingly took his 
 seat in August, 1 89 1 , a judge in esse. 
 
 In September, 1850, Judge Goodiand 
 was united in marriage with CaroHne M. 
 Clark, who was born in Oneida county, 
 N. Y. , of English parentage, and nine 
 children came of this union, seven of 
 whom — four sons and three daughters — 
 are yet living, as follows: Abigail, living 
 at home with her father; Edward, in 
 Minneapolis; Walter, proprietor of the 
 Ironwood (Mich.) Times, his brother, 
 Fayette, being associated with him; Mary, 
 in Winnebago, Wis. ; Edith, in Eau Claire, 
 Wis., married to a son of Judge Bartlett, 
 of that city; and John, married and liv- 
 ing at the parental home. The mother 
 of these died in October, 1893. In frater- 
 nal association our subject is a Master 
 Mason of Waverly Lodge, No. 51, F. & 
 A. M., Appleton. As a lawyer the Judge 
 has been very successful, though never 
 what may be called a money maker, but 
 has earned the highest respect and esteem, 
 both on the bench and at the bar. 
 
 EMANUEL GERECHTER, rabbi 
 of Zion Temple, Appleton, was 
 born in Borek, Posen, Germany, 
 November 15, 1S42, and is a son 
 of Louis Gerechter, a native of the same 
 place, born in January, 181 1. The latter 
 was married in December, 1837, to Au- 
 guste Kramer, who was born at Lissa, 
 Duchy of Posen, May 20, 1812, and eight 
 children were born to them, of whom 
 four are now living. In 1864 or 1865 two 
 of the daughters came to America, settling 
 in New York City; the father followed 
 them in July, 1866, the mother and 
 the remainder of the family in March, 
 1867. She died in New York Jan- 
 uary 3, 1 87 1, the father passing away 
 in the same city October 3, 18S2. He 
 was a teacher by profession through nearly 
 the whole of his active life. 
 
 Emanuel Gerechter received his class- 
 ical education at the gymnasium in Lissa, 
 and took a theological course at Breslau, 
 
 Germany. He was a preacher and teacher 
 for one and one-half years at Kempen, in 
 the Rhinelands. Coming to America in 
 1866, he became rabbi of B'nai Maminim, 
 in New York, serving until November i , 
 1 87 1, when he went to Detroit, Mich., as 
 rabbi of Bethel Temple, remaining until 
 1874. He then located at Grand Rapids, 
 Mich., as rabbi of Congregation Emanuel 
 and teacher of German in the central high 
 school, which positions he held until 1 880. 
 In the latter year he became pastor of 
 B'nai Jeshurun, at Milwaukee, Wis., and 
 resigned in September, 1892, to accept a 
 call to Appleton as rabbi of Zion Temple. 
 Here he has since remained, in the midst 
 of many friends. In September, 1S94, 
 he was appointed professor of Hebrew at 
 Lawrence University. He is liberal in 
 his views, and greatly esteemed by all. 
 Rabbi Gerechter was married in New 
 York, April 29, 1869, to Miss Lina Spiel- 
 dach, who was born in Lissa, Germany, 
 December 29, 1843, one of the family of 
 three children born to Jacob Spieldach, a 
 merchant tailor, and Eva (Marbe) Spiel- 
 dach, who both died in Germany (never 
 having left their native land), the father 
 on December 26, 1889, the mother on 
 
 Januar}' 
 
 186; 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. 
 
 Gerechter have been born eight children, 
 of whom three died in infancy, while the 
 others — Eva, Gertie, Augusta, Helen and 
 Stella — were gathered to their long home 
 later in life, leaving the parents childless. 
 These worthy people celebrated their sil- 
 ver wedding anniversary April 29, 1894, 
 upon which occasion their many friends, 
 "both Jews and Gentiles," assembled to 
 greet them and leave tokens of love and 
 esteem. Politically, Rabbi Gerechter ad- 
 heres to the Republican party. 
 
 DE FOREST M. HYDE. The 
 subject of this sketch was born 
 December 15, 1849, in Rosen- 
 dale, Fond du Lac Co., Wis. 
 His parents moved to Bear Creek, Wau- 
 paca county, in 1853, and in 1866 they 
 
494 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 moved to Appleton. At Appleton he 
 attended a private school for two years, 
 and then became a student in Lawrence 
 University. In the fall of 187 1 he entered 
 Northwestern University, Evanston, 111., 
 where he graduated in 1874. 
 
 On leaving college he was offered the 
 chair of Civil Engineering and Math- 
 ematics in Lawrence University, which 
 he accepted. In 1878 he resigned his 
 professorship to engage in real estate. In 
 1880 he became interested in the manu- 
 facturing of paper, but sold out of this in 
 1884, and again took up real estate, 
 making pine land a specialty, in which 
 business he still continues. On January 
 3, 1879, he was married to Miss Inez B. 
 Angell, a native of Massachusetts. There 
 is one child, a daughter. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hyde attend the Congregational Church. 
 
 IVI 
 
 A. HUNT, real estate, has 
 been vice-president and a lead- 
 ing stockholder of the First 
 National Bank of Kaukauna 
 since its organization in 1887. 
 
 In that year Mr. H. A. Frambach, of 
 the Badger Paper Co., desirous of seeing 
 incorporated a banking institution of 
 which the people were well worthy, in- 
 vited some of his friends to unite with 
 him in establishing the First National 
 Bank of Kaukauna. That this call met 
 with a hearty response will be seen by 
 the following first list of stockholders in- 
 terested in this institution. They were 
 H. A. Frambach, of the Badger Paper 
 Co., M. A. Hunt, real estate, J. Stilwell 
 Vilas, of the Badger Paper Co., Alex. 
 McNaughton and A. W. Priest, of the 
 Outagamie Paper Co., J. H. Frambach, 
 of the Badger Paper Co., B. T. Gilmore, 
 real estate and insurance, and Hugo 
 Kuehmsted, all of Kaukauna; Hon. Joseph 
 Vilas, of Manitowoc; A. W. Patten, 
 Thomas Patten and John McNaughton, 
 of the Patten Paper Co., Appleton, and 
 Outagamie Paper Co., Kaukauna; Hon. 
 C. B. Clark and F. C. Shattuck, of the 
 
 Kimberly & Clark Co., the most e.xten- 
 sive paper manufacturers in the Fox 
 River Valley; John Stevens, capitalist, 
 Neenah; A. T. Morgan Co. and Morgan 
 Bros. & Co., Oshkosh. Not another city 
 in the State, it is believed, could present 
 to the public such a galaxy of business 
 men in a banking institution as Kaukauna 
 has good reason to boast of in the above 
 list of stockholders. 
 
 The especial feature ■ of a National 
 Bank is quite essential with a depositor; 
 for the National Banking laws are so con- 
 structed that the depositor is protected 
 by the stockholder, and any loss the bank 
 may sustain falls upon the stockholder. 
 That these facts have been fully realized 
 and appreciated by the citizens of Kau- 
 kauna and vicinity has been amply proved 
 by the comparative statements from time 
 to time prepared and submitted for pub- 
 lic scrutiny. The first board of directors 
 of the First National Bank of Kaukauna 
 made a very wise choice in selecting such 
 able and representative men as H. F. 
 Frambach, president; M. A. Hunt, vice- 
 president; and H. Kuehmsted, cashier. 
 In March, 1889, Mr. Kuehmsted died, 
 and Frank F. Becker was appointed his 
 successor. The present board of directors 
 are H. A. Framlaach, J. S. Vilas, F. C. 
 Shattuck, John McNaughton, B. T. Gil- 
 more, M. A. Hunt, F. F. Becker, all 
 well-known business men, who enjoy the 
 good will and confidence of the public. 
 The bank's correspondents are the Chemi- 
 cal National Bank, New York ; the First 
 National Bank, of Chicago, and the First 
 National Bank, Milwaukee. 
 
 GEORGE R. DOWNER, super- 
 intendent of the Outagamie 
 County Asylum for the Insane, 
 was born in Lisbon township, 
 Waukesha Co., Wis., July i, 1S51. The 
 Downer family came originally from Ger- 
 many, and settled in Oswego county, N. 
 Y., the head of the family at that date 
 being the great-grandfather of George; 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 495 
 
 he was a farmer by occupation. The 
 grandfather, also a farmer, removed later 
 to the vicinity of Pontiac, Mich., where 
 he died. 
 
 William H. Downer, the father of 
 our subject, was born in Oswego county, 
 N. Y. , and became a carpenter by trade. 
 At an early date he came to Wisconsin 
 with his wife and two children, settling 
 in Lisbon township, Waukesha county, 
 where he worked at his trade. Remov- 
 ing later to Dodge county, he was one of 
 the pioneers in the locality where he 
 settled, and a leader at his trade; he also 
 served as a private in the Civil war. In 
 1842 he married Lucinda Look, a lady 
 loved and respected by all her acquaint- 
 ances, and to them were born si.x chil- 
 dren, three of whom are now living: 
 Esther S., wife of William Pool, of Ste- 
 vens Point, Wis. ; Silas T., residing in Mis- 
 souri, and George R. William H. Dow- 
 ner died in Dodge county, October 31, 
 1892, aged nearly seventy-three years. 
 His wife died December 7, 1885, aged 
 fifty-nine years. 
 
 George R. Downer received a good 
 common-school education in Dodge 
 county, and passed the first eighteen 
 years of his life on the farm. Desiring a 
 change of occupation, he then engaged in 
 lumbering, spending eleven winters in 
 that business, working for different firms 
 and meeting with good success. Later 
 he became a contractor on a small scale. 
 We find him next operating a fine, well- 
 improved farm of eighty acres in Sey- 
 mour township, Outagamie county, which 
 he sold in the fall of 1891. During his 
 residence in that township he was elected 
 for three years chairman of the town 
 board, and also served four years as street 
 commissioner at Seymour. He was a 
 member of the building committee that 
 erected the Outagamie County Asylum for 
 the Insane, and in 1889 was appointed 
 its first superintendent, continuing to hold 
 the position to the present time. He is 
 eminently fitted for the work, being of a 
 kindly disposition, but with sufficient 
 
 firmness to manage affairs smoothly and 
 judiciously. Each succeeding year he 
 has made marked improvements, and has 
 the love of the 113 unfortunate people 
 who are under his charge. He has be- 
 come prominent through the exercise of 
 those natural qualities which stamp him 
 a man of true worth, and enjoys the re- 
 spect and esteem of all. On September 
 18, 1877, Mr. Downer was married, in 
 Appleton, to Miss Ida M. Brooks, of 
 Seymour, and they have two sons, Will- 
 iam R. and Arthur George. Mr. Downer 
 is a member of the F. & A. M. and the 
 I. O. O. P., and with his wife belongs also 
 totheRebekah Lodge, I. O. O. F. Mrs. 
 Downer is an esteemed teacher in the 
 Congregational Sunday-school. 
 
 Mrs. Ida M. Downer was born, June 
 15, 1858, in Waterloo, Wis., and in Feb- 
 ruary, 1864, removed to Seymour, Wis., 
 with her parents. Porter Matthew and 
 Lydia (Streeter) Brooks, who still reside 
 there. The father. Porter Matthew 
 Brooks, was born, June 18, 1821, in 
 Riga, Monroe Co., N. Y., and is a car- 
 penter by trade. In September, 1831, 
 he removed with his parents to Medina, 
 Ohio, and in January, 1842, to Waterloo, 
 Wis. On June 3, 1845, he was married, 
 at Lake Mills, Wis., to Lydia Streeter, of 
 Waterloo, and on June 3, 1895, they will 
 celebrate their golden wedding at Sey- 
 mour, Wis. To this union were born 
 nine children, three of whom are now 
 living — C. S. Brooks, of Beaver, S. Dak. ; 
 Mrs. T. D. Wheeler, of Glenwood, Wis. ; 
 and Mrs. Ida M. Downer, residing at Ap- 
 pleton. Porter Brooks, father of Porter 
 Matthew Brooks, was born in Middlesex 
 county. Conn., in 1786, and in 1820 mar- 
 ried Annie Matthew, who was born in 
 Peacham, Vt., in 1796. Mrs. Lydia 
 (Streeter) Brooks was born, Ma\ 29, 1825, 
 in Rossie, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. , and 
 with her parents removed to Jefferson 
 county. Wis., in 1841. Her father, 
 Reuben Streeter, was born in New York 
 State April 15, 1797, and died at Water- 
 loo June 7, 1853; her mother, Lucretia 
 
496 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Hulburt, was born at Northfield, Mass., 
 March 7, 1797, and died at Waterloo, 
 Wis., March i. 1867. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM LA MURE is of 
 French extraction, his grand- 
 fathers on both sides of the house 
 having been natives of France, 
 whence they emigrated and settled in 
 Lower Canada. Grandfather Francis La- 
 Mure was a tailor in Paris previous to his 
 emigration to America. The parents of 
 onr subject were Joseph and Josephine 
 (Derochier) La Mure, the former of whom 
 was born in Lower Canada, near Mon- 
 treal, and moved to Green Bay, Wis., in 
 1 8 1 5 ; the mother was born in Green Bay, 
 Wis., whither the Derochier family moved 
 from Lower Canada. 
 
 William La Mure hrst saw the light 
 October 20, 1829, at Green Bay, one of 
 four children — two sons and two daugh- 
 ters — of whom he is the only survivor. 
 When ten years of age he moved with his 
 parents to Buchanan township, Outa- 
 gamie Co. , Wis. , where he has resided 
 ever since, they being among the first set- 
 tlers in that township, which was then a 
 total wilderness. Four j-ears previous, in 
 1835, the father had purchased a piece of 
 land of Daniel Whitne}', of Green Bay, 
 and on reaching the place found a most 
 discouraging outlook and only two white 
 settlers for neighbors — Paul Beaulieu and 
 Capt. Porlier. In this locality William 
 La Mure spent his boyhood days, assist- 
 ing his father as he was able, and attend- 
 ing school at Green Bay and Little Chute; 
 and though in his early years he e.\- 
 perienced the hardships incident to 
 pioneer days they were not without their 
 pleasures, simple though they were. On 
 October 4, 1852, he was married to Miss 
 Louisa Porlier, who was born June 2, 
 1837, and is the only surviving daughter 
 of Captain and Agatha (Greenier) Porlier, 
 who lived in the Mission house on the 
 spot where the present roundhouse stands 
 in South Kaukauna; they had three chil- 
 
 dren, as follows: James D., who was 
 born May 22, 1826, and died March 6, 
 1891 (he was one of the early pioneers of 
 the Fo.\ River Valley, and spent all his 
 life in Wisconsin with the exception of 
 the time he was serving his country in the 
 Civil w'ar, he having enlisted in Company 
 F, Forty-fourth Wis. V. I. His wife and 
 a large family of children survive him and 
 reside in De Pere) ; Louis G. , w ho was 
 born in 1828 and is in business in Ham- 
 mond, Ind. (he is married and has a 
 family of grown-up children; he served 
 during the Rebellion as first lieutenant); 
 and Louisa, Mrs. La Mure. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. La Mure have had 
 twelve children, of whom eight are now liv- 
 ing — four sons and four daughters — viz. : 
 James W., born February 24, 1865, is 
 now a practicing attorney in Chicago, 
 111., and a member of the Faculty of 
 "Kent Law School," in that city, acting 
 as professor of code pleading and the law 
 of commercial paper; he took the first 
 prize on his graduation from the Chicago 
 Law School, and is a talented bright 
 young man, with a bright future before 
 him. Joseph W., born March i, 1871, 
 is at home looking after the farm. Charles 
 W., born November 12, 1875, is study- 
 ing law. William R. H.,born September 
 13, 1 88 1, is attending school, living at 
 home. Maggie M., born December 13, 
 1857, is married to Martin Speel, a farmer 
 in Buchanan township, and has a family 
 of two sons and one daughter. Louisa, 
 T. was born December 22, 1859. Hen- 
 rietta, born February 2, 1863, is married 
 to Michael Farwell, a farmer in an adjoin- 
 ing township. Maria, born November 
 28, 1873, lives at home. Mr. La Mure 
 is a raiser of and dealer in blooded stock, 
 principally Herefords. 
 
 Politically Mr. La Mure is a loyal 
 Democrat, and has served in numerous 
 offices of public trust; he was township 
 supervisor for four years; has been chair- 
 man of the township board for twenty- 
 five years, was a member of the building 
 committee which built the Outagamie 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 497 
 
 county court house, at Appleton, in 1881; 
 and of the committee which built the Ap- 
 pleton jail, the first of its kind erected in 
 the State; was school director for twelve 
 years and is now treasurer, and has al- 
 ways been prominently connected with 
 the educational department of the town; 
 he has also been elected to the State As- 
 sembly, first time for 1885-86 and again 
 for 1887-88. He belongs to the Roman 
 Catholic Church in religious connection, 
 attending the parish church at Darboy, 
 near his home. 
 
 JOHN McMURDO, Jr. This gentle- 
 man, who died at his home in Hor- 
 tonville, Outagamie Co., Wis., June 
 7, 1888, was for many years closely 
 identified with the business interests of 
 this and surrounding counties as a pros- 
 perous builder and contractor, and took a 
 prominent part in the affairs of his com- 
 munity, where he was looked upon as an 
 able leader and a worthy representative 
 citizen. 
 
 He was born August 24, 1840, in 
 Pennfield, New Brunswick, son of John 
 and Elizabeth (Hunter) McMurdo, who 
 moved to Outagamie county, \\'is., when 
 he was a lad, the father becoming one of 
 Hortonville's leading men. Here John 
 McMurdo, Jr., grew to manhood, and 
 learned the trade of carpenter and builder, 
 which he followed in various places, and 
 in which he became very successful, 
 giving his principal attention to it through 
 life. At the breaking out of the Civil 
 war he enlisted, in the summer of 1861, 
 in Company I, Thirty-second Wis. V. I., 
 and followed the fortunes of his regiment 
 till the close of the struggle, making a 
 proud record for bravery and attention to 
 duty. He participated in various engage- 
 ments and campaigns, among them the 
 battle of Lookout Mountain, also the 
 famous march to the sea, and during his 
 long term of service was in hospital but 
 two weeks, when he had the measles. 
 He enlisted as a private, and was mus- 
 
 tered out in June, 1865, with the rank of 
 corporal, returning at once to Horton- 
 ville and resuming his trade. In the fall 
 following his discharge from the army, 
 Mr. McMurdo bought a farm of 120 acres 
 in Hortonia township, but preferring his 
 trade to farming he did not make a per- 
 manent home thereon, and for the first 
 fourteen years he left it altogether to the 
 care of tenants. He erected many build- 
 ings in and around Hortonville which still 
 stand as evidences of his skill, and for 
 several years he was also the owner of 
 a lumber yard, renting a planing-mill, in 
 which line he did quite an extensive busi- 
 ness. Thoroughly honest in all his trans- 
 actions, he gained the confidence and 
 respect of all who became acquainted with 
 him, in business or other circles, and 
 made a success of everything he turned 
 his hand to. He labored zealously in the 
 interest of his township and county, and 
 held various local offices, discharging his 
 duties in a most satisfactory manner, and 
 proving himself as capable in the manage- 
 ment of public affairs as he was in busi- 
 ness matters. He was appointed deputy 
 sheriff of Outagamie county, was chair- 
 man of the township board, and, as such, 
 a member of the county board; and while 
 serving in the latter capacity was elected 
 a member of the committee to make 
 plans for a new courthouse. He traveled 
 as a member of the committee throughout 
 Wisconsin, visiting many prominent cities 
 and inspecting their public buildings, and 
 later became a member of the committee 
 that superintended the erection of the 
 courthouse. His experience as a builder 
 and contractor, combined with his energy 
 and high sense of duty, made him a val- 
 uable and efficient officer, and his worth 
 was fully recognized by his associates. 
 He also held office as deputy sheriff under 
 George White and John Brill. He was 
 well known throughout the country, and 
 made hosts of friends, his geniality and 
 sociability making him welcome wherever 
 he went. The poor and unfortunate 
 never appealed to him in vain, but found 
 
498 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in him a ready sympathizer and a prac- 
 tical helper and true friend. Earnest and 
 active in all his enterprises, and pursumg 
 an object with an enerj^y and perseverance 
 that were truly remarkable, his whole life 
 abounded with valuable lessons, and he 
 left a record of which his family may well 
 feel proud. He was a zealous sup- 
 porter of the temperance cause, and 
 took an active part in all work for 
 its advancement. In social connection 
 he was a prominent member of the I. O. 
 O. F. and the G. A. R. , holding office in 
 the latter organization; in politics he was 
 a stanch Republican, and took an ardent 
 interest in all political questions, both 
 local and national, keeping himself well 
 informed on the issues of the day. Mr. 
 McMurdo's death — which was somewhat 
 sudden, for he was ill but a week — re- 
 sulted directly from paralysis and apo- 
 plexy, caused probably by sunstroke, he 
 having received a severe stroke while 
 working on a building. At his decease 
 the comriuniity mourned one who, though 
 just in his prime, had been a leader among 
 them for years, and had proved a loyal, 
 useful citizen, one whose place could not 
 easily be filled. 
 
 Mr. McMurdo was married, Novem- 
 ber 30, 1868, in Appleton, to Miss Lu- 
 cinda P. Whitman, who survives him. 
 She was born September i, 1849, in 
 Turner, Maine, daughter of Sylvester S. 
 and Nancy M. (Waite) Whitman, natives 
 of the same State, who came to Wiscon- 
 sin in 1854. They located first in Osh- 
 kosh, a few years later moving to Hor- 
 tonville, where they made a permanent 
 home, Mr. Whitman following the milling 
 business, and he accumulated consider- 
 able property in Hortonville. For about 
 twenty years he was a justice of the peace 
 in Hortonville, and displayed great ability 
 and tact in discharging the duties con- 
 nected with that office. He was a wide- 
 awake, popular man, charitably disposed, 
 and always the friend of the poor or help- 
 less, and gained the universal good will 
 and confidence of his fellnwmen. In re- 
 
 ligious sentiment he was a Universalist, 
 and led a consistent Christian life; he 
 passed from earth in Hortonville, June 3, 
 1894, aged eighty-three years. Mrs. 
 Nancy M. Whitman died in Appleton in 
 1872, and six years later Mr. Whitman 
 married Mrs. Harriet M. Hewitt, a native 
 of Livermore, Maine, who survives him. 
 He was the father of six children, viz. : 
 Oscar v., Osca M., Orson, Lucinda P., 
 Nellie M. and Alexander B., an attorney 
 in Appleton. Mr. and Mrs. McMurdo at- 
 tended the same district school, and there 
 a friendship sprung up between them that 
 ripened with the passing years. Though 
 widely different in disposition, their mar- 
 ried life of nearly twenty years proved a 
 most happy one, and few lives flowed 
 along more harmoniously. 
 
 LUTHER LINDAUER, dealer in 
 lime, mortar, sand, wood,, coal, 
 etc., manufacturer of brick, owner 
 of the Kaukainia Stone Quarry 
 Co., and dealer in roadsters and heavy 
 draught horses, is one of the wide-awake, 
 hustling business men of Kaukauna. 
 
 It is a matter of surprise, and is not 
 infrequently questioned, how it is possible 
 for any one individual to attend and mas- 
 ter such extensive operations, and of so 
 diversified and complicated a character. 
 In addition to a well balanced mind, and 
 a peculiar aptitude for arduous and varied 
 enterprises, much depends upon method 
 and system — attributes predominating in 
 a remarkable degree in the general busi- 
 ness make-up of Mr. Lindauer. A native 
 of Wisconsin, born in the town of Stock- 
 bridge, Calumet county, September 1 , 
 1S60, our subject is yet a young man, 
 with a brilliant future before him, 
 judging by the past, both, we may ven- 
 ture to say, commercially and politically. 
 He is possessed of all the restless spirit of 
 enterprise peculiar to the American, sea- 
 soned with a sufficient heritage of Teutonic 
 caution and prudence to keep his multi- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 499 
 
 farious interests under proper control. His 
 father, Fredrictc Lindauer, was a native 
 of Wurtemberg, Germany, whence when 
 a young man he came to the United 
 States. In Buffalo, N. Y., he learned 
 the trades of piano maker and cabinet 
 maker, which he followed for some time 
 in that city. In New York he married 
 Miss Helena Frum, also a native of Wurt- 
 emberg, who at the age of four years was 
 brought to this country by her parents. 
 In 1857 the young couple came to Wis- 
 consin, settling in the dense woods of 
 Calumet county, among the Indians, 
 where they opened up a farm which they 
 cultivated for ten years, at the end of 
 that time, in 1867, moving into Stock- 
 bridge, same county, where Mr. Lindauer 
 commenced in the cabinet-making busi- 
 ness, at the same time conducting a farm. 
 In 1884 he moved to Kaukauna, and 
 opened up a furniture store, which he has 
 since conducted with his usual success. 
 He is an old-time Odd Fellow, and while 
 a resident of Buffalo, N. Y. , founded one 
 the first Lodges of that Order in the city; 
 he now belongs to the Lodge in Stock- 
 bridge. He and his wife are the parents 
 of nine children (all yet living save one), 
 of whom the following is a brief record: 
 Fred, married, resides in South Kau- 
 kauna; Gus is living in San Francisco, 
 Cal. ; Luther is the subject of this sketch; 
 Adeline is the wife of J. J. Wirtz, of 
 Shawano, Wis. ; Helen is married to Henry 
 Esser, of Milwaukee, Wis., Ernest resides 
 in San Francisco, Cal. ; Mary is the wife 
 of Robert Towsley, of Kaukauna; Richard 
 died in San Francisco, in 1891; Amanda 
 is yet living at home. 
 
 Luther Lindauer, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, received a liberal edu- 
 cation at the public schools of his native 
 town, and then entered a planing-mill 
 there, to learn a trade, but had not been 
 long so occupied when he had the mis- 
 fortune to lose his left hand by an acci- 
 dent in the mill. On recovering from his 
 mishap he again attended school until he 
 was seventeen years old, at which time. 
 
 in January, 1880, he moved to Kaukauna, 
 locating on the South side. Here during 
 that winter and following spring he drove 
 a team, hauling for the hub and spoke 
 factory, and then until the month of July 
 worked on the canal, after which he re- 
 sinned teaming, at the same time buying 
 and selling stone, on a small scale. Thus 
 he continued until the following winter, 
 which he passed in the employ of Mul- 
 holland & Brewster, hauling wood for 
 that hrm, and next summer we find him 
 teaming stone for the Kaukauna Paper 
 Co. The winter of 1883-84 also 
 found him in the same line of business, 
 but under contract, in which he continued 
 until the spring, when he cf)mmenced 
 dealing in lime, mortar and sand, and to 
 this he, in 1886, added the ice business, 
 same year building an ice-house near the 
 lock, which in 1889 was supplanted by a 
 new and more capacious one, erected on 
 Wisconsin avenue. In the spring of 1886 
 he further expanded his business by add- 
 ing to it the wood and coal trade. In 
 1887 he and Mr. Rhode, under the firm 
 name of Lindauer & Rhode, opened out 
 an extensive brickyard at the city limits 
 north of the town, the plant alone cost- 
 ing about eleven thousand dollars, where 
 they turn out an average of thirty-four 
 thousand cream-colored sand brick per 
 day, employing over twenty men in the 
 yard besides the teams and drivers. Mr. 
 Lindauer is also owner of the Kaukauna 
 Stone Quarry Co., dealers in rough, 
 cut and other stone, which was estab- 
 lished in 1890; and in all these varied en- 
 terprises, commencing fourteen years ago 
 with a wagon and team, his phenomenal 
 success has been entirely due to his in- 
 domitable will, untiring energy, and sound 
 judgment. He has seen and aided in the 
 progressiveness of Kaukauna, and has 
 been an eye-witness to its growth from a 
 hamlet of but three modest buildings, on 
 the South side, to a bustling, live city of 
 six thousand inhabitants. Among the 
 buildings he himself has tdded toward its 
 development may be mentioned the 
 
"500 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Lindauer & Rupert block, a fine two- 
 story brick structure on Second street, 
 having a frontage of fifty feet with a 
 depth of ninety-four feet. 
 
 On December 25, 1883, Mr. Lindauer 
 was married to Miss Lucy ElHs, a native 
 of Wisconsin, daughter of early pioneers 
 of the State, and four children were born 
 to this union, viz. : Jennie, Mabel (who 
 died at the age of eighteen months) and 
 Gus and Goldie (twins). In politics Mr. 
 Lindauer takes a lively interest, and his 
 shrewdness and activity therein are on a 
 par with his other characteristics. In 
 1890 he was elected mayor of Kau- 
 kauna, on the Citizens' ticket, and re- 
 elected without opposition in 1S91 and 
 1892, prior to which he represented the 
 Fourth ward as alderman five and one- 
 half terms successively, when he resigned. 
 In 1893 he was elected supervisor from 
 the same ward. Besides the interests 
 already enumerated Mr. Lindauer has been 
 identified extensively with public improve- 
 ments in Kaukauna, favoring, by influ- 
 ence and means, all beneficent enter- 
 prises calculated to benefit the city of his 
 residence. He was a contractor for and 
 builder of four miles of the city sewerage, 
 and also built, under contract, all the 
 masonry work connected with the new 
 and magnificent " Lawe street bridge," 
 together with all its approaches. This 
 energetic character and citizen may be 
 briefly described as the architect of his 
 own fortune, and one who, endowed with 
 an intellect that intuitively grasps and 
 masters the most intricate business and 
 financial problems, and an executive 
 abilit}^ of such quality as to put in force 
 and successfully complete every enter- 
 prise, is doubtless yet to achieve greater 
 distinction as a citizen, financier and pol- 
 itician. 
 
 In 1894, for recreation, Mr. Lindauer, 
 accompanied by his wife, his daughter and 
 his mother, made a tour of the Pacific 
 States, visiting Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, 
 Mexico, Te.xas, New Orleans, and other 
 points of interest, and returning home 
 
 with pleasant and profitable recollections 
 of the excursion, which included visits to 
 his brothers and friends at San F"ran- 
 cisco. 
 
 VAX NORTWICK. William Van- 
 Nortwick, the progenitor of the 
 noted family of that name in the 
 W'est, was a native of New Jer- 
 sey, and for many years had been a resi- 
 dent of New York State, where he was 
 widely known as a contractor on some of 
 the most important public works. For 
 some years he held the responsible position 
 of State superintendent of canals in north- 
 ern New York. In 1835 he turned his 
 attention to the new States and Terri- 
 tories in the West, and coming to Illinois 
 made a settlement in the then hamlet of 
 Batavia, where, as a man of large ex- 
 perience and superior ability, he proved a 
 valuable addition to the population. He 
 soon became an important factor in its 
 improvement; bought water-power privi- 
 leges, constructed a dam across the Fox 
 river, erected a flouring- mill, etc., and 
 passed the rest of his busy life there 
 active!}- engaged in milling and manufac- 
 turing. At his death he left a posterity 
 who have kept the name of Van Nort- 
 wick foremost in the social life, and 
 eqally prominent in manufacturing and 
 financial circles. For three generations 
 the \'an Nortwicks have taken a promi- 
 nent part in promoting the material as 
 well as the social growth and develop- 
 ment of Kane county. 111., and have been 
 leading spirits in upbuilding those institu- 
 tions that assist so much in making a 
 happy and prosperous community. 
 
 William \'an Nortwick was married in 
 the East to Miss Martha Flack, and to 
 this union were born children as follows: 
 John, a sketch of whom follows; Marga- 
 ret, who married James Rockwell, and 
 died September 11, 1847, aged thirty 
 years; Fannie, married to Charles Bal- 
 lard, and died September 12, 1842, aged 
 thirty-five \'ears; Jane Agnes, married to 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 503 
 
 James W. Harvey; and Rachel, married 
 to Benjamin Smith. The above children 
 came to Batavia in 1835, with the excep- 
 tion of John, who settled there some 
 years later. William Van Nortwick and 
 wife were both sincere and devout Chris- 
 tians, members of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church from their youth, and were 
 always active and earnest workers in the 
 support of the Church. His patient Chris- 
 tian spirit and noble humanity made itself 
 known in his last sickness. He died of 
 dropsy, in Batavia, September 19, 1854, 
 in the seventy-sixth year of his age. 
 
 Martha Flack Van Nortwick died in 
 Chicago at the home of her daughter, 
 April 21, 1879, aged ninety-three years. 
 She was a daughter of James and Mar- 
 garet Flack, and her brothers and sisters 
 were; James, John, Richard, Samuel, 
 Mrs. Nancy Crossett, Mrs. James Brown, 
 and Mrs. Martha Wils'in. 
 
 John Van Nortwick was born in 
 Washington count}-, N. Y. , April 5, 1809, 
 the only son of William and Martha Van- 
 Nortwick. He was reared in his native 
 place, and when old enough attended the 
 public schools in the vicinity. Later he 
 entered the academy, and took a 
 thorough course in mathematics, with the 
 view of making himself proficient in 
 civil engineering. He early developed 
 those sterling traits of character that 
 made him in later life a landmark among 
 his fellow men, who recognized in him a 
 born leader, organizer and financier. 
 When he was nineteen years old he was 
 employed in the engineer's department on 
 the canals of the State of New York, of 
 which his father was then canal superin- 
 tendent. He rapidly rose in the ranks, 
 and became recognized as one of the 
 ablest of the corps of engineers on the 
 State work. He was married in Penn 
 Yan, New York, February n, 1835, to 
 Miss Patty Mari Mallory, a daughter of 
 Meredith and Eleanor (Legg) Mallory, who 
 were married September 13, 1804, and 
 their children were: Barnum D., Smith 
 L. and Patty Mari. Mr. Meredith Mal- 
 
 28 
 
 lory died September 22, 1855. His par- 
 ents were Meredith and Mary Mallory. 
 Mrs. Eleanor L. Mallory died April 15, 
 1856. Four children were born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. John Van Nortwick: William 
 M., born in Hammondsport, Steuben 
 Co., N. Y. ; Eliza J., born at Mt. Morris, 
 Livingston Co., N. Y. : John S. and Mary 
 E., both born in Batavia, III, the latter 
 of whom is deceased. 
 
 In 1836 John Van Nortwick visited 
 his father's family in Batavia. He was 
 pleased with his father's selections and 
 investments, and foreseeing something of 
 the future that awaited the new country, 
 became a partner in his enterprises, made 
 some other purchases, and returned to 
 his engineering labors in New York State. 
 In 1846 the State stopped all its system 
 of public works, and Mr. Van Nortwick 
 was thrown out of employment. Gov. 
 William L. Marc}', at that time Secretary 
 of War, in recognition of Mr. Van Nort- 
 wick's eminent abilities, gave him em- 
 ployment for the government on the 
 Brooklyn dry docks, where he remained 
 for about one 3-ear. Then the projectors 
 of the Galena & Chicago Union railroad, 
 being in want of a chief engineer, negoti- 
 ated with Mr. Van Nortwick to come to 
 Illinois, which he did, having accepted 
 the position. He came to Batavia with 
 his wife and two children in 1846, and 
 there made his permanent home. Though 
 a young man at that time, yet he had had 
 seventeen years' experience as a practical 
 civil engineer on some of the largest pub- 
 lic works in the State of New York. He 
 was thus brought to Illinois at the 
 moment of the commencement of railroad 
 building in the West, and placed in 
 charge of the first successful enterprise of 
 that kind then being built from Chicago. 
 He laid the foundation of all the great 
 railroad systems that now so interlace 
 the Upper Mississippi \'alley. Under his 
 care the road was built from Chicago to 
 Freeport, and Turner Junction to Fulton, 
 on the Mississippi river. The Chicago. 
 Burlington & Ouincy was then being con- 
 
504 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 structed from what is now Turner Junc- 
 tion east of Batavia to Aurora, 111. Mr. 
 Van Nortwick was tendered and accepted 
 the position of president, which he held 
 for eight years. When he first became 
 connected with the road, it was a very 
 insignificant affair, but under his wise 
 counsels and fostering care while presi- 
 dent, it became what it is to-day, one of 
 the great railroads of the country. 
 
 Mr. Van Nortwick, on coming to Illi- 
 nois, relieved his father of the entire care 
 and management of their private business 
 enterprises. The young man had brought 
 with him three thousand dollars in gold, 
 his own earnings and savings, a large sum 
 of money for a new settler to bring at 
 that time, which he invested in the mill 
 lands and water-power at Batavia and 
 elsewhere. While building the mill at 
 Batavia he interested a number of eastern 
 capitalists, forming a company under the 
 style of Barker, House & Co. On the 
 completion of the mill they began the 
 manufacture of Hour on a large scale. 
 For some time Chicago got its supply of 
 ilour largely from the Batavia mill. In 
 1842 the company was dissolved, and the 
 property divided. Mr. Van Nortwick 
 was a large stockholder, and one of the 
 founders of the Batavia Paper Co., now 
 the Van Nortwick Paper Co., of which 
 he became sole owner in 1869. It was 
 made a joint-stock company in 1870, and 
 is one of the largest paper manufactories in 
 the West. In addition to the Batavia 
 mill, the Van Nortwicks are at present 
 interested and large owners in several 
 other paper and pulp mills and valuable 
 water-power property on the Fox river, 
 in the State of Wisconsin. 
 
 John Van Nortwick lived to see the 
 effects of the greatest labors of his young 
 and active life, and while he amassed a 
 fortune the country around him grew and 
 flourished beyond all precedent in his- 
 tory, and much of this was due to his 
 thought, foresight, labor, public spirit 
 and liberalit}'. He built the Episcopal 
 Church on Batavia avenue, Batavia, 111., 
 
 and donated it to the Society. About 
 I 886 Mr. and Mrs. Van Nortwick united 
 with this Church, of which they were com- 
 municants till death called them home. 
 Mr. Van Nortwick lived in an elegant 
 residence, built soon after he came to 
 Batavia, to which in time modern 
 improvements were added. Here were 
 entertained the best of Illinois people, 
 who always found sunshine, peace and 
 plenty on their visits. Mr. Van Nortwick 
 at the age of eighty evinced no sign of 
 age or impairment, and he retained his 
 mental faculties to the last, dying April 
 15, 1890. During his younger days he 
 traveled quite extensively in Europe, 
 giving much of his attention to some of 
 the Old World's best engineering works. 
 He became connected with the Fox River 
 water-power in Wisconsin in 1872. 
 
 William Mallory Van Nortwick, 
 eldest son of John and Patty M. Van- 
 Nortwick, was born November 8, 1836, 
 at Hammondsport, N. Y. , and came to 
 Batavia, 111., in July, 1846. For three 
 years he attended the Rock River Semin- 
 ary, at Mt. Morris, 111. He adopted civil 
 engineering as a profession, and in that 
 capacity was engaged with the engineer 
 corps who surveyed the Galena Air Line 
 railway (now part of the Chicago & North 
 Western railroad system). He was married 
 September 19, 1 861, to Louise J. Towner, 
 a native of Medina, N. Y. , and to them 
 two children have been born: M. Louise 
 and John. On July 25, 1870, the present 
 firm of paper manufacturers, of which he 
 is a member, was formed, and business 
 was commenced the same year. The sum 
 of one hundred thousand dollars was in- 
 vested in the plant, and fifty thousand 
 dollars were put in as working capital. 
 Additional water power, buildings and 
 improvements, to the value of one hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, have been added. 
 The product of the mills is a fine grade 
 of news print paper, which finds a ready 
 market in Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, 
 Denver, St. Louis, San Francisco, and 
 elsewhere. The establishment is one of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 505 
 
 the largest paper manufactories in the 
 western States, with ample capital. Mr. 
 Van Nortwick is largely interested in 
 other paper and pulp mills, situated in 
 the State of Wisconsin. He is a Republi- 
 can in politics, and a gentleman widely 
 known for energetic business abilities and 
 sterling integrity. 
 
 John S. Van Nortwick, youngest son 
 of John V^an Nortwick, is a partner in the 
 firm of William M. and John S. Van- 
 Nortwick in their varied and extensive 
 manufacturing business. He was born in 
 Batavia, 111., March 26, 1847, a-nd there 
 spent his young boyhood, attending the 
 public schools of the village, and at odd 
 times taking his first lessons in such aid 
 as a child can render a father who is con- 
 cerned in numerous and vast enterprises. 
 He was an active, bright boy, as keenly 
 on the lookout for fun and schoolboy 
 frolic as he has since then been in looking 
 after and managing an enormous business 
 interest. When of proper age he was 
 sent to Jennings Seminary, Aurora, 111., 
 where he laid the foundation of a good 
 English education. From this institution 
 he was transferred to Fort Edwards In- 
 stitute, New York, and after passing suc- 
 cessfully the curriculum of this school, 
 attended the Bryant & Stratton Commer- 
 cial College, where he completed his 
 school education. Returning to his Ba- 
 tavia home, he at once entered upon 
 active Ijusiness, first as a merchant, 
 farmer and stock raiser. He was soon 
 made an active partner in some of his 
 father's business affairs, and is at present 
 secretary and manager of the Van Nort- 
 wick Paper Co. , and a director in the 
 Western Paper Bag Co. , one of the 
 most extensive concerns of the kind in 
 the world. This company makes paper 
 bags at the rate of two million a day. 
 
 On February 3, 1875, John S. Van- 
 Nortwick and Bina Totman were united 
 in marriage. She was born in Fredonia, 
 N. Y., January 25, 1852, and is a daugh- 
 ter of Edsel and Mary (Allen) Totman, 
 both natives of New York, who removed 
 
 to Illinois and located in Batavia in if 
 Three children blessed this union: Will- 
 iam, born February 16, 1S76; Martha 
 M., born July 27, 1879; and Mary, born 
 January 17, 1882. Mrs. Van Nortwick 
 is a member of the Episcopal Church. 
 She was one of the prominent and lead- 
 ing society ladies of Batavia, as she has 
 been in Appleton since her residence in 
 that place, where her influence, always 
 for good, is felt by all who meet her. 
 Her greatest sphere of usefulness, how- 
 ever, is the home where she is the well- 
 spring of love and happiness, dispenses a 
 charming hospitality to her friends and 
 drives dull care away, making home the 
 haven of rest to her husband, the financier 
 and business manager. In his political 
 associations Mr. Van Nortwick affiliates 
 with the Republican party, and has held 
 various public offices of trust with honor 
 to himself and satisfaction of his con- 
 stituents. 
 
 JOHN BOTTENSEK, attorney at 
 law, Appleton, is a son of John 
 Henry Bottensek, who was born in 
 Hanover, Germany, in 1805, mar- 
 ried in 1848, and came to America, locat- 
 ing on a farm in Waukesha county. Wis. 
 In 1855 he removed to the town of Dale, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis., where he died in 
 March, 1865. He was one of the first 
 settlers in the township, there being at 
 the time of his arrival but three or four 
 other families within its limits. Of the 
 five children of John Henry Bottensek. 
 two sons and a daughter are now living. 
 John Bottensek was born January 4, 
 1850, in Dousman, Waukesha Co., Wis., 
 the eldest in the family of five children. 
 In his earlier years he assisted on the 
 home farm, attended district school, and 
 lived as most other boys in the vicinity 
 did. At the age of seventeen he entered 
 Lawrence University, Appleton, graduat- 
 ing in 1872 with honors, and during the 
 time spent in that institution he taught a 
 couple of terms in the public schools. 
 
5o6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 Subsequent to his graduation he was en- 
 gaged on the farm and in mechanical 
 employment at Marquette, Mich. On 
 November i, 1873, he entered the post- 
 office at Appleton as a clerk under Judge 
 George H. Meyers, then postmaster, re- 
 maining until October, 1874, when he 
 entered the law department of the State 
 University at Madison, graduating in 
 June, 1875; returning to Appleton, he 
 again took a position in the postoffice. In 
 April, 1876, he entered the office of 
 County Judge Joseph E. Harriman, with 
 whom he formed a law partnership in 
 1877, continuing in that relation until 
 1881. Subsequently, in 1883, he formed 
 a partnership with Harry C. Sloan, which 
 after one year was dissolved, Mr. Sloan 
 selling out and removing to Milwaukee. 
 Mr. Bottensek has since continued to 
 practice alone, having many cases in all 
 the courts of the State. He is a Repub- 
 lican, though never aspiring to be a poli- 
 tician, and has heW various local offices. 
 In the fall of 1894 he was nominated on 
 the Republican ticket for district attorney, 
 was elected, and filled the position with 
 eminent tact and ability. He is greatly 
 interested in school matters, and for ten 
 years has been a trustee of Lawrence 
 University, his a/ma mater, having also 
 served that institution as treasurer during 
 the past three years. On the city board 
 of education he served three years, on the 
 county board, eight years, and in the city 
 council, three years. While a member of 
 the county board he was largely instru- 
 mental in securing the present County 
 Asylum for the Insane, serving as chair- 
 man of the building committee and three 
 years as trustee. Socially he is past mas- 
 ter of Waverly Lodge No. 51, F. & A. 
 M., and is a member of Oshkosh Com- 
 mandery. Knights Templar; and is a mem- 
 ber of Appleton Chapter, R. A. M. , is 
 also past grand of Kenemic Lodge No. 
 47, I. O. O. F. Hard work and intel- 
 lectual ability have been the bulk of his 
 capital through life, and he enjoys what- 
 ever of reward may have come through 
 
 the use of those valuable adjuncts to 
 success. 
 
 Mr. Bottensek was married, Septem- 
 ber 26. 1878, to Miss Elsie M. Buck, and 
 they have one child, Elsa S. Mrs. Bot- 
 tensek has been the art teacher in Law- 
 rence University, Appleton, for the past 
 six years, is a recognized authority on the 
 subject, and her efforts in the direction 
 of promoting a taste for fine art in Apple- 
 ton are well received and highly appre- 
 ciated. She and her husband are prom- 
 inent figures in social life, and are emi- 
 nently respected and esteemed for their 
 many good qualities. They attend the 
 services of the Congregational Church at 
 Appleton. 
 
 JOHN BLEICK. This old, stanch 
 and well-known farmer citizen of 
 Greenville township, Outagamie 
 county, was born in Germany. De- 
 cember 24, 1834, one in the family of 
 three children — Ludwig, Dorothy and 
 himself — born to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick 
 Bleick. 
 
 The father was a laboring man, who 
 by the severest efforts in the Fatherland 
 was able to make a little more than a 
 living for himself and family. Finally 
 concluding that the United States offered 
 better advantages than his own country 
 for a man in his circumstances, he pro- 
 vided necessary means by the sale of his 
 propert}', and in the spring of 1849 set 
 sail with his family from Hamburg, bound 
 for Quebec, with Milwaukee as the final 
 destination. After a long and perilous 
 voyage, often beset by immense fields of 
 ice, which they had to turn back to avoid, 
 they reached the point for which they had 
 started. The inland trip to Milwaukee 
 was also made by boat, as railroads were 
 yet but dim possibilities, and for one year 
 they lived in that city, the father and 
 children working at whatever employment 
 was offered. The Green Baj' region was 
 at this time being rapidly opened up by 
 people in search of homes, and thither 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BI06BAPIIIUAL RECORD. 
 
 507 
 
 the hard-working German and his family 
 proceeded. They came from Milwaukee 
 to Outagamie county by wagon, their 
 household goods being stored in the 
 vehicle which was drawn by oxen. The 
 beginning of the journey was made in 
 excellent weather, but at its end they 
 found ground yet frozen and winter b\- no 
 means ended. The two sons, John and 
 Ludwig, had pre-empted eighty acres of 
 Section 10, Greenville township, and 
 there the start was made in the wilder- 
 ness. The boys had to go in debt for the 
 greater part of the value of their land, 
 but they had set out to pay for it, and 
 after hard trial succeeded. On this place 
 the parents both died, and their remains 
 rest in Greenville township. 
 
 John Bleick received a fair education 
 in the German language in the schools of 
 his native land, but never attended Eng- 
 lish schools at any time. He was about 
 sixteen years old when his parents came 
 to Outagamie county, and found it neces- 
 sary to at once engage in the hardest 
 kind of labor. He did not refuse any 
 kind of honest work that came to his 
 hand, and among other things chopped 
 wood at the rate of little more than 
 thirty cents per cord, and split rails for 
 thirty cents a hundred. Aside from the 
 tremendous labor necessar}' to be per- 
 formed, it was almost impossible at times 
 to procure flour enough to live on. While 
 yet a boy our subject carried fift}- pounds 
 of flour to his home from Little Chute, 
 and in that same winter, 1850-.51, settlers 
 had to go to Green Bay with oxen for 
 their flour and pork. The trials and 
 hardships of those early days can be little 
 understood or appreciated by the younger 
 generation who live under the improved 
 conditions of the present day. The 
 Bleick farm was covered with dense 
 woods, not a tree having been cut when 
 the family came to it. They built a 
 small log shanty, roofed with split bass- 
 wood, and slept to the music of a wild- 
 animal chorus. On one occasion John 
 had been to Appleton, and on his return 
 
 in the afternoon was frightened badly by 
 meeting a huge black bear, face to face; 
 that he lived through the ordeal is evi- 
 dent, but such shocks to a boy's nervous 
 system were not calculated to make him 
 indulge in pleasant dreams. Yet the 
 struggles of this family were of a common 
 kind with those experienced by most of 
 the pioneers. 
 
 In 1855, at Greenville, John Bleick 
 was married to Louisa Brockman, a 
 native of Germany, who had come to 
 Wisconsin at an early period. After 
 his marriage he located on the farm 
 he now occupies, taking up his residence 
 in a log house, which farm has since been 
 his family home. The first eighty acres 
 of land which he owned was of poor 
 quality and mostly swamp; now he owns 
 227 acres, over 200 of which are excell- 
 ent farm land, all acquired through many 
 years of unremitting toil and the most 
 careful and prudent management. He is 
 one of the few original settlers of the 
 township left within its borders, and in 
 the wondrous changes and transforma- 
 tions that have been brought about has 
 taken an active part. In achieving suc- 
 cess as a farmer Mr. Bleick has retained 
 the respect and esteem of his fellow- 
 citizens to a marked degree, the family 
 ranking among the best known and most 
 influential in the township. He has 
 erected all the buildings on his farm, and 
 made all the improvements. Politically 
 he is a Democrat, but not a professional 
 politician, preferring to give his attention 
 to the management of his private affairs. 
 He has at times been the recipient of 
 official favors at the hands of his towns- 
 people. He and his family are members 
 of the Lutheran Church. The following 
 are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Bleick: 
 Minnie, wife of C. A. Gielow, of Mani- 
 towoc, Wis. ; Charles, a Greenville town- 
 ship farmer; Augusta, now Mrs. Gus 
 Zuhlke, of Hortonville, Wis. ; Hermann, 
 at home; Lizzie, now Mrs. Ed. Wigert, 
 of Dale township; Ferdinand, at home; 
 and Ida, who died after reaching adult age. 
 
5o8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ANDREW C. BLACK. If History 
 teaches by example, the lessons 
 inculcated by Biography must be 
 still more impressive. We see 
 exhibited in the varieties of human char- 
 acter, under different circumstances, some- 
 thing to instruct us in our duty, and to 
 encourage our efforts, under every emerg- 
 ency. And, perhaps, there is no concur- 
 rence of events which produce this effect 
 more certainly, than the steps by which 
 distinction has been acquired through the 
 unaided efforts of youthful enterprise, as 
 illustrated in the life of Andrew C. Black. 
 Mr. Black is a native of Ohio, born 
 on the old home farm in Clark county 
 November 8, 1824, to William P. and 
 Susanna (Verdier) Black. William and 
 Jane (McBeth) Black, grandparents of 
 our subject, were hardy, industrious Scot- 
 tish-American farming people, he born in 
 eastern Virginia, she in Tennessee. After 
 marriage they settled on their farm in 
 Montgomery county, Va. , about the year 
 1793. where they had three sons and two 
 daughters born to them: Samuel, Sarah, 
 Agnes, William P. and Andrew C. William 
 Black was the founder of the town known 
 as Blacksburg, in Montgomery county, 
 Va. In 1 8 14 they turned their eyes in 
 the direction of the then young State of 
 Ohio, and here made a permanent home, 
 grandfather Black having purchased from 
 the government a tract of land in Clark 
 count}', which he and the family in course 
 of time converted into highly productive 
 farms. J^ere the grandparents died, the 
 grandfather at the age of eighty-four, and 
 the grandmother when eighter-one years 
 old, leaving to each of their three sons 
 some four hundred acres of land. They 
 were pious, conscientious God-fearing 
 Presbyterians, who left the impress of 
 their honored lives in their children and 
 grandchildren. While living in Virginia 
 they owned slaves, as was the general 
 custom in those days; but when they left 
 that State for Ohio they gave to every 
 one of them — men and women slaves 
 alike — absolute freedom. William Black 
 
 was a lifelong farmer, a representative 
 self-made man, and while in \'irginia w^as 
 a circuit court judge fourteen years, fill- 
 ing the office at the time he left the State. 
 Possessed of a wonderfully retentive mem- 
 ory, he with great accuracy could recite 
 entire sermons, speeches, etc. , he may 
 have heard. 
 
 William P. Black, father of Andrew 
 C, the subject of this sketch, was born 
 in 1 800, in Blacksburg, Montgomery 
 county, Va. , and received his education 
 at the schools of the neighborhood. He 
 was reared to agricultural pursuits, and 
 like his father was a life-long farmer. At 
 the age of twenty-one he married Miss 
 Susanna Verdier, a native of Kentucky, 
 and daughter of Adam and Elizabeth 
 (Mercer) Verdier, \'irginians by birth, 
 who in pioneer days moved to Kentucky, 
 thence to Clark county, Ohio, where in 
 1 804 they took up government land. The 
 Verdiers came of wealthy French ances- 
 try, but our subject's grandfather Verdier, 
 being a younger son, according to the 
 law of those days inherited little or noth- 
 ing from his father's estate, and had in 
 the main to shift for himself. After 
 marriage William P. Black and his young 
 wife settled on their farm in Clark county, 
 Ohio, where they died, he in August, 
 1854, at the age of fifty-four years; she 
 was born in 1803, and died when aged 
 over eighty-three years, leaving to their 
 surviving children a valuable estate. Of 
 their family of fifteen children, fourteen 
 reached maturity, and nine are yet living 
 — seven sons and two daughters. Two 
 sons, Cyrus and Adam, were killed in the 
 Civil war — Cyrus while a member of the 
 First Kentucky V. I. , which, along with 
 other Ohioans, he helped to raise, and 
 was color bearer when killed at the battle 
 of Stone River ; Adam joining the army 
 from Clark countj', Ohio. Tw'o other 
 sons, Josiah and William, also served in 
 that war, the former enlisting in Trem- 
 pealeau county. Wis. , the latter in Shaw- 
 nee county, Kans. One son, John G. , 
 and one daughter, Susanna, are still liv- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 509 
 
 ing at the home in Clark county, Ohio, 
 while another son, Seth V., is in the real- 
 estate business in Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Andrew C. Black, who is the only 
 member of his parents' family living in 
 Wisconsin, was reared on the old home- 
 stead where he was born, and received 
 his education at the common schools of 
 the period. In 1846, then twenty-one 
 years old, he made his first trip to Wis- 
 consin, making the journey by way of 
 canal and lakes to Milwaukee, whence he 
 traveled on foot along an Indian trail to 
 the Fo.x River Valley, Green Bay being 
 his destination, where, at the U. S. Land 
 Office, he purchased 256 acres of land, 
 being part of the property whereon he 
 now lives. He then returned to his Ohio 
 home, and for the following year or two 
 was engaged in buying and selling live 
 stock, at the same time, along with a 
 partner, carrying on a general merchan- 
 dise store. In i 848 he paid another visit 
 to Wisconsin, on this occasion coming on 
 horseback, and after riding all over the 
 country, buying a considerable amount of 
 land, he rode to Milwaukee, where he 
 sold his horse. In 1849 he again came 
 to Green Bay, on this occasion for a per- 
 manent settlement, the journey being 
 made by canal and lakes, this time bring- 
 ing with him a cargo of apple butter and 
 other produce, some of which he had on 
 his hands for about twenty years. Since 
 coming here Mr. Black has been engaged 
 almost exclusively in the real-estate busi- 
 ness, carrying on his farm at the same 
 time, buying and selling, principally farm 
 lands. At one time he bought si.xteen 
 quarter sections, and he still owns about 
 one thousand acres located in various 
 parts of northern Wisconsin. 
 
 On September 7, 1851, Andrew C. 
 Black was married to Miss Mary Merritt, 
 of Champaign county, Ohio, born May 
 23, 1828, a daughter of George and Eliz- 
 abeth (Winters) Merritt. Soon after- 
 ward Mr. Black returned with his wife, 
 and settled on his farm, the one they yet 
 live on, which is within the corporation 
 
 of the city of Kaukauna. They have had 
 thirteen children born to them, five of 
 whom are now living: James W., who 
 married Miss Carrie Parks, of Appleton, 
 July 27, 1893 (they live in the city); Lela 
 Ida and Flora May, in Denver, Colo. ; 
 John Merritt and Ada Cynthia, living 
 with their parents; Albert G. and Laura 
 M. are recently deceased, the others died 
 twenty-four years ago. The father of 
 Mrs. Black was born near Harper's Ferry, 
 Va. , June 29, 1796, in 1813 moved to 
 Ohio, with his father, John Merritt, and 
 family, and they settled for their future 
 home in Champaign county, he living 
 with his parents till he married Miss 
 Elizabeth Winters, daughter of Lewis 
 and Anna Winters, of Miami county, 
 Ohio. He then settled on his farm near 
 his father, which he continued improving 
 till he had many broad fields to cultivate, 
 and his business prospered well. He and 
 his wife were the parents of five children, 
 of whom three are yet living: Mrs. Anna 
 (Merritt) Miller, Mrs Mary (Merritt) 
 Black, and John W. Merritt, who re- 
 mained on the farm with his parents. 
 George Merritt, father of these, was a 
 pious, upright man, and lived to be 
 nearly eighty-three years of age; he was 
 one of the deacons of his Church. Mrs. 
 Elizabeth (Winters) Merritt, the mother, 
 was born November 21, 1801, in Mont- 
 gomery county, Va. , was brought by her 
 parents to Miami county, Ohio, in 1804, 
 and lived with them till she was mar- 
 ried. She was a kind wife and good 
 mother, a Church member of long stand- 
 ing, and died August 30, 1892, at the 
 patriarchal age of ninety years, nine 
 months and ten days. 
 
 w 
 
 M. MUEHL. one of the most 
 enterprising business men of Sey- 
 mour, Outagamie county, was 
 born in Germantown, Washing- 
 ton Co., Wis., and is a son of Frederick 
 Muehl, a native of Untenheim, Darm- 
 stadt, Germany. 
 
S'o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Heinrich and Katharina (Hamm) 
 Muehl, grandparents of our subject, came 
 to America three years after their son, 
 hving with their daughter, Mrs. Regina 
 Straub, in Germantown township, Wash- 
 ington county, until called to the home 
 beyond. Their family numbered five 
 children — Ludwig, Christina, Regina, 
 Catherina and Frederick. The last 
 named was reared under the parental 
 roof in the usual manner of farmer lads, 
 and at the age of twenty years emigrated 
 to America, settling in Germantown, 
 Wis., where he arrived August 7, 1843. 
 During the succeeding three years, he 
 worked on a farm near Milwaukee, Wis., 
 then purchased a farm of fifty acres in 
 Germantown township, Washington 
 county. This became his property in 
 1846, and he made his home thereon for 
 twenty-one years, during which time he 
 transformed the land into rich and fertile 
 fields. Selling that farm in 1867, he 
 came to Seymour, Wis., where he bought 
 240 acres of land situated within the cor- 
 poration limits, and the tract being largely 
 unimproved he at once began to clear 
 and develop it. He worked hard, and by 
 his labor and perseverance, and the assist- 
 ance of his four sons, has made this a 
 valuable and highly productive farm, one 
 of the best in this section of the State. 
 
 Frederick Muehl was married in Ger- 
 mantown township, Washington Co., 
 Wis., to Dorothea Anton, and they have 
 become the parents of nine children, 
 namely: Catharina, Frederick, Phillip, 
 William M., Christina, Lena (who died 
 at the age of thirty years), Dorothea, 
 Lizzie, and George. The father of this 
 family is a leading member of the Ger- 
 man Evangelical Church, and has been 
 one of its most active workers. He served 
 as trustee for a number of years, and 
 while the house of worship was being 
 erected, he gave at least one third of the 
 sum necessary for the work, and also gave 
 of his time and labor. In politics he has 
 been a Republican since the organization 
 of the party, but has never sought office, 
 
 preferring to give his energies to his busi- 
 ness interests in which he has been very 
 successful, earning a well-deserved com- 
 petence. 
 
 William M. Muehl acquired his educa- 
 tion in Germantown and Seymour, com- 
 ing to the latter place with his father 
 twenty-seven years ago, and in this city 
 grew to manhood. In his youth he worked 
 on his father's farm, and later was en- 
 gaged in the furniture business with his 
 brother, Phillip, continuing operations 
 along this line for three years. He then 
 embarked in the grocery business, and in 
 1889 added a stock of general merchan- 
 dise. His store is one of the two largest 
 in Seymour, and is a first-class establish- 
 ment of the kind, complete in all its ap- 
 pointments. He receives from the public 
 a liberal and well-deserved patronage, 
 for he earnestly desires to please his cus- 
 tomers, and is straightforward and honor- 
 able in all dealings. Mr. Muehl was mar- 
 ried January 21, 1882, to Miss Emma Re.x, 
 a native of Wisconsin, and they have one 
 child, William R., born May 2, 1886. 
 In his political views, our subject is a 
 Republican, and he is much interested in 
 the success of his party, believing firmly 
 in its principles. In his business dealings 
 he has won success, and his life has been 
 one of usefulness and activity, bringing 
 him high regard. 
 
 DAVID SMITH (deceased). In 
 the earlier ages of the Athenian 
 Republic, the Athenians rivalled 
 each other in acts of patriotic de- 
 votion to their country. They embellished 
 their city with gorgeous palaces, with 
 magnificent temples, and with almost a 
 living, breathing statuary of Pentelic and 
 Parian marble, embodying the virtuous 
 deeds of their patriots and statesmen, 
 their sages, their orators, their heroes and 
 warriors, as illustrious examples of vir- 
 tue and heroism to be inculcated and em- 
 ulated by coming ages. We do not pro- 
 pose to perpetuate the memory of the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 5" 
 
 late David Smith in a statuary of brass or 
 marble, but our purpose is to accomplish 
 the same great object in equally as im- 
 perishable a form, and one much more 
 useful and instructive. 
 
 David Smith was bj' birth a Scotch- 
 man, a son of the land of Scott and 
 Burns, and was born in the village of 
 Torthorwald, Dumfriesshire, January i6, 
 1826. His father, William Stewart 
 Smith, LL. D., was at the head of a 
 classical academy in Torthorwald, and 
 the high standard of instruction for which 
 this institution was famed gave to the vil- 
 lage a more than local celebrity. In 
 1843 Dr. Smith, having been called to 
 the rectorship of the high school at Que- 
 bec, Canada, immigrated to that quaint 
 old capital, and filled the position he was 
 appointed to until his death in 1862. 
 The family followed him across the ocean 
 in 1844, David being then a lad of eight- 
 een summers. Of the surviving sons, 
 Andrew J. is a banker in Minnesota; Jos- 
 eph M. is a banker in River Falls, Wis. ; 
 a third is Rev. Thomas G. Smith, D. D., 
 who has been for several years general 
 secretary of Queen's University, Kings- 
 ton, Ontario (Canada). 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch re- 
 ceived his education at the schools of 
 Torthorwald, Scotland, and on his arri- 
 val in Quebec, Canada, secured a tempo- 
 rary position as clerk in a business office; 
 but in the following year went to Cincin- 
 nati, Ohio, where he received his busi- 
 ness training in a wholesale grocery 
 house. In that city he met the lady who 
 became his wife, Miss Agnes Thom, a 
 native of the historic town of Linlithgow, 
 Scotland, situated about fifteen miles 
 west of Edinburgh. At the early age of 
 eleven years she was left an orphan, and 
 after receiving part of her education in 
 Scotland emigrated to the United States 
 with her uncle, John Walker, Esq. , who 
 became a pioneer settler of Cincinnati, 
 Ohio. Here in a private school Miss 
 Thom finished her education, and on 
 August 29, 1855, she and Mr. Smith 
 
 were married, immediately after which 
 event they came to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 where he secured a position as book- 
 keeper in the grain and commission office 
 of Sanderson Bros. This position he 
 resigned to accept a similar incumbency 
 in the office of Angus Smith & Co.'s Ele- 
 vator Co., in the same city, and in 1856, 
 while so employed, it was his good for- 
 tune to become acquainted with Mr. 
 Robert Shiells, now the president of the 
 National Bank of Neenah, Wis. In 
 
 1 86 1 Mr. Smith resigned his position with 
 the Angus Smith Co., and in com- 
 pany with Mr. Shiells moved to Neenah, 
 where September i, same year, they 
 commenced business as private bankers 
 under the style of "The Bank of 
 Neenah." They soon saw that the busi- 
 ness was not enough for both; so early in 
 
 1862 Mr. Smith went to Appleton (six 
 miles north of Neenah), and established 
 the Bank of Appleton, in which Mr. 
 Shiells, however, had no interest. The 
 Bank of Neenah, with Mr. Smith as 
 president, and Mr. Shiells as cashier, was 
 continued till November, 1865, when it 
 was organized as a National Bank, and 
 Mr. Smith withdrew from it. Soon after- 
 ward he also changed his business at 
 Appleton into a National Bank, and so 
 continued it for a few years; but disliking 
 to be hampered with the National law, in 
 a few years he threw up his charter and 
 returned to his private bank. After a 
 time, however, he found there were disad- 
 vantages in both systems, and once more 
 organized a National Bank, known as the 
 "Manufacturers National Bank," re- 
 maining as such until 1885, when it 
 merged into the Commercial Bank. From 
 the time of his commencing business in 
 1862 till his departure from among us, 
 Mr. Smith was the managing genius who 
 built up a sound, well-conducted bank, 
 and in all these years his reputation as a 
 business man and able financier grew to 
 be widely and favorably known. Besides 
 being an officer of the bank, he was one 
 of its largest stockholders, and the lead- 
 
512 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 ing adviser of the institution with which 
 his name is entitled to be permanently 
 associated. Upon his entry into life he 
 was possessed of advantages and sur- 
 rounded by circumstances combining in a 
 remarkable manner to accelerate the de- 
 velopment of his character and the fur- 
 therance of his future prospects. His 
 innate honesty was conspicuous, and he 
 was energetic and straightforward, to 
 which characteristic trait he owes in a 
 great measure his subsequent prosperity. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. David Smith were 
 born seven children, named as follows: 
 William Stewart, J. Walker, Marion, 
 Robert L. , Alexander M., Agnes and 
 Jeanie Stuart. Of these, William S. is a 
 banker; J. Walker is president of the 
 First National Bank of Grand Forks, N. 
 Dak. ; Marion and Robert L. are living 
 with their widowed mother; Agnes is 
 the wife of Rev. Selby F. Vance, both 
 now in Europe, Mr. Vance attending the 
 Berlin University. The eldest three 
 children were partly educated in Europe; 
 Robert and Alexander attended school at 
 Kingston, Canada, Robert later taking a 
 course at Princeton College. 
 
 For several years Mr. Smith was iden- 
 tified with the Congregational Church, 
 although he was a strong Presbyterian, 
 and was largely instrumental (through 
 bequest in his will) in building the Pres- 
 byterian Church at Appleton, called " The 
 I^Iemorial Church," in memory of his 
 honored father. The beautiful M. E. 
 Church at Appleton owes its completion 
 to a movement started from a bequest in 
 his will of one thousand dollars for a bell 
 to be placed in the completed church not 
 later than three years after his death. He 
 took an interest in all beneficent works, 
 was ever a help to those who needed help, 
 and in all his good acts looked for no re- 
 ward. He died March i, 1876. His 
 widow takes a deep interest in Church 
 matters and deeds of charity, more par- 
 ticularly in connection with the Presby- 
 terian Church, where her influence is far- 
 reaching. The elegant and spacious 
 
 family residence in Appleton was built in 
 1 87 1, and here Mrs. Smith presides with 
 rare grace, in the loving companionship 
 of three of her children who are yet abid- 
 ing at the parental home. 
 
 J 
 
 OHN BRILL. Among men every- 
 where there must always be leaders. 
 Persons not naturally demonstrative 
 to too great a degree, with a high 
 regard for the rights of others, and 
 possessing proper ideas as to the best 
 means of advancing the interests of their 
 communities, are doubtless best fitted for 
 leadership. They do not always attain 
 to that position, but when they do their 
 very character serves as a guarantee that 
 the tasks intrusted to them will be well 
 and faithfully performed, and that por- 
 tion of the world which comes under their 
 influence will be bettered in its condition 
 because of their services. 
 
 John Brill, the son of Michael and 
 Elizabeth (Eberhardy) Brill, is, like his 
 parents, a native of Prussia, in which 
 country lie was born March 26, 1844. 
 His father emigrated with the family to 
 Wisconsin in 1852, settling upon a farm 
 in Granville township, Milwaukee county. 
 He removed to Buchanan township, Outa- 
 gamie county, in 1863, and settled in the 
 woods upon a farm which he cleared and 
 improved. A stanch Democrat, and a 
 sturdy type of the German family, he is 
 yet living at the age of seventy-eight 
 years. His wife died in 1868, having 
 borne a family of ten children, a brief 
 record of whom is as follows: Michael, 
 Jr., died in Germany; John is the subject 
 of this notice; M. H. is proprietor of the 
 "Atlas Hotel" at Appleton, Wis.; Peter 
 J. died January 30, 1885; Elizabeth died 
 in 1868; Mary resides on the old farm; 
 Joseph is a resident of Appleton; R. H. 
 is an employe of the Kaukauna Lumber 
 Company, at Kaukauna; Frances is the 
 wife of John Hied, of I-iaukauna; William 
 is married and resides in Buchanan town- 
 ship. 
 
coMMEMOiiArivE bwgi:aphical record. 
 
 513 
 
 John, the eldest of the children now 
 living, was eight years of age when he 
 came with his parents to Wisconsin. He 
 grew to manhood in Milwaukee county, 
 where he was educated in the schools 
 of Granville township. He came with 
 the family to Kaukauna in 1863, locating 
 with them on the home farm in Bu- 
 chanan township. He worked during 
 the long winters in the lumber woods, 
 and was with the surveyors when the M. , 
 L. S. & W. R. R. was being constructed, 
 helping to cut out the right of way. In 
 1875 he purchased his present fine farm 
 of 160 acres adjoining the city limits of 
 Kaukauna, and in 1885 erected the two- 
 story brick residence he now occupies, 
 46.\56 feet in dimensions, with a two- 
 story addition, 20x40. Brill's addition 
 to Kaukauna was platted by him, and 
 contains forty-two acres, now mostly 
 built up. He is an enthusiastic and well- 
 known breeder of and dealer in blooded 
 stock, also handling real estate. Among 
 other buildings on his farm is a large 
 barn, 35x70 feet, with basement. Like 
 German farmers almost universally, he is 
 thrifty and painstaking, and all around 
 him are seen evidences of his application 
 of plain, practical sense to his business 
 methods. He has accumulated a fair 
 share of wealth, and is considered the 
 representative German citizen of Kau- 
 kauna. In politics Mr. Brill is an active 
 Democrat, who has been repeatedh' hon- 
 ored locally by his part}', and who pos- 
 sesses a wide acquaintance among the 
 public men of his State. He was twice 
 sheriff of Outagamie county — in 1875-76, 
 and again in 1879-80. He was assessor 
 of Buchanan township in i 868-69, and a 
 second time in 1870-71. In 1890 he was 
 elected township chairman, a position he 
 still holds. He is also representative in 
 the State Legislature from the Second 
 Assembly District of Outagamie county. 
 
 Mr. Brill was married, April 25, 1871, 
 in Buchanan township, to Miss Caroline 
 Miller, a native of Bavaria, Germany, 
 and daughter of J. A. and Anna Maria 
 
 (Jacobs) Miller. Her father, who visited 
 Kaukauna in 1885, died in Bavaria in 
 1889; his widow is yet residing in that 
 country. To Mr. and Mrs. Brill have 
 been born seven children: Anna Maria, 
 Helen, Elizabeth, Mollie, Agnes, Veronica 
 and William, the latter of whom died in 
 early infancy; they have also one adopted 
 son, George. Mr. and Mrs. Brill are 
 members of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 in which he holds the position of trustee; 
 he is besides a member of Branch No. 64, 
 Catholic Knights. From his long associ- 
 ation with the public affairs of Outaga- 
 mie county, he has been familiar with the 
 various stages of its development, and in 
 no small measure is the present condition 
 of the county due to his active interest 
 and energetic management of matters 
 within his own field of labor. 
 
 THOMAS DARDIS, sheriff of Outa- 
 gamie county, is one of the lead- 
 ing prosperous agriculturists in 
 northern Wisconsin, owning one 
 of the finest and most productive farms 
 in the county of his adoption. 
 
 He is a native of Dublin, Ireland, 
 born May 9, 1843, a son of Thomas and 
 Mary (Doran) Dardis, also natives of 
 Erin, who came to America in 1845, our 
 subject being then a two-year-old infant. 
 They settled in the town of Canton, St. 
 Lawrence Co., N. Y., where the father 
 conducted a farm up to the time of his 
 death; he died in i860, leaving behind 
 the reputation of being one of the best 
 skilled in his vocation. He was survived 
 by his wife some thirty years, she dying 
 in February, i 890. 
 
 Thomas Dardis, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, was reared on his 
 father's farm in New York State, working 
 with the other hands in the summer sea- 
 sons, and attending school in wintertime, 
 so continuing up to the death of his father. 
 He then confined himself exclusively to 
 the farm, carrying it on for his mother 
 until October, 1863, when, having de- 
 
5'4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 cided to try his fortune farther west, he 
 set out for the State of Michigan, and, 
 locating where the town of Escanaba now 
 stands, secured employment with L. P. 
 White & Co., getting out ties, timber, 
 etc., and with that firm remained nearly 
 four years. His next engagement was 
 with Goldern & Lynch, extensive dealers 
 in lumber, with whom he worked until 
 the spring of 1869, the time of his mar- 
 riage. Having now concluded to "hoe 
 his own row," he bought an uncleared 
 farm in Center township, Outagamie Co., 
 Wis., very heavily timbered, which by 
 dint of unremitting toil and arduous labor 
 he succeeded in clearing and converting 
 into a fertile farmstead. In 1869 he was 
 married to Miss Mary Ann Berry, daugh- 
 ter of Patrick Berry, a native of Ireland, 
 who, assisted by a brother, cleared the 
 first farm in Center township, Outagamie 
 county. On his way from his native land 
 Mr. Berry sojourned a short time in Ohio, 
 where his daughter, Mary Ann (Mrs. 
 Dardis), was born. He died in iSCo, his 
 widow in 1891. 
 
 In his political preferences Mr. Dar- 
 dis is a Democrat, and he has held vari- 
 ous offices in his township, among which 
 may be mentioned that of chairman, 
 which he filled some seven years. He 
 has been a delegate to various county 
 conventions, and in 1892 was elected 
 sheriff of the county, an incumbency he 
 fills with acknowledged ability. He and 
 his wife are members of the Catholic 
 Church. Never forgetting the old home 
 of his boyhood in New York State. Mr. 
 Dardis has made several trips thither, 
 but he is satisfied to pass the rest of his 
 days at his home in the West, which 
 stands as a monument to his industry, 
 perseverance, and sound judgment. 
 
 CHARLES BAKER, one of the 
 largest landowners in Seymour 
 township, Outagamie county, is a 
 native of Brunswick, Germany, 
 born January 20, 1848. He is a son of 
 
 Charles and Rachel Baker, who were the 
 parents of the following named children: 
 August, Henry G., Louisa, Caroline, Har- 
 riet, Charles (our subject), Annie, Will- 
 iam and Louis. 
 
 Charles Baker, Sr. , came to America 
 with his family in 1849. landing at New 
 York in July, after a nine-weeks' voyage. 
 They came westward at once to Milwau- 
 kee, Wis., thence to Richfield township, 
 Washington county, where they lived on 
 a rented farm three years, at the end of 
 that time removing to Germantown, Wis. , 
 and there purchasing eighty acres of land, 
 on which the father passed the remainder 
 of his life, dying January 2, 1891. The 
 mother is now living on the homestead in 
 Germantown, with her youngest son. 
 
 Charles Baker, the subject proper of 
 this memoir, being one of the younger 
 members of the family, remained at home 
 assisting his father until March, 1867, 
 when he went to live with his brother 
 Henry, in Osborn township, Outagamie 
 county (who now resides in California), 
 remaining with him a year, during which 
 time he was employed by George Shep- 
 herd, making pearlash. On December 7, 
 1870, he was married to Miss Wilhelmina 
 Sumnicht, also a native of Germany, and 
 immediately afterward purchased 120 
 acres of land near his present farm, for 
 which he paid six dollars per acre. He 
 took up his residence thereon, and putting 
 up a factory engaged in the manufacture 
 of pearlash, shipping his goods to New 
 York, and continuing in that business a 
 number of years with most gratifying suc- 
 cess. He also kept a small store on Sec- 
 tion 28 — the first store in Seymour town 
 — which he discontinued in 1876. When 
 the pearlash business began to de- 
 cline he abandoned it, in 1881, and 
 investing in i 20 acres of land in Seymour 
 township, commenced farming, to which 
 he has since given his undivided atten- 
 tion. By hard labor he has increased his 
 possessions to 360 acres of good land, all 
 improved and under cultivation. Mr. 
 Baker is widely and favorably known 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 515 
 
 throuf^hout his township, which he has 
 served as treasurer (for sixteen consecu- 
 tive years) and supervisor (for two yearsj, 
 always taking an active interest in every 
 movement for the advancement of the 
 community. He received in his youth a 
 good common-school education, both in 
 German and English, the value of which 
 he has fully learned in his various business 
 transactions. He and his wife have had 
 three children, viz. : William, born No- 
 vember 27, 1 87 1, who now attends school 
 at Oshkosh; Walter, born April 26, 1879, 
 and Louis, born August 25, 1884. Mrs. 
 Baker has been an invalid for the past 
 ten years. In religious faith she and her 
 husband are members of the German 
 Evangelical Church of Seymour. 
 
 CHARLES G. ADKINS. With 
 great pleasure we present to our 
 readers a brief record of the life of 
 this gentleman, satisfied that a 
 study of his character as a successful mer- 
 chant will not be without interest or 
 advantage, especially to the young man 
 just entering the busy arena of commerce. 
 Mr. Adkins is a native of New York 
 State, having first seen the light in the 
 town of Truxton, Cortland county, Oct- 
 ober I, 1822, a son of Thomas Adkins, a 
 tailor by trade, who was born in Poult- 
 ney, Vt. , November 4, 1789. He 
 (Thomas), when a young man, moved to 
 New York State, and died in Onondaga 
 county February 21, 1880. He married 
 Miss Rosanna Griffin, a lady of Hartford 
 (Conn.) nativity, born November 29, 
 1792, and died in Stockbridge, N. Y. , 
 March i, 1852. They reared a family of 
 ten children — six sons and four daughters, 
 our subject being the fifth son. Three 
 other sons — John H., Loren L. and 
 and Martin G. — were Methodist ministers. 
 Thomas Adkins was a man of strong 
 character, firm in his convictions, and 
 possessed of sterling principles. For over 
 forty years he was a class-leader in 
 the Methodist Church. William Adkins, 
 
 grandfather of our subject, was born in 
 Sandwich, Mass., of English parentage, 
 and died in Springfield, Otsego county, 
 New York. 
 
 The subject of our sketch received a 
 liberal common-school education, and at 
 the age of fourteen commenced clerking 
 with his brother, Carlos, who had opened 
 a general store at Split Rock, Onondaga 
 Co., N. Y. , afterward at Clinton, N. Y. , 
 remaining with him some three years. He 
 then removed to Syracuse, N. Y. , and 
 clerked in a general store until 1851, when 
 he and his brother, Carlos, opened a 
 general store in Stockbridge, Madison 
 Co., N. Y. In May, 1853, they dis- 
 solved partnership, and divided the stock, 
 Charles conveying his share by lake from 
 Buffalo to Green Ba\', thence by team to 
 Appleton. At that time this now busy 
 town was but a small place, the " streets " 
 — if such they could properly be called — 
 being still lined with stumps; and Mr. 
 Adkins was one of the very first mer- 
 chants to come into the place, with which 
 for over forty years he has been identified 
 both commercially and socially. In 1883 
 he opened a branch house in Antigo, 
 Wis., which he conducted until 1892, 
 when he retired from business, and has 
 since been enjoying with ease and com- 
 fort the well-earned repose that comes to 
 a life of honest industry. His first place 
 of business in Appleton was a compara- 
 tively primitive affair; but about the year 
 1870 he purchased two stores, a little to 
 the east of the old location, having a 
 frontage on College avenue of forty-eight 
 feet, and running back to Market street, 
 a depth of 128 feet. In 1871, upon the 
 organization of the Manufacturers Na- 
 tional Bank, Mr. Adkins, who was one 
 of the prime movers in its establishment, 
 became its first president until it was con- 
 solidated, in 1883, with the Commercial 
 National Bank, of which he is a stock- 
 holder and director. For over thirty years 
 he has been one of the trustees of Law- 
 rence University, and treasurer of same 
 institution over seven j^ears. Politically 
 
5i6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he is a strict Republican, and although 
 frequently urged by friends to accept of- 
 fice, has invariably declined. 
 
 On January 12, 1847, Charles G. Ad- 
 kins and Eloisa L. Woodward were 
 united in marriage in Syracuse, Onon- 
 daga Co., N. Y. She was born in the 
 State of New York, July 2, 182 1, a 
 daughter of John W. Woodward, a mer- 
 chant, who came to Appleton in 1852, 
 where for several years he was an active 
 business man, dying there in September, 
 1868; his wife had preceded him to the 
 grave in i860. To Mr. and Mrs. Adkins 
 were born three children, as follows: 
 Charles V., married and living in Antigo, 
 Wis.; Adelbert G., who died in infancy, 
 and Lillie A., now wife of J. E. Hubbel, 
 deputy county clerk of Syracuse, Onon- 
 daga Co., N. Y. , with residence in Syra- 
 cuse. Since 1840, before their marriage, 
 our subject and wife have been members 
 of the Methodist Church. In the half 
 century or more in which he was in busi- 
 ness, Mr. Adkins experienced a remark- 
 ably successful career, one of honorable 
 fair and square dealing both as buyer and 
 seller. He never had a failure, always 
 paid one hundred cents on the dollar, and 
 all this came from a commencement on 
 nothing, his only capital being energy, 
 perseverance, industry and honor. 
 
 WOODFORD D. JORDAN, an 
 extensive farmer and prominent 
 citizen of Shiocton, Outagamie 
 county, is a descendant in the 
 eighth generation from Rev. Robert Jor- 
 dan, a native of England and a clergyman 
 of the Church of England, who settled in 
 Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland county, 
 Maine, in 1640, and was one of the 
 wealthy inhabitants and great landed pro- 
 prietors of that region. 
 
 The regular line of descent follows: 
 Dominicus Jordan, son of Robert, was 
 born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, about 
 1663. His son, Dominicus Jordan, third 
 generation from Robert, was born in the 
 
 same town in 1683, and Nathaniel, son of 
 Dominicus (second), first saw the light in 
 the same place December 24, 1718. Do- 
 minicus Jordan (third), son of Nathaniel, 
 was born in 1 746, also in Cape Elizabeth, 
 and became, in 1774, the first settler in 
 the town of Raymond, in the said county 
 of Cumberland. His son, William Jor- 
 dan, was born in Cape Elizabeth previous 
 to his parents' removal, but was reared 
 in Raymond. His son, Dominicus Jor- 
 dan (fourth), father of Woodford, was 
 born in Raymond, January 17, 1796, and 
 in 185 I removed to the village of De Pere, 
 Wis., where he died January 5, 1869; he 
 had been a merchant by occupation. He 
 represented his native town in the Maine 
 Legislature in 1830, 1831 and 1834, and 
 in 1 841 removed to Gorham, Maine. He 
 was a member of Gov. John Fairfield's 
 council in 1842-43, and represented the 
 town of Gorham in the Legislature in 
 1844. As stated, he removed to De Pere, 
 Wis., in 1 85 1, and subsequently held the 
 office of president of that village. His 
 wife was Keziah Dingley, who bore him 
 five children: Woodford D. ; Martha, now 
 the widow of William Field, of De Pere; 
 Susan D. M., who died in 1892; Anna 
 Maria, now Mrs. Benjamin F. Smith, of 
 De Pere; and Robert Dunlap, who was 
 drowned at Shiocton in 1858. 
 
 Woodford D. Jordan was born in the 
 same town as his father, Raymond (now 
 Casco), Cumberland Co., Maine, January 
 19, 1825. He was a pioneer in this sec- 
 tion of Wisconsin, having come to De- 
 Pere in 1 846, thence to what is now 
 Bovina township. Separate township 
 organizations had not yet been formed, 
 the territory included being known only 
 as a part of Brown county, and this was 
 two years before Wisconsin became a 
 State. In company with Randall John- 
 son Mr. Jordan purchased 640 acres of 
 land, including the present site of Shioc- 
 ton. The axe had not yet been laid to a 
 single tree in the neighborhood, and the 
 vast forest was before and around the 
 venturesome pioneers in all its wildness. 
 
COMMEMOUArrVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 517 
 
 The nearest settler was six miles away, 
 at Stephensville. Mr. Jordan at a later 
 date purchased the interest of his partner, 
 Mr. Johnson, who went farther north and 
 became a successful lumberman. In 1875 
 Mr. Jordan surveyed and laid out the vil- 
 lage plat of Shiocton, the original plat of 
 which is now in his possession. As set- 
 tlers arrived, the property was sold to 
 them in farms and village lots, until the 
 place now has a population of about four 
 hundred, Mr. Jordan still retaining a con- 
 siderable interest. About 1874 he pur- 
 chased seventy-five acres of land for a 
 homestead, to which he has since added 
 until it now comprises 350 acres. He has 
 dealt largely in land in this region, always 
 successfully, and at one time owned in the 
 neighborhood of eight thousand acres, lo- 
 cated in several townships in Outagamie 
 and Brown counties. He disposed of this 
 large holding, however, until he has at 
 present only about one thousand acres, 
 which is all he desires to manage. 
 
 On December 1 4, 1 8 5 i , Mr. Jordan was 
 united in marriage with Mary Elizabeth 
 Manning, daughter of Oliver E. and Marcia 
 (Blanchard) Manning, natives of Berlin, 
 N. Y., where Mrs. Jordan was born June 
 23, 1 83 1. She was one of a family of 
 eleven children: Selucia, Lucius O. E., 
 Eldridge B., Eliphalet, Arabella, Thomas, 
 Palmer J., Hiram N., Marcia Ann E., 
 Mary Elizabeth and Paulina. Her father, 
 who was a successful farmer, removed 
 with his family to Oshkosh, Wis. , in 
 1846, and there the parents spent the re- 
 mainder of their lives. When Mr. and 
 Mrs. Jordan were married, the former 
 was engaged in merchandising and milling 
 in the village of Shiocton, and that place 
 continued to be their home for the next 
 thirty j'ears. In 1882 they removed to the 
 homestead they now occupy, which had 
 then about forty acres cleared; to-day 
 there are 125 acres in tillable condition. 
 
 Mr. Jordan was originally a Democrat 
 in politics, but became a Republican at 
 the birth of that party. He was the first 
 district clerk in Shiocton, and held the 
 
 position thirty five years, so long as he 
 remained in the village; he has for about 
 three years been a member of the town 
 board, of which he was once chairman, 
 and has been supervisor three years. He 
 was a supporter of the Greenback party 
 while it existed, and was the unanimous 
 nominee for assemblyman; was also ten- 
 dered the nomination for congressman, 
 but declined. At present his political 
 affiliations are with the Populists. 
 
 FA. TOWSLEY, who for the past 
 several years has been the efficient 
 cashier of the Bank of Kaukauna, 
 in Kaukauna, Outagamie county, 
 is a native of Wisconsin, born at Port 
 Washington, Ozaukee county, in 1858. 
 
 He is a son of Lafajette and Martha 
 J. (Calkins) Towsley, whose place of na- 
 tivity was New York State, the father 
 born in Williamstown, where he was 
 reared and chiefly educated. He after- 
 ward attended Cazenovia College, in the 
 same State, and early in the "forties," 
 before marriage, he came to Wisconsin, 
 where in Port Washington he followed 
 his profession, that of civil engineer. In 
 1849 he revisited New York State and 
 married, immediately after returning with 
 his young wife to Port Washington. In 
 addition to civil engineering, he served as 
 court commissioner, and was also elected 
 county surveyor and justice of the peace, 
 offices which, though now past seventy 
 years of age, he is still holding in Port Wash- 
 ington, where he and his wife yet reside. 
 They had born to them nine children, five 
 of whom are living, as follows: Alice, a 
 resident of Port Washington; F. A., sub- 
 ject of sketch; Charles D., who entered 
 West Point Military Academy in 1880, 
 graduated in 1884, and served in the regu- 
 lar army as lieutenant, being stationed at 
 Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, also at Fort Omaha, 
 Neb. ; Henry, in the employ of the Chi- 
 cago & Northwestern Railroad Company, 
 and Robert, an engineer in the service of 
 the same company, all of whom are mar- 
 
5i8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ried. Mr. Tovvsley is a Democrat in politics 
 and a member of the F. & A. M., of the 
 Lodge of which Fraternity he is secretary. 
 
 F. A. Towsley, after receiving a Hb- 
 eral education at the pubHc schools of 
 Port Washington, learned telegraphy, and 
 for five years was employed as operator 
 at that point. In 1876 he removed to 
 Kaukauna, and here he was in the em- 
 ploy of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & 
 Western Railroad Company in the ca- 
 pacity of station agent for some seven 
 }-ears after the road had been extended to 
 this point. At that time the present 
 South side of Kaukauna was but a wilder- 
 ness of woods, there being but one resi- 
 dence of any size in the neighborhood. 
 The railway station house was made of 
 rough boards, neither lathed or plastered. 
 This was destroyed by fire July 7, 1878. 
 and while the new depot was being 
 erected a box-car on a side-track was im- 
 provised as an office for a couple of 
 months. On the completion of the new 
 depot Mr. Towsle\' continued as station 
 agent until his appointment, August i, 
 1 88 1, as cashier of Renter Bros., a pri- 
 vate bank. On September i. 18S3, this 
 bank was incorporated under the banking 
 laws of Wisconsin, and became known as 
 the Bank of Kaukauna. The present 
 officers are: Peter Renter, president; 
 Otto H. Runte, vice-president; F. A. 
 Towsley, cashier, and under their judi- 
 cious and conservative management the 
 bank has enjoyed a remarkable career of 
 prosperity, some of the main reasons be- 
 ing undoubtedly the prompt and business- 
 like methods employed, and the popularity 
 of the gentlemanly and accommodating 
 cashier, who has earned for himself a 
 wide popularit}-. 
 
 In December, 1880, Mr. Towsley was 
 married, in Kaukauna. to Miss Ella Ter- 
 williger. a native of Brown county. Wis., 
 adopted daughter of Charles and Mel- 
 vinia Terwilliger, the former of whom 
 died in Dakota in 1S90; the latter is now 
 living in South Dakota. Four children 
 have been born to our subject and his 
 
 amiable wife, three of which are living, 
 named respectively: Pearle, Charles and 
 Ethel. In politics Mr. Towsley is a Re- 
 publican, and at the present time he is 
 serving as member and clerk of the board 
 of education for Kaukauna City. He 
 built the second house on the South side, 
 and since coming to the town has seen 
 its marvelous transformation from a few 
 scattered cabins hidden away in the wild 
 woods to a booming city, rich even now, 
 and richer still in the golden future that 
 must come to it. 
 
 JUDGE G. T. MOESKES. The hfe 
 of this gentleman, presenting, as it 
 does, a worth}' example to the rising 
 generation, has been one of hard 
 work from his early boyhood, for the past 
 several years in the performance of ardu- 
 ous professional duty in the several rela- 
 tions in which he has been placed. The 
 high dignity to which he has attained is 
 evidence in itself that these qualities 
 afford the means of distinction under a 
 system of government in which the places 
 of honor are open to all who may be 
 found worthy of them. 
 
 He is a native of Prussia, born in the 
 Rhine Province, January 18, 1846, of hon- 
 est, industrious parents, who brought their 
 children up in the paths of rectitude. 
 The father, Herman Moeskes, was born 
 April 10, 1 8 17, in Holland, and was a 
 coachman and hunter in the service of a 
 nobleman, at the same time owning a 
 small farm, in Rhein Prussia, up to i860, 
 the year of his coming to America with 
 his family. \N'hen he was three years old 
 he lost his father, and when a bo}- of nine 
 his mother was taken from him by the 
 hand of death, after which he was cared 
 for and reared by an aunt. In November, 
 1844, he married Miss Catherine Geeren, 
 daughter of a small farmer of the Rhine 
 Province, and to this union were born ten 
 children, three of whom are yet living, 
 Judge G. T. being the eldest in the family. 
 In i860 they came to the United States, 
 
COMMEMOHATIVE nWGRAPHWAL BECORD. 
 
 521 
 
 from the port of landing making their way 
 westward to Wisconsin, and settUng in the 
 city of Manitowoc, where the mother died 
 in 1866, the father on April 28, 1894. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received all 
 his schooling in his native land, and was 
 fourteen years old when he came with the 
 rest of the family to Wisconsin. His 
 parents being comparatively poor people, 
 rendered the more so by the continued ill 
 health of his father, the lad enjoyed but 
 few, if an_\-, advantages; yet his after life 
 demonstrated to a remarkable degree that 
 success more generally waits upon men 
 who, in early life, are not encumbered 
 with a bountiful supply of this world's 
 goods. The family, moreover, was large, 
 and so the boy, who was "father to the 
 man," went out to work at whatever he 
 could find to do, thus helping his parents 
 to establish a comfortable home, his even- 
 ings and, frequently, Sundays being de- 
 voted to studying the English language. 
 He still corresponds with his old teacher 
 in Germany, who has never yet left the 
 old school the Judge attended some forty 
 years ago. 
 
 At the age of twent}' Judge Moeskes 
 commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, 
 which he followed two }ears, and then 
 took up the insurance business in Mani- 
 towoc; but shortly afterward, in 1868, 
 he moved to Appleton, which he made his 
 headquarters, having been appointed trav- 
 eling agent for an insurance company. 
 In this line he continued until April, 1874, 
 when he was elected a justice of the peace, 
 his home being now permanently located 
 in Appleton. This was the first office he 
 ever held, and he was elected to it with- 
 out his knowledge while he was absent 
 from home on a business trip of a month's 
 ■duration. He reached home a week after 
 election, and the first intimation he had 
 of the honor conferred upon him was his 
 wife informing him that she understood 
 he had been elected to an office, but 
 what office she did not then know. In 
 the spring 1876 he commenced the study 
 •of law in the office of Collins &: Pierce, 
 
 29 
 
 and later in the same year he was elected 
 clerk of the circuit court, an office he 
 filled with characteristic ability and fidelity 
 eight years, during which time he as- 
 siduously kept up the study of law. In 
 1884 he was admitted to the bar, and, at 
 the expiry of his term of office as clerk of 
 the circuit court, commenced the practice 
 of law in Appleton, having as a partner 
 Humphrey Pierce, an arrangement that 
 was terminated at the end of five jears. 
 In 1889, duly appreciating his ability and 
 many qualifications, the people elected 
 him county judge, and in 1893 he was 
 re-elected. 
 
 In October, 1869, Judge Moeskes was 
 married to Miss Maria P. Kamps, of Ap- 
 pleton, whose father was a native of the 
 village in Prussia where the Judge was 
 born, and who came to Appleton in i860; 
 he was a tanner by trade and built the 
 first tannery in the town; he died in 1872, 
 his widow in 1873, the parents of thirteen 
 children, Mrs. Moeskes being the young- 
 est. To our subject and wife were born 
 seven children, four of whom are de- 
 ceased, two in infancy, Agnes (the eldest) 
 in 1892, at the age of twenty-one, and 
 William in October, 1893, when a prom- 
 ising lad of sixteen summers. The sur- 
 vivors are Herman E., register in probate 
 of this county; Katie M., wife of E. W. 
 Sacksteder, a druggist and member of 
 the firm of Kamps & Sacksteder, of Ap- 
 pleton, Wis. ; and Lizzie, still under the 
 parental roof. The mother died August 
 13, 1894, aged forty-six years. The 
 Judge, as was also his much beloved wife, 
 is a consistent member of the Catholic 
 Church. He was one of the organizers 
 and charter members of Branch No. 6, 
 C. K. W., an insurance organization, and 
 its president for ten successive years, dur- 
 ing which time it increased its member- 
 ship from twenty-three to 155, when he 
 declined a re-election and was presented 
 with an elegant gold-mounted cane, ap- 
 propriately inscribed. In business enter- 
 prises he was one of the organizers, and 
 for six years, treasurer of the Appleton 
 
522 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Loan & Building Association; one of 
 the orf^ani^ers and director and secretary 
 of the Union Toy & Furniture Company; 
 one of the organizers and directors of the 
 Appleton Straw Board Company (in 
 none of which he is at present in any 
 way connected); and one of the organiz- 
 ers of the Citizens National Bank of 
 Appleton, Wis. , of which he is a director. 
 In his political preferments the Judge has 
 always been a Democrat, and in 1 880-8 1 
 he served as amemuerof the city council. 
 We can not conclude this brief sketch 
 without some observation on the private 
 worth of Judge G. T. Moeskes. We 
 know of no man whose character, in this 
 respect, will bear a severer scrutiny, for 
 in all the transactions of life his conduct 
 is marked by the most scrupulous integ- 
 rity, and he guards his honor with that 
 sensitive care which has ever kept it far 
 above suspicion. 
 
 GEORGE HUBERT Le FEVRE, 
 one of the shrewdest of the 
 shrewd Wisconsin lumbermen, 
 is a native of the State, and was 
 born August 22, 1842, at Madison. His 
 grandfather Le Fevre was born in France, 
 and with his family emigrated and settled 
 in La Prairie, Canada, nine miles from 
 Montreal, where he and his wife both 
 died. They were farmers by occupation, 
 and were very prosperous. 
 
 David Le Fevre, father of George, 
 was born in Canada, and was also a 
 farmer, although in early life he followed 
 the trade of blacksmith. In 1840 he 
 went to Madison, expecting to work in 
 a shop, but instead went to work on a 
 farm near the city. Previous to his de- 
 parture for Madison, he was married in 
 Mackinac, Wis., to Miss Mary Ann 
 Dousman, daughter of John and Rosalia 
 (La Board) Dousman, 0/ Green Bay, 
 Wis. Mrs. Dousman possessed an 
 excellent education, and was a woman of 
 great ability and much strength of char- 
 acter. She was an instructor and inter- 
 
 preter in an Indian school at Keshena, 
 Wis. , and not only did she teach the In- 
 dians, but also accompanied them to di- 
 vine services and interpreted the sermons 
 for them. She was much beloved by 
 them, over whom she possessed great in- 
 fluence. Hers was a life of usefulness 
 and devotion to that much abused race, 
 and many a red man owed his civilization 
 and education to Grandmother Dous- 
 man's patient services. She died at the 
 age of eighty years, but her name is still 
 reverentl}' spoken of by the old inhabit- 
 ants, who knew of her and the good she 
 accomplished. Mr. and Mrs. David Le- 
 Fevre were the parents of nine children, 
 viz.: David, George H. four subject), 
 Elizabeth, Wallace W., Katie, John G., 
 Jennie, Eugene R. and Rosalind. The 
 mother died in x^pril, 1892, at the age of 
 seventy-six years; the father is still living, 
 and makes his home with his son, Wal- 
 lace W., at Tustin, ^^'isconsin. 
 
 George H. Le Fevre was brought up 
 on his father's farm near Madison, Wis. 
 He enlisted August 25, 1864, when but 
 twenty-one years of age, in Company K, 
 Fifth Wis. V. I., and served until the 
 war closed, taking part in the main en- 
 gagements of the last year, and helping 
 to capture General Lee at Appomattox 
 Court House. He participated in the 
 grand review of troops at Washington, 
 and, being honorably discharged, returned 
 home. He farmed for two }ears, near 
 Eureka, Winnebago county, then moved 
 to Winneconne, same county, where he 
 followed various pursuits. He ran a 
 freight steamboat on the Fox and Wolf 
 rivers for six years, in which, however, 
 he was only moderately successful; from 
 that he began to take contracts from 
 railroad companies, which he followed 
 for a short time, after which he entered 
 the employ of Thomas Wall, for whom 
 he has worked ever since. Mr. Le- 
 Fevre resided in Winneconne for twenty- 
 three years, and in 1891 came to New 
 London. Waupaca county, where he 
 lived one and one-half years, and in the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 523 
 
 fall of 1892 came to Shiocton, Bovina 
 township. Outagamie county, where he 
 still (1894) resides. He has built for 
 himself an office and house, and put up 
 a steam sawmill with an annual capacity 
 of three million feet, or twenty-five thou- 
 sand feet per day. 
 
 As the confidential manager of 
 Thomas Wall's immense lumber firm, he 
 has paid out large sums of money, but 
 looks after the interests of the firm so 
 carefully that not one cent is wasted. He 
 was married January 13, 1866, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Haner. a daughter of Elles 
 Haner, of Eureka, and they have two 
 daughters: Maude, married to Walter 
 Oakes, of Winneconne, and Ollie A., 
 her father's clerk and book-keeper. Mr. 
 Le Fevre is a respected member of the 
 I. O. O. P., and as a veteran meets his 
 old comrades at the G. A. R. Lodge, 
 where his genial nature makes him a gen- 
 eral favorite. 
 
 RW. SPAULDING, merchant and 
 one of the best-known citizens of 
 Maine township. Outagamie coun- 
 t}', was born January 23, 1854, 
 in Clinton, Me. He is a son of Har- 
 rison and Philinda (Berdeen) Spaulding, 
 who reared a family of five children, 
 namely: R. W., A. A., Eugene, Percilla, 
 and Anna M. In 1868 the family came to 
 Wisconsin and commenced pioneer life 
 on a farm of eighty acres in Maine town- 
 ship, Outagamie county. 
 
 R. W. Spaulding was united in mar- 
 riage, in 1873. with Miss Anna E. At- 
 water, and for some time they lived in 
 the western part of Maine township, 
 where he worked on the river and in the 
 woods for two years. He then pur- 
 chased 120 acres of land in same town, 
 and they made their home thereon 
 for seven years, at same time being in- 
 terested in the lumber business, at the 
 end of which time they sold the place on 
 which Mr. Spaulding had expended much 
 labor, and in 1888 purchased another 
 
 piece of land, made improvements and 
 built a house in same township. In 
 1890 he bought the store of which he is 
 now proprietor. He is also postmaster 
 at Stinson, in connection, and since he 
 was twenty-three years old he has held 
 various positions of trust in his locality, 
 among other offices those of town clerk 
 and treasurer, and he is now chairman of 
 the town. He is a stanch supporter of 
 the Democratic party. Mr. and Mrs, 
 Spaulding are the parents of eight chil- 
 dren, viz.: Lela M. and Clarence E., 
 both of whom died at the respective 
 ages of six and three months; and Alvy 
 L. , Leona B., Inda A., Ray, Grover 
 and John H. 
 
 FT. RICHARDSON, photographer. 
 Kaukauna, is the eldest of four 
 sons born to A. B. and Elizabeth 
 (Phipps) Richardson, the former 
 of whom is a native of New York, the 
 latter of Leamington, England. 
 
 The father lived on the Bermuda 
 Islands with his brother from the age of 
 four to thirteen years, when he became a 
 sailor, following a seafaring life for seven 
 years. When twenty years old he came 
 to Milwaukee. Wis., and for five years 
 sailed on the lakes. He was married in 
 that city, and finally settled on a farm in 
 the woods near Manitowoc, upon which 
 property, now cleared and improved, he 
 and his wife still reside. The remaining 
 children of this worthy couple are W. M., 
 a photographer at Red Wing, Minn. ; T. 
 A., engaged in the same business at Ham- 
 ilton. Bermuda Islands; and George B., 
 a merchant at Stephenson. Michigan. 
 
 F. I. Richardson was born in 1 861, in 
 Manitowoc, Wis., where he grew up, was 
 educated, and learned his trade in the 
 establishment of Melindy & Packard. In 
 1 882 he commenced business at Hamilton, 
 in the Bermuda Islands, where he found 
 experience a valuable school, and gained 
 thereby much practical knowledge of the 
 photographer's art. From the Bermudas. 
 
SH 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 where he had built up an extensive busi- 
 ness, he returned to Wisconsin, locating 
 at Appleton in September, 1891. In 
 August, 1892, he erected a studio on the 
 island, at Kaukauna, operating both that 
 and the one at Appleton until the fall of 
 1893. Aside from the gallery at Kau- 
 kauna he has brandies at Hilbert Junc- 
 tion and Brillion, as well as an interest in 
 the fine plant at Hamilton, Bermuda 
 Islands. On September 27, 1893, he was 
 married at Appleton, to Josie Ander- 
 son, daughter of Warren and Maryetta 
 Anderson, of Appleton, where Mr. Ander- 
 son is now engaged in the music business. 
 Mr. Richardson is well known in the Fox 
 River Valley, and takes an active interest 
 in all matters of public importance. He 
 is a Republican in politics, a member of 
 Appleton Lodge, No. 113, K. of P., and 
 with his wife attends the services of the 
 M. E. Church of Kaukauna. 
 
 CE. KAUGHT. Recognizing the 
 fact that on the journalistic field 
 there is plenty of room for men 
 with brains and vim, the young 
 man whose name appears at the begin- 
 ning of this article has chosen for his 
 calling the newspaper profession, with 
 what degree of success is shown in his 
 present well-kept establishment and the 
 excellent business he enjoys. 
 
 Mr. Raught is a son of Dr. G. M. and 
 Jane (Slover) Raught, and was born in 
 1866 at Neenah, Winnebago Co., Wis., 
 whence, when twelve years of age, he 
 •came with his parents to Kaukauna. He 
 was educated at the public schools of 
 these places, and in 1881 entered the 
 office of the Kaukauna Times as office 
 boy, at small wages. By close applica- 
 tion to business, and his aptitude as a 
 printer, he worked upward through the 
 various positions connected with the 
 office until, in 1885, he became associ- 
 ated as a partner in the publication of 
 the paper. The first number of the 
 TitiiiS was issued September 1 1, 1880, by 
 
 Hopkins & Gates, and a few months 
 later Mr. Hopkins died. The surviving 
 publisher afterward sold to H. A. Stone, 
 of Neenah, who in turn disposed of the 
 plant to E. C. Bidwell, of Kaukauna. In 
 1885 a half interest was purchased by 
 Mr. Raught, who, upon the death of Mr. 
 Bidwell in 1SS7, bought the remaining 
 interest, and has since continued as sole 
 proprietor. A well-equipped job print- 
 ing office is operated, as well as a book 
 bindery. In place of the original hand 
 press, three fine power cylinder presses 
 have been placed in the office, and the 
 paper has increased its circulation to 
 1,200 through the untiring efforts of its 
 editor and publisher. Himself an active, 
 earnest Republican, Mr. Raught has 
 built up his paper on the fundamental 
 principles of that great party, and it is 
 recognized as an organ of no mean ability. 
 In 1 89 1 he erected a fine residence on 
 the North side, and is the happy pos- 
 sessor of a model home. In the same 
 year he was married to Miss Minnie Clas- 
 pill. He has served two years as alder- 
 man from the Fifth ward, and is prom- 
 inent in society circles. Sociall}' he is 
 chancellor commander of Fox River 
 Lodge, No. 90, K, of P., and a member 
 of Kaukauna Lodge, No. 233, F. &. A. 
 M. Both Mr. and Mrs. Raught attend 
 the services of the Congregational Church, 
 and their future is bright and full of 
 promise. 
 
 THEODORE KNAPSTEIN, than 
 whom there is no more prominent, 
 better-known or more highly re- 
 spected citizen in New London, 
 of which city he is the efficient postmas- 
 ter, was born in Prussia, Germanj', No- 
 vember 12, 1848, a son of Mathias and 
 Marguerita (Krutzberg) Knapstein. 
 
 The father of our subject was born in 
 Alfter, Prussia, March 21, 1825, and fol- 
 lowed the vocation of farmer and harness 
 maker. In 1855, accompanied by his 
 wife and children, he emigrated to this 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 52s 
 
 country, arriving, March 9, in New York, 
 whence he at once came westward to 
 Wisconsin, reaching Outagamie county 
 April 18 following, where he passed the 
 rest of his days an honored and high- 
 ly-esteemed citizen, dying in August, 
 1894; his wife passed away in March, 
 1893. To this pioneer couple were born 
 ten children, of whom are yet living: 
 \\'illiam, residing in Iowa; Elizabeth, wife 
 of Jacob Stueser, of Sherwood, Wis. ; 
 Barbara, wife of Michael Schaller, of 
 New London; John, living in Greenville, 
 Outagamie county; Margaret, wife of 
 Ferdinand Reitzner, of Black Creek, Out- 
 agamie county; Conrad, Theodore, and 
 Henry. 
 
 Theodore Knapstein was, as will be 
 seen, about seven years old when became 
 to Wisconsin, and to Greenville, Outa- 
 gamie county. He secured a good com- 
 mon-school education, and until he was 
 twenty-one years old worked on a farm, 
 after which he commenced learning the 
 brewing business in New London, whither 
 he had removed in 1871, and has since 
 continued in that industry. In 1872 he 
 was a member of the then village board, 
 and member of the city council until 1884; 
 was mayor in the latter year, and presi- 
 dent of the council in 1885. In 1889 he 
 was a member of the Assembly, was re- 
 elected in I 890, and elected sergeant-at- 
 arms in 1893. In 1894 he was appointed 
 postmaster at New London, taking charge 
 of the office on the ist day of February. 
 On September 13, 1875, Mr. Knapstein 
 was married to Frances Werner, who was 
 born in Appleton, Wis. , September 4, 
 1855, daughter of Francis and Lena 
 (Spitzer) Werner, Germans by birth, and 
 to this union have been born ten children, 
 their names and dates of birth being as 
 follows: Ida Marguerita, November 20, 
 1876; Anna Magdalena, March 8, 1878; 
 Mathias William, June 28, 1879; Mary 
 Frances, February 13, 1881; Anna Hen- 
 rietta, April 4, 1883; Erino Anna, De- 
 cember 28, 1884; Henry Theodore, Sep- 
 tember 19, 1886; William, March 24, 
 
 1888; John George, April 24, 1891; and 
 Theodore Michael, November 20, 1892. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Knapstein and the elder 
 children are members of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and in politics he is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 IVI 
 
 ARTINCOONEN. Conspicuous 
 among the honored pioneers of 
 Buchanan township, Outagamie 
 county, stands the gentleman 
 whose name is here recorded. He is a 
 son of James and Cornelia fjacobs) 
 Coonen, who dwelt in the village of Zee- 
 land, Holland, where Mr. Coonen owned a 
 farm and kept a hotel. In 1 848 they came 
 to America and to Wisconsin, where they 
 settled on a homestead in the township of 
 Buchanan, Outagamie county, now owned 
 by the subject of this sketch. Eight chil- 
 dren were born to them, of whom two- 
 died in Holland and two in the United 
 States. John, the eldest, who is a re- 
 tired merchant in De Pere, is married 
 and has one son, Henry; Henrietta is 
 married to Louis Brown, a merchant in 
 De Pere, and has two sons and six daugh- 
 ters; Martin is the subject of these lines ^ 
 George is a farmer residing in Kaukauna, 
 is married and has two daughters and 
 eleven sons. 
 
 Martin Coonen was born in Holland 
 December 22, 1840, and was about eight 
 years old when the family came to Bu- 
 chanan township. Outagamie county, where 
 he attended the district school, and as he 
 grew older, assisted in the work on the 
 farm. In 1863 he enlisted in the Fiftieth 
 Regiment Wis. V. I., serving one year 
 and nine months. His regiment started 
 from Camp Randall (Madison) for St. 
 Louis, where they remained ten days; 
 from there went to Memphis, Tenn., but 
 was soon ordered back to St. Louis, from 
 which place they marched in rapid suc- 
 cession through Missouri, taking in Jef- 
 ferson City, Kansas City, St. Joe and 
 Waverly. They then proceeded to Fort 
 Leavenworth, Kans., with the Third Cav- 
 
536 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 airy, and there remained about two 
 months, when they were sent across the 
 plains to fight the Indians, where they 
 remained until the war closed, at which 
 time they returned to Madison and were 
 honorably discharged. On November 1 9, 
 1866, Mr. Coonen was married to Miss 
 Catharine Verstegen, daughter of Arnold 
 Verstegen, and eleven children came to 
 them, of whom nine are still living. The 
 eldest, James L. , is a paper maker in the 
 Combined Locks Paper Co., in Bu- 
 chanan; George W. is also a paper maker 
 in Buchanan; Annie is at home; Kate is at- 
 tending school in Appleton; Arnold Alex- 
 ander, John E., Christina, Frank and 
 Nellie are all still at home. 
 
 Mr. Coonen is a thoroughly practical 
 farmer, a careful manager and a good 
 business man. He is also a veterinary 
 surgeon, and is famed for operations he 
 has performed on horses and cattle and 
 for his skill in curing ruptures, no matter 
 where situated. The people in his local- 
 ity, who know him well, appreciating his 
 worth, have elected him to a number of 
 town offices; he was chairman of the 
 township board in Buchanan three years, 
 was school trustee for a long time, and 
 served as deputy sheriff one term. He 
 has no political aspirations, but considers 
 it the duty of every citizen to accept an 
 office when tendered b}' the people. He 
 is a member of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, and attends the services of the 
 Holy Angels Parish Church, in Darboy, 
 near his home. On August 12, 1862, 
 while sailing between Green Bay and 
 Sturgeon Bay, Mr. Coonen was ship- 
 wrecked, the vessel, which was laden 
 with brick and sand and bound for Green 
 Bay, being struck by a sort of cyclone 
 about eight o'clock a. m., causing her to 
 founder inside of ten minutes. This oc- 
 curred in the west side of the bay, and 
 Mr. Coonen swam from there to the east- 
 ern shore, and saved the life of Peter 
 Van Debrook (now a resident of Green 
 Bay), who was lying on or clinging 
 to a board six feet long. It took our 
 
 hero fifteen hours to make ten miles, al- 
 though wind and waves were in his favor, 
 and he succeeded in gaining the shore a 
 little after eleven o'clock, reaching the 
 home of one Arkenson, who kindly cared 
 for him and his rescued friend, and took 
 them to Green Bay the following morn- 
 ing. One of the men who were drowned 
 was Theodore Jansen, whose home was in 
 De Pere. 
 
 RUSH WINSLOW, M. D. This 
 gentleman stands before us as an 
 example of the persevering, stu- 
 dious and successful professional 
 man; and not only so, but also as an 
 example of the practical workings of an 
 earnest and sincere philanthropy, so well 
 becoming one whose life is passed in alle- 
 viating the sufferings of his fellow 
 creatures. 
 
 The progenitor of the family, of which 
 our subject is a worthy member, was (I) 
 Kenelm Winslow, of Kempsey, England, 
 who died in 1607, in the Parish of St. 
 Andrew, Worcestershire. His estates 
 were "Clerkenleap," and "Newport 
 Place, " and his will, dated April 14, 
 1607, proved November 9, same year, is 
 still to be seen in Worcester, England. He 
 married Catherine (name not recorded), 
 and their son (II) Edward Winslow, of 
 Droitwich, Worcestershire, had nine chil- 
 dren, five of whom (Edward, John, 
 Kenelm, Gilbert, and Josiah) came to 
 America, settling in New England, Ed- 
 ward becoming governor of Plymouth 
 Colonv. The third of these pioneers, 
 (III) Kenelm, was born April 29, 1599, 
 in Droitwich, England, and died Septem- 
 ber 13, 1672, in Salem, Mass. He mar- 
 ried Eleanor Adams, who died December 
 5, 1 68 1, at the age of eighty-three years, 
 the mother of four children, to wit: (Col.) 
 Kenelm, Eleanor, (Capt.) Nathaniel and 
 Job, of whom (IV) Col. Kenelm, born in 
 1635, in Plymouth, Mass., died Novem- 
 ber II, 171 5, in Harwich, same State. 
 
COMMEMORATIVK BIOdllAl'IHCAL ItECOHD. 
 
 527 
 
 On September 22, 1667, he married 
 Mercy Worden, who was born in 1641, 
 and died September 22, 1668 (his second 
 wife, Damaris, was living in 1729); he 
 was the father of eleven children, of whom 
 (V) Samuel was the father of (VI) 
 Thomas, who was the father of (VII) 
 Samuel, who was the great-grandfather of 
 of Rush, the subject of this sketch. 
 
 (VIII) Dr. Joseph Winslow, grand- 
 father of (X) Dr. Rush Winslow, was born 
 July 22, 1778, in Petersham, Mass., and 
 died October 20, 181 5, in Vincennes, 
 Ind. , while practicing his profession there. 
 He married Rebecca Fish, of Barnard, 
 Vt., born March 7, 1781, in Middlefield, 
 Otsego Co., N. Y. , daughter of Seth and 
 Bathsheba Fish, of Sandwich, Mass. ; for 
 her second husband she married Dr. The- 
 ophilus Hoit; she died in 1858 at Fort At- 
 kinson, Wis. (VIII) Dr. Joseph Winslow 
 was the father of six children, of whom 
 (IX) Dr. Joseph Winslow was born Feb- 
 ruary 25, 18 10, practiced medicine at 
 Fort Atkinson, Wis. , and died in January, 
 1883. He was twice married, first time 
 August 20, 1840, to Sarah Bingham, who 
 was born February 14, 1820, in Palmyra, 
 Penn., a daughter of Rudolphus and Sal- 
 lie (Kimball) Bingham; she died May 9, 
 1846, in Koshkonong, Wis., leaving one 
 son (X) Rush, the subject of this sketch, 
 and Dr. Winslow afterward married Ma- 
 tilda Betsy Rice, daughter of Hon. Stephen 
 Allen Rice, M. D. Three children were 
 the fruit of this marriage: Erie, Lynn 
 and Wirt. 
 
 The subject proper of this biographical 
 record, whose name appears at the open- 
 ing, and who is the eldest son of the late 
 Dr. Joseph Winslow, was born Novem- 
 ber 7, 1843, in Koshkonong, Wis., and 
 received his elementary education at the 
 schools of Fort Atkinson, as soon as of 
 proper age entering his father's office for 
 the study of medicine. In 1867 he com- 
 menced a course at Rush Medical College, 
 Chicago, where he graduated in 1869, 
 after which he took a degree at Hahne- 
 mann Medical College, same city. In 
 
 1870 he entered Bellevue Hospital Medi- 
 cal College, New York, where in 1871 he 
 received his degree of M. D. For two 
 years thereafter he practiced at Fort At- 
 kinson, Wis., removing then to Appleton, 
 where he has since been in the active 
 practice of his profession, and where he 
 has proved a useful, active citizen, stand- 
 ing in the front rank of the men who have 
 made the city what it is. .Although his 
 time is closely taken up with his profes- 
 sional duties — his clientele being very 
 large and extending over a wide ride — yet 
 he has found time since 1882, more for 
 the sake of diversion and relaxation than 
 otherwise, to interest himself in politics as 
 a pronounced Democrat. In civic affairs 
 in Appleton he filled the ofifice of alder- 
 man four years; was elected mayor in 
 1887, serving two years, and again in 
 1 891 and 1892, the last year being the oc- 
 casion of his fourth election to that office, 
 and the only time the Republicans nomi- 
 nated an opposing candidate. Outside of 
 municipal matters he has also extended 
 his usefulness: Is a member of the board 
 of visitors to the State Universit}-, ap- 
 pointed from the state at large; in 1893 
 was appointed a member of the Pension 
 Board of U. S. Examiners, with head- 
 quarters at Appleton; was a delegate to 
 the National Convention held at Chicago 
 that nominated Grover Cleveland for the 
 Presidency, and was chairman of the 
 Congressional Committee and member of 
 the State Central Committee. 
 
 In 1878, at Appleton, Wis., Dr. Rush 
 Winslow and Minnie Isabel Rogers were 
 united in marriage, and two children have 
 been born to them, Margaret and Kenelm. 
 Mrs. Winslow is a native of Michigan, 
 and received the greater part of her edu- 
 cation at a famous college in Canada, fin- 
 ishing at Lawrence University, Appleton, 
 Wis. A lady of refinement and culture, 
 she naturally has all along been a favorite 
 and social leader in Appleton, where she 
 is deservedh' much thought of. In 1892 
 she was elected by the board of education 
 to the position of superintendent of the 
 
528 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 city schools and filled the place two years, 
 when she declined to act longer. 
 
 The Doctor is a great reader and 
 close student, keeping himself well abreast 
 of the times, and thorougly posted on all 
 advancements produced by scientific re- 
 searches in the prolific field of medicine 
 and surgery. In his social life there is no 
 one more popular in the city, or more 
 highly respected, and no man is more 
 thoroughly faithful to his friends than he, 
 and none more highly prized as a 
 true friend. 
 
 JOHN H. WENDT.'one of the best 
 known and most highly respected 
 farmers of Grand Chute township, 
 Outagamie county, was born Sep- 
 tember 4, 1824, near the city of Rostock, 
 in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. His 
 father, also named John H., had a fam- 
 ily of four children, John H. being the 
 only son. 
 
 Our subject attended the common 
 schools near his home until he was four- 
 teen years of age, after which for a time 
 he was engaged as a farm hand, and 
 worked also three years in the shipyards, 
 there making enough money to pay his 
 way to the United States. This voyage 
 he made in 1857, sailing from Hamburg 
 and taking forty-five days to reach New 
 York, from which city he continued his 
 journey to Milwaukee, Wis., where he 
 found employment among the farmers in 
 Franklin township, near Milwaukee. In 
 1858 he was married to Sophia Behning, 
 and for the next eight years lived on a 
 rented farm. In 1866 he purchased 160 
 acres in Section 5, Grand Chute township 
 (the southwest quarter), Outagamie coun- 
 ty, to which he removed with his family, 
 entering at once upon the work of im- 
 proving the property, and he saw many 
 days of weariness and hardship before it 
 was finally brought to its present splendid 
 condition. In place of the original rude 
 improvements he built upon the land one 
 of the first brick houses in his neighbor- 
 
 hood, the structure being the talk of the 
 time. His parents were poor and his 
 father was an invalid, therefore unable to 
 assist the son, who made a home for 
 him for eighteen years while he was 
 helpless, and himself toiled diligently to 
 support the family and build a comfort- 
 able home. In saying that Mr. Wendt is 
 a thoroughly self-made man, the term is 
 in no mannner abused, as is too often the 
 case. He has experienced his share of 
 accidents and misfortunes, but surmount- 
 ed them all. Soon after he wes married 
 and while living in Milwaukee, with bright 
 prospects ahead, he was unfortunate 
 enough to break a leg, the Poor authori- 
 ties would have paid his doctor's bill, but 
 he objected and paid them himself out of 
 his own limited means. He has always 
 been a kind and obliging neighbor, and is 
 in every respect a most worthy citizen. 
 A devout Christian, he has been for 
 many years a leading member of the 
 Lutheran Church, in which he is an active 
 worker; has assisted in building two 
 houses of worship for that organization, 
 and served as treasurer for twenty-two 
 years and three months, when he re- 
 signed. In political matters he is a Dem- 
 ocrat, and for eighteen years, beginning 
 with 1872, has served as assessor to his 
 individual credit and the general satisfac- 
 tion of his townsmen. Children as follows 
 were born to Mr. and Mrs. ^^'endt: 
 George, residing in Grand Chute; Mary, 
 now Mrs. Joe Uhlenbrauck, also of Grand 
 Chute; Sophia, Mrs. John Mueller, of 
 Appleton; John, deceased, who was a 
 farmer by occupation; Amelia, Mrs. Au- 
 gust Plaman, of Freedom; Emma, Mrs. 
 John Pingel, of Freedom; Ida, Mrs. Will- 
 iam Lowenhagen, of Grand Chute; and 
 Henrv, Matilda and Ella at home. 
 
 M 
 
 was 
 
 ATTHEW McCOMB, retired 
 farmer, Hortonia township, Ou- 
 tagamie county, is the seventh 
 in a family of nine children, and 
 born in Ireland, January i, 1821. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 529 
 
 His father, Robert McComb, whose par- 
 ents were natives of Scotland, was born 
 in Ireland. Robert, who was by occupa- 
 tion a linen draper, or dealer in linen, 
 married Rachel Wilson, a lady of Irish 
 birth but Scotch descent. 
 
 From the age of eight till he was 
 twentj'-five years old our subject attended 
 school, obtaining an education. His 
 father died February 21, 1845, and left 
 him by will a store at Dundrum, County 
 Down, Ireland, of which he took charge 
 and conducted the business for a year. 
 His mother's death t)ccurred August 11, 
 I S46, following which event he sold the 
 store, and in i.S49came to America, pro- 
 ceeding directly to the town of Hortonia, 
 Wis., at that time containing but eight 
 settlers, and there are only two older 
 settlers than himself residing in the town- 
 ship at the present date. A sawmill was 
 then in course of construction here. He 
 built a rude hut, in which he lived from 
 Jul}' 2 to August I, 1 849, with no roof 
 over his head and no cover but the arched 
 canopy of the sky. The first lumber 
 sawed in the mill mentioned was pur- 
 chased by him and used to cover his 
 shanty, which stood upon a tract of 160 
 acres of land he had purchased. The re- 
 gion was an almost unbroken wilderness, 
 without township organization or roads 
 and its future open to struggles and diffi- 
 culties of a severe nature; but he at once 
 began the task of clearing the timber 
 from his land, and preparing it for cul- 
 tivation. He found it necessary to 
 bring his supplies on his back from the 
 settlement at Green Bay, but with true 
 Scotch-Irish pluck never gave up. After 
 clearing and improving a portion of his 
 land he sold it in 1S61 for one thou- 
 sand dollars, and on the 6th of March, 
 1862, purchased another farm in Hor- 
 tonia township, upon which he repeated 
 the process of clearing and preparing for 
 cultivation. This farm he continued to 
 occupy and manage, until June, 1890, 
 when he sold it for fifty-eight hundred 
 dollars. On December 24, 1867, he 
 
 purchased an extra forty acres of land, 
 and, after clearing twenty-five acres, sold 
 the whole, January 28, 1890, for 
 eleven hundred dollars. In 1890 he 
 retired from active farm work, and now 
 transacts a general business as collector, 
 conveyancer, claim agent and notary pub- 
 lic, also handling loans and prosecuting 
 pension claims. He has held a notary 
 public's commission since 1862, and in 
 1 87 I he was elected register of deeds for 
 Outagam'ie county, holding the position 
 through 1872-73. For nine successive 
 years he has been clerk of the town of 
 Hortonia, of which, at various times, he 
 has also served as assessor. In poli- 
 tics he is a Republican. He is a member 
 of the Congregational Church, having 
 been secretary- of the local organization 
 since its formation, February 25, 1852. 
 On March 31, 1849, Mr. McComb mar- 
 ried Mary Jane Stewart, daughter of Rob- 
 ert and Jane Stewart, whose parents were 
 natives of Scotland. She was born in 
 the village of Saintfield, County Down, 
 Ireland, April i, 1833, and died February 
 6, 1 89 1. To these parents have been 
 born nine children: Isaac N., 
 Henry R. , Alfred C, Emma 
 B., Ina v., and Homer C, 
 and Edwin B., now deceased. 
 
 Jane S., 
 A.. Virgil 
 all living, 
 
 AW. CUTLER, foreman in the 
 Sulphite Mills, of the Badger 
 Paper Company, at Kaukauna, 
 Outagamie count}', was born in 
 1845, in Waukesha county, Wis. , where 
 his parents, Abram and Avie (W'elch) 
 Cutler, natives of Susequehanna county. 
 Penn., settled on a farm in the woods in 
 I S40. The family removed in 1848 to 
 Fond du Lac, where the father died in 
 1 89 1, the mother's death having occurred 
 at the same place in 1856. 
 
 A. W'. Cutler, grew to man's estate 
 in Fond du Lac, and received his educa- 
 tion in the schools of that place, also 
 learned the trade of milling, both paper 
 and pulp, at which occupation he has 
 
"530 
 
 COMMEirORAriVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 since been employed. He had, besides, 
 worked in his earher years in stave and 
 -shingle mills at Fond du Lac. He re- 
 Jnoved to Kaukauna in 1876, and has 
 since been in the employ of the Kau- 
 kauna, now the Badger. Paper Company. 
 He was married, in 1867, at Fond da 
 Lac, to Nfiss Mary Ann Murray-, daughter 
 of Thomas and Catherine Murray, all 
 natives of New York. Her parents 
 moved westward and located at Waupun, 
 Wis., in the early daj's of the settle- 
 ment at that place, afterward taking up 
 their residence at Fond du Lac. Both 
 are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Cutler 
 are the parents of one child, Edith. Mr. 
 Cutler holds membership in Kaukauna 
 Lodge, No. 297, I. O. O. F. , and politi- 
 cally is an earnest Republican. Like all 
 good citizens he takes commendable in- 
 terest in the public affairs of his city and 
 county, and in his tasty home, erected in 
 1889, enjoys life as becomes a man who 
 has, by industry and correct living, earned 
 the undisputed right to do so. 
 
 E 
 
 BEN EUGENE REXFORD was 
 born July 16, 1S48, in Johns- 
 burg, Warren Co., N. Y., and 
 comes of a family of English 
 origin, which was founded in America bj- 
 ancestors who settled in Rhode Island 
 and afterward removed to Washington 
 county, N. Y. Their descendants, be- 
 coming quite numerous, have scattered 
 over the Western States, living in Michi- 
 gan, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska and 
 Dakota, as well as British Columbia. The 
 grandfather of our subject, Roswell Rex- 
 ford, was a native of Rhode Island, and 
 removing to Washington county, N. Y. , 
 settled in Hartford township, where he 
 followed farming and reared his family. 
 He was a wide-awake New England 
 farmer, who engaged not in speculation, 
 but depended on honest toil to gain him a 
 living; and in this hope was not disap- 
 pointed. He and his wife were both 
 earnest and consistent members of the 
 
 Baptist Church, and he was a prominent 
 and leading citizen who exercised a strong 
 influence for good in the community in 
 which he made his home. He supported 
 the Whig party, and both he and his wife 
 lived to an advanced age. 
 
 Jabez B. Rexford. one of their twelve 
 children, was born in Washington count}', 
 N. Y., and when a young man removed 
 to Warren county, that State, where he 
 married Miss Rebecca Wilcox, daughter 
 of Jacob \\'ilcox. The lady was born 
 and educated in \\'arren county. N. Y. , 
 and possessed much more than average 
 ability, but had little opportunity in the 
 way of educational facilities to cultivate 
 her natural talents. Refined and cul- 
 tured, however, she was not only the cen- 
 tral figure in her own household, but in 
 the circle of societj" in which she moved, 
 and to her family and friends she was 
 very devoted. Both Jabez Rexford and 
 his wife held membership with the Bap- 
 tist Church, in which he served as deacon, 
 and in the work of that society took a 
 verj- prominent part, doing all in their 
 power to aid in its upbuilding. The 
 wholesome and happy Christian in- 
 fluence which pervaded their home, left 
 its impress upon their three sons. The 
 father of this family in 1S56 sold his New 
 York farm and came to Wisconsin, pur- 
 chasing land in Ellington township. Outa- 
 gamie county, which he occupied until 
 his death. The old homestead is now 
 occupied by his grandson. Elmer. 
 
 Eben Eugene Rexford was a lad of 
 seven summers when the family came to 
 this State. His primary education, ac- 
 quired in the district schools, was supple- 
 mented by a course at Lawrence Univer- 
 sity. He then turned all his energies in 
 the line of his chosen profession — a liter- 
 ary career. At the age of fourteen his 
 first article had appeared in print, a poem 
 entitled " My Wife," which appeared in 
 the .V(tf York Weekly. It filled the 
 young writer with a pardonable pride, 
 and from that time on he wrote con- 
 stantly, receiving remuneration for the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 531 
 
 same when but sixteen years of age. He 
 took courage from this as it convinced 
 him in a very practical and satisfactory 
 manner that publishers recognised merit 
 in his work else it would not have been 
 paid for, voluntarily. He has since given 
 his whole attention to literary work, 
 which has steadily grown in power, in 
 finish and in interest. I'rom the age of six- 
 teen he practicall}' supported himself and 
 parents through his writings and paid his 
 tuition in the university. For many 
 years he has been a contributor to all the 
 Frank Leslie papers and magazines, to 
 the Independent, Christian Union, the 
 Youths' Companion, the Galaxy and 
 many other periodicals of the highest 
 class. He is one of the editorial 
 staff of the Ladies' Home Journal, with 
 which he has been connected from the es- 
 tablishment of the magazine. He is the 
 author of the widely known songs, 
 " Silver Threads Among the Gold," and 
 "Only a Pansy Blossom," and many 
 others, that have met favor with the pub- 
 lic and brought him a wide renown, both 
 in this country and Europe. He has 
 established a reputation as an author of 
 verse that has the ability to touch the 
 heart through the sentiment in it rather 
 than through mere superficial quality. 
 Poems of his are constantly floating about 
 in the newspapers, and a leading literary 
 magazine declares him to be the "most 
 copied "author of the day. 
 
 Being a great lover of nature and es- 
 pecially of flowers, Mr. Re.xford began to 
 write about his fragrant friends, and this 
 at once made his writings attractive to 
 thousands of intelligent people who read 
 them in many of the leading magazines 
 of the East, on which he holds an edito- 
 rial position in the floricultural depart- 
 ment. In this line he has gained recog- 
 nition as " authority " in the world of 
 floriculture. Were all his works gath- 
 ered together and published, the result 
 would be a small librarv, but his beauti- 
 ful thoughts have usually been given to 
 the public in the form of magazine arti- 
 
 cles rather than of books, although he 
 has published three volumes, entitled 
 " Brother and Lover," " Grandmother's 
 Garden, "and " Home Floriculture." His 
 stories appear in leading eastern maga- 
 zines, and he is connected with nearly all 
 the best literary periodicals as a regular 
 contributor. 
 
 Some twelve years ago Mr. Rexford 
 built a pleasant home, and removed to 
 Shiocton, Wis., where he now resides. 
 He was married December 22, 1890, to 
 Mrs. Harriet (Bauman) Harsh, daughter 
 of Carl and Anna Bauman, and a native 
 of Manitowoc, Wis. With her parents 
 she came to Shiocton during her maiden- 
 hood days, and has since made this city 
 her home. She takes great interest in 
 his work, and is a true helpmeet to him in 
 all wifely, womanly ways. Both are 
 members of the Congregational Church. 
 Mr. Rexford is a member of Appleton 
 Lodge, No. 113, K. P. In politics he is 
 a Democrat, and during President Cleve- 
 land's first administration he was ap- 
 pointed and served as postmaster at 
 Shiocton. 
 
 HON. JOHN TRACY, foreman of 
 the Appleton Spike Factory, Ap- 
 pleton, was born in County Lim- 
 erick, Ireland, April 18, 1852, and 
 is a son of Edward and Johanna (Brown) 
 Tracy. The father, who was a farmer, 
 died when John was but ten years of age; 
 the mother still survives and resides in 
 Appleton. They were the parents of two 
 sons and three daughters, of whom our 
 subject and two of his sisters are living. 
 The family came to America in 1865, 
 about three years after the death of the 
 father, and John being the eldest child, 
 the greater share of the responsibility fell 
 upon him. 
 
 The September following their arrival 
 our subject commenced to work in the 
 spike factory at Appleton, and during the 
 winters attended the evening schools un- 
 til seventeen years old, when he left 
 
532 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 school: this, with some Httle instruction 
 he had received in the old country, con- 
 stitutes the sum of his scholastic studies. 
 He now devoted all his attention to his 
 duties in the factory, working his way up 
 until he attained the position of foreman, 
 which he reached in 1877, and which his 
 merit still entitle him to. An enthusiastic 
 Democrat, he has worked energetically in 
 the interests of his party , and in recognition 
 of his services he has been honored with 
 several positions of trust. He was alder- 
 man from the Fourth ward of Appleton 
 from 1882 to 1890, and president of the 
 council in 1887, and since 1882, also, he 
 has been school treasurer. In 1890 he 
 was elected to represent the First Dis- 
 trict of Outagamie in the Lower House of 
 the State Assembly; and so well did he 
 satisfj' his constituents that he was re- 
 elected in 1892. Few men of his age, in 
 this section of the country, ha\e been 
 more highly honored, and few. indeed, 
 have more deserved to be so. 
 
 Mr. Tracy was united in marriage 
 November 18, 1879, with Miss Maggie 
 Powers, a native of Massachusetts, and 
 daughter of William Powers, a farmer, 
 who came to Appleton when his daughter 
 Maggie was three years of age. Six chil- 
 dren have blessed this union, named re- 
 spectively: Eddie, Maggie, Kittie, Emma. 
 Agnes and Mabel. Mrs. Trac\' lost her 
 mother in 1885. and her father died 
 in 1889. 
 
 GEORGE H. DAWSON, district 
 attorney of Outagamie county, 
 was born March 25, 1854, at 
 Beloit, Wis., son of Richard, Sr. , 
 and Mary fSmith) Dawson, who are still 
 living in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. 
 
 Richard Dawson, Sr. , was born in 
 1818, in Buckinghamshire, England, son 
 of a physician, and was reared to the busi- 
 ness of confectioner and baker. On May 
 16, 1 84 1, he was married to Miss Mary 
 Smith, a native of Surre}', England, 
 daughter of Henrj- Smith, a carpenter, 
 
 and in September, 1850, they set out for 
 America with their two children, Richard 
 and Elizabeth, taking passage on the sail- 
 ingvessel " Gov. Hinklej' " (Capt. Loring) 
 which, after a very rough passage of six 
 weeks, landed at New York November 2. 
 From New York they proceeded up the 
 Hudson river by the steamboat "Isaac 
 Newton" to .\lbany. thence by rail to 
 Buffalo, from which city to Detroit they 
 journeyed by water. Here their entire 
 baggage was temporarily stored in some 
 convenient building, which, with its con- 
 tents, was destroyed by fire, the famil\- 
 losing everything. From Detroit they came 
 to Wisconsin, where for a time they made 
 their home in Jefferson county, Mr. Daw- 
 son finding emplo\ment in George Head's 
 bakery till 1852, in which year they 
 moved to Beloit, thence to Berlin, from 
 there to Fond du Lac, and from the latter 
 place, in 1857, to Wrightstown (then a 
 mere hamlet consisting of seven houses), 
 in all of which localities Mr. Dawson 
 worked at his trade. In the following 
 year they moved into the woods of Brown 
 county, where in 1859 Mr. Dawson pre- 
 empted forty acres of wild land, and lived 
 thereon till in 1862 he again made his 
 home in Wrightstown, this time residing 
 there some four years, then locating two 
 miles north of the village, where he kept 
 a boarding house or hotel for a stave fact- 
 ory up to 1880. In that year he moved 
 to an eighty-acre tract of timber land in 
 Outagamie county, which he cleared and 
 improved, residing thereon till 1891, and 
 then retired into the city of Kaukauna. 
 where he is yet living. The children, 
 seven in number, born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Richard Dawson, Sr. . were as follows: 
 \Mlliam and Henry, who both died in 
 Surrey, England, the former at the age of 
 three years; Richard, Jr., of Kaukauna, 
 born near London. England, in 1845;. 
 Elizabeth, born in 1848, in Chertsey, 
 Surrey, England, now the wife of .\. 
 Dayton, of Kaukauna: George H., sub- 
 ject of this sketch: Ellen S., bom in Fond 
 du Lac, Wis.. January 3. 1857, now the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 533 
 
 wife of William Smith, of Kaukauna; 
 Minnie, born in Wrightstown, Brown Co., 
 Wis., married to George Coy, of Kaukauna. 
 George H. Dawson, the subject proper 
 of these lines, commenced working at the 
 age of fourteen years in a stave mill, and 
 continued thus for five years. At the age 
 of twenty he entered Lawrence Univer- 
 sity at Appleton, studied three years, and 
 then went to Green Bay, where he studied 
 law with Van Buren Bromley, and was 
 admitted to the bar January 29, 1879. 
 After this he engaged in mercantile busi- 
 ness at Wrightstown, Brown county, un- 
 til 1S83, when he sold out, and in the 
 spring of i 884 opened up a law office in 
 Kaukauna, where his family now reside. 
 In politics a Democrat, he served as city 
 attorne}' of Kaukauna three years, was 
 supervisor from Kaukauna in the county 
 board four years, and in 1892 was elected 
 district attorney of Outagamie county. 
 Mr. Dawson's marriage took place Feb- 
 ruary 22, 1879, with Miss Sarah E. Mc- 
 Donald, a native of De Pere and daugh- 
 ter of John McDonald, one of the earliest 
 settlers of Brown county. To this union 
 have been born two sons — George E. and 
 Benjamin L. Mr. Dawson is a member 
 of Kaukauna Lodge, No. 297, and Apple- 
 ton Encampment, No. 16, L O. O. P., 
 and is one of the most popular citizens of 
 Outagamie county. 
 
 RicHAKD Dawson, |k., of Kaukauna, 
 was born near London, England, in 
 the county of Surrey, in 1845, the eld- 
 est living son of Richard, Sr. , and Marv 
 ("Smith) Dawson. He was five years 
 old when the famih' came from England 
 to Wisconsin, and his education was se- 
 cured at the Schools of Fond du Lac and 
 Brown counties, after which he took his 
 share of the labor in opening up his 
 father's farm above referred to. He then 
 worked alternately in a stave factory 
 (part of the time as engineer), lumber 
 rafting, etc., till 1887, when he moved 
 into the city of Kaukauna, and has here 
 since resided. Here he was associated 
 with the Electric Licfht Plant Co., and 
 
 also worked in stone quarries some time. 
 In his political views he is a Republican, 
 and socially he has been prominently 
 identified with the I. O. O. F. some 
 years. 
 
 HENRY M. HEULE, superin- 
 tendent of the Appleton Chair 
 Company, Appleton, was born 
 at Sheboygan Falls, Sheboygan 
 county. Wis., January 27, i860, a son 
 of John Heule, who was born in Sa- 
 lem, Holland, in 1820, and was mar- 
 ried at the same place in 1845. Coming 
 to America in 1846, the father settled 
 near Schenectady, N. Y. , and commenced 
 working hard; later he came to Wiscon- 
 sin, locating on a farm in Sheboygan 
 county, where he died in 1874; his widow 
 is still living. Their children were eight 
 in number — six sons and two daughters 
 — of whom five sons are now living. 
 
 Henry M. Heule attended winter 
 terms of school at Sheboygan Falls, and 
 during the summers was employed in the 
 chair factory, devoting his entire time to 
 his work in the latter institution after he 
 was seventeen. At eighteen he went to 
 Menasha, where he remained about twelve 
 years, being made foreman of the Me- 
 nasha Chair Company in 1882. The 
 Appleton Chair Company, of whose 
 works he is the present superintendent, 
 was incorporated in 1890, Mr. Heule be- 
 ing a stockholder. Forty-five men are 
 employed, chairs being the exclusive 
 manufacture, including rockers, which 
 are made a specialty. It is entirely by 
 his own efforts that Mr. Heule has at- 
 tained his present honorable and import- 
 ant station; he has been industrious and 
 economical, never having received assist- 
 ance from home, and enjoys the fruits of 
 his own careful management and manly 
 efforts. He was married in December, 
 1882, to Miss Eliza Hilbelink, also a 
 native of Sheboygan county. Wis., 
 and a daughter of John Hilbelink, a 
 farmer. Her parents both died when she 
 
534 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was young. Two children have come to 
 the Heule home: George R. and Hen- 
 rietta. In politics Mr. Heule is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 ELISHA BAXTER, a well-known 
 resident of Cicero township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born March 
 22, 1834, in Onondaga county, 
 N. Y. He is a son of Reuben and Rachel 
 (Daniels) Ba.xter, who had eight children, 
 viz. : Polly Ann, Lucy, Elisha, Mary, 
 Susan, Harriet, Edward and Hannah. 
 The father was a farmer by occupation, 
 and was also employed in a stone quarry 
 in New York State. 
 
 Elisha Ba.xter remained at home up to 
 the age of sixteen years, when he com- 
 menced to earn his own livelihood, work- 
 ing at various places. In 1870 he brought 
 his parents to Wisconsin, locating in 
 Cicero township, Outagamie county, where 
 he purchased eighty acres of new land at 
 $4. 50 per acre, erecting a log house 
 thereon which stood just to the rear of 
 his present comfortable residence. Here 
 the parents peacefully passed their declin- 
 ing years, the father dying June 26, 1883, 
 followed to the grave by his wife February 
 22, 1888; they rest side by side in Black 
 Creek cemetery. 
 
 On October 26, 1875, Mr. Baxter was 
 married to Miss Sophia Augusta Whorton, 
 daughter of Spencer Edward and Mar- 
 garet Jane (Armour) Whorton, who were 
 the parents of twelve children, as follows: 
 Mary A., John R., George W., Nancy C, 
 Sophia Augusta, Thomas Edward, Har- 
 riet M., William E., Joseph Reid, Almira 
 E., Charles W. and Warren H., all yet 
 living except Harriet M. (Barker), who 
 died of consumption, September 21, 1893, 
 and Joseph, who was killed in an accident 
 in a brickyard, caused by the caving in of 
 the earth. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Baxter has come 
 one child, Spencer Edward, born Septem- 
 ber 5, 1876, who is at present attending 
 school. Mr. Baxter has been a self-made 
 
 man, for the comfortable property he now 
 possesses has been accumulated by honest 
 toil and industr}', and he is much esteemed 
 by his neighbors and fellow citizens for 
 his sterling worth. In his political affili- 
 ations he is a stanch Republican, and in 
 religion he and his wife are members of 
 the Methodist Church at Black Creek, in 
 which Mr, Baxter is at present serving as 
 trustee. Our subject enlisted, November 
 5, 1864, in Company I, First Wisconsin 
 Heavy Artillery, and served his countrs' 
 faithfully for nine months. 
 
 SIDNEY FREEMAN, one of the 
 pioneer citizens of Maine township, 
 Outagamie county, where he is 
 highly respected as an upright, 
 honorable man, is a native of Hampshire, 
 England, born August 6, 1825. He is a 
 son of William and Susan (Diet) Freeman, 
 who reared a family of ten children, most 
 of whom grew to maturity. 
 
 Our subject remained at home helping 
 his parents until he reached the age of 
 fourteen years, when he entered the En- 
 glish navy, remaining in the service sev- 
 eral years, during which time he partici- 
 pated in several important battles. On 
 his return home after leaving the sei;\ice 
 he again assisted his parents for some 
 years, and then, in 1854, accompanied by 
 his family, at that time consisting of his 
 wife and two children — Elizabeth .-\nn 
 and John — he set out for America. They 
 came directly to Menasha, Winnebago 
 Co., Wis., where, five days after arrival, 
 Mrs. Freeman died of cholera. Two 
 years later Mr. Freeman wedded Miss 
 Mary Herman, a native of Switzerland, 
 and on November 14, 1857, they located 
 on a small farm in Calumet county, which 
 he had purchased, and resided there 
 fifteen years. On October 3, 1864, our 
 subject enlisted in Company A, Twent}-- 
 second Wis. V. I., and for seven months 
 experienced the dangers and privations of 
 active army life, on May 17, 1865, re- 
 ceiving an honorable discharge. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGIiAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 535 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Freeman brought his 
 family to Maine township, Outagamie 
 county, where the\' have since had their 
 home, and here they Hved in what was 
 known as the old "Sand Hill House" 
 until a residence could be built on their 
 own farm. Mr. Freeman is a strictly 
 self-made man, and during his residence 
 in the community has won and retained 
 the respect and esteem of his fellow citi- 
 zens. Politically he is a stanch Republi- 
 can, and in religious faith he and his wife 
 are both members of the Episcopal 
 Church. They have had born to them 
 the following named children: Christina, 
 William, Susan, Sidnej', and Nicholas. 
 
 HENRY MANSER, of the saw-mill 
 and planing-mill firm of Manser 
 & Renner, Appleton, is one of a 
 family of eight children — five 
 sons and three daughters — and was born 
 near Berlin, Prussia, November 13, 1848. 
 His parents, Conrad and Catherine 
 (Sebert) Manser, were farmers, who emi- 
 grated to Canada in 1855 and located on 
 a farm in the western part of Waterloo 
 county, Ont. In the autumn of 1865 
 they removed to Wisconsin, locating on a 
 farm near Hortonville, Outagamie county; 
 from there they came to Appleton in 
 1889, having sold their farm. Conrad 
 Manser died in this city in May, 1892, 
 his wife's death occurring the previous 
 fall. The senior Manser was a member 
 of the Lutheran M. E. Church, an honored 
 and respected citizen, and ranked among 
 the ablest farmers of his locality. 
 
 Henry Manser at the age of si.xteen 
 years found employment in a sawmill at 
 Hortonville, and after about two years 
 became engineer in another sawmill in 
 the town of Center, accepting a like po- 
 sition three years later at Black Creek. 
 He was given full charge of the latter 
 mill about a year after entering it, and 
 held the position until 1883. He prac- 
 ticed the strictest economy, invested his 
 carefully saved earnings in land in the 
 
 vicinity, and in 1883 sold his interests 
 and came to Appleton, purchasing the 
 site on which his present mill stands and 
 erecting a planing-miil which employed 
 twelve men; in 1890 he added a sawmill. 
 He had sold a half interest in the plant 
 to John Kline in 1884, and two years 
 later F. P. Pfennig ac(iuired a one-third 
 interest in the concern. In the spring of 
 1890 the mill was burned, and Mr. Ren- 
 ner then purchased Mr. Kline's interest; 
 January i, 1894, Mr. Manser bought the 
 interest of Mr. Pfennig, thus becoming 
 owner of two-thirds of the plant. Mr. 
 Manser built a sawmill at Black Creek in 
 1885, with planer and feed-mill in con- 
 nection, and conducted it until 1890, 
 when it was destroyed by fire, without a 
 dollar of insurance. He immediately re- 
 built it, however, and sold out in 1892. 
 Mr. Manser's schooling was limited to a 
 slight attendance in district schools dur- 
 ing the winters, yet, despite many disad- 
 vantages, he has been successful in 
 business. He is a Republican in politics, 
 but was never an office seeker. In 1875 
 he was married to Emma Johnson, born 
 in Outagamie county, daughter of Randall 
 Johnson, a native of Maine, who came to 
 Wisconsin in 1855. Two children have 
 come to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Man- 
 ser, Adda and Howard. 
 
 EVERT SANDERS, Buchanan 
 township, Outagamie county. Wis. 
 This worthy gentleman is a de- 
 scendant of one of the oldest and 
 best known families in Holland. His 
 grandfather, Gerred Sanders, \\as an 
 honest, respected farmer, whcj lived to be 
 more than eighty years of age, occupy- 
 ing a homestead which had for several 
 generations been in the possession of the 
 family. 
 
 Cornelius Sanders, his son, came into 
 possession of the old farm and divided it 
 among three of his children, who. in- 
 stead of working it, converted it into 
 money. Cornelius and Cerred remained 
 
536 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Holland; John, the eldest son, immi- 
 grated to America in 1S48, landing in 
 Freedom, Outagamie Co., Wis., where 
 he lived for many years, and then moved 
 to Nebraska, djing there four years ago 
 at the age of eighty-four (his wife had 
 preceded him to the grave the year be- 
 fore; four sons and two daughters are 
 living there yet and all are married). 
 Evert, our subject, came to America in 
 1858. Thus, for the first time in more 
 than three hundred years, the property 
 passed under the management of stran- 
 gers. The father was a man noted for 
 his philanthropic principles. Always a 
 friend to the poor, the widow and the or- 
 phan, he was beloved and respected by 
 all; but, although of a pleasant, genial na- 
 ture, he was at times provoked to anger, 
 and on such occasions those who knew 
 him avoided all contact with him. He 
 was known far and wide as a lover of 
 home, and as a man of strong, upright 
 character. He died in July, 1857, aged' 
 ninety-one years and eight months, at 
 which time he had been married over 
 sixty-five years, and the death of his sec- 
 ond wife, Henrica (Williamson), occurred 
 but four months previous to his own, 
 when she was nearly eighty years of age. 
 She was a native of a neighboring village, 
 and also a person of strong character; of 
 her eleven children, five daughters were 
 married and two died young. When Mr. 
 Sanders married his second wife he was a 
 widower with four children. 
 
 Evert Sanders, who is the youngest of 
 the family, was born on the old estate in 
 Osterholt, Province of Gelderland, Hol- 
 land, October 29, 18 19. He was educated 
 in his native country and there married, 
 in October, 1848, Miss Henrietta Geene, 
 daughter of John Geene. She was a 
 strong, healthy woman, and proved an 
 excellent hi'lpmeet — a truly good and 
 faithful wife, too much can not be said in 
 praise of her many noble qualities of head 
 and heart. Denied the privilege of hav- 
 ing children of her own, she was never- 
 theless devoted to the little ones everv- 
 
 where, and the children of her brother. 
 John Geene. testify heartily to her won- 
 derful kindness of heart and tender devo- 
 tion. One of those children, Henrietta, 
 became the wife of William Brill, who 
 now resides with Mr. Sanders; they had 
 four children: Katie, Elizabeth, Louis 
 and Alma. Mrs. Sanders died May 10, 
 1885, aged sixty-eight years and eight 
 months. 
 
 Mr. Sanders is a standi Democrat, 
 and has taken an active part in the public 
 affairs of his section, still, at the age of 
 seventy-five years, serving as justice of 
 the peace, an office he has filled over 
 twenty years; at various times he acted as 
 supervisor several years, assessor several 
 terms, as clerk of the school board, seven 
 years as town clerk, one year as count}' 
 commissioner under the old system, and 
 in other positions, proving an efficient 
 and faithful servant of the public. In 
 religious faith he is a Catholic, being con- 
 nected with Father Geissler's congregation 
 at South Kaukauna, and he was the 
 architect of the handsome brick church of 
 Buchanan. 
 
 THEODORE CONKEY, deceased. 
 This pioneer teacher, surveyor and 
 business man, was the eldest son 
 of Asa H. and Mary Conkey, and 
 was born December 23, 1819, at Canton, 
 St. Lawrence Co. , N. Y. Asa H. Con- 
 key, who was also a native of New York 
 State, was twice married, first time to a 
 Miss Clark, and second time, to Mrs. 
 Banister (a widow), whose maiden name 
 was Mary Nash. He died in 1870. 
 
 Theodore Conkey was educated in the 
 academy of his native place, and at 
 Cazenovia, N. Y. . where his half brother, 
 Henr)' Banister, was principal for many 
 years. In 1840 he came to Fond du Lac, 
 Wis., to visit another half brother, John 
 Banister, and spent the succeeding winter 
 teaching school in that locality. His 
 father strenuously endeavored to con- 
 vince the \'oun"- man that home was the 
 
(^n^^t 
 
 A 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 539 
 
 best place for him, very much dishkirig 
 the idea of his going west; but his heart 
 was set upon the venture. Gov. Silas 
 Wright advanced him money to purchase 
 a set of surveyor's instruments and to 
 pay his passage to his new field of opera- 
 tions, and this money was conscientiously 
 repaid as soon as opportunitj- came to 
 earn it. Young Conkey had prepared 
 himself for a surveyor, and engaged in 
 that calling for a number of years, work- 
 ing under Gen. Ellis, of Green Bay; and 
 the first surveying party of which he had 
 charge pitched its tent on the bluff, very 
 close to the spot on which he afterward 
 built his home. He also, it is stated, 
 taught the first public school at Madison, 
 Wis. In 1848 he visited his old home in 
 New York, and while there was married, 
 June 28, same year, to Miss Cynthia E. 
 Foote. Their wedding tour was a two- 
 week's trip by water and stage to Fond 
 du Lac, where they remained one year, 
 Mr. Conkey building the first hotel in that 
 place, the " Badger House," which he 
 rented. He also, in 1848, bored the first 
 artesian well in that city. In 1849 he 
 started from Fonddu Lac with his family 
 by steamer for Appleton, but when the 
 voyage was only partly completed some- 
 thing went wrong about the boat, and, 
 after landing the passengers in the woods, 
 it put back for repairs. Mr. Conkey, 
 however, who was in somewhat of a hurry 
 to reach his destination, pushed on in a 
 small boat, leaving his wife to wait for the 
 return of the steamer. He had bought 
 property at Appleton and built a wing 
 dam, now thought to have been the first 
 improvement of that citv's since famous 
 water power. 
 
 In the autumn of i 849 he started from 
 Green Bay in an open boat, with a party 
 of twenty-three men, for Sault Ste. Marie, 
 and thence through to Lake Superior. 
 Heavy storms were encountered, and a 
 landing was made at Madeline Island, 
 where he left one man, suffering from ex- 
 posure, to the care of the Catholic Sis- 
 ters, and although the\' were exceedingly 
 30 ' 
 
 kind, and gave him every attention pos- 
 sible, the poor fellow died; after recruit- 
 ing his party Mr. Conkey returned to 
 Fond du Lac. In his duties as a surveyor 
 he suffered many hardships. He was the 
 first white man sent by the government 
 to penetrate the northwest wilderness re- 
 gion of Wisconsin, and the first to go 
 down the St. Croix river in a boat, mak- 
 ing the trip to procure supplies for his 
 men. In Fond du Lac he met his wife, 
 whose joy at again seeing him may be 
 imagined, as the rumor had reached that 
 place that he had been killed by the In- 
 dians. Mr. Conkey about that time gave 
 up surveying and settled permanently at 
 Appleton, devoting his time to business 
 and the improvement of the water power. 
 He was for many years interested in a 
 general store, but took no active part in 
 its management. He was one of the 
 principal promoters and organizers of the 
 Fox River Improvement Company, serv- 
 ing as a director and as general manager. 
 Every plan for the improvement and de- 
 velopment of Appleton met with his hearty 
 approval and cordial assistance. He was 
 often honored with public positions, serv- 
 ing one year in the Assembly and two 
 years in the State Senate. In politics he 
 was a Douglas Democrat, and socially a 
 member of the Masonic Order. 
 
 Mrs. Conkey, who came so early with 
 her husband to the new home in the Wis- 
 consin forests, was also born at Canton, 
 N. Y. , a daughter of Chauncey and Gula 
 (Bird) Foote. Her father, Joseph Bird, 
 was a native of Vermont; his father, 
 Stillman Foote, also, then a resident of 
 St. Lawrence county and a real-estate 
 man. Daniel Foote, grandfather of 
 Chauncey Foote, came from \'ermont in 
 an early day, bringing a company of 
 twenty men, purchased a large tract of 
 land and waterpower on which a saw- 
 mill was erected. He was stricken with 
 smallpox, died, and was buried by the 
 Indians in a bark coffin. His son. Still- 
 man Foote, located upon and improved 
 the property twenty years later, building 
 
54° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the first frame house in St. Lawrence 
 county, wliich still stands in ^ood condi- 
 tion, a good model of a fine old Colonial 
 residence. The wife of his son, Chauncey 
 Foote, was the daughter of Joseph and 
 Cynthia (Binney) Bird. Her father, 
 Joseph Bird, served in many bloody bat- 
 tles of the Revolution, was wounded and 
 left under a heap of slain upon the field 
 of Monmouth, his first encounter, at six- 
 teen years of age; but he recovered to 
 rally with the " Green Mountain Boys" 
 for the defeat of Burgoyne at Bennington, 
 and lived to the age of ninety-three, car- 
 rying the British bullet so close to his 
 loyal heart that the surgeons dared not e.\- 
 tract it. He sleeps in the shadows of the 
 green hills he, with others, so bravely de- 
 fended. His wife's ancestors, the Bin- 
 neys, emigrated early from England to 
 Massachusetts, and became the owners of 
 much valuable property in Boston, in- 
 cluding what was known as the "long 
 wharf." The children of Theodore Con- 
 key and his wife were four in number, as 
 follows: Charles Nash Conkey, died in 
 infancy; Alice Foote Conkey, married A. 
 J. Reed, and died November 2i, 1891, at 
 Dublin, Ireland, where at the time her 
 husband was United States consul; Ed- 
 ward Talcott Conkey, died November 18, 
 1881 ; Helen Bird Conkey is now the wife 
 of ex-Congressman L3'man E. Barnes, of 
 the city of Appleton. 
 
 Early in 1861 Mr. Conkey volunteered 
 his services in the war for the suppression 
 of the Rebellion. His home attachments 
 were strong and his obligations many; 
 but at that critical time he was equal to 
 the sacrifice that the perils of war im- 
 posed. Of such fibre as was his are 
 patriots made. After his enlistment he 
 was chosen captain of Company I, Third 
 Wisconsin Cavalry, and was immediately 
 assigned and entered upon active duty 
 on our then western frontier, where 
 during the ensuing five years he often con- 
 fronted savages of bronzed and white 
 skins. He was afterward entrusted with 
 important commands above his rank, and 
 
 was known as the aggressive and fighting 
 officer in his regiment. Although without 
 special training, he possessed the true 
 military instinct, and proved equal to 
 every emergenc}' that the vicissitudes of 
 war presented. He was a man of iron 
 nerve, and begat, by his example, the 
 courage among his followers that he him- 
 self possessed. The incident of \'on 
 Moltke selecting the best cigar from a 
 case, during the thick of the battle at 
 Sedan, had its counterpart in the ac- 
 tion of Capt. Conkey, often referred tO' 
 by his "boys," in calmly helping himself 
 from his box of ■' fine-cut" while opposing 
 the guerrilla Quantrell at a short engage- 
 ment on the Plains, Beside Uuantrell, 
 he measured lances with Tom Livingston 
 and other notorious leaders in guerrilla 
 warfare. As well as being a soldier he 
 was something of a diplomat, as will be 
 seen from the fact that he once secured 
 the release of six of his men by offering as 
 ransom a keg of whisky to their captors. 
 Mrs. Conkey shared with her husband, 
 during two summers in Kansas, the perils 
 and privations of war. Under his tute- 
 lage she became an expert horsewoman, 
 and many and thrilling were the experi- 
 ences she had in the tented field. Un- 
 doubtedly she could add much of inter- 
 est to Mrs. Custer's volume of ' ' boots 
 saddles," were she so inclined. Capt. 
 Conkey's military service did not end with 
 the Civil war. So efficient had he be- 
 come as an Indian fighter, and so dexter- 
 ous an opponent of the wily Red man, 
 that he was assigned to and accepted duty 
 on the Plains after the close of the greater 
 struggle. In this border service he con- 
 tinued for a year, and the then frontier 
 lines of civilization owed him much for 
 his services in beating back the native 
 barbarians. 
 
 That republics are not always un- 
 grateful is evident from the fact that, al- 
 though there was a great pressure for such 
 positions at that time, he was offered a 
 colonelcy's commission in the regular 
 army. Military life had a fascination for 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 541 
 
 him, and had he been a single man he 
 undoubtedly would have accepted it. 
 But the emergency of his country being 
 past, the obligations to his wife and chil- 
 dren became paramount. Accordingly he 
 turned his face toward home, which, in 
 common with others' homes, he had risked 
 his life to protect, and which was illu- 
 mined by the sunshine of his genial and 
 sympathetic presence for a number of 
 years thereafter. Upon his return Col. 
 Conkey engaged in the milling business, 
 and became a leader in his line in the 
 Northwest. He resumed his old place as 
 one of the large-brained and solid men of 
 Wisconsin, and, as previously, devoted 
 generoush' of his energies to the develop- 
 ment of the State and the upbuilding of 
 the town of which he was a resident. 
 Col. Conkey died March 17, 1880, hav- 
 ing served his country honorably and with 
 distinction, both in war and in peace. 
 ' ' After life's fitful fever he sleeps well. " 
 
 THOMAS E. JOHNSTON, a promi- 
 nent contractor and builder of 
 Appleton, and a leading citizen, 
 was born March 18, 1850, in 
 Liverpool, England. His father, Samuel 
 Johnston, a native of Ayrshire, Scotland, 
 born in 1820, married Rosanna Bicker- 
 staff (who was born in Scotland in 1819), 
 removed thence to Liverpool, and brought 
 his family to America in 1866, settling on 
 a farm near Ames, Iowa, where he died 
 in 1876. His widow yet resides in the 
 latter State. Their children were Hugh, 
 John, James, Sarah, Thomas E., Cath- 
 erine, Elizabeth, Ellen, Mary, and An- 
 drew. 
 
 Thomas E. Johnston, who was edu- 
 cated in Liverpool, also learned the ma- 
 son's trade before leaving England, and 
 was in his seventeenth year when he came 
 with his parents to the United States. 
 From Ames, Iowa, he went to Tama City, 
 in the same State, and engaged in con- 
 tracting until the spring of 1873, when 
 he came to Appleton and has since con- 
 
 tinued in the same line of business. He 
 has had numerous extensive contracts, 
 among them that for constructing the 
 water works at Escanaba, Mich., and 
 other buildings there, and has built many 
 of the finest residences in Appleton and 
 Neenah. He is a Republican in politics, 
 and has always taken an active interest 
 in both local and national affairs. In 1881 
 he was elected alderman, served six years, 
 and was again elected in i 894. He is a 
 strong believer in good schools, and an 
 earnest advocate for their maintenance. 
 The members of the family are Presby- 
 terians, but attend the Congregational 
 Church. Mr. Johnston is a prominent 
 Odd Fellow, having twice filled each of 
 the chairs in that Order, locally; he was 
 also deputy grand master, and has served 
 as representative to the Grand Lodge for 
 several years. He is an active Mason, 
 holding membership in both the Blue 
 Lodge and Chapter, being at present 
 senior warden in the former. 
 
 Mr. Johnston was married in 1871 to 
 Martha Coutts, who was born in the 
 State of Iowa in 1851. Her father, Alex- 
 ander Coutts, was a farmer by occupation, 
 and was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 
 1 8 10; her mother, whose maiden name 
 was Elizabeth Epperson, was born in In- 
 diana in 1823, and died in 1875. Their 
 children were fourteen in number, of 
 whom John, Emma, Martha, Elizabeth, 
 Nancy, Alexander, Viola, and May are 
 yet living. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnston 
 have been born six children: George, 
 Ernest, Carrie, Sadie, Elmer, and Harvey. 
 
 JOHN DEGAL (deceased). Had you 
 passed through the town of Dale, 
 Outagamie county, ten years ago, 
 and asked of its inhabitants: ' ' Who 
 is the hardest working farmer in your 
 community.'" the answer, no doubt, would 
 have been "JohnDegal." Born January 
 23, 1838, in Trumbull county, Ohio, Mr. 
 Degal at an early age decided to follow 
 the vocation of his father, and be a tiller 
 
542 
 
 COJdMEMORATIi'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of the soil. When verging into manhood 
 his father removed his family to Medina 
 county, Ohio, and later to Dale, Outaga- 
 mie Co., Wis., where young Degal bought 
 out the investments which his father had 
 made in land, and which consisted of 
 three tracts of eighty acres each. Divid- 
 ing this up, he sold an eighty and a forty, 
 retaining 120 acres for a home, which his 
 mother shared with him. There were 
 only about ten acres of cleared land, and 
 Mr. Degal, young and strong and full of 
 ambition, commenced the arduous task 
 of clearing and improving his possessions 
 and erecting suitable buildings. Little by 
 little the result of his labors became visi- 
 ble, and his farm began to be spoken of 
 as a handsome piece of property; but its 
 owner, not content with this, desired to 
 add still greater improvements, which he 
 continued to do as long as he lived. 
 
 On February 27, 1866, Mr. Degal 
 was married to Miss Mary Ann Prentice, 
 daughter of V. B. Prentice, also of Dale. 
 The Degals were members of the Lu- 
 theran Chuch,but Mrs. John Degal belongs 
 to the Free- Will Baptist; her birthplace 
 was Broome county, N. Y. Mr. Degal 
 was a quiet, unobtrusive, hard-working 
 man, strictly conscientious in all his deal- 
 ings, and a true business man. He was 
 widely known and respected by all. On 
 October 21, 1885, he succumbed, ostensi- 
 bly to disease, but in reality to the result 
 of continued hard and unremitting labor. 
 Only forty-seven years of age, at a time 
 when he should have been in his prime, 
 he had exhausted nature's supply of 
 strength, and was a physical bankrupt, 
 consequently an easy prey to the dreaded 
 enemies, disease and death. After his 
 untimely demise Mrs. Degal sold all the 
 land which had cost her husband his life; 
 she felt as if its very beauty embraced a 
 curse, and hastened to get away from 
 under its baneful influence. Her mother, 
 Mrs. V. B. Prentice, resides with her in 
 her commodious home in Dale. 
 
 Mrs. Prentice, widow of the late V. 
 B. Prentice, was born in 181 3, in New 
 
 York State, daughter of Nathan and 
 Rachel (Church) Webb, the former wfiom 
 was a cooper and a farmer in the 
 town of I^isle, N. Y. They had eight 
 children, of whom Mrs. Prentice is the 
 only one living at present. At the age of 
 ten years she went to live with a sister in 
 the town of Greene, Chenango Co., N. 
 Y. until she was eighteen, attending the 
 public schools of that place. In 1834 
 she was married to V. B. Prentice, a son 
 of Ozias Grant Prentice and Laura (Gris- 
 woldjPrentice. There were seven chil- 
 dren in the latter's family, of whom only 
 three are now living viz.: Samuel P., a 
 miller living in Afton, N. Y. , Ranson L. 
 P., also a miller in the same place; and 
 Laura Lucretia, the widow of the late 
 William Osgood, who is now living in the 
 State of New York. 
 
 Mr. Prentice was one of the first set- 
 tlers in the town of Dale. He came there 
 and settled in 1852, previous to which 
 time he was a farmer in New York. The 
 land which he secured at Dale was yet in 
 an uncultivated state, but the richness of 
 the soil and the lay of the land gave 
 promise of mammoth crops and a speedy 
 settlement in that region. His predictions 
 were fulfilled, for settlers came rapidly 
 and transformed the wilderness into a 
 pleasant habitation. Mr. and Mrs. Pren- 
 tice reared a family of three sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom are now living 
 except one son. Esther, the eldest, mar- 
 ried John Culbertson, a large and pros- 
 perous farmer in the town of Greenville, 
 and they have four daughters; George 
 Washington the eldest son, married 
 Lydia Paddleford, has four children all 
 grown up, and resides on one-half of the 
 original homestead in Dale; Mary Ann is 
 the widow of the late John Degal, and 
 Ozias Grant is a farmer and dealer in 
 agricultural implements; he married 
 Christina Degal, and they have seven 
 children; they reside on the homestead. 
 Mr. Prentice died in April, 1889, at the 
 advanced age of eighty }-ears. He lived 
 to enjoy the fruits of his hard labor, and 
 
GEORGE W. LAWE. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 545 
 
 his last days were filled with satisfaction 
 at beholding the prosperity of his chil- 
 dren and grandchildren. Mrs. Prentice 
 has long been a faithful member of the 
 Free-Will Baptist Church. She is now 
 eighty-one years old and feels that her 
 life work is finished. She says that a 
 pioneer life, though homely, arduous and 
 devoid of luxuries which now appear to 
 be necessaries, had its advantages. If 
 the houses were only too well ventilated, 
 because of the cracks, for comfort, they 
 were not for health; if their daily fare 
 was corn bread and hominy, with a bit of 
 pork or wild game to season the vege- 
 tables, it was food that would never 
 cause dyspepsia, and, together with plenty 
 of wholesome excercise, made the children 
 rosy-cheeked and happy. The men did 
 not pine for the enjoyments of a club, or 
 the good housewife for a matinee; a barn- 
 raising for the man and a quilting-bee for 
 the women were modes of pleasure an- 
 ticipated for weeks previous to the event, 
 the enjoyment, of course, lying in the fact 
 that so few forms of recreation came 
 that way. 
 
 GEORGE W. LAWE. This gen- 
 tleman, who enjoys the distinc- 
 tion of being the "oldest inhab- 
 itant" of Wisconsin, and who is 
 familiarly known as "The Father of Kau- 
 kauna," is a native of Brown county. 
 Wis., born in Green Bay, September 
 13, 1810. 
 
 John Lawe, father of George W., was 
 born in I^ristol, England, in the year 
 1782, and his father, also named John, 
 was a captain in the British army under 
 the famous Duke of York, "the soldier's 
 friend." In early boyhood the father of 
 our subje'ct immigrated to the Western 
 World, landing at Quebec, Canada, 
 whence in 1797 he came to the then 
 comparatively wild territory of Wiscon- 
 sin, making his first home in Green Bay 
 with an uncle, by name Jacob Franks. 
 He came here in in the interests of the 
 
 Hudson Bay Company as a fur trader, 
 but later joined the American F"ur Com- 
 pany, which was organized by John Jacob 
 Astor, of New York, and with them re- 
 mained some time, afterward embarking 
 in the same line of business for his own 
 account. He died February 11, 1 846. 
 He was married in Green Bay, in 1807, 
 to Miss Theresa Rankin, born at Lake 
 Superior, whose father came to the Lake 
 Superior region in the interests of the 
 Hudson Bay Company; Mr. Rankin died 
 in Montreal. To John and Theresa 
 (Rankin) Lawe were born children as 
 follows: Rachel, who married Bernard 
 Grignon, and died in Green Bay, February 
 18, 1876; Rebecca, widow of Andrew J. 
 Vieux, of Greeft Bay; Maria, who was 
 married to James M. Boyd, of Kaukauna, 
 and died March 23, 1879; Mary Polly, 
 who was first married to John F. Meade, 
 afterward to Charles Francis De Vivaldi, 
 consul to Brazil under Lincoln's adminis- 
 tration (she died July 5, 1885. at Rio 
 Janeiro, Brazil); Jane, widow of Alex- 
 ander Grignon, late of Green Bay, Wis. 
 (she now lives in Howe); Appolonia, who 
 became the wife of Henry F. Brown, a 
 pioneer merchant of Green Bay, coming 
 here in 1845 (they are both now deceased, 
 she dying November 19, 1878); George 
 W'. , our subject; and David Rankin, who 
 died October 4, 1842, unmarried. The 
 mother of these children passed from earth 
 in Green Bay, May 25. 1836. 
 
 George W. Lawe, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, received his education 
 at the primitive schools of the place of 
 his nativity, his boyhood being passed in 
 Green Bay, and four years of his early 
 manhood were spent at Lowville Academy, 
 Lewis county, N. Y. , after which he re- 
 mained with his father some years, and 
 around the old home in Green Bay, till 
 1839, when he permanently moved to 
 Kaukauna, which at that time was simply 
 an Indian trading post. At Green Bay 
 he was engaged in the mercantile business 
 for some considerable time. W^hen he 
 arrived in Kaukauna he found it "a veri- 
 
544 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 table wilderness, there beinj; no roads 
 and no way of traveling except an Indian 
 trail or by water. " Mr. Lawe was the 
 means of having the first road built from 
 Kaukauna to Green Bay and to x^ppleton 
 by interesting Chief Yaumetau, of the 
 Menomonee tribe, to furnish lift}' Indians, 
 who, Mr . Lawe promised, would all soon 
 become citizens of the United States. 
 They are all sleeping in their graves now. 
 In 1 850 he made the first plat of the town, 
 on the north side of the river. He has 
 on various occasions held positions of 
 trust and responsibility under the United 
 States Government and under the State 
 ■of Wisconsin, filling the several incum- 
 bencies with ability and fidelity. In 1843 
 President W. H. Harrison commissioned 
 him Indian agent, and, with the exception 
 of a short interval, he continued to hold 
 the office till 1852. In 1849 he was com- 
 missioned postmaster, but shortly after- 
 ward, on account of the pressure of other 
 business, he resigned the position. In 
 1878 he was again commissioned post- 
 master, and he continued to hold the 
 office until the incoming, in 1886, of the 
 Democratic administration under Cleve- 
 land. For several years he dealt in real 
 estate — buying and selling — and he built 
 a number of business as well as private 
 houses. 
 
 In 1835 Mr. Lawe was married in 
 Green Bay to Catharine A. Meade, a 
 native of Pennsylvania, and daughter of 
 David P. and Lydia Meade, the latter of 
 whom died in Shippensburg, Penn. , in 
 the spring of 1830. Mr. Meade passed 
 away in Kaukauna April 16, 1857, aged 
 sixty years, he having removed thither 
 from Green Bay with his family. Two 
 children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lawe, viz.: John D., a sketch of whom 
 follows, and Amanda T. , wife of Capt. 
 D. J. Brothers. Mr. Lawe is a member 
 of the Catholic Church. When he had 
 attained his majority his father, who was 
 a man of sterling integrity and sound 
 principle, asked him what political party 
 he would join, and his reply was in the 
 
 shape of another query, he inquiring of 
 his father what his party was. The latter 
 replied that he was strictly conservative, 
 and belonged to no party. Our subject 
 then said that he would unite with the 
 Whigs, to which his father readily con- 
 sented, recommending him to do his best, 
 which he has done in a creditable man- 
 ner. When the Republican part}' came 
 to be organized and talked about, he 
 traveled to Green Bay and became a 
 member of that party, and has been an 
 ardent advocate of their principles ever 
 since. He is better posted in the Indian 
 legends and local history than any other 
 man in this part of the Valley, and at the 
 remarkable age of eighty-four years he 
 still, to an unusual degree, retains the 
 vitalities of middle life, having inherited 
 much of his father's active life and busi- 
 ness ability. His mind is even more 
 vigorous than his body, and is the marvel 
 of the modern short-lived business men. 
 His life has been crowded full of work, 
 and he has always enjoyed the life and 
 opportunities given him. Honored by 
 all who know him, he quietly awaits the 
 end and the solution of the problem of 
 the life of which he has been a useful 
 member these many years. 
 
 John D. Lawe, son of this venerable 
 . and honorable pioneer, was born Septem- 
 ber 17, 1837, in Green Bay, at the public 
 schools of which place and at Lawrence 
 University, Appleton, he received his edu- 
 cation. Soon after leaving his studies he 
 took up the printing trade, and continued 
 in same till August, 1862, when he en- 
 listed in Company F, Thirty-second Wis. 
 V. I. , for three years, or during the war. 
 The regiment was attached to the Army 
 of the West under Sherman, and Mr. 
 Lawe served in his regiment and in the 
 adjutant-general's office of Gen. Sher- 
 man, also carrying dispatches, being for 
 some time stationed at Memphis, Tenn., 
 where, January 25, 1864, he was honor- 
 ably discharged on account of disability. 
 On his return home he engaged as clerk 
 for Geo. Somers & Co. till 1870, when he 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 545 
 
 commenced mercantile business in Green 
 Bay, in partnersliip with Geo. C. Sager, 
 the firm name being Lavve & Sager; but 
 at the end of one year our subject bought 
 out his partner and continued the business 
 alone till 1873. In that year he entered 
 the arena of commerce in the capacity of 
 traveling salesman for a wholesale honse, 
 in which line he continued till i8go, since 
 when he has been prominently identified 
 with the real-estate and insurance business 
 at Kaukauna, and at present is manager 
 of the new ■ ' Hotel Brothers, " in that city. 
 On October 9, 1865, Mr. Lawe was 
 married in Green Bay to Miss Mary D. 
 Chapman, a native of Mackinac, and 
 daughter of Col. William Chapman, U. 
 S. A., and Abbie Ann (Wheelock) Chap- 
 man, the former of whom was born in 
 Charles county, Md. , and after graduat- 
 ing at the West Point Military Academy, 
 was stationed at Ft. Mackinac, later at 
 Ft. Howard, Wis. ; he died in Green Bay 
 in 1888; his wife passed away in April, 
 1872. To Mr. and Mrs. Lawe was born 
 one child. Leo C. , now teller of the Citi- 
 zens National Bank, of Green Bay. In 
 his political proclivities he is a stanch 
 Republican, and in saying that he is a 
 worthy son of a worthy father, no better 
 testimony need be given of his merits. 
 
 GEORGE LARKIN, a well-known 
 resident of Seymour township, 
 Outagamie count}', -is a native of 
 the State of Wisconsin, born 
 April 27, 185 1, in Columbia county. 
 
 Daniel P. Larkin, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in New York State, son of 
 Libeus Larkin, a native of Rhode Island, 
 who had si.\ children, namely: Libeus, 
 Avander B., Daniel P., Major, Maryette 
 and Dorcas. Daniel P. remained at home 
 until he reached the age of eighteen 
 years. In 1842 he came to the State of 
 Illinois, settling in Boone county. On 
 April 13, 1845, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Lucinda Anderson, who was 
 also a native of New York State, daugh- 
 
 ter of Jared and Polly (Burr) Anderson, 
 of the same State, who reared a family of 
 twelve children, as follows: Irene, Eme- 
 line, Lucinda (Mrs. Larkin), Cather- 
 ine, Johnson, Hannah, Maryette, Albert, 
 Sophia, Helen M., Johnson and Ryan. 
 After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Larkin lived 
 in said State until 1848, when they came 
 to Columbia county. Wis. , and purchased 
 120 acres of land, on which they made 
 their home nine years, and while there 
 two children were born to them, viz. : 
 De Lancy V. .deceased, and George, whose 
 name heads this sketch. At the end of 
 that time they sold out and removed to 
 Dodge county. Wis., where they bought 
 thirteen acres of partly improved land, 
 and there resided until September, 1865, 
 when they came to Seymour township, 
 Outagamie county, and invested in a tract 
 of wild land. Here Daniel P. Larkin 
 passed the remainder of his life, clearing 
 and improving his farm, involving many 
 years of hard labor. He died May 2 1 , 
 1886, since which time his widow has 
 made her home with her son. 
 
 George Larkin received a good com- 
 mon-school education, and after leaving 
 school commenced farming, which he has 
 made his life vocation. On December 
 14, 1873, he was married to Miss Lizzie 
 Copithorn, daughter of Richard and Phil- 
 lis (Swanton) Copithorn, and to this mar- 
 riage have been born eight children, 
 namely: Nettie, Irving, Edna (deceased), 
 Frank S, and Elma (twins), Annie L. , Edith 
 F. and Bruce D. Our subject is a stanch 
 adherent of the principles of the Demo- 
 cratic party, and takes an active interest 
 in local politics; from 1880 to 1886, in- 
 clusive, he served as town clerk, giving 
 complete satisfaction to his fellow citizens 
 in the discharge of his official duties. Mr. 
 Larkin has on his present farm a very fine 
 fish-pond which he is stocking with rain- 
 bow trout, and in a few years it will be 
 without doubt one of the finest in the 
 State. In religious connection Mrs. Lar- 
 kin is a member of the Episcopal Church 
 at Ashippun, Dodge county. 
 
546 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 WILLIAM VAN WYK, a leading 
 dairyman of Grand Chute town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, is a na- 
 tive of Holland, born March 24, 
 1829, son of Cornelius Jacob \an Wyk, a 
 farmer, who died May 20, 1841. There 
 were six children in the family — four sons 
 ind two daughters — of whom William is 
 he youngest. 
 
 Our subject received a common-school 
 education in his youth, and was reared to 
 farming, living at home and working for 
 his widowed mother until he was over 
 thirty years of age. On February 12, 
 1864, he was married to Miss Gertrude 
 Van Amerongen, also a native of Holland, 
 born September 14, 1841, and immedi- 
 ately afterward located on a farm; he fol- 
 lowed agriculture as long as he lived 
 in the old country. Feeling, however, 
 that better opportunities awaited him and 
 his children in the New World, he set 
 sail with them, in March, 1882, from Ant- 
 werp on "The Fatherland, " bound for 
 New York, where they landed in two 
 weeks and two days. Mr. Van Wyk had 
 bargained for the farm he now owns in 
 Section 19, Grand Chute township, Outa- 
 gamie Co. , Wis. , and they set out for their 
 destination at once, arriving in Appleton 
 on the evening of March 29, and moving 
 to their new home the day following. 
 Here Mr. Van Wyk continued to follow 
 farming until January, 1886, when he 
 embarked in the dairy business, which has 
 since received a large share of his atten- 
 tion, and in which he has met with well- 
 merited success; in 1893 he sold one of 
 his milk routes to his sons. His is now 
 the leading dairy business in the township, 
 and his equipments are first-class in every 
 detail. During his residence in this 
 neighborhood Mr. Van Wyk has estab- 
 lished an enviable reputation for honesty 
 and strict integrity in all his dealings, and 
 is regarded as one of the reliable business 
 men of his township. He is constantly 
 engaged in improving his property in every 
 way, evidences of his progress and thrift 
 being everywhere apparent, and in 1893 
 
 he erected one of the finest country resi- 
 dences in the locality. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Van Wyk have had eight 
 children, as follows: Cornelius D. (who 
 is a resident of Appleton), Hubert J. (of 
 Clark county, Wis.), Dick, William, Al- 
 bert G. , Ella E. , Jennie J. , and Jacob C. , 
 all "born in Holland e.xcept the youngest. 
 In religious connection the entire family 
 are adherents of the Congregational 
 Church; politically Mr. Van Wyk is an 
 ardent supporter of the principles of the 
 Republican party, but takes little active 
 interest in public affairs, preferring to de- 
 vote his time wholly to his business inter- 
 ests, with just regard for his fellow men 
 and the welfare of his children. 
 
 FRED A. JESKE, a prosperous 
 young farmer of Cicero township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 Germany, born in Prussia, Janu- 
 ary 27, 1866, son of Frederick Jeske, 
 who was a son of Michel and Louise 
 (Yaeger) Jeske, who had a family of eight 
 children, namely: Frederick, Wilhelmina, 
 Charles, William, August, Bertha, Gott- 
 lieb and Albert. Mrs. Louisa Jeske is 
 still living in Germany at the advanced 
 age of ninety years. 
 
 Frederick Jeske was married when 
 twenty-eight years old to Miss Wilhel- 
 mina Selle, whose father was a shepherd 
 and herded between two thousand and 
 three thousand sheep. To this marriage 
 were born ten children, viz. : Albert, 
 Bertha, Herman, Minnie, Fred A., Ida, 
 William, Robert, Henry, and one that 
 died in infancy, all natives of Germany 
 except William and Robert, who were 
 born in Winchester, and Henry, born in 
 Cicero, Wis. In 1868 Mr. Jeske sailed 
 from Germany with his family and landed 
 in Baltimore, Md.. after a voyage of six- 
 teen days. Coming west at once to Win- 
 chester, Wis. , he engaged in farming near 
 that place for four years, and then pur- 
 chased a farm of eighty acres in Cicero 
 township, Outagamie county, where they 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 547 
 
 made a permanent home. The land was 
 then totally unimproved, and their first 
 house was onl\- a log shanty, but Mr. 
 Jeske succeeded in clearing and improv- 
 ing all this tract and converting it into a 
 pleasant farm. At fir.st he owned no 
 team, and he would give three days' labor 
 to one of the neighboring farmers for the 
 use of a team for one day. Their nearest 
 neighbor was a mile distant, and one day 
 while on the road thither Mrs. Jeske en- 
 countered a bear in the woods, but she 
 succeeded in frightening the animal away. 
 She and her husband are members of the 
 Lutheran Church, and when they first 
 moved here they had to walk five miles 
 to attend services, the nearest church 
 being then at Seymour. They are now 
 passing their declining \ears on the farm 
 with their son, Fred A. 
 
 Fred A. Jeske received his education 
 in the common schools of Cicero town- 
 ship, and has always remained on the 
 home farm, where he was thoroughly- 
 trained to agriculture by his father. On 
 July 31. 1890, he was married to Miss 
 Emma Stang, a native of Dodge county. 
 Wis. , and they at once took up their resi- 
 dence on the farm, which Mr. Jeske has 
 purchased from his parents. He has 
 added forty acres to the original tract, 
 the farm now containing 120 acres of 
 prime land in a good state of cultivation, 
 a beautiful place, of which the owner may 
 well be proud. He and his wife have two 
 children, Amanda and Edna. In politics 
 he is a stanch Republican, and has served 
 as constable for ten years. In religious 
 connection he and his wife are members 
 of the Lutheran Church. 
 
 HI). WING, editor and proprietor 
 of the Kaukauna Sim. was born 
 in June, 1851, in Brothertown, 
 Calumet Co., ^^'is. His great- 
 grandfather Wing was an .American sol- 
 dier in the war of the Revolution, and 
 passed his days in the State of Vermont. 
 James Wing, son of the latter, and 
 
 grandfather of H. D. Wing, was a na- 
 tive of New York, and settled on a farm 
 in Calumet county. Wis., in 1847; he 
 was a soldier in the Me.xican war. He 
 removed with his family to Missouri in 
 1870, his wife's death occurring in that 
 State; his own death occurred in Oregon, 
 in August, 1893. Ebenezer and Julia A. 
 (PeaseJ Wing, natives of Oneida county, 
 N. Y. , and parents of H. D. Wing, were 
 early residents of Calumet county, the 
 former coming with his father, James 
 Wing, in 1847. Since 1890 the\' have 
 resided at Wahpeton, N. D. They were 
 married in the township of Brothertown, 
 and occupied their farm home in the 
 same locality until their removal to 
 Wahpeton. They had two children be- 
 sides our subject: Edwin W. , now a resi- 
 dent of Breckenridge, Minn. ; and Mary, 
 wife of Stephen H. Blount, who resides 
 at Mooreton, North Dakota. 
 
 H. D. Wing spent his youth in his 
 native town, where he attended the dis- 
 trict schools, and being desirous of ac- 
 quiring a more complete education than 
 could be obtained in these schools, he 
 began attending, at the age of eighteen 
 years, the more advanced institutions of 
 learning at Fond du Lac, subsequently 
 graduating with honors from the gram- 
 mar school of that city. He also at- 
 tended the high school, and in 1873 
 became a graduate from the commercial 
 college. Having a natural leaning to- 
 ward newspaper work, Mr. Wing in 
 1877 purchased the Ahnapee Record, 
 which he conducted for two years. 
 In January, 1880, he established the 
 Ca linnet County Ncios, at Chilton, 
 Wis., from which place he came to 
 Kaukauna. His present paper, 'f/tc Sim, 
 was established in July, 1885, by Wing 
 & Cates, the former purchasing his part- 
 ner's interest January i, 1886, and incor- 
 porating under the title. The Sun Publish- 
 I ing Company, in October of the same 
 year. The office is well-equipped for the 
 purposes of general job printing, and its 
 presses are operated by steam power. 
 
•548 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Wing, who politically is a Democrat, 
 was postmaster at Chilton during the ad- 
 ministration of President Arthur. In 
 October, 1877, he was married to Miss 
 E. A. Burvvell, a native of Buffalo, N. Y., 
 and at that time a teacher in the public 
 schools of Fond du Lac. The parents of 
 this estimable lady were Henry and 
 Amelia A. (Monroe) Burwell, both natives 
 of New York. Her father, who was by 
 profession a stationary engineer, came to 
 Fond du Lac while it was yet in its in- 
 fancy, and ran the first boat through the 
 locks on the canal past Kaukauna. His 
 death occurred in 1886; his widow now 
 resides with her son at Kaukauna. Three 
 children have come to gladden the home 
 of our subject and wife: Alice B., Arthur 
 E., and Norman S. Mr. and Mrs. Wing 
 are both members of the M. E; Church, 
 and socially he is affiliated with Kaukauna 
 Lodge, No. 233, F. & A. M., and with 
 Appleton Chapter, No. 37, R. A. M., at 
 Appleton. He comes of patriotic ances- 
 try, the soldierly services of his grand- 
 father and great-grandfather having been 
 already mentioned. His father enlisted 
 in 1864 in the Sixteenth Wis. V. I., 
 serving until the close of the war 
 of the Rebellion, and had also two 
 brothers, James and R. L. , in the army, 
 as well as four brothers-in-law. The re- 
 cord of the family in defense of the 
 country is a most honorable one. [Since 
 the above was written Mr. Wing has re- 
 moved (October i, 1894) to Fruitdale, 
 Ala. , and he is now a director and treas- 
 urer of the Fruitdale Land Company. 
 
 JC. VANHEUKLOM. This gentle- 
 man, one of the public-spirited, pro- 
 gressive farmers of Grand Chute 
 township, Outagamie county, is a 
 native of the Kingdom of Holland, born 
 September 6, 1836, son of Otto Van- 
 heuklom, a gardener, who had seven 
 children that lived to maturity. 
 
 The father of our subject, like many 
 other small farmers in his country, was 
 
 industrious and frugal, but found it im- 
 possible to make more than a living for 
 himself and family, and accordingly he 
 determined to try his fortune in the 
 United States, where cheap homes were 
 offered to settlers in new regions. In 
 March, r847, the family left Holland, 
 taking passage in a vessel bound for New 
 York, from Rotterdam, and disembarked 
 after a voyage of fifty-three days. Sail- 
 ing up the Hudson to Albany, they pro- 
 ceeded thence via the Erie canal to Buf- 
 falo, and thence by lake boat to Mil- 
 waukee, Wis., where they landed with 
 but $25 in money. This was spent in 
 the purchase of a cow and lumber for a 
 house, and a humble dwelling was put up 
 on land owned by Mr. Reed, a well- 
 known citizen of Milwaukee in those days, 
 in which they lived two years, the father 
 meanwhile working in a brickyard. Mrs. 
 Vanheuklom assisted her husband as 
 much as possible, for the children were 
 all too young to do anything. From Mil- 
 waukee the family removed to near Me- 
 nasha, where land was cheap, and in 
 1 849, having heard so much of the in- 
 ducements offered to settlers in Winne- 
 bago county, bargained for land there 
 and went with the intention of settling. 
 The journey was made by wagon as far 
 as Waupun, where they found so much 
 snow that it was thought best to make 
 the rest of the trip by sleigh, and they 
 finally arrived in Winnebago county only 
 to discover that what had been repre- 
 sented to them as choice land was really 
 very poor; instead of finding feed for cat- 
 tle plentiful, they found it very scarce, 
 and their cow died from exposure and 
 starvation, which was a serious loss to 
 them at the time. For one year they lived 
 in Neenah, Mr. Vanheuklom working for 
 a Mr. Jones, a gardener, and in 1850 they 
 came to Appleton, in a rowboat. On 
 landing they came up on the hill, near 
 where the college now stands, and in- 
 quired of a man chopping there where 
 Appleton was, not knowing they were 
 in the very heart of the place; at this time 
 
COMMEMOBATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 549 
 
 Main street was a very different thorough- 
 fare from what it is now. The father 
 bought two acres of land in tlie Second 
 ward, near the present site of the Chi- 
 cago & North Western railroad depot, 
 paying $50 for the lot, which was thickly 
 covered with poplar trees, and built a 
 frame house, 16x20, and a story and a 
 half in height, where they lived four years. 
 Mr. Vanheuklom engaged in various kinds 
 of labor, but principally gardening, for 
 which he was thoroughly qualified, and 
 also worked on the mill race that was dug 
 in Appleton before the great water-power 
 was brought into use. From A. H. 
 Blood he purchased twenty acres of new 
 land, and erected the first building on that 
 place, which is now included in the Put- 
 ney farm. Later he lived near Fort 
 Howard for a time, but he afterward re- 
 turned to Appleton, and engaged in dairy- 
 ing for some time. He died in that city at 
 the advanced age of eighty years, his wife 
 passing away at the age of seventy-five. 
 They were members of the Presbyterian 
 Church in their native country. 
 
 J. C. Vanheuklom was but a boy ten 
 years of age when he came with his par- 
 ents to Wisconsin, in the common schools 
 of which State he received a good practi- 
 cal education, subsequently attending col- 
 lege at Appleton for three months. He 
 remained under the parental roof until he 
 was about sixteen years old, when he 
 went to live with Rev. Charles Monroe, 
 the founder of the Congregational Church 
 in Appleton, with whom he remained five 
 years — three years of this time at Fort 
 Howard — and then took up his home 
 with his parents again. On October 5, 
 1864, he was married, in Ellington town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, to Miss Juliette 
 B. Scott, a native of New York, whose 
 father, Jared G. Scott, was an early set- 
 tler in Ellington township. Mr. Van- 
 heuklom rented a house in Appleton, and 
 for some months worked as a laborer at 
 any honest employment, and buying 
 horses also followed teaming. The fol- 
 lowing spring, his wife's brother having 
 
 entered the army, he went to take charge 
 of the latter's farm in Ellington township, 
 and while there conducted the first Sun- 
 day-school in Stephensville, Outagamie 
 county. In the fall of 1S65 he removed 
 to the farm in Grand Chute township, 
 which has since been his home, and which 
 he had purchased two or three years be- 
 fore his marriage. It then consisted of 
 forty acres lying in Section 10, only one 
 and a half acres of which were cleared, 
 and he erected the first dwelling (a log 
 one) on the farm. He has since added 
 thirty-eight acres to the original tract, 
 and each year has continued to improve 
 his propert}- in \arious ways, erecting 
 good substantial buildings and putting 
 the soil into the highest condition of fer- 
 tility. His principal attention is given to 
 gardening, and his success is sufficient 
 evidence of his ability. Mr. Vanheuklom 
 takes an active interest in the prosperity 
 and welfare of his community, and, though 
 preferring to devote his time to his own 
 business affairs, has served his district for 
 fifteen years as school treasurer, and has 
 been road commissioner of his township, 
 proving an efficient and trustworthy' offi- 
 cer. Politically he is a Republican. In 
 1857 he united with the Congregational 
 Church, and has always been active in 
 religious matters, being a regular attend- 
 ant at Church and Sunday-school; for 
 several years he served as usher. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Vanheuklom have had three chil- 
 dren: Edward George, who is yet under 
 the paternal roof, and Laura Scott and 
 Wilbur O. , both of whom died when 
 quite young. Edward G. is married to 
 Hattie Enoch, daughter of Charles and 
 Helen Enoch, of Green Bay, Wisconsin. 
 
 JAMES DEVINE. This well-known 
 farmer of Kaukauna township, Outa- 
 gamie county, who came to that 
 county in 1858, and, three years 
 later, settled on a farm in the woods, 
 having purchased it in the year first named, 
 
55° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 •was born in September, 1833, in County 
 Galway, Ireland. 
 
 His parents, John and Margaret (F"ord) 
 Devine, were both natives of Ireland, and 
 never left their native land, the mother 
 dying in 1847, the father in 1848. A 
 brief record of their five children is as fol- 
 lows: Katie, wife of Martin McCormick, 
 of Kaukauna township, settled here in 
 1858; Bridget, wife of James McLaughton, 
 of Kaukauna, came in 1848; Martin re- 
 sides in Kaukauna; Frances died in Wor- 
 cester, Mass., in 1891; James is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. Having received such 
 education as the schools of his native 
 county could impart, James Devine, at 
 the age of fifteen years, came to America, 
 locating at Holyoke, Mass., and engaging 
 at farm work. He at length secured em- 
 ployment in the paper mills at that place, 
 and remained a number of years, thor- 
 oughly learning the business. Upon re- 
 moving to Wisconsin with his family, he 
 located at Little Chute, settling upon his 
 farm of fifty acres in i 86 1 , as stated. He 
 improved his purchase, added to it from 
 time to time as it became convenient, and 
 now has si.\ty-six acres adjoining the vil- 
 lage of Little Chute. By patient indus- 
 try and careful economy he has accumu- 
 lated his present possessions, and, through 
 a career of integrity- and manliness, has 
 won the esteem and high regard of his 
 fellow citizens, as well as a prominent po- 
 sitijon among them. He was married, in 
 1856, at Holyoke, Mass., to Miss Bridget 
 Manning, a native of Ireland, where her 
 parents, John and Susan (Farrell) Man- 
 ning, lived and died. The surviving chil- 
 dren of Mr. and Mrs. Devine are: John 
 M., who is married, and resides at Iron 
 Mountain, Mich. ; Katie, residing at home, 
 and Margaret S. In politics Mr. Devine, 
 who is an earnest, thinking Republican, 
 has served as chairman of his township 
 for eight successive years, and was at one 
 time township assessor. He and his wife 
 are members of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, of which he was trustee for four 
 years. At the time of his location in 
 
 Outagamie county its development may 
 be said to have only fairly commenced, 
 and his eyes have witnessed wonderful 
 changes during the third of a century 
 which has since elapsed. 
 
 IVI 
 
 OSES S. CURTIS, one of the 
 best known and most deservedly 
 popular citizens of Maine town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, is a 
 native of the State of Maine, born in 
 Alton, January 4, 1835. He was one of 
 a family of eight children, namely: Eliza- 
 beth, William, Moses S., Margaret, Mary 
 J., Alfred (who became a member of the 
 Seventeenth Maine \'. I , and was 
 I killed during the seven-days' fight in the 
 wilderness;, Charles and Harriet. The 
 father of these died May 24, 1 849, after 
 which those old enough to work were 
 obliged to assist in supporting the 
 widowed mother and the younger chil- 
 dren, and Moses S. became the head of 
 the family. Though young, he was ener- 
 getic and courageous, and he bravely set 
 to work to do his share, continuing to be 
 a hard worker all his life. He spent 
 thirty-si.x winters in the lumber regions 
 of Maine, New Hampshire and Wiscon- 
 sin, and for thirty-five summers was en- 
 gaged in driving logs on the rivers of 
 these three States, this arduous and 
 often dangerous labor being performed in 
 the severest weather, and accompanied 
 with hardships which only the strongest 
 and most vigorous constitution could en- 
 dure. About seven years after the death 
 of her husband, Mrs. Curtis was again 
 married, this time to Enoc Weaver; she 
 died in 1885, at the age of seventy-five. 
 Moses S. Curtis was united in mar- 
 riage in 1859, with Miss Jane Lary, and 
 to this union came one child, Alfonzo, 
 who now resides in the town of Dummer, 
 Coos Co., N. H., where he is a farmer. 
 On August 22, 1862, Mr. Curtis enlisted 
 at Milan, Coos Co., N. H., in Company 
 E, Fourteenth N. H. V. I., and served 
 until the close of the war, during his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 3D' 
 
 whole term of ser\ice losing but two 
 weeks from active dut}-, when he was in 
 hospital, having been slightly wounded 
 in the breast by pieces of a shell at the 
 battle of Winchester. He participated 
 in man}- engagements and campaigns — 
 was in the Red River expedition, with 
 Gen. Banks in Louisiana, and with Gen. 
 Sheridan throughout the Shenandoah 
 Valley campaign, taking active part in 
 various important battles, among which 
 are mentioned Winchester, Va. (Septem- 
 ber 19, 1864), and Cedar Creek (Octo- 
 ber 19, 1864). He contracted malarial 
 poisoning while in the army, and has 
 never since fully recovered his once ro- 
 bust health, now at the age of sixty 
 years receiving a pension of eight dollars 
 a month from the government. On July 
 8, 1865, he was honorably discharged 
 from the service, and returned to his 
 home in New Hampshire. Shortly after- 
 ward he was divorced from his wife, and 
 in 1868 he came westward to Maine, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis., and here in 1870 
 purchased eighty acres of land. He soon 
 purchased another eighty acres directly 
 opposite the first tract, and after clearing 
 about fifty acres, sold it and purchased 
 the 160 acres where he now resides. Mr. 
 Curtis is actively interested in politics, 
 and has held several important offices in 
 his town, having served two terms as 
 assessor, three terms as town treasurer, 
 and four terms as chairman. He has 
 supported the principles of what is now 
 known as the Populist party since Peter 
 Cooper ran for President, and has given 
 liberally of his time and means toward 
 the promulgation of its ideas and tenets 
 ever since his conviction that the su- 
 premacy of that party is for the best 
 interests of the entire country. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Curtis married Hannah 
 S. Spaulding, a native of Clinton, Me., 
 and a daughter of James and Betsey 
 (Stinson) Spaulding, who were the par- 
 ents of six children, viz.: Charles S., 
 Marcellas, James C, Caroline F., Han- 
 nah S. and William Royal. In 1867 
 
 this family removed to Wisconsin, settling 
 on a forty-acre tract of wild land in 
 Maine township, Outagamie county, 
 where the father died December 27, 
 1880, the mother April 23, 1881; their 
 remains now rest in the cemetery at 
 Maine, Outagamie county. The Spauld- 
 ings rank as one of the oldest families 
 of Maine, their ancestors having been 
 among the early settlers of that State. 
 
 FRANK HUSE, a well-known farm- 
 er of Black Creek township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 that county, born November 4, 
 1853, in Ellington township, son of George 
 and Elizabeth (Farnham) Huse. 
 
 George Huse was born in Adams, 
 Mass. He participated in tne Mexican 
 war, and at its close came to Outagamie 
 county, Wis., and took up 160 acres of 
 timber land in Ellington township, which 
 he cleared and converted into a comfort- 
 able homestead, now known as the ' ' Rex- 
 ford farm." During the early part of his 
 residence here he was also engaged mak- 
 ing shingles by hand, an occupation which 
 brought him a small income until the 
 farm afforded a good support. While 
 living there he was married to Miss Eliz- 
 abeth Farnham, a native of Genesee, 
 N. Y., and this union was blessed with 
 five children, viz. : Henry, Frank, Al- 
 bert, Julia (who resides with her brother 
 Frank, and who has been an invalid for 
 the past eleven years), and Lillie (Mrs. 
 Thomas Little, of Black Creek). About 
 1856 the farm in Ellington township was 
 sold, and they moved to Stephensville, 
 where Mr. Huse had bought a house and 
 six acres of ground. Three years later 
 they came to Black Creek township and 
 settled on what is now the Huse home- 
 stead, but which at that time was a total 
 wilderness, abounding with game. A log 
 shanty, 16x24, was erected, and Mr. Huse 
 commenced the work of transforming the 
 forest into a productive farm. Later he 
 added forty acres to his first purchase, 
 
552 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and cleared that also, the farm compris- 
 ing 1 60 acres of tine land, well improved 
 and equipped with all necessary buildings. 
 He also speculated in land to some ex- 
 tent. In the earlier days of their resi- 
 dence on this place their trading had to be 
 done at Appleton, then but a small place, 
 and the children had to walk three miles to 
 school. The parents passed the remainder 
 of their lives on this farm, Mr. Huse pass- 
 ing from earth May 7, 1880; his widow 
 May 4, 1892. This worthy couple were 
 pioneers in the full sense of the word — 
 coming here at a time when the surround- 
 ing country was but sparsely settled and 
 almost without improvements of any sort, 
 they witnessed the full development of 
 their section, and took an active part in 
 the work themselves. When Mr. Huse 
 first came to Ellington township he carried 
 his provisions himself from Green Bay, a 
 distance of forty miles. 
 
 In the fall of 1863 Frank Huse and 
 his brother, Albert, went east to attend 
 school, followed, in the spring of 1864, 
 by their parents and the three remaining 
 children, returning late in the fall of the 
 same year. Henry, the eldest son, re- 
 mained at home until his death, which 
 occurred October 19, 1889. At the age 
 of eighteen years our subject went to work 
 in the lumber woods, continuing in that 
 line for about ten years, working at his 
 trade — that of carpenter (which he had 
 learned of Hamilton Bates), in summer 
 and in the woods in winter; he followed 
 his trade in all about twelve years. In 
 July, 1 88 1, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Kate Smith, daughter of John 
 Smith, of Black Creek, and they took up 
 their residence in Black Creek, Mr. Huse 
 engaging in the manufacture of hoops. 
 Mrs. Huse was taken ill and died only 
 three months after her marriage, and our 
 subject then came to the home farm, where 
 he lived for some time. He subsequently 
 worked six years at the carpenter's trade 
 in Merrill, Wis., and since that time has 
 resided continuously on the farm, which 
 he now owns and conducts; he has one 
 
 hundred acres of good land. On Decem- 
 ber 30, 1894, he was again married, this 
 time to Miss Sophia Mielke, of Cicero, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis. In politics Mr. 
 Huse is a life-long Republican, and social- 
 ly he has been a member of the I. O. O. 
 F. for the past twenty years. 
 
 JAMES SIMPSON, the "father of Os- 
 born township," Outagamie county, 
 was born March i, 1824, about seven 
 miles from the city of Glasgow, 
 Scotland, one of the eight children born 
 to John and Margaret (Boyd) Simpson, 
 the former of whom was a mechanic and 
 farmer. 
 
 Our subject was about ten years of 
 age when he set out to make his way 
 through life, and after two years of hard 
 work at weaving had saved a sum equal to 
 five dollars of United States currency, 
 with which he paid his passage to America, 
 landing at Quebec when he was but twelve 
 years old. He was first employed here 
 on a railroad, and shortly afterward went 
 to De Kalb, N. Y. , where he lived ten 
 years, filling two situations — each for five 
 years — at eight dollars per month. He 
 then came to Wisconsin, landing at Mil- 
 waukee, and, having previously purchased 
 a land warrant in New York from a Revo- 
 lutionary soldier, located' the land on 
 which he now lives, consisting of 160 
 acres, which cost him about fifty cents an 
 acre. During his stay in Milwaukee he 
 was employed as porter in the tavern at 
 which he first stopped, and there became 
 acquainted with Miss Sophia Bush, sister- 
 in-law of the landlord, which young lady 
 afterward became his wife. In February, 
 1852, he made a trip to Outagamie county 
 and secured the land he had selected 
 under his warrant, then returned to his 
 former position as porter in the Milwaukee 
 hotel, and in June, 1852, took his in- 
 tended bride to Chicago, where they were 
 married on the loth of the same month. 
 Taking his newly made wife to her par- 
 ents' home in ^Iichigan, he there passed 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 553 
 
 the following winter, and in the spring, 
 leaving his wife with her relatives, went 
 off to prepare a home, and it was two 
 years later before they became settled in 
 what was then known as Freedom, Outa- 
 gamie county. There had been no or- 
 ganization of Osborn township at that 
 time, and Mr. Simpson posted notices at 
 various points calling together the nine 
 voters residing within its boundaries. The 
 meeting was held at the house of Duncan 
 McNab, and steps were there taken for 
 the legal formation of Osborn township; ' 
 hence it is that Mr. Simpson is called the 
 father thereof. Here, also, he built the 
 first schoolhouse, and hired and boarded 
 the first teacher — Scott Daniels. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Simpson were born 
 four children: John I. ; BoydD., aveteri- 
 ary surgeon at Shawano, Wis. ; James, a 
 farmer in Green Valley, Shawano, Co., 
 Wis. ; and Robert, who married Miss 
 Teressa Baum, and lives on the home- 
 stead. Mrs. Simpson was born in New 
 York in 1819, and died July 3, 1891, her 
 mortal remains being interred at Sey- 
 mour. Mr. Simpson has always been 
 highly honored among his fellow citizens, 
 and for twenty years has served as a jus- 
 tice of the peace. Since the Civil war he 
 has been a Republican in his political 
 views, and he has filled almost every 
 local office in Osborn, having served as 
 treasurer seven successive years, super- 
 visor several terms, and school district 
 clerk for sixteen consecutive years. He 
 was always an ardent friend of education, 
 and his own early opportunities in that 
 line having been very meager, he deter- 
 mined that his children should have all the 
 advantages he could afford. Mrs. Simpson 
 was reared in the Methodist faith, and 
 Mr. Simpson was reared under the influ- 
 ences of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, 
 but is not a member of any Church, 
 though he has been a liberal contributor 
 toward the support of Churches and 
 Christian work. 
 
 Mr. Simpson for thirteen years was 
 given the contract for carrying the United 
 
 States mail between Appleton and South 
 Osborn, via Sagole, continuing un- 
 der four diffenent contracts during all 
 of which time the United States Post- 
 office Department found no fault what- 
 ever with his work, everything being 
 most satisfactory. He is now sixty-nine 
 years of age, and although not able to do 
 manual labor is a very active man. On 
 August 29, 1864, he enlisted in Company 
 H., First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, and 
 served until June 26, 1865, his post of 
 duty being chiefiy at the Capitol in 
 Washington, D. C. For his services to 
 the Union during the Rebellion he is now 
 in his old age receiving a pension of $12 
 a month, a small gratuity, however, as 
 the brave men who went forth to do bat- 
 tle for the preservation of the Union and 
 the glorious stars and stripes can not be 
 adequately recompensed with money for 
 the hardships and dangers they experi- 
 enced for the cause. Mr. Simpson, when 
 he enlisted, had a wife and four small 
 children who needed his services and care, 
 but his patriotism impelled him to leave 
 them and go to the support of his adopted 
 country. 
 
 WRIGHT SHERMAN, who for the 
 past quarter of a century has 
 been identified with the farming 
 interests of Cicero township, 
 Outagamie county, was born April 9, 
 1822, in Sidney township, Hastings 
 county, Canada. 
 
 Joseph Sherman, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Vermont, and when a 
 young man went to Sidney, Canada, 
 where he married Miss Leah Walsh, also 
 a native of Vermont, daughter of William 
 and Lydia Walsh, who had a famih' of 
 eight children. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman 
 passed the remainder of their lives in 
 Canada, engaged in farming, both dying 
 in Rawdon township — he in November, 
 1868, she in October, 1866 — where they 
 were buried. They were members of the 
 Methodist Church. Their family con- 
 
554 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sisted of eight children: Sanford, James, 
 Wright, Peter, John, William Emery 
 Joseph C. and Angeline. 
 
 Wright Sherman remained at home 
 until he reached the age of sixteen years, 
 when he commenced to assist his parents, 
 working first for Russel Ford, who paid 
 him five dollars a month for his services. 
 On May 15, 1849, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Matilda Fox (daughter of 
 Richard and Boageta (Rush) Fox), who 
 came to Canada in 1840, when she was 
 thirteen }ears old, from Count)' Ferma- 
 nagh, Ireland, in compan\' with several of 
 her cousins, landing at Quebec, Canada, 
 their voyage, which was made on the sail- 
 ing vessel "Dumfriesshire," occupying 
 five weeks and three days. To this union 
 have been born five children, as follows: 
 Emery Wellington, born March 8, 1850, 
 now a resident of Cicero township; Mar- 
 garet J., born October 15, 1852, now the 
 wife of Allen A. McMullen, of Cicero; 
 Peter G., born October 11, 1854, who 
 lives at Seymour, where he is engaged in 
 the insurance business, and is also city 
 marshal; George R., born June 18, 1858, 
 now railroad station agent at Coloma. 
 Wis.: and Arvilla, born December 25, 
 1868, who is married to Rev. M. A. 
 Michaels, a Methodist minister. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs, Sherman spent the first 
 nineteen years of their married life in 
 Canada, and then, in 1868, came to Sev- 
 mour, \\'is., where they lived about a 
 3ear, in 1869 moving to Cicero township, 
 where Mr. Sherman had purchased eighty 
 acres of land at five dollars per acre. 
 There was no road to the place at this 
 time, and having bought lumber with 
 which to build a house, Mr. Sherman 
 hauled it to the creek a mile west of Sey- 
 mour, where he rafted it, and after load- 
 ing the raft with flour,, pork and other 
 necessary supplies, floated it down to the 
 farm. He and his sons immediately com- 
 menced the task of clearing the land, and 
 to-day the entire farm of eighty acres is 
 well improved and under a high state of 
 cultivation. For about twenty-two years 
 
 Mr. Sherman also followed his trade, 
 carpentering, in connection with farming, 
 and erected the first frame dwelling house 
 ever built in Seymour city, for a man by 
 the name of Charles Messenger. He is 
 one of the best-known and most highly 
 esteemed citizens of Cicero township, 
 having gained the respect of all who know 
 him for his honesty and sterling integrity 
 of character. While in Canada he voted 
 the Reform ticket, and since his removal 
 to the United States has affiliated with 
 the Republican party. From 1871 to 
 1875, inclusive, he held the office of 
 treasurer of his township. In religious 
 connection he is a member of the Meth- 
 odist Church. In April, 1894, he sold his 
 farm in Cicero township, and now resides 
 in a house he owns in Seymour city, 
 ha\ing retired from active farm life. 
 
 LORENZO D. NICKERSON (de- 
 ceased). It has been said that 
 the beginning of civilization is the 
 discovery of some useful arts, by 
 which men acquire property, comforts or 
 luxuries. The necessity or desire of pre- 
 serving them leads to laws and social in- 
 stitutions. In reality the origin, as well 
 as the progress and improvement of civil 
 society, is founded on mechanical and 
 chemical inventions, and in reviewing the 
 circumstances of the life of the late Mr. 
 Nickerson there is a melanchoU' pleasure 
 in looking upon and contemplating an ac- 
 tive and useful career passed for the most 
 part in the development of some of the 
 most useful of industries. 
 
 Mr. Nickerson was born in the town 
 of Harwich, Barnstable Co. , Mass. , May 
 14, 181 1, and died in Appleton, Outa- 
 gamie Co., Wis., July I, 1893, at the 
 advanced age of eighty-two years. He 
 was a lineal descendant of William Nick- 
 erson, who, sometime between 1630 and 
 [640, came from England to America and 
 founded a colony at Cape Cod, having 
 there piurchased a large tract of land. 
 
 Elkanah Nickerson, father of our sub- 
 
u 
 
 /: 
 
 fpfjY^JcA 
 
 Ihs^-^s^-;?^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 557 
 
 ject, also a native of Harwich, Mass., was 
 a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist 
 Church. He married Elizabeth Young, 
 of the same town, and had a family af ten 
 children — nine sons and one daughter — 
 our subject being the fifth. Elkanah 
 Nickerson, in addition to his clerical la- 
 bors, conducted a tannery in Harwich, 
 and his son, Lorenzo, learned the trade, 
 working for his father until he was twenty- 
 one j-ears old, often having entire charge 
 of the tanner}- while his father would be 
 absent from home attending to his pas- 
 toral duties. 
 
 On reaching his majority our subject 
 moved to Boston, where he was engaged 
 at his trade as a journeyman, and saving 
 his means was enabled to give himself a 
 better education than he had received in 
 his boyhood, having attended only the 
 subscription schools of the district. He 
 now took a two-years' course at Wilbra- 
 hani Academy, Massachusetts, having 
 completed which, he set out for the State 
 of Mississippi, where he taught school 
 some time, and by his integrity of char- 
 acter, sterling worth and general socia- 
 bility, he made many friends, with several 
 ■of whom he corresponded nearly up to 
 the time of his death. One of them 
 found his address after fifty years, and 
 sent him a plant which his widow has 
 yet in her possession. Giving up school 
 teaching, he returned to his old Massa- 
 chusetts home, and in partnership with a 
 brother commenced the leather manufac- 
 turing business in Harwich. About the 
 year 1842 he moved to Florence, Hamp- 
 shire county, remaining there some three 
 years, when he conceived the idea of 
 embarking in the glove-making business. 
 Removing to Gloversville, N. Y. , he 
 there commenced that industry, buying, 
 tanning and dressing his own deerskins. 
 To this line of business he devoted some 
 nineteen years, meeting with most en- 
 couraging success, and, by assiduous in- 
 dustry, accumulating a small fortune. In 
 1867 he closed out his business in Glo- 
 A-ersville, and coming westward to Wis- 
 
 31 
 
 consin made a new home in Appleton, 
 passing the rest of his days in comparative 
 retirement, investing his means in land 
 and loans, and becoming quite successful. 
 
 While a resident of Florence, Mass. , 
 he became a member of the Northamp- 
 ton Association of Education and Indus- 
 try, and he there met Miss Abigail R. 
 Brown, whom, on June 8, 1844, he mar- 
 ried. She was born in Wintonbury 
 (now Bloomfield), Conn., in 18 16, a 
 daughter of Benjamin Brown, who was 
 of the sixth generation from Peter 
 Brown, who came over in the ' ' May- 
 flower. " Benjamin, who was a na- 
 tive of Wintonbury, Conn., a farmer b\- 
 occupation, married Miss Theda Curtis, 
 who was born in Canton, Conn., where 
 some of the family are yet living. She 
 was a woman noted for her kindness of 
 heart and deep interest in Church and 
 charitable works, and was the mother of 
 ten children — five sons and five daughters. 
 
 In politics Mr. Nickerson was a stanch 
 Repubhcan, taking great interest in the 
 affairs of the party. Socially he was an 
 ardent member of the F. & A. M. and I. 
 O. O. F. , never missing a meeting of 
 either society, and he was a prime mover 
 in the organization of the Temple of 
 Honor in the State of New York. He 
 was a man of sterling character and active 
 mind, never a moment idle, and when en- 
 gaged in his own real-estate business took 
 an interest in looking after the estates of 
 others. His good health up to within a 
 few months of his death, and the remark- 
 able preservation of all his faculties to the 
 last, are to be attributed to his regular 
 and temperate habits. His widow is now 
 passing her declining years in the com- 
 fortable dwelling built by him in Appleton 
 several years ago. 
 
 RANSOM P . G R I S W O L D 
 (deceased farmer). Conspicuous 
 among the heroes of the present 
 da}', standing side by side with the 
 soldiers and deserving of equal honor, are 
 
558- 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the rugged old pioneers who made possi- 
 ble the wonderful development of this 
 glorious country. Of such are the family 
 of Griswolds, Ransom Griswold, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, having been a pioneer 
 in what is now the town of Dale, Outa- 
 gamie Co., Wis., and Samuel Griswold, 
 his grandfather, in Coventryville, Chen- 
 ango Co., N. Y. (The family are of Eng- 
 lish descent). 
 
 The latter was a native of New Eng- 
 land — a man of high standing in the com- 
 munity where he resided. Coming to 
 Chenango county at an early date he 
 bravely bore the privations and hardships 
 which fall to the lot of those who attempt 
 to open up a new country to civilization, 
 and aided and encouraged his timorous 
 neighbors when they became discouraged 
 and ready to abandon the place. By 
 common consent he became a leader 
 among them in social, political and re- 
 ligious life. He was a prominent mem- 
 ber of the Free-Will Baptist Church and 
 brought up his children in that faith. 
 Mr. S. Griswold had six children — four 
 sons and two daughters — all of whom 
 reached maturity. Mr. Griswold sur- 
 vived his wife by a number of years, dy- 
 ing at the ripe old age of four score and 
 ten. Of their children, Samuel Griswold 
 was born in Coventryville, at the old 
 homestead, which consisted of a spacious 
 country house, surrounded by ample fields 
 and meadows, and was an ideal country 
 home. The public-school system was 
 then in its infancy, and at a suitable age 
 Samuel learned the trade of a millwright. 
 Being a careful, painstaking workman, 
 his worth soon became known, and he re- 
 ceived calls from every part of the State. 
 He was very ingenious, and allowed noth- 
 ing to daunt him, making it his rule that 
 whatever others could do he could do, 
 and therefore mastered everything which 
 came in his way. He was very fond of 
 music, and for a long time was drum ma- 
 jor in the State Militia, besides being a 
 man of considerable importance in militar}- 
 circles. He was always promptly on 
 
 hand on training da\s, and, possessing a 
 remarkably handsome physique, was a 
 conspicious figure in his Continental uni- 
 form. His genial nature and prepossess- 
 ing appearance made him a general favor- 
 ite, and he wielded no little influence in 
 all circles. Politically he was a Whig, as 
 was his father before him, and although 
 aspiring to no office, yet his influence was 
 such that a candidate in his locality was 
 confident of success if he was so fortunate 
 as to be the choice of ^fr. Griswold. He 
 was married to Miss Electa Tubbs, also 
 a native of New England, and they were 
 the parents of five children, two of whom 
 died in infancy; the remaining three — 
 Ransom P., Lucius, and Juliana — lived 
 to maturity, but the mother outlived them 
 all, she dying at the advanced age of 
 ninety-three 3'ears in the town of Dale, 
 where she had followed her children. 
 Mr. S. Griswold died in 1856 of cancer of 
 the lip. His wife was a member of the 
 Baptist Church, and they were both great- 
 ly respected by all who knew them. 
 
 Ransom P. Griswold was born June 
 14, 1 82 1, in the house that had been the 
 home of his ancestors for two generations. 
 He was educated in his native village and 
 decided to follow the vocation of farming. 
 To this end he bought a fine piece of 
 property, which he sold some years later 
 when the western fever struck him, and 
 migrated to Wisconsin, where he pur- 
 chased a farm jn Outagamie county, in the 
 township of Dale. On entering Wis- 
 consin he stopped nine months in Wal- 
 worth county, from there coming to 
 Outagamie county, arriving June 11, 
 1855, and, selecting a location in Dale 
 township, he purchased 160 acres of land 
 which he at once began to transform into 
 a habitable home. His choice of land 
 proved a most fortunate one, the soil being 
 rich and the location good The hardships 
 which he encountered in this arduous un- 
 dertaking, however, were a great strain on 
 his health, and the last years of his life 
 were filled with great suffering from heart 
 trouble, being caused directly by a blow 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 559- 
 
 on the chest, and indirectly bj' the hard 
 labor which succeeded it. 
 
 In politics Mr. Griswold was a Re- 
 publican, and despite his quiet unobtru- 
 siveness he wielded no little influence 
 among his neighbors, who held his opinion 
 in great respect. He took great interest 
 in the welfare of the town, and was ever 
 active in promoting an\- movement which 
 would benefit the community at large. 
 On September 3, 1846, he was married 
 to Persis J. Hackett, who was born Oc- 
 tober I, 1820, in Chenango county, N. Y. , 
 in the village of O.xford, daughter of 
 George and Mercy (Hall) Hackett, na- 
 tives of Connecticut. She became the 
 mother of ten children (of whom seven 
 are now living), viz. : Emma J. (de- 
 ceased). Ransom Perkins (a mason of 
 Clintonville, Wis.), Rensselaer P. (de- 
 ceased), Charles K. (of Clintonville, 
 Wis.), Caleb Hall, James C, Harry W., 
 Donii A. (deceased), Lewis E., and Donn 
 A. Mr. Griswold died October 10, 1865, 
 being but forty-four years of age, and his 
 untimely demise was regretted by a large 
 circle of friends, who appreciated his 
 worth at its true value. He was temper- 
 ate in his habits, of amiable disposition, 
 and affectionate in his family, qualities 
 which helped to make him a good citizen 
 and a trusted friend. 
 
 N.\THAN STILES CONKLIN, 
 one of the highly respected farm- 
 ers of Osborn township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born in Scho- 
 harie county, N. Y., August 15, 1815. 
 His grandfather, Isaac Conklin, and his 
 two brothers, Abraham and Jacob, emi- 
 grated from Holland to America when 
 young men, and settled on Long Island. 
 The last named was the father of Judge 
 Albert Conklin, and the grandfather of 
 Roscoe and Fred Conklin, the well-known 
 statesmen. Isaac Conklin died on Long 
 Island His only son, Jacob, the father 
 of our subject, was there born, and in his 
 younger years learned the tailor's trade. 
 
 which he followed throughout his entire 
 life. He was one of the best read men of 
 the time, and was a prominent and influ- 
 ential citizen. His death occurred in 
 Madison county, N. Y. , in September, 
 1853, at the age of seventy-eight years. 
 He married Jerusha Stiles, daughter of 
 Robert Stiles, a Revolutionary hero, 
 who for seven years aided in the struggle 
 for Independence, serving much of the 
 time as assistant surgeon. He was a na- 
 tive of Connecticut and of English lineage. 
 Mrs. Jerusha Conklin died in February, 
 1836, leaving quite a large family — John, 
 Julia, Abraham, Robert, Rebecca, Nathan 
 S., William H., Catherine and Elizabeth. 
 For his second wife Mr. Conklin married 
 Mrs. Mary McGann, and they had two 
 children, Jerusha and Sidney. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 in Oneida county, N. Y., and received 
 the benefits of a common-school educa- 
 tion. In 1830 he began learning the 
 carpenter's trade, which he followed until 
 1874, the last building which he erected 
 being his own fine home in Osborn town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, Wis. He was 
 an expert workman along that line, and 
 his services were therefore always in de- 
 mand, which brought him a good income. 
 In Dodge county, this State, he erected a 
 grist and saw mill besides many other 
 buildings, and really had more work than he 
 could attend to, such was his efficiency. 
 In October, I864, he became a resident of 
 Outagamie county. Wis., settling in Os- 
 born township and purchasing a farm 
 north of Sej'mour of 340 acres, upon 
 which his son, Louis A., is now living. 
 Of his present farm he first bought 200 
 acres, but of this he has since sold eighty 
 acres. This is one of the best places in 
 the neighborhood, being highly cultivated, 
 and well improved with good buildings 
 and all the other accessories which go to 
 make up a model farm of the nineteenth 
 century. While residing in Dodge county 
 he served as chairman of the town board 
 for two years and was also justice of the 
 peace from the spring of 1850 until the 
 
56o 
 
 COMMBMOaAl'IVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 spring of 1864, when he came to Outa- 
 gamie count}-. The following year he 
 was here elected justice of the peace, and 
 served until 1887, when he resigned. His 
 decisions were always just, the result of 
 a careful weighing of the evidence, and 
 only five of his cases were ever appealed. 
 He served with credit to himself and sat- 
 isfaction to all concerned, and won a 
 most enviable reputation. During the 
 war of the Rebellion he was enrolling offi- 
 cer for the town of Rubicon, Dodge 
 county, Wisconsin. 
 
 Mr. Conklin was married in Oneida 
 county, N. Y. , October 12, 1836, to Miss 
 Catherine J., daughter of Thomas Bal- 
 lard, one of the honored pioneers of that 
 county, of which Mrs. Conklin is a native. 
 She possesses more than ordinary force of 
 character and man\' admirable qualities 
 of head and heart, which ha\e won her 
 the love and esteem of all. The children 
 born of this marriage are Sarah A., Louis 
 Albert, Mary E., Oscar J., Margaret E., 
 Harry O., and Ivan N. The parents of 
 this famil}- are now well advanced in 
 years, but age rests lightly upon them, 
 and they can now look back over a well- 
 spent life with little regret for the past 
 and no fears for the future. Their ex- 
 ample is one well worthy of emulation, 
 and in the history of their adopted county 
 they well deserve representation. 
 
 NH. BROKAW. There is no more 
 prominent figure among the pros- 
 perous business men of Outa- 
 gamie county than the gentleman 
 whose name is here recorded. 
 
 Mr. Brokaw is a native of Michigan, 
 born at Centerville, in 1857, and was 
 there partly educated, partly in the high 
 school at Three Rivers, same State, from 
 which he graduated in 1874. In that 
 year he entered the college at Kalamazoo, 
 graduating there in 1877 with the degree 
 of B. S. After leaving college he studied 
 law at Three Rivers, and was admitted to 
 the Michigan bar in 1878. During his 
 
 college and law courses he spent his vaca- 
 tions, as well as the entire year, in a 
 straw pulp mill at Three Rivers, and 
 after practicing law in that town about 
 one year, he concluded to return to his 
 work in the pulp mill. In 1881, having 
 accepted the appointment of manager of 
 the Marinette and Menominee Paper 
 Co, he moved to Marinette, and while 
 with them superintended the erec- 
 tion of two paper mills. After contin- 
 uing in the employ of this company three 
 years, Mr. Brokaw organized the Falls 
 Manufacturing Co., at Oconto Falls, and 
 there built a ground wood pulp mill, 
 a sulphite plant and a paper mill, em- 
 ploying 120 men. In 1885 he bought an 
 interest in the Bradner, Smith & Co. pulp 
 mill, better known as the "Little Bad- 
 ger," at Kaukauna, whither he at once 
 moved, and after four years' very suc- 
 cessful operating, it was sold to the Bad- 
 ger Paper Co. Immediately thereafter 
 Mr. Brokaw organized the present Kau- 
 kauna Fibre Co., of which he is mana- 
 ger and secretary-treasurer. The mill 
 was erected in the summer of 1889, and 
 the plant consists of three building, de- 
 scribed as follows: Main building proper 
 1 16 X 80 feet; sulphur-burning room, 22 x 
 36; warehouse 24 X 36. In June, 1893, 
 fire consumed the entire concern, but 
 the same year it was rebuilt and re- 
 equipped. It is the first exclusively sul- 
 phite mill in the Fox River Valley, and is 
 located on the Kaukauna Water Power 
 canal between the Badger and Little Bad- 
 ger mills. Mr. Brokaw has been his own 
 architect, for he drew all the plans and 
 superintended the erecting of all the paper 
 and pulp mills built by his companies. 
 
 Our subject is a son of William C. 
 and Mary (Hoffman) Brokaw, the former 
 of whom was born in Ohio, and was a 
 millwright by trade. In Centerville, 
 Mich., whither when a young man he 
 had moved, he married, and for several 
 years operated a mill, which he sold in 
 1874. He now resides in the town of 
 Three Oaks, Berrien Co., Mich., a 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 561 
 
 widower, his wife having died in 1889 at 
 Kaukauna. She was born in St. Joseph 
 county, Mich., a daughter of PhiUp and 
 Catherine (Bowman) Hoffman, early 
 pioneers of Three Rivers, Mich., where 
 Mr. Hoffman conducted a mill several 
 years, and where the}' both died. In 
 1880 N. H. Brokaw was married in Cli- 
 max, Mich., to Miss Kate Edmonds, a 
 native of that state, daughter of Rev. I^. 
 M. Edmonds, a minister of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church, who is now a resi- 
 dent of Eaton Rapids, Mich. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Brokaw has come one child, 
 Norman Edmonds, born on the thir- 
 teenth anniversary of their wedding da\". 
 They are members of the M. E. Church, 
 in which he is a trustee, and of the Sab- 
 bath-school of which our subject has 
 been superintendent since its organiza- 
 tion. When he first took charge of the 
 school the attendance was some twenty- 
 five or thirty, and it now numbers fully 
 I 50. Socially Mr. Brokaw is a member 
 of the F. & A. M., Kaukauna Lodge No. 
 233, and in politics he is a stanch Prohi- 
 bitionist. In a recent brief biography of 
 this gentleman, the following eulogy was 
 made of him, and truer words were never 
 written: "Though a very quiet, modest 
 man, Mr. Brokaw's education and refine- 
 ment make him a powerful factor in 
 raising the standard of Kaukauna's societ}'; 
 and this fact, together with his unob- 
 trusive philanthropy, makes him one of 
 the most respected and influential of all 
 our citizens." 
 
 EDWARD BRAHAN, one of the 
 well-known and successful farmers 
 of Hortonia township, Outagamie 
 county, was born March 10, 1847, 
 in Ireland, son of Michael Brahan, who 
 was born in the same country in 1822. 
 
 Michael Brahan married Catharine 
 Lacy, who was born in Ireland in 18 19, 
 and they became the parents of eight 
 children : Mary, Peter, Edward, John, 
 
 Michael, James, one that died in in- 
 fancy, and Bridget, three of whom are 
 living : Mary, Michael and Edward. 
 The father of this family was a farmer, 
 tilling a piece of land which had been 
 leased by the family for several gener- 
 ations, and in 1866 he sold the lease for 
 ;^ioo, and on May i of that year started 
 for the United States. Locating in 
 Mc Henry county, 111., he there followed 
 the mason's trade for a number of years, 
 and now lives a retired life. He is a 
 Democrat in politics, and in religious 
 faith is a Catholic. Mrs. Brahan died in 
 McHenry county. 111., in 1874. 
 
 Edward Brahan received his literary 
 training in the public schools of his native 
 land, subsequently working on his father's 
 farm until the spring of 1866, when he 
 came to the United States fshortly pre- 
 ceding his father), and for three months 
 lived in New York State. Following his 
 parents to McHenry county. 111., he 
 worked there during 1866, and in 1867 
 went to Vermont, where for four years he 
 worked on a farm, and then again return- 
 ing to McHenry county. 111. , followed 
 farming there one year. In October, 
 1872, he settled on the farm (which his 
 father gave him) in Hortonia, Outagamie 
 Co. , Wis. , which he has ever since occu- 
 pied, and which he has cleared and culti- 
 vated and provided with good buildings 
 and everything necessary to a well- 
 equipped farm, meeting with most 
 encouraging success in his agricultural 
 work. 
 
 Mr. Brahan was married December 25, 
 1872, to Miss Annie Foy, who was born 
 in Ireland in 1846, daughter of John and 
 Mary Fo}', also natives of that country, 
 who came to the United States in 1847. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Brahan have been born 
 nine children, namely : Mary, William, 
 Katherine, Ella and Annie ftwins) , John 
 Margaret, Alice and Emma. Mr. Brahan 
 takes a warm interest in the education of 
 his family, affording them all the educa- 
 tional prigileges within his means; Mary, 
 Katherine, Ella and Annie attended high 
 
562 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 school at New London. The famil\- are 
 Catholics in religious connection, and in 
 his political preferences Mr. Brahan is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 JOHN NIELAND. The Nieland fam- 
 ily were natives of Mecklenburg^', 
 Germany, where the father of our 
 subject, James Nieland, was born in 
 1800. His father (John's grandfather) 
 was a very poor man, and James was 
 compelled to go among strangers to earn 
 his own living. On reaching manhood he 
 was married to Miss Mina Wals, also a 
 native of Mecklenburg, born in 1802, and 
 she bore him four children, all of whom 
 reached maturit}': Mina, now Mrs. God- 
 frey Gorges, of Appleton; Mary, now 
 Mrs. Carl Thai, of Ellington township; 
 Henry, who died February 7, 1894; and 
 John, our subject. In 1857 the family 
 emigrated to the United States, proceed- 
 ing direct to Manitowoc, Wis., where 
 they remained eleven months, after which 
 they removed to the township of Dale, 
 Outagamie county, and located on a 
 farm, the sons assuming the management 
 of the same owing to the broken-down 
 health of the father. The latter died on 
 this place in 1880 at the advanced age of 
 eighty years. His wife passed away six 
 years later at the age of eighty four years. 
 John Nieland, our subject, was born 
 in Mecklenburg, Germany, September 15, 
 1834, and was twent3--three years of age 
 when he landed in this country. He as- 
 sisted his brothers with the farm work in 
 Dale township. Wis., until 1862, when 
 he enlisted in Company I, Thirty-second 
 Regiment, Wis. V. I. He continued in 
 the service until June, 1865, participating 
 in the battles of Atlanta, Jonesborough, 
 Savannah, Bentonville and many other 
 minor engagements, was injured in the 
 service, and now draws six dollars per 
 month from the government. After his 
 return from the war he purchased eighty 
 acres of land in Greenville township, 
 ■Outagamie Co., Wis., which he cultivated 
 
 until 1875, when he sold out and bought 
 the farm he now owns and occupies in 
 the township of Dale. This latter prop- 
 ert\', at the time of his purchase, was 
 wild land, but under his skillful manage- 
 ment it was soon converted into a fertile 
 and productive farm. Upon it he has 
 erected good buildings and otherwise en- 
 hanced the value of the property. In 
 politics he is a strict Independent, voting 
 always for the best man. He is a con- 
 scientious member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, and is ever ready to help 
 the poor and unfortunate. He was mar- 
 ried on May 5, 1862, to Miss Frederica 
 Burr, a native of Prussia, born Septem- 
 ber 17, 1834, whose father was an iron- 
 master in that country. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Nieland have had seven children, of whom 
 two — Earnest and John — are dead; the 
 remaining ones are Caroline (now Mrs. 
 William Schrudel, of Greenville town- 
 ship), and Henry, John, Lewis and Fred- 
 erick, at home. Mr. Nieland is very 
 popular among his townspeople on ac- 
 count of his genial disposition and well- 
 known integrity. 
 
 ALBERT S. DURKEE, an indus- 
 trious farmer of Seymour town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, is a na- 
 tive of New York State, born 
 January 14, 1844, in Rensselaer county, 
 son of Ariel Durkee, who was a farmer. 
 The latter married Miss Harriet Wager, 
 and they had eight children born to them, 
 namely: Elner, Albert S.. George, Elsie, 
 Calvin, Saturnia, Mary and John W. 
 
 On August II, 1862, when eighteen 
 years of age, Albert Durkee enlisted in 
 Company A, One Hundred and Twenty- 
 fifth N. Y. V. I., was shortly afterward 
 taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry, and 
 held two months. In the spring of 1863 
 he was taken ill and sent to hospital, 
 there remaining until the command was 
 ordered to Gettysburg, when he was taken 
 to the general hospital at Washington, D. 
 C. Here he had a relapse of typhoid 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 563 
 
 fever, and, after his recovery, acted as 
 nurse until October, 1864, when he re- 
 joined his command at Petersburj^, Va., 
 and was in active service until June 9, 
 1865, when he received an honorable 
 discharge. 
 
 On April 9, 1867, Mr. Durkee was 
 married to Miss Elizabeth L\'nch, born 
 in 1850, daughter of Barnard and Annie 
 (Mclvernan) Lynch, of Iri^h descent, who 
 had five children: Mathew, Annie, Law- 
 rence, Elizabeth, and Charles. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Durkee have been born five 
 children, namely: Alice, Allen, Etta, 
 Irene and Nellie. Our subject and wife 
 spent the first four years of their married 
 life in New York State, and then came to 
 Wisconsin, for the next four years living 
 in Suamico, Brown county; in 1878 they 
 came to Seymour township, Outagamie 
 county, and during the four years follow- 
 ing rented land from a Mr. Carter, at the 
 end of which time Mr. Durkee purchased 
 forty acres of land, at five dollars per 
 acre, on which the family have since made 
 their home. Politically our subject is a 
 stanch Republican, and takes much inter- 
 est in the success of his party. 
 
 ROBERT McMURDO, chairman 
 of Hortonia township, Outagamie 
 county, is a well and favorably 
 known resident of this section, 
 where he has passed almost his entire life. 
 He was born May 7, 1849, in Char- 
 lotte county, N. B., Canada, of Scotch 
 descent, his father, John McMurdo, 
 having been born in Scotland in 1808. 
 The latter took up his residence in Canada 
 in 1 83 1, remaining there until 1851, when 
 he removed to Hortonville, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis., and shortly afterward located 
 on a farm in Hortonia township, which he 
 at once proceeded to clear, it being at 
 that time all covered with timber. He 
 continued farming until 1875, when he 
 retired and removed to the village of 
 Hortonville, and there passed the re- 
 mainder of his days, dying in 1890. Eliza- 
 
 beth (Hunter) McMurdo, mother of our 
 subject, was born in Scotland in 1814, 
 and still resides in Horntonville. 
 
 I^obert McMurdo, who is the seventh 
 in a family of eight children, was two 
 3'ears of age when his parents brought 
 him to Hortonia township, and he passed 
 his boyhood on the pioneer farm, where 
 he endured all the hardships and incon- 
 veniences of backwoods life. His literary 
 education was necessarily limited, as the 
 schools of those early days were few and 
 far between, and up to the age of fifteen 
 years he assisted his father with the farm 
 work, after which he commenced in life 
 for himself. Up to the age of about thirty 
 he engaged in various pursuits, then pur- 
 chased a farm which he carried on during 
 the summer season, during the winter 
 engaging in lumbering and the buying 
 and selling of pine lands. He continued 
 in the lumbering business until 1893, 
 when he retired, having, by good manage- 
 ment and straightforw-ard dealing, made 
 a success and acquired a comfortable 
 competence. Socially Mr. McMurdo is a 
 member in good standing of the L O. O. 
 F. and F. & A. M. ; politically he is an 
 ardent lifelong Republican, and he is at 
 present serving as chairman of Hortonia 
 township, having been elected to that 
 office in the spring of 1894. Mr. McMurdo 
 was united in marriage, in 1888, with 
 Miss Lena Smith, who was born near 
 Milwaukee, Wis., in 1866. 
 
 REV. A. H. HUITINK, pastor 
 of the Immaculate Conception 
 Church, Greenville, Outagamie 
 county, was born September 30, 
 1849, in Holland, son of Gerod John 
 Huitink, a farmer, who had a family of 
 eight children. 
 
 Our subject was the third son and the 
 fourth child in the order of birth. His 
 early education was received in the com- 
 mon schools of the land of his birth, and, 
 having decided to enter the priesthood, he 
 came to the United States to finish hi 
 
564 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 Studies. In the fall of 1878 he sailed on 
 the " Caland " from Rotterdam, and a 
 fortnight later landed in New York City, 
 thence coming directly to Freedom, Outa- 
 gamie Co., Wis., where his brother John 
 was engaged in farming. He lived and 
 worked with him for a year, and then en- 
 tered upon his studies at Mt. Calvary, 
 Wis., completing his education at St. 
 Francis College, near Milwaukee. On 
 June 21, 1890, he was ordained, and for 
 two months had a charge at South Kau- 
 kauna, Outagamie county, removing next 
 to Neshkora, Wis. , where he had six dif- 
 ferent missions under his care, and re- 
 mained there two years. In September, 
 1892, he accepted his present charge, and, 
 in connection, he attends to a mission at 
 Stephensville. He also conducts the par- 
 ish school at Greenville. The congrega- 
 tion under his charge was organized in 
 1866. 
 
 J 
 
 OSEPH NAGREEN, a well-known 
 resident of Maine township, Outaga- 
 mie company, and a soldier both by 
 training and by long service, is a 
 native of the village of Kosteletz, Austria, 
 born April 19, 1825, son of Stephen and 
 Clara Nagreen, the former of whom was 
 a cabinet-maker. 
 
 Our subject attended school up to the 
 age of twelve years, and then commenced 
 to learn the trade of cabinet-maker under 
 his father, which he completed at the 
 age of eighteen. At that time he entered 
 the Austrian army, the "Prince Carl In- 
 fantry," in which he remained eight years, 
 during his service participating in several 
 important battles and distinguishing him- 
 self for bravery and gallantry. He took 
 an active part in the war with Italy 
 (1848-49), was in the engagements at 
 Odra, Treviso, Verona, etc., and had 
 many narrow escapes, but during his en- 
 tire service he was never more than 
 slightly wounded. In 1852 he left the 
 army and went to Switzerland, where he 
 commenced work at his trade; but after a 
 
 short stay there came to America, his 
 first home in the New W'orld being in 
 Middlebury, Tioga Co., Penn. While 
 living there he was married, August 20, 
 1853, to Miss Sarah Thompson, shortly 
 afterward removing to New York State, 
 where he followed his trade. In 1854 he 
 came westward, locating in Illinois, and 
 making his home there some ten years, 
 but was obliged to leave on account of 
 the ague. While residing in that State 
 he enlisted at Sycamore, in Company F, 
 Thirteenth 111. V. I., for three years, and 
 during his service took part in many 
 battles and skirmishes, including the 
 following: West Galze, October 14, 
 1861; Lime Creek, Mo., October 15, 
 1 861; Chickasaw Bayou, Miss., De- 
 cember 27-28, 1862; Arkansas Post, Jan- 
 uary II, 1863: Deer Creek, April 7, 
 1863. In that year he did his last fight- 
 ing, receiving a sunstroke on the march 
 between luka and Corinth, and was placed 
 in the field hospital at luka. He was in 
 the action at Black Bayou, April 10, 
 1863; Jackson, Miss., May 14, 1863; 
 siege of Vicksburg, May 18 to July 4, 
 1863; Brandon, Miss., July 19, 1863. 
 He was removed to Memphis, and five 
 months later went to Jefferson Barracks, 
 where he remained two months previous 
 to receiving an honorable discharge. Ma}' 
 5, 1864, at Jefferson Barracks. St. Louis, 
 Mo., on account of disabilities. At 
 Chickasaw Bavou a cannon-ball struck a 
 stump behind which he was sitting and 
 he was stunned by the shock. When he 
 recovered consciousness he found that the 
 army had marched on and were about a 
 mile ahead, and he hastened to rejoin 
 them. But before he reached them he 
 had an adventure with the Rebels, who 
 fired upon him: but he fell upon his face 
 and was left for dead, soon after making 
 his escape. During his term of service 
 he went home on a furlough and on his 
 return to his command, at Still Spring, 
 he came to a place known as Spring 
 House. Two women invited him to re- 
 main all night, saying their father was a 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 565 
 
 Union man. The building was riddled 
 with bullets, and he ascertained that 
 twelve guerrillas fired through the sides 
 of the house at the father, who acted as 
 a sharpshooter and killed seven of them. 
 In the house also was a sick negro. Mr. 
 Nagreen administered two blue-mass pills 
 to the darkey, lanced a swelling from 
 which he was suffering, and in the morn- 
 ing the negro announced, " Massa, Fse 
 better." He remained three days, and 
 every night at 1 1 o'clock guerrillas came 
 to look for Union soldiers. The women 
 engaged the Rebels in conversation and 
 Mr. Nagreen sat where he could sight the 
 party with loaded gun and bayonet fixed. 
 When he went away he rewarded the 
 women with two new wool blankets he 
 brought from one of the battle fields. 
 They invited him to visit them if he sur- 
 vived the war, but he never saw them 
 again. On his way he met two deserters 
 from the army of Gen. Price. He hailed 
 them and asked if they wanted tobacco. 
 They inquired if his gun was loaded and 
 he answered "no." They took the to- 
 bacco, and soon after he met three others 
 deserting, whom he provided with tobacco 
 also. None of them were armed. When 
 he reached his regiment, and related his 
 adventures, ?the colonel told him there 
 was not another man in the command 
 who would have dared undertake such a 
 journey alone. 
 
 After his return from the army Mr. 
 Nagreen again, in 1865, embarked in the 
 furniture business, carrying it on in Hor- 
 tonville and Black Creek until 1884, when 
 he abandoned it on account of impaired 
 health, and coming to Maine township, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis., purchased the farm 
 of forty acres where he now makes his 
 home. He and his wife have had eleven 
 children, viz. : Orlando, Marshall, Hattie, 
 Emma, Charles, Vernon, Merton, all liv- 
 ing; and Frank, Florence, Lavinia and 
 Ida, all four deceased, the latter leaving 
 a husband and two children. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Nagreen are both members of the 
 Methodist Church at Hortonville, in 
 
 which he takes much interest, and he is 
 a member of G. A. R. Post, J. W. Ap- 
 pleton. No. 1 16. 
 
 CHARLES A. GRIGNON. The 
 name of this deceased gentleman, 
 a name, in the earliest history of 
 the northern part of Wisconsin, 
 as "familiar as household words," is 
 more closely associated with the e.xistence 
 of Kaukauna, of which he was a native, 
 than any other. 
 
 He was born June 8, 1808, within 
 what is now the city limits, a son of 
 Augustin and Nancy fMcRae) Grignon, 
 the former of whom was born in Green 
 Bay, Wis., June 27, 1780. In 18 18 he 
 moved to Kaukauna, then known as 
 "Grand Kakalin," being the third white 
 settler in the place, and for his location 
 he selected a site on the lower rapids, 
 the government having granted him a 
 tract there and thereabouts of one thou- 
 sand acres of land. On this property, at 
 the foot of the bluff in the rear of the 
 present residence of Mrs. Charles A. 
 Grignon, Augustin Grignon built a log 
 house, which is still standing, a silent, 
 yet eloquent witness of the past. It is 
 the oldest house extant in the State of 
 Wisconsin, and for many years has been 
 the property of the Grignon family, they 
 having built some additions to it. .Later 
 he moved to Winnebago county, and, 
 along with Louis Portier, founded the 
 town of Butte des Morts, an Indian trad- 
 ing post, and here for many years he 
 traded in furs with the various tribes who 
 made it their rendezvous. At an early 
 date he built a sawmill on the Fo.x river, 
 by which it may be inferred that he was 
 also interested in the lumber trade, and 
 of that there is little doubt, for lumber 
 was the staple commodity of these re- 
 gions for manv vears. He died at the 
 advanced age of eighty years, having 
 lived under British rule, and through the 
 succeeding Territorial governments up to 
 the Territory becoming a State. A man of 
 
566 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 fair education, considering the advantages, 
 or rather disadvantages, of the primitive 
 ;period of his boyhood, he did more to 
 preserve the history of Wisconsin than 
 any other man, and furnished valuable 
 material to the State Historical Society. 
 He was a grandson of Charles Langlade, 
 a very prominent man in his day and 
 one of the first of the Caucasian race to 
 plant his foot on Wisconsin soil, an ex- 
 haustive sketch of whom is preserved by 
 the Historical Society. Augustin Grig- 
 non was a lieutenant in the war of 1812, 
 and a captain in the Black Hawk war. 
 He married Nancy McRae, and five chil- 
 dren were born to them, viz. : Margaret, 
 who married Ebenezer Childs, of De- 
 Pere, who was a member of the Legisla- 
 ture from Brown county; Charles A., 
 subject of this sketch; Ale.xander, who 
 was an attorney by profession and also a 
 furtrader, died in Shawano, Wis. ; Sophia, 
 who became the wife of Louis Portier, 
 and resided in Winnebago county, where 
 she died, and where he is yet living; and 
 Pelete, who died in Winnebago county 
 when young. 
 
 Pierre Grignon, father of Augustin, 
 was a son of Governor Grignon, of Bre- 
 tagne, France, and of a daughter of 
 Madame De Sevigne, a name not unfa- 
 miliar to the literary world. By his mar- 
 riage with Miss Langlade, daughter of 
 Charles Langlade, above referred to, 
 Pierre Grignon had nine children, named 
 respectivel}': Pierre Antoine, Charles, 
 Augustin, Louis, Baptiste, Domitelle, 
 Marguerite, Hippolyta and Amable. The 
 father of these died in 1797, two days 
 prior to the birth of his youngest child. 
 His wife survived him many years, and is 
 yet remembered as a most exemplary 
 woman, a good friend to the needy, and 
 whose home was a sanctuary where rich 
 and poor alike, before the days of churches 
 in this region, congregated for religious 
 services. For her second husband she 
 married, in 1806, John B. Langerin. 
 Pierre Grignon had two or more of his 
 children educated at Montreal, Canada, 
 
 and intended tliat the rest of his family 
 should finish their education there, but 
 such plans were frustrated by his death. 
 Of the sons, Pierre Antoine and Louis 
 settled in Green Bay, Wis., where are to 
 be found their descendants. 
 
 Charles A. Grignon, the subject proper 
 of this sketch, was reared and educated in 
 Kaukauna to the age of sixteen, at which 
 time he moved to Green Bay, where for 
 twelve years he served as clerk and head 
 clerk, successively, for Daniel Whitney, 
 whose service he left to fill a government 
 appointment in Washington; D. C. , and 
 as soon as again free he returned to Green 
 Bay, where he embarked in mercantile 
 business for his own occount. This he 
 continued for several years, at the same 
 time, in connection with his father, hav- 
 ing a trading post at Grand Kakalin (Kau- 
 kauna), where in after years, in 1837, he 
 came to live with his family. They had 
 also a trading post at Butte des Morts, 
 in Winnebago county, and for many 
 years our subject was United States in- 
 terpreter for the Indians. He was a 
 notary public, and for some years was 
 county treasurer for Outagamie county. 
 In course of time he retired from com- 
 mercial life, and lived comparatively re- 
 tired up to his death, which took place in 
 the spring of 1862, in Kaukauna. 
 
 In 1837 Mr. Grignon was united in 
 marriage, in Green Bay, with Miss Mary 
 E. Meade, who was born in Harrisburg, 
 Penn., a daughter of David P. and Lydia 
 (Waile) Meade, natives of Ireland, but 
 reared in Pennsylvania, where they were 
 married; the mother died in that State, 
 after which event the father moved, in 
 1838, to Green Bay, Wis., later coming 
 to Kaukauna, where he died April 16, 
 1857. They were the parents of four 
 children, viz. : Catherine, wife of George 
 W. Lawe, the "Father of Kaukauna;" 
 Mary E., Mrs. Charles A. Grignon; John 
 F., who became an early settler of Green 
 Bay, where he was a merchant for some 
 time, also dealing in real estate (at one 
 time he was a member of the legislature 
 
COMMEMOBATIVK BWGRAPMICAL RECORD. 
 
 567 
 
 from Brown county ; he died May 6, 1850, 
 supposed to have been murdered, his body 
 placed in his house, which was set fire to, 
 everything being consumed) ; and Capt. 
 M. J., an ex-soldier of the Civil war, 
 married, and living in I\aukauna. Grand- 
 father David P. Meade was a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary war, after which he 
 moved to Green Bay, later to Kaukauiia, 
 where he died; his wife passed from earth 
 in Pennsylvania. To the marriage of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Charles A. Grignon were born 
 children as follows: Fannie, a teacher of 
 music, who was educated at Lawrence 
 University, Appleton; Nancy, who mar- 
 ried Edward Meade, and died in Kau- 
 kauna in 1868; Augustine, married (who 
 has one son, Deuel), living in California; 
 Lj'dia, wife of Charles Friend, of Oconto, 
 Wis. (they have one child, Marie) ; Mar- 
 garet, a bookkeeper at Appleton, Wis., 
 who is an artist of some ability; Mary and 
 Emma, both at home; Charles, book- 
 keeper and stockholder in the John Ho- 
 berg Manufacturing Co. ; and Rossiter, 
 married, living on the home farm. Mrs. 
 Grignon and the family are members of 
 the Catholic Church, those who reside in 
 Kaukauna attending Holy Cross Church. 
 As alread}' intimated, the Grignons are 
 the oldest family in the State, and at one 
 time owned 1,800 acres of land along the 
 Fox river, 240 of which are now inside 
 the city limits, and owned by Mrs. Grig- 
 non, widow of Charles A. Grignon. 
 
 w 
 
 ILLIAM L. VAUGHN. The old 
 
 family of Vaughns was of Eng- 
 lish descent, and settled in New 
 England at an early date. Four 
 and five generations back they were well 
 known in Vermont, being prominent 
 among the early settlers of that State. 
 Lazarus Vaughn, the grandfather of the 
 subject of this sketch, was one of the 
 honored pioneers of Jefferson county, N. 
 Y. , to which place he removed when 
 quite a young man. 
 
 Soon after settling in this new country 
 
 he was married to a Miss Cox, and 
 reared a large family of children. Later 
 in life he removed his family to Stephen- 
 son county. 111. , where he and his wife 
 both died; he at the age of seventy-six 
 years, and she at the age of ninety-two. 
 Charles G. (their son), the father of our 
 subject, was born in New York State, 
 and was married to Miss Prudence Chase, 
 a native of New York, and a member of 
 an old and well-known family. They 
 were the parents of seven children, viz , 
 William L., Morris C, Duane H., Otis, 
 Reuben, Helen and Mary, the latter of 
 whom is dead. Mr. Vaughn chose the 
 vocation of farming, and pursued it in 
 various locations, first in New York State, 
 then came to Jefferson county. Wis., in 
 1842, and lived there until 1854, when 
 he moved to Dale township, Outagamie 
 county, where he bought 160 acres of 
 land, and once more he began the ardu- 
 ous task of clearing and improving wild 
 land. Slowly but surely the wild aspect, 
 which first greeted his appearance, gave 
 way to substantial buildings and well-cul- 
 tivated fields. As the children grew up, 
 one by one, they went away to make 
 homes for themselves, all except William, ' 
 who followed the New England custom 
 of the eldest son, remaining to take care 
 of the parents and inherit the homestead. 
 Mr. Vaughn died at this home August 13, 
 1875. aged sixty years. His widow is 
 still living and resides at her old home. 
 Mr. Vaughn was considered an unusually 
 good farmer. His judgment was excel- 
 lent. He paid close attention to the 
 crop reports, and raised such produce as 
 he believed would be most in demand. 
 Having made a success of his own busi- 
 ness, his friends had confidence that he 
 would care for the public's interests in the 
 same manner, and so they honored him 
 with numerous town offices, making him 
 a member of the town board several times. 
 They were not wrong in their estimate of 
 his ability, for he served with credit in 
 every position in which he was placed, 
 possessed the confidence of his fellow cit- 
 
568 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 izens to a marked degree, and was recog- 
 nized as a strong character. His sterling 
 good sense, quick perceptions and benev- 
 olent disposition caused him to be much 
 sought after, both as a friend and an. 
 adviser. 
 
 William L. Vaughn, the subject of 
 this sketch, was born January 27, 1838, 
 in the town of Clayton, Jefferson Co. , N. 
 Y. His education, such as is gained at 
 school, is limited, for in those early days 
 the schools were " few and far between " 
 — in other words, far apart. Being a man 
 of much natural ability and intelligence 
 he improvedevery opportunity to increase 
 his small stock of learning, and now, at 
 middle age, he is considered a very well- 
 informed man. His knowledge is more 
 of the practical kind, such as is most use- 
 ful in business, and he may well be called 
 a self-educated man. He has his father's 
 thrift and good judgment, and, like him, 
 has made farming a grand success. The 
 friends of his father watched him as he 
 grew to manhood, and taking note of 
 the able manner in which he performed 
 his duties decided that he was to be 
 trusted in public affairs as well as his 
 father, so at different times they have 
 elected him to various public offices. 
 
 In August, 1862, Mr. Vaughn enlisted 
 in the Thirty-second Wisconsin Regiment, 
 Company I, and served until the close of 
 the war; participated in a number of en- 
 gagements, remained with the Thirty- 
 second regiment all along and marched 
 with them, under Sherman, from Atlanta 
 to the sea. He was never wounded 
 throughout the whole war, and remained 
 in active service during all of that time, 
 excepting thirty days when he was con- 
 fined to hospital w^ith the measels. On 
 his return from the war he commenced 
 farming once more, and entered actively 
 into all movements for the advancement 
 and improvement of the community in 
 which he resided. In politics he is a Re- 
 publican, and uses all of his influence for 
 the success of the party's cause. On De- 
 cember 25, 1865, closely following his re- 
 
 turn from the war, Mr. Vaughn was mar- 
 ried to Miss Janet Mills, daughter of 
 Alonzo Mills, an old settler of Dale town- 
 ship. They had a family of eight chil- 
 dren, as follows: Nellie, Orin, Clara, 
 Lydia, Elba, Erma, Chancy, and Garner, 
 of whom Nellie and Lydia are deceased. 
 
 SAMUEL W^H EATEN VAN- 
 DOREN (farmer) comes of good 
 old Holland stock, his grandfather, 
 John Van Doren, having emigrated 
 from Holland to Hunterdon count}', N. 
 J., before the Revolution. His wife's 
 maiden name was Jane Neivus. At one 
 time they owned about forty slaves and 
 other property proportionally. Both died 
 at the homestead, and were buried near 
 White House Station, New Jersey. 
 
 Peter Van Doren, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in 1790 on the old planta- 
 tion in Essex county. He married Re- 
 becca Plumly, who was also of Holland 
 descent, although her parents died when 
 she was so young that she knew little of 
 their family history. In 1S23 Peter Van- 
 Doren and his wife moved to Steuben 
 county, N. Y. , and in 1853 migrated to 
 Winnebago county, Wis. There the 
 mother died in 1866, at the age of 
 seventy-five years, and the father, at 
 Seven Mile Creek, town of Lamartine, 
 Fond du Lac Co., Wis., at the advanced 
 age of eighty-one years. They were the 
 parents of seven children, viz. : Mary 
 Ann, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, William, 
 Catharine, and Samuel W., of whom only 
 the last three named sons are living. 
 Isaac was born in New Jersey in 1820, 
 and when three years of age removed 
 with his parents to New York; in 1854, 
 with his wife and children, he came to 
 Winnebago county. Wis. , locating near 
 Oshkosh, where four more children were 
 born, making nine in all, all of whom 
 have grown to manhood and womanhood; 
 their mother, whose maiden name was 
 Sarah M. Bush, died at the age of fifty- 
 three years at Nekimi, W^is. Jacob, the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 569 
 
 other brother of our subject, remains at 
 the ancestral home tit White House 
 Station, New Jersey. 
 
 Samuel W. Yzn Doren was born in 
 the town of Pulteney, Steuben county, 
 N. Y., and soon after his birth the family 
 removed to Prattsburg, N. Y. , where he 
 attended school a short time. Later they 
 again moved, this time to Cohocton 
 township, Steuben county, N. Y. , thence 
 in the spring of 1853 to Wisconsin. 
 Pleased with the locality of Fond du 
 Lac, he removed his family to that 
 count}' in 1855, and induced his parents 
 to come and spend their remaining days 
 with him. He was in possession of a fine 
 eighty-acre farm, which his good man- 
 agement caused to produce excellent 
 crops. In 1876 Mr. Van Doren removed 
 to Outagamie county, and that fall 
 attended, with his wife, the Cen- 
 tennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. At 
 first he onlj- bought forty acres of land in 
 this new home, but later sold that and 
 purchased 149 acres; again he sold forty- 
 seven acres, and at present is in posses- 
 sion of the remaining 102 acres, which con- 
 stitues a splendid farm. Previous to his 
 leaving New York, in 185 1, he married 
 Miss Euphrasia Barnes, and by her had 
 six children, viz. : Mrs. Rebecca McFar- 
 land, William W., Frank A. , Mrs. Alice 
 Cook, Mrs. Adella Culbertson, and Mrs. 
 Dora May Stein, of Clintonville, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Mr. Van Doren has not been actively 
 engaged in farming for some time, his son, 
 Frank A., working his farm under his 
 superintendence. In 1894 he bought a 
 store which is conducted by his son-in- 
 law, Bert Cook. In 1883 he inoved to a 
 comfortable home in the village of Medina, 
 where he intends to spend the remainder 
 of his days in the ease and comfort which 
 his past hard work has merited. His 
 war experience deserves honorable men- 
 tion in this sketch: He enlisted in Feb- 
 ruary, 1865, and served until October of 
 that year, when he was mustered out 
 with the rest of his company, He be- 
 
 longed to the Fourteenth Wis. V. I., 
 Company H, which was sent to Mont- 
 gomery, Ala., but not being needed were 
 mustered out, the last battle of the war 
 having been fought on May 12, 1865. 
 After the close of the war Mr. Van Doren 
 returned to his home, and once more took 
 up the duties of a citizen. His health 
 was injured in the service, however, and 
 he now draws a pension from the govern- 
 ment. In politics he had always been a 
 stanch Democrat until within the past few 
 years when he abandoned the party and 
 became an Independent, voting, not for 
 the part}', but for the man. He claims 
 that politics will never be pure until par- 
 ties pass into oblivion and offices are filled 
 by men chosen by the people. He has 
 never aspired to an office himself, but 
 works faithfully for. the candidate whom 
 he believes will most ably fill the place. 
 He is a member of the G. A. R. , Post No. 
 10, Hortonville, where, as in political 
 and social life, he is given respectful at- 
 tention. A keen observer of human na- 
 ture, a careful business man and a kind 
 friend to the unfortunate, Samuel Van- 
 Doren will never lack friends. 
 
 JOHN LEPPLA, the well-known mer- 
 chant of Dale, Outagamie county, 
 was born October 10, 1832, in Holl- 
 bornerhof, Rhenish Bavaria, Ger- 
 many. The old Leppla famih' was origin- 
 ally from France, being numbered among 
 the Huguenots, who were driven out of 
 that fair country in the darkest days of 
 religious persecution. After locating in 
 their new home in Germany, they became 
 in time a representative family in that 
 section. They were farmers by occupa- 
 tion, and landholders and freeholders, 
 the community in which they had settled 
 being given to agricultural pursuits. 
 
 Peter Leppla, grandfather of John, 
 reared a large family of children, all of 
 whom married, settled in the same 
 neighborhood and raised families. His 
 son Peter, father of John, inherited one- 
 
370 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 third of the old homestead, and was 
 one of the representative men of the 
 region, over which he was known far 
 and wide. The excellent reputation of 
 the family name did not suffer at his 
 hands, and he was respected wherever 
 known. He died on the old place, from 
 paralysis, aged fifty-two years. His wife, 
 Catherine (Walter) Leppla, was a native 
 of a neighboring village, but belonged to 
 the same Church society and judicial dis- 
 trict. Her long and useful life was closed 
 in 1879, when she had reached the age of 
 about seventy years; she was an excellent 
 Christian woman, and a member of the 
 Protestant Church. Of her nine children 
 seven grew to be men and women. 
 
 John Leppla, the eldest of four sons, 
 was a farmer before leaving Europe. Em- 
 igrating to America when nineteen years 
 old, he first located in Montgomery county, 
 Penn., \\'here an uncle, Henry Leppla, 
 was then living, but is now a resident of 
 Greenville township, Outagamie Co., 
 Wis. The young man remained in that 
 localit}- four years, and in 1856 came to 
 Milwaukee county. Wis., where for ten 
 years he engaged in farming in Granville 
 township. Then selling out and remov- 
 ing to Outagamie county he purchased 
 eightv acres of land in Greenville town- 
 ship, which he soon afterward sold, how- 
 ever, and entered mercantile business in 
 Appleton; where he bought property; 
 there he achieved success, but was not 
 satisfied with city life. The open sky and 
 broad country fields had a greater at- 
 traction for him, and he accordingly 
 traded his Appleton property for a farm 
 in Dale township, to which he removed 
 May 26, 1868. This farm contained 200 
 acres, and was one of the best in the 
 township; subsequently he sold it to his 
 brother Henry, who now manages it. Mr. 
 Leppla, desiring to retire from active 
 life, built a store in Dale in 1885, rent- 
 ing it to other parties; but in 1889 he 
 was obliged to assume personal charge of 
 it, since which time he has continued in 
 its management, and his nephew, S. R. 
 
 Wason, has been in partnership with him 
 since 1891. The firm carries a general 
 stock and enjoys a good patronage.. 
 
 Mr. Leppla was married, while living 
 in Milwaukee county, to Miss Paulina 
 Herzwurm, a native of Germany. Both 
 are members of the German Reformed 
 Church, in which he has served as dea- 
 con; politically he is a Republican, having 
 voted that ticket at all Presidential elec- 
 tions, and has been a consistent adherent 
 to the principles of that party. He has 
 served as town chairman three times, and 
 has also been town treasurer and town 
 assessor. As a public man he is well 
 known in his county, and enjoys the con- 
 fidence and respect of all. He was the 
 first incumbent of Dale postoffice, having 
 been appointed in 1876, under President 
 Grant; was again appointed during the 
 administration of President Harrison, and 
 made a record for honor and fidelity to 
 duty that should serve as an example to 
 younger generations. In all his positions 
 of honor and trust he has been equally 
 faithful, and merits the esteem which is 
 accorded him. 
 
 PETER FASSBENDER, the pres- 
 ent efficient postmaster at Bun- 
 gert, Outagamie county, comes of 
 good German stock. His grand- 
 father on his mother's side was an officer 
 under the German government, and was 
 a man of some note. His paternal grand- 
 father was a well-to-do farmer in Prussia. 
 John F. Fassbender, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in 1 8 1 1 , received a good 
 common-school education, then assisted 
 his father with the work on the farm, and 
 his three elder brothers having served in 
 the German army he was exempt. When 
 he had made a home for himself he was 
 married to Miss Sarah Bel, a native of 
 Prussia, born in 181 5 of Swiss descent. 
 She was the mother of three children, all 
 of whom are dead save our subject, Peter 
 Fassbender, who was born December 22, 
 1838, in Oedecoven, Prussia, near the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 57' 
 
 Rhine. He received a practical education, 
 and, like his father, was reared on a farm, 
 where he remained until 1856 when, with 
 his parents, he embarked on the " Chim- 
 borazo," and after thirty-six days on the 
 water, landed at New York. Coming 
 directly to Granville, jMilwaukee Co., 
 Wis., they here purchased eighty acres of 
 timbered land, upon which they located 
 and engaged in clearing, preparatory to 
 cultivation. There they remained four 
 years, but the mother dying, our subject 
 moved to Madison, Wis. , where he 
 secured work on a farm until the autumn 
 of 1862, when he married Miss Elizabeth 
 Nettecoven, who was born in Prussia, in 
 October, 1839. She has borne him nine 
 children as follows: Annie, John M., 
 Joseph H., Conrad, Francis, Hubert, 
 Lizzie, Henry and Maggie, all of whom 
 are living except Conrad and Francis. 
 After his marriage our subject and wife 
 resided on a rented farm for one year, 
 then went to Ellington, Outagamie county, 
 where he purchased sixty acres of tim- 
 bered land, and for the next few years he 
 worked hard and continuously, felling 
 trees, grubbing out stumps, burning brush 
 and getting the ground in a condition for 
 crops. Later he bought eighty acres 
 adjoining his land, which makes a nice 
 farm of 140 acres; it is now all under 
 cultivation and contains good buildings, 
 fences, etc. His path has not been strewn 
 with roses; he has had to work hard for 
 everything he now possesses, yet he never 
 allowed himself to be discouraged, but 
 continued to work despite the disad- 
 vantages under which he labored. He 
 can now afford to take life easy, and reap 
 the fruits of his past hard labor. He is a 
 good practical farmer, and his crops are 
 the admiration of all his neighbors. 
 
 In politics Mr. Fassebnder is an In- 
 dependent. He has held the office of 
 chairman on the township board, and is 
 now serving as justice of the peace in his 
 fourth year, and at present (1895) is post- 
 master at Bungert. He is always among 
 the first to further any movement which 
 
 will benefit the public, and his influence 
 in such matters is such that whatever he 
 endorses is sure to receive the approba- 
 tion of his neighbors. In religion he has 
 accepted the creed of his forefathers as 
 far back as can be traced, and is a promi- 
 nent member of the Roman Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 HENRY DAVID HARDACKER. 
 M. D., physician and surgeon, 
 Hortonville, Outagamie county, 
 was born April 16, 1846, in Mus- 
 kego township, Waukesha Co., Wis. 
 On the side of his father his ancestors 
 were English, while his mother was prob- 
 ably of German descent. 
 
 His grandfather Hardacker was a sea- 
 faring man, whose home was in Chester, 
 N. S. , but was lost at sea while on 
 a trip to Boston. His widow for a short 
 time resided in Ellington township, 
 Outagamie county, and after an absence 
 of two years returned to Nova Scotia, 
 where she died at the age of nearly 
 eighty-five years. She was the mother 
 of a large family of children who became 
 excellent men and women. Her son, 
 James Hardacker, father of our subject, 
 was born in Chester, N. S., and 
 was there married to Eliza Wickware, a 
 native of the same province, who died in 
 Ellington township. Wis. She was an 
 energetic, stirring woman, of strong will 
 power and firmness of character, and was 
 the mother of nine children — seven sons 
 and two daughters. One son, Isaac M., 
 was a soldier during the war of the Re- 
 bellion, and was with Gen. Sherman in 
 the famous march to the sea. The father, 
 who was a farmer by occupation, was 
 but forty years of age at the time of hiij 
 death, which was caused by a paralytic 
 stroke, and three of the sons died at the 
 respective ages of twenty, twenty-seven 
 and thirtj'-two years. All of the surviv- 
 ing sons, except the Doctor, are farmers. 
 Henry D. Hardacker, the subject of 
 of this sketch, was but two years of age 
 
572 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 when the family came to Outagamie 
 county, and was deprived of his father 
 nine years later. From that time he 
 found it necessary to earn his own living, 
 and until he was sixteen he found em- 
 ployment at farm work, to which he 
 had always been accustomed. He then 
 learned the carpenter's trade, at which he 
 worked until he was twenty years old, as 
 well as during vacations while he was a 
 student at Lawrence University, Apple- 
 ton. He entered that institution in the 
 spring of 1867, was an earnest student, 
 and allowed no difficulties to daunt him. 
 He stood third in his class for oratory, 
 and took a thorough scientific course. 
 With no one but himself to depend upon, 
 he determinedly grappled with his school 
 duties and finally won. In the winter of 
 1868, when twentj'-two years old, he be- 
 gan to teach, and taught four winters, was 
 graduated from the University in 1872, 
 when he taught his last term of school in 
 Outagamie county. After graduation he 
 took up the study of medicine with Drs. 
 Stansbury and Sutherland, at Appleton, 
 taught the following winter, and at the 
 spring term of 1873 attended the Chicago 
 Medical College. During the summers of 
 1873-74 he studied with Dr. Riley, at 
 New London, Wis., attending the same 
 college during the winters, and was finally 
 graduated from that well-known and ex- 
 cellent institution, March 16, 1875, well 
 equipped for his life work. While at 
 school he studied and worked hard, at- 
 tended faithfully to his duties and earned 
 the esteem and good will of the students 
 and Faculty. The honor was accorded 
 him of making the valedictory address for 
 his class, and to him also fell the pleasant 
 task of making, for the class, a presenta- 
 tion speech on the occasion of the retire- 
 ment of one of the professors from the 
 Faculty, when the class gave him a fine 
 set of surgical instruments. This speech 
 was so well received that it led to his 
 selection as valedictorian, as noted. 
 
 After receiving his diploma he located 
 at Seymour, Wis., but after six months 
 
 removed, in the fall of 1875, to Horton- 
 ville, where he has built up an extensive 
 practice. He was married in Appleton, 
 June 19, 1878, to Miss Laura A. Black, 
 daughter of James Black, a farmer and 
 native of Ohio. She died July 26, 1887, 
 leaving two children, Raymond J. and 
 Alys L., and October 17, 1888, the Doc- 
 tor married, for his second wife, Miss 
 Genevieve Sweetser, a native of Green- 
 ville township, daughter of Charles E. 
 Sweetser, a prominent and honored pio- 
 neer of that township, and a well-known 
 politician. The fruit of this marriage is 
 one son, Charles B. Dr. Hardacker is 
 a prominent member of the Fox River 
 Valley Medical Association, which he 
 represented in 1893 as a delegate to the 
 American Medical Association in conven- 
 tion at Milwaukee, also becoming a mem- 
 ber of the last named association. The 
 Doctor is a man of known public spirit, 
 and a recognized leader in his community 
 and the county. He was one of the pro- 
 moters of the Outagamie County Agricul- 
 tural Association, and its secretary for 
 three years. He was actively instru- 
 mental in securing the location of the fair 
 at this place, and in maintaining it. He 
 has held many positions of public trust, 
 and has discharged the duties that have 
 been delegated to him in a manner calcu- 
 lated to win and maintain the confidence 
 and esteem of an unusually wide circle 
 of friends. 
 
 CAPTAIN D. J. BROTHERS. It 
 is one of the most encouraging 
 facts which can anywhere exist 
 that, in this country, a large pro- 
 portion of those individuals who, by their 
 public service, have attained a greater or 
 less degree of eminence — or, mayhap, by 
 their professional or business acquire- 
 ments and talents — have risen by their 
 own exertions. In this sketch there w'ill 
 be found something to encourage the 
 exertions of those youths who, without 
 fortune or influential friends, are strug- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 573 
 
 gling to overcome obstacles in the acquire- 
 ment of wealth and position. They will 
 see, in the example before them, how 
 difficulties were surmounted, and what 
 was achieved by bravery and persever- 
 ance. 
 
 U. J. Brothers, the subject of this 
 present writing, is a native of the Province 
 of Ontario, Canada, born October 15, 
 1838, near the city of Ivingston ("The 
 Limestone City "). His parents, James 
 and Mary (Duggan) Brothers, were natives 
 •of Waterford, Ireland, who sometime in 
 the "thirties" crossed the ocean from 
 Waterford to Quebec, thence sailing up 
 the St. Lawrence river to Kingston, near 
 which place they made a temporary set- 
 tlement. In 1 841. they came to Roches- 
 ter, N. Y., where the father passed the 
 rest of his days, dying in 1858. He was 
 a farmer and cooper by occupation, but 
 after leaving Canada followed his trade 
 only. The mother died in 1861 in Dun- 
 kirk, N. Y. , at the home of her daughter, 
 Mrs. Margaret Pierce. They had a family 
 of nine children, of whom Martin and D. 
 J. are now the only survivors. 
 
 Our subject was, as will be seen, 
 about three years of age when his father's 
 family came to Rochester, New York, and 
 here he was reared, receiving his earlier 
 education at the public schools, which 
 was supplemented with a course of study 
 at the Avon (N. Y.) Academy- For a 
 trade he learned coopering with his father. 
 At the age of thirteen, in 185 i, he and his 
 brother Martin left the paternal roof, set- 
 ting out for the wilds of Wisconsin, and 
 after landing at Milwaukee they at once 
 proceeded to Lisbon, Waukesha county, 
 where Martin entered government land. 
 About a year later our subject moved to 
 Two Rivers, Manitowoc county, where, 
 until 1857, he followed his trade. But 
 this humdrum sort of life was too monot- 
 onous for a young man fired with ambi- 
 tion and a desire to see something of the 
 world. We next find him in New Orleans, 
 where he boarded a vessel, and for a time 
 ■was sailing the Gulf of Mexico. In 1858 
 
 32 
 
 he came up the Mississippi to Memphis, 
 and from there made his way to Chicago, 
 at which city he again took up a sea-far- 
 ing life, sailing the lakes between that 
 port and Buffalo. N. Y. , that season 
 (1858). In the fall of that year he went 
 to New York, where he was given a desk 
 in the office of the New York Gaslight 
 Company, as bookkeeper, which position 
 he filled until 1861. One morning in 
 that eventful year, just after the breaking 
 out of the Civil war, Mr. Fox, a Quaker, 
 the president of the company, stepped 
 into the office where were employed some 
 seventeen clerks, and thus addressed 
 them: " Boys, this office must be repre- 
 sented among the volunteers. Any of 
 you who will go can have your places 
 when 3'ou return." Thereupon D. J. 
 Brothers and three others promptly re- 
 sponded to the invitation by enlisting in 
 the First Scott Guards, first call for 75,- 
 000 men, but before setting out for the 
 front, perhaps never to return, he resolved 
 to pay his dear old mother a farewell visit 
 at Dunkirk. So urgently was he entreated 
 by her to remain at home that he did so, in 
 response to filial duty, but contrary to his 
 inclinations as a patriot. In the mean- 
 time the organization he had enlisted in 
 had gone to the front, and he resumed 
 the vocations of peace. Once more com- 
 ing to Wisconsin, he followed his trade 
 in Appleton till August 15. 1862, when he 
 determined at all hazards to lay aside the 
 adze for the sword. Accordingly, having 
 assisted in organizing Company I, Thirty- 
 second Wis. V. I., he enlisted in same, 
 and was at once appointed orderly ser- 
 geant. The regiment was mustered in 
 on September 25, 1862, at Oshkosh, 
 Wis., and immediatel}' proceeded by rail 
 to Cairo, 111., thence by steamer to Mem- 
 phis, Tenn., where it was attached to the 
 army of Tennessee, whose fortunes it 
 followed to the close of the war, including 
 the famous march to the sea, capture of 
 Atlanta, etc. On March 27, 1863, our 
 subject was promoted to second lieuten- 
 ant, and January 16. 1864, to first lieu- 
 
574 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 tenant. From the capture of Atlanta till 
 the close of the war he held the responsi- 
 ble position of assistant chief commissary of 
 subsistence of the Seventeenth Army 
 Corps, on the staff of Gen. Blair. On only 
 two occasions was Capt. Brothers incapaci- 
 tated for duty — first time in Memphis, on 
 account of an attack of ague, and second 
 time when he was thrown from his horse, 
 May 25, 1863, whereby his arm was 
 broken, necessitating confinement to hos- 
 pital some sixty days. The Captain has 
 a grand war record, and as an officer was 
 highly esteemed alike by the men and 
 brother officers, no one being more popu- 
 lar. At Memphis, when he was promoted 
 to second lieutenant, the members of his 
 company presented him with a handsome 
 sword as a mark of esteem and honor, 
 and there is nothing now in his possession 
 more highly prized by him. 
 
 The war ended, Capt. Brothers re- 
 turned in 1865 to Wisconsin, and in Kau- 
 kauna resumed his trade, where he has 
 since resided. Twice was he elected 
 county superintendent of Outagamie coun- 
 ty, and, as chairman of the town of Kau- 
 kauna, contracted for the iron bridges 
 across the river at that place. On the 
 North side he carried on a store until 
 1873. when he was appointed government 
 inspector for the canal works, which of- 
 fice he filled with eminent ability until 
 1877, at which time he engaged in his 
 present extensive real-estate and insur- 
 ance business. 
 
 On April 15, 1862, Capt. D. J. Broth- 
 ers was married to Miss Amanda T. Lawe, 
 who was born February 7, 1836, in Green 
 Bay, Wis., a daughter of Hon. George 
 W. Lawe, popularly known as the 
 "Father of Kaukauna." In his politi- 
 cal preferences the Captain is a Democrat, 
 and has held various offices of trust. 
 From 1866 to 1870 he was superintend- 
 ent of public schools, and for several 
 years was chairman of the township 
 board. At the present time he is presi- 
 dent of the sewerage committee of Kau- 
 kauna. Socially he is a charter member 
 
 of Paul H. Beautien Post, G. A. R., was 
 its third commander, and has been ad- 
 jutant the greater part of the time. He 
 is a member of the Catholic Knights of 
 Wisconsin, and one of the organizers of 
 the Catholic Knights of the district in 
 which he lives. In religious faith he is 
 a prominent and influential Catholic, a 
 member of St. Mary's Church at Kau- 
 kauna. He is one of the wealthiest and 
 most enterprising citizens of the place, 
 where he owns a large amount of prop- 
 erty, including a handsome and commodi- 
 ous residence. In addition to his various 
 business interests he is president of the J. 
 Hoberg Toilet Paper Company, and at a 
 cost of thirty thousand dollars has built 
 a tirst-class hotel, which overlooks the 
 beautiful valley of the Fox river, and 
 commands a fine view of the surrounding 
 picturesque scenery, as well as the manu- 
 facturing district of Kaukauna. It has 
 accommodations for one hundred guests, 
 and finds no superior in any respect in 
 northern Wisconsin. 
 
 PATRICK HENRY PEW, who is 
 now (1894) the efficient postmas- 
 ter at Stephensville, Outagamie 
 county, was born in Madrid, St. 
 Lawrence Co., N. Y. , March i, 1828, a 
 son of Patrick and Mary (Hardford) Pew, 
 natives of Ireland, the former of whom 
 was born in County Meath, and was a 
 day laborer by occupation. 
 
 Patrick Pew, father of our subject, 
 was married in County Meath, Ireland, 
 and here were born to them six children, 
 named respectively Francis, Mary, Mar- 
 garet, John, Michael, and Bridget E. 
 The parents were ambitious, and, con- 
 ceiving the idea of bettering their fortunes 
 and earning a home of their own, emi- 
 grated with their family to the United 
 States, coming to St. Lawrence county, 
 N. Y. , in 1826, where they lived in the 
 village of Waddington two years, then 
 moved out into the country on a farm. 
 Here they remained until 1857, in which 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 57S 
 
 year the family came west to Oshkosh, 
 Wis. , and bought a home. Here the 
 father subsequently died; the mother had 
 passed away in St. Lawrence county, N. 
 Y. Seven children were born to them in 
 America, as follows: Patrick Henry, 
 Catherine, Anna, James A., George E., 
 William, and Thomas T. 
 
 Patrick Henry Pew had the benefit of 
 a good common-school education in New 
 York State, where he grew to manhood, 
 working on his father's farm until he was 
 twenty-one years of age. After leaving 
 home he labored for some time in a bri:;k- 
 yard, and when summer came mowed 
 grass by the acre. He was an ambitions 
 lad, and resolved to own a farm as large 
 as his father's, which consisted of 200 
 acres of land. When he left home he 
 had only thirty-one cents, but he was not 
 discouraged, for he knew that many a 
 man had accumulated a fortune with no 
 better start than that. His father de- 
 sired his children to settle on small farms 
 about him, but they were all anxious to 
 get out in the world, so went into the 
 then undeveloped West and prospered 
 greatly. Patrick came west in the fall of 
 
 1849, and settled in Outagamie count}'. 
 Wis. , for a short time making his home 
 with his brother Francis. He then went 
 to work getting out logs for a sawmill, as- 
 sisting to saw them during the succeeding 
 summer. Returning east in the fall of 
 
 1850, he was married the following April 
 to Miss Catherine Tiernan, who died in 
 Stephensville, leaving four children: Mary 
 J., John A., Sarah A., and Eliza E. Mr. 
 Pew returned to Wisconsin shortly after 
 his marriage, and remained in Appleton 
 that summer, removing in the fall to El- 
 lington township, and locatingon a school 
 section, from which he subsequently pur- 
 chased eighty acres. This he sold in 
 1855 and bought two and one-half acres 
 in Stephensville, and forty acres north of 
 the village. On the village property he 
 had purchased was an unfinished building, 
 which he completed and modeled into an 
 hotel, calling it the "Pew Hotel," This 
 
 house he managed for some time; then, 
 having sold the forty acres, he again 
 bought si.xty-five acres near by, and has 
 since occupied himself in farming, besides 
 keeping a general store in the village dur- 
 ing the last eight years. He made sev- 
 eral exchanges in land, and now owns 1 1 5 
 acres in Stepensville, is a good farmer, 
 and known as an excellent financier. He 
 was married, a second time, in Northport, 
 Waupaca Co., Wis., to Miss Alice Sloan, 
 daughter of William and Mary Ann Sloan, 
 She is the mother of seven children, as 
 follows: Mary, Agnes, Alice, Catherine, 
 George, Francis and \\'illiam; the last 
 four mentioned are dead. 
 
 Mr. Pew has always been identified 
 with the Democratic party, and has been 
 elected to fill various offices in the town- 
 ship. He was supervisor and justice of 
 the peace for a number of years, assessor 
 five years, and has held several other 
 minor offices. He is an earnest member 
 of the Roman Catholic Church, and did 
 as much as any other man in Stephens- 
 ville in building a church there, giving 
 not only money and material, but much 
 of his time and attention. He was one 
 of the first Catholics to come to that town 
 (Thomas Callan coming in 1848, and 
 Owen Hardy, William McGee, Charles 
 McKeefry and himself in 1849). Mr. 
 Pew is secretary of the Cemetery Associ- 
 ation, and a member of the Catholic To- 
 tal Abstinence Union of America. 
 
 BENJAMIN BARRETT, Jr., a 
 member of the firm of Schlafer. 
 Barrett & Tesch, proprietors of 
 the largest retail hardware store 
 in northern Wisconsin, and located in the 
 city of Appleton, was born in Worcester; 
 England, May 25, 1845. 
 
 Benjamin Barrett, Sr. , father of our 
 subject, is a native of Ireland, born on a 
 farm in March, 1807, of Irish ancestry. 
 At the age of twenty-one he went to Eng- 
 land, where he served a seven-years', ap- 
 prenticeship at the trade of carpenter. 
 
576 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 which lie followed to some extent in 
 after life. In 1839 he was married in 
 England to Miss Mary Ann Gruben, a 
 lady of English descent, daughter of well- 
 to-do tradespeople, and to this union were 
 born nine children, four in England — 
 Paul, Benjamin, Jr., John D., and Will- 
 iam — and five in America — Ellen, Anna, 
 Constance, Leonard and Gregory W. 
 John D. was killed in the Civil war; Wil- 
 liam died when a young boy, and Anna a 
 few months later. In 1S48 Mr. and Mrs. 
 Barrett came to the United States, bring- 
 ing their four children, and settled on a 
 farm in Milwaukee county. Wis., where 
 the mother died in 1884, and the father 
 is yet living. He is a local preacher in 
 the M. E. Church, of which he has been 
 ordained an elder, but has never taken 
 a charge. 
 
 The subject proper of these lines, as 
 will be seen, was three years old when 
 the family came from England to Wis- 
 consin, and up to the age of nineteen at- 
 tended the common school of the neigh- 
 borhood winter time, assisting his father 
 on the farm summers. On leaving the 
 common school he entered Lawrence Uni- 
 versity, at Appleton, attending the fall 
 and spring terms three 3'ears, after which, 
 in 1866, he taught school one term at 
 Hortonville, and, in 1867, one term in 
 Freedom. In the fall of the latter 3'ear 
 he commenced clerking in the general 
 store of C. G. Adkins, of Appleton, con- 
 tinuing with him ten years, his salary 
 first year being $100, and for the last six 
 years he held the position of head clerk. 
 In the fall of 1877 Mr. Barrett, in com- 
 pany with a Mr. Schlosser, bought out 
 the interest of Mr. Stone at the old But- 
 ler stand, Appleton, and together they 
 conducted the business until January, 
 1884, when Mr. Barrett sold his share to 
 his partner, and in the following month 
 purchased an interest in the same line of 
 business with O. P. Schlafer and Wil- 
 liam Tesch, which has continued, the 
 firm style being Schlafer, Barrett & 
 Tesch. In 1891 they built their present 
 
 fine store in Appleton, and the firni have 
 a commercial reputation second to none 
 in the State. Mr. Barrett has also been 
 to some extent interested in real estate, 
 even at the time he was clerking, and 
 made a success of his deals, as in every- 
 thing else, financially. 
 
 In September, 1877, our subject was 
 married to Miss Jennie Hamlin, daughter 
 of Benjamin and Minerva Hamlin, natives 
 of New York, where Mrs. Barrett was 
 also born; coming west, they settled on a 
 Wisconsin farm. Two children were 
 born to this union: Frankie M. and 
 Benjamin W. The mother of these died 
 April 29, 1880, and on May 2, 1882, Mr. 
 Barrett wedded Mrs. D. J. McKenzie, m'c 
 Clark, who had one child by her previous 
 marriage, named Grace. By this second 
 marriage of Mr. Barrett there is no child. 
 He is a member of the M. E. Church, 
 and in his political associations is a stanch 
 Republican. Success seldom fails to 
 come when it is entirely deserved, and 
 surely it has not in the case of Mr. Bar- 
 rett. Wealth and friends have been given 
 him, and he enjoys all these with no 
 trace of that offensive ostenstation that 
 has so often shaded the lives of other 
 men. It is a pleasure to bear willing tes- 
 timony to real worth, and this last testi- 
 mony voices the sentiment of the entire 
 community. 
 
 ALBERT A. BREITUNG, black- 
 smith and wagon maker, Apple- 
 ton. This excellent citizen and 
 worthy veteran soldier was born 
 November 11, 1835, '" Prussia. His 
 father, August Breitung, was born in the 
 same country in i 804, and for three years 
 was a soldier in the Prussian armj'. The 
 grandfather, Frederick Breitung, was a 
 farmer and hotel keeper. August was 
 married, in 1S29, to Amelia Leonhart, 
 who was born in Prussia in 1^813, and 
 they had a family of ten children. They 
 came to America in 1848, accompanied 
 by Mrs. Breitung's father, Christopher 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 577 
 
 Leonhart, who died in Appleton in 1861. 
 Their first location was on a farm near 
 Milwaukee, Wis., where the senior Brei- 
 tunj:; died in 1S50; his widow married 
 William Breitung in 1852, and died 
 in 1885. 
 
 Albert A. Breitung worked on the 
 farm until after the death of his father, 
 receiving a limited education in the com- 
 mon schools, and in 1852 set about learn- 
 ing the business of manufacturing fan- 
 ning mills. His brother, William A. 
 Breitung, had located at Appleton in 1853 
 and engaged in that occupation, and Al- 
 bert in 1854 purchased the interest of his 
 brother's partner, Norman Bucks, after 
 which the two made fanning mills during 
 the winters, working at the carpenter's 
 trade in the summers. They moved down 
 to a location near the river, in 1859, 
 rented a shop, and engaged in general 
 manufacturing until 1S63. fn that year 
 Albert enlisted in Company G, First Wis- 
 consin Cavalry, commanded by Capt. 
 Charles Robinson, the regiment forming 
 a part of the splendid army of the Cum- 
 berland. Afr. Breitung was captured 
 during the desperate fighting in front of 
 Atlanta, Ga., July 28, 1864, while his 
 regiment was making a charge. He was 
 sent successively to Andersonville, Charles- 
 ton and Florence, and for seven months 
 and seventeen days experienced the hor- 
 rors of those terrible prison pens. Upon 
 the near approach of Sherman's army to 
 Florence he was released, being sent hur- 
 riedly to Richmond, thence down the 
 James river to Gen. Butler's Union camp, 
 and from there to Benton Barracks, at 
 St. Louis, Mo. He reached home, sick, 
 in March, 1865, remaining until May, 
 when he reported at Madison, and was 
 finally discharged August 2, 1865. He 
 participated in numerous engagements 
 during his term of service, but aside from 
 his prison experience was never on 
 sick lea'e. 
 
 After his soldier days were over Mr. 
 Breitung resumed his work at carpenter- 
 ing, which had been so rudely interrupted 
 
 by "war's dread alarms," and in 1868 
 entered with Crist Heinz into the busi- 
 ness of wagon making and blacksmithing. 
 In 1872 he purchased his partner's inter- 
 est, and has since conducted his business 
 alone, in' some years employing fifteen 
 men. He was married, in April, 1856, 
 to Miss Jane Ketchum, a nati\e of Onon- 
 daga county, N. Y. , and to them were 
 born eleven children: Edwin E., Henry 
 A., Hattie E., Albertina, Frank, Ralph 
 (who died in 1864), Amelia (who died in 
 1859), William (who died in 1864), and 
 three who died in infancy. The mother 
 of these dying in 1878, Mr. Breitung in 
 1 88 1 married, for his second wife. Miss 
 Emilie A. Klene, by whom he has three 
 children: Albert A., Rudolph C. and 
 Emilie A. Mr. Breitung's politics are on 
 the old line of Douglas Democracy, and 
 he has served as supervisor of his ward. 
 In former years he was a prominent mem- 
 ber of the I. O. O. F. and Sons of Her- 
 mann, to both of which orders he still 
 belongs; has been honored by selection 
 as delegate to the Grand Lodge, and has 
 served faithfully in whatever position he 
 found himself placed. 
 
 BEVERLY T. GILMORE, a real- 
 estate and insurance agent, of 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, was 
 born in that city, December 24, 
 1850. His father, James Gilmore, was 
 born in 18 16 in White Hall, N. Y. , a son 
 of the James Gilmore who was born in 
 Rockingham, Vt., of Scotch and English 
 descent, and came from the Gilmores that 
 in a very early day immigrated to America 
 and bought a large tract of land in the 
 Connecticut Valley, known as the Con- 
 necticut Flats. 
 
 James Gilmore, father of Beverly T. , 
 married Catharine Tice Gayzer, a native 
 of Elizabethtown, N. Y. , of Hudson- 
 River-Dutch parentage, whose great- 
 grandmother, Catharine Van Tassel, is 
 alluded to by Washington Irving in one 
 
578 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of his entertaining works. In 1847 James 
 Gilmore, father of our suh>ject, came west 
 with a small stock of goods, telling his 
 people that his destination was Buffalo, 
 N. Y. , but he passed down the lakes to 
 Chicago, 111., where he exchanged the 
 goods for Western flour, hired a rig and 
 drove to Rockford, 111., to view the coun- 
 try, but soon returned home. In 1849 
 he again came West, bringing his wife 
 and one son, and during the winter stopped 
 at Racine, Wis., where the son died. 
 In the spring of 1850 Mr. and Mrs. Gil- 
 more reached Appleton, and were among 
 the first settlers. Here he engaged in 
 merchandising and the real-estate busi- 
 ness, in the former of which he had had 
 experience in the East. He soon found 
 that a Presbyterian Church was needed, 
 but the people did not think they were 
 able to build one. He being an energetic 
 man, insisted that the}' could, and seizing 
 an axe and calling for volunteers cut 
 down the trees, sawed the logs and soon 
 the first church was built. It was through 
 his exertions and those of a few more like 
 him that the railroads were brought to 
 Appleton and the water power made avail- 
 able. In politics he was a war Democrat, 
 and was honored with many offices of 
 trust, being often the nominee of both 
 parties. He served in the city council 
 fourteen years, was mayor and also coun- 
 ty treasurer; was member of the school 
 board a number of times and always took 
 an active interest in educational matters. 
 He was a Freemason, a charter member 
 of Appleton Lodge, and in religion was a 
 conscientious member of the Presbyterian 
 Church. He was a man of strong mind 
 and fixed opinions; was enterprising, and 
 always entered heartily into any under- 
 taking that pertained to the welfare or 
 improvement of Appleton. His death, 
 which occurred May 18, 1884, was deeply 
 deplored by the citizens of Appleton, who 
 keenly felt their loss. Mrs. Catharine 
 Gilmore was called away February 9, 
 1887, beloved and mourned by all who 
 knew her. Their children all died in in- 
 
 fancy with the exception of Beverly T. , 
 whose name opens this sketch. 
 
 Beverl}- T. Gilmore was educated in 
 the schools of Appleton and at Lawrence 
 College, Appleton, but withdrew from the 
 latter at the age of twenty-one, without 
 graduating, for the purpose of pursuing 
 a career of civil engineering, which, how- 
 ever, he abandoned at the close of two 
 years to enter the National Bank at 
 Neenah, Wis., where he remained seven 
 years. In 1881 he entered upon the in- 
 surance and real-estate business, in which 
 he has met with most gratifying success. 
 He was married Maj' 20, 1890, to Frances 
 McCaul, a native of Wisconsin and a 
 daughter of A. W. Clapp, an early settler 
 of Dodge county. Two children grace 
 this union. 
 
 FRANK XAVIER LEIMER, pro- 
 prietor of the ' ' Northwestern Ho- 
 tel," Appleton, was born January 
 13, 1834, in Zwiesel, Bavaria, 
 Germany. His father, bearing the same 
 name, was a native of the same localit}-, 
 where he died June 4, 1874, aged eighty- 
 three years; a miller by trade, he owned 
 a gristmill and a sawmill. He was twice 
 married, and by his first wife had seven 
 children — two sons and five daughters; by 
 his second wife, Frances (Linsmeier), to 
 whom he was married in 1832, he had 
 fourteen children — six sons and eight 
 daughters. Mrs. Leimer died December 
 26, 1850, aged thirty-nine years. 
 
 Frank X. Leimer, the subject of these 
 lines, was educated at the common schools 
 of Germany, and at the age of thirteen 
 years left home to learn the miller's trade, 
 at which he found employment in various 
 cities, including Vienna and Lintz, in 
 Austria, and Rengensburg, in Bavaria. In 
 1857 he emigrated to America, and first 
 located at Garoga, Fulton Co., N. Y. , 
 where for two years he worked in a tan- 
 nery, and subsequently on a farm until 
 1862. In the latter year he enlisted in 
 the One Hundred and Fifteenth N. Y. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 579 
 
 V. I., Company K, his regiment being 
 one of the finest of the more than two 
 hundred organizations which went to the 
 front from the Empire State during the 
 war of the Rebellion. He was promoted 
 to corporal in 1864. In the year of his 
 enlistment he was captured by the enemy 
 at Harper's Ferry, and held a prisoner 
 for three months; was also in the engage- 
 ments at Hilton Head, Fort Fisher, and 
 with Gen. Butler in front of Peters- 
 burg, and at Fort Fisher was severely 
 wounded in February, 1865, which neces- 
 sitated his being sent to the hospital. 
 Later in the same year he received his 
 discharge, and returned to the State of 
 New York to conduct a lumber camp; 
 came to Wisconsin in 1878, locating at 
 Appleton, and working for three years in 
 the spoke factory of George Kreiss. He 
 next engaged in teaming and farming, but 
 in 1 891 rented the hotel which he still 
 conducts. In November, 1893, he left 
 for a visit to his old home in Germany, 
 and upon his return, about four months 
 later, was welcomed at the depot by the 
 G. A. R. Post, the band and a large gath- 
 ering of friends. While in Germany he 
 paid visits to his two brothers and five 
 sisters. 
 
 Mr. Leimer was married, in 1858, to 
 Miss Sadie Hille, a native of New York, 
 whose parents were of German birth. 
 They had five children — three sons and 
 two daughters — viz. : Frank (who died 
 in infancy), August, Lewis (now in busi- 
 ness with his father), Frances and Mary. 
 Mr. Leimer is an honored member of the 
 G. A. R. , and in political matters is an 
 independent voter. 
 
 GOTTLIEB GEHRING, retired 
 farmer, Appleton. This gentle- 
 man is a son of John M. Gehring, 
 a farmer, who was born in Ger- 
 many August 10, 1 8 10. He had a good 
 common-school education, and was mar- 
 ried in 1833 to Mary Agnes Mutchler, 
 whose birth occurred in Germany in 
 
 1807. Her father, Jacob Mutchler, who 
 was a miller, spent his life in Germany. 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gehring 
 were Gottlieb, Frederick and John L. 
 The family came to America in 1853, 
 locating first in New York, and then, in 
 1858, removing to Outagamie county, 
 Wis. Here the father died August 12, 
 1 87 1, and the mother March 24, 1889. 
 The grandfather, Frederick Gehring, who 
 was a farmer in Germany, died some 
 time in the " fifties." 
 
 Gottlieb Gehring was born January 
 25, 1834, in German}'. He was reared 
 in a town, educated in the schools of his 
 native locality, and came to America in 
 1852, stopping for three years in western 
 New York. Coming thence to Wiscon- 
 sin, he made his home during the next 
 three years in Fond du Lac county, re- 
 moving to Outagamie county in the fall 
 of 1858, and purchasing 160 acres of un- 
 improved land in Freedom township. 
 Mr. Gehring enlisted, in 1864, in Com- 
 pany E, Fifth Wisconsin, joining the 
 regiment at Martinsburg, W. Va. , taking 
 part in the Petersburg campaign, and 
 serving until June, 1865, when he was 
 discharged. His brother, John L. Gehr- 
 ing, served nearly three years in the 
 army, and the third brother, Frederick, 
 was drafted, but unable to go to the war, 
 and paid for a substitute. In politics, as 
 was his father before him, Mr. Gehring 
 is a Republican. He is an honored mem- 
 ber of the G. A. R. and of the Congrega- 
 tional Church. 
 
 HENRY KURASCH, a well-known 
 prosperous agriculturist of Grand 
 Chute township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, was born May 22, 1842, in Ger- 
 many, son of Paul Kurasch, also a farmer, 
 and a tax collector, who died in German}' 
 in 1868, at the age of sixty-seven years; 
 and his widow passed away in 1887, when 
 aged seventy. Their family consisted of 
 eight children — three sons and five 
 daughters. 
 
58o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Henry Kurasch attended the common 
 schools and commenced work at an early 
 age, engaging principally in teaming 
 while in Germany. He saved until he 
 had enough to bring him to the United 
 States, and on March 29, 1870, left the 
 Fatherland to seek his fortune in the 
 New World, taking passage on the 
 "Ocean Queen," which made the voyage 
 to New York in seventeen days. After 
 landing he pushed westward to Wiscon- 
 sin, and on May i arrived at Appleton. 
 with $1.50 in cash to commence his 
 career in a strange country. But he was 
 honest and strong and willing to work, 
 and soon found employment tending 
 masons, in which he continued for two 
 summers, and by economy managed to 
 save a few dollars. Having purchased a 
 lot from Reeder Smith, he became ac- 
 quainted with that well-known gentleman, 
 for whom he commenced to work in the 
 spring of 1872, first as general utility 
 man, but later, on account of his reliabil- 
 ity and trustworthiness, having charge of 
 of many important matters connected with 
 Mr. Smith's interests. He continued in 
 his employ until 1886, when he bought 
 seventy-five acres in Section 10, Grand 
 Chute township (for which he paid $5, 500, 
 going into debt to the amount of $2, 500), 
 and moving thereon in the following fall, 
 has since had his home there, and now 
 he says he thanks the Lord the in- 
 debtedness is all paid. Another forty 
 acres has been added, and every part of 
 this farm he has put under cultivation, 
 improving it in numerous ways, and 
 erecting substantial buildings, increasing 
 materially the value of the land and the 
 beauty of the surroundings. Few men in 
 this vicinity have worked harder, but his 
 labor has been amply repaid. On March 
 15, 1870, two weeks before leaving Ger- 
 many, Mr. Kurasch was married to Marie 
 Wencel, whom he brought with him, and 
 they first lived in a rented house, but as 
 soon as possible he built a home of his 
 own, as houses to rent were very scarce, 
 and their's was a one-roomed affair. To 
 
 them have been born four children: Min- 
 nie, Emma, Mary, Nellie, and they have 
 an adopted son, named Albert. Mr. Kur- 
 asch is a Republican politically, but not 
 active in party affairs. In religious affili- 
 ation the family are connected with the 
 Lutheran Church at Appleton. 
 
 HUBERT WOLF, Greenville, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born August 
 22, 1833, in the village of Esch, 
 near the river Rhine, Germany. 
 His father, Henry Wolf, was a black- 
 smith by trade, owned some land and was 
 comfortably situated. He had a family 
 of eight children — two sons and si.\ 
 daughters. 
 
 According to the custom of his country 
 Hubert attended the common schools up 
 to the age of fourteen, when he sought 
 employment, for two years working on a 
 farm, and subsequently becoming con- 
 nected with a mercantile establishment. 
 In the autumn of 1854, soon after he be- 
 came of age, he made up his mind to 
 emigrate to the United States, being im- 
 pelled to this step by various reasons. 
 While having but limited opportunities 
 for acquiring an education, he had access 
 to large libraries, and through reading 
 and traveling he had come to look un- 
 favorably upon the form of government 
 of his native land. He desired, also, to 
 improve his condition, and accordingly, 
 in October, 1854, he bade farewell to 
 home and friends, and proceeded to Lon- 
 don, where he took passage on the 
 "Palestine" for New York, which port 
 was reached after a voyage of thirty-five 
 days. He pushed westward by rail to 
 Chicago, thence by team to Milwaukee, 
 Wis., the railroad between these two 
 cities having been projected but not 
 yet built. Coming by conveyance to 
 Menasha, he remained there until the fol- 
 lowing June, waiting for the arrival of his 
 parents, during this time working at what- 
 ever occupation was offered by means of 
 which he could earn an honest dollar, and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 581 
 
 keeping, meantime, on the lookout for a 
 location for his parents when they should 
 ajrive. This was found in Section 16, 
 Greenville township, Outagamie county, 
 and they settled on eighty acres of partly- 
 improved land, negotiated for by Hubert 
 for his father. On this farm the father 
 died in October, 1876, and the mother in 
 July, 1875. Both now lie in the Catholic 
 cemetery in Greenville township. 
 
 The young man continued to reside 
 with his parents and work on the home 
 farm until June 9, 1 867, when he was mar- 
 ried in Menashato Matilda Bartmann,who 
 was born in the village of Seegrund, North 
 Germany, February i, 1845, and had 
 come to this country with her brother, 
 Julius Bartmann, in 1866. Her parents 
 were Christian and Louisa (Vormelker) 
 Bartmann, the former of whom was a 
 landowner and farmer, and also engaged 
 in the lumber business; he died in Ger- 
 many, and in 1881 the mother came to 
 America, making her home with Mrs. 
 Wolf up to the time of her death, which 
 occurred July 19, 1892, when she was 
 aged eighty-one years. She is interred in 
 the Greenville Lutheran burying ground. 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wolf 
 located on the farm which he now owns, 
 and here he has since been engaged in 
 general farming and stock-raising. They 
 have had children as follows: William, 
 an attorney at law, residing at La Crosse; 
 Henry, a farmer in Butler county. Neb. ; 
 Helena A. ; Frank; Albert, attending the 
 university at Madison; Ida, at high school 
 in Appleton; and Hubert, Jr., at home. 
 While nearly all his life a farmer, the 
 shaping of Mr. Wolf's occupation was not 
 voluntary; but, when he found himself 
 under the necessity of taking up that call- 
 ing, he, instead of shrinking from it, took 
 hold with vim, and has been signally suc- 
 cessful. His farm, the N. W. Quarter 
 of Section 16, ranks among the best in 
 the township. Notwithstanding the fact 
 that his early educational advantages were 
 limited, Mr. Wolf has found time for ex- 
 tensive reading, both of valuable books 
 
 and periodicals, and has stored his mind 
 with an excellent fund of general infor- 
 mation. Thoroughly appreciating the 
 value of a good education, he has taken 
 pains to give his children the best advan- 
 tages obtainable, far beyond those which 
 fell to his own lot when a boy. He has 
 made such good practical application of 
 his knowledge that he has filled without 
 difficulty various official positions to which 
 he has been called. Politically he is a 
 stanch and active Democrat, one of the 
 leaders of his party in Greenville, and has 
 been elected to numerous Qffices, having 
 served as constable, assessor, supervisor, 
 township chairman fto which office he 
 was first elected more than thirty years 
 ago), three or four terms as tax collector, 
 and, since 1893, as chairman of the 
 county board. In 1894 he was the can- 
 didate of his party for member of the As- 
 sembly, and was elected, although every 
 other candidate on the ticket was de- 
 feated. In each of these capacities he 
 has discharged his duties in a highly cred- 
 itable and satisfactory manner. He at- 
 tends the Lutheran Church, with which 
 the members of the family are connected. 
 
 LORENCE H. RUCKDASHEL.— 
 Among the prominent and well-to 
 to-do agriculturists and lumber 
 manufacturers of Maple Creek 
 township, Outagamie county, there is no 
 one more deserving of mention in the 
 pages of this volume than the gentleman 
 whose name is here recorded. 
 
 He is a native of Bavaria, Germany, 
 born August 4, 1836, and is a son of 
 Lorence and Barbara (Benker) Ruck- 
 dashel, of the same locality, and who were 
 the parents of eight children, four of 
 whom survive, namely: Lorence H., 
 Margaret, wife of Gerhart Hehman; Bar- 
 bara, wife of John Grieshamer; and 
 Michael — all residing in Maple Creek 
 township, Outagamie county, except 
 Michael, who lives in Waupaca county. 
 In 1853 our subject and one of his sisters 
 
'582 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 emigrated from their native land to this 
 country, the sister going in the same 
 year with some friends to Milwaukee, 
 Wis., Lorence locating first at Fort Plain. 
 Montgomery Co., N. Y., whence, after a 
 two-years' residence there, he came to 
 Wisconsin, making his home in Milwau- 
 kee in the fall of 1855, his parents, who 
 had arrived in America from the Father- 
 land, having come in the spring of the 
 same year; with them, in October of that 
 year, our subject removed to Maple Creek 
 township, Outagamie county, when it was 
 a primeval wilderness, the journey, which 
 occupied eight days, being made with o.x- 
 team, and after reaching their destination 
 they had to convert a stable into a tem- 
 porary home until such time as they could 
 have a house built, to accomplish which 
 the male members of the family had to 
 journey five miles through the woods each 
 way every day, till the new home was 
 completed. Here the parents passed the 
 remainder of their pioneer lives, dying, 
 the father on December 15, 1879, at the 
 age of eighty-six, the mother on Febru- 
 ary 19, 1874. 
 
 Having from childhood been reared to 
 farming, our subject naturally took up the 
 same pursuit on his arrival in the New 
 World, but a considerable portion of his 
 time has been occupied in lumbering. In 
 1886 he erected a steam sawmill at 
 Sugar Bush, which now turns out about 
 twenty thousand feet of lumber per day, 
 and this industry he still successfully con- 
 tinues in connection with his farm. On 
 May 29, 1 87 1, Mr. Ruckdashel was united 
 in marriage with Miss Barbara Gries- 
 hamer, daughter of George and Margaret 
 (Benker) Grieshamer, also natives of 
 Bavaria, and to them were born nine 
 children, their names and dates of birth 
 being as follows: Garret M. , Mav 29, 
 1872; Andrew L. , March 9, 1876; Lizzie 
 Magdalene, July 8, 1877; Paul William, 
 March 4, 1879; John Lorence, September 
 3, 1882; Theodore George, May 6, 
 1884; Clara Laura, April 5, 1886; 
 Carl Nickol, May 5, 1888; Carl Fred- 
 
 erick was born February 21, 1874, and 
 died October 18, 1877. On Novem- 
 ber 25, 1863, Mr. Ruckdashel enlisted in 
 Company G, Third \Msconsin Cavalry, 
 Capt. Conkey, and served his adopted 
 country faithfully and courageously during 
 the remainder of the Civil war, receiving 
 an honorable discharge at Fort Leaven- 
 worth, Kans. , October 20, 1865. He is 
 a member of Henry Turner Post, G. A. 
 R. ; in politics he is liberal, and has served 
 as chairman of his township several terms, 
 also as clerk of the school board for about 
 fourteen years. In religious faith the 
 family are identified with the Lutheran 
 Church, and they are held in high esteem 
 in the community in which they reside. 
 
 REV. PETER L. GASPER, pastor 
 of the Church of the Immuculate 
 Conception, of Wausau, Mara- 
 thon county, is a native of Prus- 
 sia, born May 16, 1850, in Schonecken, 
 Kreis-Pruem, Reg. Bez. Treves, a son of 
 Peter and Catherina (Lochen) Gasper, 
 also natives of Prussia. They were the 
 parents of si.\ children, namely: Henry, 
 still living in Prussia; Margaret, wife of 
 Michael Linden, of Chicago; Peter L. , 
 and three deceased. The father, who 
 was a locksmith by trade, died in 185 i, 
 the mother in 1859. 
 
 The subject of this biographical sketch 
 received his elementary education at the 
 parochial schools of his native land, after- 
 ward learning the trade of locksmith with 
 his elder brothers. In 1869 he came to 
 the United States, and for about a year 
 worked at his trade at Pittsburg, Penn. , 
 at the end of which time he entered St. 
 Vincent's College, Westmoreland county, 
 Penn., where he commenced studying for 
 the priesthood. In that institution he 
 remained until 1878, at which time he 
 went to St. Francis Seminary, near Mil- 
 waukee, Wis., where he completed his 
 studies and was ordained priest, in 1880, 
 by the late Rt. Rev. Bishop Heiss. Our 
 subject's first charge was as assistant 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 583 
 
 priest in the cathedral at Green Bay, 
 Wis., where he remained seven months, 
 then for a time was assistant priest to 
 Rev. Father Gaellweiler, at Chilton, Calu- 
 met county, after which he was trans- 
 ferred to West Brothertown, same county, 
 remaining there two jears, during which 
 time he erected a new church building 
 and pastoral residence. In 1883 he was 
 again transferred, this time to Lebanon 
 township, Waupaca count}-, his stay there 
 covering si.\ years, during which time he 
 attended, as well, to the spiritual welfare 
 of the Catholic people of Northport, 
 Manawa and Weyauwega, also making 
 numerous improvements in the church 
 edifices in those localities. In 1889 he 
 was transferred to New London where he 
 erected the handsome and commodious 
 church of the Most Precious Blood, the 
 corner-stone of which was laid June 24, 
 1S90, by Rt. Rev. Bishop Katzer, of 
 Green Bay, and consecrated to the wor- 
 ship of God, February 12, 1891. It is a 
 large and imposing edifice of solid brick, 
 126 .X 52 feet, with a bell tower 140 feet 
 high, and having a seating capacity for 
 600 people. During his administration 
 in New London Father Gasper also erected 
 a fine church at Hortonville, the building 
 of which was commenced in 1893 and 
 dedicated with imposing ceremonies by 
 Rt. Rev. Bishop Messmer, June 18, 1893. 
 The Parish of New London includes about 
 160 families, and the school has an at- 
 tendance of some 140 pupils; the Parish 
 of Hortonville comprises in the neighbor- 
 hood of 90 families. Rev. Father Gas- 
 per is beloved by his parishioners, and 
 was ver}^ highly esteemed by the citizens 
 of New London generally. In August, 
 1894, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Messmer, of 
 Green Bay, transferred him to the city of 
 Wausau, Marathon Co., Wis., and ap- 
 pointed him as rector of St. Mary's con- 
 gregation in that city, a congregation con- 
 sisting of about 400 families, and having 
 a large parochial school of over 300 chil- 
 dren, conducted by six Sisters of the Or- 
 der of Nortre Dame, of Milwaukee, which 
 
 give the best possible satisfaction. In 
 January, 1895, Father Gasper was also 
 appointed by Rt. Rev. Bishop Messmer, 
 of Green Bay, dean for the counties of 
 Lincoln, Marathon, Portage and Wood, 
 as far as they are situated within the 
 limits of the Diocese of Green Bay. As 
 rector of St. Mary's congregation he has 
 a very large field of work, which, how- 
 ever, will prosper if the Lord will favor 
 him in the future as He has in the past. 
 
 CASPER SCHOMMER, a well-to- 
 do business man of Freedom 
 township, Outagamie county, is 
 a native of Wisconsin, born March 
 7, 1855, near Port Washington, in Bel- 
 gium township, Ozaukee county. His 
 father, Lambert Schommer, who was a 
 native of Germany, came to Wisconsin, 
 and at one time owned a farm, later a 
 sawmill; at present he is following the 
 carpenter's trade near Port Washington. 
 Casper was educated in the common 
 district schools of his time, and was reared 
 to agricultural pursuits, working also in a 
 sawmill during his youth. When about 
 sixteen years old he commenced to learn 
 carpentry, and subsequently came to 
 Freedom township, Outagamie county, 
 where he was engaged at his trade for 
 some time. Here he was married to Miss 
 Adelaide Nabbeffelt, a native of German)-, 
 who came to the United States with her 
 father, William Nabbeffelt, when but four 
 or five years old. Mr. Schommer had but 
 ten dollars with which to commence mar- 
 ried life, and he continued to work at his 
 trade for some time, and then embarked 
 in the wagon-making business, in which 
 he continued successfully for five years. 
 On July I, 1893, he opened out the liquor 
 business to which he now gives his princi- 
 pal attention. Mr. Schommer started in 
 life with nothing but energy, but by per- 
 severance and economy he has succeeded 
 in accumulating a comfortable share of 
 this world's goods. He is an influential 
 citizen of the communitv in which he re- 
 
584 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sides, and one of the most progressive, 
 public-spirited men in Freedom township, 
 ever fully alive to her advancement and 
 best interests, and always ready to sup- 
 port any enterprise that promises to 
 benefit the township and county. He is 
 a stanch member of the Democratic party, 
 has served as township treasurer (two 
 years) and constable, and at the present 
 time holds the office of school treasurer. 
 He and his family are members of St. 
 Nicholas Catholic Church. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Schommer have had children as follows: 
 William, John fi), George, John and Nick 
 (twins), Leo and Lawrence, of whom 
 John (i) and Nick are deceased. 
 
 WILLIAM A. FANNON, superin- 
 tendent of the Manufacturing 
 Investment Company, Apple- 
 ton, was born in ' Philadelphia, 
 Penn., April 16, 1863. His father, 
 James Fannon, a native of Ireland, when 
 a young man, emigrated to America, lo- 
 cating in Philadelphia, where he was 
 married in 1859 to Miss Anna Downer, 
 who was also of Irish birth. Both were 
 from the vicinity of Belfast, the bride 
 having come, when a young lady, to this 
 country in company with her brother, 
 her parents never leaving Ireland. 
 James Fannon, Sr., father of William, 
 was a farmer and produce merchant, and 
 died in Philadelphia in 1886, his wife's 
 death occurring the same year. 
 
 William A. Fannon, who is the eld- 
 est son in a family of seven children — 
 five sons and two daughters — attended 
 the public schools in Philadelphia until 
 he was thirteen years of age, when he 
 obtained employment in a cracker bakery. 
 After one year spent there he worked 
 another year in a nut and bolt factory, 
 at the end of that time becoming office 
 boy in the Bullock Printing Press Com- 
 pany's manufactory. When seventeen 
 years old he returned to the nut and bolt 
 factory, but after six months commenced 
 
 to learn the machinist's trade with the 
 Southwark Foundry & Machine Com- 
 pany, remaining with that institution 
 three and a half years. He then went to 
 Gloucester City, N. J., to build sugar 
 machinery, but at the end of three 
 months, desiring further experience in 
 different establishments, he worked from 
 shop to shop, gaining general knowledge, 
 and finally decided to take up marine en- 
 gineering. He went to sea for four 
 months, in order to see the practical 
 working of the machinery, and in 1885 
 entered the great ship yards of Cramp & 
 Sons at Kensington, Philadelphia, where 
 he assisted in building large iron steam- 
 ships. After leaving there he worked 
 about two and one-half years for the Mid- 
 vale Steel Company, and next proceeded 
 to Middletown, Ohio, where, in company 
 with Charles W. Shartle, he engaged in 
 the manufacture and repairing of paper- 
 mill machinery. 
 
 He sold his interests about a year 
 later, and spent the next six months 
 traveling in the Northwest, returning at 
 the end of that time to Philadelphia and 
 re-entering the employ of the Midvale 
 Steel Company, which firm manufac- 
 tured steel for the United States army 
 and navy. Here he remained until 1891, 
 when he was induced b\' Fred. W. Taylor, 
 chief engineer of the Manufacturing In- 
 vestment Company, of Appleton, to come 
 to that city and engage in the manufac- 
 ture of sulphite pulp. On January i, 
 1894, he was appointed superintendent 
 of the works, which now employ over 
 125 men. 
 
 Mr. Fannon was married October 24, 
 1889, to Miss Louisa E. Wannenwetsch, 
 a native of Ohio, and daughter of Dr. 
 Andrew Wannenwetsch, who died in 
 1879. Two children have been born to 
 them, George Clifford and Ralph Wil- 
 liam. The parents are both members of 
 the Episcopal Church. Mr. Fannon is a 
 Republican in politics, and a member of 
 the Artisans Order of Mutual Protection, 
 of Philadelphia. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 5S5 
 
 JAMES CASHMAN is a native of the 
 "Emerald Isle," born in 1833 in 
 County Cork, son of Thomas and 
 Mary (Martin) Cashman, farming 
 people, who were in comfortable circum- 
 stances. They had a family of eight 
 children — five sons and three daughters — 
 of whom James was the third youngest. 
 The parents both died in Ireland. 
 
 James Cashman commenced to assist 
 with the farm work as soon as he was old 
 enough, and as a consequence his school- 
 ing was neglected. He remained under 
 the parental roof up to the age of twenty 
 years, when, being no longer needed at 
 home, he resolved to cross the Atlantic 
 and see what opportunities were offered 
 in America. In the spring of 1853 he 
 left Cork for Liverpool, where he took 
 passage for New York, landing after a 
 comparatively short voN'age of four weeks' 
 duration. The following summer he 
 worked for a farmer near Niagara Falls, 
 N. Y., and in the fall came farther west, 
 by rail to Chicago, 111. , and thence by 
 boat and stage to Appleton, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis., where he found employment 
 on the buildings of Lawrence University, 
 then in course of construction. With the 
 money he managed to save by frugality 
 and persistent industry he bought eighty 
 acres of land in Section 24, Greenville 
 township, Outagamie county, paying 
 about two hundred dollars for the tract, 
 and gave all his spare time to clearing the 
 land, adding improvements when pos- 
 sible, but he never made a permanent 
 home there until his marriage. For sev- 
 eral winters he engaged in lumbering, a 
 vocation in which all the early settlers 
 had more or less experience. In Septem- 
 ber, 1857, he was married, in Appleton, 
 to Annie Corbett, who was born about 
 1833 in County Clare, Ireland, and came 
 to America with her brother Patrick. The 
 young couple took up their residence at 
 once on the farm, whereon he had built 
 a rude dwelling, and at this time had ten 
 acres sowed to wheat and several more 
 cleared. He owned a yoke of oxen, but 
 
 no wagon, or modern implements, but by 
 persevering in his work and buying ma- 
 chiner}- as he could afford it. he saw the 
 forest gradually give place to a well-culti- 
 vated farm, which yields him a comforta- 
 ble income; he also owns five acres in 
 Grand Chute township. The struggles 
 and hardships he experienced during those 
 early years of toil were the same as those 
 endured by all pioneers in a newly opened 
 country, and his success in the face of all 
 obstacles is all the more creditable. All 
 his business dealings are characterized 
 by straightforward honesty, and all who 
 know him esteem him as a substantial, 
 loyal citizen. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. James Cashman 
 were born children as follows: Mary, 
 who lives at home and keeps house for 
 her father; Thomas, a carpenter; Edward 
 and William, farmers, who live at home; 
 and three sons and one daughter, all de- 
 ceased in infancy. The mother was 
 called from earth in January, 1876, and 
 sleeps her last sleep in the cemetery at 
 Appleton. Mr. Cashman has always 
 been a stanch Democrat, but is no aspir- 
 ant for political honors, though he has 
 held offices in his school district. The 
 family are Catholics in religious belief, 
 belonging to St. Mary's Church, of 
 Appleton. 
 
 c 
 
 ORNELIUS JAMES VAN PAT- 
 TEN. The genealogy of the Van- 
 Patten family dates back to the 
 great-grandfather, who came from 
 Amsterdam, Holland, and bought a part 
 of the noted Schenectady (N. Y.) patent 
 or land grant of seventy-five thousand 
 acres of land. He was one of twelve 
 Hollanders who secured the grant, the 
 land of which is now owned and occupied 
 by some of his descendants. 
 
 Simon, his son, and grandfather of 
 our subject, was also a man of consider- 
 able importance in that vicinity, inheriting 
 much of his father's ability, and he owned 
 a large tract of land which he divided 
 
5S6 
 
 COMMEJifOBATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 among his children. He was born in 
 America, and when the Revolutionary 
 war broke out he enlisted in the service to 
 help in securing American independence, 
 taking an active part in man}' a notable 
 battle, and being present when Gen. Bur- 
 goyne surrendered to . Gen. Gates after 
 the battle of Saratoga, October 17, 1777. 
 Sur\iving the war, he returned to his 
 home in Schenectady county, N. Y. , and 
 lived to a good old age, when eighty 
 years old retaining his sight, memory and 
 wonderful activity. His wife was the 
 daughter of Simon Fairley, of Glasgow, 
 Scotland, and by her he had seven chil- 
 dren; she too, lived, to be an octogenarian. 
 They both belonged to the Dutch Re- 
 formed Church, and were widely known 
 for their generous hospitality. 
 
 Their son, John Baptist Van Patten, 
 father of our subject, was born in Glen- 
 ville, Schenectady Co., N. Y. , and was 
 reared to farming, becoming a very ener- 
 getic and industrious man. He inherited 
 a small sum of money which, with the 
 fruits of his industry for a number of 
 years, made a small fortune; but this he 
 lost through the dishonesty of pretended 
 friends whom he had trusted. Un- 
 daunted by this misfortune, he turned his 
 face westward and settled in Painesville, 
 Lake Co.. Ohio, where he proceeded to 
 accumulate more property. On March 
 9, 1806, he was married to Miss Betsey 
 Elizabeth Van Patten, a very distant 
 relative, whose father, Frederick \'an- 
 Patten, was also a Revolutionary patriot. 
 John B. Van Patten finally came to Wis- 
 consin, settling in Plvmouth township. 
 Sheboygan county, where he died at the 
 advanced age of eighty-four years. He 
 was a large, robust man, retaining his 
 strength and weight up to the time of his 
 death. His wife, who was a verv active 
 woman, died when eighty years of age. 
 They had a family of eleven children, of 
 whom ten reached maturity. 
 
 Cornelius James \'an Patten, the sub- 
 ject proper of these lines, was born ^^a^ch 
 12. 1 82 8, in Glenville, Schenectady Co., 
 
 N. Y. , was there reared, and was a young 
 lad when his parents removed to Ohio. 
 There he received three months' school- 
 ing, in which brief time he mastered the 
 rudiments of the primary branches, and 
 being reared on a farm he naturally took 
 up that vocation. In October, 1846, he 
 came to Sheboygan county, W'^is. , where 
 he followed agricultural pursuits eleven 
 years; then went to Clark county, Mo., 
 where he resided until 1861. in which 
 year he returned to Sheboygan count\\ 
 \\'is. , farming until he enlisted in the 
 army. While in Missouri he had become 
 a member of the "Sons of Malta," a 
 secret organization which bound its mem- 
 bers by oath to protect the Union, and 
 they were furnished guns and ammuni- 
 tion. This military organization, under 
 the direction of John C. Fremont, did 
 much to preserve the State of Mis- 
 souri from seceding from the Union; their 
 colonel was David Moore, of Ohio, who 
 led them in several engagements which 
 took the form of regular battles, one of 
 which was fought on the banks of the Des- 
 Moines river, near the Iowa State line. 
 The Rebel force, with nearly fifteen hun- 
 dred men and two pieces of artillery, 
 made an attack on the Union force, which 
 consisted of only z^.O men, but the Con- 
 federates were repulsed, beating a hasty 
 retreat. In .\ugust. 1S64, Mr. Van Pat- 
 ten enlisted in Company B, Twenty-sev- 
 enth Wis. V. I., and joining the regiment 
 at Little Rock, Ark., he moved south 
 with the army, where he assisted in the 
 capture of the Rebel towns and forts. 
 His regiment was then sent to Texas, 
 and here it remained until July 14. 1865. 
 when Mr. ^'an Patten was honorably dis- 
 charged and returned to Wisconsin, re- 
 suming the vocation of farming. Selling 
 his farm in Sheboygan county nine years 
 later, he removed to Bovina township. 
 Outagamie Co.. Wis., where he pur- 
 chased forty-three acres of land in the 
 northeastern part of the township; subse- 
 quently he bought more land until he had 
 a farm of 187 acres, which he still owns 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGIiAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 5S7 
 
 and cultivates. In February, 1894, 
 having been appointed postmaster at 
 Shiocton under President Cleveland, he 
 removed to that village. 
 
 Mr. Van Patten was married, in She- 
 boygan county, to a lady from Nfaine, 
 who died while they were living in Mis- 
 souri. His second wife was Miss Mar- 
 garet Horn, daughter of Martin Horn, 
 and they had two children: Jennie, now 
 Mrs. August Krull, of Cicero; and Martin 
 H.. who is managing his father's farm, is 
 married to Miss Eva Trader, and has one 
 son, Cornelius. Mrs. Margaret Van Pat- 
 ten died December 19, 1862, and on May 
 23, 1866, our subject was married to her 
 sister. Miss Nancy Horn. In politics Mr. 
 \'an Patten has been a lifelong Democrat, 
 although he voted for Gen. Fremont in 
 1856, and for Abraham Lincoln in i860. 
 He has been chairman of the board of 
 supervisors two years, besides filling other 
 township offices. 
 
 M 
 
 .\RTiN Mccormick, ofthe 
 
 early pioneers who settled in 
 and about Kaukauna, Outa- 
 gamie county, many were fresh 
 arrivals from the old countries or Canada. 
 Conspicuous among those who hailed 
 from the Emerald Isle is Martin McCor- 
 mick, who was born in Tynar, County 
 Galway, Ireland, in 1822, son of Michael 
 and Mary TFinnerty) McCormick, the for- 
 mer of whom was a shoe dealer in Tynar. 
 Their family consisted of four children, of 
 whom one died in the old country; 
 another, a daughter, died in De Pere, 
 Wis.; the third, a son, died in 1883, in 
 the town of Kaukauna: and the last and 
 only surviving child is Martin, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. 
 
 Mr. McCormick came to America in 
 1849, and settled in the town of Free- 
 dom, Outagamie county, Wisconsin. The 
 following year he left that township 
 and removed to Kaukana, where he pur- 
 chased forty acres for a homestead, to 
 which he added an adjoining twenty 
 
 acres, and has resided here ever since. 
 His farm, though not large, is under most 
 excellent cultivation. With the old 
 country thrift, he allows not a foot of 
 ground to lie waste, havinglong ago learned 
 that one acre of ground, well cultivated, 
 is worth ten poorly cared for — a bit of 
 wisdom which American farmers are slow 
 to heed. His boyhood days were spent on 
 a farm in Ireland, where he early learned 
 that a penny saved is a penny gained, a 
 precept he followed so well that when 
 grown to manhood he was enabled to go 
 on a bridal tour to America with his 
 bride, Miss Kate Devine, a sister of James 
 Devine. They have three daughters, 
 Bridget, Margaret and Marj', all of whom 
 are living at home. 
 
 Mr. McCormick cancelled his last debt 
 long ago, and now lives in happy inde- 
 pendence with his family, his well-kept 
 farm bringing him a revenue of no mean 
 dimensions. In earlier years he cast his 
 vote with the Democratic party, but his 
 opinions have changed, and he is now a 
 stanch Republican. In religion he is a 
 Roman Catholic and a regular attendant 
 at the parish church in North Kaukauna. 
 In disposition Mr. McCormick is a true 
 son of Erin; although so frugal, he is gen- 
 erous to a fault, and no one in need ever 
 applies to him in vain. He is quick at 
 repartee, an adept at "blarney," andean 
 make and enjoy a joke with the best of 
 them. Appreciating the many advant- 
 ages America has over the countn,' of his 
 birth, he is a most loyal citizen, and 
 always active in any enterprise which will 
 benefit the public. 
 
 C FREDERICK GEHRING, one 
 of the substantial farmer-citizens 
 of Freedom township, Outagamie 
 county, was bom April 20. 1836, 
 in Wurtemberg, Germany, son of Michael 
 and Mar}' ^Mutchler^ Gehring. the former 
 of whom was engaged in making the sieves 
 used before fanning mills were invented. 
 Up to the age of fourteen our subject 
 
58S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 attended school, and then commenced to 
 learn the trade of sieve maker with his 
 father. When sixteen years of age he 
 came to America with the rest of the fam- 
 ily, the ocean voyage from Hamburg to 
 New York, which was made on the vessel 
 " Robert," lasting twenty-six days. Their 
 destination was Utica, N. Y. , and thither 
 they proceeded, going via the Hudson 
 river to Albany, thence to their journey's 
 end by rail. In Utica they remained five 
 years, our subject in the meanwhile work- 
 ing on the Erie canal, which was being 
 enlarged. In about 1857 the family came 
 to Wisconsin, locating on a farm between 
 Fond du Lac and Waupun, and after re- 
 siding there for some time removed to 
 Freedom township, Outagamie county. 
 After their settlement in Wisconsin Fred- 
 erick, when not needed at home, hired 
 out to neighboring farmers, working prin- 
 cipally in Fond du Lac county. 
 
 On November 12, 1861, Mr. Gehring 
 was united in marriage in Oshkosh with 
 Anna Margaret Beck, who was born Oc- 
 tober 17, 1839, in Prussia, daughter of An- 
 drew Beck and Annie Catharine('Stephan); 
 her father died in 1844 in Sheboygan, 
 Wis. , six weeks after the family arrived 
 in the United States, and from the time 
 she was fourteen years old Mrs. Gehring 
 earned her own living. Our subject had 
 saved about four hundred dollars from his 
 wages, and received one hundred dollars, 
 a yoke of cattle and a heifer from home; 
 at the time of his marriage he located on 
 a forty-acre tract in Section 3 1 , Freedom 
 township, on which a few improvements 
 had been made, and here he labored dili- 
 gently for five years, at the end of that 
 time taking up his residence on his pres- 
 ent farm, situated in Section 32. He had 
 purchased sixty acres here in the spring of 
 1867, then all in the woods, and before 
 moving thereon spent several months in 
 making a few necessary improvements. 
 They moved into a log house, situated 
 near the comfortable brick residence 
 which they now occupy, and Mrs. Gehr- 
 ing worked in the clearing as well as her 
 
 husband, for the land being swampy an 
 unusual amount of labor was necessary to 
 make it tillable. The farm now contains 
 sixty acres of excellent land, all cleared 
 by the family, also forty acres woods, and 
 has been well equipped with substantial 
 outbuildings and other improvements. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gehring have had seven 
 children, as follows: Ottila, now Mrs. 
 John Kramer, of Birnamwood, Wis. ; Lud- 
 wig, of Appleton; Minnie, Mrs. William 
 Schulke, of Freedom; Josephine, Mrs. 
 Max Dittmar, of Appleton; and Frederick, 
 Jr., Andrew and Louesa at home. Mr. 
 Gehring is a Republican in politics, and 
 in religious affiliation is a member of the 
 Congregational Church; Mrs. Gehring 
 was reared in the Lutheran faith. 
 
 OSCAR THILMANY. Among those 
 whose names are indelibly as- 
 sociated with the progress of Kau- 
 kauna, since the commencement 
 of its phenomenal growth in recent 
 years, is the subject of this biographical 
 memoir. The influence a man exerts, in 
 molding the character of a community, is 
 told, not so much by the length of time 
 he may have resided therein, as by his 
 own individuality and activity. 
 
 Mr. Thilmany is a native of Germany, 
 born in 1844, a son of Nicholas and Anna 
 (Miller) Thilmany, who were also of Ger- 
 man birth. The father was in govern- 
 ment service at Bonn, on the Rhine, and 
 he and his wife both died in the Father- 
 land, in 1885 and 1888, respectively. Our 
 subject received a liberal education at the 
 schools of his native place, and in 1866, 
 accompanied by his brother Waldemar, 
 emigrated to the United States, landing 
 at New York City, where he remained 
 some six years, for most of the time em- 
 ployed on the stafT of a German paper. 
 In 1872 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 
 which cit\' he was for a time engaged in 
 the wood-preserving industry, from there 
 removing to Milwaukee, Wis. , where 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 591 
 
 he was engaged in a similar line of busi- 
 ness, in 1883 coming to Appleton. In 
 that jear he became engaged, in Kau- 
 kauna, in the manufacture of pulp. In 
 December, 1891, he completed the erec- 
 tion of the " Thilmany Pulp and Paper 
 Mills," of which he is sole proprietor, 
 and which stands as a monument to his 
 enterprise and worth. The buildings, are 
 situated on the government canal near 
 Island street, and were completed in the 
 fall of 1890. The plant consists of two 
 massive stone structures, one 80 x 175 
 feet in dimensions, besides a large two- 
 story frame store house connected with 
 the mills by walks and tracks. There 
 are four beating engines in use in the 
 mill, and two of the most complete Four- 
 drinier machines (one eighty-two inches, 
 the other ninet}' inches in width), for print 
 and wrapping papers, with a capacity of 
 fourteen tons daily. In addition to these 
 there is a third Fourdrinier machine 
 (eighty inches in width) for the manufac- 
 ture of tissue papers, the capacity being 
 about two tons daily. This is one of the 
 most extensive paper manufactories in 
 the Fox River Valley, and five sixty-horse 
 power turbine wheels drive the massive 
 machinery. For a time after commenc- 
 ing operations there was a pulp manufac- 
 turing department in the same building, 
 but of late years the mill has been sup- 
 plied with pulp from the Fox River Pulp 
 Mill, which is leased by Mr. Thilmany. 
 This mill is situated on the Mead & Ed- 
 wards water-power in Kaukauna, and is 
 one of the older mills of the city. The 
 building is 40 x 70 feet, two stories high, 
 and is equipped with the best of machin- 
 ery, including six Frambach grinders, 
 which turn out some six tons of first-class 
 pulp daily, using about 2,500 cords of 
 pulp wood annually. Both of Mr. Thil- 
 many's mills run day and night, and give 
 employment to an average of one hundred 
 hands. Mr. Thilman\' has erected on 
 "the bluff," on the north side of the 
 river, an elegant and commodious resi- 
 dence, which, together with the surround- 
 33 
 
 ings, attests to the refinement and ex- 
 cellent taste of the occupants. 
 
 In 1 879 Oscar Thilmany and MissThe- 
 kla Hisgen ,a lady of German birth, were 
 united in marriage. She is a daughter of 
 Lawrence and Elizabeth (Thilmanyj His- 
 gen, also natives of Germany, the former 
 of whom (now deceased) was in the Ger- 
 man Government service; the latter is 
 yet living. Mr. Thilmany has now been 
 closely identified with the business in- 
 terests of Kaukauna some thirteen years, 
 during which time he has seen the output 
 of the pulp and paper mills in the Fox 
 River Valley more than treble in volume. 
 The paper mill in Kaukauna, erected by 
 him, was the third to be built in that city. 
 A Republican in politics, he is a stanch 
 and loyal member of his party. 
 
 JACOB HELF is a son of Anton and 
 Gertrude (Loan) Helf, who resided 
 on a farm in the town of Tay- 
 cheedah. Fond du Fac Co., Wis. 
 The following is a brief record of their 
 children: Magdelena married J. P. Bersh, 
 and lives in the village of Mt. Calvary, 
 Fond du Lac county; Sarah married 
 Jacob Doetsch, who is on the city detec- 
 tive force in Milwaukee, and they have 
 seven children; Mathias is in business in 
 the city of Kaukauna; Jacob is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; George, who is a pros- 
 perous farmer in Langlade county, Wis. , 
 is married to Miss Kate Cilgen, who has 
 borne him three children; John P., who 
 lives in Kaukauna, is married to Miss 
 Annie Mertes, and they are the parents of 
 two children ; Catherine and John are both 
 deceased. The father of this family died 
 in 1863 and the mother in 1893. 
 
 Jacob Helf was born in Germany in 
 1852, and was brought to America by his 
 parents when less than a year old. He 
 resided on the home farm and attended 
 the district school until he was eighteen 
 years old, when he learned the brewing 
 and malting business, and in 1886 opened 
 what is now known as the Kaukauna 
 
592 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Brewery, in which business he has ever 
 since been engaged. He constantly em- 
 ploys six men and three teams of horses 
 to deliver his beer in the city of Kau- 
 kauna, he having the principal trade of 
 that cit}", besides shipping his beer to 
 various points throughout the northern 
 part of Wisconsin. He manufactures his 
 own malt, and has an immense trade in 
 bottled beer. 
 
 In April, 1877, Mr. Helf was married 
 to Miss Kate Meyer, of the city of Fond 
 du Lac, who is the daughter of Joseph 
 and Annie Meyer. As proprietor of the 
 large brewery and as maltster he has little 
 time for public work and takes no active 
 part in politics, deeming it wisest to at- 
 tend to his own business properly and 
 give other things the second place. He 
 is kind and charitable, however, and al- 
 ways ready to help a good cause with 
 money and influence if not with work. 
 He is a very busy man, but, despite all, 
 manages to be a constant attendant of the 
 Catholic parish church in South Kau- 
 kauna, of which he is an active and 
 prominent member. 
 
 RE\-. HERMANN HAESE, pastor 
 of St. Peter's Lutheran Church 
 at Freedom, Outagamie county, 
 where he has been installed since 
 1877, was born November 11, 1827, in 
 Pomerania, Prussia. 
 
 Carl Haese, his father, was treasurer 
 of the Church in that locality, looking af- 
 ter the revenues from the real estate be- 
 longing to the Church, comprising many 
 acres, the proceeds from which amounted 
 to over fifteen thousand dollars per an- 
 num. He held this position for thirty- 
 eight years, after which he was pensioned 
 for the remainder of his life. He passed 
 from earth in February, 1881, when 
 eighty-six years of age, in Germany, and 
 his widow subsequently came to America 
 and made her home in Wisconsin. She 
 died in Shawano county in March, 1894, 
 aged ninety-three years and nine months. 
 
 Their children were four in number, viz. : 
 Caroline, who married and died in Ger- 
 many; Augusta, who married and died in 
 Wisconsin; Rev. Hermann; and Carl, a 
 merchant, of Waterloo, Wisconsin. 
 
 Hermann Haese attended the com- 
 mon schools in his nati\e place until 
 fourteen years of age, and then prepared 
 for a State teacher. He taught school 
 for twenty years in Germany. On Octo- 
 ber 21, 1852, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Mar}' Schwartz, a native of 
 Germany, born February 29, 1828, whose 
 father was a collector of revenues, an of- 
 fice held under the Crown. This wife 
 died in 1866, leaving five children, as fol- 
 lows: Ottilie, now the widow of Frank 
 Frailey, of Shawano county. Wis. ; Eliese, 
 Mrs. Carl Voigt, of Shawano county; 
 Emma, Mrs. David Addie, of Nebraska; 
 Ernst, a Lutheran divine, of Peshtigo, 
 Wis. , and Mary, Mrs. Hermann Koeppen, 
 of Shawano count}'. Mr. Haese mar- 
 ried, on Ma\' 17, 1867, for his second 
 wife, Miss Mary Krueger, who was born 
 September 20, 1833, in Germany, daugh- 
 ter of David Krueger. No children have 
 been born to this union. In the fall of 
 1868 Mr. Haese sailed from Bremen on 
 the " Weser, " of the German Lloyd line, 
 and fifteen days later landed in New 
 York, proceeding at once to ^^'aterloo, 
 Jefferson Co.. Wis,, where he remained 
 eight years. After examination he was 
 ordained June 24, 1869, by Rev. Habel, 
 at Kirchhayn, Wis., and was instituted 
 June 29. His first charge was at \\'ater- 
 loo, and he held that until February i, 
 1877, when he assumed his present charge 
 in Freedom township, where he has since 
 been an earnest worker. On July 29, 
 1S94, Rev. Mr. Haese was surprised by 
 thirteen brother ministers to celebrate 
 the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordina- 
 tion, and was presented on that occasion 
 with a silver tea service, Rev. Kluge, of 
 New London, deli\'ering an appropriate 
 address. 
 
 St. Peter's Church was organized in 
 1869, since which time but two pastors- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAJPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 ^93- 
 
 have been in charge. In 1889 a beauti- 
 ful stone church was erected at a cost of 
 five thousand dollars, which is one of the 
 finest country churches in Outagamie 
 county, Albert Gruenhagen being the 
 architect; William Plamann, J. H. Wendt 
 and Fred Ziegler were the trustees when 
 the first church was built. The building 
 committee of the new church consisted of 
 the ffdlowing members: Ed. Scheibe, 
 Franz Robe, John E. Hoffman, John 
 Kressin, FredOchsner, Ernst Harp; John 
 Kressin was the superintendent of con- 
 struction; Fred Ziegler, president; J. H. 
 Wendt, treasurer; and Carl Piepkorn, 
 secretar}-. Mr. Haese is very popular 
 with his congregation, and is highl}^ re- 
 spected in the communitj' where he has 
 had his home so many j'ears. 
 
 JOHN VANDENHOY, a prominent 
 and prosperous farmer of Grand 
 Chute township, Outagamie county, 
 was born in 1844 in Holland, son of 
 Theodore Vandenhoy, also a farmer, who 
 came to the United States in 1850. He 
 had intended to look for a home in the 
 then new State of Wisconsin, but died in 
 New York, and his widow, continuing the 
 journey alone, located in Green Bay 
 township. Brown coimty, making her 
 home there two years. Then for a short 
 time she lived in Milwaukee, and later in 
 Gran\ille township, Milwaukee county, 
 finally, in October, 1868, removing to 
 Grand Chute township, Outagamie county, 
 where she passed the remainder of her 
 life. About two j'ears after Mr. Vanden- 
 hoy's death she married John Heesackker, 
 who is now living in Grand Chute town- 
 ship, at the advanced age of eighty-three 
 years. 
 
 Our subject received his literary train- 
 ing in the common schools of the time, 
 and was thoroughly instructed in the du- 
 ties of farm life, remaining at home until 
 his marriage, when he settled on his pres- 
 ent farm, in Section 6, where he has since 
 continued to follow his chosen vocation. 
 
 At the time of his removal here deer were 
 still seen occasionally; the place was all 
 woods, with the exception of seven or 
 eight acres, the stable was a pile of logs 
 covered with straw, and all the other im- 
 provements that had been made were 
 about of the same order. It took no 
 small amount of labor to make the land 
 tillable, and with the high rate of interest 
 he had to pay, a great deal of skill and 
 careful management were necessary in 
 order to get even a living from the place; 
 but he kept resolutely at work until he 
 saw the farm change from a wilderness to 
 its present fertile and well-improved con- 
 dition, a result due entirely to his own in- 
 dustry and perseverance. Mr. Vanden- 
 hoy has served as pathmaster of his town- 
 ship, and takes a deep interest in every- 
 thing concerning the advancement of the 
 community he resides in; he is a Demo- 
 crat in politics, but, though supporting 
 that party invariably in State and national 
 elections, he votes for the best candidate 
 in local affairs, regardless of politics. 
 
 In December, 1882, Mr. Vandenhoy 
 was united in marriage with Miss Alice 
 Guerts, a native of Freedom township, 
 Outagamie county, daughter of Jacob 
 Guerts, and their union has been blessed 
 with six children, only two of whom are 
 now living — Mary T. and Mina. The 
 family is connected with St. Joseph Cath- 
 olic Church, of Appleton. 
 
 JOHN GEHRING. Among the pro- 
 gressive well-to-do farmers of Free- 
 dom township, Outagamie county, 
 there are not a few who are natives 
 of the Fatherland, and of these the gentle- 
 man here named is a prominent repre- 
 sentative. 
 
 He was born October 10, 1841, son 
 of John M. Gehring, and came with his 
 parents to the United States when a boy. 
 His education was received partly in Ger- 
 many and partly in his new home in W'is- 
 consin. The parents settled in Fond du 
 Lac county, and later, in 1858, came to 
 
594 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 Outagamie county, locating in Section 33 
 on a tract of wild land, where they cut 
 the first trees and commenced clearing. 
 John li\ed at home with his parents until 
 his enlistment, September i, 1862, in 
 Fond du Lac county, where he was at 
 work harvesting, when he became a mem- 
 ber of Compan}- B, Thirty-second Regi- 
 ment, Wis. \'. I. He was sent to Cairo, 
 111., and thence to Memphis, Tenn., 
 and saw his first active service at Grand 
 Junction, Tenn., where they opposed 
 Hood's forces. Mr. Gehring took an ac- 
 tive part in the following engagements: 
 Tallahatchie River, Colliersville, Holly 
 Springs, Meridian, Paducah, Courtland 
 Bridge, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Salkehatchie, 
 Savannah, Edisto Island, Orangeburg, 
 Columbia, Cheraw, Bentonville and 
 Fayetteville. He served to the close of 
 the conflict without ever receiving a 
 wound, was present at the Grand Review 
 in Washington, and received his discharge 
 in June, 1865, returning home at once. 
 On April 12, 1866, he was married, in 
 Freedom township, to Miss Mary 
 Wheeler, also a native of German}-, 
 whose father, Edward Wheeler, is a min- 
 ister of the Gospel. Mr. Gehring took 
 up farming in Section 33, where he in- 
 vested in si.xty acres of wild land, and he 
 and his wife lived in a log house on that 
 farm, which was their home until 1882. 
 In the year last named they removed to 
 the farm of his brother, Gottlieb, and 
 there resided until April, 1893, when he 
 purchased from Fred Ochsner his pres- 
 ent farm, situated in Section 32. He 
 is now the owner of 140 acres of well- 
 improved land, all acquired by his own 
 labor; during his active life he has im- 
 proved a large amount of land, farming 
 having been his principal vocation, and 
 hard work and thrift have had their re- 
 ward. Mr. Gehring takes an active in- 
 terest in public affairs, and has served as 
 a member of the board of supervisors, as 
 director in the district, and as clerk of the 
 district board. He is also secretary and 
 treasurer of the Newell Cemetery Asso- 
 
 ciation. Children as follows were born 
 to Mr. and Mrs. Gehring: Harvey and 
 Oliver, farmers of Freedom; John and 
 Alma, who are living at home, and Ed- 
 ward, who died when si.x months old. 
 The entire family are adherents of the 
 Congregational Church, and in political 
 preference Mr. Gehring is a stanch Re- 
 publican. 
 
 JOHN JACOUOT (deceased), one of 
 the early settlers and prosperous 
 self-made men of Greenville town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, was a native 
 of Rosiers, France, born in February, 
 1820, and came to America in boyhood 
 with his parents, who settled in New 
 York State. 
 
 In early manhood our subject set out 
 for the West, and for a number of years 
 was emplo3'ed in the woods of Michigan, 
 where he was head sawyer in a lumber 
 mill. He was married, in Milwaukee, 
 Wis., in 1849 to Mary Linton, a native 
 of Germany, and shortly afterward, in 
 same year, settled on a 160 acre farm in 
 Greenville township, Outagamie Co. , Wis. , 
 which he had previously selected and pur- 
 chased, having saved sufficient to pay for 
 it during his residence in Michigan. He 
 became a successful farmer, and was 
 actively interested in the advancement of 
 the section which he had aided in opening 
 to civilization, and was one of the re- 
 spected men of his township, which he 
 served as supervisor and in various other 
 offices. Politically he was an ardent 
 supporter of the principles of the Demo- 
 cratic party, but not a politician in the 
 general sense of the term. For several 
 years prior to his sudden death, on De- 
 cember 28, 1882, he lived a semi-retired 
 life, rheumatism preventing him from en- 
 gaging in active farm labor. After his 
 decease the family continued to carry on 
 the farm, and here Mrs. Jacquot died on 
 .\ngust 30, 1 89 1, and was laid to rest by 
 the side of her husband in Greenville town- 
 ship; she was a member of the Catholic 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 595 
 
 Church. These honored pioneers were 
 the parents of six children, Alex, Martin, 
 John, Cornelia, Helen and Seraphine, a 
 brief record of whom follows: Alex died 
 at the age of four years; Cornelia married 
 Albert Cerwing, of Marshfield, Wis. ; 
 Helen is the wife of John Schuh, of Hor- 
 tonia township, Outagamie county; Sera- 
 phine is the wife of Charles Westgate, of 
 Greenville township; Martin Jacquot was 
 born October 22, 1861, on the home 
 farm, where he was reared to his father's 
 calling, agriculture, and during his youth 
 attended the common schools of the neigh- 
 borhood. On January 11, 1887, he was 
 married, in Hortonville, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, to Miss Polly Stenke, a native of Ger- 
 many, and daughter of Anton Stenke. 
 John Jacquot was born March 8, 1869, 
 on the family homestead, where he re- 
 ceived all his agricultural training under 
 his father's tuition. He and his brother 
 now own the old farm, which they have 
 managed in partnership, conducting a 
 profitable general farming business. The 
 prosperity which has followed them is 
 proof positive of their abilit\' and good 
 judgment in their chosen occupation, and 
 they take rank among the foremost agri- 
 culturists of their township. 
 
 JESSE WALTON, one of Horton- 
 ville's most popular business men, 
 is a native of Ontario, Canada, born 
 October 1 1, 1843, in the county of 
 Wellington. The Walton family is of 
 Welsh or English origin, probably the 
 latter. Grandfather Jacob Walton lived 
 and died in New Brunswick, where he 
 was a farmer, and his wife died in 
 Ontario, whither some of the chil- 
 dren had removed. She had a family of 
 eight children, viz. : John ffather of our 
 subjectj, Jesse, Betsy, Hannah, William, 
 Rachel, Polly and Jacob Evin. 
 
 John Walton was born in New Bruns- 
 wick, and followed farming successfully 
 all his life. About 1840 he moved to On- 
 
 tario, and thence, in 1856, to Outa- 
 gamie county, Wis., where in Greenville 
 township he passed the remainder of his 
 days, dying at the age of fifty-nine years. 
 In 1839 he was married to Hannah Wilson, 
 a native of the state of Ohio, whose father, 
 William Wilson, was born in Ireland, of 
 Scotch (descent. To this union came two 
 children, namely: Amy, married to Jo- 
 seph Jack, a prominent farmer of Green- 
 ville, who died in October, 1892; and 
 Jesse, a brief sketch of whom follows; 
 the mother is still living in Hortonville. 
 In political affiliation Mr. Walton was a 
 Republican, and in religious faith he was 
 a Congregationalist. 
 
 Jesse Walton received his education 
 in the district schools of Outagamie 
 county, and was reared to agriculture on 
 his father's farm, conducting same until 
 1876. About 1884 he sold the place, 
 and took up his residence in Hortonville, 
 where he has since successfully conducted 
 a fruit and confectionery business, and has 
 been recognized as one of the most enter- 
 prising business men of the town. The 
 strict attention he pays to his business 
 affairs, and his fairness and honesty to- 
 ward all, have won for him the confidence 
 of his associates and the public generally, 
 and have undoubtedly had much to do with 
 his success. He has taken active inter- 
 est in the welfare and progress of the 
 town, where he is regarded as a leading 
 substantial citizen, and he is well and 
 favorably known throughout the northern 
 part of the county. 
 
 In 1871 Mr. Walton was united in mar- 
 riage, in New London, Wis., to Miss 
 Hattie, daughter of William and Harriet 
 Carry, natives of New York State, who 
 removed to Wisconsin in 1852. Duringthe 
 Civil war Mr. Carry enlisted at Fond du 
 Lac in the Union army, and died while 
 in the service; Mrs. Carry passed away in 
 Fond du Lac county. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Walton have gathered about them a wide 
 circle of friends and acquaintances, and 
 and are everywhere honored and esteemed 
 as kind-hearted neighbors and true 
 
596 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Walton has been a life-long 
 
 friend: 
 
 Republican, but beyond voting regularly 
 
 takes no active part in politics. 
 
 CHARLES STEIDEL, a prosper- 
 ous young hotel landlord at 
 Stephensville, Outagamie county, 
 was born in the town of Green- 
 ville, Outagamie Co., Wis., August 25, 
 I.S62. His grandparents were natives of 
 Germany, and were prosperous fanners 
 in that country. 
 
 The Steidel family is noted for its 
 longevity. The grandfather on the 
 mother's side lived to the ripe old age of 
 ninety-two years; the paternal grand- 
 father was a soldier in the German army, 
 and fought against Napoleon. Joseph 
 Steidel, father of our subject, was an 
 only son with one sister, and was born in 
 1819, in Germany. He received a good 
 education in his native countr}', *he pub- 
 lic schools there being the best in the 
 world. His father being a farmer, he 
 was reared as one, remaining at home 
 until 1856, when became to America and 
 located at once in the town of Greenville, 
 Wis., where he purchased thirty- acres of 
 land. It was heavily timbered, and the 
 work of clearing was most dif^cult, de- 
 manding much patience and perseverance; 
 but he conquered in the end, and on this 
 piece of ground erected an hotel, the first 
 of its kind in Green\-ille. This business 
 proving very profitable, he continued to 
 follow it for ten years, when he received 
 an advantageous of^er to dispose of the 
 property, which he accepted, and then 
 moved to Ellington in the same county. 
 There he bought eighty acres of timbered 
 land, and after clearing, erected build- 
 ings and prepared to cultivate the soil 
 for crops. There he remained until 
 1892, when he removed to Appleton, the 
 county seat. For twenty-si.x years he 
 tilled the soil, and his pains-taking thrift 
 and careful attention to the minutiae 
 could not but bring success. He was a 
 temperate man, a useful neighbor and 
 
 citizen, and an honored member of the 
 Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 In 1S41, while still in Germany, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Annie 
 Klais, who was born in 1822, and they 
 are the parents of ten children, as follows: 
 Anton, now a resident of Appleton; Kath- 
 arine, now the widow of Wenzel Schwab, 
 of Appleton; Barbara, widow of Henry 
 Schoomer, of Milwaukee; Joseph, of Ap- 
 pleton; Wenzel, who died in 1886, aged 
 thirty-four years; Annie, now Mrs. John 
 Boedzel, of Appleton; Tressey, who mar- 
 ried Bernard Newcomb, who was born in 
 1857 and died in Stephensville, Outagamie 
 county, in 1885; .\ndrew. who died in 
 1879, at the age of nineteen }'ears; Charles 
 our subject; and Frank, of Appleton. 
 
 Charles Steidel received a good com- 
 mon-school education in the public 
 schools of Appleton and Ellington, and 
 remained on the farm with his father un- 
 til he was seventeen years of age, at which 
 period of his life he began working in the 
 woods. This occupation he followed for 
 ten years, or until 1S89, when he pur- 
 chased the property which he now occu- 
 pies in Stephensville, where he is en- 
 gaged in the hotel business. He has 
 been unusuallv successful in life, and, be- 
 ing courteous and genial, he makes an 
 excellent landlord, having become widely 
 known throughout the country; his hos- 
 pitality is unquestioned and his patronage 
 increases as the years go by. On May 2, 
 1893, Mr. Steidel forsook bachelorhood 
 and became a benedict. The lady of his 
 choice was Rosa Feldschmidt, daughter 
 of Sebastian and .\nnie fHuber) Feld- 
 schmidt, who came to the United States 
 from Germany and settled in Greenville, 
 Wis., from which place their daughter 
 was married. Mrs. Feldschmidt was 
 born February 17, 1829, and died June 
 II, 1892; she was buried in Greenville 
 cemetery: Mr. Feldschmidt was born De- 
 cember 9, 1829. They were married soon 
 after coming to this country, and kept an 
 inn near the village of Greenville. They 
 were the parents of seven children, viz. : 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 597 
 
 Mary, who married Anton Kneiszel, of 
 Antigo, Langlade Co., Wis.; Annie, mar- 
 ried to Ferdinand Huettel, of Dale, Wis. ; 
 Augustie, now Mrs. Charles Raess, of 
 Antigo; Joseph, of Ashland, Wis.; Se- 
 bastian, cjf Appleton; Robert, of Shioc- 
 ton, Wis. , where he keeps a hotel ; and 
 Rosa, wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Steidel have one child, a little daughter, 
 Adaline. Both the Steidels and Feld- 
 schmidts for nujiy generations back have 
 belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, 
 and are most loyal to their religion. Mr. 
 Steidel, in business, is shrewd and cau- 
 tious; his judgment is excellent, and he 
 rarely fails in making a good bargain, 
 while observing the strictest honesty in 
 all his dealings with his fellowmen. His 
 friends term him a ' ' hail-fellow-well-met," 
 and in appearance, as well as in action, he 
 is a typical German landlord. 
 
 JULIUS H. ROLOFF, one of the 
 typical native-born citizens of Maple 
 Creek township, Outagamie county, 
 where he is well and favorably 
 known as a wide-awake, progressive 
 young business man, is proprietor of one 
 of the leading flourishing cheese factories 
 in this section of Wisconsin. 
 
 He was born October i6, 1867, at 
 at the place where he is yet residing, and 
 received his education at the public 
 schools of the vicinity, after which he 
 employed his time at farming and car- 
 pentering until i8go, in that year com- 
 mencing to learn the art of cheese making 
 at Madison, Wis. On becoming well in- 
 itiated into all the details of the business, 
 he worked at same in Madison and Belle 
 Plaine, Wis., until 1892, when he came 
 to Maple Creek township and embarked 
 in his present enterprise, building the fac- 
 tory; it is operated by steam, and 
 equipped with all the latest appliances for 
 the successful prosecution of this industry, 
 already having a capacity for handling 
 ■over five thousand pounds of milk per day. 
 August Roloft, father of our subject. 
 
 one of the most progressive farmers and 
 earliest settlers of Maple Creek township, 
 was born in Germany, whence, in 1857, 
 he came to America with his parents, 
 making a settlement in Maple Creek 
 township the same year. He was mar- 
 ried to Miss Aletta Nickel, who was born 
 in America, and eleven children were the 
 result of this union, all yet living except 
 one, as follows: Caroline (wife of Wil- 
 liam Roeder, of Deer Creek township, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis.), Julius H. (sub- 
 ject proper of sketch) , Henry, Frederick, 
 Mary (wife of William Schwandt) , Au- 
 gust, Edward, Ida, Herman, Alma, and a 
 little girl born dead. The parents are 
 yet living in Maple Creek township, in the 
 full enjoyment of the well-merited respect 
 and esteem of a wide circle of friends. 
 The entire famil}' are members of the 
 Lutheran Church. August Roloff, father 
 of our subject, held town offices, such 
 as chairman for many years, clerk, 
 treasurer and assessor; also county of- 
 fices, such as chairman of county board, 
 and several times took the State and 
 United States census. 
 
 WB. ALLENDER, a prosperous 
 and prominent agriculturist of 
 Bovina township, Outagamie 
 county, was born at Michigan 
 City, Ind., February 22, 1838, a son of 
 William and Sarah (Lashley) Allender, 
 farmers by occupation. 
 
 The parents came from Belmont 
 county, Ohio (where they were married), 
 to Michigan City, from which point they 
 moved to Milwaukee, Wis., in 1839, the 
 latter place being at that time small and 
 of little importance. In the family were 
 ten children: Thomas, Joseph, Sarah, 
 W. B., Mary, Ellen, Susan, Daniel, 
 George and John, all yet living except 
 Joseph, Sarah and Ellen. Upon arrival 
 at Milwaukee, William Allender was em- 
 ployed at surveying by Byron Kilbourn, 
 continuing with him about four years; 
 then moved nine miles out, to Purple 
 
598 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Creek, where he took up a homestead of 
 1 60 acres, and began at once to clear it. 
 On the place he lived about twelve years, 
 during which time he cleared eighty acres; 
 sold out about the j'ear 1855, removed to 
 Omro, Wis., and purchased a marsh, 
 which proved a poor investment. He next 
 engaged in hotel keeping at the Embar- 
 rass river, in Shawano county, remain- 
 ing some five years, and meeting with 
 good success. From there he removed 
 to an unimproved farm at Wolf River, 
 which he took up as a homestead and 
 occupied during the balance of his life; 
 he died when seventy-four years of age, 
 his wife when seventy-two. 
 
 Our subject received his early farm 
 training upon the homestead at Purple 
 Creek, under the instruction of his father, 
 but his school education was very meager. 
 On September 2, i860, he w^as married 
 to Esther Ann Maine, a native of New 
 York, daughter of Stephen and Clarina 
 (Spencer) Maine, respectable farming peo- 
 ple of French descent, who had seven 
 children: Esther Ann (Mrs. Allender), 
 Susan, Gilbert, Eliza, Nancy, Effie and 
 William, all yet living and now residing 
 within twenty miles of each other. Mrs. 
 Allender's' parents removed from New 
 York to Canada, and when she was 
 thirteen years of age the family came to 
 Sheboygan, Wis, ; remaining in that place 
 through the winter, they proceeded in the 
 spring to Fond du Lac, from which 
 locality a year and a half year they 
 came to Bovina, where Mr. Maine bought 
 school land, on which he remained sixteen 
 years, finally exchanging properties with 
 John Morse. On his new place he re- 
 sided until his death, in 1886, he being 
 sixty-seven years old; his widow, now 
 seventy-four years of age, resides with 
 her daughter, Mrs. Allender. 
 
 When Mr. Allender was married he 
 went to Waukechon, Wis., and engaged 
 in the lumber business until about 1868, 
 in which year he came to Bovina and 
 purchased forty acres of land on Section 
 16. On the place was a frame house. 
 
 which he and his family occupied until 
 1874, when he purchased and removed to 
 the seventy-eight-acre tract he now resides 
 upon, timber on which had been chopped, 
 but the stumps had yeX. to be removed; 
 his first crop consisted of oats and 
 corn, which \'ielded well. \\'hile he was 
 bus)' logging, away from home, his wife 
 managed the farm. From time to time 
 he was enabled to work at clearing his 
 land, until finally he had it in good con- 
 dition. Aside from the home place he 
 owns other tracts, aggregating about four 
 hundred acres, all acquired through care- 
 ful management and hard work. Mr. 
 Allender is an acti\e Democrat in political 
 matters; his wife is a member of the Con- 
 gregational Church. Their children were: 
 Josephine, who married Edwin Hand and 
 died at the age of twenty-six years, and 
 Libbie, Barbie and Harry, all at home. 
 
 JACOB PALTZER was born June 
 25, 1848, in Germany, in the vicin- 
 it}- of Trier, Rheinpreussen, son of 
 Mack Paltzer, a farmer of limited 
 means, who had a family of five children 
 — three sons and two daughters — as fol- 
 lows: Nick, Matthew, Jacob, Maggie and 
 Margaret. The parents both died in 
 Germany, the father in 1854, the mother 
 in the autumn of 1877. 
 
 Jacob received a fair education in the 
 common schools of the neighborhood of 
 his boyhood home, and was reared to 
 farming. When yet a mere youth he 
 commenced to work for others, but al- 
 though he was a strong, industrious lad, 
 and toiled from daylight to dark, he re- 
 ceived only twenty-five cents a day. 
 Being economical he managed to save 
 even from these meager wages, and when 
 twenty-four years of age determined to 
 try his fortune in the New World. 
 Leaving home in the fall of 1872, he 
 proceeded to Antwerp, and thence to 
 Liverpool, where he took passage for 
 New York, landing there after a voyage 
 of thirteen days, and then going west 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 599 
 
 iinniediately to his destination, Chicago, 
 111., where he saw the ruins of the great 
 fire. Afterward he went to the southern 
 part of Illinois, and worked there as a 
 farm hand until late in the fall of 1875, 
 when he returned to Germany at his 
 mother's request, and, his father having 
 died, remained with her until her decease 
 in 1877. In February, 1878, Mr. Paltzer 
 again set out for the United States, sail- 
 ing from Bremen, and until the following 
 autumn worked as before, as a farm hand 
 in southern Illinois, coming thence to 
 Wisconsin. Here, in the vicinity of 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, he contin- 
 ued to do farm labor until early in 1879, 
 when he rented the farm he now owns 
 from his father-in-law, and commenced on 
 his own account. He next invested in a 
 forty-acre tract in Center township, 
 Outagamie county, which at that time 
 was all covered with stumps, and lived 
 four years there, diligently engaged in 
 clearing the land and otherwise preparing 
 it for cultivation. Removing at the end 
 of that time to Harrison county, Iowa, 
 he had his residence there until the 
 spring of 1890, when he returned to 
 Outagamie county, and has since lived on 
 his present home in Grand Chute town- 
 ship. This property comprises eighty 
 acres of excellent land, which by good 
 management yields a comfortable income, 
 and by industry and sterling integrity Mr. 
 Paltzer has met with encouraging success 
 and gained the respect of all who have 
 dealings with him. 
 
 In January, 1879, our subject was 
 married, at Appleton, to Miss Mary 
 Smith, a native of Germany, born No- 
 vember 26, 1855, who came to the 
 United States with her father, John 
 Smith, in the spring of 1856; the family 
 lived in Washington county. Wis., for 
 eleven years, after which they removed 
 to Grand Chute township, Outagamie 
 county, where they made a permanent 
 home. To Mr. and Mrs. Paltzer have 
 been born children as follows: John, 
 Susie, Nicholas, Catherine, Mathias, 
 
 Mary, Jacob and Ernst. Mr. Paltzer is 
 a Democrat in politics, and in religious 
 faith the family are members of the 
 Catholic Church in Appleton. 
 
 ROBERT BEHREND, a represent- 
 ative agriculturist of Hortonia 
 township, Outagamie county, is a 
 native of Wisconsin, born August 
 7, 1856, in Jefferson county. 
 
 Charles Behrend, his father, was born 
 February 20, 1825, in Brandenburg, Ger- 
 many, and in 1852 came to the United 
 States, where, on May 31, 1855, he was 
 married to Caroline Schultz, also a native 
 of Germany. To this union were born 
 three children, of whom Robert, our 
 subject, is the eldest. Charles Behrend 
 died May 5, i860, at Farmington, Jef- 
 ferson Co. , Wis. . and one year afterward 
 his widow married Charles Schwebs, and 
 is now living in Hortonville, Outagamie 
 count}'. The boyhood of our subject was 
 passed upon a farm, and, having lost his 
 father at the early age of four years, it 
 was necessary for him to remain at home 
 altogether in order to assist his widowed 
 mother in the care of her family. Up to 
 the age of seventeen he had fio educa- 
 tional advantages whatever, but at that 
 time he was given an opportunity to enter 
 the Northwestern University at Water- 
 town, Wis., and he attended during the 
 winter until he had spent some six terms 
 there, receiving a practical education, 
 which he has turned to the best account 
 in his business affairs. After this he 
 worked two years on the Northwestern 
 railroad, and then located upon the farm 
 in Hortonia township, which he still owns 
 and occupies, engaging continuously in 
 farming. With a natural capacity for 
 managing his business affairs, and by un- 
 ceasing industry, he has proved himself 
 worthy of a place among the able, suc- 
 cessful farmers of the section, and is 
 regarded as one of the substantial citizens 
 of his township. Politically he is a mem- 
 ber of the Republican party, and at pres- 
 
•fioo 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ent is supervisor of his township. In 
 religious connection he has always been a 
 -zealous member of the German I^utheran 
 Church at Hortonville. 
 
 On April 5, 1883, Mr. Behrend was 
 united in marriage with Miss Ida Rusch, 
 who was born in Germany, October 27, 
 1864, daughter of William and Minnie 
 Rusch, also natives of that country. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Behrend are the parents 
 of four children: Lillie, Walter, Dora, 
 and Ellen. 
 
 T 
 
 HOMAS REESE, secretary and 
 treasurer of the Reese Pulp Mill. 
 This mill, which is one of the bus- 
 iest and most thriving establish- 
 ments in Kaukauna, is owned and oper- 
 ated by a stock company organized in 
 1889, Mr. Reese becoming the first presi- 
 dent of the association. The mill, which 
 is a wooden structure, 40 x 60 feet in di- 
 mensions, and situated on the Nathan 
 Edwards power, was completed on March 
 15, 1888, and an addition, 1 5 .x 60 feet, 
 was afterward erected. The plant gives 
 employment to about twelve hands. 
 
 Mr. Reese was born, in 1849, '" Pitts- 
 burg, Penn., and comes of hardy, honest 
 Welsh ancestry. His parents, Thomas 
 W. and Jane W. (Jones) Reese, were na- 
 tives of Wales, where they were married, 
 and whence they emigrated in 1848 to 
 this country, making their home in Pitts- 
 burg, Penn. , till 1 849, in which year they 
 came to Wisconsin, locating in Neenah. 
 Here they continued to reside till 1889, 
 when they came to Kaukauna, where they 
 are now living. As will be seen, our sub- 
 ject was an infant when his parents 
 brought him to Neenah, Wis., and here 
 he was reared and educated. In 1864, on 
 his fifteenth birthday, he left home for 
 Chicago, for the ostensible purpose of 
 going into service, but instead he enlisted 
 in the U. S. navy for two years. He was 
 stationed on the Tennessee and Cumber- 
 land rivers until 1865, when his vessel 
 was sent to New Orleans, and did service 
 
 on the Mississippi river. In August of 
 that year he was honorably discharged, 
 and returned home to Neenah. The fol- 
 lowing year he went to Fall River, Co- 
 lumbia county, this State, and here served 
 five years in a fiouring-mill, learning the 
 trade. In 1871 he moved to Appleton, 
 there continuing in the same line of busi- 
 ness till 1880, in which year he came to 
 Kaukauna, here operating the flouring- 
 mill, that is now the property of Russell 
 Bros., until the spring of 1888, when he 
 identified himself with the Reese Pulp 
 Companj". 
 
 In 1868, at Fall River, Wis., Mr. 
 Reese was united in marriage with Miss 
 Ella M. Dunn, a native of New York 
 State, born in Lockport, daughter of P. 
 V. Dunn, an early settler in Dodge coun- 
 ty, a farmer by occupation, who now re- 
 sides in Columbia county. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Reese have been born four children, 
 to wit: George, married, a bookkeeper in 
 Kaukauna; Herbert, shipping clerk for the 
 Thilmany Paper Co. ; Anna, assistant in 
 the postoffice; and David, attending 
 school. In 1884 Mr. Reese erected his 
 present building on Wisconsin street, the 
 upper room of which is used as a Masonic 
 hall. In his political preferences he is a 
 Republican, and in 1 890 he was appointed 
 postmaster at Kaukauna; was the second 
 mayor of the city, and served on the 
 county board some five years. He is a 
 member of Paul H. Beaulieu Post, No. 
 247, G. A. R. , and of the National Naval 
 Veteran Association in Indianapolis, Ind. ; 
 is a prominent Freemason, being a mem- 
 ber of Kaukauna Lodge, No. 233, and of 
 Appleton Chapter; and is also a member 
 of the I. O. O. F. at Kaukauna. 
 
 These are the main facts in the life of 
 one of the foremost business men of Kau- 
 kauna, with whose history and develop- 
 ment he has been closely connected ever 
 since his residence there. His influence 
 for good is felt in all things with which 
 he is identified; the societies claim him as 
 a leading member, the home as the 
 central figure, giving life and comfort; and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 60 1 
 
 all who come in contact with him feel the 
 kindly spirit and brotherly love that per- 
 vades his every action. 
 
 IHOMAS W. CAMPBELL, man- 
 
 ager of over three hundred acres 
 
 T 
 
 I of land for the E. C. Goff estate, 
 is recognized as one of the 
 thorough-going progressive agriculturists 
 of Grand Chute township, Outagamie 
 county. He is a native of New York 
 State, born No\ember i, 1849, in St. 
 Lawrence county, son of Cornelius and 
 Parmelia (Amaden) Campbell, who also 
 followed farming. They remained in 
 New York State until our subject was 
 about four years old, and then removed 
 to Chatham, Medina Co., Ohio, and 
 finally to Gratiot county, Mich., where 
 they died. 
 
 Thomas W. Campbell received all his 
 literary training in the country district 
 schools in the neighborhood of his boy- 
 hood home, and was reared to agriculture 
 under his father's tuition. When they 
 removed to a new farm in the woods of 
 central Michigan, he found plenty of 
 work ready for him, for he was the eldest 
 son, and his parents depended upon his 
 help. On January 4, 1864, he enlisted, at 
 St. Johns, Mich., in the Twenty-seventh 
 Regiment, Afich. V. L, which comprised 
 twelve companies including two com- 
 panies of sharpshooters, to which class 
 our subject belonged. His first active 
 service was at the battle of the Wilder- 
 ness, following which he participated 
 in the engagements at Spottsylvania 
 C. H.. Brier Hill, Cold Harbor, etc, tak- 
 ing part, in all, in seventeen battles. In 
 January, 1S65, the sight of his right eye 
 was destroyed by an accident caused by a 
 defective tube in his own rifle; but he 
 served to the close of the war, was 
 present at the Grand Review in Washing- 
 ton, and was mustered out in that city, 
 and discharged at Detroit, returning 
 home immediately. For fifteen winters 
 afterward he was employed in the lumber 
 
 woods of Michigan, "driving logs " in the 
 springtime, and during the summer en- 
 gaging in farming. 
 
 In 1882, in Clinton county, Mich., he 
 married Miss Mary Sanford, a nati\e of 
 Lorain county, Ohio, and a daughter of 
 Stephen Sanford. After this event he 
 lived awhile in Michigan, and then mi- 
 grated westward to Kansas, making his 
 home for a time in Marion and Harvey 
 counties; but the climate disagreeing with 
 his wife, they returned east as far as 
 Winnebago count}'. Wis. In about 1885 
 Mr. Campbell moved to Dale township, 
 Outagamie count}', and worked four 
 years for Andrew Rhodes, at the end of 
 that time coming to Grand Chute town- 
 ship, where he has since resided. On 
 July 8, 1889, he began to work for E. C. 
 Goff, on his extensive farm in that town- 
 ship, and the following September took 
 entire charge of the farm, which has been 
 conducted under his management ever 
 since. There are 377 acres of fine land 
 under his care, and the successful results 
 that have attended his labors are ample 
 proof of his ability and competency. 
 Evidences of his good judgment and pro- 
 gressive ideas are everywhere at hand, 
 and he is regarded by all as one of the 
 most skillful agriculturists in the neigh- 
 borhood. Mr. Campbell is a Democrat 
 politicall}', but not active in party affairs, 
 though he takes an interest in any enter- 
 prise that promises to benefit the town- 
 ship and county. 
 
 CHRIST MENNING, owner of one 
 of the finest and largest farms in 
 Greenville township, Outagamie 
 county, where he is regarded as 
 one of the most practical systematic agri- 
 culturists, is a German by birth, having 
 first seen the light in Mecklenburg, No- 
 vember I 5, 1842. 
 
 John and Dora Menning, parents of 
 our subject, were also farming people. 
 Their family consisted of four children — 
 John, Dora, Mary and Christ — with whom 
 
6o2 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 they came to America in the spring of 
 1852, bringing also the aged mother. 
 They embarked at Hamburg, and landed, 
 after a long voyage, in America, not at the 
 port they were bound for, however, as 
 they were shipwrecked on Long Island. 
 They finally arrived in Niagara county, 
 N. Y. , where Mr. Menning bought twenty- 
 seven and one-half acres of land and con- 
 tinued there, engaged in his former pur- 
 suit, farming, for twelve years. In 
 1864, all of the children except Christ 
 having married and left home, he and his 
 parents came to Greenville, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis., where Mr. Menning purchased 
 120 acres of land, one of the best tracts 
 in the township, which is now owned by 
 our subject. Here he resided until 1881, 
 when he went to live with his daughter, 
 Dora (Mrs. Fred Pingel), who also lived 
 in Greenville township, and with her 
 passed his remaining years. He and his 
 wife both died in that township, and were 
 laid to rest in the Lutheran cemetery. 
 Mr. Menning was a Republican in politics. 
 He possessed a robust constitution, and 
 enjoyed good health during his entire life. 
 His mother died during their residence in 
 New York. 
 
 Christ Menning attended the common 
 schools of Germany until he came with 
 the family to America, and finished his 
 literary education in the district schools 
 that flourished in the neighborhood of his 
 New York home. Under his father's tui- 
 tion he received a thorough training in the 
 varied duties of agricultural life, and was 
 twenty-two years old when he came to his 
 present farm in Greenville township. 
 During the Civil war he was drafted into 
 the army, but was honorably discharged 
 on account of a cut in his ankle, which he 
 had received years ago. On December 
 26, 1866, Mr. Menning was married, in 
 Menasha, to Miss Sophia Zachow, who 
 was born March 9, 1849, in Mecklenburg, 
 Germany, and came to the United States 
 with her father, John J. Zachow, in 1852, 
 on the same boat as our subject. The 
 Zachow family went to New York, and in 
 
 May, 1863, settled in Wisconsin, where 
 the parents yet reside. The young couple 
 commenced housekeeping on the farm 
 where they have ever since lived, and here 
 children as follows have come to brighten 
 their home: Henry Louis and Pauline, 
 who reside with their parents, and Mel- 
 vina and another child, both deceased in 
 infancy. Mr. Menning has increased the 
 area of his farm to 287 acres, and owns 
 some of the very best land in the town- 
 ship, fully equipped with commodious and 
 substantial outbuildings, as well as a fine 
 residence. His property is well cared for 
 and systematically managed, and he is 
 looked up to as an authority on agricul- 
 tural matters, his success in his vocation 
 being almost proverbial among the neigh- 
 boring farmers. Though paying strict at- 
 tention to all the details of his business, 
 he has taken a loyal interest in the public 
 welfare, but has held no offices except 
 that of school director. Politically a Re- 
 publican, he cast his first Presidential vote 
 for Abraham Lincoln, and has supported 
 the principles of that party faithfully. 
 Socially he and his wife are members of 
 South Greenville Grange, No. 225, which 
 he joined twenty-one years ago. 
 
 HENRY LEPPLA, a well-to-do 
 farmer of Dale township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born October 
 10, 1846, in Rhein Pfalz, Ger- 
 many, and is a son of Peter Leppla. 
 \N'hen quite young he learned the wagon- 
 maker's trade, and followed it until the 
 age of twenty-one, when he was drafted 
 into the army. He had served nearly three 
 years when the German-Franco war broke 
 out, and, like a true patriot, continued in 
 the service of his country. He was 
 placed in the Pioneer department of En- 
 gineers, and was before Paris for seven 
 long months, his engineer corps rendering 
 valuable service in that memorable strug- 
 gle. He was a common soldier but five 
 and one-half months, when he was pro- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGHAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 603 
 
 moted to the position of corporal, which 
 rank he maintained until the close of 
 the war. Mr. Leppla's first engineer 
 work was at Weissenburg, near the north- 
 ern boundary of Alsace, in Bavaria; the 
 next was before Paris, where more earn- 
 est work awaited them. He now has a 
 French officer's revolver in his possession 
 which he exhibits as a trophy of that ter- 
 rible conflict. 
 
 On his return from the army, Mr. 
 Leppla, who was only twenty-five years 
 old despite his several years' experience 
 in the army, embarked for America ac- 
 companied by his fiancee. Miss Julia Shoe- 
 maker, then twenty-three years of age. 
 On their arrival they went at once to the 
 home of Mr. Leppla's brother, John Lep- 
 pla, who had secured a farm in Dale, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis., at which place 
 they were married October 10, 1871, it 
 being the birthday aniversary of both 
 brothers. Mr. Leppla was somewhat 
 disappointed with the country, but at the 
 earnest solicitation of his brother he re- 
 mained, and together they improved the 
 land and paid all indebtedness. During 
 this period his opinion had undergone a 
 change, and he finally bought out his 
 brother's interest, now possessing one of 
 the finest farms in the county, consisting 
 of 190 acres of land and substantial build- 
 ings. He is a very enterprising farmer, 
 and insists upon having all the modern 
 improvements in machinery which will 
 make his work lighter and his home more 
 comfortable. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Leppla is a Republi- 
 can. He is upright, conscientious and 
 unobtrusive, with a generous stock of 
 good common sense, a commodity which 
 often proves of more value than the most 
 finished education. He is an honored 
 member of the German Reformed Church, 
 and contributes generously toward its 
 support. He is the father of five children, 
 three of whom are living, \\7,. : Daniel, 
 Johnny H., and Wallie Oscar; two are 
 deceased: Johnny and Amanda, both 
 having died of diphtheria. 
 
 PHILO ROOT, one of the most 
 prosperous farmers and business 
 men of Hortonia township, Outa- 
 gamie county, and indeed, well- 
 known throughout the entire county, has 
 been a resident of Wisconsin for the past 
 forty years. He is a native of New York 
 State, born April 5, 1832, on Pillar Point, 
 Jefferson county. On the maternal side 
 he is of Holland and French extraction, 
 while the Root family are of English 
 origin. Grandfather John Root was born 
 in England, where he learned the shoe- 
 maker's trade. At the age of fourteen 
 years he received injuries in jumping a 
 ditch that crippled him for life, but he 
 was nevertheless a strong muscular man, 
 five feet ten inches in height, and pos- 
 sessed of unusual intelligence and a char- 
 acter whose nobility commanded the re- 
 spect and admiration of all, and made 
 him many friends. He was married in 
 England to a native of that country, and 
 in the prime of life came to America, 
 bringing his family, which consisted of a 
 wife, his son Stephen, and his step-son, 
 Charles Mitchell. Settling at Pillar Point, 
 Jefferson Co., N. Y. , they resided there 
 many years, Mr. Root giving his principal 
 attention to his trade throughout life. The 
 grandmother, Mary (Luff) Root, died 
 there in 1848, and John Root was called 
 from earth in 1858. 
 
 Our subject had but few advantages 
 for obtaining an education during his boy- 
 hood and early youth, but he made the 
 most of his meager opportunities, and 
 succeeded in obtaining a good practical 
 education in spite of all obstacles. 
 While working as a farm hand, perhaps 
 at the plow, he would study at odd mo- 
 ments, while the horses were resting, and 
 in that wa}' mastered the common 
 branches, so that later, at the age of 
 twenty, when he had a desire to teach, 
 it took him but one year to prepare 
 for that vocation. He spent the winter 
 with a farmer, working for eight dollars a 
 month, and attended school regularly, the 
 following winter becominij a teacher in 
 
6o4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the same institution; and so well did he 
 succeed in this vocation that he was re- 
 quested to continue school a month longer 
 than usual. Though active in other lines, 
 as will be seen, he did not abandon the 
 profession for many years, teaching alto- 
 gether twenty-three winter terms of 
 school with unabated success, a fact 
 which speaks volumes for his ability and 
 competency. When about twenty years 
 old he learned the trade of carpenter and 
 builder, following same for about two 
 years, when he learned to manage a steam 
 sawmill. In the spring of 1854 he com- 
 menced to run a stationary engine in a 
 sawmill, and also followed his trade part 
 of the time; physically he was strong, 
 slender and wiry, and this, in addition to 
 his natural intelligence and ability, which 
 displayed themselves in everything he 
 undertook, made him a most efficient 
 worker, so that he commanded the high- 
 est wages paid in those days. On 
 October 9, 1854, he packed his belong- 
 ings and bought a ticket for Milwaukee, 
 Wis., going thence to Madison, thence 
 to Fo.x Lake, thence to Waupun, and 
 from there to Fond du Lac by rail, 
 the train running over the old wooden 
 railroad. Taking the boat at that 
 point he reached Menasha. where he 
 obtained a plat of land in Waupaca 
 county; but not being satisfied with that 
 region he went to Medina, Outagamie 
 county, where he was induced to take up 
 teaching by some of the early settlers, 
 and while teaching that winter he wrote 
 the deed of the old Rhodes farm. On 
 April I following he commenced work in 
 a sawmill, and on May i started on foot 
 for Minnesota, carrying a thirty-pound 
 pack, and made fcirty-five miles the first 
 day. In a short time he reached Roches- 
 ter, Minn., but finding that land in that 
 vicinity was not in the market, he returned 
 to New York State, where he followed 
 farming for the summer, and during that 
 time formed the acquaintance of a New 
 York lady. Miss Julia Jaenette Horr, a 
 former pupil of his, and a daughter of 
 
 Col. Austin Horr, of Cape Vincent, New 
 York. 
 
 They were married September 26, 
 1855, and shortly afterward, accompa- 
 nied by Mr. Root's brother William, they 
 started for Sheboygan, traveling by water. 
 They had brought a team with them, and 
 traveling to Granville, ^^'is. , remained 
 there two months, arriving at Medina, 
 Outagamie county, just before Christmas. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Root resided with Harvey 
 Greenfield that winter, Mr. Root finishing 
 a winter term in a neighboring school, 
 where he succeeded very well, although 
 he started out under rather discouraging 
 circumstances, the former teacher having 
 been thrown out of the school. Early in 
 the spring he purchased a piece of tim- 
 ber land on the Appleton road, from Peter 
 Garrett, comprising eighty acres, three 
 miles east of Medina, for which he paid 
 $500, and, while snow was still twenty 
 inches deep, commenced the erection of 
 a 14x22 shanty, into which he and his 
 wife moved as soon as possible. They 
 had no table, a board placed across a 
 barrel answering the purpose, and most 
 of the other appointments of their home 
 were of the same primitive character; but 
 each j'ear brought additional comforts and 
 conveniences, and that cabin was their 
 home for nearly six years. They were 
 surrounded with kind-hearted, sociable 
 neighbors, and. although they experienced 
 the usual hardships and inconveniences of 
 pioneer life, their life there was a very 
 pleasant and happy one. Mr. Root finally 
 sold out to Christian Ralean (who yet re- 
 sides on the farm), and bought a farm 
 south of Medina (where Melvin Gallea 
 now resides), which he improved, and 
 later built thereon one of the finest barns 
 in the county. After living there six 
 years he traded the farm for one on which 
 his father resided. In the fall of 1869 
 our subject traded his farm for property 
 in Medina, and conducted a wagon and 
 blacksmith shop one winter, when, having 
 bought the old farm of his parents in Me- 
 dina township, he removed thereon April 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 605 
 
 I, 1870, and made his home there for 
 eif:;hteen years. At the end of this time he 
 sold to Burton Gallea, and in Jnne, 1S88, 
 bought property in Hortonville, where he 
 has ever since resided. Altogether he has 
 I I 2 acres of land, on which he has made 
 numerons improvements, and his garden 
 is one of the finest to be found in Outa- 
 gamie county. His farm is constantly 
 being improved, is well-stocked, and is 
 well-equipped in every way. Though 
 deeply interested in agricultural matters, 
 in the theory and practice of which he is 
 regarded as an authority throughout his 
 section, he has not given it his entire at- 
 tention, devoting much of his time to ad- 
 vancing the interests of the town and 
 county in which he resides, and he has 
 been one of the most progressive, useful 
 citizens that have ever lived there. He 
 has been repeatedly honored by election 
 to local offices, and was nominated on 
 the Republican ticket for assemblyman, 
 but refused to accept. For three years 
 he has been treasurer of the Home Insur- 
 ance Company, is local secretary of the 
 Farmers Institute of the State of Wis- 
 consin, in which he has taken a leading 
 part, and, in fact, has been identified with 
 all worthy enterprises for the benefit or 
 improvement of the public, in educational, 
 agricultural or business lines. In all his 
 labors, alike through the sunshine of 
 prosperity and shadows of adversity, he 
 has been assiduoush' and untiringly as- 
 sisted by his faithful wife, the model 
 mother, who never for anything neglected 
 her children. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Philo Root are the 
 parents of seven children, viz. : Frank 
 Albert, Hattie Amelia, Charlotte Adelia, 
 Electa Alice, Nila Alma, William Arthur 
 and Myrtie Adelaide. All these children 
 have received their literary training, in 
 part at least, from their father, and all 
 (with the exception of the youngest) have 
 become successful teachers, being a credit 
 to their father and an ornament to the 
 community; Myrtie is very useful in the 
 town, especially as a musician, both as a 
 
 vocalist and an instrumentalist, and is an 
 honor to her parents and all related to 
 her. In religious connection the family 
 are members of the M. E. Church, in 
 which Mr. Root has filled various offices, 
 having been steward ever since his union 
 with the Church, and for five years he 
 was superintendent of the Sabbath-school 
 at Hortonville. 
 
 The parents of our subject, Stephen 
 and Sophia Root, came to Wisconsin in 
 1858, and after residing in various locali- 
 ties finally made their home with him, 
 the mother dying at the age of seventy- 
 seven years, the father at the advanced 
 age of eighty-seven. He was a quiet, re- 
 tiring man, but Mrs. Root was active and 
 energetic by nature; she was a zealous 
 member of the M. E. Church. Of their 
 family of eight children, we have record 
 of five: Philo, Warren L. and Edgar E. 
 are living; William was a well-known 
 farmer at Medina, and died at the age of 
 fifty-six years; Betsey E. (Mrs. Sanders) 
 was a dressmaker in Appleton, and died 
 at the age of forty years. 
 
 DANIEL HOPKINS. This ven- 
 erable and justly honored citizen 
 of New London, of which city he" 
 has been a resident for nearly 
 forty years, comes of English ancestry 
 who were among the early settlers of 
 New York State, the first of the line, by 
 name Stephen, having "come over in the 
 ' Mayflower. ' " A descendant of this Ste- 
 phen Hopkins was a representative to the 
 General Assembly from Rhode Island, and 
 one of the Signers of the Declaration of 
 Independence. 
 
 Our subject was born August 18, 18 17, 
 in Madison county, N. Y., and is the only 
 surviving member of ten children born to 
 his parents, Noah and Mary (Hammond) 
 Hopkins, the former of whom was a miller 
 (grist) by trade, also owning a farm ; they 
 were well-to-do hard-working people of 
 the old school. Young Daniel s educa- 
 tion being completed, a not over-burden- 
 
6o6 
 
 COMMEMORAriVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 some one it may be assured, some sixty 
 or seventy years ago, he continued to 
 work on his father's farm, having the care 
 of it from the time he was sixteen jears 
 old, his father having died then. He 
 then commenced to learn the watchmak- 
 ing and jeweler's trade, a line of business 
 he has ever since been actively identified 
 with. In 1856 he came to New London, 
 Wis. , where his long residence has made 
 his face and figure a familiar one, and 
 where he has always shown himself ready 
 to assist in any enterprise he considered 
 beneficial to the interests of his adopted 
 city and county. 
 
 On June 2, 1844, Mr. Hopkins was 
 married to Miss Marj' Jane Westcotte, 
 daughter of Jeremiah and Juliana (Hop- 
 kins) Westcotte, and four children were 
 born to them, two of whom are yet living, 
 viz. : Ennnett Webster and Burdett Pal- 
 mer, both residents of New London. Mr. 
 Hopkins is associated with the Baptist 
 Church, and in politics is a member of 
 the Republican party, and of the A. P. A. 
 
 ALBERT W. PRIEST. Industry 
 puts an entirely new face upon 
 the productions of nature. By 
 labor man has subjugated the 
 world, reduced it to his dominion, and 
 clothed the earth with a new garment. 
 The first rude plow that man thrust into the 
 soil; the first rude axe of stone with which 
 he felled its pine; the first rude canoe 
 scooped by him from its trunk to cross 
 the river and reach the greener fields be- 
 yond, were each the outcome of a human 
 faculty which brought within his reach 
 some physical comfort he had never en- 
 joyed before. 
 
 Material things became subject to the 
 influence of labor. From the clay of the 
 ground man manufactured the vessels 
 which were to contain his food. Out of 
 the fleecy covering of sheep he made 
 clothes for himself of many kinds; from 
 the flax-plant he drew its fibres, and made 
 linen and cambric; from the hemp-plant 
 
 he made ropes and fishing tackle; from 
 the cotton-pod he fabricated fustians, 
 dimities and calicoes. From the rags of 
 these, and from weeds and the shavings 
 of wood he made paper on which books 
 and newspapers are printed, and lead was 
 formed into printers' type for the com- 
 municatiiin of knowledge without end to 
 the world. Not the least of these won- 
 derful evolutions and developments is the 
 manufacture of paper of all kinds, and the 
 material fr'om which it is made, in which 
 connection it is with pleasure we present 
 a biographical sketch of Mr. Albert W. 
 Priest, vice-president of the Outagamie 
 Paper & Pulp Mill, Kaukauna. 
 
 Mr. Priest was born in Waukesha 
 county. Wis., in 1848, a son of Henry 
 and Hannah (Colburn) Priest, natives of 
 Plattsburg, N. Y. The father was reared 
 in Essex county, same State, and in 1829 
 was married in New York. In the spring 
 of 1 845 he brought his family to Wisconsin, 
 and in Waukesha followed his trade, that of 
 sawyer, until the fall of 1848, when he 
 moved to Neenah and operated the govern- 
 ment sawmills built there for the Indians. 
 In 1849 Mr. Conkey erected the first saw- 
 mill in Appleton, in order to operate 
 which Mr. Priest proceeded thither, cut- 
 ting the first slabs ever sawed in Apple- 
 ton, and this mill he conducted many 
 years. He died in 1876, aged seventy- 
 two years, his wife in 1887, at the age of 
 seventv-six. They were the parents of 
 ten children, of whom the following is a 
 brief record: Josiah, born in Essex 
 county, N. Y., died in New York in 
 1 831; Esther W. , born in New York 
 March 4, 1S32, came to Wisconsin with 
 her parents, and was married in Apple- 
 ton in 1852 to Edwin Fitch, who at one 
 time was a Methodist minister in the 
 Beloit Conference (they lived in Dubuque, 
 Iowa, some years, and now reside in 
 Washington); Adeline, born in New York 
 in 1834, came to Wisconsin, and in 1851 
 was married at Appleton to Earl Fitch 
 (she died March 16, 1877, at Prairie du 
 Chienl; Sarah M., born in New York in 
 
^. 
 
 -6\.^.A..yi-<2^ 
 
 I ^-^ r , 
 
 ^l^L 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 609 
 
 1838, was married in Grant county, Wis.. 
 to Ransom Law, and settled in Appleton 
 (she died December 3, 1889, at Chicago, 
 111., where Mr. Law now resides, being 
 employed in the postoffice there); Wil- 
 liam H., born in New York in 1840, was 
 married at Appleton in 1862 to Miss 
 Louise Osborn, and now resides in 
 Minneapolis, Minn, (he enlisted in 1862 
 in Capt. Jewett's company, Twenty-first 
 Wisconsin V. I., for three years, and 
 was discharged on account of disability, 
 later re-enlisting and serving until again 
 incapacitated); James, born in New York 
 in 1843, enlisted in the Sixth Wis. V. I., 
 and died December 27, 1862, at Arling- 
 ton Heights, his death being caused by 
 exposure; Hannah M. , born in Wauke- 
 sha in 1845, died there September 5, 
 1846; Albert W. is the subject proper of 
 this sketch; Ellen M., born at Appleton, 
 May 5, 1 85 1, was married there in 1869 
 to H. E. Baker, and died at Antigo, 
 Wis., June 6, 1891; Fremont, born in 
 Appleton, July 6, 1857, died there De- 
 cember 6, 1862. 
 
 Grandfather Priest was a native of 
 England, and was a British soldier, com- 
 ing to New York during the war of the 
 I^e\olution. Grandfather Ephraim Col- 
 burn and his wife, Hannah (Bigelow), 
 were New York people, and in a very 
 earl}' day came to Wisconsin Territory, 
 where they died. 
 
 Albert W. Priest received his educa- 
 tion at the public schools of Appleton, 
 and while yet a boy commenced working 
 for his father in the sawmill, where he 
 continued till 1869, in which year he 
 came to I'iaukauna and worked in various 
 mills. In 1875 he became proprietor of a 
 planing-mill, putting in the first planers 
 used in Kaukauna, and at the same time 
 operated a sawmill at Sniderville till 
 1883, the year before which he built the 
 Fox River Paper & Pulp Mill, and con- 
 ducted same till 1890, when it was leased 
 to Oscar Thilmany. In 1888 Mr. Priest, 
 in company with A. W. Patten and Henry 
 
 Hewit, bought a water-power privilege at 
 34 
 
 the foot of the Kaukauna rapids, and 
 formed the Hewit W^ater-power Co. ; 
 also built dams on the property, making 
 one of the best water-powers on the river, 
 on which he erected, the same year, for 
 the Outagamie Paper & Pulp Co., one of 
 the most extensive paper mills in the 
 county, its dimensions being 60x320 
 feet. It runs two paper machines and 
 all necessary machinery for converting 
 wood and rags into pulp to supply the 
 same. Print paper, exclusively, is here 
 manufactured, and employment is given 
 to over one hundred hands. The per- 
 sonnel of the company is as follows: 
 President, A. W. Patten; vice-president, 
 Albert W. Priest; secretary, John Mc- 
 Naughton, of Appleton; treasurer, Alex- 
 ander McNaughton, of Kaukauna. 
 
 In 1 87 1, at Appleton, Wis., Mr. 
 Priest was married to Miss Aimee A. 
 Stevens, a most amiable, highly educated 
 and refined lady, conspicuous for her be- 
 nevolence of character and liberality to 
 the poor. She is a native of Jefferson 
 county, N. Y. , and a daughter of Charles 
 A. and Rachel Sevilla (Marble) Stevens, 
 of the same county, who were married in 
 New York State, and in 1853 came to 
 Appleton, where, being a carpenter by 
 trade. Mr. Stevens assisted in the build- 
 ing of Lawrence University. In 1861 he 
 moved to Madison, Wis., and in 1863 en- 
 listed in the Fourth W' isconsin Battery of 
 Artillery, serving three years in the army 
 of the East. He was commissioned sec- 
 ond lieutenant, was transferred to the 
 Forty-ninth Wis. V. I., and in 1865 was 
 honorably discharged and returned home. 
 In Appleton, Wis. , he remained two 
 months, and then moving to St. Louis, 
 Mo. , worked for a time in the govern- 
 ment shops there, after which he pro- 
 ceeded to Fort Benton, whence, after a 
 year, he returned to Appleton, where his 
 home has since been. Mr. Stevens died 
 in 1890. Three children were born to 
 them, viz.: Hannah M., wife of Albert 
 Baker, of Appleton; Aimee A., Mrs. Al- 
 bert W. Priest; and Ephraim M.. who. 
 
6io 
 
 COAfMEMOHATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in 1864, enlisted in Madison, Wis., in 
 Company K, Fortieth Wis. V. I., one- 
 hundred days' service, at the end of which 
 term he re-enlisted, this time at Camp 
 Randall, Wis., in the same regiment (he 
 now resides at Neillsville, Wis.). 
 
 Mr. Priest is an energetic, enterprising 
 and highly successful business man, one 
 who has prospered in all things. At this 
 present writing he is building a new resi- 
 dence of stone and brick, the site selected 
 for it being on the high bank of the Fox 
 river and commanding an exceedingly 
 fine view. In his political preferments he 
 is a Republican, and, in addition to his 
 business interests, he is a director of the 
 Bank of Kaukauna. 
 
 HON. LORENZO E. DARLING. 
 The family of Darling is of Eng- 
 lish and Welsh origin, the pro- 
 genitor having settled in New 
 England several generations ago, where 
 the family resided for a very long time, 
 but finally removed to Bradford county, 
 Penn. , and from there to New York, and 
 subsequently to Wisconsin. Our subject's 
 father, Otis Darling, was born in Ver- 
 mont, and was married in New York 
 State to Miss Elizabeth Chubbuck, of 
 New Hampshire, a daughter of Simeon 
 and Cj'nthia Chubbuck. Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Darling was an aunt to Fannie Forrester, 
 who is, therefore, a cousin to Lorenzo E. 
 Darling, our subject. 
 
 Lorenzo E. Darling was born August 
 9, 1829, in Warren township, Bradford 
 Co., Penn., and when he was nine years 
 old his parents removed to New York 
 State, where the father died in 1843, aged 
 si.xty-si.x years. The mother, with the 
 remainder of the family, removed in 1845 
 to Wisconsin, settling in East Troy, Wal- 
 worth county, where they located on a 
 farm. In 1849 our subject came to Outa- 
 gamie county, where he bought eighty 
 acres of land in Greenville township, on 
 which he and his mother moved the fol- 
 lowing spring. The country was new and 
 
 thinly inhabited, and the land was thickly 
 covered with timber, which would have 
 to be cleared ere the ground could be cul- 
 tivated. The family suffered many hard- 
 ships and pri\ations in this new home, 
 and bears and wolves were frequent visit- 
 ors. Lorenzo, during his first winter in 
 Greenville, boarded with a brother, Simeon 
 Darling, who afterward died in the civil 
 war. During the winter of 1849 our sub- 
 ject walked four miles each day, going to 
 and returning from his work with axe in 
 hand, starting early each day for his 
 boarding place, as the wolves became un- 
 pleasantly' near and noisy. The fol- 
 lowing spring Lorenzo erected a cabin 
 on his own place, where he and his 
 mother took up their abode. He worked 
 very hard, cleared his eighty acres and 
 continued to buy more land until he 
 owned 120 acres, which he sold in 1869 
 for six thousand one hundred dollars. 
 He then went to Appleton, the county 
 seat of Outagamie county, the Legisla- 
 ture of Wisconsin having appointed him 
 to the position of swamp land commis- 
 sioner, and at the end of four years he 
 moved to Ellington. In 1868 he was the 
 Republican candidate for State senator, 
 and made a splendid run, but could 
 hardly overcome the large Democratic 
 majority in the District. Prior to this, 
 in 1864, he led the Republicans as candi- 
 date for member of the Assembly in his 
 county, and ran ahead of the ticket 7citk 
 the soldier boys in the field ; but the 
 county being too strongly Democratic, he 
 was unsuccessful in the canvass, Samuel 
 Ryan, Jr., of Appleton, being elected. 
 In the fall of 1873 he was the choice of 
 the people for the State Legislature, and 
 his popularity was apparent, when, be- 
 ing a Republican, he was elected in 
 a Democratic district by a good majority. 
 He served one term with great credit to 
 himself and the utmost satisfaction of 
 his constituents. In civic affairs Mr. 
 Darling was equally popular as in na- 
 tional. In 1 85 I he was elected to the of- 
 fice of county clerk, being the first one 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 6ii 
 
 to fill that position in Outagamie county, 
 and was re-elected the following year. 
 For twenty years he was a member of 
 the board of supervisors, and when he 
 retired from the county board he was 
 considered the best-posted man in county 
 matters in the county, and was possessed 
 of the keen business tact that made him a 
 most valuable man to the county. In 1875 
 Mr. .Darling moved with his family to the 
 \illage of Shiocton. In 1876 he attended 
 the Centennial Exhibition at Philadel- 
 phia, and had a pleasant time, especially 
 among old friends and relatives near his 
 boyhood home in New York and Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 Of late years Mr. L. E. Darling has 
 led a retired life, looking after his real 
 estate and other interests. He owns 
 farm property in California and Minne- 
 sota, in addition to that located in Wis- 
 consin. He was married in 1854 in 
 Waukesha county. Wis., to Miss Mary 
 E. Morse, who bore him three children: 
 Eugene A., Elwin C. , and Edith M., the 
 latter of whom is the wife of George H. 
 Lonkey, of Shiocton; Elwin C. is married 
 to Miss Nora Webb, and resides in Cali- 
 fornia. The first newspaper published in 
 Outagamie county was called the Cres- 
 cent, and a poem on the first page of the 
 first issue owed its authorship to Mr. 
 Darling. He has contributed several 
 articles to various papers, many of which 
 deal with the old pioneer days, and are 
 very charming. A number of his poems 
 find their way to local, Milwaukee and 
 eastern papers, and are greatly appre- 
 ciated by a large number of readers. 
 
 WILLIAM LIBERT, proprietor of 
 the Kaukauna Machine W'orks, 
 in Kaukauna, has, during the 
 eight years of his residence in 
 the town, proven himself worthy of being 
 classified among its leading mechanics and 
 most industrious citizens. He is a native 
 of Belgium, born in 1859, son of Joseph 
 Libert, and Augustine (Vanmole), both 
 
 also Belgians by birth, who are yet living 
 in their native land. In their family were 
 five sons — Nicholas, Isidore, Joseph, Will- 
 iam and Emile — of whom Nicholas came 
 to Green Bay, Wis., in 1870, Isidore in 
 1874, and William in 1882, all finding 
 employment as mechanics in the railroad 
 shop at that place; Joseph and Emile are 
 also mechanics, one a boiler-maker, the 
 other a machinist, and live in the city of 
 Louvain, Belgium. 
 
 William Libert had learned his trade 
 in his native country, receiving at the 
 same time a liberal education at the pub- 
 lic schools and at an evening academy in 
 Louvain, where he took a two-years' 
 term after his day work was done. While 
 in Green Bay he attended the Business 
 College, under the tuition of Prof. Murch. 
 For a time he worked at his trade in Fort 
 Howard and Marinette, Wis., thence go- 
 ing to San Francisco, Cal., where he fol- 
 lowed his trade. In 1887 he came to 
 Kaukauna, and at once secured work in 
 the railroad shops, remaining there four 
 years, at the end of which time, in 1891, 
 he, in company with five others, estab- 
 lished the firm known as Kaukauna Ma- 
 chine Co. The firm soon after dissolved, 
 Mr. Libert taking the full charge upon 
 himself, and by his good management and 
 zeal has worked up to be one of the most 
 prosperous and thriving men in his line in 
 northern Wisconsin. The business manu- 
 factures all kinds of wall-paper machinery, 
 also paper and sulphite mill machinery, 
 etc. , and gives employment to some forty 
 hands. Mr. Libert now owns the entire 
 plant, as well as the building, which was 
 bought from Col. Frambach. The Kau- 
 kauna Machine Works have a large busi- 
 ness, which is constantly on the increase, 
 and there is no institution in the State 
 more deserving of the success that must 
 come from industry, ability and strict at- 
 tention to business. 
 
 In 1887, at Green Bay, Mr. Libert 
 was united in marriage with Miss Jane 
 Dachelet, also a native of Brussels, Bel- 
 gium, daughter of Henry Dachelet and 
 
6l2 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Felicia (Baudry), who came, in 1873, to 
 Green Bay, where Mr. Dachelet is yet ii\- 
 ing, the mother being dead. Mrs. Libert 
 was a little girl when she immigrated to 
 this country, and in Green Bay she re- 
 ceived her education, a liberal and thor- 
 ough one, afterward teaching in the pub- 
 lic schools of the place, being employed 
 thus at the time of her marriage. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Libert have been born five chil- 
 dren, named, respectively: Lizzie, Will- 
 iam, Bertha, Madeline and George. Our 
 subject and wife are prominent members 
 of the Catholic Church at Kaukauna, and 
 are highly respected citizens. 
 
 CARL MUENCH (deceased), foun- 
 der of the brewery company at 
 Appleton bearing his name, was 
 born December 4, 1828, in Gross 
 Heubach, near Wurzburg, Germany, and 
 was the son of a hotel-keeper in a small 
 German village. 
 
 Carl Muench was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of his native land, where he 
 also learned the brewing business, be- 
 coming foreman of a brewery. Emigrat- 
 ing to the United States while still a 
 young man, became westward to Milwau- 
 kee, where he was employed as foreman 
 in the Schlitz Brewery some seven years 
 in all. In 1859 he moved to Appleton 
 and purchased a small brewery, which he 
 so improved that, at the time of his death, 
 it ranked as one of the leading institutions 
 of the kind in the State and furnished 
 employment to many hands. He was an 
 enterprising man, made many friends, 
 and, although he had no means when he 
 came to America, succeeded in building 
 up a large business and accumulating a 
 fine property. 
 
 On January i , i 860, he married Miss 
 ^^'alle Mors, who was born in Germany, 
 June 16, 1842, and came to America with 
 her parents when she was eight years of 
 age. Her father, George Mors, who was 
 a farmer, settled in Milwaukee, where he 
 became an e.xtensive dealer in cattle. To 
 
 the union of Mr. and Mrs. Muench were 
 born hve children, three of whom died in 
 infancy; the two still living are W. C. 
 Muench and Mrs. Emma Kuehlthau, 
 whose husband is secretary of the Muench 
 Brewing Co. (she is the mother of two 
 children: Leonore Alvina and Olive 
 Evelyn). Mr. Muench was a Democrat 
 in politics and in religion a Roman Catho- 
 lic. After his death, which occurred May 
 20, 1880, Mrs. Muench assumed charge 
 of the business, and conducted it with 
 great success until her marriage with Mr. 
 Math. Heid, which took place December 
 2, 1884. On November i, 1891, it was 
 converted into a stock company, known 
 as the Muench Brewing Co., of which 
 Mrs. W. Heid (formerly Mrs. W. Muench) 
 is the president. On August 29, 1894, 
 fire broke out and destroyed the brewery 
 with all the machinery and plant, and 
 after the insurance was settled the com- 
 pany commenced rebuilding, and they 
 now have one of the best-equipped brew- 
 eries in this part of the State, fitted, as it 
 is, with all the latest improvements in 
 machinery. 
 
 FH. HAYES. This gentleman is 
 closely identified with the busi- 
 ness interests of Ivaukauna, Outa- 
 gamie county, of which bustling 
 town he has been a resident some fourteen 
 years, and is one of its leading prosper- 
 ous business men. He is a native of 
 Wisconsin, having been born in Sheboy- 
 gan county in 1859, a son of Henry and 
 Anna (Kerwin) Hayes, natives of Toronto 
 (Canada) and Ireland, respectively. The 
 father, who was a contractor of wide ex- 
 perience, came from Canada to Wiscon- 
 sin in an early day, and was one of the 
 pioneers of Milwaukee, where he married. 
 From there he moved to Sheboygan, 
 thence to Fond du Lac, and he and his 
 wife now reside in Eden township. Fond 
 du Lac count}'. 
 
 Our subject received his education at 
 the schools of Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, 
 
COMMKMOBATIVE BIOQBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 613 
 
 and was reared on a farm. At a suitable 
 age he learned the trade of carpenter in 
 Fond du Lac, for a time working for his 
 father. In 1880 he left the paternal 
 roof, and coming to South Kaukauna, 
 commenced the business of contracting 
 in connection with his regular trade, car- 
 pentry, and his handiwork can be seen 
 far and wide, for he assisted in the build- 
 ing of many of the first houses in South 
 Kaukauna and elsewhere. In 1892 he 
 bought out the F. J. Solar lumber busi- 
 ness, which he also carries on in connec- 
 tion with extensive dealings in coal and 
 wood. For some five years he was man- 
 ager of the Kaukauna Opera House, and 
 for a time was "on the road" selling a 
 line of general merchandise; it was after 
 giving up this business that he embarked 
 in his present one. He carries a com- 
 plete stock of glass, sash, door and blinds, 
 as well as builders' hardware. 
 
 In 1893 Mr. Hayes was married in 
 Kaukauna to Miss Margaret Solar, who 
 was born in Manitowoc count}', Wis., 
 a daughter of M. and Margaret (Grey) 
 Solar. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes are mem- 
 bers of St. Mary's Catholic Church, and 
 in his political preferences he is a Repub- 
 lican. Since his coming to South Kau- 
 kauna, our subject has seen the town 
 grow from a hamlet of three houses to its 
 present greatness, and he has every claim 
 to be recognized as a material factor in 
 its phenomenal growth. 
 
 EA. D. REYNOLDS, general man- 
 ager of the Fox River Paper Co., 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, was 
 born April 11, 1857, at Madrid, 
 St. Lawrence county. New York. 
 
 His father, A. D. Reynolds, a con- 
 tractor and builder of public works, also 
 a native of New York State, was born in 
 181 1, son of a Methodist minister. In 
 1834 he married Miss Minerva Chamber- 
 lain, who was born in Massachusetts, and 
 they became the parents of twelve chil- 
 dren, ten of whom were reared to ma- 
 
 turity. Eli Chamberlain, Mrs. Reynold's 
 father, was a farmer, and an early set- 
 tler at Chase's Mills, St. Lawrence Co. , 
 N. Y. , where he ended his days. A. D. 
 Reynolds died August 2, 1893, at Apple- 
 ton, at the home of our subject, although 
 his home proper was still in the State of 
 New York, where his wife had died in 
 1875. He had been an active business 
 man all his life, and was a stanch Repub- 
 lican; he enlisted during the Civil war, 
 but was rejected on account of disability; 
 yet he greatly interested himself in the 
 cause, and assisted in mustering in many 
 men. 
 
 E. A. D. Reynolds remained at home 
 until he was twenty-two years of age, his 
 father being obliged to absent himself 
 much of the time, and leave his wife and 
 children on the small farm. In 1879 our 
 subject came west, and having had an ex- 
 perience at school teaching of four or five 
 winters in the East, located at Owatonna, 
 Minn., and taught a term, after which he 
 worked on a farm until the fall of 1880 
 when he entered Hamline University 
 (located between St. Paul and Minneap- 
 olis), and, after remaining there a year, 
 went to Fargo, N. D., where he worked 
 one summer, returning to Hamline in the 
 fall. In the spring of 1882 he proceeded 
 to Crookstown, Minn., kept books there 
 for a business firm, remaining until the 
 first of August, 1883, working, however, 
 part of the last summer in the freight 
 depot of the Great Northern railroad. In 
 August, 1883, he reached Appleton, Wis., 
 and entered the employ of the Fox River 
 Paper Co. , as bookkeeper, later traveled 
 on the road, and filled several positions 
 so abl\' and faithfully, that to-day he 
 holds the office of general manager, hav- 
 ing entire charge of the company's bus- 
 iness. 
 
 Mr. Reynolds was married, January 
 6, 1883, to Miss Carrie B. Staples, who 
 was born at Cook's Valley, Wabasha Co. , 
 Minn. , but whose father, Nelson Staples, 
 later located on a large farm in North 
 Dakota. This union has been blessed 
 
6i4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 with four children, viz.: Ira S., Lula 
 May. Koy A., and Ohve. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Koxiiolds are members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, and in politics he is a 
 Republican, though not an office-seeker. 
 The family stand very high in the esteem 
 of their neighbors. 
 
 PKOF. L. WESLEY UNDER- 
 WOOD. This gentleman, late 
 president, />/•<> /<•;;/., of Lawrence 
 University, with which for seven 
 years he was connected as professor of 
 mathematics and astronomy, is a native of 
 southern Michigan, born July 17, 1853. 
 He is a son of Edward Joy Under- 
 wood, who was born in the State of \'er- 
 mont. August 17, 1S17, a son of Thadeus 
 Underwood, a soldier in the war of 1812. 
 Edward Joy Underwood who, in 1S42, 
 married to Polly Reed, a native of New 
 York State, born August 21. 1817, be- 
 came one of the early settlers of Michigan, 
 arriving there with his father when a 
 young man; he died in 1890, his widow 
 in 1S93. 
 
 The boyhood t^f our subject, like that 
 of many another successful man. was 
 passed upon a farm, where abundance of 
 hard work in summer time gave place in 
 the winter season to attendance at the 
 primitive country school. But as the lad 
 grew older the purpose to educate him- 
 self — conceived when a mere lad — in- 
 creased in strength, and when a youth he 
 entered the high school at Battle Creek 
 Mich., where he spent two years. He 
 then taught country schools for five years, 
 meantime preparing himself, as circum- 
 stances would perniit, for a still higher 
 education, and in 1879 he entered Albion 
 (Mich.) College, at which he studied two 
 years, working on farms in summer time 
 in order to pay his college expenses. In 
 this manner he won his way through the 
 first half of the course, after which he left 
 college, and for two years was principal of 
 the high school at Athens. Mich. He 
 then resumed his college course, during 
 
 the last two years of which he acted as 
 assistant instructor in mathematics. From 
 Albion college ho graduated in 1S86 with 
 the degree of B. S. ; in 1889, with the 
 degree of M. S. from the same institution; 
 and in the same 3'ear was elected to the 
 chair of mathematics and astronomy at 
 Lawrence University, where he proved a 
 powerful factor in the growth and devel- 
 opment of the institution. As a boy 
 Prof. Underwood displayed a strong pen- 
 chant for mathematics, also great aptitude 
 for solving complicated problems, and in 
 early boyhood his attention was first 
 turned toward astronomy by an eclipse of 
 the sun in which he manifested great in- 
 terest. For the last two years of his col- 
 lege course he devoted his time more 
 especially to mathematics, astronomy and 
 chemistry, and at this period of his career 
 he wrote a text-book on Analytical Chem- 
 istry. To his singleness of purpose, un- 
 tiring energy and executive ability, Law- 
 rence University owes the splendid obser- 
 vatory which bears his name, the building 
 being completed at a cost of about $6, 300. 
 The instruments necessary to equip -the 
 building were then purchased at a cost of 
 over $8,000, this sum being raised mainly 
 through the professor's individual efforts, 
 and the now fully completed observatory 
 was dedicated in the fall of 1891. 
 
 During his some eight years" connec- 
 tion with Lawrence Universit}' Prof. 
 i Underwood's influence did much to foster 
 the stud\- of higher mathematics, and 
 astronomy and its practical application, 
 while he was a firm friend of college 
 athletics within reasonable limits. As a 
 lecturer he has gained much prominence 
 in Wisconsin, and his discourse, "The 
 Story of the Stars," has been the feature 
 of many lecture courses. He is a frequent 
 contributor to astronomical and other 
 scientific journals, and is a member of the 
 Astronomical Society of the Pacific. He 
 is also a pleasing speaker on temperance 
 subjects. 
 
 Prof. Underwood was married, in 
 1875, to Miss Ida A. Spaulding, a lady of 
 
COMMEMOHATIVK BIOGUAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 615 
 
 Michif^an birth, daughter of Leonard and 
 Luc}' Spaulding, liifj;lily respectable fann- 
 ing people. Socially our subject is a 
 most genial gentleman, and among the 
 people of Appleton he has ever been held 
 in the highest esteem, his geniality and 
 accessibility rendering him a favorite 
 with all. 
 
 JOSEPH KITCHEN, a well-known 
 and highly-respected pioneer farmer 
 and ex-soldier of Bovina township, 
 Outagamie county, was born No- 
 vember 5, 1829, in Cumberland, England. 
 His parents were Thomas and Mary 
 Ivitchen, who had a family of ten children: 
 Elizabeth, Isabella, Hannah, Thomas, 
 Mary Ann, Joseph, William, George, 
 John, and a first George who died in in- 
 fancy. The father was a tailor by trade, 
 and a successful man. 
 
 Erom the time he was eleven years of 
 age Joseph Kitchen was compelled to earn 
 his own living, and all his education was 
 acquired after he had reached that age, 
 attending night schools. In 1856 he 
 sailed from Liverpool for the United 
 States, on the vessel " Edward Stanley," 
 commanded by Capt. Smith, and, after a 
 rough voyage of nine weeks and three 
 days, during which they ran far out of 
 their course, they reached New York. 
 As the young man had paid his passage 
 through to Sheboygan, Wis., he came di- 
 rectly through to that place. From there 
 he proceeded to Plymouth, where an ac- 
 quaintance from England was living, and 
 worked two years on a farm for B. L. 
 Nutt, receiving ten dollars per month as 
 wages the first year and seventeen dol- 
 lars the second. He next worked on a 
 farm in Plymouth six months for William 
 Moore, returning to Mr. Nutt's and re- 
 maining until the following January, at 
 which time he proceeded to Waupun and 
 secured a position as gatekeeper at the 
 penitentiary. Here he remained two 
 years, after which he drove team two 
 years for Andrew J. Spear, at length re- 
 
 turning to Plymouth and re-engaging on 
 the Nutt farm to stay three years. At 
 the end of six months, however, he gave 
 up the jilace and started north. At length 
 reaching Fond du Lac, he sold his oxen 
 for $75, and came over the Chicago & 
 North Western railroad to Appleton, then 
 the terminus of the line. Erom that point 
 he proceeded on foot, via Stcphensville, 
 to Shiocton, finally reaching the home of 
 John Park, whose daughter he had mar- 
 ried. Not being fully satisfied with the 
 appearance of the land in that neighbor- 
 hood, he continued his search as far as C. 
 M. Twitchel's, where he came upon the 
 Mitchell road. Following that northward 
 about half a mile, the hills on which his 
 home now stands came in sight. Blaz- 
 ing the trees along the waj- to the spot, 
 on what afterward proved to be the quar- 
 ter section line, a selection was made of 
 eighty acres, forty for Mr. Park and forty 
 for himself, which land was duly pur- 
 chased. They erected a log shanty on 
 the Park forty, of the usual dimensions, 
 sixteen by twenty feet, roofed with straw. 
 In this they lived for two months without 
 windows or doors, and the same shanty 
 furnished them a home for seven or eight 
 years. Mr. Kitchen and his father-in-law 
 chopped thirteen and a half acres, and in 
 the spring put in some wheat, potatoes 
 and other seed, having nothing but the 
 traditional axe and hoe with which to 
 perform all their work. Their neighbors 
 were Messrs. Ovitt and Mitchell. Trading 
 was done in Appleton, and the young man 
 at times carried a weight of sixty pounds 
 on his back and an oil can in his hand, 
 making the trip on foot. The families 
 experienced all the hardships of a pioneer 
 life, and endured almost to the impos- 
 sible. 
 
 On September 29, 1864, Mr. Kitchen 
 enlisted in Company G, First Wisconsin 
 Heavy Artillery, the only regiment of the 
 kind furnished by the State. He and 
 Charles W. Hopkins enlisted together, 
 served to the end of their term and were 
 discharged together; always working 
 
6i6 
 
 COMMEMORATH'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and appearing like brothers, the com- 
 radeship formed by them was of the 
 warmest nature. They were first sent to 
 Alexandria, Va. , doing guard duty in 
 Fort Lyons, rebuilding fortifications, 
 guard houses, etc. , and performing work 
 calculated to break down the strongest 
 constitution, asit finally did Mr. Kitchen's. 
 They were subsequently, for three or four 
 months, at Fort Ellsworth, during which 
 time that work was entirely reconstructed, 
 and there they were mustered out and 
 discharged June 25, 1865. Returning 
 home, Mr. Kitchen resumed his farm occu- 
 pations, the duties pertaining to it having 
 been faithfully discharged during his ab- 
 sence by his heroic wife. During his 
 army service he contracted diseases from 
 which he has never fully recovered, and 
 for which he receives slight remuneration 
 in the way of a pension. Upon his re- 
 turn he commenced clearing his own 
 land, all that was previously done having 
 been on the property of Mr. Park. He 
 chopped twelve acres east of where his 
 barn now stands, and sowed it to wheat, 
 which yielded forty bushels per acre. 
 This he sold for two dollars, and two 
 dollars and thirty cents per bushel. He 
 soon purchased forty acres additional, 
 and subsequently still another forty, mak- 
 ing 1 20 acres which he now owns. All 
 this has practically been cleared by his 
 own hard work, and the result of it all 
 has been gratifying. In political matters 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 Mr. Kitchen was married, January iS, 
 1 861, to Jane Park, daughter of John and 
 Mary (Hunter) Park, natives of Pennsyl- 
 vania, but of Scotch descent, who had 
 come to Shiocton in 1856, the former of 
 whom was a carpet weaver by trade; he 
 was the father of five children: Jane, 
 John H. , Elizabeth, William, and Alonzo. 
 The parents spent the remainder of their 
 lives in this locality. Mr. and Mrs. Kitch- 
 en became the parents of eight children: 
 George, Mary E. , Albert, Isabella, John, 
 Arthur, Nathaniel, and Gertrude. Mary 
 E. and Isabella both died of diphtheria. 
 
 JOHN F. JOHNSTON (deceased), 
 the first settler at Appleton, and 
 widely known as an old-time hotel- 
 keeper, was born July 8, 1822, in 
 Manheim township, Herkimer Co., N. Y. 
 There he grew to manhood, receiving his 
 earlier education at the public schools, 
 which was afterward supplemented with 
 a course at Fairfield Seminary. 
 
 In 1 843 he came to Wisconsin, first 
 locating at Lake Mills, thence, shortly 
 afterward, removing to Neenah, where he 
 was married March 26, 1 846, in the old 
 log Council chamber used by the Indians. 
 The first intention was to have the mar- 
 riage ceremony celebrated under the old 
 Council tree, so well known to the early 
 settlers of Neenah, but a storm coming up 
 prevented it. This was the first couple 
 married in Neenah. After marriage he 
 moved into Appleton, where he claimed 
 his residence the greater part of the time 
 until his death, which occurred at Harvey, 
 111., August 18. 1893, when he was aged 
 seventy-two years; his remains were taken 
 to Appleton, and buried at Riverside 
 cemetery. 
 
 In a vei}- early day Mr. Johnston con- 
 ducted the " Crescent Hotel" in Apple- 
 ton and changed the name to " Johnston 
 House;" thence moved to Minnesota 
 Junction, where he carried on a restau- 
 rant, or " eating house," some four years, 
 at the end of which time he bought an 
 interest in the " St. James Hotel" at 
 Chicago, but the building was destroyed 
 b}" fire before he was to take possession. 
 He then opened out and operated the 
 " Farwell Hall Hotel" restaurant, in 
 company with Dr. Post, but in about 
 three years the latter died, and Mr. 
 Johnston, selling out, moved back to 
 Appleton after the Chicago fire, and 
 bought an interest in the " Levake 
 House," which was consumed by fire, 
 after which he superintended the building 
 of the ' ' Summer Resort Hotel, " at Green 
 Lake, Wis., and for three seasons was its 
 general manager. From there he moved 
 to Milwaukee, where he kept the " Metro- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAl'HICAL RECORD. 
 
 617 
 
 politan," and then the " Merchants Ho- 
 tel, "about four years. He then opened an 
 eating house at Abbotsford, Wis., which 
 he carried on another four years — making 
 in all over twenty years' experience as an 
 hotel or restaurant man. Socially he was 
 a Knight Templar, and in religious faith 
 he was a member of the Methodist 
 Church. 
 
 Mrs. Johnston (//cV Finch) is a na- 
 tive of Esse.x county, N. Y. , born June 
 7, 1826, a daughter of Isaac and Martha 
 (Barber) Finch, also of New York State. 
 The father was a representative man, a 
 State senator and member of Congress, 
 two and three terms, respectively. He 
 died in 1844, when his daughter, Mrs. 
 Johnston, was eighteen years old; his 
 widow passed away in 1 869 at the old 
 home in New York State, surrounded by 
 her children. They reared a family of 
 nine children — four sons and five daugh- 
 ters — Mrs. Johnston being the joungest. 
 Her son, \V. H. Johnston, was the first 
 white child brought to Appleton. She 
 has seen the now beautiful city grow 
 from a mere hamlet of a few scattered 
 buildings, and although well advanced in 
 years, is active and well-preserved, sur- 
 rounded by a wide circle of friends who 
 respect and esteem her. 
 
 HERMAN BISSING. This gentle- 
 man, whose industry and com- 
 mendable thrift have placed him 
 in comfortable circumstances, is 
 now a resident of the city of Appleton, 
 living a retired life. 
 
 He is a native of Westphalia, Prussia, 
 born in October, 1831, a son of Henry 
 and Anna (Camphof) Bissing, also of 
 Prussian nativity, well-to-do farming peo- 
 ple. They died in their native land, the 
 father in 1844, the mother in 1833, the 
 parents of eight children. Herman re- 
 ceived but a limited school training in 
 Prussia, and there learned the trade of 
 molder, till the age of fifteen years, or 
 
 1847, when he came to the United States, 
 and locating in Buffalo, N. Y. , there 
 worked in a foundry one year. His health 
 failing, however, he was obliged to give 
 up the molder's trade, and he then learned 
 that of a shoemaker, in Buffalo, in which 
 city he remained three years in all. Di- 
 recting his eyes southward at this time, 
 he, in 1850, made a trip to New Orleans, 
 where he sojourned until the cholera 
 drove him out of the city in 1851, and he 
 did not cease traveling northward until he 
 found himself in Milwaukee, Wis. Here 
 for two years he worked at shoemaking, 
 then in Waukesha also two years, after- 
 ward in Hartland eight years, in the last- 
 named place having a boot and shoe store 
 of his own. In 1863 he came to Apple- 
 ton, where he conducted a leading boot 
 and shoe business until May, 1894, at 
 which time he made over his entire inter- 
 est to his sons, and retired into private 
 life. He owns three other stores, besides 
 real estate, in Appleton, all acquired by 
 his own individual exertion, perseverance 
 and sound judgment. 
 
 On October 16, 1853, Mr. Bissing was 
 married to Miss Catherine Bellew, born 
 in County Louth, Ireland, in June, 1830, 
 a daughter of Thomas and Catherine 
 (McMahon) Bellew, agriculturists of the 
 higher class. An uncle of Mrs. Cather- 
 ine Bissing was a member of the English 
 Parliament. Eight children were born to 
 this union, as follows: Henry (drowned 
 in Hartland when five years of age), Alice 
 (who died in 1 892 at the age of twenty- 
 two years), Mary, Elizabeth, Frank, 
 Henry, George and Benjamin. The 
 mother of these died in Appleton in Oc- 
 tober, I 884. Politically Mr. Bissing is a 
 Democrat, and in religion he is a member 
 of the Catholic Church. His father being 
 in poor health and unable to do much 
 work, Herman enjoyed no school privi- 
 leges after the age of eleven years, but he 
 became a close reader and an attentive 
 observer, which enabled him to "paddle 
 his own canoe " into a safe harbor of 
 refuge. 
 
6i8 
 
 COMMEMORAi'IVE BIOORAPSICAL RECORD. 
 
 GEORGE KREISS, proprietor of 
 the " Appleton House," Apple- 
 ton, was born September 9, 1830, 
 in Alsace, France, son of Jacob 
 and Salina Kreiss. 
 
 The father, who was a miller by 
 trade, was born in the same locality in 
 1802, and the grandfather was also a na- 
 tive of Alsace; his death occurred when 
 Jacob was very young. Jacob Kreiss 
 came to the United States in 1838, lo- 
 cating upon a farm in Lyons, N. Y. , 
 where he lived until 1868, in which year 
 he built a mill at Allowa}-, in the same 
 county (\Va)-ne), and operated it until 
 1872, when he died, the result of his horse 
 running away with him at Lyons; his 
 widow lived until October, 1891. They 
 had thirteen children, of whom eight sons 
 and two daughters are now living. The 
 mother was a daughter of George Luex, 
 a tiller of the soil in France, his native 
 country, where he died in 1835. 
 
 George Kreiss, who was eight years 
 of age when the family came to America, 
 remained at home until he was eighteen, 
 assisting his father on the farm. Having 
 determined to start in the world for him- 
 self, he left home in September, 1848, 
 took passage on a boat at Buffalo, and in 
 due time arrived at Milwaukee, Wis., 
 near which place he found employment 
 as a farmer and teamster. He had six 
 dollars in his pocket when he left, and 
 when he reached Milwaukee was the 
 proud possessor of three cent-s — an impos- 
 ing capital indeed — and to back it up had 
 only a common-school education in Eng- 
 lish and German. But he had pluck, and 
 that proved of great value. Returning to 
 Lyons in 1849 he was married in August 
 of the following year to Miss Madeline 
 Weber, who was born in the same locality 
 as he was, and in the same year. Her 
 father, George Weber, who was a farmer, 
 had served twelve years in the army of 
 Napoleon, participating in the Spanish 
 and Russian campaigns. He came also 
 to America, in 1840, locating on a farm 
 in the same county with the Kreiss family, 
 
 upon which he died in 1859. His wife, 
 whose maiden name was Barbara Har- 
 holt, died in March, 1884, at Appleton, 
 Wis., where she had resided with her 
 daughter, Mrs. Kreiss, since 1863. 
 
 Soon aftf r his marriage, in the fall of 
 1850, Mr. Kreiss came again to Milwau- 
 kee, accompanied by his bride, and once 
 more became employed as a teamster, 
 helping to draw the plank with which to 
 construct the Milwaukee & Lisbon plank 
 road. In the fall of 1852, while drawing 
 logs he was badh' hurt, barely escaping 
 with his life. Upon his partial recovery 
 he was appointed toll-gate tender at gate 
 No. I, on the plank road mentioned, in 
 the town of Wauwatosa. He held the 
 position seven years, and is well remem- 
 bered by the surviving travelers of that 
 period through the region named. In 
 1853 he came to Appleton and located a 
 tract of wild land in Greenville township. 
 He removed his famih' to Appleton in 
 1857, intending to settle on the farm; but, 
 as it was late in the season, and he had 
 not yet erected a house on the place, he 
 took the advice of his friends and rented 
 a dwelling in Appleton, establishing him- 
 self in the grocery and saloon business. 
 This he continued until 1861, when he 
 built the "Appleton House." then one of 
 the leading hotels of the town, and popu- 
 lar among the residents of this portion of 
 the State. Seven j'ears later, in 1868, he 
 established, in company with H. Catlen, 
 the Fox River Hub & Spoke Manufactory, 
 purchasing his partner's interest the fol- 
 lowing year. In 1870 he rented his hotel 
 and gave his entire attention to his man- 
 ufacturing interests, continuing until 1881, 
 and furnishing steady employment for 
 twelve to twenty-five men. He again 
 took charge of the " Appleton House " in 
 1876, and has since continued its pro- 
 prietor. His manufactory was sold in 
 1 88 1. In 1865 he purchased ninety-five 
 acres of land within the present city limits 
 of Appleton, and has always retained it 
 solely for farming purposes. During his 
 entire residence in this city he has been 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 619 
 
 an active business man, looking personal- 
 ly after his varied interests, dealing heavily 
 in tax certificates, and engaging to some 
 extent in buying and selling real estate. 
 
 In politics Mr. Kreiss is a Democrat. 
 He was elected to the Assembly in 1863, 
 having as an opponent Judge George H. 
 Meyers, and to the State Senate in 1871 
 as an independent candidate, from the 
 Twenty-second Senatorial District of 
 Outagamie and Calumet counties. He 
 assisted in the original organization of 
 the Appleton Fire Department, was its 
 chief for nine years, and was connected 
 with it in various capacities for more than 
 twenty years. He has served as treasurer 
 of the Second ward school board, was for 
 two years president of the city council, 
 and is at present one of the three trustees 
 of the Outagamie County Asjlum for the 
 Insane. He is a member of the I. O. O. 
 F. Lodge at Appleton, and both he and 
 his wife are members of the German 
 Lutheran Church. They have had nine 
 children, to wit: George M. ; Albert J.; 
 Mary L., who died in 1874; Sarah M. ; 
 Rosa L. ; Dora and Martha, who both 
 died in 1877; Nellie L. ; and Dr. F. H. 
 Kreiss, the present city physician. 
 
 ELIHU SPENCER, ex-county sur- 
 veyor, Appleton. The genealogy 
 of the Spencer family, of which 
 our subject is a worthy member, 
 is as follows: In 1631 three brothers, 
 Thomas, William and Jared Spencer, 
 came from England and located first at 
 Cambridge, Mass., a short time there- 
 after going with a company through the 
 wilderness and assisting in making the 
 first settlement in the State of Connecti- 
 cut, where the city of Hartford now 
 stands. One of these brothers, William 
 Spencer, was a representative in the 
 General Court during the years 1634-35, 
 and in 1639 was a select man of that 
 town, also a deputy in the General Court, 
 and was appointed, along with Mr. 
 
 Willis and Mr. Webster, to prepare for 
 the first revisal of the laws in that year. 
 
 Thomas Spencer, one of the first 
 settlers of Connecticut, died in Hartford 
 September 1 1, 1687. His son, Jared (Ij, 
 was born in that city, and died there in 
 1712; his son, Jared (II), was born in 
 Hartford, January 15, 1683, and died in 
 New Hartford, Conn., in 1784 aged 
 seventy-two years; his son, Nathaniel B., 
 was born in New Hartford, May 10, 1724, 
 and died in 1773, aged forty-nine years; 
 his son, Ashbel (grandfather of Elihu 
 Spencer, the subject proper of this sketch), 
 was born in New Hartford, Conn., May 
 25, 1750, and died August 14, 1821, 
 aged seventy-one years (he was a soldier 
 in the Revolutionary war, and was with 
 Arnold on his expedition from Boston, 
 Mass., to Quebec, Canada, in 1775); his 
 son, Elihu (father of our subject), was 
 born in New Hartford, Conn., March 23, 
 1786. In 181 3 he moved to Huron, 
 Wayne Co., N. Y. , cleared and im- 
 proved two farms in the then wilderness, 
 and built the first gristmill in that town. 
 He married Jemima Upson, of New 
 Hartford, Conn., whose grandfather 
 came from Scotland. Elihu Spencer, 
 Sr. , died in Huron, N. Y. , June 14, 
 1825, aged thirty-nine years, and his 
 wife, Jemima (Upson) passed away June 
 4, 1825, at the age of thirty-five years; 
 they left a family of nine children, the 
 eldest daughter, Hulda, being then fif- 
 teen years old, the youngest son, Andrew, 
 being but nine months old. 
 
 Elihu Spencer, whose name intro- 
 duces this article, was born in Huron, 
 Wayne Co., N. Y., September 25, 1816, 
 and, as will be seen, was not nine years 
 old when bereft of his parents. He lived 
 one }-ear with his grandfather, next find- 
 ing a home with Mr. Elisha Benjamin, 
 where he remained until he was eighteen, 
 doing chores and attending school. Mr. 
 Benjamin was an old school teacher, and 
 the boy had advantages while with him 
 for securing an education which he made 
 the most of. After leaving the Benjamin 
 
620 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 home he taught school winters and worked 
 on a farm summers, making his home 
 with his brother-in-law, who was a farmer, 
 and manufacturer of lime. After reach- 
 ing his majority he leased a lime-kiln; but 
 after managing it for three years bar- 
 gained for a farm. It becoming appar- 
 ent, after a few years, that he could not 
 pay for the property, he therefore relin- 
 quished it. On April 23, 1840, he mar- 
 ried Miss Rhoba Mclvoon, in the town of 
 Butler, Wayne Co., N. Y., where she 
 was born in 1820, daughter of William 
 McI\oon, an early settler of that county 
 from Rhode Island, his native State; he 
 was a local and circuit preacher. He 
 married Luc\' Cole, also a native of 
 Rhode Island, whose father was a 
 farmer. Mrs. Rhoba Spencer traced 
 her ancestry to Roger Williams, the 
 first settler of Rhode Island, ?nd also 
 to Martin Luther, the German Re- 
 former, she being of the seventh gen- 
 eration from the former, and the thir- 
 teenth from the later. In New York 
 State Mr. Spencer's three eldest children — 
 Delia, William E. and Kirtland — were 
 born, and in the fall of 1 845 Mr. and 
 Mrs. Spencer, with these three children, 
 and accompanied by his sister, Mary, and 
 her husband. Nelson Phelps, and their 
 four children, emigrated to Wisconsin, 
 arriving on October 2, that year. They 
 settled in Menomonee Falls (now in Wau- 
 kesha county), where Mr. Spencer bought 
 a quarter section of land near where is 
 now the village of that name. Selling 
 this land, he, in April, 1853, moved his 
 family to Appleton and located on the 
 northwest quarter of the northwest quarter 
 of Section 34, near Appleton Junction, 
 now included in the Third ward of 
 Appleton. 
 
 While living at Menomonee Falls our 
 subject had taken up the surveyor's pro- 
 fession, and ran the lines for several of 
 his friends. After coming to Appleton 
 he taught school one winter, did consider- 
 able surveying, and cleared his land. He 
 was also engaged in various enterprises. 
 
 to wit: In 1885 he ran the first milk 
 wagon in the place ; afterward oper- 
 ated a small thresher or separator; 
 also bought and operated a circular 
 saw machine, and for several winters 
 cut wood for his neighbors, as well as for 
 his own use. For several years he acted 
 as deputy survejor; in 1872 was elected 
 county surveyor, and again in 1878 (in 
 the meantime filling the unexpired term 
 of John Stevens who was elected to the 
 office in 1874 and removed to California 
 same year), after which he was re-elected 
 six times in succession, holding the office 
 until 1890. 
 
 Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Elihu Spencer, a brief record of whom 
 is as follows: (t) Delia was born June 16, 
 1841, in Wayne county, N. Y., was mar- 
 ried June 2, 1863, to D. B. Bailey, a 
 merchant of Appleton, and they had six 
 children: Ouincy A., who was drowned 
 in the canal, just below the upper lock, 
 when ten years old; Ralph Waldo, who 
 graduated at the Ryan High School, and 
 afterward at the Spencerian Business Col- 
 lege in Milwaukee, and is now in business 
 in Denver, Colo. ; Andrew Spencer, who 
 is a graduate of Lawrence University, 
 afterward graduating at Ann Arbor, in the 
 School of Dentistry, and is now practic- 
 ing his profession in Menominee, Mich. ; 
 D. B. Bailey, Jr., who commenced a 
 course of study in Lawrence University, 
 but was attacked with the grip from which 
 he has never fully recovered, and is now 
 in Colorado for the improvement of his 
 heath; Ruthie, thedaughter, now eighteen 
 years old, who is a student at Lawrence 
 University, and Charlie, the youngest son, 
 now at home attending the district school; 
 Mrs. Bailey died November 22, 1884. 
 (2) William E. enlisted in October, 1861, 
 in Company G, First Wis. V. C, served 
 one year and died September 26, 1862, 
 on board a steamer on the Mississippi, 
 and was buried at Memphis, Tenn. (3) 
 Kirtland remained at home, and operated 
 a threshing machine some nine years, but 
 was taken sick and died February 29, 
 
COMMEMORATIV'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 62) 
 
 1872. (4) Lucy was born at Menomonee 
 Falls, Wis., December 30, 1846, and 
 died September 12, 1847. (5) Hulda 
 was born at Menomonee Falls, Wis., Au- 
 gust 2, 1851, was educated at the schools 
 of Appleton and at Lawrence University, 
 after which she taught school several 
 terms at various places; on May 29, 1878, 
 she was married to A. F. Bounds, and 
 they have two children: Florence, now 
 aged twelve years, and Hattie, now aged 
 ten; Mr. and Mrs. Bounds have a com- 
 fortable home on a part of Mr. Spencer's 
 old farm, and he has made his home with 
 them for the past four years. (6) Flora 
 was born in Appleton, April 30, 1854, 
 was married September 25, 1879, to B. 
 C. Wolter, and they have two children 
 living: Mabel, aged fourteen years, and 
 Robert, aged eleven years; they lost one 
 son, Raymond, who died when seven 
 years old; they now live in the house Mr. 
 Spencer built for his homestead. Mr. 
 Wolter was county clerk of Outagamie 
 county from 1878 till 1886, and for several 
 years has been engaged in selling farm 
 machinery in Appleton. In his political 
 preferences Mr. Spencer is a Republican, 
 but in his several elections to the office of 
 county surveyor, and other minor posi- 
 tions of trust, he received the support of 
 both parties. In religious faith he is a 
 member of the M. E. Church, as was 
 also his wife. 
 
 REV. JOHN FAVILLE, pastor of 
 the First Congregational Church, 
 Appleton, is a scion of a distin- 
 guished race — intellectually, edu- 
 cationally and socially — who are to be 
 foimd in various parts of the eastern and 
 northern portions of the United States. 
 The name, Faville, is suggestive of 
 French extraction, probably Norman- 
 French, originally, on the paternal side 
 of the house, while it is known that on 
 the maternal side our subject descends 
 from old Holland-Dutch ancestry. The 
 present generation, however, are more 
 
 directly of English origin, and several 
 members of the family are to be found 
 scattered throughout the State of Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 John Faville, the subject proper of this 
 article, was born July 7, 1847, in Milford, 
 Jefferson county. Wis., where he received 
 his elementary education, later attending 
 school at Lake Mills, same county, and 
 Lawrence University, Appleton, from 
 which institution he graduated in 1871. 
 He was reared on a farm, his parents, 
 highl}' respectable people, belonging to 
 the prosperous agricultural class. Elijah 
 Faville, his father, was a native of Her- 
 kimer county, N. Y. , where for three 
 generations his ancestors had resided. 
 The mother, Eliza (Ostrom) , was of 
 Wayne county, N. Y. , and came of old 
 ancestral stock of Holland, of the days 
 when the Dutch were almost pre-eminent 
 on both sea and land. The children born 
 to Elijah and Eliza Faville were John 
 (our subject) and Henry (twins) , the lat- 
 ter at one time a minister in the M. E. 
 Church, and now pastor of the First Con- 
 gregational Church at La Crosse, Wis., 
 and Rush E. , now a farmer at Waterloo, 
 Jefferson county, Wisconsin. 
 
 On leaving Lawrence University, Mr. 
 Faville served as principal of Milford 
 school, and of the school at Two Rivers, 
 Wis., each one year. He then, in 1873, 
 entered the Theological Department of 
 Boston University, graduating therefrom 
 in 1876. Those were fruitful years of 
 mental and spiritual growth. It was an 
 epoch in the life of this western youth to 
 be thus suddenly transported, as it were, 
 into another and larger atmosphere of re- 
 finement and culture, which has left its 
 impression on him through life. The first 
 charge to which he was appointed was the 
 Cotton Street M. E. Church at Fond du 
 Lac, and the following year he was as- 
 signed to the pastorate of the M. E. 
 church at Fox Lake, Wis. The Con- 
 gregational society at that point being 
 without a pastor, Mr. Faville's services 
 were enlisted in their behalf, and while a 
 
622 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 resident of the town he acted as pastor 
 for both conf^ref,fations. From Fox Lake 
 he was transferred to Waupun.in the same 
 county, whence, after laboring three years 
 with the congregation of the ^^. E. 
 Church there, he returned to Fond du 
 Lac as pastor of the Division Street M. 
 E. Church. During his third year's cleri- 
 cal work there he accepted a call to the 
 Congregational Church at Appleton, which 
 incumbency he is yet filling with abund- 
 ant usefulness. When he first took charge 
 there was but a small church building, yet 
 large enough to contain the congregation; 
 but at the end of two years it was found 
 necessary to erect a new church, and the 
 building put up in response to this want 
 is in all respects second to none of the 
 kind in northern Wisconsin. The audience 
 • room has a seating capacity of 650, and 
 the Sabbath-school rooms, adjoining, seat 
 500 more, many people being unable at 
 times to gain admittance. The total cost 
 of the structure, exclusive of the lot, was 
 thirty-seven thousand dollars. The Church 
 has in addition to this built two chapels 
 in other parts of the city, which are now 
 in successful operation. It has established 
 and now conducts three Sunday-schools 
 in addition to the one which meets in the 
 church. The home school of this church 
 is the largest of the denomination in the 
 State, having an average attendance of 
 over five hundred, while nearly one thou- 
 sand pupils are taught in all of the schools 
 of this Church. 
 
 In connection with his brother. Rev. 
 Henry Faville, of La Crosse. Mr. Faville 
 is known as the originator of the " Young 
 Men's Sunday Evening Club," the in- 
 fluence of which has spread from the 
 Dakotas to Florida, and from Maine to 
 California, while at his Church the club 
 numbers 463 members. The good eman- 
 ating from this movement can not be 
 over-estimated, as it draws men and youth 
 to the benign influence of the Church. It 
 has increased the Sunday evening attend- 
 ance to an average of about 700 in his 
 Church, as against less than two hundred 
 
 before, and is thus a practical illustration 
 of its effective workings. The club issues 
 from 800 to 1,200 programs each week, 
 and is doing valuable work in many ways. 
 At the World's Fair Congress of Relig- 
 ions Mr. Faville was honored with a re- 
 quest to give an address on the Men's 
 Sunday Evening Club, which was printed 
 in their reports. 
 
 On October 26, 1876, Rev. John 
 Faville was united in marriage with Miss 
 Louise G. Thayer, a native of Massa- 
 chusetts, daughter of Henry and Mary A. 
 (Kelly) Thayer, both descended from old 
 Massachusetts stock. [Two uncles of Mrs. 
 Thayer served in a ^Iassachusetts regi- 
 ment during the Civil war.] To this mar- 
 riage have been born two children : Henry 
 T. and Mildred. Mr. Faville as an 
 earnest worker in temperance reform has 
 been identified with the Prohibition party 
 since 1881, and in the fall of 1894 was a 
 candidate for Congress in his District. In 
 the interests of religion and morality gen- 
 erally he has written many trenchant arti- 
 cles for the press, the influence of which 
 has spread far and wide. A gentleman 
 of estimable and spotless character. Mr. 
 Faville has won for himself an enviable 
 popularity, and is reverenced by all who 
 have the pleasure of knowing him. Of 
 such men the State of Wisconsin is justly 
 proud, and their memory is perpetuated, 
 not on monuments of wood or stone which 
 crumble into dust and are irrecoverably 
 lost, but in books and in words that en- 
 dure forever. 
 
 A J. BROWER, superintendent of 
 the Badger Paper Co., of Kau- 
 kauna, and son of William T. and 
 Mary Ann (Peck) Brower, was 
 born in 1842, in Fulton county, N. Y. , 
 and there reared and educated. 
 
 He was employed in the paper mills 
 of that locality previous to the war of the 
 Rebellion, but enlisted in 1862 in the 
 Seventh New York, or "Northern Black 
 Horse" Cavalry, for one yfar. After 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 623 
 
 about six months' service he was dis- 
 charged, re-enhsting in a New York infan- 
 try regiment for three years, or during the 
 war. He participated in the battles of 
 Spottsylvania, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, 
 Mine Run, and all those in which the army 
 of the Potomac was engaged; took part in 
 the memorable Grand Review of troops at 
 Washington at the close of the war, was 
 honorably discharged the same year 
 ( 1 865) at Hart's Island, N. Y. , and returned 
 to Fulton county. Here, in 1866, he was 
 married to Sarah Lucas, daughter of 
 Samuel and Bertha Lucas, all natives of 
 England. Her parents, who had come to 
 New York in i860, and settled, later, at 
 Sparta, Wis., are both now deceased. 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Brower are: 
 Mary (wife of William Collenston, of 
 Ashland, \\'is.), Rosa, William, Abe, 
 Bell and Arthur. 
 
 Soon after his marriage Mr. Brower 
 came to Wisconsin, locating at Sparta, 
 where he was engaged in the paper busi- 
 ness; from there removing to Fond du 
 Lac, in 1870, and continuing in the same 
 line. In 1874 he located at Kaukauna, 
 becoming superintendent of mills for Col. 
 H. A. Frambach, and has since been con- 
 tinuously employed by the same institu- 
 tion. He is an honored member of Paul 
 H. Beaulieu Post, No. 247, G. A. R., 
 also Kaukauna Lodge, I. O. O. F. Po- 
 litically he is a Republican, and in all re- 
 gards a worthy citizen, taking an active 
 interest in everything calculated to ad- 
 vance the interests of his city or county. 
 
 HENRY WILLIAM MEYER, edi- 
 tor and proprietor of the Apple- 
 ton Volksfrcimd. The life of a 
 professional or literary man sel- 
 dom exhibits any of those striking inci- 
 dents that seize upon public feeling and 
 li.\ attention upon himself. His character 
 is generally made up of the aggregate of 
 the qualities and qualifications he may 
 possess, as these may be elicited by the 
 exercise of the duties of his vocation, or 
 
 the particular profession to which he may 
 belong. The subject of this brief notice 
 may not form an exception to this general 
 rule, but we do know that since maturity 
 his life has been one of laborious profes- 
 sional duty, and the high distinction he 
 has attained as a journalist is evidence 
 enough that these qualities have not been 
 planted on barren soil. 
 
 Mr. Meyer is by birth a German, hav- 
 ing been born in the Kingdom of Hanover, 
 August 3, 1843, to A. H. (a farmer by 
 occupation) and Anna (Steinworth) Meyer, 
 also natives of Hanover, who were mar- 
 ried in 1842. Mrs Meyer was a daughter 
 
 of Steinworth, by profession a 
 
 teacher, and she was the mother of six 
 children, five of whom are yet living. In 
 1846 the family came to the United 
 States and to Wisconsin, locating on a 
 piece of wild land in Manitowoc county, 
 their nearest neighbor being distant some 
 seven miles. Here they opened up a 
 farm, and endured all the hardships inci- 
 dent to pioneer life. The mother died in 
 1879; the father is now living in Mani- 
 towoc city. 
 
 Henry W. Meyer, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, was but three years old 
 when his parents brought him to America. 
 His boyhood on the farm in W'isconsin in 
 nowise differed from that of other pioneer 
 lads under similar circumstances — in sum- 
 mers doing chores about the farm, in 
 winters attending the nearest school, to 
 reach which was a journey in itself. At 
 the age of fifteen, however, he began to 
 enjoy better advantages in this respect, 
 being placed ina private school in Mani- 
 towoc, where for one year he made rapid 
 progress in his studies. Following this he 
 attended Concordia College, at Fort 
 Wayne, Ind., where he graduated in 
 1862 as a parochial teacher. Mr. Meyer 
 then taught school some four years in 
 Manitowoc county. Wis., proving a suc- 
 cessful instructor and strict disciplin- 
 arian. By way of a change, he next com- 
 menced clerking in a store; but, disliking 
 the work, he resigned at the end of six 
 
624 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 months, and moving to Whitewater re- 
 sumed teaching, this time taking charge 
 of a private school for three years or until 
 1869, when he came to Appleton and 
 again took charge of a private school. 
 After about two years' labor in this in- 
 cumbency, the Volksfrennd, a new Ger- 
 man weekly paper, having been started 
 in Appleton, he in 1871 bought a half in- 
 terest in the enterprise, and abandoning 
 school teaching devoted his entire time to 
 the paper as editor, his partner, Selbach, 
 attending to the mechanical department. 
 In 1873 Mr. Meyer purchased his part- 
 ner's interest in the ]'olksfrcHiid, since 
 when he has been sole proprietor and edi- 
 tor; and under his regime it has been so 
 much improved that to-daj' it is the lead- 
 ing German paper in the State, having 
 the largest circulation, some 6,000, and 
 is a clean, ably-edited, newsj' publication. 
 Its politics are a reflex of its editor, inde- 
 pendent, although at one time Mr. Meyer 
 was a Democrat. Though often solicited 
 and even urged by friends to accept office, 
 our subject has invariably declined, being 
 no aspirant to public place. 
 
 In Appleton, November 17, 187J, 
 Mr. Meyer was united in marriage with 
 Miss Wilhelmine Harbeck, daughter of 
 Henry Harbeck, a native of Holstein, 
 where Wilhelmine was born in 1856. 
 The Harbeck family came to America in , 
 1862, and, after sojourning about one 
 year in New York City, came west to 
 Wisconsin, settling in Appleton, where 
 the father died in 1S70. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Meyer have been born five children — 
 four sons and one daughter, viz. : August, 
 Richard, William, Henry W^ and Julia. 
 Accompanied by his interesting family 
 Mr. Meyer takes a trip annually to some 
 point or other for health and recreation. 
 
 JOHN J. SHERMAN, cashier of the 
 Citizens National Bank, Appleton. 
 In many parts of the United States 
 men ha\e settled who were at one 
 time soldiers in the army of the first Na- 
 
 poleon, the man who made all Europe 
 tremble with his power and astonished 
 the world with the brilliancy of his mili- 
 tary movements and the magnitude of his 
 victories and defeats. Andrew Sherman, 
 grandfather of John J., was born April 7, 
 1 790, and was a son of Andrew Sherman, 
 Sr. , a native of Holland, who died in 
 1822, aged si.xty-four jears. Grandfather 
 Andrew Sherman was a soldier in Europe, 
 served on the staff of Bonaparte from 
 181 1 to I 81 5, and participated in the bat- 
 tles of Leipsic, Dresden, Hanau, Bautzen, 
 Lutzen and \\'aterloo on the dread day in 
 June, 181 5, which saw Bonaparte's forces 
 go down in dire defeat. In 1855 he came 
 to Wisconsin to join his son, Jacob Sher- 
 man. On January 7, 1866, he celebrated 
 his golden wedding, and died November 
 7, 1880, at St. Lawrence, in this State, 
 at the great age of more than ninety 
 years. On January 7, 18 16, he married 
 Barbara Waltz, who died August 7, 1875, 
 at the age of eighty-four years, the mother 
 of six children: Andrew, Jacob, George, 
 Catharine, Anna and Barbara, after being 
 married fifty-nine years and seven months. 
 Jacob Sherman, father of )ohn J., was 
 a native of France, born February 28, 
 1 8 19. When about eighteen years of age 
 he came with some friends to America. 
 He found employment with a physician, 
 on the latter's farm near Rochester, N. 
 Y. , and was educated by that gentleman. 
 There also he met and, on September 30, 
 1845, married Miss Margaret Sell, a na- 
 tive of Hesse, Germany, whence she had, 
 in 1839, emigrated with her brother John 
 to America, locating in Rochester, N. Y. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sherman started for Wis- 
 consin on the day of their marriage, and 
 here settled on a farm in Germantown, 
 Washington county, but after one year 
 he sold the property and entered mercan- 
 tile business with John Sell, at St. Law- 
 rence, in the same county. At the end of 
 another year he sold his interest and again 
 took up farming, his favorite vocation, 
 locating on a 120-acre tract of timber 
 land, situated in the center of the town of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 637 
 
 Addison, same county, which is to-day one 
 of the finest farms in the State, which he 
 left as a mark of his industry, and upon 
 which he spent about forty-three years of 
 his hfe. His wife's death occurred Octo- 
 ber 4, 1855. She was the mother of six 
 children, of whom three are now living — 
 Catharine, John J. and Andrew — the 
 others having died in infancy, John J. 
 being only about two years old, and his 
 brother, Andrew, one hour old when she 
 died. On the 6th day of November, 
 1856, Mr. Sherman married Miss Anna 
 Maria Albert, also a native of Germany, 
 who became the mother of eight children, 
 seven of whom are now living. Mr. Sher- 
 man died June 7, 1890, and his widow in 
 1892. When he located upon his farm 
 scarcely a stick of timber had been cut in 
 the locality; but he set to work to clear 
 the land, thoroughly improve it, and at 
 the time of his death ranked among the 
 leading farmers of his community. He 
 was a Democrat in politics, but in the 
 great campaign of i860 cast his vote for 
 Abraham Lincoln. He held all the of- 
 fices in his township during the course of 
 his life, was also county commissioner, 
 and was placed in many positions of honor 
 and trust He was liberal in his dona- 
 tions for the welfare of the public, and es- 
 pecially toward the poor, to which he 
 never refused food or shelter. Jacob 
 Sherman was a fine specimen of physical 
 development. He was tall, straight and 
 active until he died; a man of sterling 
 principle and integrity, honored and loved 
 by all who knew him. In their re- 
 ligious faith the family have always been 
 Catholics. 
 
 John J. Sherman was born August 28, 
 1853. on the old homestead in Addison 
 township, Washington Co. , Wis. He 
 was reared on the farm until twelve years 
 of age, when he entered St. Gall's Acad- 
 emy at Milwaukee, from which he Was 
 graduated at the age of fifteen. Finding 
 it necessary to provide for his own educa- 
 tion, he taught school in the winter, going 
 
 to school in summer time, and also at- 
 35 
 
 tended the Normal School at Whitewater 
 for about three years. In 1869 he entered 
 the State University at Madison, taking a 
 special course in mathematics. He taught 
 German, bookkeeping and mathematics 
 for several years in the public schools at 
 Milwaukee, and was employed as a teach- 
 er altogether about ten years. During 
 the summers of 1874-75 he clerked in a 
 large general mercantile establishment 
 with the full intention of entering mercan- 
 tile pursuits, but relinquished the idea to 
 accept the position of teacher, which was 
 offered him in Milwaukee. This he re- 
 signed in the winter of 1878-79, and 
 went to Wausau, Wis. , where he became 
 acquainted with and married Miss Mary 
 E. Dengel, and engaged in merchandising 
 under the firm name of Dengel & Sher- 
 man, continuing seven years. He was 
 then elected city clerk on the Democratic 
 ticket, and served one 3'ear, during which 
 said city built a system of water works 
 costing over one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, and a city hall costing fifteen 
 thousand dollars, besides making many 
 other valuable improvements; all of said 
 work was chiefly superintended and care- 
 fully watched by Mr. Sherman, and it is 
 claimed that he saved the city over ten 
 thousand dollars by his close supervision. 
 He also took the State census of the city 
 of Wausau that year. In 1886 he took a 
 contract to provide the county with a set 
 of abstracts, a task which occupied his 
 attention for nearly three years. In 1890 
 he assisted in organizing and opening for' 
 business the German-American Savings 
 Bank of Wausau, Wis., the institution 
 becoming a national bank the following 
 year. On March 4, 1893, he was nomi- 
 nated by the Democrats for count}' judge 
 for the term commencing January i, 1894. 
 His candidacy was endorsed by the Re- 
 publicans, and he was elected on the 4th 
 day of April, 1893, by unanimous vote of 
 the people. The outgoing judge resigned 
 in July, 1893, and Mr. Sherman was ap- 
 pointed by the Governor to fill the 
 vacancy. He served the balance of the 
 
62S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 unexpired term and qualified for the new 
 term, but resigned to accept the position 
 of cashier in the Citizens National Bank 
 at Appleton (which opened for business 
 January 15, 1894), a position he still 
 holds. Mr. Sherman never received any 
 help from home after he was fifteen years 
 old, yet his earnest, untiring efforts to 
 make his life of some account have been 
 crowned with success, as his ample means, 
 his position in business and society, and 
 the esteen in which he is held splendidly 
 testify. 
 
 Mr. Sherman was twice married: first 
 time, February 18, 1879, to Miss Mary 
 E. Dengel, who was born February 12, 
 1857, in Hartford, Wis., a daughter of 
 Adam and Mary (Schwoerbel) Dengel, 
 natives of Germany. Adam Dengel fgreat- 
 grandfather of Mrs. Sherman) died in the 
 Fatherland at the age of seventy-seven 
 years, and his son, John Dengel (grand- 
 father of Mrs. Sherman), came, in 1846, 
 to the United States with his children — 
 two sons, John and Adam, and one 
 daughter, Mary — whose mother, Mrs. 
 Catherine (I-iloeckner) Dengel, died in 
 Germany at the early age of thirty-three 
 years. Adam Dengel (father of Mrs. 
 Sherman) was born July 26, 1832, and 
 was married November i, 1853, to Miss 
 Mary Schwoerbel, who was born August 
 I, 1834, a daughter of Paul and Maria 
 Schwoerbel, who in 1849 brought her and 
 her five elder brothers and sisters (who 
 are yet living) from Germany to America. 
 "Their father died at the age of fifty-four, 
 and their mother when fourscore and five 
 years old. Adam and Mary Dengel, par- 
 ents of Mrs. Mary E. Sherman, are still 
 living in Appleton, Wis. , where he is en- 
 gaged in mercantile pursuits. To John 
 J. and Mary E. Sherman were born two 
 children, Adam Edward and Margaret, 
 the latter of whom died in infancy. The 
 mother of these departed this life Decem- 
 ber 20, 1 886, beloved by all who knew 
 her and deeply regretted. She was in 
 many ways a remarkable woman, full of 
 business activity, and a grand manager; 
 
 well educated and of refined culture, she 
 surrounded herself with hosts of admiring 
 and loving friends who mourn her as a 
 dear sister. 
 
 On May i, 1888, Mr. Sherman mar- 
 ried Miss Helen Kamps, daughter of 
 Gerhard Kamps, and three children were 
 born to this union: Margaret, Henry 
 A., who died in infancy, and Marie J"hn 
 Henry Kamps, grandfather of Mrs. John 
 J. Sherman, was born July 4, 1797, at 
 Winnekendonk, Kreis Gelden, R. B. 
 Duesseldorf, R. P. Preussen, Germany; 
 came to America in i860, and located in 
 Washington county, Wis. After one year 
 he removed to .Appleton, Wis., where he 
 resided until his death. On September 
 17, 1 87 1, he celebrated his Golden Wed- 
 ing, and died at Appleton, Wis., July 17, 
 1S76. On September 17, 1821, he mar- 
 ried Maria Agnes Blankenmeier, born 
 September i, 1806, at Borth, R. B. 
 Duesseldorf, I\reis Moers, Burgermeistrei 
 Veen, R. P. Preussen, Germany, who be- 
 came the mother of eight children: Ever- 
 hart, Anna Katharine, John, Gerhard, 
 Mechtilda, John Cornelius, Theodore 
 \\'illiam, and ^faria. She died at Apple- 
 ton, Wis., September 4, 1873. Gerhard 
 Kamps, father of Mrs. John J. Sherman, 
 was born October 8, 1833, at Menslen, 
 Kreis Moers, R. B. Duesseldorf, R. P. 
 Preussen, Germany; received a common- 
 school education and learned the saddlery 
 business. He entered the Prussian arm}' 
 in 1853, and served as lancer in the 
 Fifth Uhlanen Regiment a little over 
 three years, receiving an honorable dis- 
 charge from the King of Prussia. 
 
 In i860 he came to America with his 
 parents, and to Appleton, Wis., March 
 8, 1 86 1, where he opened a harness and 
 saddlery business, which he continued up 
 to April I, 1894, when he retired from 
 business. 
 
 On July 4, 1 86 1, he was married to 
 Katherina Jansen, who was born Decem- 
 ber 19, 1 84 1, at Zifflich, Kreis Cleve, 
 Prussia, Germany, a daughter of Herman 
 Jansen and Helena (Bomkanip) Jansen, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 62c 
 
 the former a native of Germany, the lat- 
 ter of Holland. She became the mother 
 of seven children: John Henry, Helen, 
 Herman, Agnes, Theodore E., Everhard, 
 and Catherina, all living excepting the 
 latter two, who died in infancy. Mrs. 
 Gerhard Kamps died April 20, 1872, and 
 January 21, 1873, Gerhard Kamps was 
 married to Sophia Baumann, who was 
 born December 13, 1849, at Alpen, Ger- 
 many. She became the mother of seven 
 children, four of which are living, named 
 respectively: William F., Richard, Hen- 
 rietta, and Margareth. Mr. Kamps was 
 also engaged in the hide and leather busi- 
 ness during the last-twenty-five years. 
 He has been very successful in all his 
 undertakings, and has acquired consider- 
 able property, from the income of which 
 he is now enjoying his old age. 
 
 In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Sher- 
 man are members of the Catholic Church. 
 Socially he is a State officer in the 
 Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, also a 
 member of the Family Protective Associ- 
 ation of Wisconsin, and the Roman 
 Catholic Central Society. During his life 
 Mr. Sherman has dealt more or less in 
 real estate, and is at this time owner of 
 considerable timber and some mineral 
 lands and city lots. He has also heavy 
 interests in Marathon and Lincoln coun- 
 ties, but fully intends to continue to make 
 Appleton his home, his diversified inter- 
 ests being easily conducted from here, 
 while other circumstances and surround- 
 ings are highly satisfactory. 
 
 HG. SAECKER, of Appleton, was 
 was born November 16, 1858, in 
 Germany, and was brought to 
 America in 1868 by his parents, 
 G. and Hannah Saecker. 
 
 At the age of sixteen our subject left 
 home and worked in a farm-machinery 
 factory for three years, for the next two 
 }'ears working at the same business at 
 Oak Grove, Dodge county, whence he 
 went to Markesan. Green Lake county. 
 
 Here he worked at blacksmithing three 
 years, or until January, 1883, when he 
 came to Appleton, and in company 
 with his brothers, W. F. and F. E. and 
 L. Olmstead, organized ' the Appleton 
 Machine Company, principally for the 
 purposes of jobbing and repairing, first 
 employing seven men, and rapidly extend- 
 ing the business. In 18S5 the eldest 
 brother's health failed, and he sold his 
 interest to the concern. In 1S88 the 
 two younger brothers and L. Olmstead 
 bought the interest of Mr. Bassett in the 
 factory of Morgan & Bassett, and soon in- 
 creased the number of employes, H. G. 
 Saecker being the secretary and treasurer 
 of the company. 
 
 The marriage of our subject took 
 place in 1891 to Miss Margaret Engler, a 
 native of Appleton. and daughter of Chris- 
 tian Engler, an old settler, and one child 
 has blessed this union — Enid Margaret. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Saecker are members of 
 the M. E. Church, and are much re- 
 pected for their many sterling traits of 
 character. 
 
 FE. SAECKER. of Appleton, was 
 born September i, 1854, in Ger- 
 many, and in 1868 came to 
 America with his parents, G. F. 
 and Hannah Saecker. 
 
 When old enough he entered his 
 father's blacksmith shop, and by the time he 
 was seventeen years of age had thorough- 
 ly learned the trade. He then followed 
 blacksmithing in different cities, and at 
 Horicon and Beaver Dam, Wis. ; was 
 engaged at carriage and wagon-making, 
 in 1874 coming to Appleton and entering 
 the blacksmith department of the Apple- 
 ton Manufacturing Co., where he remain- 
 ed eight years. In 1882 the Appleton 
 Machine Co. was organized, its members 
 comprising the three brothers, W. F. , F. 
 E. and H. G. Saecker, and Lamar Olm- 
 stead; but in a few years they bought out 
 the interest of the eldest brother, who 
 sold his interest on account of ill health. 
 
630 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Later on F. E. and H. G. Saecker and 
 Mr. Olmstead bought out the Morgan & 
 Bassett Factory, Mr. Morgan, however, 
 remaining in the firm. In 1894 they 
 bought Mr. Olmstead's interest, and the 
 firm name is now F. E. & H. G. 
 Saecker, Mr. Morgan being a silent 
 partner. The two brothers have al- 
 ways had the management of the busi- 
 ness, and from a small affair have en- 
 larged it to such proportions that it now 
 gives employment to hft\'-two hands. 
 
 On December 19, 1878, F. E. Saeck- 
 er married Miss Minnie Breitrick, a 
 daughter of Carl Breitrick, one of the 
 early settlers of Outagamie county, and 
 to this union were born three children, 
 two of whom died in infancy, leaving 
 Edna Estella the only child. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Saecker are members of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church, of Appleton, and 
 are greatly respected by their friends and 
 neighbors. Mr. Saecker is a member of 
 the Masonic Fraternity and the Temple 
 of Honor; in politics he is a strong Re- 
 publican. 
 
 WF. SAECKER, general man- 
 ager of the Union Toy & Furni- 
 ture Co., Appleton, Outagamie 
 county, was born in Germany, 
 September 20, 1852, a son of G. F. and 
 Hannah (Radkae) Saecker, who were 
 married in 1 844. They came to America 
 in 1868, and first located in Dodge county. 
 Wis., but later moved to Green Lake 
 county, whence they moved to Appleton, 
 their present home. They are the parents 
 of si.x sons and one daughter. 
 
 Our subject was fourteen years old 
 when he started out to make a living, 
 working at first on a farm. When six- 
 teen he went into his father's blacksmith 
 shop to learn the trade, and served an 
 apprenticeship of four years, becoming an 
 adept. Later he went into Ijusiness at 
 Horicon, Dodge county, continuing there 
 until 1877, when he came to Appleton, 
 and for eight years was foreman of the 
 
 blacksmith department of the Appleton 
 Manufacturing Co. Then, in company 
 with two of his brothers, F. E. and H. G. 
 Saecker, he organized the Appleton Ma- 
 chine Co., with himself as foreman. At 
 the end of five years, however, he was 
 obliged to dispose of his interest in the 
 concern on account of poor health. In 
 1888, having recuperated, he organized 
 the Union Toy & Furniture Co., accept- 
 ing the position of general manager, and 
 so ably has he conducted the business 
 that the company now gives emploj'ment 
 to forty men. The term self-made ap- 
 plies with peculiar force to our subject, 
 his only capital at the start being his 
 skill and energy. 
 
 Politically Mr. Saecker is a Republi- 
 can, and has served two terms in the city 
 council. He takes much interest in edu- 
 cational matters, although his own ad- 
 vantages in this respect were quite limited 
 in his youth, as he had attended only the 
 common schools of that period, and he 
 has proved himself to be an upright and 
 useful citizen. He was married, in 1875, 
 to Miss Bertha M. Jaeger, a native of 
 Germany and a daughter of David Jaeger, 
 a millwright, who came to the United 
 States when his daughter was but a child, 
 settling in Dodge county, W"is. To this 
 marriage have been born two children. 
 Laura and Ada. The family are all 
 members of the M. E. Church, and enjoy 
 the respect of all who know them. 
 
 J A M E S M U R R A Y. Prominent 
 among the most respected and pro- 
 gressive agriculturists of Maple Creek 
 township, Outagamie county, is to 
 be found this well-known, enterprising cit- 
 izen, who is a native of the North of Ire- 
 land, born August 24, 1847, in County 
 Armagh. 
 
 In 1854 he was brought to Canada by 
 his parents, and after a short sojourn in 
 Montreal they located on a farm at 
 Sherrington, Napierville county, Oue. , 
 where our subject resided until 1862, in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 631 
 
 that year removing to West Hawkesbury, 
 Prestcott Co. , Ont. , where for two and 
 one-half years he followed blacksmithinj;'. 
 He then moved to \'ankleek Hill, same 
 county, and for nine months worked at 
 his trade, at the expiry of which time he 
 came to Waupaca county. Wis. , and in 
 New London, during the first year, con- 
 tinued his trade; then removed to Osh- 
 kosh (Winnebago), thence, after a short 
 time, to Medina (Outagamie), from there 
 to lola fWaupaca), and here resided a 
 year. About this time he revisited Can- 
 ada, sojouring in Montreal, in the follow- 
 ing spring returning to Oshkosh and lola. 
 Wis. , in the latter place establishing a 
 general blacksmithing business for his own 
 account. At the end of eighteen months, 
 however, he removed to Detroit, Mich., 
 where for six months he worked in the 
 Michigan Car Company's shops; then 
 once more came to New London, Wis., 
 and, for the second time in this State, 
 opened a general blacksmith shop, which 
 he conducted fourteen years with remark- 
 able success, fn the spring of 1884 he 
 commenced railroading, and for about 
 sixteen months was manager of Bingham 
 & Perrin's boarding camps. In the fall 
 of I.S85 he purchased an interest in a saw- 
 mill at Sugar Bush, Maple Creek town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, and, up to Feb- 
 ruary of the following year, was engaged 
 in sawmilling; then sold his interest in the 
 mill, and again took up blacksmithing in 
 New London, carrying on the business 
 there till October, same year, and then 
 commenced in same line in Antigo; but in 
 March, 1887, he sold out here, and re- 
 moved to his present farm in Maple Creek 
 township, which he had purchased, and 
 where he has since successfully carried on 
 general agriculture. On June 17, 1868, 
 Mr. Murray was married in Montreal, 
 Canada, to Margaret, daughter of James 
 and Ann (Heneberry) Heffernan, and their 
 union has been blessed with eight chil- 
 dren, as follows: Mary Ann, born No- 
 vember 29, 1869, deceased in 1870; Ed- 
 ward James, born June 9, 1871; Eliza- 
 
 beth Jane, born September 4, 1872, a 
 school teacher; William Bernard, born 
 December 13. 1874, a telegraph operator 
 at Cedar, near Lake Superior; John Jo- 
 seph, born July 27, 1876, a school teacher 
 in District No. 2, Outagamie county. 
 Deer Creek township; Charles Andrew, 
 born March i, 1878; Ellen Teresa, born 
 August 25, 1880; and Francis Thomas, 
 born October 31, 1883. In his political 
 preferences Mr. Murray is a Democrat, 
 and was a delegate to the convention that 
 nominated John Brill for assemblyman, 
 and also a chosen delegate for the District 
 that nominated Senator Kenned}'. He 
 has held many positions of honor and 
 trust in both New London and Maple 
 Creek township. Between the years 1875 
 and 1893, during his first stay in New 
 London, he represented the First ward of 
 the then village as trustee one year; served 
 ten years in the fire department, five years 
 in succession as foreman, which position 
 he resigned to accept that of chief engi- 
 neer; represented the Fourth ward as first 
 alderman after the incorporation of New 
 London as a city, and served four years 
 in succession; then represented the Fourth 
 ward on the county board one year; was 
 mayor of the citj- during a portion of the 
 years 1883-84; and while again a resident 
 of New London, in 1886, was again elected 
 to fill the position of alderman, this time 
 representing the Fifth ward. 
 
 John and Mary (Smith) Murray, par- 
 ents of our subject, were natives of Ire- 
 land, well-to-do farming people, whence, 
 as already recorded. the\' came to Can- 
 ada in 1854, both dying in Napierville, 
 Province of Quebec, the father on May 
 20, 1866, the mother in 1876. They had 
 a family of twelve children, five of whom 
 survive, including our subject, a brief rec- 
 ord of the other four being as follows: 
 Margaret, wife of William Kelley; Mary 
 Ann, widow of Patrick Hughes, and 
 Ellen, wife of David Smith, all three live 
 in Montreal; while William is a whole- 
 sale grocery merchant and very promi- 
 nent citizen of Sherbrooke, Province of 
 
632 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Quebec, Canada, and of whom the Do- 
 mi iiioii Illustrated Xt-u'sptipL-r for August, 
 1880, says: " His sou id judgment, com- 
 bined with an affability of manner which 
 renders him at all times easy of approach, 
 makes him exceedingly popular; and, per- 
 haps, there is no man in the city whose 
 advice is deemed more reliable, and whose 
 opinion carries more weight." 
 
 WILLIAM W. BRIGGS, for some 
 years a prominent real-estate 
 dealer and hotel-keeper in Ap- 
 pleton, but now retired, was 
 born in the town of Buckfield, Maine, 
 August 12, 1823, a son of Daniel and 
 Phebe (Thomas) Briggs, natives of Mas- 
 sachusetts and Maine, respectively. 
 
 Daniel Briggs was born July 5, 1774, 
 and became a manufacturer of drums; his 
 wife was born September 6, 1787. Their 
 family numbered seven children — five 
 sons and two daughters — three of whom 
 are yet living; David, William W. and 
 Augustine C. The parents both died in 
 Maine, the father on April 15, i860, the 
 mother on September 6, 1837, when 
 William W. was fourteen years old. In 
 1825 the family moved from Buckfield, 
 Maine, to Monson, same State, where our 
 subject attended the common schools un- 
 til he was sixteen years of age. He then 
 for three years worked on a farm, after 
 which he went into the lumbering busi- 
 ness, taking charge of camps and mills, 
 and driving logs on the river. In the fall 
 of 1 8 5 2 he came west to Wisconsin, settling 
 in Hortonville, Outagamie county. Here, 
 in September, same year, in company 
 with his brother, David, and brother-in- 
 law, H. B. Sanborn, he purchased a half 
 interest in the village plat of Hortonville, 
 and a half section of pine land, as well as 
 a sawmill. In 1853 the company put up 
 a flouring mill, the first one built west 
 and north of Appleton, but in 1854 the 
 property was divided, David Briggs re- 
 taining the sawmill and timber land, 
 William W. Briggs and Mr. Sanborn 
 
 taking the gristmill and village plat. In 
 January, 1857, these two completed a 
 new mill, added thereto steam power, 
 and this same mill is still running. The 
 town they platted and sold lots thereof 
 until 1 861, when Mr. Sanborn disposed 
 of his interest to Daniel Briggs, after 
 which the brothers continued in partner- 
 ship (Ira Hersey having in the meantime 
 united with thenij until 1865, when Wil- 
 liam W. Briggs sold out his interest. 
 They had added many improvements, did 
 an extensive business, and furnished flour, 
 etc. , for the whole of this northern lumber- 
 ing district. Aftersellinghis interest in this 
 property our subject bought and sold real 
 estate in and about Hortonville until 
 March, 1870, when he moved to Apple- 
 ton with his famil}-, and invested in real 
 estate in that city. In 1873 he bought 
 the hotel then known as the " Waverly 
 House," and moved it onto another piece 
 of land. The following 3'ear he put it in 
 thorough repair and opened it as the 
 '■ Briggs House," conducting it four years. 
 In 1882 he built a brick addition, enhanc- 
 ing its value materially, but in June, 
 1890, he sold the entire property, which 
 is now owned by Mr. Ferry, who still 
 conducts the hotel business most success- 
 fully. Since then Mr. Briggs has lived 
 retired. 
 
 On July 20, 1 85 1, our subject was 
 married to Miss Mary E. Page, who was 
 born in Jackson, Waldo Co., Maine, 
 March 30, 1825, a daughter of William 
 and Sarah (Cram) Page, both natives of 
 New Hampshire. The father, who was 
 a blacksmith by trade, was born in 1794, 
 was a soldier in the war of 1812, and died 
 in 1879; the mother was born in 1796, 
 and died in 1883. They had a family of 
 fourteen children — eight sons and six 
 daughters. To Mr. and Mrs. William 
 W. Briggs have been born, in Hortonville, 
 Wis., two children: Ebin Page, March 
 20, 1854, and Eliza M., in 1856, now 
 the wife of A. B. Whitman, of Appleton; 
 Ebin P. graduated from Lawrence Uni- 
 versity in 1876, is married and now lives 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 633 
 
 on a farm. Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Brings 
 are members of the Free-Will Baptist 
 Church at Hortonville; in poHtics he is a 
 RepubUcan. In i 890 they visited their 
 old home in Maine, where they attended 
 a reunion of the Page family, there being 
 present on that occasion fifty-nine mem- 
 bers, all relations. 
 
 ALEXANDER BERT WHITMAN. 
 No profession develops, with so 
 much of accuracy and masculine 
 vigor, the native intellectual pre- 
 dominancies as that of the law. Whilst 
 it opens a vast field for profound philo- 
 sophic inquiry, it at the same time im- 
 periously demands an acute and close 
 observation of the daily workings of prac- 
 tical life. The materials for the founda- 
 tion of society, which are scattered around 
 broadcast and in profusion, often the most 
 heterogeneous and crude, have to be 
 molded into form and symmetry by the 
 application of great principles. These 
 rude materials and these great principles 
 have to be fused together in the cruci- 
 ble, and the process of melting down and 
 refining the former is undergone by firm 
 and unyielding contact with the latter. 
 The very highest development of intel- 
 lectual vigor, the most profound and 
 comprehensive knowledge of principle, is 
 often found inadequate to this arduous 
 task; for with these must be united a 
 clear and quick sagacity, an adaptation to 
 the habits and modes of thought by those 
 surrounding the legislator or judicial func- 
 tionary, or all his well-meant labors will, 
 like the fabled fruit of the plain, " turn to 
 ashes on the lip." Among those who 
 act conspicuously in thus moulding and 
 fashioning society in northern Wisconsin 
 stands eminently forward the gentleman 
 whose name opens this article. 
 
 Mr. Whitman was born in the town of 
 Turner, Maine, April i, 1854, a son of 
 Sylvesters, and Nancy M. (Waite) Whit- 
 man, who were married in 1833. The 
 father was a native of Massachusetts, 
 
 whence, when he was a small boy, his 
 parents moved to Maine; the mother of 
 our subject was a native of Maine. They 
 had a family of si.x children, and with 
 them moved, in 1856, westward to Osh- 
 kosh. Wis., where they commenced a 
 new home. Here Sylvester S. Whitman 
 established the first match factory in 
 Wisconsin, but at the end of two years 
 sold out and removed to Hortonville, 
 same State, where he engaged in the 
 lumbering business. Here, with the ex- 
 ception of a short sojourn in the town of 
 Appleton, he passed the rest of his days, 
 dying June 3, 1894, after an active, busy 
 life; his wife had preceded him to the 
 grave in 1873. Sylvester Whitman was 
 a captain in one of the Maine regiments 
 in the so-called "Aroostook war," which 
 was a dispute in regard to the settlement 
 of the boundary line between Maine and 
 New Brunswick in 1 842. He was a strong 
 Jacksonian Democrat. His brother Sam- 
 uel was a soldier in the war of 181 2. 
 Grandfather Joshua Whitman was a 
 farmer by occupation, owned a sawmill 
 in Maine, and was a Revolutionary soldier. 
 The subject of this sketch was edu- 
 cated at the common schools of Wiscon- 
 sin up to the age of sixteen, when he en- 
 tered Lawrence University at Appleton, 
 graduating therefrom in 1875. During a 
 portion of his early manhood he worked in 
 the woods, lumbering, and occasionally 
 taught school. In 1880 he entered Bot- 
 tensek & Harriman's law office at Apple- 
 ton as a student of law, and in 1882 was 
 admitted to the bar. In the following 
 year the firm of Whitman & Spsncer was 
 formed, and a law office opened in Apple- 
 ton, which was conducted five years. At 
 the end of that time, Mr. Spencer having 
 moved away, Mr. Whitman assumed sole 
 control, and has since carried on the busi- 
 ness single-handed, making a specialty of 
 corporation law. He is attorney for the 
 two Building Associations of Appleton, 
 and enjoys a wide reputation for his legal 
 acumen and sagacity. He is also con- 
 siderably interested in real-estate deals 
 
6.34 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and manufacturing industries, and is presi- 
 dent of the Appleton Knitting Company 
 and the Appleton Chair Company. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Whitman was married to 
 Miss Eliza M. Briggs, daughter of William 
 W. and Mary E. (Page) Briggs, of Apple- 
 ton, and to this union have been born three 
 children, viz.: Irene L. , Mar\' A. and 
 Elizabeth C. In his political affiliations 
 Mr. Whitman is a Republican, taking a 
 lively interest in the affairs of his party. 
 In 1887-88 he served as county attorney, 
 and in i S94 as city attorney; from 1882 
 to 1890 he was city superintendent of 
 schools, in all of which positions he gave 
 the utmost satisfaction to his constituents. 
 Socially he is an active member of the 
 I. O. O. F. , and he is held in the highest 
 estimation by the entire conmiunity. 
 
 CHARLES BREITRICK. The 
 Breitrick family are natives of 
 Sa.xony, Prussia, Charles, Sr. , 
 the father of our subject, having 
 been born there April 24, 1S22. His 
 father, Andrew Breitrick, was reared a 
 farmer, and followed that occupation all 
 his life. When a young man he married 
 Miss Rosa Kroshaus, a native of the same 
 country, who died when forty years old; 
 he also passed away while still in his 
 prime. They were the parents of eight 
 children, all of whom are now deceased 
 except three. 
 
 Charles Breitrick, son of Andrew Breit- 
 rick, was educated in Germany; was 
 reared on a farm, and was a young man 
 when his parents died. At the age of 
 twenty years he entered the German 
 army, serving three years, and after his 
 return and the settling up of the estate, 
 came to the United States. He sailed on 
 the "Alexander Edmond," and was on 
 the water fifty-six days, going directly to 
 Milwaukee, Wis. There he was married 
 to Miss Wilhelmina Herman, to whom he 
 was engaged before leaving the old coun- 
 
 try and who came to America in the same 
 boat with himself. After their marriage 
 they moved to Waupaca county, where he 
 worked on a farm for about eight months. 
 From there he went to the town of 
 Greenville, Outagamie Co., Wis., and 
 purchased 160 acres of land upon which 
 he located, and engaged in cutting the 
 timber and preparing the ground for cul- 
 tivation. There he remained five years, 
 then selling out removed to the town of 
 Ellington, same county, where he bought 
 eighty acres of land and began once more 
 the tedious task of clearing timbered land; 
 later he added another eighty acres, mak- 
 ing his farm then consisting of a quarter 
 section. This place he continued to work 
 until his death, which occurred April 23, 
 1 89 1, when he was aged sixty-nine years. 
 He had seen much hard work and borne 
 the privations incident to a Wisconsin 
 pioneer. In politics he was a Repub- 
 lican, taking an active interest in local 
 elections and all matters which pertained 
 to the public good. He was a member 
 of the Evangelical Church, and was great- 
 ly respected by all who knew him. Mrs. 
 Breitrick died March 27, 1880, the 
 mother of five children, viz. : Albert, 
 Minnie (who married F. E. Saecker, of 
 Appleton), Rosa (who married Charles 
 H. Mory, of Cicero, Outagamie county), 
 Carrie and Charles, our subject. 
 
 Charles Breitrick was born in i 864 in 
 Ellington, Wis. He was educated in the 
 public schools of Ellington, and being 
 reared an agriculturist, was early initiated 
 into the duties of farm life. From early 
 childhood he has taken great interest in 
 agriculture, and when he began to farm 
 in earnest took much pride in doing his 
 work well and raising the best crops pos- 
 sible. The old homestead is now his, 
 and he derives much satisfaction in keep- 
 ing it up to a high state of cultivation. 
 In politics and religion he has followed in 
 his father's footsteps in holding allegi- 
 ance to the Republican party and in be- 
 ing a member of the Evangelical Church. 
 He is a very exemplary young man, and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 635 
 
 has made a good start in life; has good 
 business habits, and his social disposition 
 has won him many warm friends. 
 
 EDWARD W. BREYER was born 
 October i.S, 1869, on the farm he 
 now o\\ns and occupies in the 
 township of Dale, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis. His grandparents, who were 
 Germans and people of considerable means, 
 owned and operated a large farm, and 
 were also the owners of a liverj' establish- 
 ment at Ludwigsburg, where they resided. 
 They had two children, Fred and George. 
 George Breyer, father of Edward, was 
 born October 1 1, 1830, was given a good 
 German education, was a ready scholar, 
 and became an extensive reader. Resid- 
 ing at home until he was twenty-one years 
 of age, he then came to the United States 
 and found employment as overseer of 
 slaves on a plantation in Maryland. This 
 occupation proving anything but con- 
 genial, he soon relinquished it and came 
 to \\'iscon5in, locating in Waukesha 
 county and renting a half section of land, 
 upon which he engaged in farming. After 
 some two years he came to Dale, Outa- 
 gamie county, where he purchased the 
 farm now owned by his son, Edward W. , 
 becoming one of the early settlers of the 
 township. His land being covered with 
 timber he immediate!}' began the work of 
 clearing and preparing it for cultivation. 
 He made good improvements, erected ex- 
 cellent buildings, and was one of the most 
 successful and prominent farmers in the 
 town. Always a man of ability and 
 energy, he naturally took a leading part 
 in the improvement and development of 
 his township. A poor boy when he ar- 
 rived in the United States, his possessions 
 at this date are worth probably twelve 
 thousand dollars. He was ever noted for 
 his honesty, his genial hospitality and 
 sunny disposition, and has always been 
 deservedly popular in the community. In 
 politics a Republican, he has attended 
 strictly to his duty as a voter, but never 
 
 mingled actively in political affairs, and in 
 religious faith he is a member of the M. 
 E. Church. Mr. Breyer was married to 
 Maggie Fischer, who was born in Witten- 
 berg, Germany, December 15, 1831. 
 They are the parents of seven children, 
 of whom Fred, Edward W., and George 
 are living; and Lena, Maggie, Lewis and 
 Julia are deceased. 
 
 Edward W. Breyer received his pre- 
 liminary education in the common schools 
 of Dale township, and completed his 
 studies in the I-iyan High School at Apple- 
 ton, making the most of his opportunities 
 in both. When seventeen years of age 
 he learned the trade of cheese-making, 
 which he followed for the succeeding five 
 years, during the time representing his 
 factory on the board of trade at Berlin, 
 Wis. On December i, 1890, he married 
 Mollie Kobiska, who was born in the town 
 of Bloomfield, Waushara Co., Wis., July 
 22, 1866; her parents were Germans, and 
 probably of Polish descent. Since his 
 marriage Mr. Breyer has been engaged in 
 farming, in which occupation he is achiev- 
 ing marked success. Like his father he 
 is in politics a member of the Republican 
 party. Mr. and Mrs. Breyer have one 
 child, Lena, born February 13, 1894. 
 
 JOHN M. SCHMIT. The family of 
 Schmits, as the name implies, is of 
 German descent. Nicholas Schmit, 
 the father of our subject, was born 
 in Luxemburg, Germany, November i, 
 1826, and is a son of Bernhard Schmit, 
 who was born in 1781 and died at the 
 age of eighty-five years. He was a 
 blacksmith and farmer in Luxemburg, 
 where he lived throughout his life, and 
 he married Susan Arnolde, a native of 
 the same place, who was born in 1783 
 and died in 1840, the mother of eight 
 children, as follows: Dominec, born in 
 1810, came to the United States in 1856, 
 locating in the township of Ellington, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis., and died October 
 26, 1891; John, born in 1815, emigrated 
 
636 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 to America in March, 1847, locating in 
 the city of Milwaukee, Wis., where he 
 remained two years, and then came in 
 company with Peter, Mathias. Nicholas 
 and A. Schmit to Greenville, Wis., Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1847 (of these, John died in 
 Appleton, Wis., August 2, 1887; and 
 Mathias, who located with John, was 
 born June 15, 1818, and died December 
 2, 1886); and two girls who died in Ger- 
 many. The Schmits of this country are 
 all descendants of these brothers. 
 
 Nicholas Schmit received a common- 
 school education, and at the age of eight- 
 een years commenced an apprenticeship 
 in a blacksmith shop, which vocation he 
 followed until he came to this country in 
 1852. The voyage was made in a sail- 
 ing vessel, which left March 15, 1852, 
 and landed at New York sixty-two days 
 later. At once coming to Appleton, 
 Wis. , he here secured work at his trade 
 for the Canal Company, remaining with 
 them nine months. In April, 1853, he 
 went to Chicago and engaged with the Illi- 
 nois Central Railroad Company, in the 
 construction of their road, and worked for 
 same two years without losing a day. 
 On August 23, 1854, he was married to 
 Elizabeth Bungert, a native of Luxem- 
 burg, Germany, born September 8, 1834, 
 who was his schoolmate in that country. 
 Three children are the result of this 
 union, namely: Nicholas R., born Au- 
 gust 10, 1855, married June 2, 1879, to 
 Annie Stroup (they now reside in Green- 
 ville, Wis.); John M. (our subject), born 
 January 9, 1859; Lany, now Mrs. M. L. 
 Monster, of Clintonville, Wis., born Au- 
 gust 16, 1856. On March 28, 1855, 
 Mr. Schmit quit working for the Illinois 
 Central Railroad Company and came at 
 once to Ellington, Wis., where he pur- 
 chased forty acres of land, paying there- 
 for the sum of three hundred and fifty 
 dollars, which land is a part of the farm 
 now occupied by John M., our subject. 
 Here he located and began cutting the 
 timber in preparation for the planting of 
 crops, at first living in a log cabin, which 
 
 four years later was replaced by a sub- 
 stantial frame house. The same year he 
 bought of Moses Allen eighty acres of 
 land adjoining his place, which land was 
 covered with timber, but he cleared it 
 himself and prepared it for cultivation. 
 In June, 1881, he sold it to his son, John 
 M., for a consideration of four thousand 
 two hundred and fifty dollars. In 1871 
 he purchased another eighty acres of 
 land in the town of Ellington, which he 
 sold in the year 1883. In 1879 he pur- 
 chased one hundred acres of land in 
 Greenville township, which he deeded to 
 his son, Nicholas R., and to his daughter 
 he gave fifteen hundred dollars. He 
 came to this country a poor man, but by 
 hard work and close application to busi- 
 ness, coupled with careful habits and 
 German thrift, he was enabled to accu- 
 mulate an unusual amount of property 
 by farming. Politically he is an Inde- 
 pendent, and has made it a practice all 
 his life to vote for the best man, irrespec- 
 tive of party; however, his sympathies 
 are largely with the Republican party, 
 though they do not get his vote unless 
 their candidate appears to him to be the 
 best fitted for the place. He has always 
 taken an active interest in all questions 
 pertaining to the public welfare, both in 
 the town and county. 
 
 John M. Schmit, was born in the 
 town of Ellington, Outagamie Co., Wis., 
 on the farm he now owns and occupies. 
 His education was received in the public 
 schools in the vicinity of his home, and 
 when still a boy he commenced to assist 
 his father in the clearing of his land, sub- 
 sequently in putting in crops. After the 
 land came into his possession he added 
 many improvements to the place in the 
 way of a new house and substantial out- 
 buildings, which have added to its appear- 
 ance not a little. In politics he is a Re- 
 publican, and takes an active part in elec- 
 tions and all movements tending to the 
 benefit of the public generally. He has 
 been a member of the township board 
 and treasurer of the school district in 
 
COMMEMORAriVE BlOUltAFlIlCAL RECORD. 
 
 637 
 
 which he resides for thirteen years, and 
 is now vice-president of the Outagamie 
 Agricultural Society. He is an interested 
 member of the A. P. A., and believes 
 most fully in protecting our public schools, 
 which is the bulwark of the American 
 Republic. Mr. Schmit considered a wife 
 a most fitting and necessary adjunct to a 
 home, and when he came into possession 
 of a farm he wooed and won Miss Mary 
 Tiedt, of Greenville, Outagamie Co., Wis. ; 
 she was born February 28, 1856, in Vin- 
 land, Winnebago Co., Wis., a daughter 
 of John and Elizabeth Tiedt, natives of 
 Germany, who came to the United States. 
 Five children were born of this union, viz. : 
 Walter B., March 28, 1882; Alvin B., 
 May I, 1883; Oscar, October 31, 1888; 
 Reno, January 10, 1890; and Ella, April 
 28, 1894. Mr. Schmit is a domestic man 
 and takes great interest in his family of 
 little ones. He intends to give them all 
 a good practical education and fit them 
 for the work toward which their inclina- 
 tions may tend. 
 
 HENRY SCHUETTER. This well- 
 known gentlemen, proprietor of 
 the leading merchant-tailoring es- 
 tablishment in Appleton, and one 
 of the representative thorough business 
 men and wide-awake citizens of the 
 place, deserves prominent mention in this 
 volume. 
 
 He was born May 8, 185 1, at Ca- 
 pelle, near Munster, Westphalia, Prussia, 
 a son of William and Gertrude (Dickman) 
 Schuetter, the former also a native of 
 Capelle, born in 1807, the latter a native 
 of Prussia, born in 1805. William Schuet- 
 ter was a son of Henry William and Mary 
 Anna (Esberg) Schuetter (the father of 
 Capelle nativity, the mother of Werne, 
 Prussia), who had four children, to wit: 
 William, father of our subject; M. Anna, 
 who married Bernhard Mehring, by trade 
 a mason, which he followed in Capelle; 
 Elizabeth, married, who lived at Nord- 
 kirschen, Westphalia, near Capelle; and 
 
 M. Elizabeth, who married Theodore 
 Holtrup, a shoemaker by trade, also a 
 citizen of Capelle. William Schuetter, 
 father of our subject, learned the trades 
 of mason, builder and marble cutter, also 
 the profession of architect, and became 
 superintendent of public works in the em- 
 ploy of the Prussian Governiisent. He 
 married Miss Gertrude Dickman, daugh- 
 ter of and Annie Katherine Dick- 
 man, who were the parents of four chil- 
 dren, namely: Gertrude (Mrs. William 
 Schuetter); Annie Katherine, married to 
 John Bernard Neuhaus, and living on the 
 Dickman farm near Herbern, Westphalia, 
 Prussia; Theresa, now living at Luding- 
 hausen, Westphalia, Prussia; and B. 
 Henry, married and living in Dusseldorf, 
 Prussia, where he conducts a boot and 
 shoe business. To Mr. and Mrs. William 
 Schuetter were born three children, viz. : 
 Anna, who died in Germany June 18, 
 1855, aged eleven years; William, born 
 November 25, 1848, died January 2, 
 1850; and Henry, the subject proper of 
 this sketch. The parents of this family 
 both died in Westphalia, Prussia, the 
 father at Capelle, October 25, 1863, the 
 mother in Werne, June 23, 1869, at the 
 age of sixty-four years. 
 
 Henry Schuetter, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, received his education 
 at the schools of his native place, and was 
 there carefully reared. He was a twelve- 
 year-old boy when he lost his father, and 
 at the age of fifteen he moved to the city 
 of Ascheberg, where he commenced a 
 three-years' apprenticeship to the tailor's 
 trade. At the end of two years, having 
 made remarkably good progress, his em- 
 plover paid him for the third and last 
 year of his apprenticeship, and for this 
 man he worked four years in all. In 1870 
 he came to America, landing in New 
 York in July of that year, whence, believ- 
 ing there were better advantages for a 
 young man in the West, he pushed his 
 way inland till he reached Wisconsin, ar- 
 riving on a Saturday in the then village 
 of Appleton, where he had some friends 
 
638 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BWGUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 living;. On the following Monday morn- 
 ing he commenced working at his trade 
 for C. O. Callaghan, remaining with him 
 about two months, afterward finding em- 
 ployment with Edward Utley, H. A. 
 Phinney, and C. G. Mugridge, head cut- 
 ter for H. A. Phinney, to the latter of 
 whom he» confesses himself indebted for 
 being "put fairly on his feet" (as he ex- 
 presses himself j, he proving a true friend, 
 introducing him to many good citizens. 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Schuetter proceeded to Chi- 
 cago, where for about a year he carried 
 on his trade; but Mr. Phinney, of Apple- 
 ton, having secured for him a position as 
 assistant cutter under his old friend 
 Mr. Mugridge, he returned to Appleton, 
 and for the following two years filled 
 this position. Being abtiut this time 
 desirous of making a change, he laid 
 aside tailoring, and for a year clerked in 
 the store of Clark & Edwards, dealers in 
 dry goods. Returning now to his regular 
 trade, Mr. Schuetter on April i, 1874, 
 entered the employ of A. H. \'an Strat- 
 tum as head cutter, with him remaining 
 about four j'cars, at the end of which 
 time he worked for Mr. Ullman in the 
 same capacity. In April, 1883, he com- 
 menced business for his own account as 
 merchant tailor, and has now one of the 
 largest establishments of the kind in north- 
 ern Wisconsin, giving employment to 
 some twenty hands. His success is no 
 mystery, when is considered his energy, 
 perseverance, industry and general busi- 
 ness qualifications. He attends strictly to 
 business, buys strictly for cash, and is 
 strictly correct in all his dealings. 
 
 On May 16, 1876, Mr. Schuetter was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary Smith, 
 daughter of Mathias and Gertrude (Moritz) 
 Smith, natives of the village of Hatzen- 
 port, Rhenish Prussia, near Coblentz, 
 where, January 17, 1852, was born their 
 daughter Mary. The father, who was a 
 cabinet maker, brought his family to 
 America, in 1857, dying less than seven 
 months after landing; the mother passed 
 away November 13, 1873. They had 
 
 seven children, four of whom are living — 
 Sophia, Katie, Mary and Mathias — and 
 three deceased — two named Charley, and 
 one daughter, Thersia. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Schuetter have been blessed with seven 
 children, to wit: William G. H., Edward 
 C. (who died in 1880, in infancy), Carl 
 A., Gertrude X.. Clarissa A., Robert L. 
 and George M. The entire famil}' are 
 identified with the Catholic Church. Mr. 
 Schuetter is a member of the Catholic 
 Knights, and in his political predilections 
 he is an Independent. Financially suc- 
 cessful, he has, by industry and judicious 
 economj', accumulated a handsome com- 
 petence, owning a nice property on Col- 
 lege avenue, his fine residence on Si.\th 
 street, adjoining Prospect street (which 
 latter is one of the leading resident streets 
 in the citj' of Appleton), besides other 
 propert}'. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL STUTZMAN was born 
 March 22, 1868, in Morrison 
 township. Brown Co., Wis., 
 son of Michael and Minnie 
 Lenike Stutzinan, the former of whom 
 was born in New York City, the latter in 
 Germany. They were married in Morri- 
 son township, Brown Co. , Wis. , and to 
 their union were born six children — 
 Michael, William, George, Alvina (who 
 died at the age of five years), Carrie and 
 Minnie. Mr. Stutzman was a farmer, and 
 met with great success in his chosen voca- 
 tion. He bought eighty acres of partly- 
 cleared land in Morrison township, where 
 he resided three years, and then came to 
 Outagamie county, settling in Black Creek 
 township on another eighty-acre trfcCt of 
 wild land. At that time wild animals 
 were still numerous in the region, and 
 white settlers were ' ' few and far be- 
 tween." They built a log house, 20x28, 
 and commenced to clear and cultivate the 
 farm, the work progressing slowly at first, 
 as they had only the most primitive im- 
 plements to work with, and the first crop 
 was sown among the tree stumps. By 
 
COMMEMOHATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 639 
 
 persistent industry, however, a fine farm 
 was taken from the wilderness, which at 
 the time of his death comprised 160 acres 
 of highly cultivated land, well-equipped 
 with buildings and other improvements, 
 which he left to his sons, Michael and 
 ^\'illiam. In /862 Mr. Stutzman entered 
 the army and served until the close of the 
 Civil war, coming home almost completely 
 broken down in health by his long service. 
 He passed from earth in February, 1882, 
 and was buried in Black Creek; Mrs. 
 Stutzman has since married John End- 
 lich, with whom she now resides in Black 
 Creek. The sons, Michael and William, 
 are married, and are living on their farms, 
 while the other son, George, has a store 
 in Black Creek. They are all members 
 of the Lutheran Church at Black Creek. 
 Michael Stutzman is an industrious young 
 farmer, and has cleared all but twelve 
 acres of his land. 
 
 WARREN M. WEBSTER, the en- 
 terprising mill proprietor of Ap- 
 pleton, was born September 10, 
 1837, in Westmoreland, Oneida 
 Co., N. Y. Matthew Webster, his father, 
 was a native of Massachusetts, born in 
 1804, son of Elisha Webster, who was a 
 cooper; the latter was a native of Massa- 
 chusetts, but in an early day moved to 
 Oneida count}', N. Y. Matthew Webster, 
 who was a carpenter, married Electa Ful- 
 ler, a native of New York, in 1828, and 
 the}' had two children, George and War- 
 ren M. ; the father of these died in 1842, 
 the mother in 1845. 
 
 Warren M. Webster, as will be seen, 
 was little more than an infant when he 
 was left to take care of himself, and was 
 compelled to work for his board and 
 clothes until he was fifteen years old, 
 w'hen he was apprenticed to a carpenter 
 and joiner, remaining with him until he 
 reached his majority. After learning his 
 trade he went to Jefferson county, N. Y. , 
 working there until 1 88 1 , when he came to 
 Appleton, Wis. While in Jefferson county 
 
 he and his brother rented a planing mill, 
 which they carried on in connection with 
 the contracting and building business; but 
 one year prior to his coming here Warren 
 M. bought his brother's interest in the 
 concern, George going to California. In 
 1 88 1 our subject built his present mill in 
 Appleton, which he has devotpd exclu- 
 sively to job planing, giving up all ex- 
 traneous business. In 1861 he married 
 Miss Lucia M. Scott, daughter of Stephen 
 Scott, a farmer, who was born in Jeffer- 
 son county, N. Y. , where he died in 1890. 
 Mrs. Webster died in 1871, the mother of 
 two children, Gertrude E. and Clark B., 
 the latter of whom is in business with his 
 father. In 1871 Mr. Webster married, 
 in Canada, for his second wife, Eliza M. 
 Copeland, who was born in the Province 
 of Ontario and whose father was a manu- 
 facturer of cloth. This union has been 
 blessed with two children. May and 
 George. In politics Mr. Webster is a 
 Republican, and socially he is a member 
 of the Masonic Order. He has won the 
 respect of the citizens of Appleton, and 
 consequently their confidence. 
 
 G 
 
 EORGE W. GERRY (deceased). 
 High upon the list of the well-to- 
 do self-made men of Outagamie 
 county, who have distinguished 
 themselves by the wise and beneficent use 
 of the wealth secured by long and active 
 enterprise, stands the honored name of 
 George W. Gerry. 
 
 Our subject was a native of the Prov- 
 ince of New Brunswick, Canada, born in 
 the town of Andover, county of Victoria, 
 September 20, 1840. He received his 
 education at the place of his birth, and in 
 1868, at the age of twenty-eight, came to 
 Wisconsin, locating in the city of Apple- 
 ton, where he entered the employ of Mr. 
 Whorton in the lumber business. Soon 
 after he began business for himself, and 
 gradually and surely ascended the ladder 
 of success, by his own energy accumulat- 
 ing a snug property. In 1869 he was 
 
640 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 married at Appleton to Miss Clara A. 
 W'aters, who was born in Wauvvatosa, a 
 suburb of Milwaukee, a daughter of Menzo 
 
 D. and Mary (Mowrey) Waters, the 
 former of whom died in August, 1891; 
 the latter still living-. To this union were 
 born two children: Effie M. and Henry 
 
 E. Mr. Gerry died June i, 1890. He 
 was a member in good standing of the 
 
 F. & A. M., and in his political prefer- 
 ences he was a stanch Republican. 
 
 EDWARD W. SAIBERLICH, 
 president of the Eagle Manufact- 
 uring Company, Appleton. Henry 
 Saiberlich, his father, was a na- 
 tive of Saxony, Germany, born January i, 
 1828, and came to Wisconsin in 1853, 
 settling on a farm in Outagamie county. 
 He was married to Miss \\'ilhelmina 
 Angelroth, who bore him ten children, 
 eight of whom are now living. 
 
 Edward W. , who is the eldest son, 
 was born in Ellington, Outagamie Co., 
 Wis., October 20, 1857, and remained at 
 home until he was nineteen years old, 
 working, summers, on the farm, and at- 
 tending school winters. When twenty- 
 one jears of age he commenced learning 
 the carpenter's trade, and after he had 
 mastered it made it his principal occupa- 
 tion for the next ten years. In 1888 
 he purchased a one-third interest in the 
 Eagle Fork Company, at Appleton, which 
 institution became incorporated as the 
 Eagle Manufacturing Company, and con- 
 sisted then of Richard Miller, president; 
 E. W. Saiberlich, vice-president; William 
 Polifka, secretary and treasurer. In 1891 
 the latter gentleman sold his interest to 
 Frank and Oscar Saiberlich, brothers of 
 Edward, who served one year as secretary 
 and treasurer of the company. He (Ed- 
 ward) was appointed president in 1893, 
 and in January, 1894, Mr. Miller disposed 
 of his interests, the firm being now known 
 as Saiberlich Brothers; Frank being presi- 
 dent; Oscar, vice-president; and Edward, 
 secretary and treasurer. Thev manufact- 
 
 ure a full line of haying tools and feed 
 cutters and employ eleven men. The 
 brothers are energetic, careful business 
 men, and themselves take an active part 
 in the work of the establishment. The 
 capacit)' of the plant was small when Ed- 
 ward became a member of the firm; but 
 he added much new machinery and made 
 many improvements, with the result that 
 the business has more than doubled. He 
 is a Republican, but not classed as a poli- 
 tician, and belongs to the Evangelical 
 Church. Being the eldest of the family, 
 he naturally had more of the home re- 
 sponsibility upon his shoulders when a 
 boy, and had little opportunity to acquire 
 an education, but made the most of such 
 chances as he had. 
 
 CHARLES E. SWEETSER. This 
 widely-known, influential and sub- 
 stantial citizen of Greenville town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, is a na- 
 tive of New York State, born August 5, 
 1833, near Paris Hill, Oneida county, and 
 is of New England descent. His parents 
 were Luke and Caroline (Wolcott) Sweet- 
 ser, the former of whom was a farmer, 
 cattle drover and shipper while in New 
 York State. Their family consisted of 
 seven children, as follows: Cornelia, who 
 married William Watson, of Hortonia, 
 Wis.; Charles E., whose name opens this 
 sketch; Harriet, who married E. H. Stone, 
 of Greenville, Wis., and died in 1863, 
 leaving a family of children; William L. , 
 a contractor and builder, who died at Ap- 
 pleton in 1894; John, who became a sol- 
 dier in the Union army, and died in the 
 service; Maria, who married James Hull, 
 and lives at Hortonville, Wis. ; and George 
 T. , a contractor and builder at St. Paul, 
 Minnesota. 
 
 About 1844-45 the parents came with 
 their family to Wisconsin, taking passage 
 at Buffalo on the steamboat "New Or- 
 leans," and arriving at Milwaukee after a 
 rough trip of seven days. The elder 
 Sweetser had been a man of considerable 
 
COMMEMORATIVE niOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 641 
 
 means, but lost nearly everything through 
 becoming security for other parties, and 
 came west to recover his fortune, if possi- 
 ble. Not long after arriving at Milwau- 
 kee, however, he died, leaving his widow 
 and seven children almost penniless. The 
 mother was advised to bind the children 
 out, but Charles E. , who was the eldest, 
 strenuously objected to such a step being 
 taken. He became practically the head 
 of the family, and by the hardest work 
 they succeeded in keeping together and 
 gaining a livelihood. In the fall of 1852 
 the family came to Outagamie county, 
 reaching Greenville township after a jour- 
 ney of eleven days with an ox-team. Here, 
 in Section 5, the then young man pur- 
 chased eighty acres of land, covered with 
 timber and distant from any road; but, de- 
 termined to have a home, he took hold of 
 the difficult work of clearing and improv- 
 ing with a strength and vigor born of am- 
 bition. He had enjoyed very slight op- 
 portunities for schooling, and the task be- 
 fore him required his whole attention; 
 but having been raised a farmer boy he 
 knew what was required of him. At 
 times he went into the lumber woods of 
 northern Wisconsin, eighty miles from 
 home, over a "blazed trail," and worked 
 to earn money with which to pay the 
 taxes on his land. 
 
 Mr. Sweetser was married, in Apple- 
 ton, Wis., in August, 1857, to Emily 
 Jones, a native of Ohio, who died leaving 
 one child, Carrie (now the widow of Harl 
 Noble), of Aspen, Colo., where she con- 
 ducts a successful mercantile business. 
 In 1863 Mr. Sweetser wedded Sarah 
 Blackwood, who was born July 13, 1842, 
 near Eastport, Maine, daughter of Oba- 
 diah and Lucy (Apt) Blackwood, both of 
 whom were natives of St. John, N. B., 
 and of English descent; the father was a 
 lumberman by occupation. In 1849 the 
 family removed to Wisconsin, the same 
 year locating at Hortonville, where Mr. 
 Blackwood engaged in the sawmill busi- 
 ness; he also bought forty acres of land 
 in Hortonia township, where he resided for 
 
 a time, thence removing to New London, 
 where he embarked in the lumber busi- 
 ness and kept hotel. Subsequently he 
 took up his residence on a farm near New 
 London, where he passed away in March, 
 1863, one of the most esteemed citizens 
 of the community in which he lived. He 
 had met with success in all his business 
 enterprises, and was in prosperous circum- 
 stances at the time of his death. In re- 
 ligious faith he was a member of the 
 Baptist Church. His widow subsequently 
 married John Robler, and died in 1879, 
 in New London. Mr. and Mrs. Black- 
 wood had a family of sixteen children, 
 eight sons and eight daughters, of whom 
 three are still living in Outagamie county 
 — Josiah E., of Appleton, George A., of 
 New London, and Mrs. Sweetser; Clem- 
 artine, who married D. Taggett, lives in 
 Houlton, Maine; Allen lives in Aspen, 
 Colo. ; Calvin and William are residents 
 of Hastings, Minn. ; four live in Mil- 
 waukee, Wis. — Estella, wife of Andrew 
 Hossman, Lucy, wife of Edward Cook, 
 Laura, wife of William Taylor; and Mar- 
 shall; John lives at Tomahawk, Wis.; 
 four are deceased — Olive, Betsey, Mary 
 and Joel. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Sweetser have been 
 born children as follows: Jennie, now 
 the wife of Dr. Hardacker. of Horton- 
 ville, Wis. ; Laura, now Mrs. Fred Mitchel, 
 of Hortonville; Myrtie, living at home. 
 The farm, which Mr. Sweetser has brought 
 to its present state of perfection from an 
 entirely wild and unimproved condition, 
 now consists of ninety acres. Consider- 
 ing the responsibility which fell upon him 
 at so early an age, and his lack of oppor- 
 tunities for securing an education, his suc- 
 cess in life has been remarkable. He is 
 everywhere greatly respected, and the 
 family hold an enviable position in the 
 township. Politically he is a Democrat, 
 and has held the office of supervisor of 
 his township. The "Township of Elling- 
 ton and Adjoining Towns Mutual Insur- 
 ance Company," which had failed, was 
 reorganized in 1876, at which time Mr. 
 
642 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Sweetser was elected president, and has 
 each year since been re-elected, proving a 
 most efficient officer. The company has 
 since prospered, and is to-day on a sound 
 financial basis, carrying risks amounting 
 to more than four million dollars. 
 
 CARL LUDWIG. Outagamie 
 county is indebted to Germany 
 for many of her loyal and sub- 
 stantial citizens, and among these 
 Carl Ludwig, the present clerk of Green- 
 ville township, Brown county, takes 
 prominent rank. 
 
 He was born March 5, 1848, in the 
 city of , Wittenberg, Germany, son of 
 Andrew Ludwig, a farmer and laborer, 
 who had seven children — five sons and 
 two daughters — of whom Carl was the 
 3'oungest. His education was obtained 
 at the common schools, and when a youth 
 he commenced to learn the trade of nail- 
 smith, which he abandoned, however, for 
 his father's vocation, farming. When 
 twenty-one years of age he entered the 
 army and served the three years required 
 by the government, during which three- 
 years' service he passed through the Franco- 
 German war in 1 870-71. Afterward he 
 worked one year in a brickyard, and saved 
 enough from his earnings to bring him to 
 America. In the fall of 1873 he took 
 passage at Hamburg on the "Cymbria," 
 bound for New York, and, landing in that 
 city fifteen days later, came directly to 
 Appleton, Wis., where he arrived with a 
 light purse, and at once began to search 
 for work. Hiring out to a farmer, he con- 
 tinued to work for others until his mar- 
 riage, when, having been economical with 
 his money, he purchased the farm in 
 Greenville township, on which he has 
 since had his home. General farming 
 interests have received the principal share 
 of his attention, except during the year 
 1892, when he engaged in the agricultural 
 implement business at Cecil, Shawano 
 Co., Wis. He is regarded as one of the 
 practical, go-ahead agriculturists of his 
 
 section, and his success in life is traced 
 directl)- to his own energy and persever- 
 ance, united with good judgment and 
 skillful business management, character- 
 istic traits which all recognize and respect 
 him for. The farm now contains 200 
 acres of well-cultivated land, equipped 
 with good- buildings and other improve- 
 ments, and he has made a home of which 
 he may well feel proud. Mr. Ludwig is 
 a stanch Democrat, and has always taken 
 an active part in local public affairs, hav- 
 ing been called upon to assist in the gov- 
 ernment of his township in various capaci- 
 ties. For five years he served as member 
 of the township board of supervisors; was 
 school clerk nine years, and has held his 
 present office, that of township clerk, 
 three years, in every position proving 
 himself worthy of the trust placed in him, 
 and gaining an influential position among 
 the counselors of the conmiunity. 
 
 On February 3, 1879, Mr. Ludwig 
 was united in marriage, in Greenville 
 township, Outagamie county, with Mrs. 
 Mary (Ladwig) Schrader, a native of Ger- 
 many, and widow of Philip Schrader, and 
 four children were born to this union, of 
 whom Emma is the only one now living. 
 In religious matters Mr. and Mrs. Lud- 
 wig affiliate with the Lutheran Church of 
 Ellington township. 
 
 D 
 
 WIGHT B. BAILEY. This gen- 
 tleman occupies a foremost posi- 
 tion among the business men of 
 Appleton, as well as in social cir- 
 cles, and has attained great prominence 
 and high positions of honor and trust in 
 other connections, as this article will en- 
 deavor to show. 
 
 The Bailey famil}' is full}' entitled to 
 the distinctive appellation of American 
 citizens. It traces its lineage to English 
 ancestors, who left the mother country in 
 1640, and settled at Scituate, Mass. 
 Capt. Joseph Bailey, a relative, was an 
 officer in the Revolutionary war, and 
 superintendent of the U. S. Marine Hos- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 645 
 
 pital at Charlestown navy yard, near 
 Boston. Eben Bailey, great-grandfather 
 of Dwight, was born in Scituate, Mass., 
 but subsequently removed to Fort Ann, 
 in the State of New York, and is said to 
 have boiled the first kettle of salt at Syra- 
 cuse. He died at Huron, Wayne Co., 
 N. Y. , in 1829. His son, Jothani Bailey, 
 grandfather of Dwight. was born in Bridge- 
 water, Mass., in 1784. He was a mill- 
 wright by trade, and a soldier in the sec- 
 ond war with Great Britian, taking part 
 in the famous battle of Plattsburgh, Sep- 
 tember II, 1 8 14. He lived to a great 
 age, his death occurring in 1876, at Leon, 
 Ashtabula Co. , Ohio, having been a stead- 
 fast member of the Masonic Order for 
 over sixty years. 
 
 Andrew Bailey, son of Jotham and 
 father of Dwight, was born at Fort Ann, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., in 18 10. He 
 was a mechanic and an inventor of no 
 mean ability. He removed at a compara- 
 tively early day to Ashtabula county, 
 Ohio, where, in 1833, he married Emily 
 Goodrich, who was born in Poultney, Vt., 
 in 1 8 1 1 , daughter of Roswell (a mechanic) 
 and Abigail (Blossom) Goodrich, both 
 natives of Vermont. Mr. Bailey, who 
 at the time was a contractor, about 1833 
 built a gristmill at Jefferson, Ohio, and 
 set up and operated the first steam engine 
 in the State of Ohio, outside of Cleveland 
 and Cincinnati. A short time later he 
 engaged in manufacturing, continuing in 
 that business thirty years. In 1866 he 
 settled at Appleton, Wis. , having on 
 several previous occasions visited the 
 West, and died in that city in March, 
 1868. His widow is still (1895) living, 
 aged eighty-four years. Mr. Bailey was 
 an energetic, hard-working man, emi- 
 nently respectable and upright, and a warm 
 friend of the public-school system; he 
 served as school director many years, and 
 his wife and her five children, also, were 
 all teachers. Sixty-two years ago (about 
 1832) Mr. Bailey became a subscriber to 
 the Sentinel, published at Jefferson, Ohio, 
 and that paper is still a welcome visitor 
 
 36 
 
 at the home of his widow. The children 
 of Andrew and Emily Bailey were six in 
 number: Ann Eliza, Dwight B., Cor- 
 nelia M., Emma M. and Frances A., and 
 Dora K., who died when a small child. 
 
 Dwight B. Bailey was born Novem- 
 ber 9, 1837, in Jefferson, Ashtabula Co., 
 Ohio. He attended the common schools 
 until he was seventeen years old, then 
 spending two years at the Grand River 
 Institute, varying the order of things by 
 teaching during the winters. ;\ftervvard 
 he studied law in the office of Simonds & 
 Cadwell, successors to Benjamin Wade 
 & Rufus P. Ranney, was admitted to the 
 bar in i860, but, not finding the law a 
 profession suited to his taste, he came 
 west in 1861, locating at Menomonee, 
 Waukesha Co., Wis. There he engaged 
 in teaching winters, and selling pumps 
 during the summers until 1865, when he 
 came to Appleton and purchased forty 
 acres of woodland in the city, clearing up 
 twenty-five acres which -is now included 
 in the poor farm. In April, 1867, he en- 
 gaged in the grocery and crockery trade, 
 and about seven years later added a line 
 of hardware. This business he still con- 
 tinues, his success having been very grati- 
 fying. Mr. Bailey was married, June 2, 
 1863, to Miss Adelia Spencer, daughter of 
 Elihu Spencer, an old settler of Outaga- 
 mie county. Wis., and six children were 
 born to this union: The oldest, Ouincy, 
 was drowned, August 11, 1874, when ten 
 years of age; the others are Ralph W. , 
 Andrew S., Dwight B., Jr., Ruthie A., 
 and Charles H., all at home except Ralph 
 W. , who is engaged in manufacturing at 
 Denver, Col. , and Andrew S. , who is a 
 dentist at Menominee, Mich. Mrs. Bailey 
 died November 22, 1884, and on July 14, 
 1885, Mr. Bailey married Hallie Payzant, 
 who was born in Liverpool, N. S. , in 
 March, 1849, and they have one child, 
 Nellie May. This lady's father, George 
 Payzant, who was in the shipping busi- 
 ness at Liverpool, came to Appleton in 
 1862, and after a short time spent as a 
 merchant removed to Illinois; he returned 
 
646 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to Wisconsin in 1867, but located at 
 Chicago the following year. Some years 
 after the great tire there in 1871, he 
 moved to a farm in South Dakota, and 
 during the winter of 18S4-85 came to 
 Monroe county. Wis. , where his death 
 occurred June 25, 18S5. He was a man 
 of high character and universally respected 
 by all who knew him. His widow is now 
 living at New Lisbon. Wisconsin. 
 
 Mr. Bailey, on all national questions, 
 is a Republican. He is a director in the 
 Columbian Life Insurance Company, of 
 Wisconsin, and a member of the I. O. 
 O. F. . the Royal Arcanum and the 
 Knights of Honor, of which latter he has 
 served during the past seven years as re- 
 cording reporter. An avowed advocate 
 of practical temperance, he in March, 
 1875, became a member of the Templars 
 of Honor and Temperance, an Order de- 
 manding a higher morality than any other 
 Order in the world, and whose objects 
 are set forth in its title. From i SS9 to 
 1S92 he was grand worthy templar of 
 Wisconsin, and in the latter year was 
 elected most worthy templar, being the 
 twenty-fourth select templar to hold the 
 position of M. W. T., or the supreme 
 head of the organization in the world, 
 and was re-elected at the forty-eighth 
 session of the supreme council held in 
 St. John, X. B., August i, 1894. He 
 bears the honor with dignity, and de- 
 votes much of his time to the work which 
 the position brings. Since September, 
 1893. and up to the present time he had 
 written more than three thousand letters 
 in connection with the work of the Order, 
 and has initiated over one thousand can- 
 didates since he became a templar. His 
 fellow officers in the supreme council, 
 which was instituted in 1846. are the fol- 
 lowing, elected in August, 1S94. at St. 
 John. N. B.: James Hicks, M. W. V. 
 T. , Cambridgeport, Mass.; Rev. C. S. 
 Woodruff. M. W. R.. Newark. N. J.; 
 David I. Robinson, M. W. Tr. , Glouces- 
 ter, Mass.: H. D. Williams. M. W. 
 Chap., East Orange. N. J.; \\'. J. Fan- 
 
 jov, M. W. U.. St. John, N. B. ; S. E. 
 Logan. M. W. G.. St. John, N. B. ; A. 
 L. Taylor. P. M. W. T.. Warren. Ohio. 
 The Temple of Honor and Temper- 
 ance was organized in New York City. 
 December 5, 1845, and now has members 
 in nearly every State in the Union, in 
 Canada. England and Sweden. It has 
 been of wonderful efficiency aloi g the line 
 of temperance, offering, as it does, the un- 
 questioned power of organization to tight 
 the great battle of total abstinence, upon 
 which it is founded. Applicants for ad- 
 mission to the Order must be of good 
 moral character and believers in God. Its 
 degrees, six in number, and three in the 
 Social Temple, the women's department, 
 inculcate the teachings of Love. Purity. 
 Fidelity, Justice, Truth and Mercy, prin- 
 ciples which, if carried out, can not fail 
 to make men and women better and 
 nobler. The organization is of course a 
 secret one. and embraces all that Masonrj' 
 does and includes total abstinence. Tem- 
 ples may or may not be organized on the 
 beneficial system; but in them all the 
 practice is adhered to of visiting the sick 
 and caring for the needy. .\n insurance 
 department is open to all members under 
 sixty years of age who can pass the requi- 
 j site medical examination. Assessments 
 are graded according to age at the time 
 of joining, and are never increased. Mr. 
 Bailej- is greatly interested in the work of 
 the Order, and has demonstrated that no 
 mistake was made by the brethren who 
 placed him in his present exalted posi- 
 tion. 
 
 M 
 
 KS. ALVIRA DANIELS, a 
 resident of Osborn township. 
 Outagamie county, was born in 
 Bridgewater. Penn. , July 26, 
 18 1 8. a daughter of Benjamin and Tem- 
 perance y^Scott) Fancher. who were the 
 parents of eleven children, the ten broth- 
 ers and sisters of our subject being named 
 in order of birth, as follows: Richard. 
 Samuel, Sally. Polly. Thomas. Ann, Car- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWaUAl'lIICAL RECORD. 
 
 647 
 
 oline, David, Nehemiah and Abigail. Of 
 this family Mrs. Daniels and her sister 
 Abigail are the only survivors. 
 
 When Alvira Fancher was nineteen 
 years of age she was united in marriage 
 with James Daniels, also a native of 
 Pennsylvania, who had been reared in 
 the same neighborhood. Before coming 
 west Mr. Daniels had accumulated a little 
 money, but unfortunately lost it all by 
 going security for a brother. He and his 
 wife then came to Wisconsin, and in 1853 
 located in Racine county, where Mr. 
 Daniels took a farm on shares; there they 
 lived five years, and then came to Gsborn 
 township, Outagamie county, and bought 
 eighty acres of land, on which they lived 
 most happilj' until the death of Mr. Dan- 
 iels, which occurred November 15, 1875. 
 At the time of their coming Osborn town- 
 ship was in a primitive condition, the so- 
 called Appleton road not having been cut 
 through. The woods were full of Indians, 
 who were constantly begging food from 
 the few settlers, rendering the lives of the 
 latter almost unendurable. Mr. Daniels, 
 however, persevered in his labors, and 
 had made quite a little fortune before his 
 demise. His children were ten in num- 
 ber, seven of whom were born in Penn- 
 sylvania, the other three in Wisconsin, 
 vi^. : Mary, James Scott, Omro, William 
 T. , Isaac, Minerva, Joseph, Nehemiah 
 Gordon Dimmock, Abigail and Chauncey. 
 For fifty-two years Mrs. Daniels has been 
 a member of the ISaptist Church of her 
 native place in Pennsylvania. She is 
 much venerated by her neighbors and 
 friends, and her deceased husband was 
 also highly esteemed by all who knew him. 
 
 LORENZO DANIELS, a well-to- 
 do farmer of Cicero township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 the "Empire State," born July 3, 
 1846, in Cicero, Onondaga county. 
 Elisha Daniels, his grandfather, had a 
 family of nine children, of whom Jesse is 
 
 the father of our subject. Jes.se Daniels 
 married Elmira Haskell, and they be- 
 came the parents of five children, viz: 
 Lorenzo, Jeanette, Marilla, Herman A. 
 and Delia. 
 
 Our subject received a common-school 
 education, and was trained to farming by 
 his father, who engaged to some extent 
 in hop-growing. At the age of twenty- 
 one years Lorenzo started out in life for 
 his own account, working at various 
 places in his native State until 1870, 
 when he came westward to Wisconsin, 
 and in Cicero township, Outagamie 
 county, purchased eighty acres of land, 
 forming a portion of his present farm, 
 which consists of 250 acres. In 187? he 
 revisited New York State, and on his re- 
 turn to Wisconsin worked about three 
 years in the employ of E. C. Goff, at the 
 end of that time moving to his own farm 
 in Cicero township, where he remained a 
 year, and then, again coming to Appleton, 
 leased a farm of E. C. Goff, working 
 same about si,x years. During this time he 
 made a trip to New York, arriving five 
 days after his father's funeral, the lattcr's 
 death having occurred November 9, 1878. 
 Our subject has since resided continu- 
 ously on his farm in Cicero township, 
 Outagamie county, a highly cultivated, 
 improved tract of land, where he is suc- 
 cessfully engaged in general agriculture. 
 
 Mr. Daniels was married, December 
 17. I '^73- in Cazenovia, N. Y., to Miss 
 Maggie Perkins, daughter of Thomas and 
 Margaret (WalkerJ Perkins, natives of 
 North Western, Oneida Co., N. Y., and 
 this union has been blessed with five 
 children, their names and dates of birth 
 being as follows: Herman J., December 
 2, 1878; Guy G., October 18, 1880; 
 Nora A., September 21, 1886; Effie lona, 
 September 24, 1889, and Ray Leslie, 
 October 5, 1894. In his party prefer- 
 ences Mr. Daniels favors the Democrats, 
 but takes no active part in politics be- 
 yond casting his ballot. In religious con- 
 nection he and his wife are members of 
 the Methodist Church, Mr. Daniels be- 
 
648 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 longing to the Church at Appleton, while 
 Mrs. Daniels united with the Church at 
 Bridgeport, New York. 
 
 c 
 
 HRISTOPHER THIESSEN- 
 HUSEN (deceased), who during 
 his lifetime ranked among the sub- 
 stantial farmers of Grand Chute 
 town.ship, Outagamie county, was a na- 
 tive of Mecklenburg, Germany, born Jan- 
 uary 30, 1829, the second youngest of 
 ten children. The father, John Thiessen- 
 husen, died when our subject was but a 
 child, and the mother, Mary, was left 
 in reduced circumstances. Consequently 
 Christopher received less than one year's 
 schooling, and had to commence life for 
 himself at the early age of fourteen, en- 
 gaging in an\' labor that would bring him 
 an honest dollar. According to the cus- 
 tom in his country he served three years 
 in the army, and afterward he found em- 
 ploj-ment in various capacities — among 
 others driving a delivery wagon for a flour 
 merchant and miller — remaining around 
 his birthplace up to the age of twenty- 
 five. Like many other j-oung men of his 
 time, however, he was able to earn but 
 little more than a living, although he had 
 plenty of strength which he was willing 
 enough to use; and concluding that he 
 could do no worse in the New World he 
 left his home in 1854, and crossing the 
 Atlantic came direct to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 where a number of his countrymen were 
 already located, and where he found em- 
 ployment. 
 
 On January 14, 1855, he married, in 
 Milwaukee, Wis. , Elizabeth Abendroth, 
 who was a native of the same part of 
 Germany as himself and daughter of 
 Elizabeth and Joseph Abendroth, who 
 had a family of three girls and four boys, 
 she being the youngest. Our subject 
 worked around Milwaukee for about three 
 years and then moved to Greenville 
 township, having purchased a farm there; 
 but he had received an imperfect title to 
 the propert}-, and as a result lost several 
 
 hundred dollars. He then moved to St. 
 Louis, Mo. , where he engaged in the 
 manufacture of brick, but the business 
 proved unprofitable; moreover the cli- 
 mate did not agree with Mrs. Thiessen- 
 husen, who was obliged to return to 
 Milwaukee, he remaining, as work was 
 not to be had anywhere. After leav- 
 ing St. Louis he made his home 
 around Waukesha for about four years. 
 He then came to Appleton, at that time a 
 small town, where he had his residence for 
 a while; then resided for a brief period in 
 Grand Chute township, Outagamie county, 
 and then again in Appleton, where he was 
 employed in the Appleton Flouring Mills; 
 but finding himself unable to stand this 
 work he commenced to cut cordwood on 
 the farm he now owns, consisting of eighty 
 acres in Section 23, to which he removed 
 in the spring of 1866. At that time the 
 land had been "timbered over," but the 
 stumps were still standing, the place was 
 entirely unimproved, and the family re- 
 sided in a one-story, one-room board 
 shanty for two years, until the present 
 comfortable house was erected. The lum- 
 ber necessary for its construction was 
 hauled by oxen from Seymour, a whole 
 day being required to make the trip. He 
 was able to pay less than one-half the 
 price of the farm, but he succeeded in 
 clearing himself of debt, and added to the 
 area of the farm until at the time of his 
 decease heowned 131 acres. Mrs. Thies- 
 senhusen died February 4, 1 874, and Mr. 
 Thiessenhusen passed from earth Feb- 
 ruary 26, 1894, their remains now resting 
 side by side in the cemetery at Appleton. 
 His death was caused directly by pneu- 
 monia, but he had been ailing for a year 
 or more before. Mr. and Mrs. Thiessen- 
 husen were the parents of si.x children, as 
 follows: Emma, Mrs. John Radloff, of 
 Appleton ; Mary, Mrs. Fred Burmaster, of 
 Grand Chute township; Otto, Minnie and 
 John, who reside on the home farm; and 
 Charley, who died in infancy. 
 
 Since Mr. Thiessenhusen's death the 
 farm has been conducted b\- his sons. Otto 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 649 
 
 and John, their sister Minnie keeping 
 house for them, as she and her sisters 
 have done since the mother's death. Mr. 
 Thiessenhusen was a self-made man in the 
 fullest sense of the term, and he gained 
 the respect of all who knew him for his 
 many sterling qualities and the strict in- 
 tegrity which always characterized him in 
 all his dealings. His two sons are re- 
 liable business men and thorough farmers, 
 following in the footsteps of their father 
 in this direction. Mr. Thiessenhusen was 
 a Republican, but took no active part in 
 political affairs. 
 
 JOHN JANSEN. The true standard 
 by which to judge a community is 
 the character of its prominent citi- 
 zens. Progress is rarely, if ever, 
 the result of chance, but always the exe- 
 cution of well-laid plans based on a thor- 
 ough comprehension of the laws of busi- 
 ness. It is only by keeping in view the 
 lives of men who are ever associated in 
 the busy marts of commerce that we can 
 judge of the importance of development, 
 and the possibilities of progress. Thus 
 it is that from the commercial, m.ore than 
 the literary or political, side the most 
 valuable lessons of life are to be ex- 
 tracted. In this connection, as a gentle- 
 man whose business qualifications are of 
 the best, a brief biographical sketch is 
 given of John Jansen, an honored pioneer 
 business man of Kaukauna. 
 
 Mr. Jansen is a native of Holland, 
 born in January, 1835, in the village of 
 Beugen, North Brabant, son of Herbert 
 and Henrietta Jansen, of the same na- 
 tivity, who in 1848 came with their fam- 
 ily of children to the United States, mak- 
 ing a settlement at Shantytown, Green 
 Bay, Wis., where the father followed his 
 life vocation, that of farming, till death 
 removed him some eighteen months after 
 his arrival in the county, his wife surviv- 
 ing him only three weeks. They were 
 the parents of children as follows: Delia, 
 who died in Green Bay, Wis. ; Gertrude, 
 
 who married George Martins, of Brown 
 county, and died in 1880 at Shantytown; 
 John, the subject of this sketch; Martin, 
 residing in Green Bay; and Delia, wife 
 of Fred Schiller, of Cedar Creek, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 John Jansen, whose name opens this 
 sketch, received his education in his na- 
 tive land, and was about fourteen years 
 old when he came to Wisconsin. His 
 first labor in the New World was working 
 on the farm of a Mr. Boyd, with whom 
 he remained until he was eighteen, when 
 he went to Ohio, and for two years drove 
 a team. Returning to Wisconsin, he 
 spent one year in Manitowoc, and, after 
 other changes, moved to Pensaukee, 
 Oconto county, where he found employ- 
 ment in L. B. Gardiner's lumber business 
 for six years. In 1867 he came to Kau- 
 kauna, following year, in company with 
 John Stovekin, built a sawmill, and in 
 January, 1869, commenced the general 
 manufacture of lumber, running the saw- 
 mill until 1879, when the partnership was 
 dissolved. In 1880 Mr. Jansen associated 
 with Hewett Bros, under the firm style of 
 Hewett Bros. & Jansen until 1882, in 
 which year a sash, door and blind factory 
 was erected in Kaukauna, which was con- 
 ducted till 1 884, when the concern was 
 incorporated as the Kaukauna Lumber & 
 Mfg. Co., and the firm name so continues, 
 although in August, 1892, our subject 
 bought out his partners, discontinued the 
 manufacture of sash, doors and blinds, 
 and has since operated a planing-mill and 
 sawmill in place thereof, which give em- 
 ployment the year round to eight or 
 ten hands. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Jansen was married, in 
 Brown county, Wis., to Miss Frances 
 Radermacher, who was born in the county, 
 daughter of Peter and Thcressa (Bartel) 
 Radermacher, natives of Prussia, who in 
 an early day emigrated to the United 
 States, settling in Green Bay, Wis., 
 where the father, who was a mason and 
 also a shoemaker, followed his trades 
 some years, until taking up a farm in the 
 
650 
 
 COMMEilORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 same county. Retiring from active labor, 
 he moved into the village of Combined 
 Locks, Outagamie count}-, and died in 
 1 891 in the town of Kaukauna, where his 
 widow now resides. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Jansen have been born seven children, 
 to wit: John, bookkeeper for his father; 
 Mary, assisting in her father's office; Clara, 
 Joe, Theressa, Sarah and Fannie, all still 
 under the parental roof. In politics Mr. 
 Jansen is a stanch Democrat, a "wheel- 
 horse " of the party, and he was serving 
 as alderman of North Kaukauna at the 
 time the two cities merged into one, in 
 1885. He and his wife are members of 
 the Catholic Church, and are held in the 
 highest esteem by all who know them. 
 Mr. Jansen has been in business longer 
 than any one else in Kaukauna, has al- 
 ways lived on the North Side, and has 
 seen and materially aided in the pheno- 
 menal growth of the place. 
 
 JOSEPH KLINE is proprietor of the 
 far-famed flourishing flouring-mill in 
 Kaukauna bearing his name, and 
 which is admirably situated on the 
 Kaukauna Water Power Company's canal. 
 He is a native of Outagamie count}". 
 Wis., born in 1846, within three miles of 
 Kaukauna, in what is now Buchanan 
 township, a son of Michael and Mary 
 (Gross) Kline. 
 
 The parents were married in Germany, 
 and in the spring of 1842, together with 
 their then family of four children, emi- 
 grated to the United States, coming west- 
 ward to Wisconsin, where thej' settled in 
 Kaukauna township, some three miles 
 southeast of the present city of Kaukauna. 
 Here the father bought forty acres of 
 wild land, to which purchase he from 
 time to time added land obtained from 
 the government, until at the time of his 
 death, in 1888, he owned 120 acres, all 
 well improved. In politics he was a 
 Democrat, and in religious faith he was a 
 member of the Catholic Church, as is his 
 widow, who is now living in Kaukauna at 
 
 the age of eighty-three years. They 
 were the parents of ten children, as fol- 
 lows: Peter, who lives near Sauk Cen- 
 ter, Minn. : John P., living in the State of 
 Washington; Mathias, residing near Ap- 
 pleton. Wis. ; Mary, wife of Joseph Marks, 
 of Menasha; Joseph, our subject; Michael 
 and Jacob, both residing in Kaukauna; 
 John, who was killed by lightning: Cath- 
 arine, Mrs. John Baum, of Appleton; 
 and Catherine, who died when twelve 
 years old. 
 
 Joseph Kline, the subject proper of 
 this sketch, received his education in the 
 old log schoolhouse of the neighborhood 
 of his boyhood home, and assisted in 
 clearing up his father's farm, experiencing 
 all the hardships incident to pioneer life. 
 For six years his father had no team, and 
 everything about the farm had to be done 
 by hand in a very primitive manner. 
 Flour, and whatever other necessaries of 
 life were required, the\- had to carry on 
 their backs from Green Baj- (the nearest 
 town), the beaten track being simph- an 
 Indian trail. One entire winter the 
 family lived on peas, so impossible was it 
 to tramp to Green Bay for supplies. In 
 1870 Joseph Kline and Anna Faas were 
 united in marriage. She is a daughter of 
 Joseph and Margaretta Faas, natives of 
 Alsace, Germany, who in an early day 
 came to this country, for a time locating 
 in Calument county. Wis., where Mr. 
 Faas followed his trade, that of wagon- 
 maker. Later they moved to Neenah, 
 same State, where he died; his widow is 
 now residing in Menasha. After mar- 
 riage Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kline settled 
 in Kaukauna, North Side, where he en- 
 gaged in teaming and dealing in flour and 
 other mill products. In 1883 he erected 
 his present Hour-mill, a four-story frame 
 building, 40x60 feet, which he equipped 
 with all modern improvements in ma- 
 chinery and other plant, being thoroughly 
 adapted for a general milling business, in- 
 cluding the manufacture of flour and feed, 
 and he has met with the most encourag- 
 ing success. At that time he was owner 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of eighty acres of land on the South Side, 
 Kaukauna, and same year he platted an 
 addition to the city, called Kline's Addi- 
 tion. The pretty bit of woodland, known 
 as Kline's Park, forms part of his land, 
 and he still owns considerable real estate, 
 including many desirable building sites. 
 Prior to his embarking in the milling 
 business, our subject read law three 
 years in the office of Humphrey Pierce 
 in Appleton. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Kline have been born 
 two children, viz. : Anna, wife of Ger- 
 hart Tenburch, of Duluth, Minn., and 
 Ollie, at home. The entire family are 
 members of the Catholic Church, Mr. 
 Klein being also a member of the Catholic 
 Knights of Wisconsin; politically he is a 
 Democrat. He is a typical self-made 
 man, having risen to his present position 
 of comparative affluence by sheer indus- 
 try, good judgment and close attention 
 to business. 
 
 ALEXANDER CUFF, whose pres- 
 ent farm homestead is the North- 
 east quarter of Section 31, in the 
 town of Hortonia, Outagamie 
 county, was born in 1824 in County Sligo, 
 Ireland. 
 
 Richard and Jane Cuffe, parents of 
 our subject, passed their entire lives in 
 the same country. Their family consisted 
 of children as follows: Katherine, who 
 married Henry Brett and with him mi- 
 grated to Canada, where she died; Jane, 
 widow of James Reid, who also lives in 
 the town of Hortonia; Rebecca, Mrs. 
 Robert Fair, who died in Ireland; Amelia, 
 Mrs. George Brett, of the town of Cale- 
 donia, Waupaca count}'; George, James, 
 Richard and Thomas, who died in Ire- 
 land, and Alexander, our subject. The 
 father of this family was a farmer, and his 
 father, George Cuffe, also followed the 
 same calling. 
 
 During his youth Alexander Cuffe at- 
 tended the subscription schools, receiving 
 a good education for his time and place. 
 
 In 1847 he came to the Unitad States 
 and dropped the final " e" from the spell- 
 ing of his family name. He first located 
 in northeastern Ohio, and later worked 
 for about two years in the Reed Blast 
 Furnace at Dover, Cuyahoga county, that 
 State. In the spring of 1 849 he took pass- 
 age from Sandusky to Milwaukee by boat, 
 and thence journeyed on foot to the town 
 of Hortonia, where he took a land claim 
 in Section 6. In 185 i he went to Detroit 
 and there married Miss Maria Cuffe, a 
 relative, who was born in Ireland in 1820. 
 Thomas Lilly, an ancestor of her's, and 
 four brothers accompanied Cromwell to 
 Ireland. Three brothers were assigned 
 large estates there, and Thomas received 
 a lease of 1,500 acres for a number of 
 generations at a nominal fee, which lease 
 expired when Mrs. Cuff was about ten 
 years of age. Accompanied b}' his wife 
 Mr. Cuff returned to Hortonio and set- 
 tled on his land in 1854, at which time it 
 was completely covered with timber. 
 Without money, and with but little knowl- 
 edge of that kind of work, he commenced 
 to clear a farm. Like other pioneers of 
 early Wisconsin, he experienced many 
 discouragements, and often wished him- 
 self among more civilized surroundings; 
 but, like them, he persevered until fertile 
 fields supplanted the forests, and he found 
 himself the owner of a comfortable home. 
 One daughter, Margaret, was born 
 to them and died in Detroit, and five 
 children were born in their Wisconsin 
 home, viz. : Charles Richmond, on 
 December 6, 1854; Rebecca J., on De- 
 cember 14, 1856; George Alexander, on 
 March 12, 1859, and Letitia Lilly and 
 Emma Jane on October 11, 1862. These 
 twin sisters so closely resemble each 
 other that the one is frequently mistaken 
 for the other by even close acquaintances, 
 and many of their garments are still made 
 in duplicate. C. R. Cuff was married 
 April 1 1, 1882, to Fannie Ritchie, of Little 
 Wolf, and they now own and live on a 
 farm near Manawa ; they are the parents of 
 five children, viz: Emma Lilly, Jane E., 
 
653 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Raymond Lee, Alice M., and Alexander 
 G. Rebecca J. was married No\ember 
 25, 1880, to James E. H. Stimson, an 
 Appleton photographer, and their seven 
 children are: Grace R. , James A., Jo- 
 seph B. , Bessie M., Irene R., Helen V.. 
 and Paul Reeve; Mr. Stimson occupies a 
 prominent position in the profession, 
 having taken the second prize with a sil- 
 ver medal for portraits at the eleventh 
 annual convention of the Photographer's 
 Association of America held in Washing- 
 ton in 1890, and a cash prize of one hun- 
 dred dollars in a competition at the Art In- 
 stitute during the Columbian Exposition. 
 George A. Cuff was married, Januarj' 
 II, 1 88 1, to Miss Minnie L. Patterson, 
 of Detroit; his home is on the land that 
 his father took up in 1849, the larger 
 part of which he owns; eight children 
 have been born to him and Mrs. Cuff, 
 viz. : Edna M., Margaret R. L. , George 
 A., Ovens and Fannie ftwins); Charles R. 
 and Clarence H. twins), and Arthur Wil- 
 son; Margaret and Charles are dead. Leti- 
 tia L. and Emma J. were married August 
 20, 1884, respectively to W. Shaler Patter- 
 son and Arthur W. Millerd. Mr. Patter- 
 son is the proprietor of a heating and 
 plumbing business in Appleton, and is the 
 secretary of the Wisconsin Master Plumb- 
 ers Association. Six children are the 
 result of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Pat- 
 terson, viz.: Wilson S., Richard A., 
 Josephine M., Abram C, Ruth and Ber- 
 tha L. Four children ha\e been born 
 to Mr. and Mrs. Millerd, viz. : Ida Maria, 
 Alice J., Harlow Cuff and Albert D. 
 Their home is in New London, Mr. Mil- 
 lerd dividing his time between that city 
 and Cottage Grove, Oregon, where he is 
 interested in timber lands and gold prop- 
 erties. 
 
 Mr. Cuff has taken an active interest 
 in local affairs and everything that tends 
 to promote the welfare of the general 
 puolic, especially educational affairs. He 
 took a leading part in the organization of 
 the school district, and has been school 
 clerk and treasurer and a member of the 
 
 town board. In politics he is an inde- 
 pendent Republican, invariabh" voting 
 for whom he thinks to be the best man. 
 He believes that the greatest religious 
 and civic freedom could best be reached 
 by having all societies open to the fullest 
 scrutiny- of the world. While a profess- 
 ing Christian, he has not identified him- 
 self by membership with any Church since 
 he came to America. Mrs. Cuff is a 
 member of the New London Congrega- 
 tional Church. So far as they have anj' 
 record, their ancestors were all commu- 
 nicants in the Established Episcopal 
 Church of Ireland (Protestant). 
 
 A biography of Mr. and Mrs. Cuf¥ 
 would not be complete without mention 
 of Miss Julia Cuff, sister to Mrs. Cuff, she 
 having followed Mrs. Cuff to America, 
 and has been almost constantlj' near her 
 ever since, caring for her children, and 
 in many other wa3's making herself as 
 though a member of the household. Her 
 own house stands on a plat out of the old 
 farm. Another sister, Mrs. Robert Bro- 
 der, is still in Ireland. Mr. Cuff's farm 
 contains 160 acres of good land, with a 
 large house, good barn, granary and 
 fences, and a fine spring of clear and 
 cool fiowinsr water. 
 
 NICHOLAS ENGLER (deceased), 
 late of Appleton, was a son of 
 Nicholas Engler, Sr. , a farmer 
 and school teacher, who lived and 
 died in Switzerland, where our subject 
 was born in December, 1825. There 
 were three sons in the family — Martin re- 
 maining in the old country, and Nicholas 
 and Christian emigrating to the United 
 States in 1853, settling on wild land in 
 Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin. 
 
 Nicholas Engler cleared and improved 
 his purchase, and resided upon it until 
 1857, when he rented it and moved to 
 another tract which he had bought in 
 Buchanan township, Outagamie county. 
 This he also improved, occupying it until 
 1866, meantime disposing of his Fond du 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 653 
 
 Lac county farm; in the latter year he 
 rented his farm in Buchanan and mo\ed 
 to Appleton, where he lived a retired Hfe. 
 The hard work of clearing and improving 
 two heavily-timbered farms was a severe 
 strain, and the poor health of both him- 
 self and his wife was the cause of their 
 locating: in Appleton. He had received 
 some assistance from home, and invested 
 in property in and adjoining the city, 
 which proved a profitable venture. Mr. 
 Engler was married, in January, 1854, to 
 Miss Margaret Tischhauser, also a native 
 of Switzerland and daughter of Christian 
 Tischhauser, who was a locksmith in 
 Switzerland, and, upon coming to Amer- 
 ica in 1849, located in Fond du Lac 
 county, Wis., where he engaged in farm- 
 ing until his death in 1882. Four children 
 were born to this union — Christian G., 
 Anna Margaret, Nicholas M., and Minnie 
 D. — three of whom are married, and one 
 daughter remains at home with her 
 widowed mother, Mr. Engler having died 
 January i, 1880. He and his wife were 
 both members of the Evangelical Church; 
 he was not a partisan in politics, always 
 voting for the man whom he considered 
 best fitted to fill the office. 
 
 JOHN WILLIAM ZAHRT, a pros- 
 perous and well-respected farmer of 
 Ellington township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, was born July i, 1848, in Prus- 
 sia. His maternal grandfather was a well- 
 known and successful agriculturist in that 
 country', and his paternal grandfather was 
 by trade a shoemaker, a very industrious 
 and wgll-meaning man. 
 
 John Zahrt, father of our subject, was 
 born in 18 14, and when aj'oung man was 
 apprenticed to the cabinet maker's trade, 
 which he followed a short time, and then 
 purchased a small farm upon which he 
 remained until his emigration, in 1854, to 
 America. He married Caroline Kreigcr, 
 a native of Prussia, and seven children 
 were born to them, four before thev left 
 
 Germany, and three in the United States. 
 Out of the seven, but two are now liv- 
 ing, Charles, of Rose Lawn, Shawano 
 Co., Wis., and John William, of whom 
 we write. The names of the deceased 
 are: Augusta, August, Adolph, Caroline 
 and Louisa, the two latter, who were 
 twins, dying on the ship while crossing 
 the Atlantic. After coming to this coun- 
 try Mr. Zahrt located with his family in 
 Dodge county. Wis., where he remained 
 about eighteen months, and then removed 
 to Ellington township, Outagamie county, 
 here purchasing eighty acres of land, 
 thickly covered with forest trees, and 
 which he found no easy task to get ready 
 for cultivation. He remained there until 
 1868, then traded for another farm upon 
 which he lived a number of years, finally 
 selling it to his son John W. , and remov- 
 ing to the township of Seymour in the 
 same county. Here he purchased forty 
 acres of land which he cultivated until 
 1885, then deeded same to his son 
 Adolph, and removed to Stephensville, 
 where he intends to spend the remainder 
 of his days in comparative rest. He has 
 long been a stanch Republican, but takes 
 no active part in elections. 
 
 John William Zahrt secured a good 
 practical education in the common 
 schools of Ellington, and remained on the 
 farm with his father until he was twenty- 
 two years of age, when he commenced 
 for himself, working at various employ- 
 ments for three years, and then purchas- 
 ing the home farm where he has since re- 
 sided. He married Miss Mary Seigel, 
 who was born in 1852 in New York State, 
 of German parentage. She is the mother 
 of five children: Charles, Sadie, Frank, 
 Clara and Lora. Mr. Zahrt takes much 
 interest in the education of his children, 
 and omits no opportunity to further their 
 intellectual advancement. He and his 
 wife are members of the M. E. Church, 
 of which he is trustee and steward; is also 
 superintendent of the Sunday-school, and 
 is active in all matters pertaining to its 
 welfare. 
 
^654 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 FRIEDERICH SCHULZ, a promi- 
 nent agriculturist of Hortonia 
 township, Outagamie county, was 
 born in Germany January i8, 
 1832, a son of Frederick Schuk, Sr. , who 
 was also a farmer by occupation. 
 
 Our subject received an excellent 
 public-school education in his native 
 country, and in 1852 emigrated to the 
 United States, locating at Oconomowoc, 
 Wis., where he secured employment in a 
 brick yard at eight dollars per month, and 
 after one summer spent in that capacity, 
 he went to Galena, 111., where he was 
 similarly employed during the summer of 
 1853. In the autumn of that year his par- 
 ents located at Watertown, Wis., where 
 he joined them and remained until his 
 marriage, which occurred October 14, 
 i860, his bride being Matilda Schwebs, 
 who was born November 18, 1835, 
 daughter of Carl and Johanna Schwebs, 
 all natives of Germany, who had come to 
 Wisconsin in 1859. After his marriage 
 Mr. Schulz located upon eighty acres of 
 land near Farmington, Wis., which had 
 been given him by his parents, and here 
 engaged in agriculture until 1864, when 
 he sold out and purchased the farm prop- 
 erty he now owns in Hortonia; at once 
 removing to the latter, which was then 
 covered with heavy timber, he began to 
 make improvements upon it, but the work 
 of clearing was heavy, and he paid 
 toward its accomplishment the total sum 
 of not less than $1,020. Good buildings 
 and fences have been erected, and at the 
 present time Mr. Schulz ranks among the 
 foremost of the prosperous, successful 
 farmers in his township. Politically he is 
 a Democrat, although not an e.xtreme 
 partisan, as he usually votes for whom- 
 soever he considers the best man; he has 
 been elected a member of the town board 
 of supervisors. He was the organizer of 
 the Lutheran Church of Hortonville, of 
 which he is a member, and which he has 
 served as deacon for twenty-three years; 
 besides his own family his parents and 
 grandparents all found a resting-place in 
 
 the Lutheran Church. In 1864 our sub- 
 ject commenced working for the United 
 States Government, on the 24th of 
 December left for Nashville, Tenn., and 
 continued there until honorably dis- 
 charged in 1865. Eleven children have 
 been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schulz, their 
 names and dates of birth, etc., being as 
 follows: Edmund, July 22, 1861, died 
 December 6, 1863; Helen, November 18, 
 1S62; Minnie, December 27, 1863; Ma- 
 tilda, born and died May 18, 1866; 
 Amelia, June 29, 1867; Robert, Sep- 
 tember 17, 1868, died August 11, 1869; 
 Bertha, February 22, 1870; Charles, 
 August 17, 1872; Frederick, November 
 26, 1874; Eniil, February 26, 1879, died 
 August 10, 1879; and Hulda, February 
 3. 1877. 
 
 H 
 
 ERMAN TRAUGOT BUCK, in- 
 surance agent, retired merchant 
 and ex-soldier, Hortonville, was 
 born in Reutlingen, Wurtemburg, 
 Germany, November 5, 1842, in which 
 important manufacturing city the family 
 had resided for many generations. 
 
 His great-grandparents were mer- 
 chants and stock raisers, the family being 
 well known and widely connected, trav- 
 eling over a large extent of country, and 
 noted for their integrity and eminent busi- 
 ness qualifications. He was a remarkable 
 man in many respects, and lived to a 
 great age. His son Frederick, who was 
 bj" occupation a butcher and stock raiser 
 of extensive means, in which he made a 
 success, was a man of splendid physique, 
 though not tall, and lived to be eighty 
 years of age; his wife, who bore him six 
 sons and six daughters, lived to almost 
 the age of eighty-six. Of their children, 
 Eberhard F., father of our subject, was 
 a manufacturer of woolens, and a man of 
 intelligence and strict integrity. Not be- 
 ing contented in his native land, he emi- 
 grated to New York in 1 845, and from there 
 proceeded to Bethlehem, Penn., where 
 he was employed as overseer in a woolen 
 
VOMMEMOllAriVE BlUOHAl'UICAL RECORD. 
 
 655 
 
 factory. He soon proved his thorough 
 abihty in that hne, and held his position 
 on account of his competency. In 1848 
 he came to Wisconsin, residing in Dale 
 township, Outagamie county, until 1869, 
 when he removed to Neenah, where he 
 died August 3, 1877, aged seventy-seven 
 years. When he came to Dale township 
 his nearest neighbors were four miles dis- 
 tant, and he endured all the privations in- 
 cident to a pioneer life. He became a 
 conspicuous figure in that community, 
 profoundly respected by the settlers, and 
 was numbered among the noted men of 
 the county. His wife, Catherina (Roesch) 
 Buck, who had remained behind in the 
 old country when her husband left for 
 America, toiled patiently and persever- 
 ingly until such time as he could prepare 
 a home for his family in the new region to 
 which he had gone. For eleven years 
 she was a teacher in a house of correction 
 for women. She was a noble woman, 
 intellectual, educated and well-read, and 
 after coming to America was never fully 
 reconciled to the struggles and hardships 
 incident to building up a home in the 
 then comparative wilderness. She died 
 in Dale township in October, 1862, the 
 mother of four children: Lena, Charles 
 F. , Herman T. , and Louise. 
 
 Herman Traugot Buck was educated 
 in Germany, from which country, in 1857, 
 when fifteen years of age, he came to 
 Wisconsin, first engaging in farming, but 
 about 1870 entering mercantile business, 
 in which he continued until 1883, and in 
 both occupations he was successful. Dur- 
 ing the early months of the Rebellion he 
 enlisted in Company G, Fourteenth Wis. 
 V. I., and served until August, 1862, 
 when he was disabled at Pittsburg Land- 
 ing and honorably discharged; he had par- 
 ticipated with his regiment in the terrific 
 battle of Shiloh. Returning home, he 
 engaged in farming until February, 1865, 
 when he again enlisted, this time in Com- 
 pany A, Fort3'-seventh Wis. V. I. ; was 
 elected a sergeant in his company and 
 served until the close of the war. By 
 
 virtue of his services he now holds mem- 
 bership in Francis Steffen Post No. 210, 
 G. A. R. He farmed the old homestead 
 until his entry into mercantile pursuits in 
 1870, and, although he had been a man 
 of great endurance, his health finally be- 
 came so badly broken that he was forced 
 in 1883 to retire from active business. He 
 has since taken up fire insurance. In the 
 prosperity and upbuilding of his town he 
 has always been interested, and is one of 
 its most respected and honored citizens. 
 As a representative man he has been called 
 to fill numerous responsible positions, and 
 in politics he has always been a Demo- 
 crat; has twice served as town treasurer 
 and town chairman, and one year as town 
 clerk; was appointed postmaster and 
 served from 1885 to 1889, during Cleve- 
 land's first administration. Mr. Buck was 
 married, in Dale township, to Miss Sophia 
 Eden, daughter of John Eden, of Green- 
 ville township, and four children have 
 been born to them : Ida E. , Christina J . , 
 Rosa, and Louis Otto, who died. Par- 
 ents and children are members of the Lu- 
 theran Church at Hortonville, in which 
 Mr. Buck has been a leader since its or- 
 ganization, and of which he has been a 
 trustee and secretar\- for the past nine 
 years. 
 
 JAMES D. McINTYRE, M. D., phy- 
 sician and surgeon, Medina, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born September 
 15, 1847, in Livingston countj', 
 Michigan. The Mclntyre family was of 
 Scotch descent, and among the early in- 
 habitants of Johnstown, N. Y. Donald 
 Mclntyre, grandfather of the Doctor, was 
 born in Scotland, coming from Perthshire 
 after he was thirty years of age and lo- 
 cating at Johnstown. The family was 
 held in high esteem in its Scotch home. 
 Its crest, as described in the Lyon Office, 
 Edinburgh, was as follows: "Armorial 
 Bearings of Mclntyre of Glens: Quar- 
 terly 1st and 4th, an eagle displayed 
 gules, armed langued and membered sa- 
 
656 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ble. Argent, a ship with one mast, the 
 sailes furled sable, and flags displayed 
 gules. A sinister hand couched in fesse 
 gules, holding a cross crosslet filched azu- 
 rel. Crest, a dexter hand issuing from 
 the wreath, holding a dagger erect, both 
 proper, the last hilted or poweled or. 
 Motto: Per ardua." 
 
 Donald Mclntyre was a prosperous 
 farmer, a strict Presbyterian and an active 
 politician. He had a family of three sons 
 and three daughters: John, James D., 
 Donald, Flora, Margaret and Mc- 
 Laren. James D. was born in the State 
 of New York in 1801, and was all his life 
 a farmer. He removed to Livingston 
 county, Mich., in 1834, residing the first 
 summer in a house that stood just over 
 the line in Ingham county. He made 
 entry of land, according to the records in 
 Livingston county, on Section 31, Una- 
 dilla township, July 10, 1834, which date 
 is also given in the records of the Living- 
 ston County Pioneer Society. Several 
 families had located in Unadilla the 
 previous year (1833), part from Con- 
 necticut and part from New York. It 
 is stated that Mrs. Mclntyre was the 
 first white woman to keep house with- 
 in the limits of what is now Ingham 
 county, and as the first settlement in that 
 count}' was made in Stockbridge town- 
 ship, where the family passed the summer, 
 there is a strong probability that such 
 may have been the fact. David Rogers, 
 the first settler in the township and county, 
 had a frame house ready for occupancy 
 in April, 1834, and Thomas G. Sill lo- 
 cated in June of the same year. The 
 Rogers building had been framed in 
 W'ashtenaw county, and transported to 
 Stockbridge upon a wagon, or sleds. It 
 nmst have been either in the Rogers or 
 the Sill house that the Mclntyre family 
 spent its first summer, and the families of 
 both those men were in the township the 
 same season, according to authentic rec- 
 ords, a son of Sill, born at the close of 
 1834, being the first white child born in 
 the township; at all events the Mclntyres 
 
 had neighbors, although few and scattered. 
 They were pioneers in all that the word 
 implies, and passed through all the e.x- 
 periences of a life on the border of settle- 
 ments in Michigan. Two of their children, 
 Donald and Jane, were'born in Johnstown, 
 N. Y., while the others — Peter, Ann, Hugh 
 A. , Flora, Mary, James D. and Isabella 
 Janette — were all born in Michigan. 
 
 James D. Mclntjre was educated in 
 the common schools of his native locality, 
 and finally began the study of medicine 
 at home, being led to do so by the fact 
 that a neighbor's son, John R. Reilly, had 
 also taken up the study. The latter 
 graduated from Rush Medical College, 
 at Chicago, and finally located at New 
 London, Wis., where he was joined later 
 by young Mclntyre. who there renewed 
 the study, continuing through the sum- 
 mers of 1873-74-75. He also entered 
 Rush Medical College in the winter of 
 1873-74, attended the University of Mich- 
 igan in 1874-75, spent the following year 
 at the Medical College, and was graduated 
 in 1876. He then located at Medina, where 
 he has since continued to reside. He en- 
 tered the professional field well-equipped 
 for his work, remarkably so for that period, 
 and has been eminently successful from 
 the first. He is known over a large terri- 
 tory, has an extensive general practice, 
 and enjoys the confidence of the people 
 in a marked degree. Dr. Mclntyre was 
 a charter member of the I. O. O. F. 
 Lodge at Hortonville, to which he still 
 belongs, and also holds membership in 
 the M. W. A. Politically he is a Demo- 
 crat. The Doctor was married in Medina, 
 March 15, 1877, to Miss Mary A. Young, 
 daughter of Capt. William Young, a brave 
 officer in the war of the Rebellion. They 
 have one son, Hugh Young Mclntyre. 
 
 c 
 
 vet 
 
 APTAIN WILLIAM YOUNG (de- 
 ceased), an early settler of Outa- 
 gamie county, was born in New 
 jersey, December 2 3, 1 82 1. While 
 in his minoritv, his father, Samuel 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 657 
 
 Young, removed to Tompkins county, N. 
 Y. , where William acquired a fair educa- 
 tion in the district schools. Before he 
 reached his majority he became engaged 
 in boating on the Erie canal and its 
 tributaries, continuing in that occupation 
 until 1847, when he removed to Wal- 
 worth county, Wisconsin. 
 
 As there was too much prairie in that 
 region to suit his tastes, he pushed north- 
 ward into the unbroken depths of what 
 was then called " Rat River Woods, " now 
 in Outagamie county. He made entry of 
 a quarter section of land in Medina town- 
 ship, one of the first within its limits, on 
 the line of the State road from Oshkosh 
 to Shawano, then, as now, one of the 
 main traveled roads of the region. Many- 
 travelers stopped for food and shelter at 
 his log shant}', which soon became too 
 small to accommodate them, and he, 
 therefore, erected a frame building, the 
 second in the township, whereby he was 
 better prepared to meet the demands for 
 space. In 1854 he removed to Medina, 
 where he purchased a quarter section, 
 and built a large hotel for the accommo- 
 dation of the traveling public. About this 
 time, also, he entered the U. S. postal 
 service, as mail carrier between Weyau- 
 wega and Appleton, later between New 
 London and Oshkosh, and his hotel being 
 a midway point, he enjoyed a large 
 patronage, the profits from which he in- 
 vested in lands. 
 
 When the heavy calls for troops came 
 in the trying days of 1862, Mr. Young 
 determined to lend his aid toward stamp- 
 ing out the Rebellion, and accordingly 
 enlisted. With others he succeeded in 
 raising a full company, which became 
 Company I, of the Thirty-second Wis. V. 
 I., of which he was commissioned first 
 lieutenant; he resigned his commission 
 June 18, 1863, and was mustered out of 
 the service. In the fall of 1864 he re- 
 cruited Company A, of the Forty-seventh 
 Wis. y. I., and was commissioned its 
 captain, in which capacit}' he served 
 until his final muster out in the fall of 
 
 1864, having made a meritorious record 
 for faithfulness and bravery. It is said 
 of him that he never ordered his men to 
 go where he did not lead. After the war 
 he became prominent in public life, not 
 because he was an office seeker, for that 
 he was not; but the people, recognizing 
 his worth, placed him in various positions 
 of honor and trust. He was State Sena- 
 tor in 1867 and 1869, served as chairman 
 of his town, and was several times super- 
 visor; was also the first postmaster at 
 Medina. He always reluctantly entered 
 a political canvass, even when certain of 
 election. On March 13, 1845, Capt. 
 Young was married, in Tompkins county, 
 N. Y. , to Miss Nancy Cole, daughter of 
 William and Margaret (Courter) Cole, 
 natives of New Jersey, and of Scotch and 
 German descent. They had one daughter, 
 Mary Adelia, now the wife of Dr. James 
 D. Mclntyre, of Medina; by a former 
 marriage she had one daughter, Mary 
 Elma, now the wife of Stephen L. Reed, 
 and mother of one son, Donald M. Reed. 
 Capt. Young was a man of remarka- 
 ble physical strength, and possessed the 
 power to endure fatigue and exposure in 
 a superlative degree. For many years 
 he was one of the firm of Young & Rees, 
 proprietors of the stage line between 
 Appleton and Shawano, drove his own 
 stage, and took commendable pride in 
 the management and success of the line. 
 On one occasion an opposition line was 
 started, but the Captain was not to be 
 driven from the field, and it is related 
 that he carried his passengers for nothing 
 and gave them their dinners, until the 
 opposition surrendered. In all his busi- 
 ness ventures he acted with prudence, 
 and never placed an incumbrance upon 
 his home. He was a man of unswerving 
 integrity, and won the confidence of all 
 with whom he had dealings. Of a quiet, 
 retiring disposition, he was yet of a gen- 
 ial nature, which made him excellent 
 company and brought him friends from 
 all classes, was strong in his affections, 
 and never forgot his friends; as to his 
 
658 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 enemies, he had some doubts about for- 
 getting them, but when once reconciled 
 was hearty and loyal to the end. He 
 was in all regards a typical and true 
 American citizen. In political faith he 
 started out as a Democrat, and to the 
 end of his life adhered sturdily to the 
 principles he had espoused. Possessed 
 of a tender heart, he would suffer no 
 affront, and never permitted the weak 
 and defenceless to be imposed on in his 
 presence. Thus prompted, and sup- 
 ported by his great courage and physical 
 strength, he was ever at the call of those 
 who needed assistance, and his memory 
 is revered by all, while hundreds of neigh- 
 bors and friends will testify to the true 
 worth in the life and character of Capt. 
 William Young. 
 
 M 
 
 D. LEEMAN. This gentleman 
 can truly be classed among the 
 pioneers of Maine township, 
 Outagamie county, having come 
 here when there were but few others in 
 the locality, and he is widely and favor- 
 ably known throughout the entire county. 
 Mr. Leeman was born September 24, 
 1850, in Abbot, Maine, son of Charles S. 
 and Mary Jane (Morse) Leeman, natives 
 of the same State, the former of whom 
 was a son of Jacob Leeman. Charles S. 
 Leeman was an industrious and well- 
 known agriculturist of Piscataquis county, 
 and he cleared many farms in his native 
 State; during the winter time he was also 
 occupied in hauling provisions across 
 Moose Head Lake to the lumber camps. 
 By his first wife he had fourteen children, 
 their names and dates of birth being as 
 follows: Susan M., June 20, 1833; Har- 
 riet B., February 9, 1835; Eliza A., Feb- 
 ruary 6, 1836; Nancy J., September 16, 
 1837; Charles D., November 20, 1838; 
 Ann N., June 20, 1840; Hibbard S., 
 August 30, 1841 ; Abbie D., July 6, 1843; 
 Rosina G., May 4, 1845; George R., 
 April 29, 1847; Gilbert S., December 5, 
 1848; M. D.„ September 24, 1850; Seth 
 
 A., July I, 1852; James C, June 16, 
 1853. The mother of these passed from 
 earth October 23, 1853, and about a year 
 afterward Mr. Leeman married, for his 
 second wife, Miss Rhoda Austin. To 
 this union were born eight children, 
 namely: Mina A., born June 4, 1856; 
 Anna E., born February 10, 1858; Levi 
 W. , born January 21, i860; Charles H., 
 born January 3, 1863; IdaG., born April 
 16, 1865; Henr\' C, born Februar\- 3, 
 1868; Hiram D., born June 2, 1870; and 
 Myron F. , born March 14, 1872. Shortly 
 after the death of his first wife Mr. Lee- 
 man sold his farm near Abbot an d en- 
 gaged in the milling business until 1869, 
 when he came westward to Wisconsin, 
 settling in Maine township, Outagamie 
 county, on a farm of thirty acres. At 
 that time the nearest trading point, from 
 the town of Maine, was Appleton, thirty- 
 one miles distant, and every spring his 
 son, M. D., made a trip thither to letch 
 a load of provisions for the family. Here 
 Charles Leeman passed the rest of his 
 life, dying in 1886, and his remains now 
 rest in a cemetery in Maine township. 
 
 M. D. Leeman came to Outagamie 
 county, Wis., the year before his father, 
 worked several years on the river and in 
 the lumber woods, and then embarked in 
 the lumber business, in which, for the 
 first few years, he was comparatively suc- 
 cessful; but in 1874 he met with reverses, 
 and lost all he had earned. Another 
 misfortune also cast its shadow over him 
 about this time, the death of his brother 
 George, who was killed while in his em- 
 ploy, in the lumbering business. In 1875 
 Mr. Leeman was united in marriage with 
 Miss G. Boodry, at which time he owned 
 a small piece of land, on which they took 
 up their home, living in a log house for 
 two years, and then he erected a modern 
 frame residence. On February 26, i 880, 
 Mr. Leeman formed a partnership with 
 George Barker in the mercantile business, 
 w'ith one hundred and fifty dollars capital 
 each, which co-partnership was to con- 
 tinue one year; but in the following Au- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 659 
 
 gust our subject purchased his partner's 
 interests, and has since carried on the 
 business alone, increasing his stock as his 
 trade expanded until now he carries a 
 four-thousand-dollar stock. He has al- 
 ways been industrious and energetic, and 
 it is due to this alone that he has met 
 with such success. Politically Mr. Lee- 
 man is an ardent supporter of the Repub- 
 lican party, and has held various impor- 
 tant offices in his town, having served 
 three years as town treasurer, and as post- 
 master at Leeman since the office was 
 established there (1881), e.xcepting for 
 one year during President Cleveland's ad- 
 ministration, when it was discontinued. 
 Mr. Leeman has three children: Alice, 
 Edna and Guy. 
 
 CHARLES H. MORY, who ranks 
 among the thrifty, well-to-do agri- 
 culturists of Cicero township, 
 Outagamie county, was born Jan- 
 uary 27, 1854, in Greenville township, 
 Outagamie county, son of Julius Francis 
 and Fredericka (Wolfrum) Mory, who 
 were born in Germany. The father of 
 our subject came to this country in 1850, 
 making a settlement in Greenville town- 
 ship, Outagamie Co., Wis., where he pur- 
 chased an eighty-acre farm, and his wife 
 and stepdaughter followed in 1853. On 
 this farm he died in 1876, and was buried 
 in the cemetery in Ellington; he left five 
 children — Charles H., Frank J., Edward, 
 Albert F. and Ida P. (now Mrs. Nicklaus) 
 — and his widow continued to reside on 
 the farm with her family until 1887, since 
 when she has had her home in Appleton, 
 where four of her children also reside — 
 Edward, Albert F. , and the daughters, 
 Mrs. Nicklaus and Mrs. Hilfert. 
 
 On January 25, 1882, Charles H. Mory 
 was married to Miss Rosa Breitrick, who 
 was born in Ellington, Wis., daughter of 
 Charles Breitrick, a successful farmer of 
 that locality, where he owns considerable 
 property; he has had a family of five chil- 
 dren, Albert, Minnie, Rosa, Caroline and 
 
 Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Mory lived with 
 his parents for about two years after their 
 marriage, when he purchased his present 
 farm, on which they have since made their 
 home. This place comprises one hun- 
 dred acres of land, which had been im- 
 proved to some extent when he purchased 
 it, and he has since made many additional 
 improvements, his farm being now one of 
 the best and most highly-cultivated in the 
 township. He and his wife have five 
 children, viz : Lenora W., born June 19, 
 1883; Esther J., born June 10, 1886; 
 Lillian A., born September 4, 1888; Clara 
 C, born January 2, 1891, and Leonard 
 Franklin, born June 20, 1894. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Mory are active members of the 
 Evangelical Association in Cicero town- 
 ship, in which he has served as Sunday- 
 school superintendent for the past eight 
 years. In his political affiliations he is a 
 Republican, and takes a lively interest in 
 the welfare of the part}-. 
 
 JACOB SEAPBLER, farmer and car- 
 penter of Black Creek township, 
 Outagamie county, was born March 
 7, 1859, in Washington county. 
 Wis. , son of John and Elizabeth Seapbler, 
 the former of whom was a successful 
 farmer. There were eight children in the 
 family, as follows: Henry, John, George, 
 Jonathan, Elizabeth, Christoph, Margaret 
 and Jacob. The mother died when Jacob 
 was thirteen years of age. 
 
 At the age of twenty our subject com- 
 menced to learn the cerpenter's trade, 
 and after serving an apprenticeship of 
 three years began working at different 
 places, for about twelve years following 
 the trade on his own account, having, at 
 times, as many as twelve men in his em- 
 ploy. At the time of his marriage he pur- 
 chased five acres of land in Black Creek 
 township, Outagamie county, where he 
 now lives, and erected his present dwell- 
 ing-house, a log structure 20 x 28 feet in 
 dimensions. He cultivated this land and 
 also worked at his trade until 1886, when 
 
66o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he invested in fortj' acres of wild land, 
 later adding other forty acres, so that 
 he is now the owner of eighty-five acres 
 of good land, thirty-eight of which are 
 cleared and well-improved and under a 
 high state of cultivation. 
 
 On December 4, 1880, Mr. Seapbler 
 was married to Miss Ella Defferding, 
 daughter of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Foal) 
 Defferding, who had ten children, viz. : 
 Frankie, Anna, Mat, Ella, William, 
 ^fichael and I\atie, and Philip, Charley 
 and another child, all three of whom died 
 in infancy. To Mr. and Mrs. Seapbler 
 have been born two children, Mamie and 
 Laura. Politically our subject is a Dem- 
 ocrat. 
 
 CHARLES B. PRIDE, architect, 
 Appleton, is a son of Robert and 
 Candis (Martinj Pride, both na- 
 tives of the State of New York. 
 Robert Pride, who was a well-known 
 architect and builder in the East, came 
 to Wisconsin in 1866 and purchased a 
 large farm near Ripon, upon which he 
 located and engaged both in farming and 
 the practice of his old profession. In 
 May, 1873, after disposing of his inter- 
 ests at Ripon, he removed to Appleton, 
 where for seven years he continued his 
 architectural and building work. He has 
 erected many public buildings in the 
 State, besides numerous stores and mills. 
 About 1880 he took up the wood-pulp 
 milling business, having mills at different 
 points. He still continues in this line, 
 owning and operating a large mill at Kau- 
 kauna. He suffered the loss of his es- 
 timable wife in 1882, in which year she 
 died at Stevens Point, Wis. Their chil- 
 dren are three in number: Anson M., 
 Carrie M. and Charles B. 
 
 Charles B. Pride was born in 1854 at 
 Utica, N. Y. , and when twelve years of 
 age entered his father's office, where, 
 being possessed of a natural talent for 
 the business, he learned it rapidly. He at- 
 tended school during the winters, as well 
 
 as night schools, but picked up his educa- 
 tion largely by practical experience. In 
 1877, at the age of twenty-three years, 
 he was chosen superintendent of the 
 millwright department of the great Kim- 
 berly Mills, holding the position three 
 years. From that time until 1882 he 
 was superintendent of construction for 
 other mills, under different contractors, 
 and in the latter year entered the con- 
 tracting business on his own account. 
 His work has extended over a wide field, 
 not only in Wisconsin, but in many parts 
 of the United States. He has made a 
 specialty of paper, sulphite and wood- 
 pulp mills, and furnishes employment to 
 a force of men numbering from 200 to 
 400. He has an interest in several paper 
 and pulp mills, including one at Toma- 
 hawk, in company with his brother, and 
 another at Oconto Falls. At the time 
 these notes were gathered, he had four 
 mills under construction, and was prepar- 
 ing plans for numerous others. Mr. 
 Pride was married, in 1878, to Miss 
 Delia Brooks, a native of Ypsilanti, 
 Mich., and one of four children born to 
 Elisha Brooks, a prosperous farmer. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Pride are the parents of three 
 children: Bert A., Harry A. and Roy C. 
 They are attendants of the Presbyterian 
 Church. Politically Mr. Pride is a Re- 
 publican; socially he is a member of the 
 I. O. O. F. , and he is an active, energetic 
 and public-spirited citizen, and a leading 
 mill architect. 
 
 OD. SARGENT. This gentleman, 
 who is a member of one of the 
 early families of his section, was 
 born July 19, 1841, in Franklin 
 county, N. Y. His parents, Alexander 
 and Louisa (Sanborn) Sargent, came west 
 to Neenah, Wis., in 1857, and in the 
 spring of the following year settled on 
 wild land in Section 6, Freedom town- 
 ship, Outagamie county. The father had 
 followed farming in New York State, an 
 occupation he continued in after coming 
 
^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOOllAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 663 
 
 to Wisconsin, and after years of hard 
 labor, clearing and otherwise preparing 
 his land for cultivation, found himself the 
 owner of a fine property. In i8iS8 he 
 removed to Seymour, same county, where 
 he now lives retired, enjoying the fruits of 
 his early labors. His first wife died in 
 Freedom township, in 1874, and he sub- 
 sequently remarried. The names of his 
 six children are: O. D., Roxana, Clara, 
 Martha, Josephine and Orson H. 
 
 O. D. Sargent received his literary 
 education in the schools common in the 
 countr\' districts of New York during his 
 youth, and when but a boy came with his 
 father to Wisconsin. At that date the 
 educational opportunities offered in this 
 region were very limited, and, besides, 
 there was plenty of work for him on the 
 pioneer farm, where he was early initi- 
 ated into the mysteries of agriculture, in 
 which his father gave him thorough train- 
 ing. On August 31, 1 864, in answer to 
 his country's call for volunteers, he en- 
 listed in the First Regiment, Wisconsin 
 Heavy Artillery, Company G, and was 
 sent to Alexandria, Va. ; he was stationed 
 at Fort Ellsworth, and there remained 
 until the close of the war, when he re- 
 ceived an honorable discharge. On Jan- 
 uary 31, 1863, he was united in marriage, 
 in Appleton, with Miss Ellen M. Taylor, 
 who was born April 19, 1842, in Ver- 
 mont, daughter of Daniel Taylor, and a 
 descendant of New England stock. For 
 a year after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sargent lived in Appleton, where he 
 worked in a factory; but after his return 
 from the army they located near the old 
 Sargent homestead, where they have ever 
 since resided. The farm contains sixty 
 acres of prime land, located in Section 6, 
 Freedom township, which Mr. Sargent 
 has seen transformed from a wilderness 
 to its present fertile condition, with evi- 
 dences of thrift and prosperity on every 
 side, and has taken an active part in the 
 work himself. 
 
 Though receiving but ordinary educa- 
 tional ach'antages in his \outh, Mr. Sar- 
 37 
 
 gent has a practical training, chiefly 
 acquired in the school of experience, and 
 is well informed on the leading questions 
 of tfie da}', taking great pleasure in read- 
 ing. Recognizing the value of education, 
 he has given his children every possible 
 advantage in that direction to prepare 
 them for their work in life, preferring to 
 invest his money that way rather than in 
 land; and he has had no occasion to re- 
 gret it. A brief record of his family is as 
 follows: Ralph C. is the pastor of Christ 
 Church, of Clarinda, Iowa; Clark E. is a 
 student at Rush Medical College, Chicago, 
 having chosen the medical profession; 
 Lester E. is principal of a ward school 
 at Kaukauna, Wis. ; Frank B. is a gradu- 
 ate of Seymour High School; Bertha L. 
 is the wife of Ira N. Nye, a farmer, of 
 Washington State; Victor is a painter, of 
 Seymour, Wis. Mr. Sargent is a Re- 
 publican, and though not an aspirant for 
 political preferment, has served faithfully 
 as assessor in his township. He is one 
 of the representative well-to-do farmers 
 of his locality, and is highly-respected in 
 his community for his many sterling 
 qualities. 
 
 S ETH WILLIAM MORRILE. The 
 family of Morrills is of English 
 descent. The parents of our sub- 
 ject, William Seth and Ellen 
 Louisa (Cook) Morrill, resided in Mont- 
 real, Lower Canada, from which place 
 they removed to the village of Calumet, 
 Winnebago Co., Wis., in 1848. The 
 elder Mr. Morrill was a carpenter and 
 builder, which occupation he followed 
 until 1 875, when he removed to California, 
 and is now a justice of the peace in the 
 city of Stockton. He was the father of 
 twelve children, of whom six are now liv- 
 ing: Seth W'., the subject of this sketch; 
 Wesley, born in 1851, and married to 
 Miss Mina Cummings, now living in the 
 town of Lawrence, where they have two 
 children, one girl and one boy; Emily, 
 born in 1855, and married to William 
 
664 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Gamache, residing at present in Cali- 
 fornia; George, born in 1862, still single; 
 Alvin, born in 1864, married in 1885 to 
 Lizzie Adams, of Stockton, Cal. ; and 
 Alice, born in 1865, who makes her home 
 in California. 
 
 Seth W. Morrill was born the year 
 following his parent's removal from Can- 
 ada (March 7, 1849). He spent his boy- 
 hood days in the village of Calumet, 
 Wis. , and attended the village school un- 
 til he was seventeen j^ears old, when he 
 went to work with an uncle, who had a 
 lumber mill in Suamico, Brown county, 
 where he stayed for four years, learning 
 the business thoroughly. He then went 
 to Wrightstown, and for a couple of years 
 looked after a sawmill belonging to his 
 father. His next move was to the town 
 of Lawrence, where he also remained two 
 years, and from there moved onto his 
 present farm in the town of Kaukauna, 
 where he has since resided. In 1874 Mr. 
 Morrill took to himself a wife in the per- 
 son of Miss Josie Greenlaw. They are 
 the parents of six children, all of whom 
 are living at home, the youngest being 
 still at school. Their names in the order 
 of their ages are: Ellen Gertrude, Bes- 
 sie, Angie, John, Stephen and Edna. 
 
 Politically Mr. Morrill is a Republican, 
 although he takes no active part in poli- 
 tics, and he is now serving his second 
 year as justice of the peace. He is a 
 shrewd, practical business man, and a 
 most excellent farmer, as his substantial 
 buildings, well-cultivated fields and fine 
 stock bears evidence. A man who makes 
 a success of his own business is very apt 
 to do the same when trusted with the af- 
 fairs of the public, and his fellow towns- 
 men showed a degree of wisdom in elect- 
 ing him to a public office. 
 
 GEORGE WALTER, proprietor 
 of the Star Brewery, Appleton, 
 and one of the hustling, wide- 
 awake business men of Outaga- 
 mie county, is a native of Wurtemburg, 
 
 Germany, born January 26, 1848, one of 
 nine children — five sons and four daugh- 
 ters — all of whom grew to manhood and 
 womanhood, and all coming to America 
 except Mathias. 
 
 Our subject received a liberal educa- 
 tion at the schools of Wurtemburg, and 
 at the age of fifteen years was apprenticed 
 to learn the trade of brewer. When he 
 was of age, that is to say twenty-one 
 years old, he entered, as is the custom with 
 all young men in Germany, the army, 
 and for three years served in the Sixth 
 Infantry, part of the time seeing active 
 service in the Franco-German War. On 
 his return from the army he resumed his 
 trade, continuing the same until 1873, 
 when, believing he could better his con- 
 dition, financially at least, in the United 
 States, he set sail from the Fatherland 
 for the shores of Columbia, and on his 
 arrival in New York immediately contin- 
 ued his journey to Milwaukee, Wis. 
 Here he soon found employment with 
 the Pabst Brewing Co., but at the end of 
 a year he moved to White Water, same 
 State, having been offered a position as 
 foreman of a leading brewery there. 
 This post he filled with the utmost satis- 
 faction two years, or until 1876. when he 
 came to Appleton, having been sent for 
 by Mr. Carl Muench to take the position 
 of foreman in his brewery there. With 
 him he remained four years, during 
 which time, as in his previous engage- 
 ments, he proved himself an invaluable as- 
 sistant, thoroughly competent and relia- 
 ble. Mr. Walter, who a few years be- 
 fore had landed in America with but 
 little means, though abundantly provided 
 with energy and grit, had by this time, 
 through industry and thrift, made and 
 saved some money, was enabled, in the 
 fall of 1S80, to purchase a half interest 
 in the Wing & Fries brewery, at Apple- 
 ton. Mr. Wing retiring from the busi- 
 ness in 1885, our subject bought out the 
 interest of Mr. Fries, and changed the 
 name of the concern to the " Star Brew- 
 ery," by which it has since been known 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGIiAI'IIICAL RECORD. 
 
 665 
 
 far and wide. When Mr. Walter came 
 to the brewery in 1876, its capacity was 
 but four thousand barrels per annum, 
 whilst now the annual output is some 
 thirty thousand barrels, the increase hav- 
 ing been mainly due to his e.xpenditure of 
 about forty-five thousand dollars in im- 
 provements. The establishment now em- 
 ploys a force of twelve men the year round. 
 In November, 1875, Mr. Walter was 
 united in marriage at White Water, Wis., 
 with Miss Mary Schlichter, who was born 
 in Troy, Wis., in 1855, a daughter of 
 John Schlichter, an early immigrant of 
 that locality from Germany. To this 
 marriage have been born nine children, 
 all still under the parental roof, and 
 named as follows: George, Lora, Martin, 
 Lena, Anna, Charles, Henry, Rosa and 
 Edward. Our subject is a stanch Demo- 
 crat, though no politician, his business 
 interests occupying his entire time. So- 
 cially he is a member of the Sons of 
 Hermann. In 1886 the family sent to 
 Germany for "Grandfather and Grand- 
 mother Walter" to come to America, 
 which they did, and at Eau Claire, Wis., 
 May 4, 1 89 1, the aged couple celebrated 
 their golden wedding, all their children 
 being present except Mathias. The 
 father died, in 1892, in Eau Claire, Wis., 
 where his widow is yet living. 
 
 FRED SASMAN, justice of the 
 peace, and a prominent farmer 
 citizen of Black Creek township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 New York State, born October 9, 1863, 
 in the town of Salisbury. 
 
 Louis and Mary (Luckel) Sasman, his 
 parents, reared a family of five children, 
 all of whom are still living, as follows: 
 Fred, whose name opens this sketch; 
 Sophia, Mrs. William Koch, of Milwau- 
 kee; and Mary J., Anna P. and Julius, 
 living at home. This family came to 
 Outagamie county. Wis., in 1873, set- 
 tling in Black Creek township, where Mr. 
 Sasman purchased a tract of eighty acres. 
 
 with no improvements save a rude dwell- 
 ing, in which the family had their home 
 for several years. The timber had been 
 chopped from about twelve acres of this 
 land, and the father set to work at once 
 to finish the task thus begun, his sons as- 
 sisting him as soon as they were able. 
 The land was stony, making the labor 
 doubly hard and tedious, but by persever- 
 ance he succeeded, and found himself the 
 owner of a fine farm, literally hewn from 
 the forest. For the first few years, when 
 they needed supplies, they were obliged 
 to bring them from Black Creek, making 
 the journey on foot. But improvements 
 and conveniences were added, year by 
 year, in the surrounding country, as well 
 as on their own farm, until now they have 
 a comfortable home in the midst of a 
 prosperous agricultural district. 
 
 Fred Sasman lived at home with his 
 parents up to the age of twenty-three 
 years, when he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Ethel M. Brainerd, daughter of 
 Carlos and Frances M. (Seeley) Brainerd, 
 also natives of New York. At the time 
 of his marriage Mr. Sasman purchased 
 fifty-seven and three-fourths acres of land, 
 which was partly cleared, but had no im- 
 provements whatever, and he has since 
 devoted his time to its cultivation, mak- 
 ing many improvements in the way of 
 buildings, etc. He has added forty acres 
 to the original tract. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sasman have been born three children, 
 Eunice, Cora and Louis. Mr. Sasman is 
 a Democrat in his political preferences, 
 and is at present serving as justice of the 
 peace and school clerk in his township. 
 He is also acting as agent for the Farmers 
 Mutual Home Insurance Company, of 
 Ellington. 
 
 CHARLES SCHOENROCK. 
 Among the public-spirited, enter- 
 prising and successful citizens of 
 Outagamie county, the gentle- 
 man whose name here appears takes 
 prominent position. He was born in 
 
666 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGIiAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 Caledonia township, Waupaca Co. , Wis. , 
 November 23, 1867, and is a son of F"red- 
 erick and Annie (Schimke) Schoenrock, 
 who were natives of Germany, and among 
 the early settlers of Waupaca county. 
 
 Our subject received a limited educa- 
 tion in his native county, and after leav- 
 ing school worked on the farm during the 
 summers and at lumbering in the winter 
 seasons. In 1891 he engaged in cheese 
 making, his factory being at Hortonia, 
 Outagamie county, and by perseverance 
 and strict integrity has built up a large 
 and rapidly increasing business, turning 
 out of his factory some of the finest cheese 
 made in the county, and for which he has 
 a large demand. On October 8, 1891, 
 he was married to Emma, daughter of 
 Henry and Ernestine (Knaull) Ruhsam, 
 and two children have come to brighten 
 their home: Esther, born May 25, 1892, 
 and Georgie, born December 4, 1894. 
 The parents of our subject are still 
 residing in Caledonia township, Wau- 
 paca county, where the father is a promi- 
 nent farmer and highly esteemed citizen. 
 Their family consists of six children, of 
 whom Charles is thfe eldest, the remain- 
 ing members being as follows: Mollie, 
 wife of Patrick Brown, of Ashland, Wis. ; 
 Mary, wife of Hugar Reitkie, of New 
 London; Hulda, wife of Herman Mag- 
 dance, of Caledonia; William and Fred- 
 erick, both single and residing at home. 
 The entire family are members of the 
 Lutheran Church, and in his political 
 views our subject is a Republican. 
 
 J A. SELBACH, pastor of St. Nicho- 
 las Church, Sagole, Freedom town- 
 ship, and one of the most pop)- 
 ular priests in Outagamie county, 
 was born August 22, i860, near Cologne, 
 Germany. He is a son of Peter W. and 
 Anna Mary (Scheurer) Selbach, and one 
 of a family of seven children, the others 
 being: Theodore, W^illiam and Hubert, 
 of Germany; John J., a physician, of Eau 
 Claire, Wis.; Margaret, of Germany; 
 
 and Mary, now Mrs. Christ. Ooth, of Ft. 
 Wayne, Ind. The father was a farmer 
 and a man of means. 
 
 Our subject was educated first in a 
 parochial school superintended bj- the 
 State, later was privately instructed by a 
 priest, and at fifteen began studying at 
 St. Trond, Belgium, at college. Here 
 he studied rhetoric, and for two years 
 philosophy. He then repaired to the 
 University at Louvain, Belgium, where 
 his studies were continued and concluded. 
 He was at last ordained. May 19, 1883, 
 at Simpelveld, Holland, by ISishop Lau- 
 rent, and, after a few months' vacation, 
 spent in visiting different parts of Europe, 
 he sailed from Antwerp in the early fall 
 of 1883, on the "Pennland," for New 
 York. His destination was Green Bay, 
 Wis., and his first mission was Robinson- 
 ville, Brown county, then St. John's 
 Church, at Green Bay. He served eight 
 months as Bishop's secretary at the latter 
 place, thence going to Kingston, Green 
 Lake county, and thence to Wausaukee, 
 Marinette county. In May, 1891, he 
 left on a five-months' vacation trip to 
 Europe, visiting the scenes of his 3'outh 
 and building up his impaired health. He 
 returned in October, and on the 4th of 
 November, 1891, took charge of St. 
 Nicholas Church, at Sagole, where he has 
 since been located. He continues the 
 work among the Oneida Indians, inaugu- 
 rated by his predecessor, their reserva- 
 tion being near his church. His congre- 
 gation, composed of Dutch, Germans 
 and Irish, is well pleased with his work, 
 and he is esteemed and respected b\- all. 
 
 CHARLES HECKEL, farmer, of 
 Freedom township, Outagamie 
 county, was born June 29, 1850, 
 in Washington county, Wis., son 
 of Joseph Heckel, a native of Germany, 
 who came to the United States and set- 
 tled in Washington count}'. Wis., at an 
 early day. This was before the days of 
 railroads in that region, and he had to go 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 667 
 
 with a team to Milwaukee for provisions. 
 He was married in Milwaukee to Jose- 
 phine Weise, and with the limited capital 
 then in his possession purchased sixty 
 acres of land in Washington county, and 
 commenced housekeeping. Children as 
 follows were born to their union: Charles, 
 Joseph, John, Anton, Mary, Fannie, and 
 Annie, all living, and two sons that died 
 in infancy. About 1866 the family re- 
 moved to Outagamie county, settling in 
 Grand Chute township, where the father 
 died in 1886; the mother passed away in 
 January, 1894, in Appleton. 
 
 Charles Heckel received all his educa- 
 tion at the common schools of Washing- 
 ton count}', and was reared to farming 
 from early youth, working at that occu- 
 pation in summer and finding employ- 
 ment in the woods during the winter sea- 
 son, all his earnings going to assist his 
 parents. In Nox'ember, 1876, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Theresa 
 Wolf, who was born in November, 1850, 
 and came to the United States in 1854. 
 To this union have been born seven chil- 
 dren, namely. Charles, Jr., Anthony, 
 Joseph, Frank, Anna, Josie and Martha, 
 all living. In 1874 Mr. Heckel came to 
 Section 20, in Freedom township, Outa- 
 gamie county, and bought eighty acres of 
 land then entirely in the woods, and with- 
 out improvements of any kind, and here 
 he has since toiled to make himself a 
 comfortable home and farm. All the 
 land, with the exception of twelve acres, 
 has been cleared, substantial buildings 
 have been erected, and many other im- 
 provements made, all tending to enhance 
 the value of the farm. By his honest 
 methods and uprightness Mr. Heckel has 
 succeeded in gaining and retaining the 
 good will of his neighbors and fellow 
 citizens, and he is respected by all as an 
 industrious self-made man, \\ho has suc- 
 ceeded in establishing himself in a pros- 
 perous farming business. Politically he 
 is a Democrat, but not strictly partisan, 
 and in religious' faith he is a member of 
 the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 ARNOLD A. CARTER 'deceased) 
 was for many j'ears identified 
 with the agricultural interests of 
 Osborn township, and was one of 
 her most loyal citizens. He was a native 
 of New York State, born August 22, 
 1823, in Jefferson county, son of Benajah 
 and Luna (Hildrithj Carter, and was there 
 reared to farming, an occupation he fol- 
 lowed all his life. 
 
 On December 25, 1851, Mr. Carter 
 was married, in Jefferson county, N. Y., 
 to Miss JaneC. Wilson, daughter of Free- 
 man and Marinda (Angel) Wilson, and to 
 this union came children as follows: Al- 
 bert (who died in Missouri), Adeline, 
 Angle, Vittie, Mila, Adelbert, Albert, Ai, 
 Charles and Jennie. In May, 1856, Mr., 
 and Mrs. Carter migrated westward, locat- 
 ing first in Dodge county. Wis., where 
 they lived about a year and a half, thence 
 removing to Missouri, remaining in that 
 State two and a half years, at the end of 
 that time returning to Dodge county, 
 W'is. , and residing there until 1863, when 
 they made a permanent settlement in Os- 
 born township, Outagamie county. Here 
 Mr. Carter purchased eighty acres of land, 
 which he innnediately began to improve 
 and cultivate, afterward increasing the 
 area of the farm to 1 10 acres. The coun- 
 trj" was a comparative wilderness at the 
 time of their removal hither, and was but 
 sparsely settled, their nearest neighbors 
 being John Knox and Thomas Shepherd. 
 Mr. Carter was universally respected 
 among his neighbors, and became a leader 
 in his community in many ways, but he 
 never held office, having no aspirations 
 for political preferment. His sympathies 
 were with the Republican party. An act- 
 ive member of the M. E. Church, as is 
 also Mrs. Carter, he entered into its work 
 with zeal, and was one of the most use- 
 ful menibers of the congregation, serving 
 faithfully for many years as trustee, class- 
 leader and Sunday-school superintendent. 
 Ever ready to relieve the poor and needy, 
 or to assist any benevolent enterprise, he 
 made hosts of friends, and was esteemed 
 
66S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 by all who knew him. He passed from 
 earth December 17, 1887, at the age of 
 sixty-four, deepl}' mourned in the com- 
 munity where he had passed so many 
 3-ears of his busy, helpful life. During 
 the Civil war he enlisted, August 31, 1864, 
 in Company H, First Wisconsin Heavy 
 Artillery, and went to the front, serving 
 until April, 1865. when he was honorably 
 discharged on account of disability. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL B. JOHNSTON was 
 
 born in Manheim township, 
 Herkimer Co., N. Y. , July 26, 
 1830, a son of William John- 
 ston, who was born in the town of Broad- 
 albin, N. Y. , December 7, 1797. 
 
 William Johnston's early life was spent 
 at school and on a farm. After attending 
 the common school a number of years he 
 attended the academy at Galway, N. Y. , 
 and at about the age of twenty engaged 
 in teaching school, an occupation he fol- 
 lowed some two years, when he took up 
 farming, a vocation he followed contin- 
 uoiisl\' during the remainder of his natural 
 life. He became a prominent man in his 
 section of the State, for a number of 
 years holding the position of State loan 
 commissioner of New York, and he was 
 also for several years a colonel in the New 
 York militia, receiving his commission in 
 1834 from Governor W. L. Marcy. In 
 1 85 1 he removed from New York to Wis- 
 consin, locating on the farm in Grand 
 Chute township, Outagamie county, now 
 occupied by Michael B. Johnston, being 
 among the first to settle in the county. 
 At that time no roads had been built and 
 the entire country was still in its primitive 
 condition. The lumber for the house 
 which the subject of our sketch now oc- 
 cupies was hauled over a trail, and there 
 were but two settlers between their farm 
 and the Indian Reservation. Mr. John- 
 ston was an Old-line Whig originally, 
 later a Republican, and took a very active 
 part in the early politics of the county, 
 being elected the first judge of the Pro- 
 
 bate court of Outagamie county, about 
 the year 1853. On May 3, 1819, he was 
 united in marriage with Harriet Favill, 
 who was born April 3, 1797, a daughter 
 of John and Nancy Favill, of New 
 York, and to this union were born six 
 children — all sons, viz.: William F., 
 John F., Duncan M., Michael B., George 
 G., and Asa W. , two of whom are de- 
 ceased: Asa W. , who died January 7, 
 1855, and John F., who died August 18, 
 1893. William Johnston died September 
 2, 1881 ; his wife passed away June 4, 1868. 
 Michael B. Johnston was reared a 
 farmer. His literary education was ob- 
 tained in the common schools, and dur- 
 ing his youth he acquired those principles 
 of industry which have marked his career 
 all through_ life. He has been a lifelong 
 farmer, and the practical knowledge of 
 his vocation gained under his father's 
 tuition, and supplemented bj' his own ex- 
 perience, has been of great use to him. 
 He devotes his entire attention to busi- 
 ness, never mixing in political or public 
 affairs to any extent. On February 23, 
 1854, he was married to Lorinda Oney, 
 who was born in the township of Alexan- 
 der, Genesee Co., N. Y. , February 16, 
 1835, 3^"d came to Wisconsin in 1852, 
 and to their marriage have been born five 
 children, ^^'illiam R., John O., Fremont 
 M., Asa F. and Mary L. , all living. Mr. 
 Johnston attends the Methodist Church, 
 of which Mrs. Johnston is a member. 
 
 JOHN H. BURTON, a leading and in- 
 fluential agriculturist of Deer Creek 
 township, Outagamie county, is a na- 
 tive of Canada, born February 22, 
 1856, in the Province of Quebec, a son of 
 Louis and Julia (Beaudreau) Burton, also 
 natives of Lower Canada, and of French 
 lineage. 
 
 In 1 864 the family migrated to the 
 United States, the goal of their journey 
 being the State of Wisconsin, where, in 
 Fond du Lac county, they resided some 
 four years, thence removing to Maple 
 
COMMEMORAriVE BIOORAPHWAL IlECOHD. 
 
 669 
 
 Creek township, Outagamie county, where 
 the father died April 2, 1888, at the age 
 of seventy-nine years, the mother April 6, 
 1894, at the same advanced age. They 
 were the parents of thirteen children, 
 seven of whom survive, a brief record of 
 them being as follows: Lawrence resides 
 in Reading, Mich. ; Mary is the wife of 
 John G. Tate, of Maple Creek, Outagamie 
 county; William also lives in Maple 
 Creek; Louis lives in Deer Creek; Julia 
 Ann is the wife of Nelson Cummings, of 
 Lebanon township, Waupaca county; 
 John H. is the subject of this sketch; Mel- 
 vina is the wife of William Walliette, re- 
 siding near Antigo, Langlade county. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch re- 
 ceived his education at the public schools 
 of Fond du Lac and Outagamie counties, 
 and for some time worked at various oc- 
 cupations, till finally settling down to agri- 
 cultural pursuits on his present farm in 
 Deer Creek township, where he has met 
 with well-merited success. On November 
 4, 1879, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Margaret Bissett, daughter of Am- 
 brose and Madeline (Guyett) Bissett, and 
 to them have been born eight children, all 
 yet living, and named, respectively: Joseph 
 Henry, Charles Ambrose, Adelie Marie, 
 Edward B., Archibald Lewis, Vernon 
 P., Mable Mary and Melvina Madeline. 
 Both the Burton and Bissett families are 
 prominently identified with the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and in political affiliation 
 the male members are all Democrats. 
 
 Ambrose Bissett, father of Mrs. 
 John H. Burton, was born June 8, 1832, 
 at St. Antoine, Province of Quebec, Can- 
 ada (some fifteen miles from Montreal), 
 where he was educated, reared and mar- 
 ried, the latter event occurring February 
 10, 1 85 1, the lady of his choice being 
 Madeline, daughter of Joseph and Made- 
 line (Lavalle) Guyett. By this union 
 were born fourteen children, nine of whom 
 are yet living, a brief record of them be- 
 ing as follows: Laura, born in Canada 
 December 14, 1852, is the wife of Will- 
 iam Burton, of Maple Creek township, 
 
 Outagamie county; Ambrose, born April 
 17, 1855, in Fond du Lac, is married to 
 Aurillia Roberts, daughter of Chris and 
 Aurillia Roberts, of New York State; Jo- 
 seph Bissett, born in Fond du Lac Janu- 
 ary 19, 1859, married Isabella Guyett, 
 and resides in Deer Creek township; Mar- 
 garet, born October 9, 1861, is the wife 
 of John H. Burton; Amelia, born June 
 13, 1862, is the wife of Joseph Suprire, of 
 Deer Creek; Adeline, born October 9, 
 1864, in Fond du Lac, is married to Her- 
 man H. T. Young, and resides in Antigo, 
 Langlade county; Peter, born April 23, 
 1867, in Fond du Lac, married Ellen, 
 daughter of Joseph and Margaret Belt- 
 hazer; Mattie, born April 3, 1872, in Ma- 
 ple Creek, is the wife of Charles Guyett, 
 of Tigerton, Shawano county; and Will- 
 iam, born March 26, 1874, in Maple 
 Creek. About the year 1853 Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bissett, bringing their firstborn, 
 Laura, with them, migrated to Wiscon- 
 sin, and for the following sixteen years 
 made their new Western home in Fond 
 du Lac county, thence in 1870, or in the 
 neighborhood of that year, removing to 
 Maple Creek township, Outagamie county, 
 settling on the farm that is still the fam- 
 ily homestead, and where Mrs. Bissett 
 and some of her children continue to re- 
 side, Mr. Bissett having departed this life 
 June 10, 1891. He was a carpenter by 
 trade, and with his own hands built the 
 present family residence on the farm. 
 His parents, who were French Canadians, 
 had a family of fourteen children, all now 
 deceased except Adeline (wife of Isadore 
 Orswell), Solomon and Napoleon, all 
 three still residing in Canada. 
 
 JULIUS FUERST, a well-to-do, 
 progressive agriculturist of Maple 
 Creek township, Outagamie county, 
 is a native of same, born February 
 28, 1862, a son of Frederick and Ernes- 
 tina (Morock) Fuerst. 
 
 He was reared and educated in Maple 
 Creek township, has followed farming 
 
67 o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ever since he left school, and has already 
 made a success, everything promising a 
 bright future for him. In December, 
 1884, he was married to Miss Minnie 
 Schwandt, daughter of Peter and Zofoe 
 (Albrecht) Schwandt, natives of Germany, 
 and this union was blessed with four chil- 
 dren, namely: Arthur, Alma and Elsie, 
 living, and Leonard, deceased. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Fuerst attend the services of the 
 Lutheran Church; politically he is a Dem- 
 ocrat, and at the present time is serving 
 as a director of School District No. 2, 
 Maple Creek. 
 
 Frederick Fuerst, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born March 11, 1828, in Ger- 
 many, whence in 1850 he came to the 
 United States, locating first in Milwaukee, 
 Wis. , from there moving, in 1859, to Maple 
 Creek township, Outagamie county, where 
 he purchased the farm on which Daniel 
 Hebb lives, and then (in 1861) purchased 
 the farm where his son Julius now re- 
 sides. He was twice married, and by 
 his first wife had two children, both now 
 deceased. This wife dying in 1856, Mr. 
 Fuerst was married, in Milwaukee, \\^is., 
 in 1856, to Miss Ernestina Morock, b}' 
 which union there were thirteen children, 
 five of whom are deceased ; the living are 
 Julius (the subject of this sketch;, Charles, 
 Herman, Henry, Odelia (wife of Gustave 
 Hankey), Frederick, Lena and William, 
 all residing in Maple Creek township, 
 Outagamie county. The father died 
 March 4, 1892; the mother is still living 
 on the home farm, highly respected and 
 esteemed. 
 
 ES. PALMER, a representative 
 citizen of Greenville township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 the "Empire State," born April 
 19, 1827, in Jefferson county. He was 
 the fourth son and the sixth child in or- 
 der of birth in the family of David and 
 Margaret (McKunen) Palmer, who were 
 the parents of eight children — five sons 
 and three daughters. 
 
 Mr. Palmer secured a practical school 
 training in the district schools of the' 
 home neighborhood, and assisted in the 
 work on the home farm until he reached 
 the age of twenty years, when he engaged 
 as a deckhand on the "Lespord," on 
 Lake Ontario, plying between Toronto 
 and points along the St. Lawrence river. 
 For six years he followed the lakes, 
 meantime rising to the position of first 
 mate on the " Nichic," which beheld for 
 one season. On June 7, 1854, he was 
 married in Jefferson county, N. Y. , to 
 Miss Martha Lewis, a native of that 
 countj', who was born October 23, 1831, 
 daughter of Jacob Lewis, a farmer. The 
 previous fall he had come to Outagamie 
 county. Wis. , and in Section 6, Green- 
 ville township, had bargained for a tract 
 of timberland, for which he paid three 
 hundred and twenty dollars. After his 
 marriage he brought his bride out to the 
 new farm, their home being made for a 
 time with Julius Parrott until their own 
 farm could be improved a little, and a 
 small one-story house erected. The 
 woods were still very dense, and wild 
 game abounded, furnishing the settlers 
 with plenty of fresh meat. With a team 
 of oxen and a limited supply of rude im- 
 plements he began to clear and cultivate 
 the land, and he continued his labors on 
 that farm until 1863, in the spring of 
 which year he removed to his present 
 home in Section 6, which comprises 
 seventy acres. In addition to farming he 
 has worked considerably at the carpen- 
 ter's trade, in Greenville and neighboring 
 townships, and is well known throughout 
 the vicinity. Mr. Palmer has been prom- 
 inently connected with the local civil 
 government, having served five years as 
 township assessor, one year as township 
 chairman, one term as justice of the 
 peace, three terms as constable, and for 
 a number of years as school clerk. He 
 is an ardent Republican, but has a lean- 
 ing toward the principles of the Prohi- 
 bition party. For forty years he has 
 been an active member of the M. E. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 671 
 
 Church, at present affiliating with the So- 
 ciety at Hortonviile, where he holds the 
 offices of steward, trustee and class-leader, 
 and has also been a teacher in the Sun- 
 day-school for many years, as well as 
 superintendent; Mrs. Palmer, who has 
 been a member of the Church for forty- 
 five years, also takes an active interest 
 in SundaN'-school work This honored 
 couple have had children as follows: Eva, 
 who died at the age of four years; Carrie, 
 Mrs. Ed. Somers, of Marshall county, 
 Minn. ; and Edward B. and C. Leigh, at 
 home. 
 
 PHILIP KRANZ, North Kaukauna. 
 This gentleman was born in Nas- 
 sau, German)-, May 6, 1837, and 
 is a son of George Kranz, a farmer, 
 who in 1854 came to the United States 
 with his family, including three sons and 
 two daughters. They were fifty-three 
 days on the water, on board the ship 
 "Fannie," between Antwerp and New 
 York. Their destination was Wisconsin, 
 to which State many people from Ger- 
 many were then turning their footsteps. 
 The father had disposed of his property 
 in Germany, and the proceeds, some two 
 thousand dollars, he brought with him to 
 Wisconsin. From New York the family 
 proceeded by rail to Buffalo, thence by 
 lake to Milwaukee, and from there to 
 Germantown, \\'ashington county, fifteen 
 miles from Milwaukee, where the father 
 purchased and located upon land which 
 continued to be his home during the re- 
 mainder of his life. At his death he was 
 eighty-four years of age. His wife died 
 in Germany, but he again married, and 
 had three daughters and one son by his 
 second wife. 
 
 Between the ages of si.x and fourteen 
 years Philip Kranz attended the common 
 schools, and grew up on his father's farm, 
 becoming familiar with its duties, ^^'hen 
 seventeen he came with his father to this 
 country, and remained with him for five 
 years succeeding. In 1859 he came from 
 
 Washington county to Calumet county, 
 where he purchased 120 acres of school 
 land in Brillion township, going in debt 
 two hundred and twenty dollars and pay- 
 ing seven per cent, interest. A cowpath 
 from Holland township. Brown county, 
 was the only trail which led to it, and not 
 a tree had been cut on the property. He 
 could not get near it with a team or 
 wagon, and when he attempted to make 
 improvements he had to carry the lumber 
 for the purpose thirty or forty rods. He 
 went bravely at the work, however, and 
 in the spring of 1861, when he had built 
 a house and barn, he was married in 
 Granville, Milwaukee county, to Catherine 
 Broehm, a native of Pennsylvania, who 
 when a child had come to Wisconsin with 
 her parents, Conrad Broehm and wife. 
 The groom purchased a team of o.xen in 
 Milwaukee county, and after a toilsome 
 trip of five days, part of the time with a 
 wagon and part with a sleigh, succeeded 
 in getting his household goods to their 
 destination. He resumed the work of 
 clearing and the place was the home of 
 the family until 1868, when they located 
 on eighty acres, partially improved, which 
 Mr. Kranz had purchased on Section 36, 
 in Freedom township, Outagamie county. 
 The house was an inferior log structure, 
 and the barn a little better. This farm 
 has since been the family home, but has 
 been increased by various purchases until 
 it now consists of 360 acres in the town- 
 ships of Freedom and Kaukauna. Mr. 
 Kranz also owns nearly one thousand 
 acres in Hall county. Neb. Few farmers 
 in this region have been more successful 
 than he. He started without means, ihe 
 help he received from home not amounting 
 to as much as he could have made working 
 for others. By the hardest work and ex- 
 cellent management he overcame all diffi- 
 culties and is to-day the largest landholder 
 in Freedom township. His success is 
 evidence of what a poor boy may accom- 
 plish if he has on his side industry, 
 shrewdness, honesty and integrity. With 
 his success he has won the respect and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 esteem of all who know him, and his rep- 
 utation is an honorable one. He formerly 
 engaged in lumbering at different times, 
 and during winter seasons dealt exten- 
 sively in land. His toil has told severely 
 upon his physical system, and he has been 
 obliged to turn the active management of 
 his property over to his sons. One of the 
 largest barns in Outagamie county, com- 
 plete and well-equipped, is located on the 
 farm of Mr. Kranz. 
 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kranz 
 aie: Elizabeth, now Mrs. John Esser, 
 of Philadelphia, Penn. ; Amelia, Mrs. 
 Charles Welter, of Freedom; Henry, 
 George, John, Annie and August, at 
 home; besides three who died when small. 
 Previous to the war of the Rebellion Mr. 
 Kranz was a Democrat in politics, but has 
 since been a Republican. 
 
 CHRISTIAN J. LEMBCKE has 
 been identified with the business 
 interests of Outagamie county for 
 a number of years past, since 
 1893 as a farmer of Grand Chute town- 
 ship, and previous to that time as a 
 butcher in Appleton. 
 
 Our subject is a native of Mecklen- 
 burg, Germany, born September 26, 1849. 
 While yet an infant he lost his father, 
 and when about three years old went to 
 live with his grandmother, with whom he 
 remained until he reached the age of fif- 
 teen, meanwhile receiving his education 
 in the common schools of his native land. 
 At this time his mother, who had gone to 
 the United States a number of years be- 
 fore, and remarried in New York, sent 
 funds to bring him to this country, and in 
 the fall of 1864 he left Germany, and, 
 crossing from Hamburg to New York in 
 eight weeks, came west immediately to 
 Appleton, Wis., and thence to Greenville 
 township, Outagamie county, where his 
 mother was then living on a farm. After 
 remaining there two years Christian came 
 to Appleton, where for two years he 
 worked for Rufus Smith, and then one 
 
 year for Mr. Crawford, a street commis- 
 sioner. In 1 87 1 he married, in Center 
 township, Outagamie county, Miss Au- 
 gusta Wurl, also a native of German}-, 
 and for a short time afterward lived with 
 his wife's people, after which he again 
 came to Appleton, and purchased a home. 
 He found employment in a sawmill for 
 some time, and then commenced to learn 
 the butcher business with Fred Peterson, 
 for whom he worked four years, at the 
 end of that time commencing on his own 
 account in a store on College avenue. He 
 made and lost money here, and con- 
 tinued to conduct the business until April, 
 1893, when he removed to Grand Chute 
 township and took up his residence on 
 the " Hamblin farm," having purchased 
 it a short time previously. This property 
 contains eighty acres, situated in the 
 northwest corner of Section 12, and yields 
 a good income to the owner, who carries 
 on a general farming business with marked 
 success. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lembcke have had 
 children as follows: Theodore (butcher 
 of Kimberly, Outagamie county), Ed- 
 ward, Walter and Arthur (residing at 
 home), and George and Willie— first and 
 third respectively in order of birth — (de- 
 ceased). Mr. Lembcke in Church con- 
 nection is a member of the Evangelical 
 Association; politically he affiliates with 
 the Republican party, but though a stanch 
 supporter of those principles takes no ac- 
 tive part in public affairs. With an un- 
 blemished record for integrity in all his 
 dealings, he is respected by all who know 
 him, and is regarded as one of the 
 thoroughly reliable men of his section. 
 
 AVERY C. GRANT, farmer of Kau- 
 kauna township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, was born May 26, 1823, in At- 
 tica, N. Y. His paternal grand- 
 father, John Grant, a Scotchman, married 
 Thankful Ann Lewis, a sister to Col. Na- 
 thaniel Lewis, who was an aide on the staff 
 of Gen. George Washington during the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 673 
 
 Revolutionary war. Mr. Grant's mater- 
 nal grandfather was John Osgood, an 
 Englishman. 
 
 John Grant, father of our subject, was 
 born November 4, 1775, in Stonington, 
 Conn., and was by occupation a farmer. 
 He was married, in September, 1800, to 
 Sarah Osgood, who was born June 20, 
 1785, in Kingsbury, Washington Co., N. 
 Y. On October 19, 1838, they came to 
 Milwaukee, Wis., and about eight years 
 later removed to Fond du Lac and Osh- 
 kosh, where they remained about two 
 years. From there they came to Outa- 
 gamie county, locating in Ellington town- 
 ship, where they both died, the father 
 November 9, 1856, the mother January 
 16, 1862. They had a family of fourteen 
 children, seven sons and seven daughters, 
 viz.: Jane, born in 1802, married Jediah 
 Holliday, in the State of New York, went 
 west, and died at Fort Wayne, Ind., in 
 1838; John Lewis, born in 1803, married 
 Elva Munger, moved to Pennsylvania, and 
 thence to Iowa, where he died in 1892; 
 Sarah, born in 1805, married Daniel 
 Cothrell, removed west and settled at 
 Ashtabula, Ohio, where both died; Mary, 
 born in 1807, married Othniel Hamilton, 
 moved to Ohio, thence to Wisconsin, re- 
 siding in several localities in the latter 
 State, and finally both died near Stevens 
 Point; Asa, born June 21, 1809, married 
 Amanda Bentley, in New York, moved 
 west about 1845 and settled in Wisconsin, 
 where he died, his wife returning to New 
 York and dying in that State; Vincent, 
 born in October, 181 i, married, came 
 west to Wisconsin and thence removed to 
 Missouri; Thankful Ann, born in 181 2, 
 married Daniel Fillmore and now resides 
 in Payson City, Utah; Reuama, born in 
 I 8 14, was married in Milwaukee to Daniel 
 Burton, and died in Wisconsin; William 
 C. Osgood, born in 1 816, is supposed to 
 have been killed in the battle of Buena 
 Vista, Mexico, in February, 1847; Sophia, 
 born in 1S20, died in Milwaukee county. 
 Wis., in 1840; Avery C. is the subject 
 of this notice; Cynthia, born in 1825, 
 
 married Arden Calkins, in i 846, and died 
 in Greenville, Wis., in 1850; S'andford 
 Spencer, born in 1827, served one year in 
 the Mexican war in an infantry regiment, 
 and three years in the U. S. Navy, and is 
 now residing in Chicago, 111.; Andrew J., 
 born in October, 1829, died in 1840, in 
 Milwaukee county. 
 
 Avery C. Grant spent his boyhood in 
 Genesee county, N. Y. , where he attended 
 school. In 1838 he came with his par- 
 ents to Wisconsin, and spent seven or 
 eight years in Muskego, in what is now 
 Waukesha county, coming in November, 
 1850, to Outagamie county, of which he 
 has since been a resident. On August, 
 19, 1862, he enlisted, at Appleton, in 
 Company I, Thirty-second Wis. V. I., 
 was mustered into the U. S. service on 
 the 25th of September following, and on 
 the first day of October started with his 
 command for Tennessee and the front. 
 The regiment served under Gen. Sherman 
 during the war, although Mr. Grant, by 
 reason of general disability, was discharged 
 at Memphis, Tenn., February 16, 1863. 
 He is now a member of P. H. Beaulieu 
 Post, No. 247, G. A. R., at Kaukauna. 
 Politically he has always been a Democrat, 
 although never taking any active part in 
 politics. On December 31, 1845, Mr. 
 Grant was married to Miss Ann W. Wick- 
 wire, daughter of James and Abigail (Miner) 
 Wickwire, and they have nine children, 
 all living, as follows: Mezilla M., born 
 August 30, 1849, was married December 
 25, 1871, to Eugene Birmingham, and is 
 now residing at Sturgeon Bay, Wis. ; 
 Lorenzo Perry, born April 14, 1851, is 
 married and lives in Kaukauna; Julius A., 
 born in 1853, is married and lives in W'al- 
 nut Grove, Redwood Co., Minn.; Roscoe 
 A., born February 6, 1855, is married, 
 and is a farmer in Ellington, Outagamie 
 county; Ellen E., born in 1858, married 
 James Lambie, and lives in Kaukauna; 
 Frank A., born in 1862, is married, and 
 lives in Appleton; AnnaM., born in 1865, 
 married John A. Lambie, December 3, 
 1884, and resides at Kaukauna; Marlon 
 
674 
 
 COMMEMORATI\rE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 W., born May 26, 1867, was married 
 June 7,' 1894, and resides at home; Leon 
 L. , born March 14, 1869, also resides at 
 home. 
 
 Mr. Grant is the owner of a farm of 
 eighty-five acres, which at the time of his 
 settlement thereon was covered with a 
 dense growth of timber, much of it white 
 oak, pine and maple. Some of these trees 
 brought singly, when manufactured into 
 lumber, as much as $25. The land is 
 now in a good state of cultivation, some 
 seventy acres being under the plow. 
 
 WENZEL HAMM. Among the 
 most prosperous and highly es- 
 teemed citizens of New London, 
 none is more widely known than 
 the gentleman who forms the subject of 
 this sketch. He was born in Eger, Aus- 
 tria, September 29, 1849, and is a son of 
 Frederick A. and Annie (Godfried) Hamm, 
 both also natives of Austria, who had 
 born to them eight children, three of 
 whom survive, viz. : Joseph and Ludwick, 
 still residing in Austria, and Wenzel. 
 
 Our subject was educated in the 
 Catholic schools of Austria, and after 
 leaving school learned the blacksmithing 
 business, which he worked at until nine- 
 teen years of age, when he left his home 
 and came to America to try his fortune. 
 Arriving at Castle Garden, New York, on 
 the first day of January, 1869, he from 
 there came west to Greenville, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis., where he worked at his trade 
 for about a month. Not succeeding: in 
 this line, however, he took up farming, 
 which he followed al)out two years, after- 
 ward working at various occupations until 
 1873, when he removed to New London, 
 and embarked in his present bottling busi- 
 ness. About two years ago he removed 
 to the large and commodious premises he 
 now occupies. On September 26, 1877, 
 he was married to Helen, daughter of John 
 and Justine Eichstadt, natives of Prussia, 
 afterward residents of Waupaca county. 
 Wis., and one son, John, has blessed this 
 
 union. Mr. Hamm, in 1S92, was elected 
 councilor for New London, a position he 
 still fills with credit to himself and satis- 
 faction of his constituents. He is a 
 member of the Catholic Knights, and So- 
 ciety of St. Joseph, besides other organi- 
 zations, and he and his family attend the 
 Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 ARTHUR E. FOSTER. This gen- 
 tleman, the well-known court- 
 eous and able secretary of the 
 Johnson Manufacturing Co., New 
 London, is a native of Vermont, born 
 April 22, 1867, in Rutland, a son of 
 Edwin L. and Diantha S. fSwain) Foster. 
 He received a liberal education at the 
 schools of his native city, after which he 
 moved to Providence, R. I., and there 
 learned tool-manufacturing, at which 
 trade he worked in the East until coming 
 to New London in 1888, since when he 
 has been closely identified with the ex- 
 tensive lumber business of which he has 
 been secretary since 1889. On December 
 24, 1 89 1, he was married to Miss Pearl 
 H. Gilbert, who was born September 29, 
 1873, a daughter of M. H. and Sarah A. 
 (Stewart) Gilbert, and through this union 
 he became allied with one of the oldest 
 and most highly-respected families of 
 New London. 
 
 Amos Gilbert, great-grandfather of 
 Mrs. Arthur E. Foster, was born July 16, 
 1770, and was married December 22, 
 179.3. to Clarissa Cogswell, who was born 
 May 19, 1777. and to their union came 
 thirteen children, eight of whom grew to 
 maturity, the others dying in childhood. 
 The father of these died March 1 1, 1847, 
 aged seventy-six years, three months, 
 twenty-six days; the mother passing away 
 October 10, 1845. Their son, J. A. Gil- 
 bert, grandfather of Mrs. Arthur E. Fos- 
 ter, was born June 30, 181 1, in Siloam, 
 Smithfield township; Madison Co., N. Y. , 
 where he received his elementary educa- 
 tion, afterward attending Plattsburg Aca- 
 demy, from which institution he gradu- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWdRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 675 
 
 ated. He was married August 21, 1837, 
 to Alinira Palmer, who was born June 19, 
 1 8 14, and died December 6, 1871. At 
 the age of thirty-three he came west to 
 IlHnois, and in Buffalo Grove, Ogle county, 
 remained until 1848, in which year he re- 
 moved to Fort Atkinson, Wis., thence in 
 1863 to Appleton, where, in partnership 
 association with his son, M. H., he for 
 one year successfully conducted the 
 " Edgerton House," a well-known hotel 
 in its day. In 1864 he and his son came 
 to New London, where they again en- 
 gaged in the hotel business, conducting 
 the " Angier House" several years, after 
 which, in 1865, they commenced the 
 painting business, and together continued 
 in same until the death of the senior 
 member of the firm, which occurred No- 
 vember 29, 1893. He was an exemplary 
 and strictly religious man, one who made 
 multitudes of friends, by whom he was 
 highl)' esteemed for his unswerving in- 
 tegrity and many noble traits of character. 
 
 M. H. Gilbert, father of Mrs. Foster, 
 was born in Pembroke, Genesee Co., N. 
 Y. , July 24, 1840, and is still engaged in 
 the painting business, which had been es- 
 tablished by him and his father in New 
 London, as above recorded. He was 
 married in Fort Atkinson, Wis., Septem- 
 ber 15, 1861, to Miss Sarah A. Stewart, 
 who was born at Elizabeth, N. J., in 1844, 
 a daughter of George and Roxanna (Beach) 
 Stewart, and to this union were born 
 three children, of whom the following 
 brief record is given: Petronella A. , born 
 June 20, 1864, was married October 27, 
 1 88 1, to Dr. C. W. Oviatt, at that time 
 connected with the Kansas City Infirmary, 
 at Kansas City, Mo., but now located at 
 Oshkosh, Wis. , and connected with Rush 
 Medical College, of Chicago; they have 
 but one child, a daughter named Neita, 
 born at Oshkosh, February 12, 1889. 
 Pearl H. is the wife of Arthur E. Foster, 
 the subject proper of these lines. Grace 
 Paton Gilbert, born April 18, 1880, is re- 
 siding with her parents in New London. 
 
 M. H. Gilbert was, in 1889, elected a 
 
 member of the school board of New Lon- 
 don, filling the position till April, 1894, 
 when, for the second time, he was elected 
 alderman The Gilbert family have all 
 along been prominently identified with 
 the Presbyterian Church, many of them 
 as ministers and deacons. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL ROCHE, retired 
 farmer, Sagole, Freedom town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, was 
 born in 1820, in County Car- 
 low, Ireland, a son of Patrick Roche, a 
 well-to-do farmer, who had a fatnily of 
 five sons and four daughters. 
 
 Our subject had fair opportunities 
 when a boy, but failed to secure an ex- 
 tensive education. When fourteen or 
 fifteen j-ears of age he went to Dublin to 
 work at the butcher's trade, and some 
 four years later — when eighteen or nine- 
 teen years old — he came to the United 
 States, the trip from Dublin to New York 
 occupying eleven days, many ice fields 
 being met with on the way. Influential 
 friends in Ireland gave him a letter to the 
 mayor of New York, through whose in- 
 fluence he found employment in a lard 
 refinery at Brooklyn. About two jears 
 later he went to New Jersey and worked 
 as a farm hand near Newark, finally 
 pushing westward to Sheboygan, Wis., 
 and thence to Waupun. With the monej^ 
 he had saved he intended settling down 
 and improving some land, and accordingly 
 took up a claim in Waupun; but there 
 being no land office near, he came to 
 Green Bay, where it was rumored one 
 would soon be established. After remain- 
 ing at that point six months, working at 
 whatever he could find to do, he bought 
 the southeast quarter of Section 4, in 
 Freedom township, and together with his 
 parents, his brother, and three sisters, 
 who came at the same time, located upon 
 it. The}' lived together and began the 
 difficult task of clearing the land, on which 
 scarcely a stick had been cut. Mr. 
 Roche was the third settler in the town- 
 
676 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ship, and the family endured all the hard- 
 ships incident to a forest life in that early 
 day. In Green Bay he married Mary 
 Ann James, daughter of John James, and 
 a native of Ireland, whence she came to 
 this country in company with her brother 
 and sister. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Roche began house- 
 keeping in Freedom township, which has 
 since been their home, and in 1889 he 
 gave up farming, since when he has lived 
 a retired life. One son, John, was born 
 to them, who was drowned at Appleton 
 when seventeen years of age. Mrs. Roche 
 died January 4, 1886, and is buried in 
 Freedom township. Mr. Roche, who at 
 at one time owned three farms, has sold 
 all but one of eighty acres, which he rents. 
 His life work has been crowned with 
 success, and in his age he is well provided 
 for through the careful and economical 
 management of his earlier years. He is 
 a well-known and respected citizen. In 
 politics he is a Democrat, and for two 
 years served his township as assessor. He 
 is a member of St. Nicholas Roman 
 Catholic Church, of which for twenty-five 
 years he was a trustee. 
 
 CHARLES F. SMITH, liveryman, 
 Appleton, was born September 
 18, 1856, in the town of Law- 
 rence, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. , 
 and is a son of Robert and Emeline 
 (Micham) Smith, the former born in 1822 
 in Esse.x county, Maine, the latter a na- 
 tive of the State of New York. They had 
 a family of seven children: Charles F., 
 Edgar, William, Martin, Sherman, Hat- 
 tie, and Ida. The father, who was both 
 carpenter and farmer, removed with his 
 family at an earl)- date to Minnesota. 
 
 Our subject attended the public schools 
 in Minnesota until he was fifteen years of 
 age, when he left home and found em- 
 ployment at various kinds of work, prin- 
 cipally farming and the care of horses. 
 He acquired an interest in a bee business 
 in Columbia conntv, Wis., but after four 
 
 years sold out (in 1880) and came to 
 Appleton in 1884, where he purchased his 
 present livery establishment, and has built 
 up an excellent business, owning some of 
 the finest equipages in the cit}'. He also 
 owns and manages a farm three miles 
 from Appleton, and is the proprietor of a 
 stone quarry near that city, in which he 
 employs twenty-five men, furnishing the 
 city with building and crushed stone. Mr. 
 Smith has been entirely dependent upon 
 his own resources, never having received 
 help from home, but his energy and care- 
 ful management have met with deserved 
 success. He was married in June, 1884, 
 to Miss Mary Powers, daughter of William 
 and Mary (Galom) Powers, her parents 
 being natives of Ireland and farmers by 
 occupation. Her mother died in 1 884, 
 her father in 1890; they had a family of 
 eight children: Maggie, Michael, Edwin, 
 James, Ellen, Mary, Kate, and Jennie. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of 
 four children: Hattie, Marie, Lucile, and 
 Raymond. In political faith Mr. Smith 
 is a Democrat, and he and his wife are 
 members of the Catholic Church. 
 
 SOLOMON GARDNER, a leading 
 well-to-do farmer of Seymour 
 township, Outagamie county, was 
 born May 29, 1836, in Delaware, 
 son of Solomon and Ellen (Rogers) Gard- 
 ner, the former of whom was a native of 
 Ireland, the latter of Scotland. 
 
 The parents of our subject both came 
 to America while young, and were mar- 
 ried in the State of Delaware, where Mr. 
 Gardner was employed in a powder mill. 
 They had twelve children, six of whom 
 grew to maturity, namely: Robert, Mary, 
 Solomon, James, Edward and Eliza Jane, 
 who all lived at home until they were 
 married, when their parents gave them a 
 comfortable start in life. Of these, Robert 
 died in Ohio July 25, 1856, aged thirty 
 years, seven months, eight days; Eliza, 
 his wife, died August i, 1851, aged nine- 
 teen vears, eleven months, twentv-two 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 6/7 
 
 days. The sons of Solomon and Ellen 
 (Rogers) Gardner who died young were: 
 Alexander Jamison, July 22. 1842, aged 
 four years, eight days; William Smith, 
 July 22, 1 842, aged one year, four months, 
 six days; William J., August 12, 185 1, 
 aged eight years, four months, twenty- 
 eight days; and John H., August 23, 185 1, 
 aged three years, live months, eighteen 
 days — all dying in Ohio. In 1856 the 
 remainder of the family came westward 
 to Outagamie county. Wis., where, in 
 Freedom township, Mr. Gardner pur- 
 chased a farm and made a permanent 
 home. He and his wife both died in 
 Outagamie county, he in 1882, she in 
 1863. During the journej' to Wisconsin, 
 our subject and his brother-in-law, L. 
 Dallas, came on foot from Fond du Lac 
 to Appleton, rather than pay a dollar and 
 a half for a ride, and on reaching the town 
 found they had arrived before the rest of 
 the party, the roads being so muddy that 
 driving was slower than walking. 
 
 Solomon Gardner, the subject proper 
 of these lines, was married June 17, 1862, 
 at Menasha, Wis., to Miss Amelia Mal- 
 vina Munger, a native of the State of New 
 York, who was one of the family of ten 
 children born to Simeon W. and Saman- 
 tha Malvina (Alden) Munger, the others 
 being as follows: Sally Ann, Melissa and 
 Jay (all three deceased), Siba, Simeon, 
 Esther (deceased), Spencer, Levi, and 
 one that died in infancy. The father of 
 this family came to Wisconsin in 1844, 
 and built the first house in the city of 
 Seymour, Outagamie county, where he 
 made a permanent location, becoming 
 one of the most highly-respected citizens 
 in his locality. He was by trade a car- 
 penter, and was a very successful man. 
 He died in 1887, and his widow is now 
 living in Seymour city at the advanced 
 age of seventy-seven. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gardner located in Freedom township, 
 Outagamie county, where he purchased 
 half of the old homestead — ninety-five 
 acres — and there resided until 1872, when 
 
 he sold his share for three thousand dol- 
 lars to a Mr. Stark; Mr. Gardner's brother 
 James owns the other half, and resides 
 thereon. Our subject then purchased his 
 present farm in Seymour township, which 
 comprises 160 acres of prime land, well 
 improved and highly-cultivated. He and 
 his wife have had seven children, viz. : 
 Robert, born September 29, 1864; Ellen, 
 born September 19, 1867; Agnes, born 
 July 10, 1869; Willie, born May i, 1871; 
 Emory, born June 17, 1873; Harry, born 
 June 19, 1876; and Esther, born October 
 15, 1883. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are ac- 
 tive members of the Congregational 
 Church at Seymour, in which he has held 
 several offices. In October, 1864, Mr. 
 Gardner enlisted in Company I, First 
 Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, for three 
 years, or during the war, and he served 
 until the close of the struggle, principally 
 at Arlington Heights, Va., his term of ac- 
 tive service being about nine months. 
 
 AM. ANDERSON, dealer in general 
 merchandise at Seymour, Outa- 
 gamie county, is a native of Chi- 
 cago, 111., born January 8. 1854, 
 son of Capt. James C. Anderson. The 
 latter, who was born and reared in Nor- 
 way, came to America in early manhood, 
 and located in Chicago as early as 1850, 
 being a contemporary of Iver Lawson 
 (mayor), Rev. Paul Anderson, Capt. 
 George Hammer, Capt. Wiegland and 
 John Anderson (publisher and proprietor 
 of the Scandinavia)i). He was a sea- 
 faring man all his life, becoming well- 
 known among lake mariners in Chi- 
 cago, with whom he was very popular, 
 having hosts of friends. For years he 
 was captain and part owner of the "Anna 
 Thorina, " and he was very successful as 
 a navigator, never losing a boat. In 
 1865 he removed with his family to Mani- 
 towoc, Wis., where he passed the re- 
 mainder of his life, dying in 1872 at the 
 age of fifty years. He was married in 
 Chicago to Anna C. Stavnep, like him- 
 
678 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 self a native of Norway, and one child, 
 A. M., was born to their union. Mrs. 
 Anderson passed away in 1891, aged 
 seventy-two j-ears; she was a woman of 
 great force of character, and was a thrifty, 
 industrious housewife. In religious con- 
 nection Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were 
 nienihers of the Lutheran Church, and in 
 political sympathy he was a Republican. 
 A. M. Anderson received his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of Chicago 
 and Manitowoc, and when a young man 
 entered the employ of Fliegler, Wahle & 
 Co., as clerk in the store and main office. 
 After serving in this position about one 
 year he went to Chicago, there embark- 
 ing in the commission business, the style 
 of the firm being Iverson & Anderson, 
 
 but he did not continue in it long. 
 
 Re- 
 
 turning to Manitowoc he began boat build- 
 ing, following that s'ocation one vear, after 
 which he took up telegraph}', and after mas- 
 tering that commenced to read law in the 
 office of Treat & Franz, of Manitowoc, 
 remaining with them about one year. He 
 then came to Seymour, and, in Septem- 
 ber, 1877, engaged in mercantile business, 
 the firm name being Mitchell & Ander- 
 son, and carried it on until 1S80, when 
 the firm was burned out, suffering a total 
 loss, as they were uninsured. At this 
 time he was without means, but their 
 credit was good, and, going to Chicago, 
 they purchased two thousand dollars 
 worth of goods, and shortly after the ac- 
 cident again opened up business, and con- 
 ducted the store one j'ear longer, at the 
 end of that time going to Appleton, where 
 he became manager for another concern. 
 In about a year he commenced to work 
 for Briggs, Horton & Beveridge, of Apple- 
 ton, and continued in their employ nine 
 months, after which he was with the 
 American Express Company, leaving them 
 in a short time, however, to take the po- 
 sition of bookkeeper with the Seymour 
 Agricultural Compiany, at Seymour, Wis. 
 The companv dissolved after one vear, our 
 subject moving to Green Bay, Wis., and 
 then, leaving his familv in Green Bay, 
 
 went to Iron Mountain, Mich., becoming 
 manager of the " Jenkins Hotel " at that 
 place. Being obliged to return on ac- 
 count of sickness in his family, he went 
 to work for the Milwaukee & Northern 
 Railroad Company as clerk in the store 
 department at Fort Howard, Wis., and 
 served with them altogether about three 
 years, returning to their employ twice, 
 and to this day he has the confidence and 
 good will of the officials who knew him. 
 In March, 1891, he finally returned to 
 Seymour, opening up the general store 
 which he has ever since successfully con- 
 ducted, having a large and increasing cus- 
 tom in the neighborhood. Mr. Anderson 
 has always taken a deep interest in the 
 welfare of the city, both as a substantial 
 business man and as an official, his fellow 
 citizens having elected him to various of- 
 fices, for which he has shown himself to 
 be well qualified. He served one year as 
 justice of the peace of Seymour township, 
 and has the distinction of being the first 
 police justice of the city of Seymour, an 
 office which he filled with characteristic 
 ability. In political affiliation he was 
 originally a Republican, but of late years 
 he has been independent. Socially he 
 has been an active member of the I. O. 
 O. F. for the past nineteen years. Mr. 
 Anderson was married, February 24, 
 1878, at Manitowoc, to Miss Jennie Le- 
 Anna, a ladv of French descent, and they 
 have had two children, Bertie J. and 
 Eddie M. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM SMITH WAR- 
 NER. This \enerable pioneer 
 citizen of Appleton, more closely 
 identified with the origin and 
 growth of that city, probably, than any 
 person now living, has experienced all the 
 difficulties attendant upon the early settle- 
 ment of at least two localities in the 
 West which have since become populous 
 and prosperous. 
 
 Seth Andrew Lemoine Warner, his 
 father, who was born February 12, 1786, 
 
:^Sife 
 
 t 
 
 '■^^i^m 
 
COMMEMOliATlVE BIOGRAI'UICAL RECORD. 
 
 68 1 
 
 in Saybrook, Conn., and was an attorney 
 at law, was a son of Capt. Seth Warner, 
 a soldier in the Revoiutionar\' war, and 
 cousin of Col. Setii \\'arner, also of Revo- 
 lutionary fame. Seth A. L. Warner mar- 
 ried Sally Wixom, who was born in New 
 York in 1796, a daughter of Robert 
 Wixom. They had five children, of whom 
 two died in infancy. Until 1825 the 
 family resided in Tompkins county, N. 
 Y. , but in that year moved westward to 
 Oakland county, Mich., and settled in 
 Farmington township, a portion of the 
 " ^^'olverine State" unsurpassed else- 
 where within its borders. There the 
 father practiced law, and there he died in 
 1844, his wife having passed away in 
 September, 1837. C)"^ son, P. Dean 
 Warner, who is yet a resident of Farni- 
 ington, has been prominent in political 
 affairs, having been speaker of the Michi- 
 gan House of Representatives, and a 
 member of the Senate of that State. 
 Mrs. Warner's father, Robert Wixom, 
 had located in Farmington township, Oak- 
 land Co., Mich., the year previous to Mr. 
 Warner's arrival, or in 1824, both fami- 
 lies settling on Section 15, near each 
 other. Mr. Warner was one of the first 
 justices of the peace in that township, 
 under appointment from the Governor of 
 Michigan, and Robert W^ixom was the 
 first clerk of the township, elected at the 
 first town meeting on the last Monday in 
 May, 1827, at his own house. Both 
 families were among the most prominent 
 residents of that region. Mr. Warner was 
 admitted to the bar of the Oakland county 
 •court in March, 1830, and to the circuit 
 court in April following. 
 
 William S. \\'arner, who was born in 
 Hector (now Schuyler county, formerly in 
 Tompkins county), N. Y. , Febrnarv r, 
 I 81 7, was but eight years of age when the 
 family removed to Michigan. He at- 
 tended the primitive schools of that day 
 in the neighborhood of his new home, and 
 at the age of fifteen j-ears engaged as a 
 clerk in a general store. At that occupa- 
 tion he continued until he was twentw 
 
 38 
 
 varying the programme by teaching school 
 during the winters, and then established 
 himself in mercantile business in Farm- 
 ington. He bought his goods in New 
 York, journeying to that distant city for 
 the purpose, going b}' boat from Detroit 
 to Buffalo, thence by canal to Utica, by 
 rail to Albany, and finally by steamer 
 down the historic Hudson to the metropo- 
 lis, the round trip occupying three weeks. 
 After about three years he sold his store 
 and purchased a gristmill at Northville, 
 Wayne Co., Mich. Two years later he 
 disposed of that property, and entered his 
 father's office to take upi the study of law, 
 remaining until 1844. On April 12, 1837, 
 he was married to Miss Polly Coomer, 
 who was born in Canandaigua county, N. 
 Y., March i, 18 19, daughter of David 
 and Betsey (Cole) Coomer, the former of 
 whom was a farmer and pioneer of Michi- 
 gan, havingremoved to that State in 1828. 
 Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Warner, two died in infancy, Amelia Vic- 
 toria at the age of five years; Emily C. 
 is now the wife of Henry D. Ryan, of Apple- 
 ton. The mother died August 14, 1884. 
 In 1844 Mr. Warner, with his wife 
 and two daughters, started by team for 
 Wisconsin, the route lying through Chi- 
 cago and Milwaukee, then little more than 
 frontier villages. Arriving in Watertown, 
 Jefferson county, in October, and finding 
 no opening for a lawyer, he entered mer- 
 cantile business, and for two j-ears gave 
 his attention thereto. In 1846 he re- 
 moved from there to Sheboygan, and 
 finally, in March, 1849, came to Apple- 
 ton, bringing a small stock of goods and 
 continuing in the merchandising line until 
 1857, when he commenced the practice of 
 law, which he engaged in thirty years. 
 The first lots ever sold in Appleton were 
 purchased by him in February, 1849, he 
 paying fifty dollars each for four choice 
 ones. In April following, as overseer of 
 roads, he helped to cut out the timber 
 along the line of what is now College 
 avenue, the city's pride and principal 
 business street. In the same month he 
 
682 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and Col. Blood and Robert R. Batenian 
 constituted themselves a committee, and 
 nominated officers for the town of Grand 
 Chute, including in its limits the then 
 diminutive village of Appleton. At the 
 election which followed, twenty-seven votes 
 were cast, every one of which was for the 
 men named by that committee. The 
 question of politics had not at that time 
 begun to bother the brains of the inhabit- 
 ants, and there was entire harmony. In 
 1 85 I Mr. Warner removed to Kaukauna, 
 remaining two years and filling the offices 
 of justice of the peace, postmaster, town 
 superintendent of schools and deputy town 
 clerk. He returned to Appleton in 1853, 
 and, with a prophetic eye as to the future 
 of the city, bought real estate as fast as 
 his capital would permit, dealing in it to 
 some extent, and building and improving 
 with characteristic energy, to-day owning 
 much valuable property in the city of his 
 choice. In 1855 he purchased a flour- 
 ing-mill, which, however, he sold two 
 years after. 
 
 Mr. Warner is a Democrat in politics, 
 but in no sense a politician, although he 
 has many times been chosen to fill local 
 offices, such as town clerk, justice of the 
 peace, police justice of the city of Apple- 
 ton, alderman and city attorney, and in 
 1877 was elected as an Independent Dem- 
 ocrat to the Legislature over three oppo- 
 nents — a Republican, a Democrat and a 
 Greenbacker — and was made chairman of 
 the Judiciary Committee. Socially he 
 has been a member of the subordinate 
 and encampment branches of Odd Fellow- 
 ship for thirty-nine years, and worthily 
 filled all the chairs in each. In matters 
 of religion he holds liberal views, but has 
 always donated freely to the various de- 
 nominations. He is blessed with a won- 
 derful memory, and dates and details are 
 carefully treasured up in the store-house 
 of his mind. In 1885, after the death of 
 his beloved wife, he gratified a desire to 
 visit the home of his early childhood in 
 New York, and while the surroundings 
 had greatly changed during the three- 
 
 score years since he left it, and the old 
 buildings had all disappeared, he recog- 
 nized the locality by the general contour 
 of the land, and was rejoiced to find still 
 standing an old pear tree, from whose 
 branches he had partaken of luscious fruit 
 in the days when the century was young. 
 Mr. Warner is a fine type of the pioneer 
 American citizen, a class now almost 
 passed away, and withal a life-long worker 
 for the best good of his community, wher- 
 ever his lot was cast. 
 
 WENZEL GITTER,blacksmith.of 
 Hortonville, Outagamie county, 
 is a native of Bohemia, Austria, 
 born June 8, 1861, son of Frank 
 and Margaret (Riedel) Gitter. The par- 
 ents were also born in Bohemia, and 
 there the father followed farming until 
 1874, when he emigrated with his family 
 to America. He came to Outagamie 
 county. Wis. , where he had relatives, 
 and settling on a farm in Hortonia town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, has since resided 
 there, engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 He was the father of six children, viz. : 
 Charles (who was killed on the railroad 
 when thirty-eight years old), Anton. 
 Frank, Wenzel (the subject of this 
 sketch), Katie (wife of Michael Semes, 
 of Tigerton, Wis.) and George. 
 
 Our subject grew to manhood on his 
 father's farm, and learned the blacksmith 
 trade of John Klein, a good mechanic, 
 with whom he remained five years. He 
 subsequently worked at the trade in vari- 
 ous places, but finally returning to Hor- 
 tonville, and buying out his old employer, 
 he started in business in the same shop 
 where he had learned his trade, and has- 
 built up an extensive and profitable busi- 
 ness in his line, becoming well and favor- 
 ably known throughout the section. As- 
 a skillful, reliable workman he has a rep- 
 utation second to none, and his success 
 is well merited. 
 
 Mr. Gitter was married October 28, 
 1884, in Greenville township, Outagamie 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 6S3 
 
 county, to Miss Anna Lippert, daughter 
 of George and Francisca Lippert, early 
 settlers of Greenville township, who were 
 natives of Bohemia and of German de- 
 scent. To Mr. and Mrs. Gitter have 
 been born four children, viz. : Alvina, Ed- 
 win, Herbert and Raymond. They are 
 Catholics in religious sentiment, being 
 active members of the church at Horton- 
 ville, of which Mr. Gitter has been treas- 
 urer for the past three years. In politics 
 he has always been identified with the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 A A. KERN, member of the Kau- 
 kauna Stone Quarry Co., one of 
 the leading and most flourishing 
 industries in the booming little 
 city of Kaukauna, has been a resi- 
 dent of the place and interested in its 
 commercial welfare for the past sixteen 
 or seventeen years. 
 
 A native of the Mohawk Valley, in 
 the State of New York, he was born in 
 1844, a son of Bernard and Appolonia 
 fWendel) Kern, natives of Bavaria, Ger- 
 many, whence, after marriage, they emi- 
 grated to the United States, and locating 
 in the Mohawk Valley, carried on farm- 
 ing operations until 1847, when they mi- 
 grated westward to Wisconsin, making 
 another new home in Milwaukee. Here 
 the father was engaged in general work 
 for some five years, or until 1852, when 
 he bought a farm in Germantown town- 
 ship, Washington county, on which he 
 resided, however, only about one year, 
 moving thence to the town of Herman, 
 Dodge county, and finally settling on a 
 farm there. Here he and his wife passed 
 the rest of their honored and useful lives, 
 dying in 1889 and 1878 respectively. 
 The record of their children, seven in 
 number, is as follows: John is a farmer 
 of Dodge county. Wis. ; Elizabeth, the 
 wife of Gottlieb Kestner, resides in Has- 
 tings, Neb. ; Mary died in Dodge county, 
 in 1877; Margaret is the wife of Jacob 
 Regula, of Summit, Waukesha Co., 
 
 Wis. ; George, married, resides in Jeffer- 
 son county, Wis. ; Caroline is the wife of 
 John Rauber, of Sullivan township, Jef- 
 ferson county. Wis. ; and Andrew A. 
 
 Our subject, being but a two-year-old 
 child when his parents brought him to 
 Wisconsin, received all his education in 
 Dodge county, working on the farm until 
 he was seventeen years old, when, the 
 Civil war having broken out, he enlisted 
 October 13, 1861, in Company G, Ninth 
 Wis. V. I., for three years' service. The 
 regiment was attached to the army of 
 the West, and participated first in the 
 battles of Newtonia, Mo. , and Cone Hill 
 and Prairie Grove, Ark. ; was then trans- 
 ferred to the Red River campaign under 
 Gen. Steele, and there took part in the 
 engagements at Spoonville, Prairie d' 
 Ann, Poison Springs, Little Mo, and 
 Jenkins Ferry, where our subject re- 
 ceived a gunshot wound in the left thigh 
 which necessitated his confinement to 
 hospital at Little Rock, Ark., for some 
 considerable time. At that town he re- 
 joined his regiment, and he continued in 
 the service until honorably discharged at 
 Milwaukee, Wis., in 1864, when he re- 
 turned to his home in Dodge county. 
 
 In the following year he commenced 
 in the milling business in Waukesha, but 
 in 1876 moved to Appleton, and after 
 working in the Geneseo Mills, the Eagle 
 Mills, Menasha, and the Sheboygan Falls 
 Mills for a couple of years, he came to 
 Kaukauna, taking up his residence on the 
 North side. In the Eagle Mills here he 
 was engaged some eighteen months, at 
 the end of which time he moved to New 
 London, in the same State, where he was 
 similarly employed about one year, and 
 then settled in Kaukauna. Here his time 
 was occupied in various lines of business 
 until 1890, when he and J. Timm estab- 
 lished the Kaukauna Stone Quarry Com- 
 pany, dealers in rough, cut and other 
 stone, doing chiefly contract work, which 
 gives emploj'ment to an average of ten 
 men the year round. 
 
 Mr. Kern has been twice married, first 
 
aammrrmmnir^vt « XnSSJi3SECJLl SSSHUHL 
 
 sx 
 
 c 
 
 -ss- -DC i -iiv;»- Ann B=e- 
 
 
 
 jxrixet imL ir 
 
 « TtU nit: ^ aiue>tas^ .n: 3i=- ' ok JC V3I>rilC tSDKifc. JUL Was ^XOs- 
 
COMMKMOliA TIVI-: llIixntM'lllCM. IIICCOUI). 
 
 685 
 
 lowing year Mason's interest was pur- 
 cliased l)y the other two partners, who 
 rontiniRHi the business, Mr. Beveritige 
 beinj; the active member, C'apt. Marston 
 spenilinf; but Uttle time at the factory. 
 The number ol their employes ranges 
 from eighteen to thirty-two. Mr. Bever- 
 idge is a stocklu)Kler in anil viee-prt'sidcnt 
 of the Appleton Woolen Mills, established 
 in 1S82. He was prominent in 1884 in 
 the work of organizing the Appleton I'2di- 
 soii Electric Light Compau}-, and for nine 
 years served as its secretary and treas- 
 urer. He has reached his present condi- 
 tion in life entirely by his own efforts, 
 ha\ing since boyhood received very little 
 help from home, and is full}- entitled to 
 the sometimes badly-applied but in this 
 instance eminently just designation of a 
 self-made man. He has always attended 
 closel}' to his business, ha\ing been east 
 but twice since coming to this localit}', 
 and is looked upon as a careful, pains- 
 taking and upright citizen. He is a Dem- 
 ocrat in politics, and has been an active 
 worker in the ranks of his party; is a 
 member of the Masonic Order, and at- 
 tends the Congregational Church. In 
 October, 1872, Mr. Bcxcridge was mar- 
 ried to Miss Mary A. Gerry, who was 
 born in his native town in New Bruns- 
 wick, daughter of George \i. and Phcebe 
 (Sloat) Gerry, the former of whom was a 
 carpenter and contractor. Mr. and Mrs. 
 l^everidge have two children, Edith M. 
 and lulna. 
 
 FR.W'K W. HARRIMAN, a worthy 
 son of a worthy sire, was born in 
 Appleton, Wis., September 22, 
 iS6[, the eldest in the family of 
 the late Hon. Joseph E. Harriman, and 
 his wife, Celia f Pratt) Harriman. 
 
 Hon. Joseph E. Harriman was born 
 at Louisville, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., 
 .August 14, 1834, of poor but industrious 
 parents who were unable to give him an 
 education. Moreover, he suffered a great 
 deal from sickness while vonng, a misfor- 
 
 tune that partially disabled him for life. 
 Possessed of a natmally indomitable will, 
 and a resolution that brooked no retard- 
 ment, he overcanu; obstacles that a less 
 heroic nature would have succumln'd to. 
 In 1852 he came to Wisconsin, liist locat- 
 ing near the town of liagle, in Walworth 
 county, where, during the succeeding four 
 years, he devoted his time to attemling 
 and teaching school in the vicinity of Mil- 
 ton. In I S56 he mo\'ed to Appleton, and 
 here for some time was a student at Law- 
 rence Institute, subsetpiently filling var- 
 ious positions as clerk. In i860 he was 
 elected treasurer of the ( ity of Appleton, 
 and about this time he also served as as- 
 sistant postmaster, while later on he was 
 engaged for some time in mercantile trade. 
 In 1864, and again in 1869, he was elected 
 an alderman of the city, and from the 
 latter year until 1873 served as justice of 
 the peace. In 1873, by a surprising vote, 
 he was elected county judge, his great 
 popularity being thus substantially at- 
 tested to; in 1877, after a sharp contest, 
 he was reelected, and again in 1881 and 
 1885 by jMonounced majorities. In the 
 meantime, in 1 876, he was elected mayor 
 of Appleton. and he ser\ed as school 
 treasurer of the Second District from 1884 
 to 1887, when he removed from the dis- 
 trict. In 1887 he was appointed one of 
 the park commissioners, in recognition of 
 the interest he took in the work providing 
 the city with places of healthful and 
 attractive public resorts. Of the Appleton 
 Cemetery Association he was elected sec- 
 rctar}- and treasurer in 1S72, which posi- 
 tion he held up to the time of his death. 
 In January, 1886, through his efforts, the 
 .\ppleton Electric Street Railway Com- 
 pan\' was organized, and he was president 
 of the company as well as manager of the 
 enterprise until prostrated by his last ill- 
 ness. He was also largely engaged in 
 real estate, platting and laying out many 
 additions to the city. In all things he 
 was a public-spirited man who worked 
 hard for the building up of Appleton. 
 
 In i860 Mr. Harriman was married to 
 
6S6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Miss Celia Pratt, of Milton, Wis., daugh- 
 ter of Miles and Deborah Pratt, the latter 
 of whom is a sister of Judge Thomas M. 
 Cooley, of Michigan. Of this union four 
 children are living, namely: Frank W. , 
 the subject proper of this sketch ; Fred E. ; 
 Florian J. , present county surveyor of Ou- 
 tagamie county, and Flora L. , now the wife 
 of B. W. Jones, of Pomona, Cal. The 
 father died April 2, 1889, deeply mourned 
 as a loving husband, an indulgent father, 
 a good friend and genial neighbor. As 
 a citizen he was unselfish, always serving 
 the city and its people before himself; as 
 a business man he was the soul of honor; 
 as an official he was trustworthy, efficient 
 and faithful to every duty; and as a man 
 he was upright, honorable and high- 
 minded. His widow is residing at the 
 old home in Appleton with her son Flor- 
 ian. [For the greater part of the above 
 sketch of the late Hon. J. E. Harriman, 
 we are indebted to the Appleton Posf, of 
 April 3, 1889.— Ed.] 
 
 P'rankW. Harriman, the subject prop- 
 er of this notice, received all his educa- 
 tion at the public schools of Appleton, 
 graduating at the high school in 1878, and 
 for three years thereafter he was a teacher, 
 two of the three years as principal of 
 the Sixth Ward school. He then entered 
 his father's office as register of probate, 
 and assisted him from 1882 to 1889, dur- 
 ing which time he also studied law with 
 his father, and on December 21, 1883, 
 he was admitted to the bar. After his 
 father's death he was appointed by Gov- 
 ernor Hoard, upon the unanimous recom- 
 mendation of the members of the bar, to 
 fill the vacancy as county judge, and in 
 that capacity he served till January i, 
 1890, when he commenced the active 
 practice of his chosen profession, making 
 a specialty of probate practice, in which 
 line he enjoys a wide clientage. In Jan- 
 uary, 1 89 1, he was appointed postmaster 
 at Appleton under the administration of 
 President Harrison, which position he 
 held to the satisfaction of the public until 
 February, 1895. He has always taken an 
 
 active interest in politics, and was secre- 
 tary of the Blaine and Logan Club dur- 
 ing the campaign of 1884; since 1886 he 
 has been secretary of the County Repub- 
 lican Committee; has served as delegate 
 to several State Conventions, as well as 
 to the National Convention of 1888. 
 From 1887 to 1891 he was treasurer of 
 the Second School District. He has 
 been secretary of the Outagamie County 
 Bar Association ever since its organiz- 
 ation, in March, 1884; and he is also 
 secretary and treasurer of the Appleton 
 Cemetery Association. Socially he is a 
 member of the I. O. O. F., has filled all 
 the Chairs in the Subordinate Lodge and 
 Encampment, and is now grand warden 
 of the Grand Lodge of the State of 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 In September, 1884, Mr. Harriman 
 was united in marriage with Miss Tillie 
 Waterhouse, who was born in Waupaca 
 county. Wis., a daughter of B. B. and 
 Sarah (McKerlie) Waterhouse, old settlers 
 of that county, and two children have 
 been born to this union, Sarah Celia and 
 Eleanor May. Mr. and Mrs. Harriman 
 attend the services of the Congregational 
 Church, of which Mrs. Harriman is a 
 member. In all his business relations he 
 has proved himself worthy of the confi- 
 dence he enjoys, and in all the various 
 offices held or being held by him he has 
 never failed to do his duty to his constit- 
 uents, to his city and to his countrj' in a 
 manner that has brought him unqualified 
 approval. 
 
 J 
 
 ERVIS MUTTART, a prominent 
 farmer of Osborn township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born June i, 
 1845. His great-grandfather, Bal- 
 thasar Muttart, was a soldier in the Brit- 
 ish army, and was present at the capture 
 of Quebec, Canada. Louis Muttart, 
 grandfather of our subject, was a native 
 of Nova Scotia. John Muttart, son of 
 Louis, married Ellen Pardon, and settled 
 in Wisconsin in 1853, dying in Winne- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 687 
 
 bago county in 1891. He reared a family 
 of six children, viz. : Jervis, our subject; 
 William L. , born May 21, 1852, now a 
 resident of Oshkosh, Wis. ; George P. , 
 born June 14, 1855, also a resident of 
 Oshkosh; Edmond, born March 3, 1857; 
 Sarah, born in 1859; and Mary, born 
 May 28, 1864. 
 
 Jervis Muttart at the age of sixteen 
 enlisted in Company K, Eleventh Wis. V. 
 I., and was sent to Missouri, where he 
 took part in the Curtis campaign of 1862; 
 he also was in the siege of Vicksburg and 
 at the capture of Mobile, and made a 
 brilliant army record, receiving an honor- 
 able discharge September 29, 1865. On 
 April I, 1866, he married Miss Fannie 
 Cowling, daughter of George and Jane 
 Cowling, the former a well-to-do farmer 
 of Winnebago county. In June, 1866, 
 the young couple came to Osborn town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, where Mr. Mut- 
 tart bought eighty acres of timbered land, 
 at four dollars per acre, two acres of which 
 had been cleared. The young couple had 
 at first a small log cabin for a habitation, 
 but this was soon replaced b\- a more 
 commodious dwelling. Mr. Muttartcleared 
 his land with his own hands and planted 
 his grain among the stumps as he cleared. 
 He had good crops, prospered, and to-day 
 is the owner of i 56 acres of good land in 
 a high state of cultivation. He has a 
 family of ten children, as follows: Mary 
 Ann, Agnes and Alice B. (twins), William 
 L. , Sarah, Martha, Fannie, Jervis, Isa- 
 bella and George. Mr. Muttart and his 
 family are Catholics. In politics Mr. 
 Muttart is a Democrat; has been town 
 clerk nineteen years, and county super- 
 intendent of schools of Outagamie county, 
 two vears. 
 
 HERMAN TAYLOR HARD- 
 ACKER is a gentleman of more 
 than ordinary popularity and 
 prominence in Ellington, Outaga- 
 mie county. He is a son of James 
 Hardacker, and was born November 20, 
 
 1854, on the farm he now owns and 
 lives on. 
 
 Our subject was but two years old 
 when his father died, and six when his 
 mother was taken away. He received a 
 common-school education, but being left 
 at a tender age practically upon his own 
 resources, he was obliged to go among 
 strangers, and when but thirteen years of 
 age was compelled to work for his living. 
 Owing to this stern discipline, he attained 
 a self reliance of character unusual to a 
 youth of that age. Up to the time he 
 was nineteen years old he worked con- 
 tinually, and saved his money. At that 
 time he was able to purchase forty acres 
 of the old homestead (which had been 
 sold when his parents' estate was settled), 
 and he immediately took up his residence 
 upon this property, which he succeeded 
 in making produce a good living for him- 
 self, and a little more. Each year he 
 has added a few acres to his original 
 number, until at the present time he 
 possesses nearly all of the original farm of 
 160 acres. He has made vast improve- 
 ments on the property, erecting good 
 buildings, until to-day this farm stands as 
 one of the finest pieces of property in the 
 surrounding country. In addition to his 
 well-cultivated farm, Mr. Hardacker is 
 the owner of a complete threshing ma- 
 chine, which he operates during the sea- 
 son, he being the first man to operate 
 successfully a self-feeder and cyclone 
 stacker in Outagamie county. In poli- 
 tics he is a Republican, and he was one 
 of the first trustees of the County Insane 
 Asylum, which position he held for two 
 years; has also been a member of the 
 town board for six years, four years of 
 which he was chairman. He is now one 
 of the directors of the Farmers Home 
 Mutual Insurance Company of Ellington 
 and adjoining towns. 
 
 On January 23, 1876, Mr. Hardacker 
 was married to Miss Emma A. Jacke, 
 who was born December 25, 1858, a 
 daughter of Hiram Jacke, a native of 
 New Brunswick, who came to Greenville, 
 
688 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Wis., in 1854, bein;; one uf the early 
 settlers of that town; he married Miss 
 Mary Hunter, an estimable lady of Scotch 
 parentage; he died July 20, 1884, at the 
 age of sixty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hardacker are the parents of si.\ children: 
 Clyde H., born November 13, 1876; 
 Glenn M., born July 27, 1878; Jennie E., 
 born March 24, 1881; Wayne C, born 
 November 5, 1885; Jessie B., born July 
 20, 1888; and Ona M., born June 11, 
 1893. Nfr. Hardacker justly merits the 
 distinction of being given prominent place 
 among the self-made men of our day. 
 
 C.\RL BUCHHOLTZ. Of the 
 many honest, industrious farmers 
 which are the boast of Outagamie 
 county, not a few have settled in 
 Greenville township, and a list of these 
 would be incomplete without the name of 
 Carl Buchholtz. 
 
 He was born in Mecklenburg- Schwer- 
 in, Gernian\-, August 12, 1833, son of 
 George Buchholtz, a laboring man, whose 
 family consisted of seven children — five 
 sons and two daughters — Carl being the 
 eldest son. He attended the connnoii 
 schools up to the age of fourteen, after 
 which he hired out to farmers, having 
 been reared to agricultural pursuits. 
 When a young man he married Doretha 
 Miller, daughter of Carl Miller, continu- 
 ing to follow farming for over eight years 
 afterward, during which time he managed 
 to save enough to come to America with 
 his family, which then consisted of one 
 son and two daughters. They sailed from 
 Hamburg in the fall of 1 864, and arrived 
 in New York after an eighteen-days' voy- 
 age; they had intended to cross in a sail- 
 ing vessel, as the rates were cheaper, but 
 the ship did not leave on time, and the 
 company accordingly gave them passage 
 on a steamer. At New York they took 
 the boat for Albany, going thence by rail 
 through Detroit to Grand Haven, Mich., 
 crossing the lake from that point to Mil- 
 waukee, and thence on to Columbus, 
 
 where a cousin of our subject, Fred Lom- 
 berg, had located some time previously 
 (this young man had been reared by Mr. 
 Buchholtz's parents from the age of six 
 months). They found on their arrival, 
 however, that he had left Columbus, and 
 they continued their journey to Appleton, 
 Outagamie county, which they reached 
 at 9 o'clock one night. The following 
 day they came out to Greenville township, 
 where Mr. Buchholtz shortlj- afterward 
 secured employment, farming, chopping 
 cordwood, etc. , and soon rented a tract 
 of land in the township, and conmienced 
 on his own account. He paid $180 for a 
 yoke of oxen, and bought some necessary 
 farm implements, for which he was 
 obliged to go into debt; but he was de- 
 termined to get a start in the world, and 
 succeeded. After renting land for five 
 years, he bought forty acres in Section 36, 
 Greenville township, for$i,500, on which 
 he paid $400 cash, and having by this 
 time all the necessary equipment for con- 
 ducting a farm did a very profitable gen- 
 eral farming business. That farm was 
 his home until the fall of 1876, when he 
 purchased and removed upon his present 
 farm, in Section 24, which consisted of 
 eighty acres, the price being $5,000; he 
 went into debt for $2,800 of this amount, 
 on which he paid ten per cent, interest, 
 and he was als(5 obliged tt) lay out a con- 
 siderable sum in improving the buildings. 
 His perseverance and pluck have over- 
 come all difficulties, however, and to-day 
 he has one of the best farms in the town- 
 ship, made so b\' continuous hard labor 
 and good management, and he can well 
 be proud of the beautiful home and fine 
 property of which he is the owner. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Buchholtz have had 
 children as follows, the first three born in 
 Germany, the rest in America: Doretha, 
 who died after coming to the United 
 States; Louisa, wife of Charles Rohl, a 
 farmer of Grand Chute township, Outa- 
 gamie county; Fred, who lives at home; 
 Sophia, Mrs. Henry Sedo, of Black Creek 
 township, Outagamie county; Lena, Mrs. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 689 
 
 Albert Kruger, of Grand Chute; Henry 
 and Charles, who are carpenters; and 
 Annie, Alvina and August, at home. The 
 entire family are Lutherans in religious 
 faith. Mr. Buchholt;? votes the Demo- 
 cratic ticket, but beyond that takes little 
 interest in politics. During his residence 
 in (Greenville township he has proved him- 
 self a lo}al citi;;en and a good neighbor, 
 and he has helped a number of his coun- 
 trymen to get a start in this section, 
 knowing the value of a little financial aid 
 to a willing, industrious rnan. 
 
 FREDERICK \V. HOEFER, the 
 popular and efficient city marshal 
 of Appleton, is a native of Wis- 
 consin, born October i, 1S47, in 
 the town of Juneau, Dodge county, a son 
 of Thomas and Philopenaf Knester) Hoefer, 
 the father, a native of the village of 
 Eichen, Germany, born in 11^14; the 
 mother born in Germany. 
 
 Thomas Hoefer was a well-educated 
 man, speaking fluently English as well as 
 German. In earl}- life he came to the 
 United States, and in Williamstown, 
 Dodge Co. , Wis. , followed farming up to 
 within ten years of his death, and during 
 these ten years he served as a justice of 
 the peace in Mayville, same county, 
 where he passed the rest of his days, dy- 
 ing August 14, iiS57; his widow died in 
 1S72. The)- were the parents of live chil- 
 dren, named as follows: August, Emma 
 ("who died at the age of two yearsj, F"red- 
 erickW. , C. C, and Thomas J. Grand- 
 father Hoefer was an iron manufacturer 
 of considerable wealth and of no little 
 note. 
 
 Frederick ^\'. Hoefer received but a 
 very limited education, never having en- 
 tered as a scholar the doors of a school- 
 house since he was ten years of age, and 
 after his father's death he worked on 
 farms summer time, remaining at home 
 during the winters. When he was four- 
 teen years old the fanu'ly moved into Ap- 
 pleton, where he worked in a factory for 
 
 some time, or until January 18, 1864, the 
 date of his enlistment in Company G, 
 Third Wis. V. C, Capt. Theodore 
 Conkey. He joined his company at 
 Madison, Wis., accompanied it in its 
 various movements, returned with it to 
 Madison, and was honorably discharged 
 October 27, 1865. This company was 
 stationed alternately at Forts Leaven- 
 worth, Scott, Smith and Zarah, Kans. , 
 and at Fort Lyon, Colo., doing duty on 
 the Plains, escorting caravans and United 
 States mails, all the fighting they had be- 
 ing with the Indians. As will be seen, our 
 subject was only sixteen years old at the 
 time of his enlistment, but he was never 
 sick a day, on the contrary stood the 
 I hardships and e.xposure like an experi- 
 enced trooper, and bore an excellent sol- 
 dier's record. On his return home he 
 worked in a furniture factory in Appleton 
 until .\pril. 1877, the date of his entering 
 the Appleton police force as patrolman. 
 In 1882 he was elected city marshal, 
 which office he held until 1885, when he 
 was elected sheriff, an incumbency he 
 filled two years with commendable effi- 
 ciency, after which he again served as 
 patrolman, this time for three years. In 
 1 891 he was again elected city marshal, 
 his present position, and it is but justice 
 to him to record that in all his duties, 
 either as patrolman, marshal or sheriff, he 
 has proved himself a most competent and 
 zealous officer. 
 
 On November 2, 1872. Mr. Hoefer 
 was married in Appleton to Miss Augusta 
 Kruger, a native of Prussia, who, when a 
 young girl, came with her parents — well- 
 to-do farming people — to the United 
 States, the family first locating near Mil- 
 waukee, later settling in Outagamie coun- 
 ty, where the father died, and the mother 
 is \-et living. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoefer 
 were born seven children, one of whom 
 died in infancy, the others being Thomas, 
 William E., Oscar, Laura, Lawrence and 
 Margaret. The family attend the services 
 of the Congregational Church, and in his 
 politirnl a'isoriations Mr. Hoefer is a 
 
690 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Democrat. He is a member of the F. & 
 A. M., Waverly Lodge, No. 51, and the 
 Chapter, No. 47; also of Rliiiie Lodge, 
 No. 163, and of the G. A. K. 
 
 THEODORE HIED. Among the 
 successful farmers of Grand Chute 
 township, Outagamie count)', who 
 have risen by their own exertions 
 to positions of affluence, this gentleman 
 deserves prominent mention. He was 
 born September 13, 1831, in Prussia, son 
 of John Hied, a farmer by occupation, 
 who died in his native land. He had a 
 family of seven children — three sons and 
 four daughters — of whom Theodore is 
 the eldest son and second child in order 
 of birth. 
 
 Theodore Hied received a common- 
 school education in his native land, where 
 he was also reared to farming, and lived 
 with his parents until 1850, when he re- 
 solved to try his fortune in America, being 
 anxious to improve his condition, and 
 wishing also to avoid military service. 
 At Antwerp he took passage for New York 
 on a sailing vessel, landing after a voyage 
 of twenty-six days, and proceeding at 
 once via Buffalo to Cattaraugus county, 
 N. Y. , where he found his first employ- 
 ment in the New World, working seven 
 months for a farmer in that region. At 
 the end of that time lie went to six miles 
 east of Dunkirk, Chautauqua county, 
 where he remained in the employ of one 
 farmer for five years, an evidence in itself 
 of his efficiency and ability. In the fall 
 of 1855 he left New York for Wisconsin, 
 with the intention of purchasing land, 
 and journeying from Buffalo by boat to 
 Detroit, thence to Chicago, and thence to 
 Milwaukee, worked two years for a farmer 
 in the vicinity of that city. 
 
 On February 24, 1857, Mr. Hied was 
 married, in Milwaukee, to Miss Helen 
 Smith, a native of Prussia, born February 
 24, 1836, daughter of Mathias Smith, 
 who came to the United States in 1847, 
 and became an early settler of Milwaukee. 
 
 The young couple commenced house- 
 keeping in the town of Wauwatosa, where 
 Mr. Hied entered the employ of Leander 
 Comstock, and worked for him in a saw 
 and grist mill for nine years. Here chil- 
 dren were born as follows: Matthew, 
 now of Appleton; Catharine, Mrs. Anton 
 Appman, of Roscville, Wis. ; John, of 
 Kaukauna; and Anton, of Milwaukee. 
 In 1866 Mr. Hied sold his property in 
 Wauwatosa and removed with his family 
 to Grand Chute township, Outagamie 
 county, where he had purchased sixty 
 acres in Secton 12 at $26 per acre, going 
 in debt for part of the amount. About 
 fifteen acres of this tract had been lum- 
 bered over, but the remainder was still in 
 its primitive condition, and the only build- 
 ings on the place were a very small log 
 house and a log barn. It was necessary 
 to remove the sttmips before there was 
 space enough for even a garden; and ex- 
 cept for the money obtained from the sale 
 of timber they received scarceh' any reve- 
 nue from the land for se\-eral years. With 
 no improved machinery — an axe and hoe 
 being almost his only implements — the 
 work progressed slowly; but each season 
 the farm grew more and more productive, 
 and improvements and comforts were 
 added which enhanced its value consider- 
 ably, both as a farm and as a home. Mr. 
 Hied has also added twenty acres to the 
 original tract. Since their removal to 
 this farm the family has been increased by 
 the following named children: Leonard 
 (of Appleton), Peter, Mary, Ernst and 
 Lena; one child, Ernst, died in infancy. 
 In 1872 Mr. Hied, having a desire to see 
 his old home, made a trip to the Father- 
 land, and spent several months among the 
 friends and scenes of his boyhood, return- 
 ing in February, 1873. Since his resi- 
 dence in Grand Chute township he has 
 been continuously engaged in farming, and 
 under his care and good management has 
 seen his property transformed from a 
 •'howling wilderness" to the splendid, 
 well-kept farm it now is. Although at- 
 tending strictly to his private affairs, and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 691 
 
 caring little to mingle actively in public 
 life, he has filled several offices in his 
 township withi credit to himself, and has 
 also been school treasurer of his district. 
 He is a stanch Democrat in political 
 sympathy. Mr. Hied has been unusually 
 successful as a farmer, and he holds a 
 high position in the esteem of his neigh- 
 bors and fellow citizens for integrity 
 and uprightness in all his transactions. 
 The entire family are members of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 ASA HAMILTON CONKEY (de- 
 ceased), late a resident of Apple- 
 ton, was born August 20, 1822, 
 in Canton, St. Lawrence Co., N. 
 Y. He was prepared for college at Pots- 
 dam, and graduated from Hamilton Col- 
 lege at Clinton, N. Y. , soon after which 
 he went south, and became i)rincipal of a 
 Presbyterian Ladies' Seminary in Missis- 
 sippi. In 1850 he was married to Miss 
 Jennie Merrill, a native of Castleton, Vt., 
 who had been educated at a ladies' semi- 
 nary at that place, and, while herself 
 teaching in the South, met and married 
 Mr. Conkey. Her father, Enos Merrill, 
 was a native of Connecticut, while her 
 mother, Polly (Southwickj Merrill, was 
 born in the Old Bay State. Jonathan 
 Merrill, her grandfather, was a soldier in 
 the war of 18 12. 
 
 Mr. Conkey gave up his school duties 
 in Mississippi after the war of the Rebel- 
 lion, and came north, locating at Apple- 
 ton in 1869. He was several times 
 chosen city and county superintendent of 
 schools, and was often urged by his 
 friends to accept other public positions of 
 trust, but declined. Politically he was a 
 Democrat. Aside from his school work 
 he gave some attention to the insurance 
 business. He was a man of broad mind 
 and liberal principles, a gentleman of cul- 
 ture, and a kind-hearted and exceedingly 
 charitable citizen and friend. His years 
 of travel in the United States aided in 
 ripening a ready mind, and his character 
 
 was unassailable. He was an elder in the 
 Presbyterian Church, and a devoted and 
 active member of the F. & A. M. and I. 
 O. O. F. Upon his death, which oc- 
 curred May 5, 1893, he was sincerely 
 mourned by all who had been so fortu- 
 nate as to form his acquaintance or to 
 become cognizant of his integrity and 
 worth as a man and citizen. 
 
 JOHN HENRY KAMPS, proprietor 
 of the leading drug store in Apple- 
 ton, Outagamie county, where he 
 keeps in stock a full line of drugs, 
 sporting goods and stationery, is a native 
 of the city, born April 14, 1862. 
 
 In the parochial school of Appleton 
 he received his literary education, after 
 which he entered St. Joseph's Normal 
 School, Milwaukee, where he took a two- 
 years' commercial course. Returning to 
 Appleton, he entered the employ of H. 
 A. Foster, druggist, remaining with him 
 some three and one-half years. He then 
 moved to Oshkosh, where he worked one 
 year in a drug store, thence proceeded to 
 Chicago, there taking a one-year's course 
 in pharmac}'. On his return to Appleton 
 in 1 88 1 he entered the employ of Hawes 
 & Little, remaining in their employ three 
 years, at the end of which time he ac- 
 cepted a position as traveling salesman 
 for Humiston, Keeling & Co., a Chicago 
 drug house, remaining with them until 
 May I, 1890, when he bought out the 
 drug business of Joseph Gruelich, and 
 has since conducted a prosperous and 
 rapidly expanding business. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Kamps was united in 
 marriage with Miss Kate Schmit, daugh- 
 ter of Frank and Kate fPirsch) Schmit, 
 natives of Germany, where they were 
 well-to-do farmers and hotel-keepers. To 
 this union were born five children: Ger- 
 hard (deceased in infancy), Gerhard, 
 Frank, Hermann and Henry. Our subject 
 and wife are members of St. Joseph's 
 Catholic Church, and he is connected 
 with the Society of St. Joseph, and of 
 
692 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the Catholic Knights. In poHtics he is a 
 Democrat. Since the spring of 1891 he 
 has been oil inspector of his District. He 
 is a progressive, popular citizen, one who 
 has deserved well the success which has 
 come to him. 
 
 HENRY KNAPSTEIN. This well- 
 known prominent gentleman, suc- 
 cessful business man and present 
 mayor of New London, is a native 
 of Rhine Prussia, Germany, born Novem- 
 ber 17, 1853, in the neighborhood of the 
 ancient city of Cologne, a son of Mathias 
 and Marguerita (Krutzberg) Knapstein. 
 
 The father of our subject was born in 
 the same locality in Rhine Prussia, March 
 21, 1825, and followed the vocation of 
 farmer and harness maker. In 1855, 
 accompanied by his wife and children, he 
 emigrated to this country, arriving March 
 9, in New York, whence he at once came ' 
 westward to Wisconsin, arri\ing in Outa- 
 gamie county April 18 following, where 
 he died in August, 1894, an honored and 
 highly esteemed citizen; his wife is also 
 deceased. To this pioneer couple were 
 born ten children, of whom are yet living: 
 William and Anna, both residing in Iowa; 
 Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Stueser, of Sher- 
 wood, Wis. ; Barbara, wife of Michael 
 Schaller, of New London; John, living in 
 Greenville, Outagamie county; Margaret, 
 wife of Ferdinand Reitzner, of Black 
 Creek, Outagamie county; Conrad, Theo- 
 dore and Henry. 
 
 Henry Knapstein, the subject proper 
 of these lines, was a two-year-old infant 
 when the family came to Outagamie 
 county, where at the district schools he 
 received a liberal education. Up to the 
 year 1874 he followed farming, and then 
 moved into New London, where, in com- 
 pany with his brother Theodore, he 
 established the present prosperous brew- 
 ing business. In 1893 he was elected 
 mayor of New London, which honorable 
 position he has since filled with charac- 
 teristic dignity and ability. On January 
 
 27, 1880, Mr. Knapstein was united in 
 marriage with Miss Isabella Steffen, 
 daughter of John Jacob and Mary (Scho- 
 merj Steffen, natives of Germany, im- 
 migrating to this country several years 
 ago. To this union have been born five 
 children, named respectively: Mary Jose- 
 phine, Marguerita Clara, Catherine Ce- 
 celia, Anna Rosa and Helena Isabela. 
 The entire family are identified with the 
 Roman Catholic Church, and our subject 
 is a member, among other organizations, 
 of the Catholic Knights and the Society 
 of St. Joseph. 
 
 EDWARD SCHEIBE, of South Os- 
 born. Freedom township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born in Saxon}', 
 Germany, April i, 1833. His 
 father, Gottfried Scheibe, was a farmer 
 in very comfortable circumstances at one 
 time, but who later met with severe re- 
 \erses. He was the father of nine chil- 
 dren- — three sons and si.\ daughters — of 
 whom Edward is the eldest son; three of 
 the daughters were married in Germany. 
 In the fall of 1854, with his wife and the 
 remaining si.\ children, the elder Scheibe 
 sailed from Bremen for America, on the 
 "Johanna," landing seven weeks later at 
 New York. They proceeded by rail to 
 Buffalo, by Lake Erie to Detroit, by rail 
 to Grand Haven and thence across Lake 
 Michigan to Milwaukee, the trip from New 
 York occupying ten days. After a couple 
 of days spent in Milwaukee they moved 
 out to a small house in the country, a 
 cheaply constructed shanty, built in one 
 day, roofed with split basswood and 
 scarcely fit for a habitation for animals. 
 The father, as well as Edward, worked 
 for the farmers in the vicinity. The 
 father died about eight years after com- 
 ing to this country, the mother living 
 many years longer, finally dying at the 
 home of her daughter near Milwaukee. 
 
 Edward Scheibe, who was twenty-one 
 years old when he came to the United 
 States, received his education in the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 693 
 
 schools of his native land. He lived with 
 his parents until he was twenty-four, and 
 in 185S was married, in Milwaukee, to 
 Sophia Orenberf^er, daughter of Charles 
 Orenberger. She was born in Wurteni- 
 burg. Germany, in 1839, and came to 
 America with her parents when sixteen 
 years of age. Edward, while living at 
 home, had assisted with his earnings in 
 maintaining the family. After mar- 
 riage he rented a farm near Milwaukee, 
 and operated it until December, 1864, 
 when he enlisted as a teamster in the Union 
 Army and ser\-ed until the close of the 
 war in Arkansas and Missouri. He was 
 discharged at Little Rock, Ark. , in June, 
 1865, having lain sick for three weeks in 
 the hospital at that place. After his dis- 
 charge he returned to Milwaukee and 
 again rented a farm, upon which he lived 
 until the spring of 1871. At that time 
 he removed with his family to Outagamie 
 county, locating on land in Section 18, 
 Freedom township, for which he had bar- 
 gained on a previous visit. The pur- 
 chase was forty acres only, and for that 
 he went one thousand dollars in debt; 
 but as he was able to work that did not 
 discourage him, notwithstanding the fact 
 that he was paying twelve per cent, in- 
 terest. He succeeded in paying for that, 
 and subsequently bought additional land, 
 until at one time he owned 220 acres. 
 He engaged actively in farming until 
 1894, when he sold all but 140 acres, 
 which he rents, and in 1893 he erected 
 one of the finest houses in the township. 
 He has won his position by individual 
 pluck, industry and energy, in which his 
 family materially assisted him, and is 
 highly respected by all who know him. 
 He is a member of St. Peter's Lutheran 
 Church, of which he was one of the ori- 
 ginal building committee. Until 1861 
 he was a Democrat in politics, but since 
 that time has been a stanch Republican. 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Scheibe are: 
 Rheinhold, a farmer of Freedom town- 
 ship; Hermann, a blacksmith residing at 
 Apple Creek: John and Edward, carpen- 
 
 ters by trade; Robert, also a farmer in 
 Freedom township; Gustav, a clerk at 
 Evanston, 111. ; Emma, now Mrs. John 
 Westreicher, of Evanston, 111. ; and three 
 deceased — Laura, when aged seventeen, 
 Annie, and an infant daughter. 
 
 ROBERT HUTCHISON, Sr.. de- 
 ceased. The Hutchison family, 
 of which the subject of this sketch 
 was a well-known member, are of 
 Scottish origin, his parents having been 
 born in Lanarkshire, Scotland. They re- 
 sided in Ohio several j'ears, where the 
 mother, who had been in bad health both 
 before and after coming to this country, 
 died and was buried. The father returned 
 to Scotland, but in a few years thereafter 
 again came to this country, having in the 
 meantime remarried. While on his way 
 to Wisconsin and when traveling through 
 New York, he received a sunstroke from 
 which he died, and was buried there. His 
 second wife made the rest of the journey 
 alone, but after a residence in Wisconsin 
 of a year or so she returned west to Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, where she had friends, and 
 where she may yet be residing. 
 
 Robert Hutchison, Sr. , was a citizen 
 of extended local celebrity, whose name 
 figures familiarly in the early pioneer an- 
 nals of New London, and the no less re- 
 mote settlement of the western portion of 
 Outagamie county. He was born at 
 Glenbuck, Lanarkshire, Scotland, April 
 13, 1 817, and educated in the village of 
 Douglas, same county, where he served 
 an apprenticeship at the clock and watch 
 making trade with his father. At the age 
 of eighteen he left the familj'home, tarry- 
 ing at Glasgow, and also at Liverpool, 
 England, for some time, in order to per- 
 fect himself in the finer branches of his 
 chosen trade. Upon his return to Scot- 
 land from Liverpool, he engaged in a 
 profitable business in the town of Ardrie. 
 To those acquainted with him in later 
 vears the statement will be readilv ac- 
 
694 
 
 COjVMEMORATIVK niOGKAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 cepted as a truism, that in those days of 
 his tnentai activity and perfect physical 
 vigor he took a lively and proniiiUMit part 
 in local politics, and for a considerable 
 period served with distinction as a mem- 
 ber of the town council. In the fall of 
 1848 he emigrated to America, first locat- 
 ing in Ohio, buying land in Orange town- 
 ship, Cujahoga county, where for five 
 3'ears he followed farming. Tiring of this 
 pursuit, he removed to Cleveland, and 
 again engaged in his trade of watchmak- 
 ing, (ioiiig a iurrati\'e business for two 
 years there; but his health having failed 
 in the meantime, he by the advice of his 
 physician removed to the then ' ' Western 
 Wilds " of Wisconsin. Here he purchased 
 a tine tract of farming land (the home- 
 stead upon which he spent his closing 
 days) in the township of Maple Creek, 
 Outagamie county, and for a number of 
 years (ievoted his energies to transforming 
 a wilderness into well-tilled fields. His 
 health being again restored by continual 
 out-door employment, he enlisted during 
 the Civil war, at Appleton, August 4, 
 1862, in Company D, Twenty-first Wis. 
 V. I., was mustered into the service at 
 Oshkosh September 5, following, and sub- 
 sequently, August 4, 1864, transferred to 
 Company H, U. S. \'eteran Volunteer 
 Engineers, in which he served as a good 
 and faithful soldier through privations and 
 hardships until he was mustered out Mav 
 29, 1865. 
 
 During his many years' residence in 
 Maple Creek township his superior intel- 
 ligence, energetic business methods and 
 whole-hearted geniality ga\e him more 
 than a town and country prominence, 
 there being few if any public men in this 
 Congressional District with whom he was 
 not on terms of personal intimacy. For 
 eleven years he served as clerk of the 
 Maple Creek town board, antl he also 
 served several terms as treasurer and rep- 
 resentative on the Outagamie county 
 board of supervisors, preceding his re- 
 moval to New London, which occurred in 
 1882. Here he erected a brick block of 
 
 three stores, and more recently a brick 
 residence, from which he removed to his 
 country home but a few months prior to 
 his demise. While a citizen of New 
 London he conducted a jewelry store, 
 wherein were wont to gather his friends 
 of many years' association, to discuss the 
 phases of local politics of the hour; and 
 intiulge in interesting reminiscences of 
 pioneer days. Energetic and thorough 
 in whatever engaged his attention, he was 
 ever recognized as a leader in whatever 
 measures were promulgated for the public 
 welfare, while as a public-spirited citizen 
 and a trusted mayor and alderman of New 
 London in the days of its restoration 
 from years of commercial torpor, his 
 memory will long be cherished. As a 
 citizen he was honored, loved and re- 
 spected by all; as an officer in Henry 
 Turner Post, G. A. R., he was faithful, 
 always obliging and cheerful; and by his 
 death, which occurred March 17, 18S9, 
 when he was aged seventy-two years, the 
 township of Maple Creek lost an upright 
 citizen, his wife a kind and devoteti hus- 
 band, and his children an indulgent 
 father. 
 
 Mr. Hutchison was married in the 
 town of Ardrie, Scotland, April i, 1S42, 
 to Mary, daughter of James and Jane 
 (Miller) Johnston, also natives of Scotland, 
 and their union was blessetl with eight 
 children, five of whou) are living, viz. : 
 Jane, born September 8, 1843, married 
 November 9, 1862, to Harvey Calkins, of 
 New London; Robert, Jr., born June 21, 
 1845, niarried February 6, 1874, to Mary 
 Jane Hutchison, a cousin; James John- 
 ston, born June 4, 1S48, single, and re- 
 siding at home; Alexander, born July 2, 
 1856, married October 17, 18S1, to Miss 
 Carrie Tate, and Hakkv, born September 
 29, 1 S60, married March 25, 1894, to 
 Estella, daughter of William and Louisa 
 (Besaw) Poole, residents of Waupaca 
 county. Wis. The deceased children are 
 as follows: George Washington, born 
 May 27, 1852, died August 23, 1S53; 
 Elizabeth, born .\pril 5, 1850, died Jan- 
 
COMMEMOHATIVE nWORAP/I/OAL HKfJORD. 
 
 695 
 
 uary 18, 1886; and John, born June 2, 
 1854, died April 11, 1876. The mother 
 of this family is yet living on the home- 
 stead in Maple Creek township, Outaga- 
 mie county. 
 
 CHARLES MERKEL. This gentle- 
 man is a native and a lifelong 
 resident of the " Badger State, " 
 born June 18, 1856, in Wash- 
 ington county, son of John G. and Anna 
 (Gephardtj Merkel. 
 
 The parents of our subject were both 
 born in Germany, and crossing the At- 
 lantic in the same ship became acquainted 
 (luring the voyage, and were married in 
 New York shortly after their arrival. 
 They lived in New York State about two 
 years, and then coming west to Wisconsin 
 made a settlement in Germantovvn town- 
 ship, Washington county, at that time an 
 entirely new section of the country. Mr. 
 Merkel's illness in New York State had 
 reduced their finances, which, added to 
 the discomforts and inconveniences al- 
 ways to be met with in the backwoods, 
 made their lot a hard one for some years. 
 Their home was about twenty miles 
 northwest of Milwaukee, and he carried 
 home flour for the family, making the 
 entire distance on foot through the forest. 
 A brief record of the children born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Merkel is as follows: Cath- 
 arina is the wife of Joseph Schuh, of Wash- 
 ington county. Wis. ; Anna C. is married 
 to Henry Baumgartner, of Richfield, 
 Washington county; Leonhard is a 
 butcher of Appleton; Magdalene is the 
 wife of George Leonhardt, of Apple- 
 ton; Barbara is married to Henry Leon- 
 hardt, of Appleton; Margaret died when 
 sixteen years old; John is a farmer of 
 Grand Chute township; Charles is the 
 subject of this sketch; Mary, Mrs. Frank 
 Lamb, lives in Lombard, 111. ; Maggie is 
 the wife of George Barrett, of Chicago. 
 The father of this family died in 1875, at 
 the age of sixty-seven, and was buried in 
 Germantown cemeterj'. At this time two 
 
 sons and two daughters were still at home, 
 and they continued to live in Washington 
 county until the spring of 1877, when 
 their farm and chatties were sold at auc- 
 tion, and they removed to Grand Chute 
 township, Outagamie county. Here, in 
 Section 17, Range 21, they purchased a 
 tract of 120 acres, with about twenty 
 acres cleared; but the rest was in a de- 
 plorable condition, and it required years 
 of labor to reduce it to proper condition 
 for cultivation. The mother lived here 
 until her death, which occurred January 
 30, 1890, when she was seventy-three 
 years of age, and she was buried in the 
 Catholic cemetery. 
 
 Charles Merkel obtained his education 
 in the district schools, and was trained to 
 agriculture on the home farm, where he 
 was usually engaged, though occasionally 
 he did farm work for others. On June 2, 
 1877, he was married, in Appleton, to 
 Miss Mary Blattler, who was born Febru- 
 ary 2, 1859, in Germantown, Washing- 
 ton Co., Wis., daughter of Frank Blattler, 
 who came from Switzerland. After his 
 marriage he continued to live on the home 
 farm, which he rented first and then pur- 
 chased, now owning ninety-five acres of 
 good land, eighty-five of which have been 
 cleared and cultivated, principally through 
 Mr. Merkel's exertions. In 1888 he 
 erected a large barn, and he has also put 
 other buildings and improvements on the 
 place, adding greatly to its appearance 
 and value. He is well-known as an en- 
 ergetic, industrious man, and in addition 
 to his general farming work has operated 
 a threshing outfit for the past four sea- 
 sons. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles Merkel 
 have been born ten children, as follows: 
 Louisa, Frank, Luvina, Louis, Hurbert, 
 Eddie, Lilly, Joseph, Max and Agnes. In 
 religious connection the family belong to 
 St. Joseph's Church, of Appleton. Mr. 
 Merkel is an active Democrat in politica 
 affliation, and he has served faithfully in 
 several township offices; he is also a mem- 
 ber of the St. Joseph's Society, of Ap- 
 pleton. 
 
696 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 FRAN'CIS ROBERT DITTMER. 
 The family, of whom this promi- 
 nent citizen of Seymour is a lineal 
 descendant, was probably founded 
 in Friedeberg, Prussia, (Germany, where 
 its representatives were freeholdei's, and 
 agriculturists. His father, William Ditt- 
 mer, who was a native of that place, fol- 
 lowed the same occupation, and to some 
 e.\tent did carpenter work. He was a 
 man of marked individuality, one who had 
 a marked influence for good upon those 
 with whom he came in contact, and was 
 a prominent member of the Lutheran 
 Church to which he belonged. His death 
 occurred in Friedeberg when he was aged 
 fifty-eight years. In his native cit}' he 
 was married to Ernestina Ivrueger, a na- 
 tive of Wildenow, Prussia, a lady of 
 sterling qualities as woman, wife and 
 mother. They had eleven children, of 
 whom only four lived to mature years, 
 namely: Ludwig, now of Green Bay, 
 Wis. ; .Augusta, who died in Berlin, Ger- 
 many, in 1868; William Charles, of Green 
 Bay, Wis. ; and Francis Robert. The 
 mother of this family was a lovable 
 woman, and gained the respect, confi- 
 dence and affection of all who knew her, 
 endowed withal with great force of char- 
 acter, which was transmitted to her 
 children. After her husband's death she 
 came to America, and died at the home 
 of her son William, in Green Bay, Wis., 
 at the age of seventy-three years. 
 
 Francis Robert Dittmer was born 
 February 26, 1848, in his father's native 
 town, and there passed his youth, receiv- 
 ing the benefit of a high-school education. 
 When old enough he learned the trade of 
 boot and shoe making in Berlin, Ger- 
 many, and at the age of twenty crossed 
 the ocean in an English ship, landing at 
 Quebec, Canada. From there he at once 
 made his wa}' to Milwaukee, Wis., where 
 he found employment in a shoe factory 
 for a short time; then in the winter of 
 1869 moved to Green Bay, Wis., where 
 he devoted his time to the study of Eng- 
 lish, beinsr his own instructor, and at the 
 
 end of three months he could speak the 
 language intelligently. In the spring of 
 1870, he went to St. Louis, Mo., but be- 
 ing taken sick proceeded to Springfield, 
 111., where he remained one year, work- 
 ing at his trade. He then returned to 
 Green Bay, Wis., and, July 10, 1871, 
 was joined in wedlock with Miss Minnie 
 Rost, daughter of Carl Rost, and a native 
 of Tribsees, Pomerania, Germany. By 
 her he had eight children, six of whom 
 are yet living: Francis, Ella, Edwin, 
 Edith, Delia and Roger. The mother of 
 this family passed away January 21, 
 1889. On May 22, 1890, Mr. Uittmer 
 was married in Seymour to Miss Einih' 
 T. Uecke, daughter of Rev. G. Uccke, a 
 Moravian minister, and they have one 
 child, Winfred Cyril Columbus, who was 
 baptized on the opening day of the 
 World's Columbian E.xposition at Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 In 1873 Mr. Dittmer came to Se\- 
 mour and made a permanent location, es- 
 tablishing a boot and shoe business, which 
 he carried on until 1881, when he retired 
 from same, and has since devoted his 
 time and given his attention to the fire 
 and life insurance and real-estate business, 
 also acting as agent for the North Ger- 
 man Lloyd Steamship Company, the New 
 York and Baltimore lines and Red Star 
 line. He represents the folhnving fire in- 
 surance companies: North British & 
 Mercantile of London and Edinburgh; 
 Phccnix of Hartford, Conn. ; Phenix of 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Concordia of Milwau- 
 kee, Wis.; Milwaukee Mechanics; North- 
 western National; Manchester Fire Assur- 
 ance Compan\-; and Germantown Farm- 
 ers Mutual; also does business for the fol- 
 lowing life insurance companies: National 
 Benevolent Association, and the North- 
 west Masonic Aid. In the business he 
 has an extensive clientage, among whom 
 he is exceedingly popular and by them is 
 known as a man honorable and fair in all 
 dealings. 
 
 Mr. Dittmer is a member of several 
 secret fraternal societies: F. cV A. M., 
 
COMMEMOUAriVE DIOGHAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 699 
 
 I. O. O. F. and Sons of Hermann, and 
 as a representative of his lodges has taken 
 a prominent part in the proceedings of 
 the Grand Lodge of the two orders last 
 named, especially in the Grand Lodge of 
 the order of the Sons of Hermann, in 
 which he has been a grand officer for sev- 
 eral terms. Not a member of any church, 
 but being brought up in the Evangelical 
 Lutheran doctrine, he still adheres to its 
 principles to a certain degree. 
 
 Mr. Dittmer has long been a leader in 
 political circles in the community to which 
 he belongs, affiliating with the Republican 
 party, and has repeatedly been elected to 
 offices of honor and trust, in all of which 
 he has served with credit to himself and 
 satisfaction to his constituents. He has 
 been for five years, and is still, a member 
 of the school board ; was alderman in 1 88 1 , 
 city police magistrate in 1 88 1, 1884, 1885 
 and 1886, and justice of the peace eight 
 years. He was appointed in 1882 as 
 State special treasury agent, and served in 
 that capacity until 1889. In 1887 he was 
 elected as a member of the State Assem- 
 bly, and in the proceedings of that ses- 
 sion of the Legislature he took an active 
 and honorable part, making a good record 
 and serving on various committees, in- 
 cluding those of Privilege and Elections. 
 He was renominated by his party, but the 
 new District division of the State made it 
 impossible for a Republican to win elec- 
 tion in this District, and though defeated 
 he made the strongest race that has been 
 made for the office since. He has been a 
 member of the county board two terms, 
 has been again elected to the office and is 
 now the chairman of the county board of 
 supervisors of Outagamie count}'. In 
 1 884 he was elected city clerk of Seymour, 
 which position he has filled continuously 
 since. On the election of circuit judge 
 John Goodland, Mr. Dittmer was ap- 
 pointed court commissioner, and is also 
 serving in that capacity. As a member 
 and clerk of the school board he was the 
 promoter of and took an active part in 
 
 the erection of the fine new frame high 
 39 
 
 school building in 1893. The structure, 
 which cost seven thousand dollars, is 
 43 X 80 feet, is heated by furnace, supplied 
 with modern furniture, and has a seating 
 capacity for about 300 students. Mr. 
 Dittmer has been activ^ in the work and 
 upbuilding of the Seymour Fair and Driv- 
 ing Park Association, in which he has 
 been an officer seven years, serving as sec- 
 retary, vice-president, and as president, 
 holding the latter position at this writing 
 (fall of 1894). As a citizen Mr. Dittmer 
 stands the peer of any man in Outagamie 
 county; his public and private life are 
 alike above reproach; as a business man 
 he has the confidence of all; and as an of- 
 ficial he has the respect and esteem of his 
 fellow citizens in an eminent degree. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MAASS, one of the 
 earliest pioneers of Hortonia 
 township, Outagamie county, 
 was born in Prussia November 
 20, 1828. His parents, John and Char- 
 lotte Maass, who were also natives of 
 Prussia, emigrated to the United States 
 in 1851, locating first in Erie county, N. 
 Y. , where they remained about two 
 years and then came to Wisconsin, and 
 soon afterward took up their residence on 
 a farm in Hortonia township, Outagamie 
 county, on which they passed the remain- 
 der of their days, the mother dying in 
 1873, aged seventy-one years, the father 
 in 1885, aged eighty-eight years. A brief 
 record of their children is as follows: 
 Frederick is a resident of New London, 
 Wis. ; Charles was drowned in the Erie 
 canal in New York: Christian is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; Caroline married 
 Charles Westphal, and died in Erie 
 county, N. Y. ; Henrietta married Gus- 
 tave Westphal, and died in Hortonia, 
 Wis. ; William is a resident of New 
 London, Wis.; Minnie married August 
 Schulz, and died in New London, Wis. ; 
 Earnest lives in Dupont. Waupaca Co., 
 Wis. ; Frank lives in Hortonia. 
 
 Christian Maass was educated in the 
 
700 
 
 COMMKMOUA ri VK JilOOltAl'lllCAL UKCOUD. 
 
 |nil)lic schools of liis l>ii th|'l.u(\ .iiiil .illt-i 
 It'iiviun srliool si'iNiil all apini'iitii I'slup 
 at till- coopi'i's Ir.iilc llr ,u'i'om|);iiiic(l 
 liis I'iucnts to tin- I'liitctl Stairs, wliili- in 
 New N'ork State wmkiiij; h\ ttu-moiitli as 
 a laiin liaiui. aiul also ( anu' with tiirni to 
 W'lstoiisiii, wlu'tc he idiuiiu'iu'i'tl to work 
 Ml tlif woods. About a yt>ar afterward 
 he l)oii;;ht .'oo ai'ii's of land in llortonia 
 towiislu|i, I >iitaj;aniii' county, fi)rt\' acres 
 ol wliu ii he f,'avc to liis parents, lie and 
 two of his hrolhcrs settling; upon the lUher 
 i()(.> aiTcs, and scttiii}; at once about tlu" 
 task of clearing; it. I'his w.is tlu- first 
 permanent si'ttlenient made in Sci'tion 
 U', Hoiloni.i township Mi. Maass has 
 cspcricnccd .di the haidslnps conunoii to 
 pioneer lite, but by incessant labor and 
 untiiinj; cncrj;y, lias ni.ule for himself .i 
 coinfortabU' home, and now i>\\ns the 
 •• Kaviiie farm," which is well-eipiipped 
 with L;o(>d biiildinijs and in a line slatt' of 
 euitiv ation 
 
 Mr. Maass was married April :;, iSoi, 
 to Miss Amelia Kerwit/, a native of Ger- 
 many, who was born September i 5, 1 S,^ 1 , 
 and died Jinie J,-, iSo.j. To this mar- 
 riaf;e were born six i-luidien. \ i/. : (")tt(>. 
 Caroline, (">ttilie and I'Morentina, all of 
 whiMii died in iSS.', of typlu'id-pnetinu>- 
 nia; Henry; and luiima, who was married 
 October 11, ivS»).\ to Michael (VRoilly, a 
 native i>f Slieboyf;an county, Wis. Mr. 
 Maass is a Christian in rolifjious senti- 
 ment, but is not identifuHl with any sect; 
 politically he is a stanch Kepublii-an, and 
 cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln In 
 January, i8t>i;, he enlisted in (.■omp.uiy 
 (.', l''ort\-sixth KejL;inient \Vis. \'. 1., 
 and receiveil an honorable tlischar^i- in 
 the fall of the same year. He is a mem- 
 ber of Henry Turner Tost, No. 4t>, (".. A. 
 K. . of New London. 
 
 Cll \Kl.i:s V. TRhrrTlN, propri- 
 etor oi the well-known f;eneral 
 store in Appleton, and whose 
 wide patronaj^e is in itself imlis- 
 putablc eviiience of his en\ i.iblc popular- 
 
 ity, was boi n in I'.iie eoiinly, N. Y. , (Oc- 
 tober .'4, I 854. 
 
 [•'rederick 'Tret tin. Ins father, a laiiuer 
 l)y occn])ation, was a native of I'riissia, 
 horn in i8jj, whence in 1841) he emi- 
 ^lateil to the United States, alone, 
 seltlinj; in Lrie county, N. V. He there, 
 in 1853, married Miss Caroline Schlueter, 
 who was lnun in Ciermany in 18 ^J, and 
 came to America with her parents in 
 1852. Nine children were born to this 
 union, named n^spectivcly ; Charles V., 
 .Mbcrtina !■!., .\mia M., h'raiik I""., t'arrie, 
 Aufjust, Anu'lia, Mattie, and William (^wlio 
 ilied in infancy of smallpox, in the winter 
 of i8()4, at wliieli time the entire family 
 were attacked with the disease). In 
 185(1 I'redci'ick Tret tin came to Wisci>n- 
 siii with his faiuil\. iiul settled on a 
 pieci' of wilil haul 111 the township of 
 lCllin;L;ton, C)utaf;amie i-ounty, which 
 property they cleared and improved, C(Ui- 
 M'ltinj; the wildwoods into smiliiii; hi-lils 
 of clover and i;raiii, a siiuj; and fertile 
 farm of eiijhty acres. In i88g Mr. Trct- 
 tiii rented the place, and retiriiifj from 
 acti\c work moved into the city of .Apple- 
 ton, whcie he dieil in March, 1891, and 
 his widow is yet living. He enlisted in 
 the army during the Civil war, but was 
 rejected on account of his age. In poli- 
 tics he was a Pemocrat, in religious faith 
 a member of the Lutheran CMuirch, as is 
 alsi> his widow, 
 
 Charles V. Trettin, their eldest son, 
 was but an eighteeii-nn<nth-old infant 
 when his parents brought him to Wiscon- 
 sin. When old enough he was plaeeil in 
 winter school, his summers being passed 
 in assisting his inirents to clear up the 
 farm, up to the age of fourteen, wlu-n he 
 left sehiH>l, but at eighteen he again at- 
 tended the district school. When twenty- 
 one yeai-s oKl he left the home farm, hir- 
 ing out his services, during the summer 
 season, on another farm, at eighteen dii|- 
 lars per month, and in the winter time 
 cutting cordwood at fifty cents per cord, 
 and in this he continued lour yeai^s, by 
 the end of which time he h,ul sa\eil 
 
coMMhMoiiArnn liwaiiAiuncAL imcouD, 
 
 701 
 
 some four himdreil ilollars. Shortly 
 after his marriage in 187S, lie ami his 
 \oiiiif; wile came to Appletou. where he 
 leanieil the trade of eooper, at whieh 
 he workeii, in all, four years twi.> in Ap- 
 pleton and two in (ireen Hay. In 1882 
 i,»r 1883 he coninieneed ek-rkinj; in the 
 general store o{ Peter l.eonhanlt, where 
 he remained ahout seven years, when 
 impaired health eomiH'lleil his retirement 
 from active life for a time. IK- tiien 
 t(>ok eharge i>f the elothing department 
 in Michael C'lifforil's stt>re one year, after 
 whieh he for six months occupied a simi- 
 lar position for the Milwaukee Clothing 
 House, all in .\ppleton. Mr. Trettin's 
 next appearance was as traveling sales- 
 man for the Union Toy and l-'urniture 
 Co.. of Appletou, iiandling their goods 
 as well as those of others on commission 
 until March 22. i8o.\wlien he purchased 
 his present general stine of Mr Nie. 
 Schafer. 
 
 lu (.")etober, 1878, Mr. rrcltiii w ,is 
 married to Miss t."arrii' Schriieder, who 
 was horn in Meeklenhurg, Ciermany, 
 October 24, 185^, daughter of Christian 
 anil Sophia Schroeder, who came to 
 America in i866. settling in Outagamie 
 count\', where the father died in 1874. 
 They had a family of seven children. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Trettin have been born 
 five children, as follows: .'\nnaC. , lumna, 
 Arthur H., Walter O. , and Olga (de- 
 ceased in 1884). Onv subject is a uhmm- 
 ber of the I. O. O. V . and past high 
 priest of the iMic.iuipmeut ; is president 
 of the Appletou Maeimerchor, also fest- 
 presidcut of the ICast Wisconsin Saeiiger- 
 Hezirk. In |'H>Iitics he is a Kepublican, 
 has always been very active in the work- 
 ings of his party, and is \ery pronoiitucil 
 in his political ideas. 
 
 
 
 tlu 
 
 I \0 r. SClll .M'l'K. Ihe rec- 
 
 >'rd of proniiiieiit ,uul progressive 
 
 iiicrchauts (>f Oulag.imie county 
 
 would indeed be incomplete were 
 
 name of this '■eutlcmaii ouulte.l. 
 
 Mr. Sehlafer is a native of Ciermany, 
 born near the Khine .\pril.'i, 1858, a siin 
 of Francis aiul Margaret (^Kuhn) Sehlafer, 
 ol the same Knalit)', he born in 18J4, she 
 in 1835. The lather, who was by pro- 
 fession a nuisic teacher .iiid church lugan- 
 ist, served in the Cienn.in army dtuing 
 the outbreak of 1848. lu 1S5.1 he mar- 
 ried Margaret Kulm, a daughter of iudus- 
 triiius fanning people, auil by Uvv had 
 four childicu, u.iniely: .Adolph I'"., (.Mto 
 P., Arthur), (deceased at the age ol three 
 years), and Richard IC. The father died 
 in Gernumy in l8(>3, a inembei of the 
 United ICvangelical Church. The mother 
 canu> to America in i88t>, and now re- 
 sides in .\pplelon. 
 
 Otto r. Sehlafer, the subject of this 
 biographv . .ittcndi'd the public schools in 
 his native laud until eleven years of age, 
 after which he took a three-years' course 
 at a couuuercial college. In May, 1873, 
 when fiMuteen years of age, he came to 
 .Viucrici, ni, dying his liisi home in the 
 New World among some relatives near 
 Milwaukee, Wis. Soon after his arrival 
 he hireil out as a clerk in a country store 
 in Sussex, Waukesha Co., Wis., in which 
 cai>acity he served four years. In 1876 
 he came to ,'\ppleton, where for three 
 years he was employed in the liaidware 
 and grocery store of Hailey iS: Hallard, at 
 the end of which tinie he purchased an 
 interest in th(> same business, the style of 
 the tirm becoming l>. IV Hailev \' Co. 
 After four years he sold out his interest to 
 Mr. Hailey, and bought out the Ivdnock 
 Hrothers, which busiiu>ss lu- r.niu-d on 
 alone for a short time wlu-n Mi I'csrh 
 bought an inteiest. Nin<- mouihs later 
 Heiijamin Harrett, Jr., beiame .1 uu-udu-r 
 of the iirm, which diil business undi-r the 
 style of Sehlafer, Harrett iV Tesch until 
 about the middle of January, 1805, when 
 it was changed to Sehlafer iS: Barrett, Mr. 
 Tesch retiring, having ilisposeil of his in- 
 terest in the business and buildings lo our 
 subject. They have one of the linest 
 stoii-s and stocks in northein Wisconsin, 
 and diout three \ears a^o thev erecti-d 
 
702 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 their present elegant and commodious 
 building, which is an ornament to the 
 city. The gentlemen representing the 
 firm rank among the best men in not only 
 Appleton, but in the entire county. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Mr. Schlafer was married to 
 Miss Charlena J. Diener, who was born 
 in Outagamie county, Wis., a daughter 
 of Henry J. and Anna B. (Jenny) Diener, 
 farming people, the former a native of 
 Prussia, the latter of Switzerland, both 
 coming to America when children, with 
 their parents. They settled in Rochester, 
 N. Y. , and there Mr. and Mrs. Diener 
 were married, coming west in 1853; they 
 were the parents of ten children, namely: 
 Louisa, Charlena J., Florence, Wilma, 
 Amelia, Jessie, Carrie, Charles, Walter 
 and Maggie, the last named dying in 
 1 89 1. To our subject and wife have been 
 born three children, to wit: WilmerD., 
 now (January, 1895,) aged twelve years; 
 Margaret, aged nine years, and Barbara, 
 aged three years. Mr. and Mrs. Schlafer 
 are members of the M. E. Church, and 
 he is connected with the Royal Arcanum, 
 of which Order he has been regent five 
 years; in politics he is a Republican. He 
 is recognized as one of the leading and 
 most substantial citizens in the county, 
 and is an ardent supporter of whatever 
 might tend to the improvement and ad- 
 vancement of his adopted city and county. 
 
 JULIUS AUGUSTUS WILBER, one 
 of the substantial, highh-respected 
 citizens of Maine township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born October 23, 
 1838, in Colerain, Mass., of which local- 
 ity his parents, Russell and Rhoda 
 (Stevens) Wilber, were industrious farm- 
 ing people. They reared four children, 
 viz. : Franklin, Laura, Julius A. and 
 Norman, and, in 185 i, removed westward 
 with their family to Wisconsin, here pur- 
 chasing 160 acres of land in Shawano 
 county, in the clearing of which they 
 spent several years. 
 
 Our subject remained under the par- 
 
 ental roof until twenty-six years of age, 
 when he married Miss Mary Kitson, a 
 native of Winnebago county, Wis., daugh- 
 ter of John and Margaret (Robison) Kit- 
 son. Previous to his marriage he had 
 purchased forty acres of land in the town 
 of Waukechon, Shawano county (where_ 
 he afterward owned 200 acres), part of 
 which had been cleared when he and his 
 wife took up their residence thereon, and 
 they remained there four years, when 
 they sold the place and purchased eighty 
 acres of timber land in the same town. 
 Here they resided for about the same 
 length of time, and then came to Outa- 
 gamie county, purchasing the place in 
 Maine township on which they now make 
 their home, consisting of eighty acres. 
 They have accumulated all their posses- 
 sions by hard, honest toil, and to-day own a 
 comfortable home. They are the parents 
 of the following named children: Estella, 
 Sarah, Joseph, Emma (who died at the 
 age of one year and nine months), Henry, 
 Velora, Edward, Leonard, Effie and Al- 
 fred. Mr. Wilber is a stanch Republi- 
 can, and takes much interest in the suc- 
 cess of his party. Mrs. Wilber is a mem- 
 ber of the Catholic Church, but no church 
 of that denomination being convenient to 
 their home she attends other meetings. 
 Mr. Wilber was reared in the Baptist 
 faith, but is not a member of any church; 
 the daughters are members of the Bap- 
 tist Church. 
 
 AUGUST GERLACH is proprietor 
 of one of the best appointed 
 creameries in Outagamie county, 
 where he has been engaged in the 
 same line of business for the last ten years. 
 He is a son of Christian Gerlach, one 
 of the early settlers of Sheboj^gan, and 
 was born June 4, 1864, in Herman town- 
 ship, Sheboygan county, third in the order 
 of birth in his father's family. He attended 
 the district schools of the home neighbor- 
 hood, was trained to farming from early 
 vouth, and when fifteen vearsof age, com- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 703 
 
 menced to learn the trade of harness- 
 maker. He soon left it, however, and 
 turned to blacksmithing, but had to 
 abandon the latter on account of his eye- 
 sight. When eighteen years old he began 
 the dairy business, working one j'ear as 
 apprentice in a cheese factory, after which 
 he came to Center township, Outagamie 
 county, and started a cheese factory, the 
 second in that township. This was in 
 1883, and he continued in business there 
 three years, ne.xt working one year in a 
 factory at Apple Creek, which he pur- 
 chased from his brother in 1887. The 
 business was carried on in the old factory 
 until 1893, when it was removed to the 
 new plant Mr. Gerlach had built, which 
 is one of the most complete in the county 
 in all its equipments, and is supplied with 
 Cornish. Curtis & Green apparatus of the 
 latest improved pattern. Though a young 
 man, he is one of the pioneers in the 
 creamery business in his section, and he 
 has few equals, and no superiors, in his 
 vocation, with the details of which he has 
 made himself thoroughly acquainted; 
 strictly business-like in all his transactions, 
 and progressive in his ideas, he has built 
 up a most profitable trade, and gained for 
 himself an enviable standing among his 
 business acquaintances. On an average 
 the creamery turns out ten thousand 
 pounds of butter monthly, which is mar- 
 keted in the large cities. 
 
 On April 6, 1892, Mr. Gerlach was 
 married, in Sheboygan county, to Miss 
 Caroline Schaper, a native of that county, 
 whose father, Carl Schaper, is a farmer. 
 To this union has come one child, Carl. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gerlach are members of the 
 Reformed Church, and politically he is a 
 stanch Republican. Thev have a verj' 
 comfortable, pleasant home. 
 
 THOMAS O'KEEFE. This worthy 
 and highly esteemed gentleman is 
 one of the best-known business 
 men of the city of Appleton and 
 the county generally, with many of whose 
 
 leading industries he has been identified 
 for several years, having been a resident 
 of Appleton alone for considerably over 
 three decades. 
 
 He was born in County Limerick, 
 Ireland, in D2cember, 181 7, a son of 
 Daniel (a farmer, also born in County 
 Limerick) and Honora(HouriganjO'Keefe, 
 who both died in Ireland, the parents 
 of seven children: Margaret, Catherine, 
 Daniel, Edmond, Honora, Marj- and 
 Thomas. Our subject, who is the young- 
 est in the family and the only one now 
 living, received a fair education in his 
 native county, and at the age of sixteen 
 was bound out to learn the trade of car- 
 penter, serving an apprenticeship of five 
 years. In 1838 he married Miss Mary 
 Hanrahan, who bore him ten children, of 
 whom the eldest son, John, was born in 
 Ireland, and the eldest daughter, Honora, 
 in London, where she died at the age of 
 two and one-half years and is there buried; 
 the rest of the family being born in Amer- 
 ica, named respectively: Thomas, Ed- 
 ward, Daniel (deceased in May, 1891), 
 Margaret, Mary, Catherine, Bridget, Will- 
 iam (died in December, 1889). In 1840 
 our subject and wife moved to London, 
 England, where he worked at his trade 
 ten years, at the end of which time, in 
 1850, the family came to America, first 
 locating in Green Bay, Wis., more through 
 necessity than otherwise, not having suffi- 
 cient means to proceed farther. Here he 
 resumed his trade, and continued to work 
 at it assiduously until he had accumulated 
 a snug sum of money, which enabled him 
 to build a comfortable home valued at 
 $2,000, at the same time bringing up his 
 family well. Wages to carpenters at that 
 time stood from $1.50 to $1.75 per day. 
 In 1865 he came to Appleton for the pur- 
 pose of erecting a mill, and, liking the 
 place, concluded to remain, consequently 
 sold his property in Green Bay and in- 
 vested in Appleton. Later he took up 
 the business of architect, his sons remain- 
 ing with him. and they have been promi- 
 nently identified with both public and 
 
704 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 private buildinj^, many of the largest mills 
 on the Fox River having been erected by 
 them, among which may be mentioned 
 the Telulah and Atlas Mills, and the first 
 two pulp mills put up in Appleton. His 
 four sons being united with him in busi- 
 ness, it is superfluous to say the "team" 
 was a strong one, probably the strongest, 
 in their line of business, in the State. 
 
 In 1882 our subject retired from busi- 
 ness, and has since lived at home, enjoy- 
 ing the charming companionship of his 
 amiable wife and three daughters. His 
 two eldest sons, John and Daniel, served 
 in the Civil war with considerable distinc- 
 tion — John in a Michigan regiment of 
 cavalry, Daniel in the Fiftieth Wisconsin 
 regiment of volunteers. The entire family 
 are members of the Catholic Church; 
 politically Mr. O'Keefe is a Democrat, 
 and he has served the city of his adoption 
 as alderman. 
 
 GEORGE W. PARKER, retired 
 agriculturist, was born April ii, 
 1830, in St. Lawrence county, N. 
 Y. , one of the family of ten chil- 
 dren (four of whom are yet living) of John 
 Parker, a native of Pennsylvania, whose 
 father was a Revolutionary soldier. 
 
 John Parker, who was a soldier of the 
 war of 1812, was a life-long farmer, the 
 later years of his life being passed in New 
 York State, where he died at the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-two years. He mar- 
 ried Miss Lydia Lee, a daughter of a 
 Revolutionary soldier; she died in St. 
 Lawrence county, N. Y. , at the age of 
 seventy-five years. 
 
 George W. Parker, the subject of this 
 notice, was reared on a farm and edu- 
 cated at the winter schools of the neigh- 
 borhood of his place of birth. At the age 
 of twenty-one he hired out as a farm 
 laborer, continuing in that vocation about 
 three years, when he bought a small farm 
 in St. Lawrence county, N. Y. , which, 
 however, he sold the following year, hav- 
 ing decided to try his fortune in the Ter- 
 
 ritory of Wisconsin. His route to his 
 proposed new home in the West was by 
 way of the lakes to Sheboygan, thence by 
 team to a forty-acre farm in Outagamie 
 county, and here he built him a substan- 
 tial log cabin. In 1854, prior to coming 
 west, he had married, in New York State, 
 Miss Sarah Smith, who was one of a family 
 of some nine children born to Ismen and 
 Mary (Wright; Smith, of that State, who 
 came to Wisconsin in 1855. To our sub- 
 ject and wife were born four children, as 
 follows: Mary, married to Dr. Frank 
 Mullen, has four children; Ida A., wife of 
 Charles Price, has four children; John 
 L. , a farmer, married Anna Riehl, and 
 has two children; and Cora I., wife of 
 Henry Berg, has two children. The 
 mother of these died in 1871, at the age 
 of thirty-seven years. After marriage Mr. 
 Parker worked by th.e month for a time, 
 and then purchased the forty acres he had 
 originally settled on; but some few years 
 afterward he sold this and bought eighty 
 acres, which in 1893 he sold to his son 
 John L. , who now conducts that farm. 
 In that year our subject, having accumu- 
 lated in his industrious life a snug com- 
 petency, retired from active labor, and 
 took up his residence in Appleton, here to 
 pass the remainder of his honored life in 
 peaceful quietude. In politics a Repub- 
 Hcan, he has served in various local offices 
 of trust, with honor to himself and the 
 satisfaction of his constituents. The fam- 
 ily, which is one of the most highly re- 
 spected in the county, are members of 
 the M. E. Church. 
 
 AH. WIECKERT, secretary and 
 treasurer of The Wieckert Com- 
 pany, Appleton, was born De- 
 cember 24, i869,at Neenah, Wis. , 
 and is a son of E. F. Wieckert, president 
 of the company above named. 
 
 He is a graduate of the Neenah high 
 school, and for two years attended the 
 De Land Business College, at Appleton. 
 For a time he was interested with his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 705 
 
 father in a sash and blind factor}' at Nee- 
 nah, and when The Wieckert Company 
 was organized at Appleton, in 1 891, he 
 was made its secretary and treasurer. 
 This company now employs about twenty- 
 one men. Mr. Wieckert is one of the 
 ■competent, enterprising young business 
 men of Appleton, with excellent prospects 
 for a future of usefulness and prosperity. 
 He was married at Neenah, May 2, 1894, 
 to Miss Anna Nelson, daughter of Harold 
 and Mattie (Ruger) Nelson, of that place, 
 where she was born. Her parents are re- 
 tired farmers. Mr. Wieckert is a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic Lodges — Neenah Blue 
 Lodge and Appleton Chapter — and of the 
 Appleton Knights of Pythias. 
 
 CHRISTIAN ROEMER, proprietor 
 and editor of the Appleton Wcckcr 
 and Kaukauna Nachrichteii, was 
 born December 17, 1848, in West- 
 phalia, Germany, and is a son of Her- 
 man and Christine (Wiegelmann) Roemer. 
 The father brought his family to America 
 in July, 1852, landing in New York, and 
 he found work at his trade, shoemaking, 
 in Troy and Buffalo until 1853, when he 
 came to Wisconsin. After working in 
 Milwaukee five years, he moved to Apple- 
 ton, where he died in November, 1878, 
 his wife surviving until February, 1890; 
 they reared a family of five sons and one 
 daughter. 
 
 Our subject began the battle of life at 
 the early age of eleven years, by working 
 in a stave factory, where he remained 
 three years. He then learned shoemak- 
 ing under his father, and worked for him 
 and an elder brother until 1874, during 
 which time he also attended a business 
 college one term, and took, besides, a 
 course of private lessons in German. In 
 1874 he started a custom shoe shop in 
 Appleton on his own account, which he 
 carried on until 1884; but in the mean- 
 time, in 1 88 1, he purchased a half-interest 
 in a German journal published at Men- 
 
 asha. Wis. , the Beobachter am Winne- 
 bago, brought the plant to Appleton, and 
 changed the name to the Appleton Wccker, 
 the owner of the other half-interest being 
 John Klinker. Mr. Roemer assumed the 
 business management, and from 1884 on- 
 ward gave his undivided attention to the 
 journal, buying out his partner in 1885, 
 since which time he has conducted the 
 paper alone. He has built up a fine 
 business, both in regard to the advertis- 
 ing patronage and circulation of the pa- 
 per, and also the patronage of the job 
 office, although he has had a strong com- 
 petitor in another German paper estab- 
 lished ten years previousl}'. 
 
 Mr. Roemer has always been much 
 interested in German social organizations, 
 and was one of the founders of the Apple- 
 ton Liederkranz, which was organized in 
 1866 for musical entertainment and im- 
 provement; also of the Turnverein, de- 
 voted to physical culture, organized in 
 1 868, and of which he was president when 
 it built its splendid hall in 1885. In poli- 
 tics he is an active Democrat; has been a 
 member of the city council eight years, 
 and is now clerk of the Third school dis- 
 trict, but has never been a candidate for 
 any other office. Mr. Roemer was mar- 
 ried in September, 1873, to Miss Rosa 
 Weinstein, a daughter of Jacob and Sa- 
 bine Weinstein. She was born in Baden, 
 Germany, and died in November, 1886, 
 leaving nine children. The second mar- 
 riage of our subject took place in Octo- 
 ber, 1887, to Mrs. Irminia Schwin, who 
 was born in Washington county. Wis. , 
 and this marriage has been blessed with 
 five children, of whom four are living. 
 The family are members of St. Joseph's 
 Catholic Church, and are regarded with 
 great respect by all their neighbors. 
 
 ALFRED R. HILLS, a typical wide- 
 awake young American ' • hust- 
 ler," is proprietor of a flourishing 
 cheese factory located on the town 
 line of Maple Creek township (Outagamie 
 
7o6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 county) and Lebanon township (Waupaca 
 county). 
 
 He was born in Dale, Outagamie Co. , 
 Wis., August 27, 1869, a son of Hubbard 
 (a farmer by occupation) and Hannah 
 (Aiken) Hills, natives of Ohio, who ioxiy 
 years ago came to Outagamie county, 
 where they have since resided. They are 
 the parents of nine children, all living, to 
 wit: Ired, Charles, Howard, Ida (wife 
 of Melvin Gallea, of Medina, Wis.), 
 Arthur, Ernest, Alfred R., Myron and 
 Rose. Our subject received a liberal 
 education at the public schools of Outa- 
 gamie county, and at the age of twenty 
 years commenced the business of cheese 
 making. He has followed it successfully 
 five years — at Medina, Winneconne, and 
 Bear Creek, Wisconsin — prior to estab- 
 lishing his present factory. He is an 
 active, enterprising young business man, 
 one who thoroughly understands every 
 branch of the business he is engaged in. 
 
 JACOB HAMMEL, dealer in horses, 
 -Appleton. This highly respected 
 citizen and business man was born 
 October 10, 1832, in Prussia, a son 
 of Peter Hammel, a cattle dealer by vo- 
 cation, who married for his second wife 
 Franciskie Gammel. They reared a family 
 of nine children — four sons and five daugh- 
 ters — of whom five are now living. The 
 father died in Prussia in 1865, the mother 
 at Appletqn, Wis., in 1883. 
 
 Jacob Hammel came to America at 
 the age of nineteen years, borrowing five 
 dollars to assist him in reaching Syracuse, 
 N. Y. From that city he set out as a 
 peddler, continuing in the business seven 
 years. Ne.xt locating at Ithaca, N. Y. , 
 he opened a clothing store, but sold out 
 two years later and again went on the 
 road, peddling for a year. In 1858 he 
 tried his fortune in Canada, starting 
 another clothing store and selling clothes 
 throughout the country. But he was not 
 yet satisfied, so after disposing of his goods 
 he came to Appleton in April, 1866, and 
 
 engaged in the business which he has 
 since followed, buying and selling horses. 
 His custom has grown to large propor- 
 tions, the value of stock handled amount- 
 ing to two iiundred thousand dollars or 
 more amuially. He ships many horses to 
 the lumber camps in Michigan and ♦Min- 
 nesota, in which two States, as well as in 
 W'isconsin, he has extensive branch sta- 
 bles. He has always been industrious 
 and careful, and has succeeded in accu- 
 mulating a comfortable property. Before 
 leaving Prussia he obtained a limited edu- 
 cation. Mr. Hannnel was married in 
 1857, to Miss Julia Hammel, who was 
 born in Prussia in 1834, and they have 
 had eight children: Leobeld, Joseph, 
 Louis, Philip, Dave, Aaron, Selmea and 
 Rachel. The latter, who became the wife 
 of Mr. Freied, died at the age of twenty- 
 eight years. Four of Mr. Hanimel's sons 
 are married and engaged in business. One 
 son, D. F. , lives at home and is in the 
 grain and feed business at Appleton. In 
 politics Mr. Hammel is a Democrat, and 
 so popular that he has served his ward 
 four years as alderman. He belongs to 
 the I. O. O. F. and F. & A. M., and with 
 his wife is a member of Zion Church. 
 
 JOHN FOUNTAIN, a prominent 
 lumber dealer of Appleton, is a son 
 of Bernard Fountain, a farmer of 
 Belgium, who married Lenna John- 
 son and reared a family of five children: 
 Carl, Sophia, Peter, John and Fred. The 
 mother's death occurred in 1849, the 
 father's in 1859. 
 
 Our subject was born August 3, 1S31, 
 in Ghent, Belgium, and was educated in 
 the common schools of Flanders. He 
 assisted his father on the farm until he 
 was nineteen years of age, when he was 
 drafted into the army and served three 
 years. Upon his return he learned the 
 carpenter's trade of his brother Peter, 
 and two years after the death of his father 
 came to America, landing at New York 
 March 4, iS6t. Proceeding westward he 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 707 
 
 located near Milwaukee, Wis., working 
 one year on a farm and then resuming 
 his trade, at which he found employment 
 for the ensuing five years. In December, 
 1865, he came to Appleton and engaged 
 in contracting and building, employing 
 men as business demanded, and erecting 
 a number of the largest structures in the 
 city. In January, 1879, he was so unfor- 
 tunate as to break his leg, the injury ne- 
 cessitating the abandonment of his con- 
 tracting business. In 1 88 1 he established 
 a lumber yard, which he has since con- 
 tinued to conduct. 
 
 Mr. Fountain was married June 8, 
 1867, to Miss Margaret Ward, who was 
 ])orn in Ireland in 1841, and came to the 
 United States when she was five years 
 old, with her parents, who settled in the 
 State of New York, where they both died. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Fountain have four chil- 
 dren: William, Fred, Frank and Bessie. 
 The entire family are members of the 
 Catholic Church, and politically Mr. 
 Fountain is a Democrat. 
 
 JOHN HOBERG. Within the limits 
 of Outagamie county probably no 
 name is better known, or more sug- 
 gestive of enterprise and progress, 
 than that of the gentleman now under 
 consideration, who is known as the oldest 
 business man in Kaukauna. 
 
 Mr. Hoberg is a native of Prussia, 
 born in 1840, a son of Christopher and 
 Mary (Keiserj Hoberg, of the same 
 country. In 1840, when our subject was 
 an infant, the family came to the United 
 States, traveling westward until they 
 reached Detroit, Mich., where they re- 
 mained some seven years, the father fol- 
 lowing his trade, that of tailor, and after- 
 ward working as brewer. In 1847, they 
 moved to Sheboygan, Wis., where he 
 continued in the brewing business, estab- 
 lishing the first brewery in the town. 
 About the year 1854 he retired from this, 
 and embarked in a mercantile business, 
 which he carried on for some years in 
 
 Sheboygan. In 1880, he came to Kau- 
 kauna, where he died in February, 1883, 
 the day after his wife had departed to the 
 Unknown; they sleep their last sleep in 
 Sheboygan, Wis. They were the parents 
 of twelve children, of six of whom we 
 have record, as follows: Joseph lives in 
 Portland, Oregon; Casper and Christo- 
 pher reside in Brownsville, Oregon; John 
 is the subject of this memoir; Louis resides 
 in Sheboygan; Josephine is the wife of 
 Nicholas Thisen, of Sheboygan. 
 
 John Hoberg, the subject of this sketch, 
 was seven years old when the family 
 came to Wisconsin, and his education 
 was received at the schools of Sheboygan, 
 in which now thriving town, at that time 
 nothing but a mere hamlet, he grew to 
 manhood. In his business relations he 
 has been decidedly versatile, having fol- 
 lowed the bent of his naturally restless 
 disposition, and his experiences have been 
 many and various. In 1858-59 we find 
 him in business in Sheboygan; then trad- 
 ing for produce in the Lake Superior 
 country, and shipping same; after which 
 he was engaged in sundry mercantile bus- 
 iness in Sheboygan till 1879, the date of 
 his coming to North Kaukauna. In that 
 year he built the first exclusively pulp 
 mill in Kaukauna, and conducted same 
 till 1880. when he opened a liquor store, 
 at the same time continuing the shipping 
 of produce, one of his transactions being 
 the shipping, in i88i. of the first car of 
 grain from the town. In 1882, attracted 
 by the boom, he crossed the river and lo- 
 cated in what is now South Kaukauna, 
 and here again engaged in mercantile 
 business, as well as in real-estate dealing, 
 building residence and business houses, 
 etc. In 1885, the year the "mining 
 fever" broke out. Mr. Hoberg moved to 
 Bessemer, and took up the real-estate 
 and general mercantile businesses in that 
 town; but after two years experience there 
 he returned to South Kaukauna, the coal 
 excitement here proving a stronger coun- 
 ter-attraction. In 1 89 1, he commenced 
 his present business — the manufacture of 
 
7o8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tissue and similar paper — in the building 
 that in iSSi was built as a machine shop 
 and foundry, later known as the ' ' Atlas 
 Brass and Iron Works." The style of the 
 firm has since its inception been John 
 Hoberg Co., and the business has grown to 
 mammoth proportions, the enterprise now 
 giving employment to some thirty hands. 
 In June, 1867, Mr. Hoberg was united 
 in marriage with Miss Lastine Friemouth, 
 a native of "La belle" France, and 
 daughterof Nicholas and Marie Friemouth, 
 also natives of the land of the Fleur-de- 
 lis. In 1847 the Friemouth family came 
 to Sheboygan, Wis., where the father has 
 since been engaged in the fishery business. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Hoberg were born nine 
 children, namely: Frank H., assistant 
 postmaster at South Kaukauna, married 
 and residing in South Kaukauna; John J., 
 married; Rosa, married, also in South 
 Kaukauna; Henry, George C, Willie and 
 Ante, all at home; and two — Nicholas and 
 Lastine — who died at the ages of seven 
 and si.x years, respectively. The entire 
 family are members of the Catholic 
 Church. In his political leanings Mr. 
 Hoberg was a Republican till 1890, since 
 when he has been a stanch Democrat. In 
 1894 he was appointed, by President 
 Cleveland, postmaster at South Kau- 
 kauna, which position he still fills. 
 
 WILLIAM BEVERLY MURPHY, 
 secretary and treasurer of the 
 Riverside Fibre Company, Ap- 
 pleton,is asonof G. W. Murphy, 
 who was a farmer by occupation and a 
 native of Victoria county, N. B., where 
 he was born September 20, 1824. The 
 latter's father is said to have been the first 
 white man to settle in that county, trans- 
 porting his provisions more than one 
 hundred miles in a canoe. G. W. Murphy 
 married Nancy Isabel Britt, a native of 
 New Brunswick, whose father, Walter 
 Britt, was a millwright by trade. Both 
 parents are yet living; they reared a 
 family of six sons and two daughters. 
 
 William B. Murphy was born in And- 
 over, Victoria Co., N. B., April 10, 1858, 
 and grew to manhood on his father's 
 farm, with small opportunity for obtain- 
 ing an education, attending school winters 
 as far as possible. When seventeen 
 years of age he was employed as a clerk 
 in a store, and worked on the railroad. 
 Finally coming west, he reached Apple- 
 ton March 27, 1880, and for a year and 
 a half was engaged as bookkeeper for D. 
 B. Bailey & Co. , hardware merchants. 
 For the next ten years he served in a 
 similar capacity for the Kimberly and 
 Clark Co., paper manufacturers, and for 
 two years following was the manager of 
 the Pulp Wood Supply Co. He resigned 
 the latter position July i, 1893, to take 
 the position of secretary and treasurer of 
 the newly organized Riverside Fibre Co., 
 of which he is one of the principal stock- 
 holders; he is also a stockholder and 
 director in the Atlas Paper Co. He is a 
 member of the F. & A. M. in good stand- 
 ing, a Republican in politics, and, despite 
 his lack of eafly opportunities for school- 
 ing, a capable, careful business man and 
 good financier, with a most honorable re- 
 cord. On December 20, 1879, he was 
 married in St. John, N. B., to Viella 
 Blanche Stevens, daughter of S. E. 
 Stevens, a lumber merchant. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Murphy have three children: Steven 
 W., Frank S. and Ethel Stevens. They 
 attend the Congregational Church. 
 
 ANTON RITGER, proprietor of 
 "Hotel Ritger, " Appleton, the 
 leading hotel of northern Wiscon- 
 sin, is an example of the men who 
 have by their energy, public spirit and 
 careful management, reached positions 
 which the struggles of the earlier years 
 scarcely indicate, and who are known and 
 respected for their sterling worth as citi- 
 zens, having always in view the upbuild- 
 ing and best interests of the communities 
 in which they live. Of this class, north- 
 ern Wisconsin has many representatives, 
 
COMMEMORATIVK BIOGHAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 709 
 
 none perhaps more worthy than the gen- 
 tleman whose personal history is here to 
 be treated. 
 
 John Ritger, father of Anton, was 
 born in 1821 in Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
 Germany, and was a farmer; he married 
 Margaret Bergholt (a native of the same 
 place, daughter of a stone-cutter), and 
 brought his family to America in 1844, set- 
 tling near Utica, N. Y. , on a farm. Four 
 years later, in 1848, he purchased 140 
 acres of government land in Washington 
 county, Wis., moving thereon, and here 
 he still resides; his good wife died in 1893. 
 They had six children: Catherine, Michael 
 and Anton, now living; Mary, who died 
 in infancy; Jacob while young, and Theo- 
 dore at the age of nineteen, at Marquette, 
 Michigan. 
 
 Anton Ritger was born April 28, 
 1852, in Washington county, Wis. When 
 thirteen years of age he left home, and 
 clerked in a grocery for two years; then 
 learned the carriage maker's trade, work- 
 ing in different shops in Milwaukee and 
 Neenah. In 1871 he made a business 
 venture for himself at Hortonville, Wis., 
 but at the end of two years sold out and 
 returned to Milwaukee, working for other 
 employers during the next five years. In 
 1877 he came to Appleton and for two 
 years had charge of the Pardee shop, after 
 which he purchased a farm in the town- 
 ship of Ellington, and devoted the next 
 three seasons to its improvement and cul- 
 tivation. Selling out, he returned to Ap- 
 pleton in 1 88 1, invested his money in real 
 estate, and established a carriage shop 
 which he conducted until 1892, manufact- 
 uring carriages and omnibuses, and fur- 
 nishing employment for fifteen men. He 
 sold the business in 1892, together with 
 his Appleton real estate, and in the spring 
 of 1893 commenced the erection of his 
 present widely-known " Hotel Ritger." 
 Mr. Ritger's advantages for obtaining an 
 education were limited to the common 
 schools, but what he did secure was of a 
 practical nature which he has put to good 
 use. He is a strong Republican in poli- 
 
 tics, and represented the Second ward in 
 Appleton one year as alderman; for the 
 last three years he has been the efficient 
 chief of the Fire Department. He belongs 
 to the I. O. O. F. and Sons of Hermann, 
 and is in all respects an excellent citizen. 
 Mr. Ritger was married, March 4, 
 1875, to Miss Dora Wonderlich, who was 
 born in Outagamie county. Wis., in 
 1857. Her parents, Simon and Mary 
 (Berch) Wonderlich, were natives of Ger- 
 many, but settled early in Milwaukee 
 county. Wis. , later on a farm in Outaga- 
 mie county, and now reside in Appleton. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ritger have had three 
 children: Theodore, the eldest, died when 
 four years of age, and Mamie in infancy; 
 Arthur is now (1895) a lad of thirteen 
 years. 
 
 JW. CLASPILL, dealer in fancy 
 groceries and crockery, Kaukauna. 
 This gentleman, one of the pioneer 
 merchants of Kaukauna, was born 
 in 1849 in Dearborn county, Ind., son 
 of J. H. and Sarah H. (Lambertsonj 
 Claspill, natives respectively of West Vir- 
 ginia and Indiana. The father, who was 
 a gunsmith by trade, removed in an early 
 day with his parents to Indiana, and lo- 
 cated among the hills bordering the Ohio 
 river, the trip from the old home in West 
 Virginia being made in a one-horse wagon. 
 The father of that pioneer family died in 
 his Indiana home, but the mother, who 
 survived him many years, moved with her 
 children and grandchildren to Illinois, and 
 later to Wisconsin. She lived to the 
 good old age of ninety-three years, dying 
 in 1890, at the home of Col. H. A. Fram- 
 bach. Her son, J. H. Claspill, was reared, 
 educated and married in Indiana, but in 
 1859 removed to Sangamon county. 111., 
 locating the following year in the city of 
 Springfield, where for some years he en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of buggies and 
 farm implements. Removing to Pleasant 
 Plains, III, in 1869, he continued in the 
 same business until 1880, when he came 
 
7io 
 
 COMMEMORATIi'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to Kaukauna, which he made his home 
 until his death in June, 1887; his widow 
 still resides with her son-in-law, Col. 
 Frainbach. The children of this couple, 
 aside from the gentleman named at the 
 opening of this article, were: Fannie, 
 wife of Col. H. A. Frambach; Anna, wife 
 of Dr. J. G. Connors, of Ionia, Mich., de- 
 ceased April I, 1893; James O., a mer- 
 chant of South Kaukauna, who died Jan- 
 uary 23, 1 891; Margaret, wife of G. F. 
 Kelso, of Kaukauna; Delia, wife of A. H. 
 Daily, of the same city; and Minnie, wife 
 of C. E. Raught. editor of the Kaukauna 
 Tillies. 
 
 J. \\'. Claspill was but ten years old 
 when he removed with his father's family 
 from Dearborn county, Ind., to Sanga- 
 mon county, 111. He was educated in the 
 public schools of Springfield, and associ- 
 ated with his father in business until com- 
 ing to Kaukauna, April 7, 1877. He be- 
 came a clerk in Col. Frambach's dry- 
 goods establishment. In 1 880 he bought 
 out the firm, continuing the business until 
 July, 1 89 1, when he sold to Konrad Bros., 
 and engaged in the real-estate and insur- 
 ance line. In May, 1894, he associated 
 with J. L. Anderson, then of Neenah, 
 Wis., in the fancy groceries and crockery 
 trade, and in January, 1895, he bought Mr. 
 Anderson's interest in the firm, continuing 
 the business in his own name, with the as- 
 sured success that his characteristic hon- 
 esty has won for him in every enterprise he 
 has undertaken. Mr. Claspill was married, 
 in 1879, to Miss Lillie E. Stoveken, born 
 in Milwaukee, whose parents, Bernard 
 and Frances (Hunteman) Stoveken, were 
 natives of Prussia. The latter came, 
 when a girl, to Detroit, with her sister, 
 and was married in that city, removing 
 later to Milwaukee, where her husband 
 worked at shoemaking for some years, and 
 where he died at the early age of thirty- 
 six; his widow became a resident of Kau- 
 kauna, and here died in 1883. Their 
 daughter, Mrs. Claspill, was the only child 
 whogrew to maturity; they adopted John, 
 brother of Col. Frambach, and gave him 
 
 their name, by which he is now known. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Claspill have two sons, 
 Clarence H. and Oscar Williams. Mrs. 
 Claspill is a member of the Catholic 
 Church. Mr. Claspill is a Republican. 
 He has resided long enough in Kaukauna 
 to have witnessed a major part of its de- 
 velopment, and to have become largely 
 identified with its interests. 
 
 IVI 
 
 ATHEW J. RODERMUND, 
 
 M. D., although among the 
 comparatively young men in 
 professional life, has reached 
 an eminence for scientific culture, as 
 well as thorough scholarship, that is at- 
 tained by few even of those who have 
 devoted a long life of patient toil in the 
 walks of their profession. 
 
 Dr. Rodermund was born in Wash- 
 ington county. Wis., July 5, 1854, a son 
 of Mathew and Susan (Dehn) Rodermund, 
 who now reside in Sun Prairie, Dane Co., 
 Wis. , the parents of seven children. The 
 father was born in 1832 in Germany, 
 whence he came, when twelve years 
 old, with his father, to the United 
 States. Our subject received his lit- 
 erary education for the most part 
 at the high school of Madison, Wis., 
 which he left at the age of thirteen with 
 a fair education in both English and Ger- 
 man, after which, and until he was 
 twenty-three years old, he remained with 
 his father, assisting him in his grocery 
 and stock business. At this period of 
 his life, being ambitious of a professional 
 career, he commenced the study of med- 
 icine in the office of Dr. Davis, of Janes- 
 ville. Wis., under whose preceptorship he 
 remained two years, and then proceeded 
 to Chicago, 111. , where he attended the 
 Bennett Medical College, graduating from 
 there in 1886. He then practiced in 
 Chicago a short time, and also in Mil- 
 waukee. In the fall of 1890 the Doctor 
 went to Europe, and there took a private 
 course in medical schools in Vienna, Ber- 
 lin, London and Paris, making a special 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 study of the throat, eye, ear and nose. 
 On his return to the United States he lo- 
 cated in Waukesha, Wis., one year; in 
 August, 1893, he came to Appleton, 
 where he is not engaged in regular prac- 
 tice, but makes a specialty of the throat, 
 eye, ear and nose, in which he has been 
 most successful. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Dr. Rodermund was married 
 at Sun Prairie, Wis., to Maggie Maroney, 
 who was born in Appleton, Wis., daugh- 
 ter of Patrick and Maggie Maroney, both 
 natives of Ireland. Four children have 
 been born to this union, viz. : Arthur, 
 Maggie, Edith and Laurina. Our subject 
 and wife are members of the Catholic 
 Church, and in politics he is a stanch 
 Democrat. 
 
 AUGUST SAWALL, for several 
 years a well-known industrious 
 citizen of New London, Outaga- 
 mie county, where he was engaged 
 at his trade, carpentry, over twenty years, 
 is now a prominent agriculturist of Liberty 
 township. 
 
 He was born in the southern part of 
 Germany July 12, 1852, a son of Louis 
 and Caroline (Fredricks) Sawall, v\'ho both 
 died in the Fatherland in 1 873, the mother 
 on February 27, the father on August 31. 
 They were the parents of four children, 
 all of whom are yet living, namely: 
 August; Gottlieb, a resident of Royalton 
 township, Waupaca Co., Wis.; Julius, 
 who now lives in Lebanon township, 
 Waupaca county; and Louis, residing in 
 Clintonville, Waupaca county. Our sub- 
 ject secured a liberal education in Ger- 
 many, also learning carpentry, and at the 
 age of nineteen years emigrated to this 
 country, coming direct to Wisconsin and 
 settling in New London, where he worked 
 at his trade until about two years ago, 
 when he purchased his present farm in 
 Liberty township, and has here since made 
 his home. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. Sawall was united in 
 marriage with Miss Albertina Felsner, 
 
 daughter of John and Caroline Felsner, 
 also natives of Germany, and live chil- 
 dren have come to cheer their home, 
 named respectively: Gustave, John, Aug- 
 ust, Elvira and Louis. The family all 
 attend the services of the Lutheran 
 Church, and in his political preferences 
 Mr. Sawall is a Democrat. 
 
 JOSEPH KOFFEND, insurance and 
 real estate, Appleton. This gentle- 
 man, who is one of the best-known 
 business men of Appleton, was born 
 at Leibitsch, Austria, May 17, 1846, son 
 of John Koffend (who was the son of a 
 blacksmith), a native of the same town, 
 born March 19, 1819, and who was him- 
 self a blacksmith by trade. In 1841 the 
 father married Miss Sonderleiter, becom- 
 ing the father of four children, and in 
 1855 he emigrated to America with his 
 family, locating at Appleton, Wis. , where 
 he engaged in business until 1878, when 
 he retired. He died in 1890, sincerely 
 mourned. His first wife had died in 
 Germany when her son, Joseph, was 
 about four years of age, and, before com- 
 ing to America he married Anna Fisher, 
 a native of Germany, who also bore him 
 four children. Her death occurred at 
 Appleton in 1865. John Koffend, who 
 was among the comparatively early set- 
 tlers of Outagamie county, gave his at- 
 tention closely to his own affairs, and pos- 
 sessed a kind, genial nature. 
 
 Joseph Koffend, who in his boyhood 
 was a hard worker, attended the Apple- 
 ton schools when not employed, but spent 
 much of his time on farms, or at any 
 honorable occupation which presented it- 
 self, until he was seventeen years of age, 
 when he worked for three years at the 
 tinsmith's trade, learning it thoroughly. 
 He was employed by Alfred Galpin, Sr. , 
 and remained with him and his sons for a 
 period of seventeen years. In 1876, while 
 still in their employ, he was elected city 
 treasurer, which office he held for seven 
 years; he also became interested in the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 insurance business in 1880, in connection 
 with his other duties, conducting it alone 
 until 1S89. Meantime, between 1880 
 and 1886, he had added real estate, but 
 in the latter years turned this branch over 
 to F. E. Harriinan. In 1889 he con- 
 solidated his business with that of A. L. 
 Smith, who handled both insurance and real 
 estate, himself taking charge of the insur- 
 ance and continuing to conduct that branch 
 of the partnership matters to the present 
 time. In 1871, while in the employ of 
 Mr. Galpin, he was interested in merchan- 
 dising with Anton Fisher, but after about 
 five years sold out to his partner. Mr. 
 Koffend was also one of the original stock- 
 holders of the Appleton Street railway. 
 He is a Democrat in politics, and greatly 
 interested in the schools of his city. 
 From 1878 to 1882 he was a director of 
 School District Number 2, and was re- 
 elected in 1 89 1. Mr. Koffend was mar- 
 ried, in September, 1875, to Miss Julia 
 Weinfeld, a native of Austria, and daugh- 
 ter of Jacob Weinfeld, a merchant who 
 was for a short time located in Appleton, 
 but who removed to Sherwood, Calumet 
 county, and thence to Milwaukee, where 
 he now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Koffend 
 have four children: Joseph, Emma, Litta 
 and Elsie. They attend the services of 
 the Congregational Church, and Mr. Kof- 
 fend is a member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge 
 at Appleton. 
 
 FRANK WRIGHT, the popular and 
 energetic proprietor of one of the 
 largest livery establishments in 
 Appleton, was born in De Pere, 
 Brown Co., Wis., in May, 1858. 
 
 After receiving a liberal education at 
 the Appleton Ward school, DeLand's 
 Business College and Lawrence Univer- 
 sity, he commenced at the age of seven- 
 teen clerking in a grocery and hardware 
 store for Bailey & Ballard, at Appleton, 
 and remained with them four years. He 
 then commenced business on his own ac- 
 count in Appleton, conducting a grocery 
 
 and crockery store, which at the end of 
 si.x years he sold out, opening out his 
 present livery. He bought the property 
 in May, 1889, taking up the business 
 more on account of his health than other- 
 wise, and intending to leave it at the end of 
 a year; but so great has been the patron- 
 age received that he has continued the 
 livery, and now owns one of the largest 
 barns, and one of the most complete 
 establishments of the kind in Appleton. 
 
 In his political preferences Mr. Wright 
 is a Republican, and at the present time 
 he is serving as alderman and chairman 
 of the finance committee. Socially he is 
 a member of the F. & A. M., Blue 
 Lodge, and is a Knight Templar; he is 
 also a member of the Knights of Pythias. 
 He is a typical, self-made man, all that 
 he has made being the result of his own 
 individual energy, push and perseverance, 
 and he is admitted to be one of the bright- 
 est business men in the city. 
 
 FRANK G. KURZ, superintendent 
 of the Edison Electric Co., Ap- 
 pleton, is a native of Wisconsin, 
 born September 28, 1864, in 
 Ripon, Fond du Lac county. 
 
 He is a son of George D. and Au- 
 gusta (Schave) Kurz, both Germans by 
 birth, the former of whom was born in 
 1835, and at the age of thirteen years 
 came to America, settling in Wisconsin, 
 where he followed his trade, that of tin- 
 smith, and, in 1859, in the town of 
 Ripon, married Miss Augusta Schave, a 
 daughter of August Schave, a farmer by 
 occupation. In 1870 he moved to Green 
 Bay, thence, in 1873, to Appleton, where 
 he is yet living. Seven children were 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. George D. Kurz, 
 five of whom are living, namely: Bertha, 
 William D., Frank G., Edward and 
 Flora. 
 
 Frank G. Kurz received the bulk of 
 his education at the schools of Appleton, 
 after which he for a short time attended 
 Lawrence University, laying aside his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 713 
 
 books at the age of seventeen. Six 
 months after leaving school he entered 
 the employ of the Edison Electric Co. , at 
 Appleton, of which his brother, William 
 D., was superintendent at the time. At 
 first our subject operated the dynamo, 
 from which comparatively humble posi- 
 tion he worked his way up to that of su- 
 perintendent, his appointment thereto 
 being made in 1887; a significant fact 
 which, alone, speaks more for his ability, 
 reliability and business acumen than can 
 any words uttered or written. On Au- 
 gust 17, 1 89 1, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Mary C. Derleder, who was 
 born at Oshkosh, Wis., in 1866, and one 
 child, Louis David, has been born to 
 them. Mr. Kurz is a member of the I. 
 O. O. P., Appleton Lodge, and in his 
 political predilections he is a stanch Re- 
 publican. 
 
 JOHN D. WILHARMS, farmer and 
 dairyman of Grand Chute township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 Wisconsin, born April 17, 1847, in 
 Cedarburg, son of Christoph Wilharms. 
 
 Christoph Wilharms was born in Ger- 
 many, and came to Wisconsin in 1846 a 
 poor man. having but fifty cents left after 
 purchasing the household goods neces- 
 sary. With this small capital he com- 
 menced farming, and followed same for 
 many years, also engaged in lime burn- 
 ing. In 1 85 I he removed to Manitowoc 
 county, then a wild region, and there 
 made a permanent home, continuing to 
 farm until 1882, since when he has lived 
 retired in the city of Manitowoc. He 
 has now (1894) reached the advanced age 
 of eighty-five years; his wife is eighty-two 
 years old. They are members of the 
 Lutheran Church. Mr. Wilharms was 
 a hard-w'orking farmer, who met with 
 well-deserved success in his calling, and 
 trained his sons to the same pursuit. 
 
 John D. Wilharms was the fir.st of the 
 family born in the United States. He 
 was about four years old when his par- 
 
 ents removed to Manitowoc county, where 
 he was reared, and when fifteen j'ears of 
 age commenced to learn the shoemaker's 
 trade, at Manitowoc, following same for 
 three years. Not liking the trade, how- 
 ever, he concluded to follow his father's 
 vocation, farming, and worked for the 
 latter until his marriage. On May 23, 
 1877, he wedded, in Franklin township, 
 Manitowoc county. Miss Mary Kelner, a 
 native of that township, of which her 
 father, Michael Kelner, was an early set- 
 tler, and during his lifetime one of the 
 leading wealthy citizens. In Newton 
 township, Manitowoc county, the young 
 couple commenced housekeeping, and re- 
 sided there eight years, or until 1884, 
 when they removed to their present home 
 in Grand Chute township, which he had 
 purchased the previous autumn, from 
 John Peterson. Their children are named 
 as follows: Lilly, Willie, Clara, Joseph, 
 Ida, John and Lorena. 
 
 Mr. Wilharms has been a successful 
 agriculturist, and his farm, which con- 
 sists of eighty acres lying in Section 2 1 , 
 is one of the best kept and most highly 
 improved in the township. He has re- 
 modeled the residence, enlarged the barn, 
 and beautified his surroundings in many 
 ways, and the appearance and fertility of 
 his land testify to his ability as a farmer, 
 and the good management that he has 
 exercised in conducting his farming inter- 
 ests. He also recently purchased, of E. 
 C. Goff, fifty-six and one-fourth acres in 
 Section 28, Township 21. For several 
 years past Mr. Wilharms has paid con- 
 siderable attention to dairying, and dur- 
 ing his active life has also dealt in stock 
 to some extent, becoming in this experi- 
 ence a good judge of cattle. He has ac- 
 quired a reputation among all who have 
 come in contact with him as a man of 
 strict integrity and honor in all his deal- 
 ings, and as a citizen he is respected by 
 all as one of the substantial members of 
 his community. Though interested in 
 the welfare of his township and county. 
 Mr. Wilharms is not active in public af- 
 
714 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 fairs, and takes no part in politics except 
 as a regular voter, usually supporting the 
 straight Democratic ticket. In religious 
 connection the family are identified with 
 the I^utheran Church in Appleton. In 
 1880 Mr. Wilharms suffered an accident 
 that resulted in the partial loss of the use 
 of his right hand, which was crushed in 
 the rollers of a feed cutter. 
 
 DK. O. G. LORD, Kaukauna. Man 
 has been endowed with reason, 
 will and physical power, and it is 
 by patient industry only that he 
 can open up a pathway to the enduring 
 prosperity of a community. There is no 
 Eden in nature. The earth might have 
 continued a rude and uncultivated wilder- 
 ness but for human energy, power and in- 
 dustry; these enable men to subdue the 
 wilderness, and develop the potency of 
 labor and enterprise. '' Possitnt quia 
 credent posse" ; moreover, the fittest sur- 
 vive, and in writing the biographies of 
 men of that caliber, it is a pleasure to 
 meet such striking examples of industry 
 and integrity as is the subject of this 
 sketch, in whose life we see exhibited the 
 varieties of human character which in 
 different circumstances instructs us in our 
 duty, and encourages our efforts in every 
 emergency to do that which is right and 
 just always. Such men are the bone and 
 sinew of any community, whose brightest, 
 sunniest side is often hidden to the casual 
 observer or careless student of human 
 nature by his quick, impulsive, often blunt 
 demeanor. However, the careful observer 
 of human nature detects the pure un- 
 alloyed metal that has the hard but musi- 
 cal ring of pure gold. 
 
 Dr. Lord is a native of Oxford county, 
 Maine, born December i, 1845, and is 
 the son of Levi and Louisa (Merrifield) 
 Lord, natives of the above county and 
 State. The father was a thrifty farmer, 
 and made Oxford county his home till 
 1884, when he was induced by his son to 
 come to Kaukauna, where he passed 
 
 peacefully away in February, 1889. The 
 mother yet resides in Kaukauna. They 
 were the parents of four children: Jane, 
 wife of Paul Hussey, of Kaukauna town- 
 ship ; Abbie, wife of Henry Tuttle, a 
 merchant of Kaukauna; Osborne Green, 
 our subject ; and Andrew M. Andrew 
 M. was born in Maine, where he was 
 married, and came to Kaukauna in 1883; 
 his death occurred in February, 1889, 
 and his widow returned to Maine. Grand- 
 father Levi Lord was also a farmer, and 
 born in Oxford county, Maine, and was a 
 soldier in the war of 18 12; his death oc- 
 curred at Porter, Oxford Co., Maine. 
 
 Dr. O. G. Lord, our subject, was 
 reared on a farm in his native State, 
 where he grew to manhood and enjoyed 
 such school privileges as his county af- 
 forded. Having a desire to teach, he 
 quickly qualified himself for that profes- 
 sion, following it successfully for some 
 years, in the meantime reading medicine 
 in his native county with Dr. Moses 
 Swett. He entered Bowdoin College, in 
 Maine, in 1868, graduating in the class 
 of 1S70, and began to practice his pro- 
 fession the same year. After two years 
 of successful practice he located in Kau- 
 kauna, where he has followed his chosen 
 profession for twenty-two years, each 
 3'ear finding him richer in experience and 
 with an increased practice. He served 
 rich and poor alike. The call of duty 
 was at all times sacred to him, obeying 
 the injunction of the Divine Master in 
 his treatment of the poor of Kaukauna, 
 who will bless and revere his memory 
 when that alone shall remain among 
 them. Dr. Lord is an honored member 
 of the Fox River Medical Society, but 
 otherwise too busy a man to be identified 
 with Society work. 
 
 He was married in 1870, in his native 
 State, to Miss Clara D. Lougee, a native 
 of Maine, and a daughter of Gilman 
 Lougee, an early and honored pioneer of 
 Maine. The Lougees were originally 
 from Gilmanton, N. H. Mrs. Clara Lord 
 died in 1872, in Kaukauna. Our subject 
 
COMMEMUHATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I'-l 
 
 remarried, at Kaukauna, to Mrs. Sarah 
 E. Clark, )icc Hale, a native of New 
 York and a dauj^^hter of Burton Hale, of 
 New York. The Hale family came to 
 Kaukauna in 1870, where Burton Hale 
 has since died. His widow resides with 
 Dr. Lord. One child blessed this union, 
 Laura Lord. Politically our subject is a 
 Republican, and is at present treasurer of 
 the school board, of which he has been a 
 member for seventeen years, filling the 
 position with credit to himself and benefit 
 to the town. Dr. Lord is one of the old- 
 est practitioners in Outagamie county, 
 where his name is becoming a household 
 word. He has seen the country devel- 
 oped from a primeval forest and virgin 
 prairie to well-improved and cultivated 
 farms that are the pride of the State. He 
 has taken an active interest in agricultu- 
 ral development, and owns a fine well- 
 stocked farm near the town of Kaukauna. 
 It was he who bought one of the best- 
 bred horses that ever belonged in the 
 State of Wisconsin. Dr. Lord has seen 
 the town itself develop from a small ham- 
 let to a flourishing city, which is the pride 
 of the valley, "The Lion of the Fo.x." 
 He has always been identified with every 
 interest that promoted the prosperity and 
 welfare of the community, and in doing 
 so has always been guided by unselfish 
 motives, often losing sight of his own in- 
 dividual interest in looking after the wel- 
 fare of others. 
 
 AN S O N B A L L A R D (deceased). 
 Mr. Ballard was born in Decem- 
 ber, 1 82 1, in Watertown. N. Y., 
 where he received his elementary 
 education, which was supplemented with a 
 course of study at Hamilton (New York) 
 College, after which he for a time taught 
 a country school. Moving to the South, 
 he there studied law and was admitted to 
 the bar. In 185 i he came west to Wis- 
 consin, and, settling in the town of Apple- 
 ton, formed a partnership with P. H. 
 Smith in the practice of law. This, how- 
 
 40 
 
 ever, did not continue long, as Mr. Ball- 
 ard retired from the profession and there- 
 after devoted his time and attention to 
 real-estate transactions, in which he be- 
 came remarkably successful. He died in 
 1873 at the age of fifty-two, mourned by 
 all who were acquainted with him, and 
 who felt that a good man, indeed, had 
 departed from among them. 
 
 His beneficence was unlimited; and 
 among his many charitable deeds inay be 
 mentioned the founding of a Kindergarten, 
 toward the support of which he gave 
 largely of both time and means. A pub- 
 lic-spirited man and a philanthropist with- 
 out a parallel in the community in which 
 he lived, his name became " familiar as 
 household words," and the great interest 
 he manifested in the welfare of young 
 people, many of whom he substantially 
 aided in their efforts to gain an education, 
 and in other ways, will be remembered 
 with gratitude by many. In religious 
 faith he was a consistent member of the 
 Congregational Church, and gave largely 
 to its support; socially he was a Knight 
 Templar, and in political sympathies he 
 was a Republican. 
 
 On May i, 1852, in Sheboygan, Mr. 
 Ballard was married to Miss Harriet 
 Story, a daughter of Amos and Sarah 
 Troutelotte Story. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Anson Ballard were born eight children, 
 namely: Leda A., Irene, Irving M. and 
 Frederick J., living, and Adella S., Eu- 
 gene, Nellie P. and Pearl Edna, deceased. 
 Mr. Ballard was a strong lover of home 
 associations; was a gentleman of sterling 
 integrity, genial and domestic in the ex- 
 treme, and his friendships were of that 
 lasting nature which cease only with the 
 final summons. 
 
 JOHN G. TATE, a representative suc- 
 cessful agriculturist of Maple Creek 
 township. Outagamie county, is a 
 native of the State of New York, 
 born in Essex, Essex county, December 
 12, 1834, a son of John and Mary C\'ird- 
 
7i8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 eny) Tate, who were of English and 
 French extraction, respectively. The 
 father, who was by trade a marble cut- 
 ter, died in 1853, the mother in 1863. 
 
 When the subject of these lines was 
 about eight years old he moved to the 
 Province of Quebec, Canada, to live with 
 an uncle at Kougemont, not far from 
 Montreal, and with him had his home 
 some seven years, during which period 
 he attended school, and then returned to 
 his parents, who in the meantime had re- 
 moved to Waterbury, Vt. Here he com- 
 pleted his education, and then learned 
 the business of an engineer, which he 
 followed continuously until taking up 
 agricultural pursuits, running stationary 
 engines at Fond du Lac, Wis. , whither he 
 had removed in 1858, thence coming to 
 Maple Creek township in 1869, where he 
 operated a stationary engine three years, 
 and settled on his present farm. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Tate was married at 
 Highgate, Vt., to Miss Mary Burton, 
 daughter of Louis and Melvina Burton, 
 natives of Canada, and this union was 
 blessed with eight children, six of whom 
 are yet living, namely: Frank, residing in 
 Deer Creek township, Outagamie county; 
 Carrie, wife of Alexander Hutchison, of 
 Maple Creek township, Outagamie county; 
 Edward E. , William; George Arthur, and 
 Amos Henry. For three terms he served 
 as clerk of the school board, and has been 
 a justice of the peace since 1893. He is 
 now living a comparatively retired life on 
 his farm, having by industry and thrift 
 amassed a comfortable competence, and 
 he deservedly enjoys the respect and 
 esteem of the community in which he has 
 lived for over thirty years. 
 
 REV. JULIUS ROHDE, pastor 
 of Holy Cross Catholic Congrega- 
 tion, Kaukauna, is a leading 
 member of the clergy of his de- 
 nomination. He was born in Deutsch- 
 krone, near Berlin, Prussia, February 
 
 I, 1850, son of Martin and Rosalie 
 (Manke) Rohde, natives of the same 
 province, who emigrated to America and 
 became residents of Kaukauna, Wis., in 
 September, 1881. The father died on 
 the 28th of November, following, the 
 mother surviving him until 1887. Of 
 their twelve children, three are now living: 
 Clement, an attorney at law in Berlin; 
 John, a resident of the same city; and the 
 reverend gentleman, who is the subject 
 of this article. Two other sons, Henry 
 and Leo, also came to Kaukauna, the 
 former becoming a student in the fifth 
 Latin class at Milwaukee, in which city 
 he died of consumption, April 12, 1885; 
 the latter also fell a victim to that dis- 
 ease. 
 
 From early boyhood the life of Father 
 Rohde has been devoted to study. After 
 finishing an eight-years' classical course 
 at the Prussian Gymnasium, and taking a 
 full course in the Latin, Greek, French 
 and Hebrew languages, he came to Amer- 
 ica in 1872 and proceeded directly to 
 Milwaukee. Here, in 1874, he took up 
 the philosophical course of study in St. 
 Francis Provincial Seminary, spending 
 one year on philosophy and three in theol- 
 ogy. In 1878 he was ordained at Green 
 Bay by Rt. Rev. F. X. Krautbauer, sec- 
 ond Bishop of Green Bay Diocese, and 
 assigned to church work at Kaukauna, 
 the same year becoming pastor in charge 
 of the Holy Cross Congregation, and has 
 witnessed its steady growth to the present 
 time. His life is devoted to his work, 
 and at this time, when he has been con- 
 tinuously at his labor longer than any 
 other priest in the county, he is esteemed 
 and respected bj' all who know him. 
 
 Holy Cross church was begun in 
 1 869, when the Catholics of Kaukauna, 
 having largely increased in number, agi- 
 tated the erection in that town of a 
 chapel for their own uses, the church at 
 Little Chute, which they had hitherto 
 been attending, proving inadequate. Ac- 
 cordingly, after no inconsiderable discus- 
 sion, on December 26, 1873 — the feast 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 719 
 
 of St. Stephen — a fitting temple had been 
 erected on the North Side, and dedicated 
 to God, Rev. Father Stern performing 
 the ceremony, assisted by several other 
 prominent clergymen. Until such time 
 as the little congregation was able to 
 support a resident priest the mission was 
 faithfully conducted by Rev. J. E. Hackl, 
 of Buchanan, until his departure for Eu- 
 rope in 1876, the membership in the 
 meantime having materially increased. 
 After an interregnum of a few months 
 Father Hackl was succeeded by Rev. A. 
 N. Buschle, the vacancy in the mean- 
 while having been supplied by Rev. Ver- 
 berk. Father Buschle, though filling 
 the incumbency but fourteen months, by 
 unremitting energy and the unquench- 
 able fire of enthusiasm which he com- 
 municated to his fiock, secured the build- 
 ing and furnishing of the parsonage, the 
 donation of the graveyard, which was 
 cleared and fenced, and the hanging of a 
 new bell in the belfry, which sounded 
 clear and full the call to the Angelus. 
 To him also is due the credit of establish- 
 ing the first parish school, he fitting up 
 the sacristy as a schoolroom, and person- 
 ally superintending the work. Following 
 Father Buschle came the venerable J. 
 Gauche, a clergyman of remarkable piety 
 and unobtrusive benignity; a Christian 
 gentlemen who, during his short stay 
 among them of about fifteen months, 
 greatly endeared himself to his flock. In 
 the course of his pastorate the school- 
 house was completed. On September 
 21, 1878, was appointed Rev. J. Rohde, 
 on whose ability and efficiency in the dis- 
 charge of his onerous duties, which year 
 by year have increased, it is unnecessary 
 here to dilate. During his rectorship 
 the church debt has been discharged, the 
 school was, in 1880, placed in charge of 
 Franciscan Sisters, and in the following 
 year two lots were purchased, the over- 
 crowded schoolhouse was enlarged and 
 the Sisters' house built. In 1882 the 
 church building was enlarged and beauti- 
 fully frescoed, and in 1884 a sweetly- 
 
 toned pipe organ, costing nine hundred 
 dollars, was added. 
 
 In 1885, the congregation had at- 
 tained such magnitude that even the en- 
 larged building was inadequate, and a 
 separation becoming necessary, those 
 families residing on the South Side formed 
 a new congregation, and built a fine 
 church, which Father Rohde attended as 
 a mission some six months. In 1886 
 the building of the " Holy Cross School " 
 was commenced, a substantial edifice on 
 which was expended the sum of nine 
 thousand dollars. In 1891, in order to 
 accommodate the rapid growth of its 
 membership, it was again found necessary 
 to add to the church building. The 
 work of enlargement, as contemplated b\' 
 Father Rohde, will necessitate the pur- 
 chase of the lot in the rear of the church, 
 the sanctuary will be moved back forty 
 feet, and in the intervening space the 
 new part will be built, extending fifteen 
 feet beyond the old limits of the church. 
 When completed the building will be 
 70x40 feet in size, in the form of a 
 cross, and will comfortably seat 650 per- 
 sons. The entire structure will be 
 bricked on the outside. Father Rohde 
 has now had charge of the congregation 
 sixteen years, and it is their wish that 
 he may be with them another period of 
 sixteen years, or longer. In 1894 a new 
 parsonage was erected at a cost of three 
 thousand dollars; it is one of the most 
 commodious in the Fox River Valley, and 
 is supplied with all modern conveniences, 
 is heated by furnace, and presents a very 
 fine and pleasing appearance. 
 
 HENRY L. BLOOD, deceased. 
 Success in any of the pursuits of 
 life usually challenges the admir- 
 ation of the world. It matters not 
 whether in the profession of law, medi- 
 cine or literature, or in the theological 
 domain, in the military or civil life, or 
 mercantile pursuits, it is the one dis- 
 tinguishing and distinctive characteristic 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of all business transactions. In the com- 
 mercial world, alone, the subject of these 
 lines, in his sphere of labor and activity 
 distinguished himself as an active, ener- 
 getic business man, and demonstrated 
 the fact that to a man of merit belongs 
 the full measure of success and worldly 
 prosperity. 
 
 Henry L. Blood was born December 
 2", 1S13, in Oxford county, Maine, where 
 were also born his parents, Giles and 
 Fannie (Levakeshe) Blood, the former on 
 March 7, 1786, the latter in 1788, in the 
 town of Hanover. Henry L. received a 
 fairly liberal education at the common 
 schools of the neighborhood of his place 
 of birth, during the summers assisting his 
 father, who for several years conducted a 
 farm. When he had arrived at man- 
 hood, Henry and his father embarked in 
 the lumber and iron business in O.xford 
 county, Maine, and there continued the 
 same until 1843, when they moved west, 
 and, locating in Mackinac Island, Mich., 
 opened a hotel known as the ' ' Wescott 
 House." This they conducted till 1846, 
 the year of their coming to Green Bay, 
 Wis. fthen called Fort Howard), and here 
 they kept the " Astor House " about one 
 year. Moving to Oshkosh in July, 1847, 
 they remained there a year, and then re- 
 turning to Green Baj- once more con- 
 ducted the ' ' Astor House. " From Green 
 Bay, having given up the hotel business, 
 they came to Appleton in March, 1849, 
 where for a couple of years the father and 
 son appear to have remained out of busi- 
 ness. In I 85 I Henr\' L. Blood was ap- 
 pointed financial agent for the Lawrence 
 University of Wisconsin at Appleton, an 
 institution in the establishing of which his 
 name was prominent. This position he 
 held with eminent ability till 1864, when 
 he resigned, and turning his attention 
 once more to hotel business, built and 
 opened the "Levake House" in Apple- 
 ton, which he conducted till 1871. In 
 that year he leased the hotel and en- 
 gaged in the lumber business to a large 
 extent: he also had an interest in a saw- 
 
 mill at Shiocton, whither he moved, re- 
 siding there two years, at the end of 
 which time he sold out and retired from 
 active business. He was thrice married, 
 first time on April 5, 1838, to Miss Cath- 
 erine Southmaid, by whom he had chil- 
 dren as follows: Egbert J., Frederick 
 H. and Catherine. The mother of these 
 died in Appleton in January, 1855, after 
 
 which he wedded Southmaid, who 
 
 died leaving no children. On January 5, 
 1859, Mr. Blood married, for his third 
 wife. Miss Mary M. Brown (now Mrs. 
 Hawley), and four children came of this 
 union, viz. : Frank L. and May C. (liv- 
 ing), and Egbert and Charles (twins, the 
 former of whom died in infancy, the lat- 
 ter when two years old). Mr. Blood was 
 a veritable pioneer of Appleton, and 
 lived to see its growth from a mere ham- 
 let, consisting of a few houses, to a thriv- 
 ing city. The first frame house in the 
 place was built by him on the site where 
 now stands the First National Bank. 
 He was a potent factor in getting the 
 Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Rail- 
 road Company to extend the road to Ap- 
 pleton, and his son Frederick was the first 
 conductor from the town. A \\'hig and 
 a Republican in politics, he took proper 
 interest in the affairs of the party, but 
 would never permit his name to be used in 
 connection with office; in religious faith 
 he was a member of the M. E. Church. 
 He died in Appleton, February 21, 1888. 
 Frederick H. Blood, son of this 
 honored pioneer by his first wife, was 
 born in Green Bay, W'is., August 6, 1S48, 
 in the "Astor House," then being kept by 
 his father. He received a good elemen- 
 tary education at the common schools of 
 Appleton, he being an infant when the 
 family moved thither, and for three years 
 thereafter attended Lawrence University. 
 At the age of twenty-two years he se- 
 cured a position as clerk with the Good- 
 rich Transportation Company of Chicago, 
 and for about six seasons remained with 
 them, his duties being on the boats from 
 port to port. On leaving this position 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he, in company with his brother Egbert, 
 proceeded to Red Winj;, Minn., where 
 they opened the "St. James Hotel," 
 which for two years they conducted. In 
 18S4 he returned to Appleton and com- 
 menced his present business, deahng in 
 coal, lime, wood and all kinds of masons' 
 supplies. 
 
 In 1876 Frederick H. Blood was mar- 
 ried to Miss Lillian E. Curtice, who was 
 born in Wisconsin, a daughter of Charles 
 E. and Ruth (Ferris) Curtice. This 
 union has been blessed with four children, 
 to wit: Clarence C, George F. , Charles 
 E. and Ruth. Mr. Blood, in his political 
 predilections, is a Republican, in social 
 matters a member of the F. & A. M. 
 
 LOUIS GREB, who ranks among 
 the energetic, prosperous young 
 farmer-citizens of Freedom town- 
 ship, is a son of Conrad Greb, 
 who for many years conducted the farm 
 now owned and operated b}' our subject. 
 Conrad Greb was born October 12, 
 1822, in Germany, son of Conrad, a 
 weaver, who died in his native Father- 
 land, the father of eleven children (five of 
 whom — two sons and three daughters — 
 lived to maturity, Conrad being the sec- 
 ond son and the fourth child in order of 
 birth. He attended school up to the age 
 of fourteen, when he commenced to do 
 farm work, and continued same in Ger- 
 many until reaching his majority. At this 
 time Conrad Shepherd (for whom Mr. 
 Greb was namedj was about to bring his 
 family to America, and he agreed to pay 
 Mr. Greb's passage on condition that the 
 latter would work for him two years. 
 They sailed from Bremen, and, after a 
 passage of forty days, landed at New 
 York, proceeding from there to Albany, 
 thence via the Erie canal to Rochester, 
 and thence to Hamilton, Ontario, where 
 they arrived in August, 1843. Mr. Shep- 
 herd located on a farm in Lower Canada, 
 and after working the two years for him, 
 according to their agreement, Mr. Greb 
 
 hired out to other farmers in Canada, and 
 commenced life on his own account. On 
 April 24, 1849, he was married in Can- 
 ada to Gertrude Brown, who was born 
 October 19, 1823, in Germany, daughter 
 of Conrad Philip Brown, a carpenter; she 
 came to Canada in 1841 with her eldest 
 brother, George, and, until her marriage, 
 worked as a domestic in various families. 
 Up to the time of his marriage Mr. Greb 
 had worked for others, receiving generally 
 si.x dollars per month, out of which he 
 had been able to save but little. He then 
 rented a farm from a former employer, 
 and after living there four years invested 
 in one hundred acres of government land. 
 It was wild and uncleared, and here he 
 worked hard for ten years, at the end of 
 which time, having made numerous im- 
 provements, he was able to sell at a good 
 profit, and in February, 1 864, he came to 
 Wisconsin, where he has ever since had 
 his home. For about eighteen months 
 he lived at Young's Corners, in Dale town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, meanwhile work- 
 ing for neighboring farmers: in November, 
 1865. he removed to Freedom township, 
 and bought eighty acres of unimproved 
 land in Section 30; a log house, 18x22, 
 was erected in the midst of the forest, and 
 this was their only home for o\er ten 
 years, when a substantial brick residence 
 was built. When Mr. Greb commenced 
 life in the New World he had no capital 
 save a strong, willing pair of hands; but 
 he has succeeded far beyond his early ex- 
 pectations. After coming to Wisconsin 
 he took a farm from the dense forest, im- 
 proved and beautified it, and continued 
 there, actively engaged in farm labor, un- 
 til 1 889, when he rented his farm to his 
 son Louis, and has since lived retired, en- 
 joying his prosperity as only an indus- 
 trious, self-made man can. Until May i, 
 1894, he lived in the village of Seymour, 
 but since then he has made his home in 
 Appleton, having bought property on At- 
 lantic street. He is highly respected by 
 all who know him as an honest, indus- 
 trious man, who has made a success in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 life by hard work and upright methods. 
 In rehgious faith he is a member of the 
 German Methodist Church at Appleton, 
 and politically he affiliates with the Re- 
 publican party. To Mr. and Mrs. Greb 
 were born children as follows: John, a 
 farmer of Seymour; Lydia, of Chicago, 
 unmarried; George, a farmer of Green- 
 ville; Elizabeth, unmarried, who lives with 
 her brother Louis on the farm; William, 
 a harness maker of Greenville; Louis; and 
 Henry, a cheese maker, of Osborn town- 
 ship, all born in Canada with the excep- 
 tion of Henry, who was born in Dale 
 township. 
 
 Louis Greb was born March 28, 1864, 
 in Canada, and came with his parents to 
 Wisconsin, when about two years old. 
 He attended the district schools of the 
 time, and was trained on the home farm 
 to agricultural pursuits, in the winter sea- 
 son working in the lumber camps of 
 northern Wisconsin. In 1889 he rented 
 the home farm of his father, which he 
 purchased in 1894, and now conducts on 
 his own account. He formerly owned a 
 cheese factor\- in Osborn township, which 
 he conducted for three years, disposing of 
 it in 1894. Politically Mr. Greb is a Re- 
 publican, but takes no active interest in 
 party matters. He has a profitable farm- 
 ing business, and, being 3'et young and full 
 of progress and industry, is destined to 
 take no subordinate place among the 
 agriculturists of his section. 
 
 GEORGE ELWOOD LUTSEY, 
 the genial and popular "mine 
 host" of the " Elwood Hotel," 
 New London, which is one of the 
 best equipped and most comfortable hos- 
 telries in this part of Wisconsin, is a rep- 
 resentative of one of the oldest pioneer 
 families of Waupaca county, and as far 
 as known is the first male white child born 
 in that county, having first seen the light 
 June 25, 1851. 
 
 The Lutsey family are of German 
 nationality, Grandfather Lutsey having 
 
 come to this countrj" with the Hessian 
 troops during the Revolutionary war, in 
 which he served, afterward settling in 
 Pennsylvania. His son, George, father 
 of our subject, was born in Luzerne 
 county, Penn., and was a mill-wright by 
 trade, at which he made a success. In 
 1849 he came to New London, when that 
 now thriving city was but a trading post, 
 and during his residence here was engaged 
 in the hotel business up to his decease, 
 which occurred December 3, 1857. He 
 was an exemplary citizen, prompt to lend 
 his assistance to all measures tending to 
 the advancement and prosperity of the 
 community at large, and was honored and 
 respected by all who knew him. He was 
 married, in 1847, to Anna Maria, daugh- 
 ter of Henry and Susan (Myers) Dutter, 
 and they had born to them three chil- 
 dren, namely: Henrietta, wife of Carver 
 Smalley; George Elwood, our subject; 
 and Sarah, wife of Dwight Haskel, a 
 prominent dentist of New London. The 
 mother cf these was married, the second 
 time, in 1867, to George W. Willhite, a 
 native of Lancaster, Fairfield Co., Ohio, 
 and son of George W. and Mary (Weller) 
 W^illhite, natives of Maryland, and of 
 German extraction. Grandfather Will- 
 hite was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
 war. and the family were for many years 
 residents of Frederick, Md. Mrs. Will- 
 hite is now engaged in the millinery busi- 
 ness in New London, and enjoys the re- 
 spect and esteem of a wide circle of friends 
 and acquaintances. 
 
 George Elwood Lutsey was married 
 in 1872, to Margaret, daughter of William 
 and Catherine Jane (Taylor) Seward, and 
 one child, Mabel, was born to them, now 
 residing at Aurora, Illinois. 
 
 JEREMIAH CARNEY, aworthy 
 member of the prosperous agricultural 
 community of Freedom township, 
 Outagamie county, is a son of Pat- 
 rick Carney, a native of County Clare, 
 Ireland, who was a shoemaker by trade. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 723 
 
 Patrick Carnej' was married in his 
 native country to Miss Catherine Tracy, 
 and shortly after his marriage came to 
 America, setthng in Canada, where his 
 eldest child, Jeremiah, was born. He 
 followed his trade there a few years, and 
 then came to the United States, and for 
 some time worked as a laborer around the 
 iron furnaces in New York State. About 
 1845 he removed to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 and later to Racine county, where he 
 rented a farm. This was before Wiscon- 
 sin became a State, and as the country 
 had not been opened up or improved, the 
 roads were very poor, it often taking three 
 days to go to Milwaukee, where their 
 trading was done. They next removed 
 to Portage, Wis. , where Mr. Carney was 
 employed on the State canal, then in 
 course of construction, after which he 
 came to Appleton and worked on the canal 
 improvements being made there. He re- 
 ceived but si.x shillings a day; so in order 
 to assist her husband as much as possible 
 Mrs. Carney kept a boarding-house for 
 some time, and in this way they managed, 
 by strict economy, to save enough to buy 
 a farm in the N. E. quarter of Section 
 34, Freedom township, Outagamie county. 
 No roads led to the place, no buildings 
 had been erected or improvements of any 
 sort begun — in fact the place was a per- 
 fect wilderness — the log cabin erected by 
 Mr. Carney being the first sign of civili- 
 zation around the place. Later he pur- 
 chased 160 acres in the S. E. quarter of 
 Section 27, and before his death was a 
 well-to-do farmer. He passed from earth 
 January 27, 1892, a devout member of the 
 Catholic Church, and was buried in Free- 
 dom township; he was originally a Dem- 
 ocrat in political sympathy, but afterward 
 became a Republican. His widow, now 
 at the ripe old age of eighty years, makes 
 her home in Kaukauna. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Carney had the following named children: 
 Jeremiah, whose name opens this sketch; 
 Cornelius, who died at the age of twenty- 
 four; Patrick, of Dakota; James, who 
 died at the age of twenty-four; Thomas, 
 
 of Marinette, Wis. ; Joseph and Matthew, 
 both residents of Kaukauna; Julia, Mrs. 
 Michael O'Connell, also of Kaukauna; 
 Catherine, Mrs. Michael Mulligan, of Da- 
 kota; Maggie, Mrs. James McSherry, of 
 Dakota; and two daughters, both named 
 Mary, who died young and were buried 
 in Racine. 
 
 Jeremiah Carney was born in January, 
 1837, near Quebec, Canada, and received 
 a somewhat limited education in the com- 
 mon schools of his boyhood. He lived 
 with- his parents until their removal to 
 Freedom township, when he commenced 
 to work in the lumber camps, receiving 
 eighteen dollars per month. During the 
 summer time he worked at home until 
 August, 1 86 1 , when he enlisted, at Menom- 
 onie. Wis., in Company F, Twelfth 
 Wis. V. I., and was sent to Madison. 
 Wis., where he was equipped and drilled 
 for six weeks. Thence going to Missouri, 
 and thence to Mississippi, he first saw ac- 
 tive service at Vicksburg, later taking part 
 in the engagement at Jackson, Miss., and 
 many other battles and skirmishes in that 
 section, including Lookout Mountain, 
 etc. He started with Sherman on the 
 famous march to the sea, but was wounded 
 at Peach Tree Creek early on the morn- 
 ing of July 22, 1863, a ball piercing his 
 right thigh, and shattering the bone. He 
 was taken to Marietta hospital, and when 
 able to travel came home on a thirty- 
 days' furlough, after which he reported 
 at Loui-sville, and joining the invalid corps 
 was detailed on guard duty. On June 
 14, 1865, he was discharged at Louis- 
 ville, and returned to his home in Wis- 
 consin, where he was obliged to rest for a 
 year before resuming farming. 
 
 On December 17, 1865, he was mar- 
 ried, in Appleton, to Miss Bridget O'Neil, 
 a native of New York City, who was born 
 April 25, 1845, daughter of William and 
 Mary (Coniker) O'Neil, natives of the 
 Emerald Isle. To this union have been 
 born children as follows: Katie, Ann 
 (who died when three years and six 
 months old), Julia, William, Maggie, Brid- 
 
7-4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 get, Mary, Elizabeth, James, Celia and 
 Ellen (who died when three days old). 
 Mr. Carney owns a fjood farm of cif^hty 
 acres in Freedom township, on which he 
 was the first settler, and has made all the 
 impro\ements which now make the place 
 valuable for agricultural jiurposes and 
 comfortable as a h'lme. Politically a 
 stanch member of the Republican party, 
 he takes no active part in public affairs; 
 in relif(ious faith he and his family are 
 Cathc:)lics. 
 
 THOMAS HANNA, who ranks amonfj 
 the prosperous, self-made farmers 
 of Freedom township, Outagamie 
 county, is a native of the State of 
 New York, born November 15, 1828, in 
 Jefferson county. George Hanna, his 
 father, was a farmer, was born in Ireland, 
 and there married Miss Julia Hamilton, 
 also a native of the Emerald Isle. Mrs. 
 Haima died when Thomas was but a 
 child, and Mr. Hanna subsequently re- 
 married; he died in Pennsylvania. 
 
 When Thomas was yet a child his 
 father removed to Canada, and he was 
 there reared. In his youth he received 
 only a limited education, as his parents 
 needed his help, and when still young he 
 commenced to work for others, learning 
 the trade of blacksmith in Canada, which 
 he follcnved in different pilaces. When 
 twenty-si.\ years of age he married, in 
 Canada, Miss Margaret Wallace, who was 
 born there August 2, 1835, daughter of 
 James Wallace, a native of Ireland, who 
 was a farmer in Canada. At this time 
 Thomas would have had a snug sum 
 saved to start with had he been able to 
 secure the money he had honestly earned; 
 as it was. however, he had little to begin 
 married life with exxept health and energy 
 and a resolute heart. He took up some 
 new land in the woods of Canada, where 
 with the help of his wife he cleared fifty 
 acres of land; but being unable to pay for 
 it had to give it up after all his labor. 
 Moving into Michigan he located near 
 
 Port Huron, and worked at his trade in a 
 large sawmill there, receiving good wages 
 and continuing tliere for three and a half 
 years, during which time he saved enough 
 to pay for eighty acres of land in Freedom 
 township, (Outagamie Co., \\'is. , and one 
 thousand dollars besides. At this time 
 there was much e.xcitement over the grand 
 opportunities offered to settlers in Mis- 
 souri, and Mr. Hanna accordingly took his 
 family there, with the intention of settling. 
 After remaining some time, however, he 
 concluded that he would do better on his 
 land in Freedom township, and thither re- 
 moved, after spending $<S50 out of his 
 hard-earned sa\ings. \Mien he settled on 
 this farm, in the fall of 1868, not a stick 
 had been cut by a prospective settler, no 
 roads led to the place, and the house he 
 erected, of pine logs, was the first im- 
 jirovement of any kind. During the first 
 few years of their residence here the strug- 
 gle for an existence was a hard one; Mr. 
 Hanna cut timber and sold it, and in the 
 fall hired out to do harvesting for others 
 in order to earn enough to buy fall wheat, 
 as flour was dear and very scarce. Mrs. 
 Hanna helped her husband nobly until the 
 farm yielded a comfortable support, and 
 although those early years were filled with 
 toil and hardship they were never unhap- 
 py, for the thought of having a home of 
 their own cheered them imtil that object 
 was attained. They lost all their house- 
 hold goods in 1884, when the log house 
 was burned down, and it was replaced by 
 a board shanty, in which the\' lived until 
 1885, when their present comfortable 
 residence was built. Mr. Hanna has also 
 made many other improvements on his 
 farm during his long residence here, has 
 increased its area to 120 acres, and now 
 has a home in which he can enjoy life 
 comfortalily during his declining years. 
 He has been self-made in the fullest sense 
 of the term, and has earned the respect of 
 all who knf)W him for his honesty and 
 strict integrity. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hanna have been blessed 
 with children as follows: Born in Canada 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGliAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 725 
 
 — Victoria, unmarried, who li\'es at home, 
 and WiUiam, a farmer of Freedom town- 
 sliip; born in Wisconsin — Ehza J., and- 
 Margaret K., Hving at home. The family 
 are identified with the Congregational 
 Church at Kaukauna; in his political af- 
 filiations Mr. Hanna is a stanch Repub- 
 lican, but in voting usualh' selects the best 
 man regardless of politics. 
 
 H.UILIXE T. HUNT, a stanch 
 citi/en, prosperous farmer and 
 e.\-soldier, residing in Hortonia 
 t(3wnship, Outagamie county, was 
 born in Tompkins county, N. Y., May 
 31, 1844. His grandfather was William 
 Hunt, a native of the same State. 
 
 Robert C. Hunt, the hitter's son, 
 father of Hamline T. , was Ijorn Octo- 
 ber 30, 1810, also in Tompkins county, 
 N. Y. He obtained a good conmion- 
 school education in the schools of his na- 
 tive locality, and was reared on his fath- 
 er's farm. Ouite early in life he made a 
 special study of the Bible, antl when 
 about thirty \ears of age he entered the 
 field of exangelism. He was soon after or- 
 dained as a minister of the M.E. Church, 
 and in this capacity labored actively until 
 1 88 1, when on account of failing health he 
 retired. In 1856 he left New York and 
 came to Wisconsin, moving from place to 
 place and engaging actively in ministerial 
 work until 1 867, when he located at Hor- 
 tonvillc. Here he labored in his mission 
 until his retirement. His wife was Lu- 
 cinda Crutts, whose ancestors came from 
 Holland, and she was born in Tompkins 
 county, N. Y., October 31, 181 2; she 
 bore Mr. Hunt five children, vi;;. : Electa, 
 now Mrs. Poppellwell. of New York: 
 Sophronia, now Mrs. Summerton, also 
 of New York; Marilla, who died in her 
 twentieth year, in i860; Charles E.. born 
 August 6, 1848, and died at Hortonville, 
 Wis., March 8, 1888; and Hamline T., 
 the subject of this notice. The devoted 
 mother of this family died at Hortonville 
 September 4, 1893, her husband having 
 
 ceased his earthly labor at the same place 
 Apiril 4, 1 884. 
 
 Until he was fifteen years of age Ham- 
 line T. Hunt attended the public schools 
 of Wisconsin, at that time began work- 
 ing as a farm hand at wages ranging 
 from seven to ten dollars per month, and 
 this he continued for about two years. 
 On September 20, 1861, he enlisted in the 
 Third Wisconsin Light Artillery and went 
 out as a soldier in defense of his country. 
 He participated in the battles of Stone 
 River, Chickamauga, Crab Orchard and 
 numerous minor engagements, and after 
 an arduous service of three years received 
 an honorable discharge October 10, 1864. 
 By reason of his war service he is a mem- 
 ber of Francis Steffen Post, No. 210, 
 G. A. R., of Horton\'ille, of which he is 
 past commander; he also belongs to the 
 I. O. O. F. Lodge at the same place. 
 After his return from the army he settled 
 on a farm at Royalton, Waupaca Co., 
 Wis., and engaged in farming until 1868, 
 when he removed to Almond. Portage 
 county, where he purchased and located 
 upon a farm which he occupied until 
 1884, in which year he sold out and came 
 to Hortonville, locating upon the farm he 
 now owns. His farm work is conducted 
 upon principles which bring success, and 
 stamp him as an ideal agriculturist. He 
 is a Republican in politics, has been 
 elected treasurer, and served three suc- 
 cessive years as assessor of his township. 
 He was appointed census enumerator in 
 1890, and performed the duties of that 
 position faithfulh' and well. He is pop- 
 ular with all classes, and in all respects 
 is an enterprising, progressive, worthy cit- 
 izen. 
 
 Mr. Hunt was married, October 23, 
 1865, to Jennie E. Gordon, who was 
 born in Illinois September 10, 1845, a 
 daughter of Allen and Charlotte A. Gor- 
 don, nati\es of the same State. She be- 
 came the mother of two children : 
 Llewellyn, born July 20, 1867, now in 
 business in Montana; and Fannie E., 
 born January 19, 1S71, died December 
 
726 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPniCAL HECORD. 
 
 1 8, 1883. Mrs. Hunt died at Almond, 
 Portage Co., Wis., May 25, 1S80. Mr. 
 Hunt was married a second time, July 
 30, 1 89 1, Abbie Miracle, daughter of 
 Jeremiah Miracle, becoming his wife. 
 She is of German descent, and was born 
 June 9, 1851. 
 
 JAMES MOORE McMEEKIN, pro- 
 prietor of one of the well-equipped 
 barber-shops in Hortonville, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born October 28, 
 1 86 1, in Toledo, Ohio. He is of Scotch- 
 Irish extraction, his immediate progenitors 
 being natives of the North of Ireland, 
 whither the most remote ancestors re- 
 moved from their homes in Scotland. 
 
 Samuel McMeekin, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Belfast, Ireland, where 
 he received his education and learned the 
 trade of shoemaker, following same ex- 
 clusively while in his native countr}. He 
 was married in Belfast to Mary Given, 
 who bore him three children in Ireland, 
 and with his little family Mr. McMeekin 
 came to America in a sailing vessel, he 
 being at this time thirty-two years of age. 
 They landed in New York, and in that 
 city Mr. McMeekin found employment in 
 a shoe store for about nine months, after 
 which he removed to Toledo, Ohio, 
 where he worked for John Coffman, a 
 shoe merchant. Having been frugal and 
 industrious he had continued to lay by a 
 little money, and buying a farm in Mon- 
 roe county, Mich., he continued to work 
 at his trade until it was" paid 
 then, in 1862, moved thereon, 
 covered with timber, which he 
 set to work to clear away 
 converted the place into 
 
 for, and 
 It was 
 
 bravely 
 and gradually 
 a model farm 
 
 and home, comprising eight)- acres of 
 choice land lying near Whiteford Center, 
 where he is engaged in general agriculture 
 and fruit growing. When Mr. McMeekin 
 settled on this farm the Civil war was 
 still raging, and after establishing his 
 family comfortably in their new home he 
 enlisted in the Union army, and fought 
 
 to the end of the struggle. He is a man 
 of more than ordinary energy and capac- 
 ity, keeps well up with the times, and has 
 always taken a leading part in the affairs 
 of the community where he has resided. 
 He is universally esteemed, and his neigh- 
 bors and fellow-citizens have given proof 
 of their confidence in his worth and in- 
 tegrity by electing him to various offices, 
 the duties of which he has performed with 
 singular ability, displajing great tact and 
 sound judgment in all matters under his 
 charge. At present he is a justice of the 
 peace, a position he has held for many 
 years, and he is one of the foremost men 
 of his county. His family consisted of 
 seven children, viz.: Henry, Maggie, 
 Samuel, Mary, Robert, James M. and 
 Lizzie, of whom Henry and James M. 
 reside in Hortonville, Wisconsin. 
 
 James M. McMeekin was educated in 
 the schools of Whiteford Center, Mich. 
 In Adrian, Mich., he learned the barber's 
 trade, and worked at it there for about a 
 year, and early in May, 1885, became to 
 Hortonville, Wis., with the interests of 
 which thriving town he has ever since 
 been prominently identified. He bought 
 out the business of David Strong, and fias 
 been successful from the very beginning, 
 having now one of the most complete 
 establishments of its kind in the place. 
 Like his father he takes a deep interest 
 in the public welfare, and any project for 
 the advancement of his adopted town re- 
 ceives his hearty approval and support. 
 Politically he is a lifelong Republican. 
 Mr. McMeekin was married April 13, 
 1886, to Miss Jennie Cornell, daughter of 
 Johida Cornell, and sister of Rev. W. D. 
 Cornell, well known here. This union has 
 been blessed with three children: James, 
 Olive and Park. 
 
 JOHN WITTLIN is a native of W^is- 
 consin, having been born in the town 
 of Germantown, Washington county, 
 December 31, 1845, ^ son of Burk- 
 ardt and Catherine (Degen) Wittlin. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 727 
 
 Burkardt Wittlin was born March 7, 
 1 81 3, near Basel, in Switzerland, and 
 came to the United States in 1844. He 
 bought a farm in the town of German- 
 town, Washington Co. , Wis. , where he 
 resided until July 4, 1864, when he moved 
 to Outagamie county and bought a farm 
 comprising 320 acres of wild land, near 
 the present residence of his son John, in 
 the town of Center. On this farm he 
 built a log house 36 x 20 feet, in which he 
 resided until his death, July 12, 1878. 
 Mrs. Catherine Wittlin, also a native of 
 Switzerland, was born near Basel, Octo- 
 ber 16, 1 8 16, and died on the homestead 
 in Outagamie county, February 27, 1893. 
 To this honored couple were born four 
 children, all of whom are living and have 
 clustered around the residence of their 
 brother John, the subject proper of this 
 sketch. John Wittlin was reared to farm- 
 ing pursuits by his father, and was edu- 
 cated at the district school in his locality, 
 and the German and English Academy in 
 Milwaukee. On November 26, 1870, he 
 married Miss Catherine Durick, daughter 
 of Michael and Nora (Obrien) Durick, na- 
 tives of Limerick, Ireland, both of whom 
 died near the residence of our subject, the 
 father at the age of sixty-four and the 
 mother when sixty-five. Miss Catherine 
 Durick was born in Ozaukee county. 
 Wis., April 14, 1848, one of a family of 
 five children, four of whom are still liv- 
 ing, the sons being farmers, like the male 
 members of the family on both the pa- 
 ternal and maternal sides. To John Witt- 
 lin and wife have been born eleven chil- 
 dren, of whom two died young; the others 
 were born as follows: Catherine H., 
 December 30, 1871; MaryE., December 
 22, 1872; John B., June 5, 1874; Mar- 
 garet A., August 29, 1877; Emma A., 
 August 13, 1879; Jane S., November 6, 
 1880; James F. , June 22, 1883; Helen 
 C, September 4, 1887; Florence G., Oc- 
 tober 2, 1893. 
 
 Mr. Wittlin at once settled on his 
 present farm, after his marriage, and here 
 he has ever since been engaged in mixed 
 
 fanning, in which he has met with the 
 good success his skill and industry de- 
 serve. In politics he is a member of the 
 Democratic party, and cast his first presi- 
 dential vote for Horatio Seymour, in 
 1868. He has won the entire confidence 
 of his fellow citizens. For thirteen years 
 he served as town clerk, for twenty-five 
 years as district-school clerk, and two 
 years as member of the county board. 
 For seven years he has been a director in 
 the Farmers Home Mutual Insurance 
 Company, and has been appointed post- 
 master at Wittlin, Wis. , a new office es- 
 tablished at his place. The family have 
 always been devout members of the 
 Catholic faith, and the father and sons 
 have all been active in giving aid toward 
 the erection of edifices for the worship of 
 congregations of this faith. Mr. Wittlin 
 has preserved an unsullied reputation 
 through life, and has won an enviable 
 name among his neighbors. 
 
 HENRY LLEWELLYN BIG- 
 FORD, station agent at Horton- 
 ville, Outagamie county, was born 
 June 20, 1854, in Forest town- 
 ship. Fond du Lac Co. , Wis. , and is of 
 English descent, his grandfather, Thomas 
 Bigford, having been born in England. 
 He settled in an early day in Genesee 
 county, N. Y. , where he followed farming 
 the remainder of his active life, and died 
 at the ripe old age of one hundred years. 
 Grandfather Thomas Bigford had a family 
 of six children, of whom Thomas Bigford, 
 the father of our subject, was born in 
 Genesee county, N. Y., and when about 
 eighteen years old migrated westward to 
 Wisconsin, settling in Forest township, 
 Fond du Lac county, in 1833, and be- 
 coming one of the pioneers of that sec- 
 tion. He became a well-known and pros- 
 perous farmer of the county, and took an 
 active interest in local public affairs, 
 serving several years as deputy sheriff. 
 He was regarded by all as a man of good 
 judgment and a safe counsellor, and was 
 
728 
 
 COMMEMORATIVi: BWaiiAl'lIICAL liECOBD. 
 
 a model citizen, every ready to further 
 any project for the benefit or advance- 
 ment of his connnunity. Liberal to a 
 fault, the needy and unfortunate found 
 ready sympathy and practical help from 
 him, and his active life was filled with 
 acts of charity and lo\e toward his fellow- 
 men. ThoujLjh not a member of Church 
 he had a profound respect for religion, 
 and led an upright temperate life, useful 
 and active throughout, which commanded 
 the admiration and respect of all who 
 knew him. During the Civil war he was 
 a United States recruiting officer, and 
 raised two companies in his count}'. He 
 did not enter active service in the field, 
 but accomplished a noble work at home, 
 doing all in his power for the relief of 
 soldiers' widows and orphans, and other 
 work of that nature. He was a strong 
 Republican in politics, was well read in 
 political history of the nation, and kept 
 himself well informed on current events, 
 taking a deep interest in all the import- 
 ant questions of his day. For a number 
 of 3'ears he conducted a hotel, and while 
 in that business became widely and favor- 
 ably known throughout his county. He 
 passed from earth February i, i8qo, at 
 the age of seventy-five years, in Fond du 
 Lac, where he had resided for three years 
 previously, and where his widow, Mrs. 
 Eliza (Gifford) Bigford, yet resides. Their 
 familj' consisted of six children, as fol- 
 lows: Gertrude, deceased at the age of 
 nine years; Mary fane, deceased at the 
 age of six years; Royal O. ; Henry L. , 
 whose sketch follows ; Helen, wife of 
 L. D. Geisse, of Chilton, Wis., and 
 Walter W. 
 
 HicNRV L. ISic.i'OKD was educated in 
 the schools of Fond du Lac county, also at 
 Silsbee's Business College, and in early 
 life commenced railroading, in which he 
 has ever since continued. At the age of 
 eighteen years he was promoted to the 
 position of station agent at Appleton, re- 
 maining there about one year, and then 
 was removed to Kaukauna, where he 
 served in the same capacity. Thence, in 
 
 1874, became to Hortonville, where he 
 has been agent ever since the road was 
 completed to this place, coming on the 
 first regular train that pulled into the 
 depot. There is probably no line of busi- 
 ness in which efficiency, faithfulness and 
 ability are st) quickly recognized and ap- 
 preciated as in railroading, and our sub- 
 ject has risen to his present position 
 through merit, his long experience and 
 strict attention to duty making him a 
 valuable official. In 1881 he was mar- 
 ried, in Marshfield, Wis., to Miss Katie 
 M. Malsack, a native of Hartford, \\"is., 
 whose parents were among the first set- 
 tlers of Marshfield, \\'is., where the father 
 died in 1892. To Mr. and Mrs. Bigford 
 have l:)een born three children, namely: 
 Gertrude G., Gracie G. and Arthur J. 
 Our subject is a meTiiber of New London 
 Lodge, No. 131, .\. P". & .\. M., New 
 I^ondon, anil also of the Blue Lodge and 
 Chapter. In 1885 he built a handsome 
 residence in Hortonville, and takes a 
 loyal pride in the improvement and pro- 
 gress of that town in any direction. 
 
 FREDERICK C. ZIEGLER, a gen- 
 eral farmer of Center township, 
 Outagamie county, was l^orn in 
 ^^'urtemberg, Germany, Septem- 
 ber 29, 1 83 1, a son of George and Rosa 
 (Stechmeyer) Ziegler. The father was a 
 farmer, and for twenty-five years was a 
 town ofiicer; he died at the age of eighty- 
 two, his wife at the age of forty-six, and 
 of their three children — two sons and one 
 df.ughter — Frederick C our subject, is 
 the only survivor; the other son died 
 when about forty-five years old, and left 
 a widow with five children; the daughter 
 died at about sixty-nine years of age, also 
 leaving a family of five children. 
 
 From the age of nineteen Frederick 
 C. Ziegler li\ed with his brother, working 
 on the farm, later hired out to a neigh- 
 boring farmer as hostler in a large liverj' 
 stable, and then worked as teamster and 
 farmer, in the winter devotinir his time to 
 
COMMKMUllATiVK UIOORAFUICAL RECORD. 
 
 729 
 
 the manufacture of linseed oil. On Sep- 
 tember 2C, 1S56, he married, in Ger- 
 many, Miss Mary Koehler, who was born 
 near the birthplace of her husband May 
 14, 1829, a daughter of Otto and Lena 
 Koehler, who had a family of three 
 daughters, two of whom are still living. 
 Otto Koehler died at the early age of 
 thirty-two, and his wife survived until 
 about fifty years of age. To the union of 
 Frederick C. and Mary Ziegler have been 
 born seven children, only two of whom 
 are living, a record of them being as fol- 
 lows: (i) Fred A., born in Wisconsin 
 August 16, 1866, attended the Appleton 
 schools, and now has charge of the home 
 farm; he was married November 11, 
 I 89 1, to Miss Caroline Tecklin, who was 
 born in Wisconsin May 19, 1869, and to 
 this marriage was born one son, Walter 
 J., September 14, 1892. (2) Gottlieb 
 D., born in Wisconsin December 22, 
 1867, graduated from the Northwestern 
 University at Watertown, Wis. ; attended 
 the Lutheran Theological Seminary at 
 Milwaukee, Wis. , and is now superintend- 
 ent of the public schtjols for Outagamie 
 county. After his marriage Frederick C. 
 Ziegler sailed, in 1856, from Havre, 
 France, for New York, and after a tem- 
 pestuous voyage of forty-seven days — one 
 week being especially stormy — arrived at 
 the port of destination in safety, and 
 there remained one night only, going 
 thence to Cle\eland, Ohio, where he was 
 employed for two months as a wood-saw- 
 yer, then as a wood-chopper, and later 
 for nine months as a farm hand. Finally 
 in 1857, he came to Outagamie county, 
 Wis., and bought forty acres of wild land 
 in Center township, put up a log cal)in, 
 and the first year cleared ten acres. He 
 lived in this cabin until 1 880, when he 
 erected his present comfortal)le dwelling. 
 In the meanwhile he added to his original 
 purcfiase until he had a farm of i 20 acres, 
 gaining all his property through his in- 
 dustry, frugality and systematic labor. 
 
 Mr. Ziegler brought with him to this 
 country considerable agricultural skill, and 
 
 was not slow to apply it to the natural ad- 
 vantages offered by the wild lands of Wis- 
 consin, in which he first located. This 
 skill, added to his indomitable labor and 
 careful thrift, has made him a respected 
 member of the community in which he 
 now lives, and in which he has so advanced 
 himself that he has been entrusted with 
 the care of the public interests of his fel- 
 low citizens. He is a Republican in 
 party connection, and ran far ahead of 
 his ticket as a nominee for the State Leg- 
 islature, proving his great popularity. His 
 first vote in the United States was cast for 
 Abraham Lincoln for President, and his 
 sons are also faithful members of the Re- 
 publican party. During the Civil war, 1861 
 -65, he was a volunteer, serving in Com- 
 pany G, Forty-fourth Regiment, Wis. V. L 
 in religion Mr. Ziegler and his wife are 
 Lutherans, and gave active support and 
 substantial aid in the organization of the 
 first society of that denomination in Center 
 township, and in erecting the first church 
 edifice here. Mr. Ziegler and his family 
 have an enviable social standing in the 
 township, and among his immediate 
 friends and neighbors he is regarded with 
 the highest respect. 
 
 L 
 
 AWRENCE E. VANDEN BERG. 
 
 proprietor of the Kaukauna Bot- 
 tling Works, Kaukauna, Outa- 
 gamie county, is a young business 
 man, descended from an honored and re- 
 spected pioneer family. He was born in 
 1868 in Freedom, Outagamie Co., Wis., 
 a son of Edward and Wilhelmina (Den- 
 ison) Vanden Berg, who were natives of 
 Holland, the former, when a young man of 
 eighteen years, coming to Freedom with 
 his father, Lawrence Vanden Berg, who 
 settled upon and improved a farm in the 
 locality, and died many years ago. 
 
 Edward Vanden Berg, father of our 
 subject, married in Green Bay township. 
 Brown county, engaged in merchandising 
 at Freedom, located at Kaukauna in the 
 same business in 1885, and died in 1887, 
 
73° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 five years after the death of his wife, 
 which occurred in Freedom in 1882. The 
 following children were born to this 
 couple: Mary, who died young; Nellie, 
 now Mrs. Peter Pennings, of Antigo, 
 Wis. ; William, married and residing in 
 .Appleton; Anna, wife of John Mechels, a 
 jeweler at Kaukauna; Lawrence E., sub- 
 ject of this notice; and Adelia, wife of 
 William Whitman, of Kaukauna. 
 
 L. E. Vanden Berg was given such ad- 
 vantages for schooling and business as the 
 township of Freedom could afford in his 
 boyhood days. He was employed in 
 stores both in that township and at Kau- 
 kauna, and at length engaged with his 
 father in the bottling business. He has 
 been at his present location since 18S9, 
 his specialties being soft drinks and bottled 
 beer. In May, 1891, he was married at 
 Kaukauna to Anna Osic, who was born at 
 Manitowoc, Wis., daughter of John and 
 Mary Osic, natives of Bohemia, who 
 early settled at Manitowoc, removing 
 thence to South Kaukauna, where the 
 father died in 1886; the mother now re- 
 sides in South Kaukauna. To this mar- 
 riage was born one child, Mary, that died 
 November 28, 1894, aged three years and 
 seven months; its mother had preceded it 
 to the grave in October, 1893, and they 
 lie buried side by side in the Vanden Berg 
 lot. North Side Cemetery. On February 
 6, 1895, Mr. Vanden Berg married, for 
 his second wife. Miss Mary Luckas, of 
 Greenleaf, Brown Co., Wis., and they 
 now reside in North Kaukauna. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Vanden Berg is a Democrat; is 
 secretary of the fire companv, and a mem- 
 ber of the Catholic Order of Foresters and 
 other Catholic Societies. 
 
 CHARLES FREDERICK BUCK. 
 This gentleman is well fitted, 
 both by nature and training, to oc- 
 cupy the high position he holds 
 among the prosperous business men of 
 Hortonville, Outagamie county, where he 
 is the leading general merchant. 
 
 Mr. Buck is a son of Eberhart Buck, 
 who was born February 21, 1838, in 
 Reutlingen,Wurtemberg, Germany, where 
 his ancestors for a number of genera- 
 tions were merchants, butchers and tan- 
 ners. Eberhart Buck emigrated to Amer- 
 ica when our subject was seven years 
 of age, and consequently the latter went 
 to live with his uncle, John Martin 
 Buck, a butcher of Reutlingen. ^\'ith 
 him he resided until he was ten years 
 old, from which time until he reached 
 the age of fourteen he made his home 
 with another uncle, Conrad Buck, in 
 the same town. Having now attended 
 school the prescribed length of time, he 
 was apprenticed to a baker, Gottlieb 
 Heimberger, to learn the trade, intend- 
 ing to serve three years with him, but 
 being abused by his master he com- 
 plained to his guardian, Mr. Hecht, who 
 entered a protest and had him released 
 by the court. Mr. Hecht then procured 
 emigration papers for him, and he em- 
 barked at Antwerp for America, landihg 
 at New York after a voyage of forty-nine 
 days. Proceeding to Philadelphia he ap- 
 prenticed himself, in the fall of 1857, to 
 learn the confectioner's trade, but his em- 
 ployer died a month later, and having but 
 few friends, and scarcely any money, Mr. 
 Buck again became an apprentice, this 
 time to the shoemaker's trade, for three 
 years. After working a year and eight 
 months, however, he was again released 
 by the court, as his employer did not 
 teach him properly; but he continued to 
 work at the trade for some time, princi- 
 pally making ladies' foot gear. About 
 this time his mother, brother and sister 
 came to America to join the father and an 
 elder brother, Andrew ("step-brother of 
 our subject), in Wisconsin, where, in Dale 
 township, Outagamie county, the father 
 had purchased a tract of eighty acres and 
 prepared a home. Another sister, Lena, 
 had made her home in Philadelphia for 
 one year, and then joined her father in 
 Dale township, and in 1859 the whole fam- 
 ily was reunited, our subject remaining on 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 73' 
 
 the farm one year, when he felt a desire 
 to go east again, but found he could not 
 for lack of means. In Neenah he heard 
 that work was to be had in Appleton, but 
 on arriving in that town he was disap- 
 pointed, and accordingly went to Oshkosh, 
 in which city he found work at his trade, 
 and continued to follow it for six months, 
 when he left with the intention of going 
 to Philadelphia. Stopping in Detroit, 
 Mich., he worked there at his trade an- 
 other six months, when he was taken sick 
 with fever and ague, his illness lasting 
 three months. On his recovery he went 
 directly to Philadelphia, where he readily 
 found employment, and by economy man- 
 aged to pay his debts and save enough to 
 return to Dale township, Outagamie 
 county, where he hired out to Jonathan 
 Leiby, a farmer, at nine dollars per month, 
 being in his employ one summer. He 
 then engaged to clear ten acres of timber 
 land in Dale township, on which he 
 worked until his enlistment, in August, 
 1862, in Company D, Twenty-first Wis. 
 V. I. The company was organized in 
 Appleton, thence going to Oshkosh, where 
 the regiment camped ten days, thence 
 proceeding by rail to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 and from there to Louisville, Ky., where 
 they joined Gen. Buell's army, participat- 
 ing in the Nashville and Stone River cam- 
 paigns, and also fighting under Gen. Rose- 
 crans. They camped at Murfreesboro 
 until June, 1863, when they set out with 
 Rosecrans on his successful campaign 
 to Tullahoma, and were next engaged 
 in the Chattanooga campaign, going first 
 up the valley to Chickamauga, where they 
 were met by the enemy and driven back. 
 At the battle of Chickamauga, Mr. Buck 
 was wounded in the ear and about the 
 head, and while in hospital on this ac- 
 count was taken sick and did not join his 
 command until after the battle of Mis- 
 sionary Ridge. They fought at the bat- 
 tle of Ringgold, Ga. , camped for the win- 
 ter on Lookout Mountain, and in May, 
 1864, again commenced active service, 
 taking part in various campaigns, up to 
 
 and including the siege of Atlanta. They 
 camped for a short time near that city, 
 then pursued Gen. Hood into the Chatta- 
 nooga Valley, Tenn., and returning to 
 Atlanta began their preparations for the 
 famous march to the sea. In the city of 
 Savannah the regiment did provost duty, 
 participated in the Grand Review there, 
 marching thence through the Carolinas, 
 engaging c-// route in \'a.i-\ous battles, among 
 them the fight at Bentonville, N. C. 
 While in camp at Raleigh, N. C. , they 
 heard the news of Lee's surrender, shortly 
 afterward of Lincoln's assassination, and 
 finally were ordered to Washington for 
 the Grand Review. Marching to that city, 
 via Richmond, Va., over some of the 
 battlefields of the Army of the Potomac, 
 they took part in the Grand Review, and 
 shortly afterward were sent to Milwaukee 
 (by rail and boat, via Baltimore and De- 
 troit), and there, at Camp Washburn, 
 were honorably discharged in June, 1865. 
 
 Returning to his home after his long 
 term of service, Mr. Buck was shortly 
 afterward married, in August, 1865, to 
 Miss Mary Eden, who was born in Meck- 
 lenburg, Germany, and is a daughter of 
 John Eden, of Greenville township, Outa- 
 gamie county. To this marriage have 
 been born ten children, namely: Anna, 
 Amelia, Paulina, Helen, Lily, Robert, 
 Emil, Alba, Arthur and Ralph, of whom 
 Helen is married to Albert Herman, of 
 New London, Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Buck 
 are members of the Lutheran Church at 
 Hortonville, with which they are actively 
 identified, and of which Mr. Buck has 
 been secretary for a number of years. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Buck pur- 
 chased a farm of 120 acres in Dale town- 
 ship, which he improved, and subsequent- 
 ly traded it for the Woodward store in 
 Hortonville, then owned by Wenzel 
 Fritch, and on January 2. 1872, com- 
 menced his successful business career. 
 Under his management the business has 
 flourished greatly, and he has now the 
 largest general store in Hortonville, well 
 stocked and enjoying an extensive patron- 
 
732 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BlOGltAPUlCAL liECORD. 
 
 age. By his open honesty and thoroughly 
 practical methods he has proven himself 
 a capable husiness man, and his courtesy 
 and attention to his customers and their 
 wants have made him unusually popular 
 in the town and surrounding country. 
 Prominently identified with the social 
 and political, as well as the business, in- 
 terests of the town, he is a substantial, 
 progressive citizen, taking a loyal pride in 
 the welfare and advancement of the com- 
 nmnit}' in which he resides, and where he 
 is regarded by all as a representative, 
 wide-awake man. In politics Mr. Buck 
 affiliates with the Republican party. 
 
 PETER REUTER, president of the 
 Bank of Kaukauna. Among the 
 men of the Fo.x River Valley, who 
 by their own industry and indom- 
 itable courage ha\e made their own way 
 to prominence and affluence, mention 
 must be made of Peter Renter, the capi- 
 talist and political leader, of Kaukauna. 
 If history teaches by example, the lessons 
 inculcated by biography must be still 
 more impressive. We see exhibited in the 
 varieties of human character, under differ- 
 ent circumstances, something to instruct 
 us and encourage all our efforts in every 
 emergency in life. There is no concur- 
 rence of events which produces this effect 
 more certainly, than the steps by which 
 distinction has been acquired through the 
 unaided efforts of youthful enterprise, as 
 illustrated in the life of Mr. Reuter. 
 Such a life should be perpetuated, not by 
 a monument that crumbles to dust, but 
 in letters chronicled in steel and in \\'ords 
 that endure forever. 
 
 Mr. Reuter comes from good old Bel- 
 gian stock, he having been born in Belgium 
 July 5, 1838. His parents, Henry and 
 Maria (Peschong) Reuter, were also na- 
 tives of Belgium, where they were reared 
 and married, in 1847 emigrating to the 
 United States, fifty-three days being con- 
 sumed in crossing the Atlantic ocean; 
 thcv located on a farm near Milwaukee, 
 
 where the father died three weeks later; 
 the mother died there in 1865. The)' 
 were the parents of five children, who all 
 lived at Milwaukee, viz: Elizabeth, who 
 died in Milwaukee in 18S8; Peter, our 
 subject; Helen, wife of Paul Fisher, of 
 Portland, (3reg. ; Alexander, who came to 
 Kaukauna, and was in business with Peter 
 for a period of fifteen years, after which, 
 in 1884, he moved to Jacksonville, Oreg. , 
 where his death occurred July 10, 1893; 
 Joseph died in Milwaukee the year of 
 their arrival. 
 
 Peter Reuter was but nine years old 
 when he came to Milwaukee. He re- 
 ceived such education as the primitive 
 schools of that day afforded, the school- 
 house being the proverbial log cabin with 
 puncheon floors and slab seats, and birch 
 rod on the teacher's desk. When his 
 school daj'S were ended, he learned the 
 carpenter's and joiners's trade, which he 
 followed in the vicinity of Milwaukee for 
 nine years, and was then induced to go 
 to Appleton as foreman in a hub and 
 spoke factorv, now known as Marston & 
 Beveridge. He was foreman four years 
 when, in 1869, he came to Kaukauna, 
 and here, in company with his brother 
 Alexander, he built a hub and sjioke fac- 
 tory, which proved a profitable venture. 
 After fifteen 3'ears he bought his brother's 
 interest, and established the Reuter Hub 
 & Spoke Company, which was moved to 
 Rice Lake, Barron county, in 1886, and 
 is successfully managed by his two enter- 
 prising sons, Henr}' and Alexander L. 
 Mr. Reuter had always taken an active 
 interest in organizing capital, and in 1879 
 he established a State Bank, himself be- 
 ing president, A. L. Reuter, vice-presi- 
 dent, and F. A. Towsley, cashier. The 
 success of the "Bank of Kaukauna" is 
 known far and wide. This institution 
 was first organized in 1878 as a private 
 bank by Henry & W. P. Hewitt and P. 
 D. Norton, of Menasha, who sold out 
 the following year to the Reuter Bros. 
 
 Mr. Reuter was married in Milwaukee 
 to Miss Gertrude Burlintrhousen, a native 
 
% 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWORAFUIUAL RECORD. 
 
 735 
 
 of Milwaukee county, Wis., a daughter of 
 Gottfried and Catharine Burlinghousen, 
 natives of Prussia, who came to the above 
 place in an early day; her father died 
 there, and her mother resides in Cleve- 
 land. Four children blessed this union, 
 viz. : Henry, married and residing in Rice 
 Lake; Alexander L, , also married and re- 
 siding in Rice Lake; John P., an insur- 
 ance man, in Milwaukee, Wis. ; and Pau- 
 lina, who died when four years and six 
 months old. Mrs. Gertrude Reuter died 
 in 1872, and Mr. Reuter subsequently 
 married Maria Wessel, a native of Prussia, 
 to which union five children were born: 
 Lena, Joseph, Maria, Anna and Peter. 
 Mr. Reuter is an earnest advocate of the 
 Jeffersonian principles of the Democratic 
 part}', and for three terms was mayor of 
 the city of Kaukauna. Other political 
 preferment came to him, but owing to 
 business pressure he declined the nomina- 
 tions to the House of Representatives and 
 Congress. In the development of the 
 city of Kaukauna he has taken an active 
 part, being always foremost in that which 
 furthered its growth and prosperity. In 
 1879 he erected the well-known Reuter 
 Block, which is a two-story brick struct- 
 ure, with a fifty-foot frontage on Wiscon- 
 sin avenue, being the first brick block 
 erected in Kaukauna; he also owns other 
 real estate. Mr. Reuter is a member of 
 the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin. He 
 has been a prosperous business man. en- 
 joying the confidence and esteem of his 
 fellowmen of all denominations. Being 
 the architect of his own fortune, he is in 
 sympathy with every young man that em- 
 barks in business for himself, and shows 
 it on all proper occasions, lending a help- 
 ing hand to those in need of advice or 
 financial assistance. He may properly be 
 called a public benefactor who has the 
 welfare of his fellowmen at heart. His 
 love of the old home induced him to visit 
 Europe with his family in 1891, making 
 an enjoyable trip of Continental Europe, 
 as well as Great Britain. Spending much 
 time in profitable study of the manners 
 
 41 
 
 and customs of foreign nations, this has 
 been beneficial to him since his return, 
 giving him a broader judgment and a 
 wider and better knowledge of human 
 nature and the business affairs of other 
 countries. Such men as he make the 
 foundations of our Commonwealth, cement 
 the solidity of our institutions, and are the 
 men to whom the State of Wisconsin 
 points with pride as her sons. 
 
 NICHOLAS HOSS. Among the 
 many industrious Germans who 
 have left their Fatherland to 
 seek a home in the United States, 
 a large number have, during the last half 
 century, settled within the limits of 
 Outagamie county, Wis., and commenc- 
 ing their life in the Western World with 
 no capital save a willing heart and plenty 
 of energy and pluck, have risen to the 
 prosperity they so justly deserve. The 
 gentleman whose name is here mentioned, 
 and who is now a substantial farmer and 
 large landowner in Freedom township, 
 Outagamie county, is a prominent exam- 
 ple of this class of successful self-made 
 men. 
 
 He was born in 1837 in Luxemburg, Ger- 
 man}', only son of Jacob Hoss, a farmer in 
 moderate circumstances who had a family 
 of four children. He and his wife both 
 died in Germany. Nicholas received only 
 a common-school education in his native 
 land, and when thirteen years of age 
 commenced life for himself, beginning to 
 work in a wall-paper mill. When 
 twenty-two years of age he was married, 
 in Belgium (where he was also employed 
 in a paper-mill), to Miss Christine Miller, 
 a native of that country, and a few years 
 after his marriage concluded to come to 
 America, his wife's brother, who had 
 settled in Calumet county. Wis., having 
 informed him of the superior chances 
 offered to poor men here. In the spring 
 of 1864 he sailed from Antwerp, with his 
 wife and three children, and six weeks 
 later landed at New York, from which 
 
736 
 
 COiVMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 port they immediately came west to 
 Appleton, Wis. Mr. Hoss secured em- 
 ployment in the streets of Appleton, and 
 later worked seven months in the rake 
 factory in that citj', during all this time 
 receiving but fifteen dollars in cash, the re- 
 mainder of his wages being paid with or- 
 ders on stores, etc. He next worked as 
 a section hand on the Chicago & North 
 Western railroad between Appleton and 
 Neenah, for two summers and one win- 
 ter, then obtained employment in a pulp 
 and paper mill, continuing to engage in 
 various kinds of labor for about eight 
 years after his arrival here. About 1872, 
 having saved enough from his wages to 
 invest in land, he purchased eighty acres 
 in the N. W. Quarter of Section 32, 
 Freedom township, which had been 
 cleared of the best timber, but the land 
 was still covered with brush and small 
 trees, and was totally unimproved. The 
 farmers in the vicinity did not think the 
 land could be made tillable, but Mr. Hoss 
 was determined to have a home, and 
 building a log house on the place took up 
 his residence there and resolutely set to 
 work. As time went on, however, 
 the land began to yield an income, and 
 he not only succeeded in clearing the 
 original tract, but from time to time 
 made additions thereto, and to-day is the 
 owner of 320 acres of improved farm 
 land. Mr. Hoss' life is a fair example of 
 what may be accomplished by any young 
 man who has energy and perseverance, 
 for he has risen in spite of many obstacles 
 to an enviable position among the exten- 
 sive farmers in Outagamie county, The 
 land which his neighbors considered good 
 for nothing has been converted by care 
 and skillful management into a most pro- 
 ductive farm, while the old log house has 
 been replaced by a substantial brick resi- 
 dence, one of the best in the vicinity. 
 In building his fortune, however, Mr. 
 Hoss has not lost sight of his reputation, 
 and by his fair and honest dealings has 
 succeeded in winning and retaining the 
 respect of all who have come in contact 
 
 with him; he and his family are highly 
 esteemed in the township as progressive, 
 substantial citizens, of whom any com- 
 munity might feel proud. For the last 
 two or three years Mr. Hoss has been a 
 victim of rheumatism, and has done but 
 little active farm work, his sons taking 
 almost entire charge. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hoss have been blessed 
 with a family of eleven children, as fol- 
 lows: Edward, a farmer of Freedom; 
 John and Michael, also of Freedom; 
 George, of Appleton; Peter, living at 
 home; Nicholas, a cheese-maker; Eliza- 
 beth, at home; Alexandria, Mrs. Nicholas 
 Fox, of Apple Creek; Mary, Mrs. John 
 Breucker; Annie, widow of Michael Ro- 
 meneski; and Christina, at home. Mr. 
 Hoss is a Democrat in political sympathy, 
 and, though no aspirant for political 
 honors, has been pathmaster of his town- 
 ship. The family are members of the 
 Catholic Church in Freedom. 
 
 WC. THIEL, a successful farmer 
 of Cicero township, Outagamie 
 county, was born Jul)' 22, 1855, 
 in Germany, son of Charles and 
 Mary (Neeland) Thiel, who were the par- 
 ents of seven children, as follows: W. C. 
 (our subject), John, Lizzie, Henr\', Mary, 
 Annie and Rosa. 
 
 When our subject was two and a half 
 years old his parents came to America, 
 crossing the ocean in six weeks and three 
 days, and after landing in New York 
 pushed westward at once to Manitowoc, 
 Wis., where the father was employed in 
 a sawmill for about a year and a half. At 
 the end of this time they removed to 
 Ellington township, Outagamie Co., Wis., 
 where he has since been successfully en- 
 gaged in farming. 
 
 W. C. Thiel was united in marriage, 
 February 26, 1881, in Ellington town- 
 ship, with Miss Alvina Krueger (also of 
 German descent), at which time his father 
 gave him one thousand dollars, which he 
 invested in a farm in Cicero township. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 737 
 
 Outagamie county, whereon he and his 
 wife took up their residence. This wife 
 passed from earth May 20, 1889, leaving 
 three children, viz. : Edwin, Benjamin 
 (deceased), Arnold and Reuben, and was 
 buried in Cicero township cemetery. Mr. 
 Thiel subsequently married March 10, 
 1892, Miss Katie Wolfmeyer, and to this 
 union has been born one child, Fiorina. 
 Politically Mr. Thiel is a stanch Repub- 
 lican, and in religious faith he and his 
 wife are members of the Evangelical As- 
 sociation of Cicero. 
 
 JOHN KOHL, a leading and progres- 
 sive farmer of Grand Chute town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, was born 
 February 15, 1848, in Hesse-Darm- 
 stadt, Germany, son of Jacob Kohl, who 
 was a wagon maker in the Fatherland. 
 In 1852 the father brought his family to 
 the United States, with barely money 
 enough to pay their expenses, and for 
 twelve years they resided in Milwaukee, 
 Wis. (coming there ahead of the rail- 
 roads), then rented a farm in the town of 
 Lake, near that city. In 1864 they came 
 to Grand Chute, Outagamie county, and 
 located upon 160 acres w'hich Jacob Kohl, 
 the father, had purchased in Section 4. 
 In politics he was a Democrat, in reli- 
 gious faith a member of the Catholic 
 Church; he and his wife both died in 
 Grand Chute township, and are buried at 
 Appleton. 
 
 Our subject was the fourth son and 
 fourth child in his father's family, and, 
 owing to the straitened circumstances in 
 whicli the latter found themselves, he was 
 forced to become self-supporting at an 
 early age. All the education he ever re- 
 ceived was acquired in the common schools 
 of the time, which were greatly inferior to 
 those of to-day. He grew up a farmer boy, 
 and remained at home until he was four- 
 teen years old, when he went to Spring 
 Prairie, Walworth Co., Wis. Being 
 somewhat early in the season, he found 
 work after three days, hiring out to a man 
 
 by the name of Fred Perkins, a farmer, 
 at six shillings a day. He worked for him 
 six weeks, and when paid received at the 
 rate of a dollar a day, Mr. Perkins saying 
 that he earned as much as any man. In 
 those days, it may be added, a dollar a day 
 was big pay. He then returned home, a 
 very proud boy, with thirty-six dollars in 
 his pocket, his first earnings, and there 
 remained until 1864, when he went to 
 Appleton and here sojourned two years, 
 helping his parents, who were in very poor 
 circumstances; then went to the pinery, 
 working for Hall & Ries, in Oconto, Wis. , 
 at $45 per month, and before spring he 
 was first chopper. He was hired to work 
 on the drive, but his brother came to him 
 with the news that his father was sick, 
 so they set out on their homeward journey, 
 walking forty-seven miles, there being no 
 railroads in that part of the country. Our 
 subject remained with his parents until 
 his marriage, which will be spoken of 
 presently. When the Appleton Iron 
 Furnace was started here, John Kohl 
 and his brothers cleared their land by 
 burning charcoal, which was very hard 
 work, day and night for seven years, and 
 as they always shipped good coal the 
 Furnace company hired Mr. Kohl as head 
 coal-burner at seventy-five dollars a 
 month; the rest of his time he devoted to 
 farming. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Kohl was married, in 
 Appleton, to Elizabeth Fries, a native of 
 Germany, and daughter of Michael Fries, 
 and the following named children have 
 been born to them: Michael, Anna, 
 Joseph, Theresa, Louisa, Lena, George, 
 Charles, Emma, and two others who are 
 deceased. Of these, Michael married 
 Elizabeth Weiland, and his father then 
 assisted him in purchasing a farm of 120 
 acres in Grand Chute township, Outa- 
 gamie county, the price paid being $4, 300. 
 Mr. Kohl, notwithstanding he had to start 
 in life under adverse circumstances, was 
 industrious and determined, and in his 
 successful struggle is evidence of what 
 may be accomplished in the face of the 
 
■3S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 greatest difficulties. He now owns 440 
 acres of land, well improved, and is an 
 honored and respected citizen. Through 
 hard and honest toil he has won his pres- 
 ent position, and the privations he has 
 e.xperienced, together with months and 
 years of anxiety while carving a home out 
 of the wilderness, are such as may never 
 fall to the lot of his children. Few men 
 in his township have been more signally 
 rewarded for their efforts. Politically he 
 is a Democrat, although not a partisan, 
 preferring to \'ote for the best man; for 
 five 3-ears, at different times, he has held 
 the office of supervisor. In religious faith 
 he and his family are all connected with 
 the Catholic Church. 
 
 EDWARD A. KENDLEY, of Bo- 
 vina township, Outagamie county, 
 was born July 8, 1834, in Nor- 
 folk, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. , a 
 son of Edward and Louisa (Davenport) 
 Kendley, farmers by occupation. They 
 had a family of seven children: Eliza- 
 beth; Margaret, now the widow of Ben- 
 jamin Barker, of Shiocton, Wis. ; Sarah, 
 widow of Joshua Wood, of New London, 
 Wis.; Orrin, who died in 1850; Charles, 
 now in Santa Maria, Cal. ; Edward A. 
 and Horace. The last named enlisted in 
 the Eleventh Wis. V. I., served three 
 years and was discharged, and he came 
 home and died from disease contracted in 
 the army. 
 
 Our subject became familiar with farm 
 work on the old homestead, and when 
 nineteen years of age started west in 
 search of some better location for a young 
 man. Coming as far as Ripon, Wis., he 
 worked on a farm until fall, when, like 
 hundreds of others, he went into the 
 woods and entered upon his education as 
 a lumberman, but after one year he re- 
 turned to New York. When he came to 
 Wisconsin he was accompanied by his 
 parents. They rented land near Ripon, 
 lived upon it four or five years, and then 
 moved to Bovina township, and home- 
 
 steaded sixty acres of land, on which they 
 resided during the balance of their lives. 
 The father was seventy-three years of age 
 when he died, the mother living to about 
 the age of seventy-four. When our sub- 
 ject returned, as just stated, to New York, 
 he worked about four years in a saw- 
 mill, then for two years in the manufac- 
 ture of shingles. He was married, July 
 2, 1855, to Sarah Palmer, daughter of 
 Amos (a farmer) and Cynthia (Baxter) 
 Palmer, whose children were twelve in 
 number, viz. : An infant that died un- 
 named; Thomas, Asa, Melissa, Betsey, 
 Charles, Joel, Filinda, Cynthia, Susan, 
 Sarah and Amos, of whom but two are 
 now living — Mrs. Kendlej', and Susan, 
 now Mrs. Henry Winchester, of Ionia, 
 Mich. After a year engaged in the 
 shingle business, Mr. Kendley bought 
 fifty acres of land, cleared part of it and 
 lived thereon two years. Then selling out 
 he rented his father-in-law's place. After 
 residing on the latter a year and a half, 
 he was burned out, saving nothing but 
 the clothes on his back, after which dis- 
 aster he again came west, directly to his 
 father's home in Bovina. About nine 
 months later, August 27, 1864, he en- 
 listed in Company A, Forty-second Wis. 
 V. I., his wife remaining part of the time 
 with his parents and part of the time rent- 
 ing rooms of W. D. Jordan. The com- 
 mand was sent to Cairo, 111. , and was 
 kept on guard duty for the ensuing nine 
 months. Mr. Kendley was discharged 
 May 29, 1865, at which time he was in 
 the hospital, suffering from disease con- 
 tracted in the service, and from which he 
 has never entirely recovered. 
 
 Returning home from the army, Mr. 
 Kendley entered the mercantile business 
 at Shiocton, selling out about a year and 
 a half later to Norton Thompson, and 
 then engaging in blacksmithing. Al- 
 though he had never learned the trade, he 
 hired a competent workman, and together 
 they conducted the shop for four years. 
 His next venture was a hotel, whi.;h he 
 constructed on the present site of the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 739 
 
 church in Shiocton; was a successful land- 
 lord for ten years, when he was again 
 visited by the tire demon. From Shioc- 
 ton he went to Iron River, Mich., and for 
 six years was engaged in the grocery busi- 
 ness, finally exchanging his property in 
 that place for the farm he now owns in 
 Bovina. This had been originally im- 
 proved by Randal Johnson, who sold to 
 William Hunter, from whom Mr. Kend- 
 ley obtained it; it contained 190 acres, 
 and some clearing had been done; Mr. 
 Kendley has removed the stumps, and 
 now has eighty acres in fine tillable con- 
 dition. In politics he has always been a 
 Republican, and while at Iron River he 
 served as township and school treasurer. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Kendley were born 
 three children, viz. : Nellie, now Mrs. 
 James DeLong, of Jeffris, Wis. ; Elsie M., 
 now Mrs. R. S. House, of Iron River, 
 Wis. ; and Edward, at home. The lat- 
 ter married Catherine Sullivan, who bore 
 him one child, Palmer, and lived about 
 three yeais afterward, and for his second 
 wife he married Edith Wood, who died 
 November 15, 1894. 
 
 SILVER WEDDING SONG. 
 
 Composed by Eben E Rexford, and sung- 
 July 2, 1880, at the silver wedding anniversary 
 of Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Kendley. 
 
 Five and twenty years have vanished 
 
 Since, in summer's golden prime. 
 Trustfully and happy-hearted. 
 
 They began Life's-hill to climb. 
 Up the steep they toiled together. 
 
 Often weary by the way. 
 But the love that started with them 
 
 Shines upon their path to-day. 
 
 Fading like the summer roses. 
 
 Like the leaves on .some swift stream. 
 Five and twenty years have vanished. 
 
 Ah! the past is but a dream. 
 
 Five and twenty j'ears have given 
 
 Joys and sorrows, smiles and tears. 
 Who can tell what hopes have perished 
 
 In the passing of the years? 
 Who can tell what joys recorded 
 
 In the tablets of the heart? 
 Looking back along Life's journey 
 
 Into life what memories start. 
 
 Snowflakes of Life's coming winter 
 
 Gleam upon their path to-day. 
 They have reached the hill's high summit, 
 
 Down its slope their pathways lay. 
 Hand in hand, as first thej- started 
 
 Five and twenty years ago, 
 May they go till rest is given, 
 
 And Life's peaceful sunset glow. 
 
 M 
 
 ORRIS F. BARTEAU, retired 
 merchant, and at the present 
 time poor commissioner for 
 Appleton, of which city he is 
 almost a life-long resident, is a native of 
 Connecticut, born in the town of Elling- 
 ton, February 16, 1852. 
 
 When he was seven years of age, the 
 family moved to Appleton, Wis., at the 
 high school of which place he received a 
 liberal education, subsequently attending 
 Lawrence University. Three \ears after 
 leaving college he joined a United States 
 surveying party under N. E. Russell, with 
 which he remained four years, taking lev- 
 els and soundings in the lower and upper 
 Fox river; also making surveys, and lay- 
 ing out the locks and dams on Fox river. 
 For a time he served as foreman and in- 
 spector of construction. In 1877, having 
 resigned his position in the surveying party, 
 he embarked in the flour and feed busi- 
 ness in Appleton, in which he continued 
 some fourteen years, with the exception 
 of one year he was in Chicago, 111., con- 
 ducting a restaurant. During the later 
 years while in business he dealt largelj' in 
 baled hay, all his own pressing, having two 
 steam and two horse presses. He shipped 
 east as far as New York, and all through 
 the Northwest. Owing to ill health Mr. 
 Barteau was obliged to retire from busi- 
 ness in 1 891, since when he has been fill- 
 ing civic offices with characteristic ability 
 and fidelity. For six years he was alder- 
 man for the Fifth ward; in 1892 he served 
 as inspector of paving, and in 1 894 he was 
 appointed poor commissioner. 
 
 On May 6, 1885, our subject was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary L. 
 Bowini, a native of Appleton, and daugh- 
 ter of Louis and Elizabeth (Hastings) 
 
740 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Bowini. To this union has been born 
 one child, Romona. Mr. Barteau is a 
 member of the I. O. O. F. ; in politics he 
 has always been an active Republican. 
 
 SOLOMON R. WAGG, superin- 
 tendent of the Fo.\ River Paper 
 Co.'s mills at Appleton, is recog- 
 nised as being one of the best ex- 
 perts in his line of business in the United 
 States, his experience in the art of paper 
 making having been most thorough and 
 extensive, both practically and theoreti- 
 cally. 
 
 He is a native of Yarmouth, Cumber- 
 land Co., Maine, where he first saw the 
 light January 2, 1846, a grandson of 
 Samuel Wagg, who was born on a farm 
 at Auburn, Maine, served seven years in 
 the war of the Revolution, and whose 
 pension papers were signed by John C. 
 Calhoun, and are treasured as a family 
 heirloom. Through him the family trace 
 their lineage back to 1750, in which year 
 the first of the ancestry to land on the 
 Western Hemisphere came from Old Eng- 
 land to New England. Being a man of 
 education he taught the science of navi- 
 gation in Portland, Maine, and he also 
 sailed merchant ships to and from the West 
 Indies; but his male descendants have for 
 the most part been farmers. 
 
 Elbridge G. Wagg, father of Solomon 
 R. , was born in Auburn, Maine. In No- 
 vember, 1844, at Cumberland Center, 
 Rev. Mr. Blake officiating, he married 
 Miss Hannah Reed, a daughter of ^^'illiam 
 and Margaret Reed, farming people of 
 repute, although Mr. Reed himself was 
 for several years a sea-faring man; his 
 father, William Reed, was a sea captain 
 and a man of means, loaning money to 
 the Federal Government during the Revo- 
 lutionary war, which, it is claimed, was 
 never repaid. To Mr. and Mrs. Elbridge 
 G. Wagg were born three sons and five 
 daughters, the subject of this sketch being 
 the eldest. In connection with his farm- 
 ing operations Elbridge G. Wagg taught 
 
 school for forty years in Cumberland 
 county, was superintendent of schools ten 
 years, and was twice elected to the State 
 Legislature. His mother was a Miss 
 Dingley, and he is a cousin of ex-Gov- 
 ernor Dingley, of Maine, now member of 
 Congress. 
 
 Solomon R. Wagg passed his boyhood 
 years in attending school winters and 
 working on his father's farm summers, 
 till he was seventeen years old, when he 
 went on a railroad as baggage master. 
 After two years he commenced learning 
 the paper-making business in a mill in 
 Yarmouth, Maine, remaining there, how- 
 ever, only one year. In 1869 he moved 
 to Adams, Mass., and entered the employ 
 of the L. L. Brown Paper Co. as machine 
 tender, in which mill he served seven 
 years, thoroughly mastering every detail 
 of the business. On leaving this, which 
 he claims to have been the best paper- 
 mill in the United States at the time, Mr. 
 Wagg worked in other mills in Massa- 
 chusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New 
 York State. Always keeping himself well 
 abreast of the times, and posted in all im- 
 provements either in machinery, chemicals 
 or otherwise, he thus continued until 
 1884, when he came to Neenah to fill the 
 position of superintendent of the Kimber- 
 ly, Clark & Co.'s paper-mill; but at the 
 end of two years he resigned to accept a 
 similar position with the Fox River Paper 
 Co., his present incumbency. Since Mr. 
 Wagg has taken hold at this mill, it has 
 made vast strides in every respect; when 
 he commenced there, with one mill, the 
 floor space was but three-fourths of an 
 acre in dimensions, the capacity of the 
 mills being four tons per day; now there 
 are three mills of the finest class, while 
 the floor space is six acres, and the 
 capacity fifteen tons per day of very fine 
 writing paper, and his skill and energy 
 have made it very profitable. 
 
 In 1873 Mr. Wagg was married to 
 Sarah Ling, who was born in Odeltown, 
 Province of Quebec, Canada, daughter of 
 Abram and Elizabeth Ling, respectable 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 741 
 
 fanning people. (While on their way 
 from Enj^land to the United States, their 
 daughter Sarah was bornj. To tliis union 
 have come four children, viz. : Angie, 
 Frederick, William, and James. Mr. 
 Wagg is a Republican, but not a poli- 
 tician, his time being too closely taken up 
 with his business; socially he is a member 
 in good standing of the F. & A. M., and 
 he is an honorary member of the Academy 
 of Science, of Paris, France, which mem- 
 bership was granted him as inventor and 
 patentee of certain pulp and paper-mak- 
 ing machinery, j.nd for which a medal of 
 honor was awarded him. 
 
 OSCAR J. BROOKS, proprietor of 
 one of the most complete fancy 
 dry-goods and millinery stores 
 in Appleton, Outagamie county, 
 conies of English ancestry, on his father's 
 side, and of American on his mother's. 
 
 His grandfather, Thomas Brooks, who 
 was a cabinet maker by trade, came 
 from England to America with his family 
 about the year 1830, locating in Cham- 
 plain, Clinton Co., N. Y. , where he died 
 in 1852. His son, Thomas W. , father 
 of our subject, was born in London, Eng- 
 land December 7, 1823, and by trade 
 became a brushmaker. He passed his 
 younger manhood at Champlain, N. Y. , 
 removing to Troy in 1840, and in 1845 
 he married Ruth Ann Walker, who was 
 born near that city. To this marriage 
 were born ten children, six of whom are 
 yet living. The father died in 1890, at 
 Lansingburg, N. Y. ; the mother is yet 
 living. 
 
 Oscar J. Brooks was born in the city 
 of Troy, N. Y. , December 4, 1855, and 
 received his education at the district 
 schools near that city until 1873, he be- 
 ing at that time eighteen years of age. 
 He then clerked in a dry-goods store in 
 Troy until 1885, in which year he came 
 west to Wisconsin, and in Appleton em- 
 barked in his present business, in which 
 he has met with well-merited success. In 
 
 1880 he was married to Miss Ida K. 
 Stone, daughter of Jabez and Eleanor 
 (Butler) Stone, people of English extrac- 
 tion, the mother born in the State of 
 New York. Mr. and Mrs. Stone are liv- 
 ing at Troy, N. Y. , where he is general 
 manager of the Ludlow Valve Manufac- 
 turing Co. Mrs. Brooks died in June, 
 1893, leaving a daughter named Grace 
 Eleanor. Mr. Brooks is a member of the 
 Presbyterian Church, and of the F. & A. 
 M., Blue Lodge and Chapter; in politics 
 he is a Republican. His popularity is un- 
 bounded, and though yet a comparatively 
 young man he has secured for himself a 
 position in business and soceity that be- 
 speaks for him a no less bright and pros- 
 perous future. 
 
 LUCIUS AUGUSTUS LE MIEUX 
 is a native of Wisconsin, born in 
 Menasha, Winnebago county. May 
 12, 1853. His lineage is from 
 French-Canadian stock, descending from 
 the old-time settlers of " Arcadia," now 
 known as Nova Scotia, and from there they 
 went to " Bas Canada," now the Prov- 
 ince of Quebec. The progenitors of this 
 line were well-to-do, and noted for sturdi- 
 ness, frugality and thrift — hence the name 
 Le Mieux, which means the "best off." 
 Our subject's grandmother on his father's 
 side was a Hebert, whose name is prom- 
 inent in Nova Scotia history. 
 
 Joseph Le Mieux, grandfather of our 
 subject, first saw light in St. Lambert, 
 near Montreal, whence, at maturity, he 
 went to St. Joachim, Chateauquay Co., 
 where for many years he carried on farm- 
 ing, and where his son, also named Joseph 
 (who afterward became the father of our 
 subject), was born. This Joseph was 
 educated for the priesthood, and wore the 
 robe as a prefect; but, refusing to take the 
 vow of ordination, he returned to the 
 world to become a useful member of 
 society. For this he was disinherited, 
 and in 1838 or 1839 came to "the land 
 of the free," to work out his own salva- 
 
74= 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 tion. He enlisted in the United States 
 regular army, in which he served five 
 years in Company K, Artillery service, 
 and came out quartermaster's sergeant. 
 At the age of twenty-seven, June 15, 
 1S45, he married Miss Maria St. James, 
 at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., N. Y. In 
 1848 he moved to Menasha, and when 
 our subject was three years old went to 
 Red River, Kewaunee county; but in i S62 
 he took up his abode at Green Bay, having 
 accepted a clerkshij) in the U. S. Recruit- 
 ing Office at that jilace, which position he 
 held to the close of the war of the Re- 
 bellion. He then followed the carpenter's 
 trade up to his death, which occurred 
 July 15, 1875, when he was fifty-seven 
 \cars old. He was a man of sterling 
 character and high moral worth, whose 
 life, however, seemed to be beclouded by 
 his disinheritance. 
 
 Mrs. Maria (St. James) Le Mieux comes 
 from English stock on her father's side.. 
 The name St. James is a sobriquet in- 
 herited from an ancestor who was com- 
 missioned to France by the English Gov- 
 ernment, where he was known as "St. 
 James," because he hailed from the court 
 of St. James. While in France he resided 
 in the city of Beauvais, and when his off- 
 spring emigrated to Canada he became 
 "St. James do Beauvais." Her fathc-r, 
 Augustus St. James, was born at Malonc, 
 N. Y. , on a farm, whereon he remained 
 till he was twenty-four \ears old, when, 
 becoming tired of agricultural pursuits, 
 he bought a tannery at La Prairie, near 
 Montreal, Canada, and for a good many 
 years did business there, becoming wealthy. 
 He also carried on a snug trade in furs on 
 the Ottawa river, up which he used oc- 
 casionallj' to proceed personally in his own 
 boat, or send others to locate the trap- 
 pers, etc., and bring back pelts of all 
 kinds, obtained from the trappers, and he 
 always had a large stock of furs, hides 
 and leather on liand. About the year 
 1837 he l)ecame involved in the Canadian 
 rebellion of that and the following year, 
 investing all his wealth, over fifty thous- 
 
 and dollars, in " munitions of war, " and 
 was known as "Beauvais" in this con- 
 nection, holding the rank of adjutant- 
 general in the " patriot arnn. " The rest 
 is a matter of histor\', which records that 
 the "rebellion" was suppressed after a 
 little show of fighting, some of the ring- 
 leaders were hanged, some were impris- 
 oned, while others escaped to the United 
 States, " Beau\ais" being among the lat- 
 ter. He passed away at the ripe age of 
 eighty-seven years, leaving a record of 
 having been an active, earnest, energetic 
 business man, qualities which his grand- 
 son inherits in a marked degree. Mrs. 
 Maria Le Mieu.x is yet living, and resides 
 in Oconto, Wis., a chipper old lady of 
 si.xty-eight, though she looks to be no 
 more than fifty, a most interesting con- 
 versationalist, gifted with an excellent 
 memory; she is the mother of sixteen 
 children, eight of whom survive, our sub- 
 ject being the fifth. 
 
 Lucius A. Le Mieux has a compact 
 organization. There is an uncommon 
 amount of endurance about his constitu- 
 tion, which, under favorable circumstances, 
 woukl ha\e made him a leader among 
 men. Unfortunatelj' he was the victim 
 of the disease known as the rickets, from 
 which difficulty he remained an invalid 
 from his second to his twelfth year, fin- 
 ally recovering to such a degree, that it 
 requires close inspection to detect that he 
 is at all lame, and the lasting qualities of 
 his make-up are exemplified in this fact, 
 as the rickets usually leave its victims 
 deformed and confirmed cripples. He 
 received but limited school training, and 
 was taught his elementary lessons at 
 home. In his twelfth year he entered the 
 Green Bay High School, taking the low- 
 est class in the grammar department, and 
 being rapidly promoted from class to class 
 enteretl the high school proper fifteen 
 months later, in 1S65-66, attending punc- 
 tually for one year; then leaving school 
 conunenced learning the drug business in 
 the store of G. T. Percy, Green Bay, 1866- 
 67. At the end of about twelve months he 
 
COMMEMORATIVE JilOOUAPHICAL llECOHD. 
 
 743 
 
 took up the study of medicine with Dr. P. 
 Marchand, and did well at this study; 
 but becoming disgusted at the extreme 
 foulness i^f some diseases doctors are 
 called upon to treat, he again sought the 
 open precincts of pharmac}'. In Septem- 
 ber, 1868, he entered the drug store of J. 
 Kobinson & Co., Green Bay, remaining 
 with this firm two full years, after which 
 he clerked in otlier cities, making him- 
 self a thorough master of the business 
 end of the profession, and he is still an 
 earnest student of its science. In 1873 
 he moved to Sejniour, Outagamie county, 
 where in partnership with John Kobinson 
 he opened a drug and stationery store, 
 and the two successfully carried on the 
 business until 1878, when Mr. Le Mieux 
 became sole owner. He added clocks, 
 watches and jewelry, and has since con- 
 ducted the business alone, with his well- 
 known care and ability. On November 
 13, 1X80, he was married in New Albany, 
 Ind., to Miss Davaudella Moore, and 
 three sons have blessed their union. 
 
 Being one of the first settlers of the 
 cit\' of Seymour, he has helped in no 
 small way to build the place, for he is 
 public-spirited in the right sense. His 
 correspondence to prominent newspapers 
 attracted widespread attention, and 
 brought people to the town who other- 
 wise would never have heard of Seymour, 
 many of whom bought property and 
 made their homes in the vicinity. As a 
 correspondent he is vivacious, witty and 
 humorous, uses short clear sentences, 
 comes right to the point, and is easily 
 understood. He has made creditable 
 contributions to such pharmaceutical 
 journals as the quondam ' ' Pharmacist and 
 Chemist," of Chicago, the "Western 
 Druggist," also of Chicago, and the 
 ''American Pharmacist," of New- York. 
 He has a well-equipped laboratory, and 
 makes most of the preparations used in 
 his drug business, as well as many of the 
 chemicals. He takes pride in seeing that 
 all the medicines he dispenses are of pure 
 quality and of proper strength. On phar- 
 
 macy, chemistry and allied sciences he 
 has a library of over fifty volumes, and 
 subscribes liberally to pharamceutical 
 journals. Mr. Le Mieii.x figured promi- 
 nently in encouraging the i)assage of the 
 Wisconsin State Pharmacy Act, which be- 
 came a law in 1881, and he is at present 
 advocating some improvement to the 
 same, which he claims would make it 
 more effective. Of this Act he says: " I 
 think the law is very good, that the spirit 
 or intention is right. The salient features 
 are: (i) To have competent persons dis- 
 pense medicines, poisons, etc. ; (2j to hold 
 druggists responsible for the quality of 
 their medicines. This is just as it should 
 be; but I observe one ruinous flaw — // 
 pro'i'idcs no 'u'ay to enforce these zuisc 
 provisions. " 
 
 Mr. Le Mieux is not only one of the 
 leading druggists of Wisconsin, but a suc- 
 cessful inventor, and having remarkable 
 mechanical talent, and originality, he ex- 
 cels in this line. He works on a lathe 
 from the pure love of finding out some- 
 thing new; and he says would "rather 
 study a piece of machiner\- than eat;" but 
 he never neglects his regular business for 
 this recreation. At the same time he 
 holds eight patents in this country and 
 abroad, so this avocation may yet prove 
 a remunerative vocation. He accepts 
 success with graceful deference, and is 
 more likely to undervalue than to over- 
 value his attainments. He is a thinker, 
 a close observer and reader; endowed 
 with a deep love for learning, much of 
 which was missed for want of schooling 
 has been supplied by home study. He is 
 an entertaining conversatif)nalist, lively 
 and cheerful — perhaps a little blunt and 
 sarcastic at times; yet the whole-souled 
 urbanit}' of his warm heart is always felt 
 and soon wins respect and friendship from 
 all, e\cn those to whom he administers his 
 satire. He has strong likes and dislikes, 
 hates shoddy and vain show, detests sham, 
 hypocrisy and falsehood; being frank, 
 sincere and straightforward, he thinks 
 all men should be honest and do right for 
 
744 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 righteousness' sake. Liberal and generous 
 to a fault, he regards humanity as one 
 brotherhood, while his sympathies are 
 with the weak and oppressed. 
 
 Mr. Le Mieux's belief is that the hu- 
 man family possesses less knowledge than 
 is generally supposed; that there is alto- 
 gether too much presumption about man- 
 kind. Much of what is called education 
 is a mere exchange of native ignorance 
 for that which is another kind of ignor- 
 ance, false, affected and unnatural. 
 Shakespeare, Byron and Pope are his 
 favorite poets, and he accepts as axioms 
 the sayings: " Knowledge is to know how 
 little can be known; " or " this should be 
 the human sum of knowledge; to know 
 mortal nature's nothingness." "Know 
 then thyself, presume not God to scan; 
 the proper study of mankind is man." 
 He adheres closely to this world's facts, 
 and does not like guess work. The word 
 God stands for the unknown quantity, 
 like the letter x in algebra, and the 
 problem remains unsolved, unproved and 
 unanswered. To him the deist and atheist 
 appear equally at fault and unscientific. 
 Yet, withal, he has extraordinary spiritual 
 developments, and a deep sense of higher 
 life here as well as hereafter, with an 
 abundance of faith in the immutable law 
 bringing the universe out right in the end. 
 Politically Mr. Le Mieux is as liberal as 
 he is in his religious views, and he would 
 rather vote for a good man, though he is 
 a Republican, than for a bad man, even 
 if he is a Democrat; in fact, his political 
 belief is crystalized into the following: 
 ' ' This is a government of the people, by 
 the people, and for the people; and any 
 law that is in any way an infraction upon 
 this fundamental principle is a wrong law, 
 and, therefore, not democratic." He was 
 postmaster at Seymour for four years, 
 and has also filled the position of school 
 clerk and school director. As school 
 director he worked for three years to pre- 
 pare the public mind to vote for a school- 
 house having the modern improvements, 
 and his efforts were crowned with success 
 
 before the close of his term of office; in 
 all his public efforts proving himself a 
 substantial, useful and progressive citizen, 
 well deserving of the prosperity he enjoys. 
 
 WILLIAM WITT, a progressive 
 and prosperous agriculturist of 
 Maple Creek township, Outaga- 
 mie county, was born in Pom- 
 mern, Prussia, December 4, 1854, the 
 eldest son of Ferdinand and Henrietta 
 (Hackbart) Witt, both natives of Ger- 
 many. 
 
 The father of our subject brought his 
 family to the United States and to Wis- 
 consin in 1 861, at first locating at Osh- 
 kosh, where he carried on farming oper- 
 ations about six years, thence removing 
 to Maple Creek township, Outagamie 
 county, where he passed the rest of his 
 days, his death occurring April 9, 1894, 
 when he was seventy-eight years old; his 
 widow is now making her home with her 
 son William in Maple Creek, Outagamie 
 county. Their family consisted of seven 
 children, five of whom are now living, as 
 follows: William (subject of sketch), 
 Theodore, Charles, Augusta and Albert 
 D., all of whom will be fully mentioned 
 further on. 
 
 William Witt, whose name opens this 
 sketch, came from Wisconsin from Ger- 
 many with the rest of his father's family 
 in 1 86 1, and here received an ordinary 
 common-school education. He was 
 reared exclusively to agricultural pursuits, 
 and has made farming his life vocation, 
 by industry, thrift and sound judgment 
 making a success of all his endeavors. 
 On November 19, 1881, he was married 
 to Miss Minnie Linning, daughter of 
 Louis and Lottie (Hilker) Linning, and 
 five children were born to this union, 
 three of whom are yet living, viz. : Arthur 
 Carl August, born October 18, 1886; 
 Edward Ferdinand, born November 8, 
 1888; and Louis Jewel, born March 28, 
 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Witt are members 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 745 
 
 of the Lutheran Church, and in his poH- 
 tical views he is a sohd Democrat. 
 Louis and Lottie Linning, parents of 
 Mrs. WiHiam Witt, were natives of Wal- 
 deck, Germany, where their daughter 
 Minnie (Mrs. Witt) was born October 
 I", 1862. In 1865 the family came to 
 the United States and to Wisconsin, 
 where in Watertown, Jefferson county, 
 the father worked at his trade, shoemak- 
 ing, up to the time of his coming to Maple 
 Creek township, Outagamie county, 
 where he engaged in fanning. From 
 there, later, he removed to Manawa, 
 Waupaca county, where he was killed 
 June 10, 1891, by his horse running away 
 with him; his widow is now residing in 
 Watertown, Jefferson county. 
 
 Theodore Witt, fourth son of Ferdi- 
 nand and Henrietta Witt, was born May 
 26, 1859. He is now residing in the town 
 of Larrabee, Waupaca Co., Wis., is an 
 agriculturist, and also follows his trade as 
 a wheelwright and blacksmith, but for the 
 past fifteen years has made farming his 
 chief study. On May 28, 1888, he was 
 married to Miss Recka Frick, of Kewas- 
 kum. Wis., and four children were born 
 to this union, three of whom are now 
 living. 
 
 Charles Witt, fifth son of Ferdinand 
 and Henrietta ^^'itt, was born June 20, 
 1863, has followed agriculture twenty- 
 nine years, and being tired of this occu- 
 pation rented his farm to Joseph Sher- 
 man, his brother-in-law, then learned the 
 trade of a stone mason, and now carries 
 on business for himself; he is unmarried. 
 
 Augusta (Witt) Sherman was born at 
 Oshkosh, Wis., August 26, 1866, and 
 when twenty years old was married to 
 Joseph Sherman, of Larrabee township, 
 Waupaca county, from which union there 
 are four children, all yet living. 
 
 Albert D. Witt, the youngest son and 
 child of Ferdinand and Henrietta Witt, 
 born November 26, 1869, followed agri- 
 cultural pursuits until he was nineteen 
 years old; when fourteen years old he 
 went out into the world, and was taught 
 
 in the school of adversity. When nine- 
 teen years old he moved to Texas, and 
 being tired of farming followed the trade 
 of a house builder for five 3'ears, or until 
 his father died, when he returned home 
 as a repentant wanderer. "Such is the 
 imperfection of all human happiness, and 
 every period of life is obliged to borrow 
 its enjoyment from the time to come. In 
 youth we have nothing past to entertain 
 us, and in age we derive nothing from the 
 retrospect but fruitless sorrow. The loss 
 of friends and companions impress hourly 
 upon us the necessity of our own depart- 
 ure. We find that all our schemes are 
 quickly at the end, and that we must lie 
 down in the grave with the forgotten 
 multitude of former ages, and yield our 
 places to others, who, like us, shall be 
 driven awhile by hope and fear about the 
 surface of the earth, and then, like us, be 
 lost in the shades of death. 
 
 "Hope is Fancy's child, oft' branded 
 as an illegitimate, yet esteemed above 
 and beyond all the legal progeny of 
 the proudest intellect, enshrined in the 
 sanctiitn sanctorum, the veritable holy of 
 holies, of the human heart. Hope is not 
 a virtue. It is but a rainbow with which 
 Fancy paints the black o'erhanging firma- 
 ment, a golden shaft of sunlight with 
 which she gilds Life's rugged mountain 
 peaks — a melody most divine with which 
 she cheers the fainting soul of man. But 
 greater than faith, grander than all knowl- 
 edge, brighter than the star of Hope, 
 which gilds the cradle and illumines the 
 grave, as the incarnation of Heavenly 
 law, the bright essence increate of Eter- 
 nal Love. The lessons we learn, how- 
 ever, acquired in that school — adversity — 
 where few are taught in vain, and if the 
 morning of life breaks in clouds and shad- 
 ows the noon has been not less peaceful 
 and bright, and the evening as it draws 
 near comes with an aspect of calm tran- 
 quility, ample enough to recompense 
 every vicissitude of those days when the 
 waves of fortune are roughest. " — Albert 
 D. Witt. 
 
746 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JOHN CONRAD PETER (deceased), 
 for some fourteen years a furniture 
 dealer and undertaker in Horton- 
 ville, Outagamie county, was a na- 
 tive of Switzerland, born June 21, 1829. 
 His grandfather was a carpenter by occu- 
 pation, and his father, Jacob Peter, fol- 
 lowed the same trade, becoming a large 
 contractor and builder, erecting man}- cot- 
 ton and woolen factories and public build- 
 ings. He was born in 1792, and though 
 during his youth he received but a limited 
 education he made the best use of his 
 knowledge in his business, and became a 
 successful man. He was married to Mary 
 Magdalene Weber, who was born in 
 Switzerland in 1794, and she became the 
 mother of ten children, all now deceased 
 except two — John and Katharine (Mrs. 
 Carl Hauser), of Switzerland. The par- 
 ents were members of the Reformed 
 Church of Switzerland. 
 
 John Conrad Peter was given but a 
 brief schooling in his native country, but 
 he traveled considerably, and by close ob- 
 servation of people and events improved 
 and added to his early education, acquir- 
 ing in the school of experience a valuable 
 store of practical knowledge. When four- 
 teen years of age he was apprenticed to 
 learn the cabinet Inaker's trade, becoming 
 a skilled mechanic in that line, and also 
 in carpentry, the trade of his ancestors, 
 which he followed more or less during his 
 lifetime. In about 1853 he engaged with 
 a ship- building firm in Switzerland, who 
 sent him t(3 Algiers, where he worked on 
 vessels; but being dissatisfied with his 
 wages, he left their employ and went to 
 Smyrna, Turkey, and there followed the 
 cabinet maker's trade for eight months. 
 Unable to bear the climate, however, he 
 went to England, after a short stay there 
 embarking on an American-bound vessel, 
 the "Alma," and landing after a voyage 
 of forty days in Quebec, on November i, 
 1856. From Quebec he went to Toronto, 
 and worked at his trade in various places 
 in Canada until 1859, when he came to 
 the United States, first locating at St 
 
 Louis, Mo. , where he remained, however, 
 but a short time. Next we find him in 
 Memphis, Tenn. ; but his stay there was 
 also a brief one, on account of the fever 
 and ague, and he left for Indiana, thence 
 going to Mississippi, and from there to 
 Arkansas, where he remained some time; 
 but on account of illness he sold his busi- 
 ness interests there to his foreman, and 
 started for Canada the day before the 
 fall of Fort Sumter. He remained at 
 Woodstock, Oxford Co., Canada, until 
 his health was restored, and then went to 
 the Lake Superior copper region, in Min- 
 nesota, following his trade there until the 
 summer of 1863, when, the mines closing, 
 he moved to Rochester, N. Y. Here he 
 enlisted, August 13, 1863, in Company I, 
 Seventy-sixth N. Y. V. I., and served 
 until July 29, 1864, when he received an 
 honorable discharge. On May 5, 1864, 
 he was wounded in the foot at the battle 
 of the Wilderness, was captured, and held 
 a prisoner of war for nineteen days, when 
 he made his escape to the Union lines, 
 and entering the regimental hospital saw 
 no more active service. After his dis- 
 charge he returned to the copper regions, 
 and again took up his trade there, con- 
 tinuing until May, 1866, when became to 
 Wisconsin, and remained in Oshkosh until 
 the following autumn, when he again went 
 to Memphis, Tenn. In 1868 he returned 
 north, and worked at his trade in Chicago, 
 111., until March, 1869, at which time he 
 came to Hortonville, Outagamie Co., 
 W^is. . where he passed the rest of his days, 
 engaged in carpentry until 1880, when he 
 embarked in furniture dealing and under- 
 taking. He met with encouraging success 
 here, and by his straightforward honesty 
 in all his transactions won the confidence 
 of his fellow-citizens and placed himself 
 on a firm basis as a substantial busi- 
 ness man. 
 
 In 1867 Mr. Peter married Julia Kan- 
 ner, who was born in Au.stria in 1 840, and 
 died in 1873 in Hortonville, Wis., the 
 mother of four children, viz. : Julia, Han- 
 nah and Elizabeth (all three deceased). 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 lAl 
 
 and Magdaline, Mrs. Emil Janke, who is 
 a resident of Milwaukee. In 1873 Mr. 
 Peter wedded, f<jr his second wife, Louisa 
 Schulenburg. The family are Lutherans 
 in Church connection, and in politics our 
 subject was a Democrat. On August 30, 
 1894, Mr. Peter was seized with hemor- 
 rhage of the lungs, and died within twen- 
 ty minutes. 
 
 CONRAD KRENTZBERG, one of 
 the prominent agriculturists of 
 Ellington, Outagamie county, 
 was born in Alfder, Prussia, Jan- 
 uary 15, 1837. His paternal grandpar- 
 ents were thrifty farmers in that country. 
 His grandfather on his mother's side was 
 a German Government officer for many 
 years, and a man of considerable wealth; 
 he and his family were people of great re- 
 finement and education. The father of 
 our subject, Theodore Krentzberg, was 
 also a very well educated man, and quite 
 prominent in the vicinity of his home in 
 Prussia. He was an only son, a baker 
 by trade, and was married to Miss Annie 
 Hennes, an intelligent and cultured lady 
 who resided near his home. They were 
 blessed with eleven children, nine of 
 whom are still living. The father and 
 mother are now both dead. 
 
 Conrad Krentzberg, our subject, re- 
 ceived a good German education, and his 
 early childhood was passed upon a farm; 
 but he spent enough time in his parents' 
 bakery to thoroughly learn that trade. 
 His people also owned a vineyard, and 
 manufactured native wines. Soon after 
 he became twenty-one years old he took 
 passage on the ship "Reason" for the 
 United States, and after a sea voyage of 
 five weeks landed in New York City, 
 whence he at once set out for the West, 
 and locating at Greenville, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis., remained there for the next 
 eighteen months; he then found employ- 
 ment in the surrounding countr\' for one 
 year. The money he received for such 
 services he invested in a few acres of 
 
 wooded land, which he at once began to 
 clear for cultivation. Four years later 
 he had an opportunity to sell this land, 
 which he did, and in 1862 he purchased 
 the farm he now owns and occupies in 
 Ellington township, in the same county, 
 and here, as before, he was obliged to 
 undergo the arduous task of felling 
 the timber and clearing it away. 
 He had received from his parents 
 a* bequest of fifteen hundred dollars, 
 which he wisely used in perfecting his 
 farm. In politics he is a Democrat, and, 
 as far back as can be traced, the family 
 of Krentzberg have embraced the Roman 
 Catholic religion. Mr. Krentzberg's first 
 wife was Miss Barbara Fischer, a native 
 of Austria, who died; three children sur- 
 vive her: Annie, now Mrs. John Becher, 
 of Ellington; Maggie, now Mrs. Joseph 
 Boston, of near Green Bay; and Mary. 
 Mr. Krentzberg's second wife was Miss 
 Annie Becher, also a native of Austria, 
 and by her he has two children: Henry 
 and Theodore. 
 
 ALOIS HETTINGER (deceased), 
 for some years a prominent and 
 worthy citizen of Appleton, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born near 
 Heidelberg, Germany, December 6, 1842, 
 a son of John Hettinger, a wealthy farmer 
 of Germany, where he served as a soldier, 
 never coming to America. 
 
 Our subject received a good education 
 in his native country, and when sixteen 
 years of age came to the United States, 
 locating in New York City, where he 
 found employment in a wholesale grocery 
 house, later entering the same line of 
 business on his own account. Selling 
 out, however, he removed to Chicago, 
 111. He served honorably in the Union 
 army during the war of the Rebellion, 
 and at the close of that struggle remained 
 a short time in Washington, D. C. Re- 
 turning to Chicago, he engaged in ship- 
 ping goods from that city to northern 
 
748 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 Wisconsin and Michigan, and continuing in 
 that business for several years. He was 
 married at Marquette, Mich., in Novem- 
 ber, 1871, to Adolphine Voigt, who was 
 born in Greifswald, Germany, in 1853, 
 daughter of John and Mary (Krueger) 
 Voigt, the former of whom was an ar- 
 chitect and contractor, came to America 
 in 1855, and died in Appleton, Wis., in 
 1874; his widow resides with her daugh- 
 ter, Mrs. Hettinger, who also has one 
 brother, Robert Voigt. The Voigts 
 were a seafaring people, the father own- 
 ing a sailing vessel. 
 
 Alois Hettinger was educated for the 
 ministry, but that profession not being 
 suited to his taste, upon the death of his 
 father he gave up the idea, and came to 
 America, as above related. . During the 
 summer of 1872 he settled in Appleton 
 and rented the "Commercial Hotel," 
 conducting that and a grocery for the 
 succeeding five years. During this time 
 he invested some of his means in a spoke 
 factory at Seymour, Wis. , but it did not 
 prove a paying venture. In 1877 he built 
 the " Northwe.stern Hotel" at Appleton, 
 and conducted same for about two years, 
 when he rented it for a period of five 
 years, engaging in the commission busi- 
 ness and handling farm machinery for 
 that length of time. Returning to his 
 hotel, he managed it for two years longer, 
 or until May, 1886, when, in company 
 with his wife and son Robert, he visited 
 his old home in Germany, traveling 
 throughout Europe and remaining abroad 
 about four months. On his return he 
 reached Appleton in August, was taken 
 sick, and died September 16, 1886. Mr 
 Hettinger had been prominent in business 
 and social circles, and was a member of 
 the I. O. O. F. and Sons of Hermann. 
 Formerly a Republican in politics he in 
 later years cast his fortunes with the 
 Democratic party, and he served the city 
 as alderman one term. At his death he 
 left a widow and three children — John L. , 
 Robert M. and Hilda M. — to mourn his 
 decease. 
 
 G 
 
 EORGE FREIBURGER. In 
 
 after years, a history of New 
 London would be incomplete 
 were prominent mention not 
 made of the gentleman whose name is 
 here recorded, and who is one of the 
 most progressive and prosperous of her 
 manufacturers. 
 
 He is a native of this State, born in 
 Erin township, Washington county, Jan- 
 uary 26, 1 85 1, a son of John and Cath- 
 erine (Freiburger) Freiburger, of the 
 Province of Alsace (now in Germany), 
 whence, in 1846, they came to America, 
 settling in Washington county, Wis., 
 where the father carried on farming opera- 
 tions up to the time of his death, in 1876. 
 The widowed mother is now residing with 
 our subject, enjoying well-earned repose 
 in her declining years. They were the 
 parents of eleven children, five of whom 
 are yet living, viz. : John, in New Lon- 
 don; Catherine, wife of Herman Komp, 
 of Liberty township, Outagamine Co., 
 Wis.; George, subject of sketch; August, 
 and Leonard, of Antigo, Langlade Co., 
 Wis. Of these, George was educated in 
 the district schools of his native township, 
 after which he worked on his father's 
 farm until he was nineteen years of age, 
 and then in the lumber woods about two 
 and one-half years. When twenty-one 
 years old, in 1872. he came to New Lon- 
 don, where, in his brother John's shop, he 
 learned the trade of blacksmith, at which 
 he subsequently worked four years, and 
 then formed a partnership with his brother, 
 which continued until 1880, when it was 
 dissolved, our subject carrying on the 
 business for his own account. He is now 
 proprietor of one of the largest and best 
 equipped wagon-making and blacksmith- 
 ing establishments in the county, famed 
 far and wide for the excellent work 
 turned out. 
 
 Air. Freiburger was married April 5, 
 1875, to Miss Anna Mary Schaller, who 
 was born in Rubicon, Dodge Co., Wis., 
 daughter of Michael and Anna Mary 
 (Boltes) Schaller, who came to New Lon- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 749 
 
 don in 1837, and are here yet residing. 
 To this union were born six children, two 
 of whom died in infancy, the names of 
 those yet living being John Leonard, Vin- 
 cent Michael, Rosalia Mary, and Hadrian 
 George. The entire family are prominently 
 identified with the Roman Catholic Church. 
 Socially Mr. Freiburger is a member of 
 the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, the 
 Society of St. Joseph, and other organiza- 
 tions. In his political preferences he is a 
 Democrat, and has served the city of his 
 adoption in various offices of trust, such 
 as: Alderman, one year; assessor, two 
 years; foreman of the Fire Department, 
 six years. He is highly esteemed for his 
 strict integrity and good business quali- 
 fications. 
 
 DANIEL W. KING. This vener- 
 able landmark, whose long and 
 honored life of over fourscore 
 years has beheld the most won- 
 derful strides of civilization known in all 
 history — the birth of the locomotive, the 
 steamboat, the telegraph, the telephone, 
 and many other marvelous wonders pro- 
 duced by the development of science — 
 traces his descent from one John King, 
 who came from England to the American 
 colonies in 1645. John King, grand- 
 father of our subject, was a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war, and lived to an ad- 
 
 vanced 
 
 dying in Northampton, 
 
 Mass., in 1851, his wife passing away in 
 1835, in the same place. 
 
 Daniel W. King, the subject of this 
 sketch, was born December 6, 181 1, in 
 Northampton, Hampshire Co., Mass., at 
 the common schools and academy of 
 which place he was educated up to the 
 age of nineteen years. In the spring of 
 1 83 1 he came west to Detroit, Mich., 
 where his elder brother was engaged in 
 the clothing business, and until 1837 
 Daniel W. clerked for him. In that year 
 he came to Green Bay, Wis. (which 
 locality he had visited in 1834), and, in 
 company with a Mr. Nelson, opened a 
 
 general store, which they conducted until 
 1840, at which time Mr. King purchased 
 a drug business in Green Bay, it being the 
 first drug store established northwest of 
 Detroit. This he conducted until 1887, 
 when on account of impaired health he 
 closed out the business, after an active 
 life of just half a century in Green Bay. 
 He then removed to Appleton, where he 
 has since lived a retired life. 
 
 On January 10, 1835, Mr. King was, 
 on the island of Mackinaw, married to 
 Miss Sarah Ann Graveraet, daughter of 
 Henry G. and Charlotte (Livingston) 
 Graveraet, the latter of whom was born 
 in what was then the Territory of Michi- 
 gan. The father was a native of Al- 
 bany, N. Y. , descending from Holland- 
 Dutch ancestry. He served in the war of 
 1812 as commander of a band of Indian 
 scouts, and for many years he acted as 
 interpreter for the government. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. King were born thirteen chil- 
 dren, as follows: living — Caroline S., 
 Cecil, Alice, Kate G. , Hallie L., Edward 
 B., and Daniel W. , Jr. ; deceased — Edwin 
 L. , Rachel D., Marion M., Louisa Alida, 
 Sarah C, and William L. The mother 
 of these was called from earth December 
 10, 1872. Mr. King was not only ener- 
 getic in business matters, but also active 
 in social and patriotic concerns. He has 
 been a member of the F. & A. M. since 
 1854, having in that )"ear joined Wash- 
 ington Lodge No. 21, Green Bay, and in 
 1846 he assisted in the organization of 
 the I. O. O. F. Lodge at the same place. 
 In 1831 he joined a militia company at 
 Detroit, Capt. Brooks commanding, which 
 in the following year was called out to 
 fight the Indians in the Blackhawk war. 
 They proceeded as far as Saline, Mich. , 
 when they were recalled by Gen. Scott, 
 who had arrived in Detroit with regular 
 U. S. troops. Mr. King is the only mem- 
 ber now living of that old company 
 of sixty-three years ago. Politically he 
 was originally a Whig until the formatiim 
 of the Republican party, since when he 
 has remained under its banner. In 1 849 
 
750 
 
 COMMEMORArrVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he was appointed postmaster of Green 
 Bay by President Taylor, and in muni- 
 cipal matters he served as alderman and 
 treasurer of that cit}'. Now in his ad- 
 vanced years he is living retired, honored 
 and respected by all, and calmly and 
 reverently awaiting the summons that 
 comes to all. 
 
 AUGUST MILL, senior member 
 of the well-known firm of Mill & 
 Sons, proprietors of the "Fair," 
 Kaukauna, is a German by birth, 
 born in 1834 in the Kingdom of Prussia, 
 a son of John Daniel and Regina (Preuss) 
 Mill, of the same nativity, the father being 
 by trade a carpenter and cabinet maker. 
 In 1 85 I, when our subject was seven- 
 teen years old the family emigrated to the 
 United States, and coining westward from 
 the port of debarkation made their first 
 halt in Sheboygan county. Wis. , where 
 the father opened up a farm in the woods, 
 about sixteen miles from the town of She- 
 boygan. Later, in 1854, he moved to 
 Centerville township, Manitowoc county, 
 where he continued farming the rest of his 
 days, dying in 1861; his widow still re- 
 sides in Centerville. They were the par- 
 ents of se\en children, six of whom reached 
 maturit}', namely: August, whose name 
 opens the sketch; Gottlieb, who resides in 
 Centerville, Wis. ; Henrietta, wife of John 
 Doersch, of Cleveland, Wis. ; John, now a 
 farmer at Centerville, Wis. (he enlisted in 
 1 861 at Manitowoc, in Company A, Fifth 
 Wis. V. I. , for three years, and served 
 until the close of the war); Charles, a resi- 
 dent of Cleveland, Wis., and Augusta, 
 widow of Anton Woerfel, of Sturgeon Bay, 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 August Mill, the subject proper of this 
 notice, received all his education at the 
 schools of his native place, and on his ar- 
 rival at his new Western home went to 
 work assisting his father in opening up the 
 farm, in his spare moments making him- 
 self conversant with the English language. 
 Moving to Centerville township with the 
 
 rest of the family, he resumed farming 
 operations, and also operated a sawmill, 
 which he had built, until 1864, when he 
 enlisted in Company E, Forty-fifth Wis. 
 V. I., which was stationed at Nashville, 
 Tenn., and at Tuscaloosa, Ala. He 
 served to the close of the war, and in 1 865 
 was discharged at Madison, W'is., return- 
 ing to Centerville. In company with a 
 brother, our subject now erected a grist- 
 mill at that place, and operated some 
 seventeen years, or until 1883, when he 
 sold his interests in Centerville, and in 
 1884 removed to Kaukauna. Here he at 
 once established the " Fair " store, one of 
 the best-known establishments of the kind 
 in northern Wisconsin, the stock in trade 
 consisting of full lines of dry goods and furn- 
 ishings, groceries, crockery, etc., employ- 
 ment being now given to seven clerks. The 
 store building, built of brick, which Mr. 
 Mill owns, as well as the ground on which 
 it stands, is tw^o stories in height, with 80 
 feet frontage on Main avenue, and 50 feet 
 on Third street, all of the space being oc- 
 cupied exclusive!}' by the firm. In ad- 
 dition to this Mr. Mill built and owns the 
 Bank Building, whose dimensions are 20 
 X 50 feet. In 1890 he took into partner- 
 ship his sons Arthur, Otto and Robert, 
 since when the style of the firm has been 
 " A. Mill & Sons," Mr. Mill himself being 
 now the oldest merchant in business in 
 Kaukauna. 
 
 In 1862 our subject was married at 
 Centerville, Wis., to Miss Joanna Mar- 
 tens, daughter of Christoph and Sophia 
 Martens, all natives of Mecklenburg- 
 Schwerin, Germany, the family coming to 
 the Western World in 1853, and settling 
 in Centerville township, Manitowoc coun- 
 ty, where Mr. Martens took up a farm 
 whereon he yet resides. Nine children 
 have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mill, as 
 follows: August, who died at Kaukauna 
 in his twentieth year; Charles, deceased 
 when three years old; Emma, wife of 
 August Knoll, of Milwaukee; Arthur, Otto 
 and Robert, already mentioned; and Al- 
 fred, Adolph and Laura, all three at school. 
 
'I 
 
COMMEMOIIATIVE inoailAPlIICAL RECORD. 
 
 753 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mill are members of the 
 Lutheran Church, and in political as- 
 sociations he is a stanch Republican, active 
 in the interests of the party. For twelve 
 years, while a resident of Centerville, 
 he was chairman of the township coun- 
 cil. He is now the present county treas- 
 urer of Outagamie county, having been 
 elected to that office in 1 894 on the Repub- 
 lican ticket. By his unswerving integrity, 
 and quiet, unobtrusive manner, Mr. Mill 
 has won the respect of all who have come 
 in contact with him, and he is unques- 
 tionably one of the most esteemed of Kau- 
 kauna's leading representative citizens. 
 
 GEORGE DROEGER. The thri- 
 ving little city of Seymour, Outa- 
 gamie county, owes much of her 
 prosperit}' to the enterprise and 
 2eal of her German residents, among 
 whom the subject of this sketch is one of 
 the best known and most popular. 
 
 Mr. Droeger was born August 10, 
 1848, in the city of Crivitz, Mecklenburg- 
 Schwerin, Germany, son of Christian and 
 Lena (Voss) Droeger, natives of the same 
 place, who came to America in 1 870. 
 They located first in Neenah. Winnebago 
 Co., Wis., afterward living for a time in 
 Black Creek, Outagamie county, and later, 
 in 1880, moving to Seymour, where Mr. 
 Droeger died at the age of sixty-nine 
 years. His widow now makes her home 
 in Seymour, Outagamie county. They 
 were the parents of three children: 
 George, William and Edward. George 
 Droeger attended the common schools of 
 his native land, receiving a thoroughly 
 practical education, and subsequently 
 learning the blacksmith's trade followed 
 same in Germany until he reached the 
 age of twenty. Then, in 1869, he came 
 to the United States, and after living and 
 working in various places finally, in 1871, 
 settled in Seymour, Outagamie Co., Wis., 
 resuming his trade, and meeting with un- 
 limited success. On October 9, 1894, 
 on account of his health, Mr. Droeger 
 
 42 
 
 abandoned his trade and bought a half in- 
 terest in a hardware store and machine 
 and carriage business in Seymour, the 
 style of the firm being Freund & Droeger. 
 He has been intimately associated with 
 the general welfare and advancement of 
 the place, and as one of its most useful 
 and progressive citizens has taken no 
 small part in promoting its interests, giv- 
 ing his influence and support to any pro- 
 ject for the improvement or benefit of the 
 town or surrounding country. His abil- 
 ity and worth have gained him the esteem 
 of all his fellow citizens, who have fre- 
 quently given proof of their confidence 
 in him by electing him to various posi- 
 tions of honor and trust; in 1881 he was 
 elected to the position of mayor of the 
 city of Seymour, and in 1883 was chosen 
 alderman, in every capacity making an 
 enviable record for faithfulness and ef- 
 ficiency, and giving universal satisfaction 
 to his constituents. At the present time 
 he is serving his fourth term as alderman, 
 which is a three-years' term. In political 
 sympathy he is a Republican. 
 
 On December 6, 1873, Mr. Droeger 
 was married to Miss Fredericka Rohm, a 
 native of Germany, born in a village near 
 the city of Potsdam, in November, 1855, 
 and brought to this country by her parents 
 in 1857. To this union were born eight 
 children (six of whom are living), namely: 
 George, born August 5, 1875; Emma J., 
 born March 21, 1877, died November 3, 
 1880; Ella M., born June 15, 1S79, died 
 May 28, 1893; Minna D., born January 4, 
 1 881; William F. , born November 30, 
 1882; Matilda, born July 3, 1885; Frida. 
 born July 12, 1889, and Dora, born July 24, 
 1894. Socially Mr. Droeger is an active 
 member of the Sons of Hermann, in which 
 Order he has filled numerous offices. 
 
 HERMANN KERKSIECK, M.D., 
 physician and surgeon, Kaukauna. 
 This gentleman, born in Prussia, 
 May 3, 1863, has been but ashort 
 time a resident of Kaukauna, coming here 
 
754 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 from the town of Sherman, Sheboygan 
 Co., Wis., in September, 1893. He had 
 located at the latter place in 1891, first 
 beginning practice the j'ear previous at 
 Plymouth, in the same county. At Frei- 
 burg, German}', he had made the acquain- 
 tance of Dr. Thomas Fitzgibbons, profes- 
 sor of gynecology in the New University 
 at Milwaukee, with whom he became as- 
 sociated when he first came to Sheboy- 
 gan county. Dr. Kerksieck's father, Hen- 
 ry Kerksieck, was an officer of the Prus- 
 sian government, whose death occurred at 
 Oldendorf, Westphalia, Prussia, in 1894. 
 His mother, Marie (Meyer) Kerksieck, 
 died in 1875. 
 
 The young man, destined to become 
 a talented member of the medical profes- 
 sion, was educated in his native land, at 
 the gymnasium of Guterslohe, graduating 
 with the class of 1883. He then entered the 
 University of Leipsic, remaining one year, 
 and followed with an eighteen-rnonths' 
 attendance at Greifswald, Pomeania. In 
 1886, he entered Berlin Medical Univer- 
 sity, passing his first examination at 
 Greifswald, and continuing until his final 
 examination was passed at Freiburg, in 
 1889. Entering the German army, he 
 served six months as a private, and subse- 
 quently six months as physician. A few 
 months after the expiration of his term of 
 service he came, as already noted, to 
 Sheboygan county. Wis. The Doctor is 
 now in the enjoyment of an extensive 
 general practice, which he has built up by 
 earnest work and the exercise of un- 
 doubted ability. His religious affiliations 
 are with the Lutheran Church. Dr. 
 Kerksieck was married in 1890, at Frie- 
 burg, Germany, to Miss Marie Scheidet, a 
 native of the same place. They have two 
 children, Agnes and Henry. 
 
 JOHN THIEL, who though yet young 
 has placed himself in the rank of 
 prosperous farmers of Cicero town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, is a native 
 of that county, born May 11. 1S60, in 
 
 Ellington township. His parents, Charles 
 and Mary (Neeland) Thiel, natives of Ger- 
 many, emigrated to America in 1858, and 
 landing in New York came at once to 
 Manitowoc, \\'is., where Mr. Thiel worked 
 a year and a half in a sawmill. He then 
 moved to Ellington township, Outagamie 
 county, and has since been successfully 
 engaged in farming. He and his wife have 
 had seven children, namely: W. C. (who 
 was born in Germany), John (our sub- 
 ject), Lizzie, Henry, Mary, Annie and 
 Rosa. 
 
 John Thiel remained under the parental 
 roof until he was twenty-six years of age, 
 v.hen he was married to Miss Amelia 
 Wurl, daughter of Ludwig and \\^ilhelmina 
 (Schultz) Wurl. At this time his father 
 gave him one thousand dollars, with which 
 he purchased the farm in Cicero township 
 (adjoining that of his brother. \\'. C), 
 where he and his wife have ever since 
 had their home, the place containing 
 eighty acres of good land, which he keeps 
 under a high state of cultivation. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Thiel had four children, viz: 
 Welmi, Herbert, Jensine and Clinton, the 
 last named being deceased. In religious 
 connection they are members of the 
 Evangelical Association, and politicallj' 
 Mr. Thiel takes an active interest in party 
 affairs; he has served as a member of the 
 town board, and is at present school clerk 
 of the district. 
 
 JOHN C. KUNITZ, proprietor of a 
 prominent livery establishment at 
 Appleton, Outagamie count}', was 
 born in the Province of Posen, Ger- 
 many, March 6, 1S52. 
 
 His father, Martis Kunitz, who was 
 foreman on a large farm, died in 1866, 
 leaving a widow and five children, John 
 being the only son. After his father's 
 death the boy assumed charge of the 
 farm, meeting the responsibility with all 
 the confidence and vigor of youth. He 
 became an adept in the art of breaking 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1SS 
 
 horses, and traveled throughout Europe 
 as a professional, being for eighteen 
 months at one time in St. Petersburg, 
 Russia. When the Franco-Prussian war 
 broke out, in 1870, he was in Switzer- 
 land, but with the German's natural love 
 of Fatherland, he hastened home, en- 
 rolled himself in the army, and served 
 four years in the cavalry. He was in 
 the battles of Metz and others, and had 
 two horses shot under him. After leav- 
 ing the army he worked in Berlin, until 
 March, 1881, when he emigrated with 
 his wife and child to the United States, 
 landing at Baltimore, Md., pushing im- 
 mediately westward to Chicago, and 
 thence to Appleton. For ten months he 
 worked in a livery barn, and at the end 
 of that time purchased stock and estab- 
 lished a business of his own. In 1885 
 he erected the buildings he still occupies, 
 and his barn is one of the finest and best 
 known in northern Wisconsin. While he 
 was in the army, word was sent him that 
 his share of his father's estate, about 
 $500, was awaiting him. He directed 
 that it be divided among his sisters, and 
 he thus never received any financial as- 
 sistance from home, but has accumulated 
 his present possessions through untiring 
 labor, thrift and economy. His sisters, 
 Ernestine, Julia, Pauline and Louisa, are 
 yet residing in Germany, where the 
 mother died in 1875. 
 
 Mr. Kunitz was married, in Berlin, 
 Prussia, May 13, 1880, to Miss Anna 
 Masser, who was born in Germany, in 
 1855; her parents, John and Barbara 
 (Lemhefer) Masser, were farmers, and 
 had a family of five children: Lizzie, 
 Milly, William, Helen and Anna. The 
 mother died in January, 1886, the father 
 in November, 1892. Mrs. Kunitz, when 
 nineteen years old, found employment at 
 Berlin, remaining there until her mar- 
 riage. Her people lived 500 miles from 
 that city, in the Province of East Prussia. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kunitz have four children: 
 Osker, Anna, Amanda and Herman, all 
 born in .\merica except the first named. 
 
 In politics Mr. Kunitz is a Republican, 
 and he and his wife are members of the 
 German Lutheran Church. 
 
 HERBERT H. ROGERS, justice of 
 the peace, insurance and real es- 
 tate, Appleton, was born April 2, 
 1858, in Winnebago county. Wis. 
 When si.xteen years old he came to Apple- 
 ton to take charge of his father's milk 
 business. He had previously attended 
 the common schools, but subsequently en- 
 tered the Appleton high school, and was 
 graduated when twenty years of age. 
 
 In October following he located at 
 Neenah, in company with an uncle, in a 
 general merchandising establishment, but 
 after one year returned to Appleton and 
 engaged with his father in market garden- 
 ing, which he continued for five years. 
 For seven years next succeeding he was in 
 the employ of the Fox River Paper Com- 
 pany as traveling salesman, and then be- 
 came foreman of the Kimberly Pulp Mills. 
 .After three years in the latter position he 
 became general agent for the National 
 Benevolent Association, a life insurance 
 company with headquarters in Minnesota. 
 Three years later, in the spring of 1894, 
 he was elected justice of the peace, and 
 opened an office, handling in connection 
 insurance and real estate. Since he was 
 twenty-one years old he has been contin- 
 uously interested with his father and 
 brothers in real estate and gardening. He 
 is a Republican in politics, and was at one 
 time a member of the city police force. 
 
 Mr. Rogers was married, September 
 23> 1879, to Miss Emma C. Peck, of 
 Neenah, a native of Leavenworth, Kans. , 
 where she was born April 29, 1863, 
 daughter of John W. and Anna C. (Tip- 
 ler) Peck, both natives of England. Her 
 father, who was a farmer, came to the 
 United States in 1858, locating in Kan- 
 sas, and in 1 868 came to Wisconsin with 
 his family, locating at Neenah, where 
 they now reside; he was a soldier during 
 the Rebellion. Mr and Mrs. Rogers have 
 
756 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 three children: Mabel G. , Berten L. 
 and Bessie A. The parents attend the 
 Congregational Church; both are promi- 
 nent members of the I. O. O. F., and 
 have each served as representative to the 
 grand body of the State — Mr. Rogers 
 from the Subordinate Lodge, and his wife 
 from the Rebekah Lodge. He is also a 
 member of the Masonic Order. 
 
 CYRUS E. COLEMAN, the well- 
 known horse trainer, and a repre- 
 sentative of one of the oldest 
 pioneer families of the New Eng- 
 land States, was born as Wolfboro, Car- 
 roll Co., N. H., October 14, 1850, a son 
 of Charles R. and Olive (Deland) Cole- 
 man, and as far as known is the only 
 member of the family to come west. 
 
 He received his primary education at 
 the public schools of his native city, and 
 graduated from the high school under 
 Prof. John Wingate; then entered his 
 father's store as a clerk, remaining as 
 such until he was about twenty years of 
 age, when he went to Boston, Mass. 
 Here for about twelve months he was em- 
 ployed as bookkeeper for D. M. Morse & 
 Co., at the end of which engagement he 
 proceeded to New York and there was 
 employed as clerk in the "Manhattan 
 Hotel;" from there returned to Boston 
 and formed an engagement with J. J. 
 Bowen, the noted horseman, with whom 
 he remained about a year and a half. 
 Again betaking himself to New York, he 
 became connected with Daniel Mace, of 
 that city, as assistant trainer; but after a 
 time commenced the business for his own 
 account, his practice as professional horse 
 trainer having extended to no less than 
 twelve different States of the Union, and 
 he has driven horses for some of the most 
 noted stock farms in the United States. 
 For five years he was trainer and driver 
 for George A. Young, the great stockman 
 of Elgin, 111., owner of "Greens," "Bas- 
 haw," and other well-known horses ;later 
 passing four j'ears with the far-famed 
 
 stockman, Charles M. Smith, of Earl- 
 ville, 111. In 1891 he removed to New 
 London, where he has since resided, act- 
 ivel)" engaged in his profession and doing 
 a lucrative business. 
 
 Mr. Coleman was married, September 
 29, 1878, to Miss EUnette Arris, daughter 
 of Charles H. and Adelaide (Ray) Arris, 
 of Earlville, 111., and their union has 
 been blessed with three children, as fol- 
 lows: Laura M., born January 9, 1880; 
 Maude, born August 19, 1886; and Dean, 
 born August 24, 1892. Charles R. Cole- 
 man, father of our subject, is a prosperous 
 merchant in New Hampshire, where he 
 and his wife are yet living. Their family 
 numbers five children, named as follows: 
 Cyrus E., Isabella, Charles F., Everett 
 W. and Clara A. 
 
 WILLIAM ELLIS, a well-known 
 experienced veterinary surgeon, 
 of New London, was born in 
 Schoharie count}', N. Y. , Febru- 
 ary 24, 1853, a son of Col. G. W. and 
 Harriet C. (Drake) Ellis, natives of Al- 
 bany, New York. 
 
 At the public schools of his native 
 county he received his literary education, 
 and at the Veterinary College, Bridgeport, 
 Conn., studied for the profession of veter- 
 inary surgeon, graduating from that insti- 
 tution in 1876. The Doctor first com- 
 menced the practice of his profession at 
 Binghamton, N. Y., where he remained 
 five years, thence, in 1888, removing to 
 New London, Wis., where he has since 
 remained. On August 24, 1885, our 
 subject was married to Jennie, daughter 
 of Frederick Cummings. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Ellis are identified with the M, E. 
 Church; socially he is a member of the 
 F. & A. M., and in politics he is a straight 
 Republican. 
 
 Col. G. W. Ellis, our subject's father, 
 was a major in the "Home Guard," New 
 York Militia, and at the breaking out of 
 the war of the Rebellion, in 1861, he or- 
 ganized a regiment of volunteer infantry. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 757 
 
 of which he was made colonel. Proceed- 
 ing with his regiment to the front, he 
 served with distinction in numerous en- 
 gagements, and at the close of the war 
 returned to his old home in New York 
 State, passing the rest of his days in re- 
 tirement. He had married Miss Harriet 
 C. Drake, and seven children were born 
 to them, six of whom are yet living, 
 namel}': William, our subject; Josephine, 
 wife of Lucius Hagedorne, of Amster- 
 dam, N. Y. ; Georgina, wife of Millard 
 Halliday, residing in Binghamton, N. Y. ; 
 Lillie wife of Merritt C. Cain, of Schoharie 
 county, N. Y. ; and Omer and Grosvenor, 
 both residents of Binghamton, Broome 
 Co., New York. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL BUNGERT, a well- 
 known agriculturist of Elling- 
 ton township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, is a native of Luxemburg, 
 Germany. His grandparents were na- 
 tives of the same country, where the 
 grandfather was a miller, and a man of 
 great energw Phillip Bungert, father of 
 our subject, learned the weaver's trade, 
 was married when quite young, and died 
 leaving his widow and seven children in 
 very poor circumstances. Nevertheless 
 the brave mother did not despair, but 
 went courageously to work to support her 
 family of little ones, and, if possible, 
 give them an education, which result she 
 obtained, though not without the closest 
 economy. 
 
 Michael Bungert, our subject, was 
 born December 23, 1836, and is a twin. 
 He learned the tailor's trade, which he 
 followed in his native place until 1857, 
 when he emigrated to the United States, 
 landing after a voyage of sixty-two days, 
 and immediately proceeding to Chicago 
 where he worked in a tailor shop for a 
 short time. He was restless, however, 
 and, desirous of making a change, he left 
 the shop and went to Joliet, 111., where 
 he secured work on the railroad. Later 
 he returned to Chicago, and subsequently 
 
 moved to Ellington, Outagamie Co., 
 Wis. , where he hired out on a farm and 
 worked for others sonr.e five or six years. 
 In 1 86 1 he purchased the farm he now 
 occupies, and in the autumn of the same 
 year was married to Miss Hannah Mun- 
 sert, who is a native of Saxony, Germany, 
 born December 21, 1839. Her father 
 was a miner and mason. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Bungert had nine children, viz. : Anna 
 M., who married Charles J. Breitrick; 
 Ered M. ; Charles E., deceased; John A.; 
 Charles, deceased; Rosa Ellen; Mahlon 
 E. ; Leda H., and Edna M. 
 
 Mr. Bungert's land was covered with 
 timber when he came to it, and he ex- 
 perienced all of the difficulties and hard 
 labor which is the lot of the pioneer. He 
 now owns 120 acres of well-improved 
 land upon which he has erected good 
 buildings. His place is neat and well- 
 kept, and gives evidence of thrift and in- 
 dustry. For several generations back 
 his people were Roman Catholics, but he 
 has departed from their religion and has 
 united with the Evangelical Church. In 
 honor of being the oldest settler nearest 
 the postoffice, the same was given his 
 name. He is greatly respected through- 
 out the community, not only for his in- 
 tegrity of character, but also for his activ- 
 ity in all movements tending to the good 
 of the public. In the schools and the 
 education of his children he takes an 
 active interest, for he means to give them 
 better advantages than his mother was 
 able to sive him. 
 
 FRANCIS O. MESSENGER, who, 
 since the year 1855, has been 
 identified with the farming inter- 
 ests of Hortonia township, Outa- 
 gamie county, is a native of Pennsylvania, 
 born August 25, 1826, in Susquehanna 
 county. His paternal ancestors, who 
 were of English descent, came from Mas- 
 sachusetts and settled in Pennsylvania in 
 very early pioneer times. 
 
 Ebenezer K. Messenger, father of our 
 
75S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 subject, was married in 1825 to Miss 
 Hannah Belcher, a native of Penns3lvani£r, 
 of German ancestry, and Francis O. is 
 the eldest of their seven children, six of 
 whom are settled in their native State. 
 Francis O. Messenger was united in mar- 
 riage January 27, 1853, with Miss J. Eliza- 
 beth XN'atennan, who was born in Penn- 
 sylvania June 30, 1833, daughter of 
 James F. Waterman, a native of Rhode 
 Island, and a lineal descendant of Richard 
 Waterman, who was a member of the 
 colony from the north of England, which 
 joined Roger Williams, who settled in 
 Providence, R. I. , where he founded a 
 church which is still called "The Roger 
 Williams Church." 
 
 James F. Waterman came to Pennsyl- 
 vania when that country was considered 
 "the far west," it being then almost a 
 wilderness, and wild game there abund- 
 ant. He secured a fertile farm, and on 
 May 23, 1821, was married to Miss Mary 
 Pickering, whose ancestors came from 
 Scotland. They had eleven children, of 
 whom only three survive, viz. : Charles 
 F. Waterman, who resides at Thompson, 
 Susquehanna Co., Penn. ; Mrs. C. L. 
 Hale, of Peabody, Marion Co., Kansas; 
 and Mrs. F. O. Messenger. Mr. Water- 
 man and wife were prominent members 
 of the Methodist Church, he having been 
 class leader and Sabbath-sch'^ol superin- 
 tendent for many 3'ears. He came to 
 Wisconsin in the spring of 1855, and pur- 
 chased a quarter-section of land in the 
 town of Hortonia, where he lived until 
 the autumn of 1883, when it became 
 necessary for him to move once more, his 
 son, Charles F. , with whom they lived, 
 having decided to locate in Kansas. His 
 aged wife did not long survive this journey, 
 for she died November iS, 1883; she was 
 born March 31, 1803, and was conse- 
 quently over eighty years of age when she 
 died. He lived to be over ninety-six years 
 of age; was born June 27, 1795, died 
 February 12, 1891. The son has since 
 moved to Pennsylvania. 
 
 Francis O. Messenger, with his wife 
 
 and one child, came to Wisconsin in the 
 autumn of 1855, and settled on a forty- 
 acre farm, owned by his father-in-law, 
 which was subsequently inherited by Mrs. 
 Messenger from her father's estate. Here 
 they shared, with other pioneers, the hard- 
 ships and inconveniences always to be en- 
 countered in a new country. Besides car- 
 ing for her family, Mrs. Messenger taught 
 several terms of school, in those early 
 days, to help eke out the meager finances, 
 while her husband was clearing up the 
 farm and making needful improvements 
 thereon, and occasionally getting a job in 
 the lumber woods with his team. In 1877 
 they purchased an adjoining eighty acres 
 of land, the east forty acres of which they 
 sold in 1 89 1. They now have eighty 
 acres of land, well fenced and finely situ- 
 ated, about half way between New Lon- 
 don and Hortonville, on what is called 
 " the plank road." The family residence 
 stands in a lovely grove of oak, pine, but- 
 ternut and hickory timber. Near it is a 
 fountain with a constant flow of excellent 
 water, arranged to accommodate the 
 traveling public; therefore, the place is 
 appropriately called the ' ' Fountain Grove 
 Farm." Mr. and Mrs. Messenger have 
 had ten children, only five of whom are 
 living, viz.: Mabelle V., wife of J. A. 
 McClellan, of New London, Wis. (both 
 are teaching in the Norwegian Orphan 
 Home, at Wittenberg, Wis.); Franklin D. 
 Messenger, who with his wife and little 
 son are settled in Hortonia township; and 
 Ida F. , Stella J., and Helen B., at home. 
 The parents have given their children 
 every educational advantage within their 
 means, and four of their daughters have 
 been teachers. Five motherless grand- 
 children are cheerfully cared for in this 
 rural home. 
 
 In October, i 864, Mr. Messenger was 
 drafted into the army and assigned to the 
 Twenty-second Regiment, which was sta- 
 tioned at Madison, on guard duty. In 
 December, 1864 (having just returned 
 with other comrades from Nashville, 
 where they had been sent to guard prison- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 759 
 
 ers), he was taken sick with what he sup- 
 posed was measles. The doctor, how- 
 ever, pronounced it small-pox, and he was 
 ordered to the pest-house in Madison, 
 where several men were sick with that 
 loathsome disease. When he had suf- 
 hcientl}' recovered to return to duty, he 
 was sent into a cold bleak room to take 
 a bath and change his clothes. This 
 caused him to contract a severe cold, 
 which confined him to the hospital at 
 Madison, where he came very near dying. 
 He finally became able to go on duty part 
 of the time, but never fully regained his 
 former health. At the close of the war 
 he received an honorable discharge, and 
 he now receives an invalid pension. He 
 is a member of Francis Steffen Post, No. 
 2IO, G. A. R., of Hortonville. Mrs. Mes- 
 senger is a member of the Women's Re- 
 lief Corps, of Hortonville, and of the W. 
 C T. U., of New London, Wisconsin. 
 
 F 
 
 RED HEGER, a worthy farmer, 
 of Hortonia township, Outaga- 
 mie count}-, is a son of William 
 and Amelia Heger, and was born 
 in Prussia, December 6, 1848. 
 
 He came with his parents to Wiscon- 
 sin in 1855, and in the public schools of 
 this State received his education, remain- 
 ing on the home farm until 1870. In that 
 year he was married to Amelia Warnes, 
 who was born in Prussia in 1850. After 
 his marriage he located upon a farm in 
 Jefferson county, given him by his step- 
 father, his father having died in Germany. 
 On this place he resided until 1880, 
 when he sold it and purchased the farm 
 he now owns and occupies in the town- 
 ship of Hortonia. Upon the latter he has 
 made extensive improvements, erecting 
 good buildings and fences, and adding to 
 its original extent b}' subsequent purchase. 
 He is a successful farmer, a quiet, unpre- 
 tentious citizen, and a man having the re- 
 spect of all who know him. Politically 
 he is a Democrat, and has five times been 
 elected a member of the town board. He 
 
 is also a member of the board of educa- 
 tion for his district. For many genera- 
 tions the Heger family has been connected 
 with the Lutheran Church, of which he 
 and his family are substantial members. 
 He takes a deep interest in the matter of 
 education, and furnishes his children every 
 advantage in that respect which his 
 means will allow. The children of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Heger are eight in number: An- 
 nie, now Mrs. Fred Buboltz, of New 
 London, Wis. ; Martha, now Mrs. Frank 
 Schulz, of Hortonville; Edward, Lydia, 
 Henrv, Clara, Matilda and Herbert. 
 
 M 
 
 RS. PERMELIA LEEMAN, a 
 
 highly esteemed resident of 
 Maine township, Outagamie 
 county, was born October 20, 
 1829, in Clinton, Maine, daughter of 
 Charles and Hannah (Lancaster) Stinson, 
 the former of whom was a very successful 
 farmer and shoemaker, and a much re- 
 spected member of the community in 
 which he lived. He and his wife had ten 
 children, viz.: Mary, Hulda, Martha, 
 Elizabeth, Permelia, Hannah, Enoch, 
 David, Charles and Samuel. 
 
 On July 15, i860, Permelia Stinson 
 was united in marriage with Hibbard S. 
 Leeman, son of Charles and Jane (Morse) 
 Leeman. At the time of his marriage he 
 was employed in a tannery, but on the 
 breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted, 
 on August 22, 1 861, in Company H, 
 Seventh Maine V. L, serving with same 
 until the battle of Antietam, when they 
 suffered such heavy losses that they were 
 obliged to come home to recruit. Mr. 
 Leeman remained home three months, 
 and then re-enlisted, this time in Com- 
 pany L same regiment, and served until 
 the close of the war, participating in 
 several important engagements, such as 
 Gettysburg, Wilderness, etc. , under Gen. 
 Grant. During his second term of service 
 he was wounded at Chancellorsville, in 
 the face, and returned home on a thirty- 
 days, furlough, after which he rejoined his 
 
760 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 command and was in constant service 
 until July 6, 1865, when he was honor- 
 ably discharged. Mr. Leeman's health 
 was much impaired in his service, and two 
 years after his return from the army he 
 decided to remove westward to Wisconsin, 
 where his wife's brothers had previously 
 settled. He came hither alone in i866, 
 and in the following spring returned for 
 his wife. On their arrival here they 
 located on eighty acres of land in Maine 
 township, Outagamie county, given them 
 by her brother, where they made a per- 
 manent home; here Mr. Leeman passed 
 from earth November 17, 1881. They 
 had two children, Lesle}- H., born .Au- 
 gust 17, 1869, now married and living in 
 Nora, \\'is., and Nellie, wife of D. W. 
 Fuller, with whom our subject now makes 
 her home. Mrs. Leeman is much honored 
 and respected throughout the community 
 for her sterling worth. 
 
 WESLEY B. \VILLL\MS, a well- 
 known farmer of Bovina town- 
 ship, Outagamie count}', was 
 born June 16, 1841, in Freedom, 
 Portage Co., Ohio. His grandparents 
 were Ephraim and Maria (Warner) Will- 
 iams, of Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass., the 
 latter of whom was a daughter of Jere- 
 miah and Grace (Hawkei Warner. They 
 had four children: Nancy C, born Feb- 
 ruary 16, 1802, died May 31, 1841; Lu- 
 cretia B., born Februarys, 1806; Thomas 
 G., born March 16, 181 1, died June 18, 
 1875, and Cordelia A., born March 
 14, 1815. 
 
 Thomas G.W^illiams, father of Wesley 
 B., was by occupation a farmer and 
 drover. Although the discovery of a valu- 
 able marble deposit on his father's farm 
 had brought wealth to the family, the 
 young man received no corresponding as- 
 sistance, and when in 1831 he pushed 
 westward to Ohio he was without capital. 
 He was married March 26, 1 83 1 , to Eunice 
 P. Clark, daughter of Nelson and Mary 
 Clark, the young lady having come with 
 
 him to Ohio, both locating first at Elyria, 
 Lorain county. For a short time Mr. 
 Williams was employed as a stage driver, 
 and during their residence in Elj'ria, one 
 child, Mary Jane, was born to them on 
 January 18, 1833. Zina Hawley, great- 
 uncle of Mrs. Williams, was at the time a 
 heavy landowner in Freedom, Portage 
 county, and through him Mr. Williams 
 was induced to remove to that localitj', 
 purchasing twenty acres of land from him, 
 and Mr. and Mrs. Williams are said to 
 have been the first two settlers in Free- 
 dom. Subsequently, while Thomas was 
 miles away from home seeking for work 
 by the day. his wife occupied her time 
 teaching a pioneer school. In this man- 
 ner the young couple made their start in 
 life, and in that place resided until the 
 building of the Atlantic & Great Western 
 railroad cut their farm through the middle. 
 Selling their property, they removed to a 
 200-acre farm they had purchased nearer 
 the village and the center of the town- 
 ship, all cleared and having good improve- 
 ments, and there they continued to reside 
 until the death of Mrs. \\'illiams, which 
 occurred April i, 1869. She had five 
 children: Mary Jane, born January 18, 
 1833, died February 9, 1838; Charles E., 
 born March 18, 1835, now a merchant in 
 Los Angeles, Cal. ; Nelson C, born April 
 2, 1839, died February 14, 1869; Wesley 
 B., subject of this notice, and Roger H., 
 born October 22, 1847, now a resident of 
 Shiocton, Outagamie county, Wisconsin. 
 Wesley B. Williams, who was born in 
 the little log house of his parents at Free- 
 dom, obtained his first knowledge of 
 agriculture on the old farm, and received 
 his education in the same locality. The 
 last school he attended was taught by 
 James A. Garfield, later the distinguished 
 soldier, statesman and President, who 
 met death at the hands of an assassin in 
 1 88 1. In 1862 young Williams came to 
 Wisconsin, securing employment in a 
 sawmill at Eureka, Winnebago county, 
 where he remained seven years, coming 
 thence to Bovina, Outagamie county, in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 761 
 
 1869, and here purchasing eighty acres of 
 wild land, inhabited only by "bears, deer 
 and Indians." Before leaving Eureka he 
 was married, on July 4, 1864, to Carrie 
 Tyler, daughter of Nelson and Lydia 
 (Sherman) Tyler, and who was born in 
 Hancock, N. Y., October 28, 1842. She 
 was one of a family of eight children: 
 Maria, Abbie, Carrie, Ellen, Harriet, 
 Lucy, Jane and William, all but two of 
 whom are still living. Mrs. Tyler's 
 father, who married Lucj- Avery, was 
 Moses Sherman, son of Moses Sherman, 
 Sr. , an early settler in New York and a 
 descendant of the Shermans of Rhode 
 Island. Nelson Tyler was a successful 
 Pennsylvania lumberman. Mr. Williams' 
 first purchase of eighty acres was almost 
 entirely cleared by himself, and to this 
 he has added from time to time until he 
 now has 400 acres, with about 275 acres 
 cleared and improved. Politically he is 
 a Republican. For fifteen years he has 
 belonged to the Masonic Order, holding 
 membership in Waverly Lodge, Apple- 
 ton. 
 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Wil- 
 liams are: Jennie, born March 14, 1871; 
 Wesley B., Jr., born June 16, 1873; 
 Clarence R. and Minnie E., both de- 
 ceased; Earl G., born October 18, 1876; 
 Norman G. , born September 27, 1879; 
 and Maud E., born October 16, 1884. 
 
 WILLIAM HANSELMAN was 
 born in Pennsylvania in 1832, a 
 son of John and Augustine Han- 
 selman, natives of Wittenberg, 
 Germany, who came to Pennsylvania, re- 
 maining for a short time and then mov- 
 ing to Ohio, where they resided until 
 1854. Tempted by the glowing accounts 
 of the fertility of the soil of Indiana, they 
 once more gathered up their belongings 
 and journeyed to the land of the ' ■ Hoos- 
 ierites. " The change proved disastrous, 
 however, for the winter following both 
 parents were laid away in the churchyard 
 where, out of their five children, three 
 
 are now Ij'ing by their side. The remain- 
 ing two are William, the subject of 
 this sketch, and Jacob Frederick, the lat- 
 ter of whom resides with his wife on a 
 well-cultivated farm in Indiana, sur- 
 rounded by their children, who have 
 grown up, married and settled near their 
 childhood home. 
 
 William Hanselman spent his boy- 
 hood days mostly in Ohio, where he re- 
 ceived his education in the public schools 
 of the vicinity of his home. At the age 
 of twenty-one he left home, and deeming 
 a trade most useful, he became a 
 thoroughly efficient carpenter and builder, 
 which business he followed until coming 
 to Wisconsin in 1882. Here the charms 
 of an agricultural life appealed to him so 
 strongl\- that he forsook his trade and 
 purchased the farm on which he now re- 
 sides. He began at once to make it an 
 ideal home, and his skill and intelligence 
 in management soon made it apparent 
 that the investment was a good one, finan- 
 ciallx' as well as otherwise. When Mr. 
 Hanselman came from Indiana he brought 
 the machinery of a stationary sawmill, 
 and setting it up at once he began a 
 thriving business; later adding a planing- 
 mill to the sawmill, his patronage in- 
 creased, and to this day his mills afford 
 him a handsome income. Originally his 
 farm covered 128 acres, but desiring to 
 assist his son and encourage his taste for 
 agriculture he deeded him forty acres, 
 which was duly appreciated as its high 
 state of cultivation bears witness. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Hanselman was married 
 to Miss Mary E. Conn, daughter of 
 David and .\nnie (Burnham) Conn, well- 
 to-do farmers of Pennsylvania; she was 
 born in 1836, and was one of ten chil- 
 dren, of whom five girls and three boys 
 are yet living, viz. : Lucetta, a widow, 
 now living in Indiana; Mary, who mar- 
 ried Mr. Hanselman; Asahel, Ruth, Henry, 
 Christian, Susan and David, all of whom 
 but the last named are married and reside 
 in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Hanselman are 
 the parents of seven children, five of 
 
762 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ■whom are now living. The eldest and 
 youngest have "gone before" to join 
 their honored grandparents. The eldest 
 living son, John W. , who married Ros- 
 anna Geitelinger, has a family of five 
 children, and lives on a farm adjoining 
 his father; Elizabeth married E. H. 
 Wiseley, the postmaster of Royal Center, 
 Ind., and they have three children, all 
 daughters; Jacob F. is married to Miss 
 Emma Zuhlke, a daughter of one of the 
 prominent farmers of the town of Dale, 
 and they have one son, Jacob, living on 
 the farm with his father. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hanselman have but two children at home 
 now, Lillie and David. 
 
 GEORGE WIESELER, a prosper- 
 ous and progressive young farmer 
 of Ellington, Outagamie county, 
 was born in Luxemburg, Ger- 
 many, March 14, 1859. 
 
 Theodore Wieseler, father of George, 
 was a native of the same place, born in 
 1827, and his parents being in poor cir- 
 cumstances, he was obliged to find em- 
 ployment where he could get it, in conse- 
 quence of which his educational advant- 
 ages were very limited, although he re- 
 ceived a few years' training in the public 
 schools. In icS66 he came with his 
 parents to America, locating in Milwau- 
 kee, Wis., where they remained only one 
 year; then removed to Appleton. Wis., 
 where Theodore worked until 1875, when 
 he came into possession of the farm which 
 our subject now owns and lives upon. 
 He was married to Miss Annie Pesham, 
 also a native of Germany, who died in 
 1874, at the age of thirty-five years, and 
 they had four children: Joseph, Annie, 
 Mary and George. Coming to this coun- 
 try a poor man, Theodore Wieseler has, 
 by dint of hard labor and close attention 
 to business, acquired a comfortable prop- 
 erty. In politics he is a Democrat, in re- 
 ligion a Catholic. 
 
 George Wieseler, the subject of this 
 sketch, received a good common-school 
 
 education in the city of Appleton, Wis., 
 and when he was sixteen years of age 
 moved with his parents to Ellington town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, where they lo- 
 cated upon a farm. He assisted his 
 father in the farm work until 1882, when 
 he married Miss Katharine Schilhalbel, 
 and started out in life for himself. Mrs. 
 Wieseler was born in Center, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis., in January, 1862, a daughter 
 of Wenzel and Katharine Schilhalbel, of 
 Bohemian descent, who came to the 
 United States in the "fifties." Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wieseler are the parents of six 
 children, named respectively: Anna, 
 Joseph, Edward, Mamie, Theresa and 
 Nicholas, and they take an active interest 
 in their education. Just before his mar- 
 riage Mr. Wieseler purchased from his 
 father his present farm, since which time 
 he has materially improved the same, 
 erected good, substantial buildings, and 
 he is regarded by his townspeople as a 
 model farmer. In politics and religion he 
 follows in the footsteps of his father. 
 
 LOUIS CONKLIN (deceased), who 
 in his lifetime stood in the front 
 rank of the wealthy, successful 
 farmers of Seymour township, 
 Outagamie county, was born October 7, 
 1840, at Palermo, Oswego Co., N. Y. , 
 son of N. S. Conklin, and came with his 
 parents to Wisconsin in September, 1849, 
 their first location being at Neosho, 
 Dodge county. 
 
 In 1861 Louis Conklin enlisted in the 
 Seventh Wisconsin Light Artillery, and 
 remained in the army until April 8, 1863, 
 when he received an honorable discharge 
 on account of disability. He participated 
 in the siege and capture of New Madrid, 
 the capture of Island No. 10, and the 
 engagement at Parker's Cross Roads, 
 where he was wounded December 31, 
 1862, after which he remained in hospital 
 until his discharge. On June 10, 1863, 
 he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Bessie M. Nolton, daughter of W. B. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 763 
 
 and Alma (Persons) Nolton, and im- 
 mediately afterward removed to Seymour 
 township, Outagamie county, purchasing 
 320 acres of land (for which he paid two 
 dollars an acre), where he has ever since 
 made his home. Mrs. Bessie M. Conklin 
 passed from earth October 8, 1884, and 
 was buried in Seymour cemetery, and on 
 May 24, 1885, Mr. Conklin wedded Miss 
 Mary A. Ruston, daughter of Robert and 
 Ann (Kitson) Ruston, the former of whom 
 is a well-to-do farmer of Seymour town- 
 ship. This union has been blessed with 
 children as follows: Louis, born April 
 23, 1886; Roscoe, born February 27, 
 1888; Bessie, born August 20, 1890; 
 Rachel, .born July 26, 1892; and John, 
 born December 30, 1893. Mr. Conklin 
 devoted his entire attention to his farm, 
 and met with unlimited success in his 
 chosen vocation, becoming one of the 
 most substantial and influential citizens 
 in his township. 
 
 In January, 1894, Mr. Conklin and 
 family went South, he purchasing a farm 
 in Arkansas where he intended to make 
 his future home, and he left his family 
 there while he returned to Seymour, 
 Wis., in the following April. In June, 
 same year, he once more proceeded to 
 Arkansas, where he was taken sick, and 
 after five weeks' illness he again came to 
 Seymour, arriving August 23, 1894, his 
 friends all thinking he would recover, but 
 these hopes were not realized, for Mr. 
 Conklin rapidly got worse, and died Sep- 
 tember 14, 1894, leaving a widow and 
 five children; he was buried in Seymour 
 cemetery. 
 
 FJ. SOLAR. If the power to do 
 hard work is not talent, it is the 
 best possible substitute for it. 
 Things do not turn up in this 
 world until somebody turns them up. "A 
 pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck. " 
 Luck is an iffiiis fatuus — you may follow 
 it to ruin but never to success. It is in- 
 dustry and perseverance alone that lead 
 
 to success, as in the case of the gentle- 
 man whose name is here recorded. 
 
 Mr. Solar is yet in the prime of early 
 manhood, having been born in 1854. He 
 is a native of Oswego county, N. Y. , and 
 son of M. and Margaret (Gray) Solar, the 
 father born in New York State of Ger- 
 man ancestry, the mother in Ireland. In 
 1855 they came to W'isconsin, making 
 their home in Manitowoc, where for some 
 years the father carried on building oper- 
 ations, as well as milling. They are now 
 residents of Kaukauna, as are also their 
 five children, as follows: W. H., store- 
 keeper in the railroad shops; F. J., sub- 
 ject of sketch; T. M., a builder and con- 
 tractor; Maggie, wife of F. H. Hayes; 
 and Hannah, wife of M. C. Connors, in 
 the real-estate and insurance business in 
 Kaukauna. 
 
 F. J. Solar, whose name introduces 
 this sketch, received his education at the 
 schools of Manitowoc, and at the age of 
 seventeen he started out to seek his for- 
 tune, and landing in Little Chute, there 
 worked for Mr. R. Bearteau in the hub 
 and spoke factory for about two years, 
 after which he followed the business at 
 Seymour, Centralia and other points 
 several years. In 1883 he returned to 
 Kaukauna, and for about two years fol- 
 lowed the building business, as foreman 
 for T. M. Sales. In 1885 he, with F. M. 
 Charlesworth, purchased the lumber yard 
 then operated by T. M. Solar, which was 
 run under the firm name of F. J. Solar & 
 Co., after changed to F. J. Solar. This 
 business he, in 1892, sold out to F. H. 
 Hayes, who is now carrying it on. In 
 February of that year Mr. Solar, in com- 
 pany with Mr. Charlesworth, commenced 
 his present industry — the manufacture of 
 fanning mills — in which venture he has 
 met with the most encouraging success — 
 a success that can not fail to come to a 
 man of his untiring industry. The build- 
 ing, which is situated on the Green Bay 
 and Mississippi Canal Company Water 
 Power, was completed in the fall of 1893, 
 and in March, following year, business 
 
764 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 was regularly commenced. At the present 
 writing twelve hands find steady employ- 
 ment all the year round. 
 
 In September, 1S84, Mr. Solar was 
 united in marriage at Grand Rapids, \^'is. , 
 to illiss Maria Reeves, of that town, and 
 daughter of Seth and Libby (Roblin) 
 Reeves, the father a native of England, 
 where he was by profession an account- 
 ant, but in this country carried on a lum- 
 ber business at Grand Rapids, \\'is. , 
 where he and his wife are yet living. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Solar have been born three 
 children, named respecti\ely: Frank 
 It2til, Laura Margaret and Reeves. Mrs. 
 Solar is a member of the Congregational 
 Church at Grand Rapids. Mr. Solar is 
 a stanch Republican, active in the inter- 
 ests of the party, and in society matters 
 he is a member of Kaukauna Lodge No. 
 233, F. & A. M., and of the Chapter at 
 Appleton. 
 
 JOHN KNAPSTEIN, the only repre- 
 sentative in Green\ille township, 
 Outagamie county, of one of her 
 earliest pioneer families, is a native 
 of that township, born September 4, 
 1863, fourth son and seventh child in the 
 family of Mathias Knapstein. 
 
 His education was acquired in the 
 conmion district schools that flourished in 
 those days, and he was engaged in agri- 
 culture on the home farm continuously 
 until his marriage, which took place Mav 
 28, 1889, in Green Bay township. Brown 
 Co., Wis., his bride being Miss Marj- 
 Basten, a native of Bay Settlement, 
 Brown county, daughter of Jacob Basten. 
 After another year spent on the farm with 
 his father he located at Greenville Sta- 
 tion, and bought out the business of 
 Anton Becker, which he has since con- 
 ducted, in addition ha\ing charge of the 
 postoffice at Becker. He also has ac- 
 commodations for travelers, and is a dealer 
 in all kinds of grain. 
 
 Mr. Knapstein is an enterprising 3'oung 
 citizen, and every project for the welfare 
 
 and advancement of the interests of his 
 section receives his hearty approval and 
 encouragement. In politics he is a life- 
 long Democrat, and in religious faith he 
 and his wife are members of St. Mary's 
 Catholic Church in Greenville township. 
 The\- have had three children: Willie, 
 Hattie and Theodore. 
 
 JOHN LOXKEY, a progressive and 
 well-to-do farmer, of Bovina town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, was born 
 March 7, 1828, near Montreal, 
 Canada, a son of John and Esther Lon- 
 key. The father, who was a successful 
 lumberman, reared a familj' of nine chil- 
 dren: John. Esther, Eliza, Ellen, Frank, 
 Emily, Joseph, Oliver and Mary, all of 
 whom, except John, remained at home 
 until they reached adult age. In 1842 
 the family removed to Massena, N. Y. , 
 where a farm of sixty acres of good land 
 was purchased. Upon that the parents 
 lived until the father was about sixty-five 
 years of age, when they went west as far 
 as Uundas, Rice Co., Minn., where they 
 purchased a house and lot, and spent the 
 remainder of their lives, the father dying 
 at the age of eighty-four years, the mother 
 when eighty-one. 
 
 On January 26. 185(5. John Lonkey 
 was married to Nancy Jeannette De Shaw, 
 daughter of Joseph and Juliette De Shaw, 
 the former of whom, who was a Frenchman, 
 had spent many years trading among the 
 Indians, and also assisted in building Fort 
 Howard, at the head of Green Bay. Mrs. 
 Lonkey was one of a family of twelve 
 children — Joseph, Sophia, Ellen. John. 
 Frank. Emily, William, Gilbert, Nancy, 
 Eliza, Ellick, Fann\' — all of whom re- 
 mained at home until they married. 
 Nancy (Mrs. Lonkey) was born in Brasher, 
 St. Lawrence Co.. N. Y. . December 25, 
 1832. After their marriage Mr. Lonkey 
 and his wife lived on a rented farm for a 
 time, then built on land owned by them- 
 selves, and occupied it a number of years. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 765 
 
 Sellinpf the property, they came west to 
 lona, Mich., where they lived two and a 
 half years, but during the whole time 
 suffered from ague. After that experi- 
 ence, the}' once more set forth, and, 
 coming directly to Bovina, in June, 1867, 
 bought and paid for eighty acres of un- 
 improved land, upon which they settled. 
 Deer used to come up close to the house 
 and look at it in wonder. They built a 
 log house a Httle larger than those ordin- 
 arily erected by the settlers, it being 
 22 X26 feet in dimensions, first having to 
 clear a space large enough for it; the 
 present frame residence, erected in 1883, 
 occupies the same site. The family had 
 brought a team of horses from New York, 
 together with a lumber wagon, and these 
 proved of the utmost convenience when 
 it was necessarj' to go to Appleton for 
 supplies. Mr. Lonkey, when they first 
 came, drove up from Milwaukee, his wife 
 coming by rail, leaving Appleton at ten 
 o'clock and arriving at Shiocton at seven. 
 The work of clearing was at once begun, 
 and as soon as possible crops of potatoes, 
 corn, and spring wheat were put in the 
 ground. Mr. Lonkey was the fortunate 
 possessor of a plow, a drag and a sickle, 
 the latter being used in cutting the new 
 crop when it was ready for harvest. 
 
 Working with his team during the 
 winters in the lumber woods, and giving 
 the rest of his time to his farm, he finally 
 saw the place put in a condition to yield 
 good returns. In 1890 he bought an ad- 
 ditional eighty-acre tract, and now has an 
 excellent farm. Mr. Lonkey was never 
 allowed the privilege of attending school, 
 considering which, he has achieved re- 
 markable success. Politically he is a 
 Republican. His wife is a member of the 
 .Congregational Church. Their living 
 children are: Rosella (now Mrs. Henry 
 Jones, of Appleton); Joseph' (a mill fore- 
 man at Eagle River, Wis.); George (in 
 business in Shiocton); John and Jay; the 
 eldest, Ellen, died when nineteen years 
 of age, Mary when sixteen, Effie May at 
 six, and one in infancy. 
 
 ED. S. HAGEN (deceased) was a 
 native of Scotland, born near the 
 city of Glasgow, and removed 
 thence to Ireland, where in early- 
 manhood he married Mary Trimpleton. 
 Three children were born to them in the 
 old country — Agnes, Eliza and James T. 
 — and in March, 1840, the family crossed 
 the Atlantic to America, taking up their 
 home in Franklin county, N. Y. Here 
 Mr. Hagen engaged in farming, also fol- 
 lowing his trade, shoemaking, and here 
 the rest of his children were born, as fol- 
 lows: Hugh, William, Wellington, Muir, 
 and George. 
 
 In 1859 the family came to Horton- 
 ville, Outagamie Co., Wis., where the 
 father followed his trade one year, and in 
 1 860 purchased seventy acres of wild 
 land in Section 5, Town 21, Greenville 
 township, on which he made the first im- 
 provements. The sons gave their time 
 to clearing and cultivating the farm, Mr. 
 Hagen continuing to work at his trade in 
 Hortonville for a few years longer, until 
 the place yielded a good income, and here 
 he passed the remainder of his days, be- 
 ing called to his last resting-place in 
 January, 1879. He took an active inter- 
 est in the questions of his day, and was 
 a Republican and a strong Abolitionist. 
 In religious faith he was a Presbyterian 
 during his early life, but at the time of his 
 death was a member of the Congrega- 
 tional Church, of the Sunday-school of 
 which he was superintendent for many 
 years. His widow lived with her eldest 
 daughter, in Trempealeau county. Wis., 
 and at her death, which occurred in April, 
 1884, five years after that of her husband, 
 she was laid to rest beside him in Hor- 
 tonville. 
 
 Hugh Hagen, the second son of this 
 honored couple, was born November 6, 
 1 84 1, in Franklin county, N. Y., and 
 was but a youth at the time his par- 
 ents removed to Wisconsin. His edu- 
 cation was completed in the schools of 
 Hortonville, and he worked on the home 
 farm until his enlistment, January i. 
 
766 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1864, at Oshkosh, in Company I, Thirty- 
 second Regiment Wis. V. I., and was 
 sent with the command to Memphis, 
 Tenn. He saw his first active service at 
 Atlanta, subsequently following the for- 
 tunes of his regiment until March 21, 
 
 1865, when he was wounded in the left 
 leg, below the knee, by a ball, and re- 
 mained eight months in hospital. On 
 October 31, 1865, he received his dis- 
 charge at Madison, Wis., and returned to 
 the farm, which he has never since left. 
 
 On April 2, 1868, Mr. Hagen was 
 married, in Appleton, Wis., to Miss 
 Jeanette Barclay, who was born October 
 18, 1 84 1, in New York State, of Scotch 
 parentage, a daughter of Lawrence Bar- 
 clay. Seven children have blessed this 
 union, as follows: Robert E. (of Iron 
 River. Mich.), Clara, Mamie, Anna, and 
 Hugh, Jr., living; and Dewey and Allie, 
 deceased. In 1863 Mr. Hagen bought 
 fifty acres of land, going in debt for it, 
 and now owns 117 acres of prime land, 
 which, under his skillful management, has 
 been developed from a wilderness to a 
 beautiful farm. Mr. Hagen possesses the 
 sturdy integrity, pluck and determination 
 which are such marked traits of the 
 Scotch-Irish character, and which are al- 
 ways a guarantee for good citizenship and 
 progress. He is well-known among his 
 fellow citizens in Greenville township, 
 who, as a mark of their confidence in his 
 worth and ability, have chosen him to fill 
 several township offices, and he has 
 served creditably as township chairman 
 and supervisor. In political sentiment he 
 is a Republican, and, like his father, is a 
 Congregationalist in religious connection, 
 affiliating with the church at Hortonville. 
 
 DYTON ALANSON COLLAR, a 
 well-known resident of Horton- 
 ville, Outagamie county, is a son 
 of Lucius Collar, who was for so 
 many years identified with the interests of 
 this section as a popular hotel-keeper. 
 The Collar family is of English origin. 
 
 the early ancestors in this country having 
 come from their native England in an 
 early day and settled in Connecticut, later 
 removing to Pennsylvania. Grandfather 
 Alanson Collar was a soldier in the Revo- 
 lutionary war, and a typical specimen of 
 the New Englander of that day, strong, 
 active, and possessed of great counige 
 and powers of endurance. For his ser- 
 vices in the army he received a grant of 
 land in New York State, and after the 
 close of the struggle he removed thither, 
 taking up the occupation of his fore- 
 fathers — farming. He passed away at 
 the age of sixty years, leaving two sons, 
 Lucius (father of our subject) and Warren 
 (who resides in Markesan, Wisconsin). 
 
 Lucius Collar was reared at Howard, 
 Steuben Co., N. Y., receiving his educa- 
 tion in the district schools of that locality, 
 and subsequently ran boats on the Erie 
 canal up to the time of his marriage, in 
 1850, to Miss Susan Mantor. Shortly 
 after that event he removed to Wisconsin, 
 where in Winneconne, Winnebago county, 
 he entered 160 acres of land, selling that, 
 however, in 1853, and removing to Hor- 
 tonville, where he passed the rest of his 
 busy life. He first bought the old " Hor- 
 tonia Hotel," now known as the " Arling- 
 ton," and then bought the hotel situated 
 one block west, the " Briggs House," and 
 changing the name to the "Hortonia ' 
 conducted it for many years. In fact, 
 with the exception of one year spent on a 
 farm in Caledonia township, Waupaca 
 Co., Wis., he was always engaged in the 
 hotel business after his removal to Wis- 
 consin, and was widely and favorably 
 known to the traveling public in this sec- 
 tion, his happy, cheerful face and portly 
 form being welcomed wherever known. 
 He owned considerable property in and 
 around Hortonville, and finally traded 
 the " Hortonia Hotel" for a farm, and 
 built the "Belmont, ''now the "Arlington," 
 but just as it had been completed, all but 
 the lettering, he died, on November 4, 
 1875, from a stroke of apoplexy, in New 
 London, whither he had gone to make 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 767 
 
 arrangements for the lettering. After his 
 decease his widow bought the • ' Hortonia, " 
 and conducted it up to within a year of 
 her death, when she retired to New Lon- 
 don, and passed away there May 18, 
 1886. She was a woman of unusual abil- 
 ity and executive capacity, and proved 
 herself competent to carry on the business, 
 making it a signal success. She was a 
 daughter of Thomas Mantor, a native of 
 New England, born of English descent, 
 who settled in Tioga county, Penn., 
 where he followed farming. His father 
 was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
 Susan was one of a family of three chil- 
 dren, and was educated in the schools of 
 New York State, whither she removed in 
 early life, and where she married: she 
 became the mother of eight children, viz. : 
 Dyton A. (whose name opens this sketch), 
 Morris W., Lucius A., Charles W. , S. A. 
 Douglas (deceased), Susan A., Barney 
 E., and Jennie P. (deceased). 
 
 Dyton Alanson Collar was born June 
 22, 1851, in Howard, Steuben Co., N. 
 Y., was brought by his parents to Hor- 
 tonville when but an infant, and here has 
 passed his entire life. He obtained a 
 practical education in the common schools 
 of the home district, and in early man- 
 hood engaged in farming for six years. 
 Later he opened a general merchandising 
 business in Hortonville, which he con- 
 ducted successfully for six years, after- 
 ward building the "Collar Block, "where 
 he was engaged in business two years; 
 for two years he kept the " Delmonico 
 Hotel." Mr. Collar has been deputy 
 sheriff of Outagamie county for a number 
 of years, having been first appointed by 
 Sheriff A. B. Everts, and receiving re-ap- 
 pointment under Sheriffs James Lenon, 
 James Golden, Fred Hoefer, Patrick Lenon 
 and Thomas Dardis. He is a stanch 
 Democrat in political preference, and is a 
 leader of the party in his locality, taking 
 great interest in its success. On Novem- 
 ber 25, 1872, Mr. Collar was married, in 
 Hortonville, to Miss Anna Smith, daugh- 
 ter of Frederick Smith, of New I,ondon, 
 
 and their union has been blessed with 
 three children, namely: Ina A., Lucius 
 A. and Charles Ed., all of whom are gifted 
 with musical talent. The family reside 
 in the comfortable residence on Mill street. 
 Socially Mr. Collar is prominently identi- 
 fied with the L O. O. F. , in which he has 
 passed all the chairs, and is Past Grand of 
 the local lodge. 
 
 LOUIS MUELLER, an enterprising, 
 progressive farmer-citizen of Sey- 
 mour township, Outagamie county, 
 is a son of Charles and grandson 
 of Christopher and Sophia Mueller, who 
 reared a family of twelve children. 
 
 Charles Mueller was born in 181 1, in 
 Bavaria, Germany, where he was reared 
 to manhood and learned the trade of tan- 
 ner. In 1843 he came to America, and 
 after working at his trade in various places 
 for about two years returned to Germany, 
 where he remained two years, at the end 
 of that time coming with his wife and four 
 children — Christopher, Louis, Paulina and 
 Elizabeth — to Ontario, Canada, where 
 he passed the remainder of his life, dying 
 in 1869. After his death his widow con- 
 tinued to reside in Ontario, living with 
 her sons (the daughters are both de- 
 ceased), and at the present time is mak- 
 ing her home with her eldest son, Chris- 
 topher. 
 
 Louis Mueller was born July 16, 1843, 
 in Germany, and received in his youth a 
 good common-school education. On Sep- 
 tember 26, 1866, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Julia Schwab, daughter 
 of George and Catherine (Hose) Schwab, 
 and their union was blessed with eight 
 children, namely: Ferdinand, Arthur, 
 Walter, Mathilda, Alfred, Edmund, Louis 
 and Richard, of whom Arthur and Ma- 
 thilda are deceased. In 1872 Mr. Muel- 
 ler came to Outagamie county. Wis., 
 and in Seymour township purchased 
 thirty acres of land (for which he paid 
 $23.50 per acre), which was cleared, but 
 had scarcely any improvements in the 
 
768 
 
 COMMEMORAriVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 way of buildiuf^s. Six years later he 
 bought forty acres (adjoining his first 
 purchase), for which he paid $42. 50 per 
 acre, and four years later he bought eighty 
 acres, lying two miles from his residence, 
 and he devotes his principal attention to 
 the ciiltivating and improving of his farm, 
 its fine appearance giving ample proof of 
 his ability as an agriculturist. During 
 his earlier years he learned the carpen- 
 ter's trade, which he has found very use- 
 ful in all his work. Mr. Mueller is one 
 of tlic ablest and most highh' esteemed 
 citizens in his township, where he has 
 been elected to \arious offices of trust, 
 discharging his duties in a creditable and 
 very satisfactory manner. His success 
 in his vocation may be attributed to his 
 systematic industry and good manage- 
 ment, as well as faithful attention to all 
 the details of his farm work. 
 
 GEORGE W. PUTNEY, a highly 
 esteemed farmer-citizen of Grand 
 Chute township, Outagamie 
 county, is a native of New York 
 State, born April 4, 1837, in Otsego 
 county. 
 
 His father. Alpha Putney, also a far- 
 mer by occupation, was born in Mass- 
 achusetts, residing in his native place un- 
 til he reached maturity, and then remov- 
 ing to Kingston, N. Y. , where he married 
 Eunice Braman. He owned a stone 
 quarry near Kingston, shipping large 
 quantities of stone to New York City. In 
 the summer of 1847 he set out for Wis- 
 consin, journeying via the Erie canal to 
 BufTalo, and around the lakes to his des- 
 tination, at which time the country was 
 entirely new. He located on a farm in 
 the vicinity of Oconomowoc, Wis., near 
 his brother, Samuel C. Putney, and after 
 living there three years removed with his 
 family to Appleton, Outagamie count\% 
 which town had just been started, a few 
 straggling houses occupying the site of 
 the now thriving city. Mr. Putney 
 bought a tract of eighty acres in Grand 
 
 Chute township, which is now about 
 one mile west of the city limits, later add- 
 ing twenty acres more. The purchase 
 was made in September, 1850, and his 
 son George at once commenced clearing 
 away the underbrush and getting read)' 
 for chopping, this being the first labor of 
 the kind put on the land. The tract cost 
 three hundred and fifty dollars, of which 
 the sum of two hundred and fift}' dollars 
 was paid by clearing and fencing land at 
 ten dollars per acre, the other one hundred 
 dollars by building a barn for the former 
 owner on other land. Mrs. Putney died 
 in New York State in 1834, leaving six 
 children, as follows: Erastus D., who 
 died afterward in Minnesota; James B., 
 who died as a result of service in the 
 army; Alpha, who died from the effects of 
 wounds received in the army; George W., 
 our subject; Asahel D., who resides thir- 
 ty miles east of St. Paul; Hannah now Mrs. 
 Lucien I^. Bishop, of Madison county, N. 
 Y. After some years spent in Grand 
 Chute Mr. Putney removed to Appleton, 
 where he was again married, this time to 
 Mrs. Shaes. In 1875 he returned to New 
 York, where he died in 1888, aged eighty- 
 six years and four months, and his re- 
 mains now rest in the town of Fenner, 
 near Cazenovia, Madison county, N. Y. 
 He had previously, in 1887, paid a visit 
 to his former Wisconsin home. In polit- 
 ical affiliation he was a Jackson Demo- 
 crat, but not active in party affairs. He 
 was a person of the strictest integrity, and 
 was highly respected wherever known. 
 His education was of the eminently prac- 
 tical kind, and he was an indefatigable 
 reader, and was possessed of a wonder- 
 fully retentive memory. Physically he 
 was of medium size, and blessed with re- 
 markable vitality. 
 
 George W. Putnej' was reared a 
 farmer boy, and while in New York at- 
 tended the common schools of his neigh- 
 borhood. He was a lad of about twelve 
 years when he came to Wisconsin, and 
 only in his fifteenth year when the family 
 removed to Outagamie count\'. On first 
 
%/ 
 
 X 
 
 w.- 
 
 
 ^^-^J^^^w 
 
COMMEMUliATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL liECOliD. 
 
 // ' 
 
 coming to Grand Chute township he 
 walked the entire distance from Ocono- 
 niowoc to Fond du Lac, thence journey- 
 ing b}' boat to Neenah, and thence on 
 foot to the farm, which, as already stated, 
 he assisted to clear. In later years he 
 attended school and acquired a fair edu- 
 cation; spent his winters in the lumber 
 woods, and followed the river like other 
 young men of the time, enduring with 
 them the common hardships. He had 
 assisted his father to a home, his first 
 earnings amounting to ten dollars per 
 month, and he waited six months for his 
 pay. The first land he ever owned was 
 1 60 acres in Portage county. Wis. ; but he 
 never lived upon it, and finally sold it. In 
 1857 he married Susan Perry, and be- 
 gan keeping house on land rented of 
 E. C. Goff, where he engaged in farming 
 and stock raising. He saved his money, 
 bought and sold horses and cattle, handled 
 a threshing machine fourteen consecutive 
 years, and has been remarkably successful 
 in his chosen calling, now owning 216 
 acres of excellent farm land, and a hand- 
 some residence. He is an able financier, 
 and has been uniformh' fortunate in all 
 his business ventures, each succeeding 
 year finding him in a better condition 
 than the previous one. Instead of the 
 proverbial luck, it has been prudent sa- 
 gacity and careful attention to his affairs 
 that have accomplished the result. While 
 not now an active farmer, he personally 
 supervises his extensive farming interests. 
 He has risen from a beginning of extreme 
 hardship and toil to his present position 
 by using his intellect as well as his hands. 
 As a citizen he is thoroughh' respected; 
 as a farmer he has few equals, and all his 
 transactions are based on modern, enter- 
 prising ideas. He is a Democrat in poli- 
 tics, but n(3t so strong a partisan as to 
 prevent him from selecting the best men 
 for office. To Mr. and Mrs. Putney 
 were born children as follows: F"red E., 
 a farmer of Greenville township; Arthur 
 S., in Duluth, Minn.; Lester E., a farmer 
 of Grand Chute; and Cora B. 
 43 
 
 CHARLES CLACK, an influential 
 citizen of Freedom to\\nship, 
 Outagamie county, is an English- 
 man by birth, having first seen 
 the light February 18, 1857, in Oxford- 
 shire, England. 
 
 His father, also named Charles (a 
 shoemaker by trade), had by his first wife 
 a family of nine children, five of whom 
 accompanied him to the United States in 
 1867, the family settling in Dodge coun- 
 ty, Wis., where the father yet resides. 
 Having but two hundred dollars with 
 which to commence his life in the New 
 World, Mr. Clack worked at his trade for 
 one year, and then commenced farming, 
 in which he has since been engaged, be- 
 ing now one of the prosperous and highh- 
 respected farmer citizens of his section. 
 His first wife died in England, and he 
 married his present wife after coming to 
 the United States. 
 
 When ten years old Charles Clack 
 came with his father to Wisconsin, and 
 here received a fair education in the dis- 
 trict schools, remaining under the pater- 
 nal roof until he reached the age of 
 twenty-two. On November 16, 1878, he 
 was married, in Freedom township, Out- 
 agamie county, to Miss Anna Bridge, 
 who was a native of the State of Illinois, 
 and daughter of Robert Bridge; the latter 
 emigrated from his native England to the 
 United States early in the " forties," and 
 was among the early settlers of Milwau- 
 kee, Wis., then an insignificant town. 
 He passed through northern Wisconsin 
 several years before settling finally in 
 Freedom township, Outagamie county, 
 where he engaged in farming, and became 
 a successful, well-to-do citizen, highly re- 
 spected by all who know him. He is now 
 living retired on his farm, making his 
 home with his son-in-law, our subject. 
 After his marriage Mr. Clark came to 
 Outagamie county and commenced farm- 
 ing on rented land in Secton 20, Free- 
 dom township, owned by his father-in- 
 law. He now owns 1 86 acres of land, 
 and manages altogether 344 acres, includ- 
 
772 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ing the farm of his father-in-law. He is 
 a true type of the active, progressive, 
 self-made farmer, and the manner in 
 which he conducts his affairs gives ample 
 evidence of his ability in his chosen voca- 
 tion. A Republican in political sympa- 
 thy, he is a local leader in his party, and 
 has served continuously since 1887 as 
 chairman of his township, proving himself 
 a faithful and competent official, as \Vell 
 as a public-spirited citizen. Pleasant 
 and agreeable in manner, he has won for 
 himself a high position in the community 
 in whose advancement and welfare he 
 takes so active an interest. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Clack have been born four children: 
 Edith, John, Ella and Robert, all living. 
 They are members of the Congregational 
 Church. 
 
 ELNATHAN G. CARPENTER,one 
 of the most popular and success- 
 ful stock-farmers in Outagamie 
 county, was born at Rosendale, 
 Fond du Lac Co. , Wis. , December 30, 1856. 
 His grandparents were pioneer farm- 
 ers in Vermont, but removed to Wells- 
 boro, Penn., where Chancey (father of 
 our subject) was born March 20, 181 8. 
 He was reared on his parents' farm, and 
 received a good common-school educa- 
 tion, remaining at home until 1856, 
 when he came to Fond du Lac county, 
 Wis. Here he purchased 120 acres of 
 land, which he cultivated for three years; 
 then came to Hortonia, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, and bought eighty acres of timbered 
 land, which he cleared and prepared for 
 cultivation. Locating there permanently, 
 he subsequently obtained more land on 
 which he erected good buildings, and be- 
 came unusually prosperous, being an e.\- 
 cellent manager and a careful financier. 
 His political views were in favor of the 
 Democratic party. In 1838 he married 
 Miss Annie M. Losinger, daughter of John 
 and Katharine (Hubbard) Losinger, the 
 former of whom was a native of Germany, 
 the latter of Pennsyhania, where Mrs. 
 
 Carpenter was born July 27, 1820. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Chancey Carpenter were 
 born nine children, namely: Bennett, 
 who died in the army in i 865 ; Emilv, now 
 Mrs. Benjamin, of Adrian, N. Dak. ; 
 Sarah, who died April 11, 1891, aged 
 forty-seven years; Charles and Andrew 
 now residents of Adrian, N. Dak. ; Fan- 
 nie, now Mrs. George Bowe, also of the 
 same place; Elnathan, our subject: Jona- 
 than, now a resident of Hayward, Wis., 
 and H. L. Carpenter, residing in Dickey, 
 N. Dak. The mother died at her home 
 in Outagamie county, in 1873. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch 
 was brought up on a farm, and has fol- 
 lowed agricultural pursuits the greater 
 part of his life. At the age of twenty- 
 years he left home, and for three years 
 followed various vocations, and in 1879 
 purchased the farm he now owns and 
 lives on in the town of Dale, Outagamie 
 county. He commenced life entirely un- 
 assisted, but by hard work, strict economy 
 and good management has become the 
 owner of an excellent eighty-acre farm 
 which is now all cleared and well stocked 
 with pure-bred animals. He is well- 
 known throughout the country as a 
 thoroughly reliable stock man, and ex- 
 periences no difficulty in securing a mar- 
 ket for any amount of stock which he 
 wishes to dispose of; his specialties are 
 Poland-China hogs, Holstein cattle and 
 Shropshire sheep, and his market is not 
 confined to the locality in which he lives, 
 but includes the entire State and the sur- 
 rounding States. Mr. Carpenter is a 
 temperate man with simple, inexpensive 
 habits, and his prosperity may be attrib- 
 uted, in a great measure, to his close ap- 
 plication to business. He was married 
 in 1884 to Miss Jennie Peebles, who was 
 born in the town of Ellington, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis., May 3, 1865, a daughter of 
 Orin and Margaret (Frazer) Peebles, na- 
 tives of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Car- 
 penter have four children, named respect- 
 ively: Charles, Carrie, Mvrtie and 
 Flavilla. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 773 
 
 JACOB JONEN (deceased) was a na- 
 tive of Cologne, on the Rhine, Ger- 
 many, and was born in 1 8 1 8. When 
 a young man he and his brother and 
 three sisters accompanied their parents — 
 Michael and Anna Jonen — to America, 
 where his brother died. His father 
 secured a homestead in Milwaukee county. 
 Town 8, Wisconsin, and he found work 
 on a farm near by. The parents lived to 
 be nearly one hundred years old. 
 
 In 1855 our subject purchased 160 
 acres of land from the Fox River Canal 
 Company, and the following year com- 
 menced to clear and get the ground ready 
 for cultivation, subsequently building a 
 house, and then looked about him for a 
 wife. His choice fell upon the person of 
 Miss Elizabeth Haupt, a daughter of Peter 
 and Gertrude (Joachemnich) Haupt, na- 
 tives of Cologne, Germany, and they were 
 married in April, 1861. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Haupt, accompanied by their daughter 
 Elizabeth, emigrated to America in the 
 spring of 1844, settling on a farm five 
 miles east of what is now the flourishing 
 city of Milwaukee, and which then con- 
 sisted of two houses. He could have 
 purchased half of East Milwaukee for 
 fifty dollars, it being then a howling 
 wilderness, through which wild animals 
 roamed at pleasure. In 1857 the family 
 moved to Buchanan township, Outa- 
 gamie county, where Mr. Haupt bought 
 160 acres of land, for which he paid ten 
 shillings per acre. Assisted by twenty 
 men, he cut the road through to his farm 
 for many miles, and two and one-half 
 miles he cut with only the help of his 
 sons, who were still boys. He died in 
 1892, at the age of seventy-four years; 
 his widow, now seventy-five years old, 
 lives with her son Peter, in Kaukauna; she 
 has property there, and in addition owns 
 a fine eighty-acre farm. She is the mother 
 of ten children, viz. : Elizabeth, who 
 married our subject; Ferdinand, who was 
 drowned in the Fox river; John; Jennie; 
 Joseph and Tony (twins), the latter of 
 whom is dead; Peter; J. Baptist; Frank 
 
 (deceased), and Mary. Jacob Jonen, 
 after his marriage, took his wife to Kau- 
 kauna, where they resided on a farm until 
 his death, which occurred May 23, 1887, 
 when he was aged sixty-nine years. He 
 was the father of eleven children, viz. : 
 Anna, wife of Mathias Schoomer, of Kau- 
 kauna; Michael, married to Minnie Hin- 
 dermister, of Kaukauna; Gertrude, wife 
 of Henry Nack, of Shebojgan; Kate, wife 
 of John Hilgers, of Texas; Sophia and 
 William, deceased; Peter; Mary; Henry; 
 Helena, and Trac}\ 
 
 Mr. Jonen was a respected member of 
 of the Roman Catholic Church of Little 
 Chute, and Mrs. Jonen often walked five 
 miles to attend the Holland Church, 
 which was so dear to her heart. She and 
 her children are now members of the 
 Darboy Catholic Church of Buchanan. 
 Mr. Jonen was a prosperous farmer and a 
 much respected citizen. Like the ma- 
 jority of people in a new country, he was 
 free-hearted and helpful, while his gener- 
 ous hospitality was known over a wide 
 range of country. 
 
 F 
 
 RANCIS X. WEISSENBERG.— 
 It is a well-established fact that 
 among the best citizens of foreign 
 birth we have, are to be found 
 Germans. Bringing with them from the 
 old country, thrifty habits and strong 
 physical bodies, which appear almost un- 
 tiring, very few become a dead weight on 
 the hands of the public. They have an 
 old saj'ing which is trite but true: 
 ' ' Work fills the stomach and drives the 
 devil away." Following this precept 
 they are nearly always able to make a 
 living, and often amass property where 
 an American would not keep out of debt. 
 Francis Weissenberg may be classed 
 among these successful ones just men- 
 tioned. He was born October 16, 1831, 
 in Baden, Germany, the home of his an- 
 cestors, who were all farmers and of the 
 Roman Catholic faith. Lawrence Weiss- 
 enberg, the father of our subject, was 
 
774 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 born in Baden, in 1812, received a good 
 practical education, and for a time was a 
 tiller of the soil. While yet a young man 
 he married Miss Mar\' Huber, also a na- 
 tive of Baden, and soon after marriage he 
 was appointed by the government as col- 
 lector of customs between Germany and 
 Switzerland, which position he held for 
 about thirty years. Subsequently he was 
 elected to fill a number of local offices in 
 his native village where he was much re- 
 spected. He was the father of four chil- 
 dren: Don, residing at Appleton, Wis., 
 Francis X., our subject; John, who died 
 in Germany; and Gustie, who married 
 Mathias Burger, of Germany, and died 
 March 24, 1S93. 
 
 Our subject, when nineteen years of 
 age, came to the United States, and lo- 
 cated in Litchfield county. Conn., where 
 and in Germany he received his education 
 at the public schools. In Litchfield 
 county he worked on a farm until 1857; 
 when he came to Outagamie county. 
 Wis., and purchased the land he now 
 owns and occupies. He is one of the 
 early settlers of Ellington, and has experi- 
 enced many of the trials and tribulations 
 which fall to the lot of a pioneer. He 
 found plenty of hard work awaiting him 
 in this new home, and he attacked it 
 bravely, felling timber, burning brush 
 and preparing the ground for crops. In 
 due time his place took on a home-like 
 appearance, and when he began to harvest 
 his crops his neighbors declared he had 
 one of the best farms in that locality. 
 Since his residence here his father visited 
 him from Germany; this was in 1864, 
 and it was a joyful meeting; but the jour- 
 ne}' and excitement were too much for so 
 old a man, and he passed away at the 
 new home of his son. 
 
 Mr. Weissenberg belongs to the Re- 
 publican party, and he has been elected to 
 fill the office of township treasurer; has 
 been a member of the township board, 
 and for twenty-two years has been clerk 
 of the school district in which he resides. 
 He is married to Annie Brandner, a native 
 
 of Bohemia, born in 1838, and she has 
 borne him five children, as follows: 
 Louisa, married to Lewis Wurl, of El- 
 lington; Clara, who married John Ward, 
 of Appleton; William, of Marshall, Minn., 
 and Edward and George, who are still at 
 home. Mr. Weissenberg is a member of 
 the Evangelical Church of Ellington, and 
 aids liberally in the support of that insti- 
 tution. 
 
 FRANK J. MORY, a representative, 
 wide-awake citizen of Cicero town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, is a na- 
 tive of the count}', born December 
 28, 1855, in Greenville township. He is 
 a son of Julius Francis and Fredericka 
 (Wolfrum) Mory, natives of Germany, 
 the former of whom immigrated to Amer- 
 ica in 1850, and came directly to Green- 
 ville, Outagamie county, where he pur- 
 chased eighty acres of good land. In 1853 
 his wife and a step-daughter came from 
 Germany, and the family lived on the 
 farm until the death of the father, which 
 occurred in 1S77; he was laid to rest in 
 Ellington cemetery. His widow lived on 
 the homestead with her five children — 
 Charles H., Frank J., Edward, Albert F. 
 and Ida P. — until 1887, when she removed 
 to Appleton, where she has since had her 
 home. Three of her children also reside 
 there — Edward, Albert, and Ida P., who 
 is the widow of August Nicklaus. 
 
 When our subject was seventeen years 
 of age he went to Appleton to learn the 
 confectioner's trade, serving an appren- 
 ticeship of a year and a half at same. 
 He then went to Chicago, 111., remaining 
 there about two years, at the end of 
 which time he returned to the old home- 
 stead in Green\ille township, where he 
 lived until 1887. On March 23, 1885, 
 he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Welmi Wurl, daughter of Ludwig and 
 Wilhelmina (Schultz) Wurl, the former 
 of whom died when his daughter Welmi 
 was but two years old; he had enlisted in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 775 
 
 the Civil war and died on his return home. 
 By occupation he was a -farmer. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mory resided on the 
 homestead until about two years after 
 their marriage, when he invested in eighty 
 acres of land in Cicero township, and here 
 has since successfully engaged in general 
 farming. At the time he purchased the 
 tract the timber had been chopped from 
 the land, but the stumps still remained, 
 and it was no small task to remove them. 
 In 1894 Mr. Mory bought eighty more 
 acres of land, his possessions now amount- 
 ing to 160 acres. For some years they 
 lived in a rude frame-house on this place, 
 but in 1892 Mr. Mory erected a fine, sub- 
 stantial residence, in which they now have 
 their home. One child has blessed their 
 union, Elmer Julius, born October 27, 
 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Mory in religious 
 connection are active members of the 
 Evangelical Association in Cicero town- 
 ship, and Mr. Mory has been treasurer of 
 the Sunday-school. In politics he is a 
 lifelong Republican, and has held several 
 offices of trust in his township, having 
 served as assessor, school treasurer (two 
 terms), etc., to the complete satisfaction 
 of his constituents. He and his wife are 
 esteemed and respected throughout the 
 wide circle of their friends and acquaint- 
 ances. 
 
 JOHN McMURDO, Sr. (deceased), 
 was during his lifetime one of the 
 foremost citizens of Hortonville, 
 Outagamie county, where, as a 
 leader in social and political circles, he 
 was well and favorably known. 
 
 Mr. McMurdo was born September 8, 
 1808, near Dumfries, Scotland, and died 
 October i, 1890, at Hortonville, Wiscon- 
 sin. When a young man, twenty-one 
 years of age, he came to America, and for 
 many years had his home in Pennfield, 
 New Brunswick, Canada, where he fol- 
 lowed his trade, that of millwright, which 
 he had learned in his native Scotland. In 
 Pennfield he met Miss Elizabeth Hunter, 
 
 and they were married December 2, 1835, 
 by Rev. Samuel Thompson, an Episcopal 
 clergyman, and commenced housekeeping 
 there. Mr. McMurdo was engaged in the 
 construction of a number of good mills in 
 New Brunswick, and built a mill for his 
 wife's cousin, James Gillespie, which was 
 one of the best in that region. In 1851 
 he removed with his family to Horton- 
 ville, Outagamie Co. , Wis. , and purchas- 
 ing eighty acres in Hortonia township 
 from his brother James, improved the land 
 and engaged in farming, also continuing 
 to follow his trade as circumstances per- 
 mitted. He made a success of his busi- 
 ness ventures, and having more than or- 
 dinar}- ability as a manager he was chosen 
 to various offices, for some time being a 
 member of the county board, and for ten 
 years he was postmaster at Horton\ille. 
 He proved a valuable, useful citizen, and 
 was universally admired and esteemed for 
 his upright character and sterling worth, 
 which were recognized and appreciated 
 by all who knew him, or came into con- 
 tact with him in any way, and his death 
 was sincerely mourned as a loss to the en- 
 tire communit}'. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. McMurdo had eight 
 children born to them, seven in New 
 Brunswick, and one (Elizabeth) in Wis- 
 consin, as follows: James H., born Sep- 
 tember I. 1836; Janet, born June 8, 1838, 
 now deceased; John, born August 24, 
 1840, also deceased; Mary, born October 
 31, 1842; Isabella, born January 24, 
 1845; Catharine, born January 30, 1847; 
 Robert, born May 7, 1849; and Elizabeth, 
 born July 4, 1852. 
 
 JOHN WUNDERLICH was born 
 September 2, 1842, in New Bavaria, 
 Germany, which has been the home 
 of his ancestors for many genera- 
 tions. His grandfather Wunderlich, who 
 was a farmer, fought in the German army 
 against Napoleon. 
 
 Michael Wunderlich, father of our 
 
776 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 subject, was married in New Bavaria to 
 Miss Catherine Wunderlich (of the same 
 name but not of the same famih'), and 
 they became the parents of ten children, 
 of whom three are deceased: John, Wolf, 
 and Addom. The names of the others 
 are: Rosannah, Elizabeth, Simon, 
 George, Christian, J. Wolf, and John. 
 In 1847 they disposed of their property in 
 Germany and emigrated to America, their 
 passage being made on a sailing vessel 
 which made a remarkably speedy trip, 
 consuming but thirty-one days. Landing 
 at New York they went by canal to Buf- 
 falo, and from there on a steamer to 
 Milwaukee, Wis. , where Mr. Wunderlich 
 purchased a farm in the town of Gran- 
 ville, Milwaukee county, where they re- 
 mained ten years. In 1857 the father 
 and the two eldest sons moved into Outa- 
 gamie county, where, in Ellington town- 
 ship, the two sons bought land. The 
 father returned to Milwaukee county to 
 dispose of his farm and move his family 
 thither, but ere they were ready to go, he 
 was attacked with dropsy, and lingered 
 until mid-summer, when he passed away 
 at the age of fifty-five years. In con- 
 formity with his wishes, his family, in the 
 autumn, moved to Ellington and took up 
 their abode with the eldest son, the mother 
 living to be eighty-five years old. She 
 was a woman of much force of character 
 — ambitious, persevering and undaunted 
 by adversity — virtues which were inherited 
 by her children to a more or less degree. 
 John Wunderlich, our subject, worked 
 on a farm and at various other occupa- 
 tions when a young man. He learned 
 the cooper's trade in Stephensville, near 
 his home, and worked at same for many 
 years. On October 10, 1865, he was 
 married to Miss Augusta Lemke, a na- 
 tive of Germany, daughter of Carl Lemke, 
 who with his family resided in Canada a 
 few years previous to coming to the 
 United States. Mrs. Wunderlich is the 
 mother of eight children: Emma (de- 
 ceased), Otelia, Mary, Frank, Edward 
 (deceased), Albert, Edwin, and Emelia 
 
 (deceased). In the fall of 1864 Mr. 
 Wunderlich enlisted in a company that 
 was sent to Madison, Wis., where the 
 town chairman procured their release, 
 the majority, including Mr. Wunderlich, 
 returning home. In Februar}-, 1865, he 
 again enlisted, this time in Company E, 
 Fiftieth Regiment Wis. V. I., for one year. 
 They were transported from Madison to 
 St. Louis, Mo., where they did guard duty 
 until the regiment was assembled; then 
 were sent by steam to Cambridge, Mo., 
 and here the\' did garrison duty and were 
 drilled. Three months later, the war be- 
 ing practicall}' closed, they were ordered 
 back to Jefferson City, Mo. , thence by 
 steamer to Ft. Leavenworth, Kans. After 
 a month's sojourn there they went to Ft. 
 Sully, Dak., where they remained until 
 March 20, 1866, at which time they made 
 their way back to Boonesboro, Iowa, from 
 which place they were sent by train to 
 Chicago and Madison, at the latter place 
 being honorably discharged, and then re- 
 turned home. Immediately after his ar- 
 rival in Stephensville Mr. Wunderlich 
 and his brother Simon started a sawmill; 
 later on their brother George also be- 
 came a partner, and unitedly they oper- 
 ated the mill with great success for ten 
 years, when John sold his interest to his 
 brother Simon, and moved upon a forty- 
 acre farm which he owned. He has from 
 time to time purchased more land until at 
 the present time he owns 165 acres, be- 
 sides village property. He is a thoroughly 
 practical farmer, and devotes much time 
 and thought to the management of his 
 work. He was instrumental in organ- 
 izing a German Lutheran Church society 
 in Ellington, and subsequently contributed 
 largely of both time and money in the 
 erection of an edifice. From the first he 
 has been trustee and treasurer of the 
 society, and it is mainly through his in- 
 fluence and activity that the church is 
 now maintained. He has a pleasant ad- 
 dress and much tact, which enables him 
 to meet and deal with people whom others 
 would find very difficult to approach. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ill 
 
 He has always been identified with the 
 Republican party, who has elected him, 
 at different times, to every office in the 
 township, with the exception of clerk. 
 He has been township treasurer for about 
 twent}' years, and is now (1894) a Justice 
 of the Peace, which office he has held 
 nearly as long, and is also chairman of 
 the township board. He was instrumental 
 in buying land and laying out a ceme- 
 ter)', and is secretary of the Ellington 
 Cemetery Association. He is also a 
 charter member of the Ellington Insur- 
 ance Company, and watches over the in- 
 terests of the town as carefully as he does 
 his own business, which makes him a 
 most valued citizen, and one well deserv- 
 ing of the highest honor. 
 
 JOHN EARLES, manager cf the Kau- 
 kauna Electric Light Company, is an 
 active, energetic citizen, and one who 
 has ever taken marked interest in 
 every measure for the general good of 
 his city. 
 
 His parents, Thomas and Hannah 
 (McMahon) Earles, are both natives of 
 Ireland and descended from Irish ances- 
 try. Thomas Earles came to Wisconsin 
 in 1853, later was married in Waukesha 
 county, and in 1857 located on a timbered 
 farm in Manitowoc county, finally, in 1891, 
 removed to Kaukauna, where he and his 
 wife still resides. The children of Thomas 
 and Hannah Earles are: W. H., a resi- 
 dent of Milwaukee, and secretary and 
 treasurer of the Kaukauna Electric Light 
 Company; Michael, dealer in lumber and 
 general merchandise at Seattle, Wash. ; 
 Miles, engaged in mining in Alaska; 
 Thomas R. , a member of the South side 
 police force in Kaukauna; Margaret, wife 
 of M. Hussey, of Waukegan, 111., superin- 
 tendent of the electric light plant, and 
 John. 
 
 John Earles was born in Manitowoc 
 in 1858, and until eighteen years of age 
 worked on his father's farm, attending also 
 the schools of the neighborhood. He 
 
 passed the succeeding five years in the 
 logging business near Menomonee, re- 
 turning thence to Manitowoc and engag- 
 ing in buying and shipping cattle. At the 
 latter place, in 1866, he married Miss 
 Tougher, a native of Manitowoc county, 
 whose parents, Anthony W. and Bridget 
 (Howley)Tougher,came from Ireland when 
 young, and are yet residents of the locality. 
 Four children have come into the home 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Earles: Maggie, Katie, 
 Pearl and John. After his removal to 
 Kaukauna, in 1887, Mr. Earles was em- 
 ployed during the winter in the railroad 
 shops, but in the following summer engaged 
 in the drayage business, in which he con- 
 tinued until he assumed the management 
 of the electric light plant. For two years 
 Mr. Earles, who is a Democrat in poli- 
 tics, served as alderman from the Fourth 
 ward, and it was largely owing to his ef- 
 forts in that capacity that the electric light 
 plant was established. The company was 
 organized in 1890, and at first occupied 
 the planing-mill, the present plant being 
 erected two years later. Light and power 
 are supplied to both North and South 
 Kaukauna. The principal officers of the 
 company are in Milwaukee, the president, 
 A. Bunker, the vice-president, Henry 
 Schults, and the secretary and treasurer, 
 W. H. Earles, all being residents of that 
 city. Mr. Earles has taken an equally ac- 
 tive interest in all matters of public im- 
 portance, both as a member of the council 
 and as a private citizen. He is connected 
 with the Knights of Pythias, and is gen- 
 erally respected and esteemed. 
 
 GEORGE SINGLER was born in 
 Baden, Germany, March 28, 
 1829, and comes of a family who 
 had followed the occupation of 
 farming for three generations. His grand- 
 father on his mother's side was a man of 
 wealth and influence, .and filled many 
 town offices of honor and trust; he lived 
 to be a very old man, and was widely 
 known throughout the country. His son. 
 
7/8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 Joseph, father of our subject, was born in 
 1 808, was educated in the common 
 schools, and assisted his father at the work 
 on the farm. He married Miss Mary E. 
 Griesbaum, a native of Germany, born in 
 1815. and three children were born to 
 this union: George, Mary A. and Rosale. 
 Two years after the death of Mr. Singler, 
 his widow married Anton Bower, and had 
 one child (W. Bower) after our subject 
 left for America. She died in 1891. Jo- 
 seph Singler and his wife were Roman 
 Catholics, and brought up their family in 
 that faith. 
 
 George Singler received a thorough 
 common-school education in Baden, Ger- 
 man)-, which, in this countr}', would be 
 equal to high-school course. When twenty- 
 two years of age he emigrated to the 
 United States, the voyage consuming 
 forty-nine days. On landing he went at 
 once to Cleveland, Ohio, where he re- 
 mained for si.\ months, and then went to 
 Buffalo, N. Y. , where he worked at the 
 carpenter trade for eight months. The 
 war broke out then, and despite his short 
 acquaintance with this country he enlisted 
 like a true German soldier. He was then 
 in Orleans Co., N. Y. , and belonged to 
 Co. G, I 5 1st N. Y. Vol. He fought in the 
 battle of Gettysburg and took part in the 
 engagement at Locust Grove. While 
 driving a team during the battle of the 
 Wildernesss he was injured through 
 an accident, and no^v draws $14.00 
 per month from the government. He 
 was honorably discharged at the close 
 of the war, after a three-years' ser- 
 vice, and returned a full-fledged Ameri- 
 can citizen to his home in New York. 
 Prior to his war experience, Mr. Singler 
 was-married, February 10. 1855, to Miss 
 Eva Roop, in Clarendon, Orleans Co., 
 N. Y. , and eight children were born to 
 them, named respectively: George, Mary, 
 Frank, Charles, Carrie, Amelie, Edward 
 and John, of whom Mary, Edward, and 
 John are deceased. When he enlisted 
 Mr. Singler left his wife and four children 
 at home. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Singler came to Elling- 
 ton township, Outagamie county, where 
 he purchased forty acres of timber land, 
 and commenced clearing it for cultivation. 
 It took many years of patient labor to 
 bring it to its present condition, but he is 
 now amply repaid for all his weary toil by 
 the large crops which the soil produces. 
 In politics he is a Republican, but takes 
 no active part in elections, although he is 
 much interested in securing good men to 
 fill public offices. He and his wife be- 
 long to the Roman Catholic Church, 
 which has been the religion of their an- 
 cestors for many generations. 
 
 CHARLES E. SPICER, dealer in 
 sewing machines and musical in- 
 struments, including pianos and 
 organs, is a native of Wisconsin, 
 born in the town of Palmyra, December 
 28, 1849, a son of Edward and Marinda 
 Spicer, and grandson ofSeth Spicer. 
 
 Edward Spicer, father of our subject, 
 was a farmer by occupation, one on whom, 
 because of his industry and sterling in- 
 tegrit}', fortune smiled most graciously. 
 He and his wife came to Wisconsin from 
 New York State in 1847, and were here 
 married in January, 1849, at which time 
 he was living on rented land in Jefferson 
 county, where they lived until about the 
 middle of May, 1850, at which time they 
 moved into Outagamie county, the jour- 
 ney being made with ox-team. In Dale 
 township, Mr. Spicer bought eighty acres 
 of wild land in Section 15, where heat 
 once set to work to clear a space large 
 enough to build an humble log shanty, 
 16 X 20 feet in size. Here the family 
 lived four years, improving the land day 
 by day, and courageously enduring all the 
 trials, dangers and inconveniences inci- 
 dent to pioneer life. Having had to sell 
 his oxen and wagon in order to pay for 
 the land, for two years Mr. Spicer labored 
 away as best he could with nothing save 
 his own pair of willing hands, so poor was 
 he, and as a consequence all his logging 
 
COMMEMOBATIVE BIOORAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 779 
 
 had to be done without any team what- 
 ever. Having succeeded in effecting a 
 small clearing which he was enabled to 
 cultivate, he began to raise a little corn, 
 and this he would take four miles to have 
 ground in a handinill; and for two years 
 the flour required for the family use he 
 had to carry on his back from Neenah, 
 a distance of some seventeen miles. 
 The average farmer of the present 
 day would hardl)- be able to realize 
 that this tract of eight}' acres of 
 timber-covered land was cleared and 
 worked into a fertile condition by Mr. 
 Spicer's own hands. In 1864, during the 
 Civil war, he enlisted in Company F, 
 Forty-third Wis. \'. I., from which he 
 was honorably discharged in the follow- 
 ing year, and returned to his farm. There 
 he died in 186S, and his remains are in- 
 terred in Dale township. To him and 
 his wife were born nine children, a brief 
 record of whom is as follows: Charles 
 E., the subject proper of this sketch, has 
 resided in Appleton for the past twenty- 
 four years: Clifford A. is a resident of 
 Clintonville, Wis. ; Winfield died at the 
 age of thirty-two years; Ernest L. is a 
 member of the firm of Spicer & Busch, 
 printers, LaCrosse, Wis. ; Eugene D. is 
 now a resident of St. Paul, Minn. ; Elton 
 F. lives in Litchfield, Minn. ; Alonzo T. 
 and Grant D. , in St. Paul; Susan is the 
 widow of Arthur J. Meade. The mother 
 of these passed from earth March 21, 
 1893, and she now sleeps her last sleep 
 in the cemetery at Clintonville, Wau- 
 paca county. 
 
 Charles E. Spicer remained under the 
 parental roof until he was twenty-three 
 years of age, the time of his marriage, 
 and was then engaged in a factory at 
 Appleton. After two years he took up 
 teaming, which he fnllc)wed four years, 
 and then rented his father-in-law's farm 
 two years (which was at Appleton), at 
 the end of which time, in 1881, he moved 
 into the city. He was then employed at 
 the carpenter trade two years, after 
 which he took up the sewing-machine 
 
 business, from time to time increasing 
 his stock and adding thereto musical in- 
 struments, particularly pianos and or- 
 gans, until now he has the most com- 
 plete assortment, in both branches of 
 mercantile trade, in the county, and en- 
 joys a wider patronage than any one else 
 in the same line of business. 
 
 On December 3, 1872, Mr. Spicer was 
 married to Miss Anna M. Bentley, daugh- 
 ter of Alvern P. and Arrietta (Colson) 
 Bentley, natives of New York State, who 
 came to W'isconsin in 1845, settling in Sun 
 Prairie, Dane County, where they bought 
 one hundred acres of land on which they 
 lived some fifteen years. They then 
 moved to Wattsville, same State, and 
 here Mr. Bentley worked in a loom fac- 
 tory fhis trade was that of carpenter), but 
 after two years came to Appleton, where 
 he was engaged in a sash and blind fac- 
 tory four years, at the close of which 
 period he bought a farm two miles west 
 of Appleton. For some fifteen years Mr. 
 Bentley carried on this farm with his 
 usual care and success, and then returned 
 to Appleton to pass the rest of his days in 
 retirement. He died April 4, 1891; his 
 faithful wife on January 21, 1889. Six 
 children were born to this honored couple, 
 viz.: Mary, Lyman H., Olive E., Anna 
 M., and Ellen J. Six children were also 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Spicer, their names 
 and dates of birth being as follows: .Arri- 
 etta, October 13, 1S74; Ernest P., April 
 3, 1879; liaymond L., October 31, 188 1 ; 
 Arthur E., May 17, 1884; Marie I., Au- 
 gust 25, 1886, and Earl B., April 7, 1891. 
 Our subject and wife are members of the 
 Baptist Church, in which he has held 
 various offices of honor and trust. Politi- 
 cally he is a Republican, and has been a 
 temperance worker for twenty-five years. 
 
 FREDERICK PINGEL. one of the 
 prosperous farmers of Greenville 
 township, Outagamie county, was 
 born May 4, 1829, in Mecklen- 
 burg, Germany, son of Joseph Pingel, also 
 
78o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 ■a farmer, who passed his whole life in 
 Geniiany. There were se\en children in 
 the family — four sons and three daughters 
 — our subject being the youngest son. 
 
 Frederick Pingel obtained his educa- 
 tion in the common schools, and after his 
 school days were over hired out as a farm 
 hand, having been reared to agricultural 
 pursuits from his youth. In 1851 he left 
 Germany, taking passage on the "Nep- 
 tune," bound for New York, where he 
 landed after a tedious voyage of ten 
 weeks, two dollars in debt. In Erie 
 county, N. Y. , he worked on the railroad 
 four months, at the end of which time the 
 contractor left . and Mr. Pingel received 
 nothing for all his labor. Winter coming 
 on, he went among his friends, who lived 
 north of Buffalo, and during that winter 
 chopped cordwood for three shillings a 
 cord, returning to railroad work the next 
 summer. For about twelve years he made 
 his home in New York State, during 
 which time, November 10, 1854, he was 
 married to Miss Dora Menning (also a 
 native of Mecklenburg, Germany), and 
 children as follows were born to them: 
 Fred, now a resident of Clayton town- 
 ship, Winnebago Co., Wis. ; Mary, de- 
 ceased wife of Charles Pingel; John, a 
 farmer of Greenville township, Outagamie 
 Co., Wis. ; and Annie, Mrs. Henry Haase, 
 of Clayton, Winnebago county. In 1859 
 Mr. Pingel brought his family to Wiscon- 
 sin, settling in Section 34, Greenville 
 township, Outagamie county, where he 
 had purchased forty acres of new land, 
 without an improvement of any kind. Not 
 a building stood on the land, but he put 
 up a house for his family and commenced 
 clearing at once, selling the wood in 
 Neenah as he chopped it. With the rude 
 tools at his command the work progressed 
 but slowly, but he struggled along bravely 
 until he had taken a snug farm from the 
 wilderness, gradually adding to the area 
 of his farm, and improving it, until he 
 owned eighty acres of good land with 
 suitable buildings, erected by himself. 
 His success is the result of honest toil. 
 
 coupled with perseverance and sound 
 judgment. 
 
 In March. 1865, Mr. Pingel enlisted, 
 at Appleton, in Company D, Fifty-first 
 Wis. V. I., and served five months in 
 Missouri. On August i he received an 
 honorable discharge, and returned to the 
 farm, which the family had managed dur- 
 ing his absence. Mr. Pingel is a Repub- 
 lican in politics, and though he has held 
 minor township offices does not pay much 
 attention to politics. He and his wife 
 have been members of South Greenville 
 Grange, No. 221;. for over twenty years. 
 
 ALFRED ASPINALL. In propor- 
 tion to its population, Outagamie 
 county has as great a number of 
 substantial and intelligent agri- 
 culturists as any county of its size in 
 Wisconsin, and among this number is the 
 one whose name opens this sketch, the 
 owner of a farm of excellently well-culti- 
 vated land, which, until within a year 
 or two ago, he operated with such judg- 
 ment as to have made him, financially, a 
 successful and substantial man. 
 
 A sturdy Englishman, he was born in 
 the stalwart county of York, January 10, 
 1 82 1, a son of James and Mary (Bentley) 
 Aspinall, also natives of England, the 
 father, who was by trade a weaver and a 
 stone-cutter, born in 1785, and there they 
 both passed from earth, the father when 
 sixty-one years old, the mother when 
 seventy-six. They were the parents of 
 ten children — nine sons and one daughter. 
 Our subject received but a limited edu- 
 cation at the schools of the neighborhood 
 of his place of birth (three weeks' attend- 
 ance when he was about five years being 
 all the day schooling he had), and was 
 reared to the trade of shoemaker, which 
 he followed for some years in England. 
 For a time he was a local minister in the 
 Christian Brethren Church. In 1849, at 
 the age of twenty-eight years, he came to 
 America, accompanied by his wife, and 
 traveling westward from the port of de- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 781 
 
 barkation to Wisconsin, they made their 
 first home in the New World in Racine 
 county, locating twenty miles west on a 
 ten-acre patch one year, and then moved 
 to Racine, where Mr. Aspinall worked 
 at his trade about one j'ear, at the end of 
 which time he migrated to De Pere, 
 Brown county, and here, in partnership 
 with another man, invested in the neigh- 
 borhood of nine hundred dollars in a hotel, 
 which they kept jointly for a short time 
 onl}', as his partner insisting on selling 
 liquor, our subject as strongly opposing it, 
 the latter got himself free from the concern 
 by losing nearly all he had. He then re- 
 moved to Kaukauna, Outagamie count}', 
 and, after living one year on a rented 
 farm, resumed his trade in that town, 
 carrying it on successfully some si.x years; 
 then bought a farm in Freedom township, 
 which he conducted one year. This he 
 rented for two years, and then sold it, in 
 the meantime buying a farm in Kaukauna 
 township, to which he moved and lived 
 on until the spring of 1892, increasing it 
 from eighty to 140 acres. In that year 
 he rented it, and, moving into the city of 
 Appleton, has here since resided, re- 
 tired, having in 1 893 built a comfortable 
 residence. 
 
 In 1842 Mr. Aspinall was married in 
 England to Miss Anna Kay, who came to 
 this countr\' with him, but returned to 
 England. On January 2, 1867, he mar- 
 ried, in Appleton, Miss Catherine Jack- 
 son, who was born in England in 1830, 
 coming to the United States in June, 
 1867; she is a daughter of William and 
 Mary (Mawe) Jackson, respectable farm- 
 ing people, who had ten children, two of 
 whom died in infancy. The others were 
 as follows: Living — George (the eldest 
 born), a Methodist Episcopal minister in 
 Newark, N. J., Ralph, Emma, Harriet 
 and Catherine; deceased — William, who 
 was a minister, and died of cholera, 
 Anna and Mary E. In January, 1862, 
 Mr. Aspinall enlisted in Company K, 
 Seventeenth Wis. V. I., Capt. Welcome 
 Hyde, but after six months' service at 
 
 Madison, owing to lung trouble, was dis- 
 charged. He then paid a visit to his old 
 home in England for the benefit of his 
 health, remaining there two years, in the 
 meantime renting his farm. In this coun- 
 try he has not united with any Church; in 
 politics he is independent, voting invaria- 
 bly for the man in his opinion best adapted 
 for the position. We have said that Mr. 
 Aspinall's education was very limited, but 
 being a great reader and close observer 
 of men and things, he is well posted on 
 all current matters, and is excellent com- 
 pany, genial and sociable. He and his 
 brother Allen, who is a farmer in Roch- 
 ester township, Racine Co., Wis., are 
 the only members of his family to come 
 to America. 
 
 HENRY HEIMEN has been actively 
 identified with the agricultural in- 
 terests of Grand Chute township, 
 Outagamie county, for the past 
 quarter of a century, and ranks among the 
 extensive successful farmers of his section. 
 He is a native of Holland, born in Sep- 
 tember, 1831, son of Henry Heimen, who 
 died when our subject was but eight years 
 old. Young Henry was given but a mea- 
 ger education, and at the age of about 
 seventeen commenced to learn the baker's 
 trade, which he followed for nearly eight 
 years in his native country. By econom}' 
 he managed to accumulate a little money, 
 and in the spring of 1858 set out for the 
 United States, where he hoped to ma- 
 terially improve his condition. Sailing 
 from Rotterdam in May, he proceeded to 
 Havre, and thence to New York, where he 
 arrived after a voyage of fifty-four days, 
 and was held one week in quarantine, 
 smallpox having broken out on board, and 
 several passengers having died during the 
 journey. Coming to Appleton, Outa- 
 gamie Co. , Wis. , he soon found employ- 
 ment with a farmer in Freedom township, 
 and worked for $7 per month during the 
 summer season, in winter chopping wood 
 for $6 per month. He also worked for a 
 
782 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 farmer in Kaukauna township, and later 
 was engaged in driving rafts at Oconto, 
 making at times as much as $20 a month. 
 For ten months he worked at his trade in 
 a Chicago bakery. In i 862 Mr. Heimen 
 was married, in Appleton, to Miss Anna 
 Yackman, a native of Germany, and he 
 and his wife conducted a boarding house 
 in Oconto for several years, often having 
 as many as seventy-five boarders. In 
 1865 Mr. Heimen purchased eighty acres 
 of new land in Section 17, Grand Chute 
 township, only four or five acres of which 
 had been chopped over, and erecting a 
 one-story frame house, 18 x 23, moved his 
 family thither in November, 1867. He 
 set about the task of clearing immediately, 
 in the face of the discouraging opinion his 
 neighbors had of the land, they declaring 
 that it was a better place for a blackberry 
 patch than a farm. But he worked reso- 
 lutely until it became apparent that the 
 land could be made fertile, and he found 
 himself the owner of a neat, profitable 
 farm, as good as any in the neighborhood. 
 Another tract, containing sixt}' acres, was 
 added to the first, and he continued to 
 prosper, his children helping him as they 
 grew older, and lightening his labors con- 
 siderably. In 1893 he added eighty acres 
 to his already large farm, making him the 
 owner of 220 acres of good farm land in 
 Grand Chute township, besides thirty- 
 four acres of marsh. Mr. Heimen has 
 made his success by hard work, for he 
 had no capital to commence with but his 
 honesty, a clear head, and a strong, will- 
 ing pair of hands. By strict economy, 
 however, he managed to get a fair start, 
 and is now one of the largest farmers in 
 his neighborhood. No citizen commands 
 more respect among his fellow citizens for 
 integrity and straightforward dealing, and 
 though devoting his attention chiefly to 
 his own business affairs he takes an in- 
 terest in the advancement of every project 
 of benefit to his community, and has 
 served as pathmaster of his township. 
 Politically he is a Democrat, but not 
 strictly partisan. 
 
 .Mr. and Mrs. Heimen have had chil- 
 dren as follows: Henr}-, who died when 
 sixteen years old; Mary, Mrs. Henr\' Biss- 
 ing, of Grand Chute township; Lena, Mrs. 
 Wilhelni Leithen, of Appleton; Anna, 
 Mrs. Frank Hooynian, of Freedom; John 
 and Frank, who assist their father in the 
 management of the home farm; Frances, 
 Anton and Margaret, living at home, and 
 George, deceased in infancy. The family 
 are Catholics in religious faith, belonging 
 to St. Joseph's German Church, toward 
 which they gi\e a liberal support. 
 
 CHRIST XIEMAN. This gentle- 
 man has been a resident of Wis- 
 consin for the past forty years, 
 the greater part of the time iden- 
 tified with the thriving agricultural com- 
 munity of Greenville township, Outagamie 
 county, where he holds a position second 
 to none as a thorough agriculturist. 
 
 Mr. Nieman was born November 28, 
 1S19, in Germany, son of Christ Nieman, 
 a farmer of moderate means, who had a 
 family of eight children — four sons and 
 four daughters. Christ, who was the 
 second child in the order of birth, received 
 but limited educational advantages, his 
 parents' circumstances preventing them 
 from allowing him any great opportuni- 
 ties in that direction. He was reared to 
 farming, and when a young man com- 
 menced in this pursuit for his own account, 
 working out among different farmers. 
 By economy he managed to save from 
 his earnings, and in 1853 he concluded to 
 come to the United States, hoping to 
 better his condition. He left the Father- 
 land May I, 1S53, taking passage from 
 Hamburg on the "Emiline," and after a 
 long voyage landed in New York on June 
 30, and then came, by rail and water, to 
 Wisconsin. Here, in ^^^aukesha county, 
 he worked as a farm-hand near New Ber- 
 lin for three months, next finding em- 
 ployment near Janesville, on the Chicago 
 & North Western railway, then in course 
 of construction. Afterward he teamed 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 783 
 
 on the railroad, luniiij; l)()Uf:;ht a team of 
 his own, and also worked witli his team 
 in a stone quarr\', and at anything; he 
 could get to do. 
 
 On June 11, 1861, he was married, in 
 Neenah, Wis., to Sophia Schroeder, a 
 native of German}-, born September 20, 
 1833, who came to the United States 
 with her father, John Shroeder, in i860. 
 Prior to his marriage, about 1859, Mr. 
 Nieinan had bought forty acres in Sec- 
 tion 17, Greenville township, Outagamie 
 county, costing $275, going into debt for 
 about half the amount. At that time it 
 was all woods, not a building standing on 
 it, and he put up the first habitation, a 
 rude shanty, and commenced clearing the 
 farm, his labors in that direction being 
 the first put upon the land; so the task 
 proved an unusually difficult one, for at 
 first he had no team to assist him. The 
 work of improving progressed constantly, 
 the shanty was supplanted in a short 
 time by a log house, and this in turn by 
 a more modern residence, which was 
 built in 1 886, and is a very comfortable 
 home. In 1889 eighty acres were added 
 to the first purchase, but half of this 
 tract was sold, the farm at present con- 
 sisting of eighty acres in splendid condi- 
 tion; it is considered one of the best farms 
 in the township of its size, and has been 
 made so bv years of persistent industry 
 and systematic management. A number 
 of modern buildings have been erected, 
 and in 1894 a barn, 42x72, was added, 
 which is duly in keeping with the house 
 and other improvements. Mr. Nieman 
 has given all his attention to the farm, 
 taking little part in public affairs, though 
 he feels a loyal pride in the prosperity 
 and welfare of the community he has 
 helped to build up. The respect which 
 is accorded him by his neighbors and 
 fellow-citizens in general is proof of his 
 sterling worth; and he has always ranked 
 as one of the best farmers among the 
 many successful husbandmen in Green- 
 ville township. Politically he sympa- 
 thizes with the Democrats, while in 
 
 Church connection the entire family are 
 Lutherans. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Christ Nieman have 
 been born children as follows: Rudolph 
 W. , who is mentioned farther on; Sophia, 
 born June 11, 1864, now Mrs. John 
 Palmbach, of Greenville township; Louisa, 
 born October 9, i866, who married Wil- 
 liam Buman, and died October 8, 1890, 
 in Greenville; William, who died when 
 ten years years old; and one that died in 
 infancy unnamed. 
 
 Rudolph W. Nieman was born Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1862, on the home farm, where 
 he was reared, and in the common dis- 
 trict schools of the neighborhood obtained 
 the foundation for a practical education. 
 On October 2, 1893, he was married to 
 Amanda Langmann, who was born in 
 Dale township, Outagamie county, a 
 daughter of Christopher and Sophia 
 (Schroeder) Langmann. Mr. Nieman has 
 passed his entire life on the home farm, 
 of which he now has the principal man- 
 agement, relieving his aged father of all 
 the active work; and no young man of 
 the township has a more enviable repu- 
 tation for industry and progress than 
 he. In addition to his agricultural 
 work he is secretary for the cheese 
 factory in his neighborhood, of which he 
 also acts as weighmaster, for the many 
 farmers who have an interest in the same. 
 Well-known and popular in his own and 
 neighboring townships, he has a bright 
 career before him, and will no doubt take 
 rank among the first farmers of his vicin- 
 ity. In religious faith he is a Lutheran, 
 like the rest of the family. He votes in- 
 dependently, and gives no time to politics. 
 
 M 
 
 ORRIS BODENHEIMER, who 
 
 is prominent among the success- 
 ful merchants, and is one of the 
 most highly-respected citizens 
 of Seymour, Outagamie county, is a Ger- 
 man by birth. He is a grandson of Sam- 
 uel and Fredericka Bodenheimer, natives 
 of Bavaria, Germany, who were the 
 
784 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 parents of two children: Regina, who 
 lived to the age of forty, always making 
 her home with her brother; and Herman, 
 the father of our subject. 
 
 Herman Bodenheimer was born in 
 1820, and began to assist his parents 
 early in life, continuing to contribute to 
 their support even after his marriage. 
 He was married in 1844 to Miss Regina 
 Scharff, and they had a family of five 
 children, as follows; Manuel, deceased in 
 infancy; Frcdericka, born October 28, 
 1848, who married and had three chil- 
 dren — Isadore, Rosalie and Paula; Sam- 
 uel, born August 24, 1851, who lives in 
 Germany (he and his wife have one child, 
 Alfred); Morris, whose name introduces 
 these lines; and Henrietta, now the wife 
 of Morris Koch, who resides at Seymour, 
 and is in the employ of our subject (they 
 have two children, Augusta and Rosalie). 
 The father, Herman Bodenheimer, is still 
 living at his birthplace, Lachen, Bavaria, 
 German}'. 
 
 Morris Bodenheimer was the first of 
 his family to come to America. He re- 
 ceived his education in the schools of his 
 native land, and in early manhood set 
 out for the United States, landing in New 
 York City, November 9, 1871, and pro- 
 ceeding thence to Vicksburg, Miss., where 
 he obtained employment as clerk in a dry- 
 goods store. He remained in Mississippi 
 and Louisiana over seven years, during 
 which time he had a severe attack of yel- 
 low fever, in 1879 revisiting the Father- 
 land, and spending a year there. On his 
 return to the United States he went as far 
 west as Wahoo, Neb. , where he was em- 
 ployed as clerk and bookkeeper in a store, 
 continuing as such for about two years. 
 While engaged there he received a letter 
 from an old schoolmate, then residing in 
 Seymour, Wis., who was a brother-in-law 
 of one of the members of the firm of A. 
 Kann & Co. , requesting him to come and 
 take charge of the business of that com- 
 pany; accordingly, in 1882, he came 
 hither, and acted as manager for a year, 
 at the end of tliat time becoming a mem- 
 
 ber of the firm. In 1884 he became sole 
 proprietor. On May 15, 1883, Mr. Bo- 
 denheimer was united in marriage with 
 Miss Rosalie Bender, also a native of 
 Germany, who at the time of her mar- 
 riage was living with her brother Emil in 
 Milwaukee. Mr. and Mrs. Bodenheimer 
 at once took up their residence in Sey- 
 mour, where four children, as follows, 
 have come to them: Adolf, born April 
 13, 1884; Manuel, who died in infancy; 
 and Golda and Irvin (twins), born April 
 24, 1890. Our subject is a member of 
 the Jewish Church at Appleton; political- 
 ly he is a Democrat, but takes little in- 
 terest in party affairs. By his upright, 
 honest methods and fair dealing, he has 
 won and retained the universal respect of 
 his fellow men. and by faithful attention 
 to business has made a complete success, 
 being now proprietor of the largest mer- 
 cantile establishment in the city of Sey- 
 mour. 
 
 FRIEDRICH BREITRUCK has 
 been identified with the interests 
 of Ellington, Outagamie county, 
 for more than two score years, 
 during which time his energy and per- 
 sistence have been of inestimable benefit 
 to that part of Wisconsin whose strides 
 in growth and material progress of the 
 best type have been a source of credit to 
 the commvmity and of just pride in the 
 commonwealth at large. 
 
 Mr. Breitruck is a native of Prussia, 
 born February 3, 1824, son of Andrew 
 Breitruck, who was reared a fanner and 
 followed that occupation all of his life; 
 when a young man he married Miss Rosa 
 Kroshans, a native of the same country, 
 who died when forty years old; he also 
 died while still in his prime. They were 
 the parents of eight children, all of whom 
 are now dead except three. Friedrich, 
 our subject was educated in Germany and 
 was reared on a farm. When seventeen 
 years of age he was apprenticed to the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 785 
 
 blacksmith trade, and at the expiration 
 of his time he entered the army, serving 
 three years, after which he returned and 
 followed his trade until 1849, when he 
 came to the United States. He sailed 
 on the "Alexander Edmond," was on the 
 water fifty-six days, and after landing 
 came directly to Wisconsin, settling at 
 Sheboygan, where he purchased forty 
 acres of land upon which he located; but 
 at the expiration of one year he sold out 
 and purchased the farm which he now 
 owns and occupies. The land being all 
 timber he bent his energies in clearing 
 and preparing it for cultivation. He was 
 one of the first settlers in the township, 
 and did much to pave the way and en- 
 courage others to come there and make 
 it their home. The many difficulties 
 under which pioneers labor tend to de- 
 velop traits of character and virtues 
 which, under any other circumstances, 
 might lie dormant throughout a life- 
 time. Those early settlers, almost with- 
 out an exception, were kind and helpful 
 to their neighbors, while strangers, who 
 happened through, were loud in their 
 praises of the hospitality which was ten- 
 dered them. Mr. Breitruck was not an 
 exception to this rule; on the contrary he 
 was most lavish in his kind attentions to 
 those who came to share his laborious 
 task of opening up a new country to civil- 
 ization. He came to the United States a 
 poor man, but, by dint of perseverance 
 and arduous labor and careful manage- 
 ment, he has succeeded most admirably, 
 and now owns one hundred acres of the 
 finest land in Outagamie county, with all 
 the modern improvements. 
 
 Mr. Breitruck married Miss Annie 
 Maria Wunderlich, a native of Germany, 
 who was born in 1831, and they are the 
 parents of eight children: John, Charles, 
 Fred, Henry, Julius, Annie, Rosa and 
 Bertha, all living. Mr. Breitruck is an 
 honered member of the Evangelical 
 Church, and is ever ready to help the poor 
 and unfortunate; is a good citizen and a 
 useful and influential member of societv. 
 
 REV. JOSEPH A. GEISSEER, pas- 
 tor of St. Mary's Church, South 
 I\aukauna, is entitled to promi- 
 nent place among his clerical con- 
 freres, by virtue of his indefatigable zeal, 
 his pronounced popularity, and his un- 
 tiring devotion to his life work. 
 
 A native of the State of New Jersey, 
 he was born in the town of Paterson in 
 April, 1854, a son of Andrew Christian 
 and Caroline (Barmickel) Geissler, na- 
 tives of Baden, Germany, who were mar- 
 ried in New Jersey, whither they had im- 
 migrated, Andrew Christian in 1848. 
 The father in his earlier life was a ma- 
 chinist by trade, but is now retired, and 
 is living with his son, Rev. Joseph A. ; 
 the mother died in 1869, in Paterson, 
 N. J. Of the children born to Andrew 
 C. and Caroline Geissler, we are enabled 
 to present the following record: Amelia 
 is the wife of Peter Ruffling, of Dunkirk, 
 N. Y. ; William is a resident of Conneaut, 
 Ohio; Joseph A. is the subject of this 
 sketch; and Charles, who in 1861 en- 
 listed in Company A, First N. Y. \. I., 
 under Gen. McClellan, was promoted to 
 corporal, and was killed at the battle of 
 Williamsburg, Va. , in May, 1862. The 
 father of these married a second time, by 
 which union there is one child, Agnes, 
 who resides in Paterson, New Jerse} . 
 
 Joseph A. Geissler was reared in his 
 native township, there receiving his earlier 
 education. In 1870 he proceeded to Lou- 
 vain, Belgium, where he attended the 
 American College of that city, taking 
 a nine-years' classical and theological 
 course, and graduating with the class of 
 1879, in which year, at Mechlin, Belgium, 
 he was ordained to the ministry. Re- 
 turning to his native town, he there com- 
 menced his pastoral work, at the end uf 
 two years, or in 1881, moving to the vil- 
 lage of Freedom, Outagamie Co., Wis., 
 where he remained six months, moving to 
 Portage, same State. Here he sojourned 
 one 3'ear, and then for the following two 
 and one-half years took charge of the so- 
 called French Church, in Green Bay, 
 
786 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 after which he was engaged in establish- 
 ing two parishes out of four missions in 
 Portage county, and for four and one-half 
 years he was stationed at Stockton, Port- 
 age county, and built a parsonage in one 
 mission and a church in the other; thence 
 removed to Two Rivers, Manitowoc 
 county, where he erected a church com- 
 plete, during one \ear and ten months, at 
 a cost of twenty-four thousand dollars. 
 From that place he in January, 1893, 
 came to South Kaukauna, having been 
 appointed to the charge of St. Mary's 
 Church, his present incumbency, where 
 he intends in the near future to build a 
 church at the cost of about thirty-five 
 thousand dollars, on the beautiful corner 
 lot belonging to the church property. 
 
 St. Mary's Church, South side, was 
 organized in 1885 by Rev. J. Rohde, of 
 the Holy Cross Church. A commodious 
 and convenient brick building, 54 .\ 80 
 feet, was commenced in October, 1885, 
 and completed in January, 1886, the up- 
 per part being arranged for church pur- 
 poses, the lower portion being divided 
 into school rooms and dwelling for Sis- 
 ters. Services were conducted by various 
 Fathers until December, 1886, when 
 Rev. N. Hens, from Lincoln, Kewaunee 
 county, was appointed first resident Father 
 of St. Mary's Church. The outlook for 
 him was by no means encouraging, a 
 heavy debt hanging over the place, and 
 the parish having a membership at the 
 time of but seventy families. But his 
 energetic zeal and consummate business 
 tact soon overcame all difficulties. He 
 succeeded in developing the unstinting libe- 
 rality of his parishioners, in which qualit}' 
 they surpassed all other parishes, as the 
 result proved. At a meeting held in April, 
 1 887, resolutions were passed to build a 
 pastoral residence on the church grounds, 
 and in the following October two ad- 
 ditional lots were bought, which gave the 
 church property a frontage of 260x240 
 feet deep. Early in the spring of 1888 a 
 tract of land, comprising five acres, was 
 bought, platted and laid out for a ceme- 
 
 tery, and in Jul\-, same j'ear, a brick 
 dwelling was built for the Sisters. Sub- 
 sequently an addition of 50 x 54 feet to 
 both church and school was made, the 
 cost including decorations, church pews, 
 school desks, etc., being four thousand 
 dollars. The church building, 45x136 
 feet, now comprises two full stories, the 
 upper one devoted to church purposes, 
 the lower for school. After four years of 
 hard work, St. Mary's Church overcame 
 all difficulties, and to-da_\- it ranks fore- 
 most among the most nourishing parishes 
 of the diocese of Green Bay, the build- 
 ings and grounds, which rank among the 
 finest in the city of Kaukauna, being en- 
 tirely free of any incumbrance, so well 
 has the institution prospered. The schools 
 are under the superintendence of the 
 Franciscan Sisters of Alverno, Manitowoc 
 county. The entire church property- is 
 now valued at not less than forty thous- 
 and dollars, the congregation numbering 
 some 360 families, while over 440 chil- 
 dren attend the schools, including the 
 Kindergarten. 
 
 WR. SCARBOROUGH, a well- 
 known, prosperous and progres- 
 sive farmer of Grand Chute 
 township, Outagamie county, is 
 one of the leading, influential citizens there- 
 of, a thoroughly systematic and scientific 
 farmer, and a man of means, possessed of 
 intelligence far above the average. He is 
 fully posted on matters of general interest, 
 is an extensive reader, and finds great 
 pleasure in the perusal of books, periodi- 
 cals and newspapers. A pioneer in his 
 section, he has witnessed the wonderful 
 transformation that has taken place in the 
 appearance and importance of his town- 
 ship, as well as ha\ing been an active 
 participant in the work which has brought 
 about the almost phenomenal change. 
 
 He was born April 8, 1828, in Pots- 
 dam, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. , a son of 
 Michael Scarborough, who was a native of 
 

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 1^9 
 
 Canada, born of English ancestry January 
 6, 1784, in Cornwall, upper Canada (now 
 Province of Ontario;, where he was reared 
 to fanning pursuits. He received no edu- 
 cation \\hatever till after he was twenty- 
 one, from which time for some years he 
 was a thorough student, devoting all his 
 spare time to the perusal and study of lit- 
 erary works, so that by the time he had 
 reached middle age he found himself one 
 of the best informed and best read men in 
 his locality; moreover, he was highly pro- 
 ficient as a penman — writing a dozen dif- 
 ferent styles — and as a mathematician was 
 far in advance of his compeers. His life 
 occupation was that of an agriculturist, 
 in which he was largely interested, own- 
 ing, at one time, a farm of over 300 acres 
 of land in Louisville township, (nearMas- 
 sena), St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. , and at 
 the same time for many years conducted 
 an extensive lumber business in New York 
 State, also manufacturing potash, etc., 
 emplo3'ing several hands in these lines, 
 and amassing considerable wealth. Be- 
 ing over-trustful, however, and too confi- 
 dent as to the honor of others, he suffered 
 as a consequence serious reverses, unhap- 
 pily losing most of his property. After 
 this, having a family to support besides 
 himself, he for some time taught school 
 at a distance from his old home; but re- 
 turning to farming pursuits, he purchased 
 land in the town of Massena, not far from 
 his old farm, in connection with agricul- 
 ture engaging also in the business of dairy- 
 ing, and by incessant industry gradually 
 recuperated his fortune, being thereby 
 enabled to give all his children the ad- 
 vantages of a good education. Between 
 this time and his death he amassed a 
 comfortable estate, and left a consider- 
 able amount of property to his famil}'. 
 Michael Scarborough was twice married: 
 first time to Miss Maria Robertson, who 
 bore him two children. 
 
 On February 19, i8i6, Mrs. Scar- 
 borough and her daughter, Adeline, met 
 with a tragic and cruel death on the farm 
 
 in Louisville township, at the hands of a 
 
 44 
 
 man in the employ of Mr. Scarborough, 
 the murderer committing the crime during 
 the latter's absence, in the hope of ob- 
 taining money which he supposed was in 
 the house. Mr. Scarborough was after- 
 ward mariied to Miss Mary Ann Marsh, 
 also a native of Cornwall, Canada, by 
 whom he had three sons and seven daugh- 
 ters. The father died in Moulinette, 
 County of Stormont, Ontario, Canada, at 
 the age of eighty-nine years, and is buried 
 there; the widowed mother afterward 
 came to Wisconsin, where, after a resi- 
 dence of fifteen years, she died at the 
 home of her son, W. R. , near Appleton, 
 at the patriarchal age of ninety-live years 
 and ten da3's, and her remains repose in 
 Riverside Cemetery at Appleton. Mr. 
 Scarborough was greatly respected and 
 highly esteemed for his excellent qualities 
 of both head and heart. In religious faith 
 he originally attended the Episcopal 
 Church, but in later years became a 
 member of the Methodist Church, the 
 denomination to which his wife also 
 belonged. 
 
 W. R. Scarborough received a liberal 
 common-school education, which was sup- 
 plemented with a course of study at the 
 Canton (N. Y. ) Academy, where he pre- 
 pared. himself for the profession of school 
 teaching, becoming thoroughly competent 
 to take up that vocation at the early age 
 of fourteen years, at which time he found 
 himself able to support himself and pay 
 for his own education. Meanwhile the 
 serious reverses, already spoken of, be- 
 fell his father, and the lad from the age 
 of eleven years had to make his home 
 among strangers, although still subject to 
 :he counsel and supervision of his father. 
 He continued teaching school until he 
 was twenty-one years old, a period of 
 about seven years, and had his home in 
 his native State until 1850. in which 
 year he became one of a party of young 
 men who concluded to move west, there 
 to learn what opportunities the newer 
 regions offered for profit and advance- 
 ment, and as railroads to the west were 
 
79^^ 
 
 riKVVhVORATirK BIOOJiAI'IllCAL UeCORJ), 
 
 not Vit ill o|Hr;ition tlio party pi\>oei\U>d 
 In boat to Kfiiosha, Wis. Mr. Sciu- 
 boiouj^h at oiioo starlt-vl out to look lor 
 work, o<ur\ iuj; his riothes in a pack, aiul 
 walkixl from town to town, tinvlinj; work 
 scarce and tinuls proportionatfly low, at 
 ono place in the town of Lake Cu-nova, 
 Wis., havinj.; to work fv>r his board. 
 There he learnetl of the iiupn.>ven\ents 
 beiuj; made on the Fo.\ river, and at 
 Stionj;'s l.andinf,'. now Herlin, he at last 
 fouiul em(>K\vment, Here he renuiineil 
 throufjlv the winter, clerking fi>r a nuin 
 who on a few hours' acquaintance en- 
 trusted him with the full care of his store. 
 Me clcrkevl also lor other mercfiants, then 
 went to Milwaukee ami later to Given 
 Hay, where he was given an incivase of 
 salary. In KS53 he entered 3.\i; acres of 
 l.md in Marquette cinmty. Wis., and re- 
 visited New York State, where he was 
 married in the same year to Louisa Tayne, 
 who was born October ,:i, 1830, at Mas- 
 sena, N. Y., daughter of Han\abas and 
 Polly ^Judd"! I'ayne, well-to-do farmitig 
 people of Massena, the father a tiative of 
 Massachusetts, the mother of Kutland, 
 \'t They were pioneers in that section of 
 New York State, where in tlu> early days 
 Mr. Tayue followed his trade, shoemak- 
 ing. He and his wife both died at Mas- 
 sena, he ij» 18S7, at the age of eighty- 
 seven, she in iv^4v^, at the age of fv^ty- 
 hve, anvl their remains now rest at Mas- 
 sena (.'enter. They were nvembers of the 
 Methodist (,'hurch. 
 
 Ketmniug to Wisconsin soon after 
 marriage, Mr. Scarborough loc.Ued u|H>n 
 a tract of land in b\un\ington township, 
 Waupaca comity, belonging to his bivth- 
 er James, I'untls feeing K>w, pei"sonal 
 effort became their sole ivliance, and the 
 brotheis decided to own farms adjoining, 
 so they c«,>uld assist each other in imprvn - 
 ing the same. The end of July. 1853, 
 founvl them on Jatnes' farm impart of a 
 forty-acre tract\ houses! in awing u>.\,:4 
 ftvt (thive i\>oms\ the crop they had in 
 bt>ing frv>tu ten to fifteen acivs of wheat, 
 and about five in truck, cvmu, potatoes 
 
 ai»d turnips. I'hey immediately turned 
 their attention to the erecticMi of a com- 
 modious granary, for future needs, which 
 they completed in time for the reception 
 of the crops, prmiding storage for nearly 
 everything except potatoes. The folk>w- 
 ing winter was occupied in getting to- 
 gether material with which to build a 
 barn, which was accomplished; but on 
 .\pril 16, 1S54, running tires swe(>t away 
 all their etTorts, nearly everything in fact 
 being ilestroyed except their house and 
 its contents, Neighbui's were kind to 
 them in their distivss, but being new be- 
 ginners like the Scarboroughs themselves, 
 a'ul no better otT in pecuni.uy respects, 
 they were unable to do much for the 
 brothers, who succeeiled. hmvever, in 
 getting .secil and putting in a crv^p. They 
 also grubbed .uid broke the balance of 
 the forty-acre tract, and James drew the 
 timber and completed the new barn in 
 time to ivceive the crop. Oming the 
 folk>wing winter James hireil out .vs a 
 driver of a team, while our subject thresh- 
 ed the graitu and paid up tl\c iiidebte«.l- 
 ness, about fifty dollars In 185; he left 
 his brothers place, set to work to till the 
 in)pi\>vevl forty acres of his own land, aut.1 
 connuenced grubbing and breaking the 
 remaitider. In the fall he put in wheat, 
 oats and corn, and during the following 
 winter procuret.! material for hislniildings. 
 September. 1850, found him and his fam- 
 ily on their own farm of J40 acres, 
 equippe^l with good, substantial, com- 
 modious farm building>i. with s*.xi bushels 
 of wheat, and corn. oats. etc.. in abun- 
 dance, ivady for use. Hy the spring of 
 1857 he had every cent of his indebted- 
 ness canceled. Mr. Scarborough iv- 
 mained in Waupaca county until i8cK>. 
 when he came ti> C>raiid Chute town- 
 ship. Outiigamie anmty. auvl bought one 
 hundrt\i acres. mi^tly wild land, in Section 
 38, then in a very rough condition, falleti 
 trees Iving all over it. Twenty-two acres 
 had been chopjHHl over, a jH>rtion farmed 
 and a sm.dl one-story house, 1 o x .14, built 
 thert>ot», in which to ag-ain begin living. 
 
COMMlCMOUATlVtC JJlOUUAl'lUCAL UICOOUU. 
 
 7yl 
 
 Nothing daunted, however, he be^jan the 
 work of c\(i'Ax'm\>, the farm, finally suc- 
 ceeding after perforiiiinj( almost fierculean 
 labor. He has always been en^;af,'ed in 
 farming, and besides attending to his 
 agricultural work has taught s<;hool seven 
 terms since living in fjrand Chute town- 
 shijj. He has made many notaijle ini- 
 j;rovem<;nts ujKjn his prof^erty, his fine 
 bar;is and other outbuildings alone being 
 well worthy of notice. They afford ample 
 room for comfortably stabling his fine 
 herd of dairy c^ws, most of which are 
 either pure Jerseys or of high grade, one 
 of them being a superbly beautiful animal 
 that would easily rank with the best thor- 
 ough-bred i^rize winners anywhere. 'I'he 
 barn is furnished with numerous new ap- 
 pliances for economizing labor, among 
 which may be mentioned a power machine 
 for cutting all kinds of feed, as well as for 
 other pur|joses. The farm ifi general is 
 well e'juij>ped with all modern machinery, 
 such as hay loaders, mowers, reapers, 
 etc., all of which when not in use are 
 carefully stored in a room especially set 
 apart for that purpose. The little old 
 house he lived in on his first settlement is 
 now used exclusively as an outbuilding, 
 and the present cjrnmodious residence and 
 barns are the result of .Mr, Scarborough's 
 individual care and handiwork; in fact all 
 the surroundings attest to the thorough- 
 ness of the owner's scientific as well as 
 practical knowledge of fartfjing, his char- 
 acteristic carefulness, systematic manage- 
 ment and s<^jund judgment. 
 
 The children born to Mr. and -M/s. 
 Scarborough were: Mary, who died 
 young; James, residing in Apj.ileton, Wis.; 
 George, of Pittsburgh, Penn. ; Kitty, now 
 Mrs. Clarence J. Pennock, of Stark a^jun- 
 ty, N. Dak. ; Hattie, who married John 
 N. .Manley, and died in Dakota; I^ucretia, 
 a teacher; and Jennie, who died at the 
 age of twelve ynnTH. In National and 
 State politics Mr. Scarborough is a stanch 
 Kepubliran; in county and local matters 
 he looks at the question of the fitness of 
 the candidate rather than h>8 political 
 
 complexion. On his own part he is not 
 in any sens<; an aspirant for official 
 honors. 
 
 JV, .MlIJJiK, dentist, South Kau- 
 kauna, is one of the representative 
 young men of his city, and bears 
 universal est<iem for his manly fjuali- 
 ties and social good nature. 
 
 He was born in 1865 in Manitowoc 
 county, Wis., and is a mm of Joseph 
 I-. and iiarbara ''liauer^ Miller, natives 
 respectively of Austria and (^^ermany. 
 The father came to Hacine, Wis., in the 
 early " forties," when a young man, and 
 served as timekeeper on the railroad then 
 building into Milwauke<r, Upon its com- 
 pletion he resided for a time at l<a/;ine, 
 but located later at Manitowoc, where he 
 was in the employ of the (3oojjer Jones 
 I.umber Company; afterward engaged in 
 similar business at Two Kivers, and now 
 resides at Manitowoc, retired from active 
 labors. He was married at Two Kivers, 
 Wis,, and his bride of jnany years still 
 lives to share with him the fruits of an 
 honorable career. Their children, four 
 in number, are as follows: Frank A , 
 resides in .Manitowoc, where he is book- 
 keeper for Kahr's Jirewery; Mary 'i. , 
 wife of Frank Krahn, resides in Kaukauna; 
 J, V. is the subjer;t of this sketch; Katie 
 A, is married to Charles A, Kobley, and 
 lives at Portage, Wisconsin. 
 
 J. V. Miller obtained a good education 
 in the schools of Manitowoc, and began 
 in that city the study of his chosen pro- 
 fession, fn due time he entered the 
 Ohio 0.>llege of Dental Surgery, at Cin- 
 cinnati, from which he was graduated 
 with the class of 1890. locating first at 
 Manitowoc, he removed in 1891 to South 
 Kaukauna, having also practiced several 
 months at Kewaunee; for s^jmetime previ- 
 ous to c^jming to Kaukauna he practiced 
 with the firm of Seeger Brothers, at 
 .Manitowoc. Dr. Miller was married, in 
 1893, to Miss <^>lga Seeger, of .Manito- 
 woc. He is a member of Kaukauna 
 
792 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Lodire No. 
 
 :jj. 
 
 F. cS: A. M., of the 
 
 Chapter, K. A. M., at Appleton, and 
 Palestine Commandery No. 20, K. T. ; 
 he also holds membership in the I. O. G. 
 T. , and Fo.x River Lodge No. 90, K. of 
 P. Politically he belongs to no party, 
 but votes for the men or measures which 
 seem to him best. He enjoys an excel- 
 lent practice at his line parlors in South 
 Kaukauna. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL H. MULLOY, jus- 
 tice of the peace and acting 
 police justice of the city of 
 Kaukauna, South side, was 
 born in 1854 at Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 His father, Michael Mulloy, was born 
 in Castlebar, Ireland, and when a young 
 man immigrated, in i 849, to New York. 
 In 1S50 became to Wisconsin, remain- 
 ing here but six da\'s, however, when he 
 returned east to Columbus, Ohio, and 
 there married Miss Bridget Flynn, a na- 
 tive of New York City. In 1856 he 
 again came to Wisconsin, living in Wau- 
 kesha county until 1S60, in which year 
 he settled with his family in the woods of 
 Calumet countv. Wis., where he cleared 
 and improved a farm and established a 
 home. To this worthy Irish couple, who 
 are now residents of Neenah, Wis., were 
 born the following children: Michael H., 
 subject of this article; Patrick, married 
 and residing in Ivaukauna, in the employ 
 of the Chicago & North Western Railroad 
 Company; Mary, now Mrs. M. Parkinson, 
 of Green Bay; Edward, residing in Aus- 
 tralia: Margaret, married and residing at 
 Houston, Texas; Ellen, living in Chicago; 
 Ann, at home; Mart.; and Jerry, a law 
 student in the office of Mr. Fitzgibbons, 
 at Neenah, Wisconsin. 
 
 Michael H. Mulloy was educated in 
 the schools of Calumet county, and re- 
 mained at home until twenty-two years 
 of age, assisting in opening and managing 
 his father's farm. He was married in 
 1877, to Miss Anna Curtin, a native of 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio, and daughter of James 
 and Nora Curtin, who came from Ire- 
 land at an early date, settling in Calumet 
 county, Wis., in 1856. Mrs. Curtin 
 died in 1893, but her husband yet resides 
 on the old farm. Mr. and Mrs. Mullo)- 
 are the parents of seven children: Mich- 
 ael D., Matt, Maggie, James, Kittie, Nel- 
 lie and Anna. Mr. Mulloy, who was one 
 of the first to settle on the South side, 
 Kaukauna, has witnessed the entire 
 growth of the place, and has been no 
 small factor in its development. He is 
 classed among the most progressive citi- 
 zens of the place, and is ever foremost in 
 all enterprises calculated to benefit his 
 adopted city. An active Democrat in 
 politics, he has been chosen to numerous 
 official positions. When a young man 
 of twenty he was elected as constable in 
 Calumet county, and served two years, 
 since when, with the exception of but 
 five months, he has continuously held 
 public office. In 1883 he was elected 
 justice of the peace in what was then the 
 village of Ledyard, serving two years; 
 meantime, in 1884, he was chosen treas- 
 urer of Buchanan township, an incum- 
 bency he filled one year. In 1885 he 
 was elected city marshal, and served on 
 the police force until January 17, 1891, 
 when he resigned and engaged in the liv- 
 ery business at the corner of Fourth 
 street and Crooks avenue. He purchased 
 the establishment of John Hoberg, in- 
 cluding a frame barn 40 x 90 feet with 
 stone basement, paying for the stock 
 arid buildings eight thousand four hun- 
 dred dollars. In 1891 he was again 
 elected justice of the peace, and aside 
 from enjoying an excellent business as a 
 liveryman is a capable and popular dis- 
 penser of justice. He also does an exten- 
 sive business in real estate, handling much 
 property in that line for others, and is 
 himself the owner of valuable real estate 
 in Kaukauna city. With his wife he be- 
 longs to St. Mary's Catholic Church, 
 South side; is a member of the Catholic 
 Order of Foresters, and that he is a 
 
COMMKMOUAriVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 793 
 
 public-spirited and worthy citizen is at- 
 tested by his record, here briefly out- 
 lined. 
 
 WILBER M. HOLLEMBAEK, 
 member of the firm of Ilollem- 
 baek & Nye, publishers, has 
 been a resident of Hortonville, 
 Outagamie county, but a few years, yet 
 during that time has succeeded in winning 
 the complete confidence of all his associ- 
 ates, both as a business man and as a use- 
 ful citizen. 
 
 He is a native of Wisconsin, born 
 December 29, 1866, in Dodge county, 
 the only child of Samuel and Janett Hol- 
 lembaek, and is a direct descendant of 
 Dutch settlers who came from Holland 
 and were among the founders of New 
 York, then known as New Amsterdam. 
 Our subject passed his earlier years at 
 Omro, Wis., receiving his literary training 
 in the public school until ten years of age, 
 after which, in connection with the usual 
 studies, he took a course at the commer- 
 cial school of that town, continuing thus 
 up to the age of fourteen. For three 
 years following he served as apprentice in 
 a printing office, at the expiration of 
 which time he took charge of the mechan- 
 ical work of the office, as foreman, a 
 position in which he remained three years. 
 He next started in business for himself, 
 having, in partnership with C. F. Jewell, 
 purchased the Stahcart publishing outfit, 
 and the\' published the S/ir/TCrt;-/ of Omro, 
 Wis., Mr. HoUembaek having the man- 
 aging and publishing of this newspaper 
 under his charge for four years, when he 
 sold his interest in the concern and re- 
 moved to Hortonville. Here, in partner- 
 ship with I. R. Nye, he commenced the 
 publication of the Hortonville Rn'ii-'iu, a 
 neat, newsy paper, which has had a very 
 successful career. In addition to their 
 publishing business they carry on a print- 
 ing office, and under the present manage- 
 ment the business has expanded far beyond 
 its original proportions. W'ith the increase 
 
 of trade the establishment has been im- 
 proved, and pro\idcd with all modern 
 equipments for the conducting of their 
 business until it is now one of the first- 
 class concerns of its kind in Outagamie 
 county. This enterprising firm have also 
 established branch offices at Wittenberg, 
 Shawano Co., and Dartford, Green Lake 
 Co. , Wis. , both doing good business for 
 offices of their size, and have proved profit- 
 able ventures. Mr. HoUembaek has made 
 many friends during his residence in Hor- 
 tonville, and has established himself on a 
 sound financial footing, with a reputation 
 second to none for business energy and 
 capability. On June 17, 1 891, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Clara M. 
 Jacquot. 
 
 JOHN SCHUH, well-known and re- 
 spected as a representative well-to- 
 do farmer of Grand Chute township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 Bavaria, Germany, born April 5, 1840. 
 
 Jacob Schuh, father of our subject, 
 was a carpenter, and followed his trade 
 in Germany until 1854, when he con- 
 cluded to try his fortune in the New 
 World. Gathering together what means 
 he could, he sailed with his wife and 
 family — consisting of three sons and one 
 daughter — from Bremen on the three- 
 masted schooner " Gustav," bound for 
 Baltimore, at which port they landed 
 after a voyage of forty-five days. Their 
 destination was Wisconsin, as cheap 
 homes were offered to settlers there at 
 that early date, and, journeying by rail 
 to Chicago, they went on by boat to Mil- 
 waukee, thence pushing their way into 
 Washington county, where, in Addison 
 township, Mr. Schuh bought forty acres 
 of wild land, paying $350 for same. He 
 commenced to work at his trade, for six 
 shillings a day, and our subject assisted 
 him at three shillings per day. the other 
 boys devoting their time to clearing the 
 farm. The family lived there until 1865, 
 when they moved to Freedom township. 
 
794 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Outagamie county, and here Mrs. Schuh 
 passed awaj' in 1870, aged seventy years; 
 Mr. Schuh died in Milwaukee in 1892, at 
 the advanced age of nine-two years. 
 Their children were as follows: Josephine, 
 Mrs. Joseph Foster, of Milwaukee; Jacob, 
 who died in 1889 in Freedom; John; and 
 Charley, who died in Marshfield, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 John Schuh received all his literary 
 education in his native land, for after the 
 family came to this country his parents 
 needed all the assistance he could give 
 them, and he has been self-sup- 
 porting from an earl}- age. Under 
 his father's tuition he learned the 
 trade of carpenter, and remained un- 
 der the parental roof until past twentj' 
 years of age, when, on August 28, 1861, 
 he enlisted, at Addison, Wis., in response 
 to the call for 300,000 men, becoming a 
 member of Company G, Ninth Wis. V. 
 I. They were sent to Milwaukee, drilling 
 there until early in 1862, when they were 
 ordered to Fort Leavenworth, and in the 
 following April started for Fort Scott; 
 Mr. Schuh participated in the Indian ex- 
 pedition sent out from there under Gen. 
 Blunt, which commenced actively with 
 the engagement at Newtonia, Mo., where 
 they opposed Gen. Price. On December 
 7, 1862, the battle at Prairie Grove, Ark., 
 was fought, and thence the regiment went 
 to \'an Buren, Ark., finally entering 
 winter ([uarters near Springfield, Mo. In 
 the following spring, under Gen. Heron, 
 they went through southern and south- 
 western Missouri, and after moving to 
 various places went by rail to St. Louis, 
 Mo., and were placed on provost guard 
 duty until August, when they were again 
 sent to points in Arkansas, Helena, Lit- 
 tle Rock, Pine Bluff, etc. In the spring 
 of 1864 they took part in the Red River 
 expedition under Gen. Steel, with the 
 Seventh Army Corps. On January i , 
 1864, Mr. Schuh veteranized, at Little 
 Rock, and remained in the service until 
 January 21, 1866, when he received an 
 honorable discharge at Little Rock, Ark. , 
 
 and returned to Milwaukee. During this 
 long term of service he never received a 
 wound from the enemj-, and was never in 
 hospital, the only injury he sustained 
 being a kick from a horse, in the early 
 part of the war. 
 
 On November 6, 1866, our subject 
 was united in marriage, in Milwaukee, 
 with Miss Maggie Gleisner, who was born 
 January 20, 1850, in that city, daughter 
 of Michael Gleisner, who settled there at 
 an early day. Mr. Schuh having saved 
 $1,000 during the war, after his mar- 
 riage came to Freedom township, Outa- 
 gamie county, and invested in eighty 
 acres of timber land lying in Section 22, 
 going in debt therefor to the amount of 
 $800. He built the first house and barn 
 on the land, and began the tedious work 
 of clearing, living there until 1881, the 
 year of his removal to Grand Chute town- 
 ship. Here he bought eighty acres in 
 Section 11, where he has ever since re- 
 sided, actively engaged in general farm- 
 ing. A comfortable residence and com- 
 modious barn are among the many im- 
 provements he has made upon the place, 
 which repays him well for all the labor he 
 has put upon it, and which is necessary to 
 conduct it properly. In addition to gen- 
 eral farm products he pays considerable 
 attention to the raising of garden stuff, 
 and small fruits, and is also engaged in 
 dairying to some extent. Mr. Schuh is 
 strictly a self-made man, for he has accu- 
 mulated his fine property solely by his 
 own industry, and with the help of his 
 estimable wife has established a pleasant 
 home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schuh have had chil- 
 dren as follows: Joseph, of Grand Chute; 
 Jacob, whose death, when he was twelve 
 years old, was caused by a runaway team; 
 John H., at home; Kate, Lizzie, George, 
 Clara, Edward, Anton, Mary, Maggie, 
 Charles, Leo and Rosa, all living at home. 
 Politically a firm Republican, Mr. Schuh 
 cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln, and 
 always supports the ticket of his partj' in 
 National elections, taking an active in- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 795 
 
 terest in its success. He has served as 
 assessor and treasurer of Freedom town- 
 ship, acting in the latter capacity four 
 years. In rehgious connection he and 
 his wife are members of St. Joseph's 
 Church at Appleton. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY SPENGLER, 
 merchant, Dale, was born Sep- 
 tember 20, 1 841, in Eimen, 
 Province of Hanover, Germany, 
 where the members of the family, who 
 were originally farmers, had been for 
 generations engaged in business. His 
 grandfather, a well-known merchant in 
 his day, reared a family of ten children, 
 and lived to an advanced age. His son 
 Ernst, father of William, entered upon a 
 mercantile career when a young man, in 
 Eimen, prospered, and bore an excellent 
 reputation for honesty and uprightness. 
 He married Mary Meyer, a member of a 
 leading family in the same locality. Sell- 
 ing out their possessions, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ernst Spengler were induced to emigrate 
 to the United States, and for a short time 
 they located at Milwaukee, Wis., from 
 which point they removed to Caledonia, 
 W^aupaca county, where a quarter section 
 of land was purchased and in due time 
 transformed into one of the best farms in 
 that locality. After about fifteen years 
 spent there, they sold and removed to 
 Hartland, Shawano county, where they 
 passed the remainder of their lives, at 
 their death the father was seventy-five 
 years old, and the mother seventy; they 
 were the parents of eleven children, who 
 all reached maturity. 
 
 William Henry Spengler, the seventh 
 son in the family of Ernst and Mary 
 Spengler, was reared on the farm, and 
 when a young man learned the carpenter's 
 trade. In 1864-65, during the war of the 
 Rebellion, he worked for the United States 
 Government in Johnsonville and Nash- 
 ville, Tenn., and at the former place he 
 was driven out, with others, by a detach- 
 ment of rebel Gen. Hood's forces. He 
 
 left the service of " Uncle Sam " in June, 
 1865, and returning to Wisconsin in the 
 fall of 1868, he established a general 
 mercantile business at Caledonia. W'au- 
 paca county, and met with good suc- 
 cess. He was not experienced in that 
 line, but the natural business adapta- 
 bility of his ancestors seemed to have 
 been inherited by him. He gradually in- 
 creased his stock, and remained in Cale- 
 donia eight years. In 1876 he opened a 
 general store at Dale, Outagamie county, 
 purchasing the business from John 
 Strange, now a successful paper manufac- 
 turer of Menasha. Building a new and 
 larger store, he continued the establish- 
 
 ment on a 
 
 greater scale, meetmg with 
 
 good success, and for years was the only 
 merchant in the place, the surroundings 
 of which, rich and prosperous from an ag- 
 ricultural view, made the location a most 
 desirable one. Mr. Spengler has been a 
 not unimportant factor in shaping the af- 
 fairs of the village and township, his in- 
 fluence, although quiet, being far-reach- 
 ing, both socially and politically. He has 
 been honored by his townsmen by being 
 elected to various positions of trust and 
 responsibility; at present he is treasurer 
 of his school district, and has always 
 taken a deep interest in educational mat- 
 ters. For many years he has filled the 
 office of postmaster, having been first ap- 
 pointed during President Johnson's ad- 
 ministration ; was re-appointed under Pres- 
 ident Grant, and again, June 2, 1893, un- 
 der the present administration (President 
 Cleveland's). He has served satisfactorily 
 to the patrons and to the government, 
 and possesses the esteem and confidence 
 of all. The family is identified with the 
 Lutheran Church, which was the religious 
 home of his ancestry. Aside from his 
 property here, Mr. Spengler also posseses 
 real-estate interests in Chicago, and he 
 owns altogether about 560 acres of choice 
 land, 230 of which lie in Outagamie 
 county. 
 
 Mr. Spengler was married in Milwau- 
 kee, October 26, 1868. to Miss Johanna 
 
79b 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGHAPHICAL liECORD. 
 
 C. Mayer, daughter of G. Mayer, a well- 
 known resident of that city; she was ed- 
 ucated in the schools of Milwaukee. By 
 this union there are five children: Hattie 
 J., wife of Ur. George G. Barlow, a suc- 
 cessful dentist of Menasha, Wis. ; Otto 
 W. , born in Caledonia, educated in Ap- 
 pleton and Milwaukee, and now associ- 
 ated with his father in business; Selma, 
 Erna F. and Norma H. M. Mr. Speng- 
 ler has been a quite extensive traveler, 
 both while working at his old trade of 
 carpenter and since. He attended the 
 New Orleans Exposition in i8S6, the 
 World's Columbian Exposition at Chi- 
 cago, and the recent Midwinter Fair at 
 San Francisco, on the latter trip visiting 
 also his two brothers, Charles and Fred, 
 who are gold miners in northern Califor- 
 nia. When President Harrison was in- 
 ducted into office Mr. Spengler journeyed 
 to Washington and attended the inaug- 
 ural ceremonies. 
 
 JEREMIAH HARRINGTON. This 
 sterling citizen and prosperous farmer 
 of Bovina township, Outagamie 
 county, is descended from patriotic 
 ancestry. His great-grandfather, John 
 Ward, was a soldier in the Continental 
 army during the entire period of the Revo- 
 lutionary war, and lived to the great age 
 of 1 02 years. His son, John Ward, and 
 Polly, his wife, were the grandparents of 
 Jeremiah on his mother's side; on his 
 father's side, his grandparents were Jere- 
 miah and Charlotte Harrington. 
 
 Gamaliel Harrington, their son, who 
 married Sybil Ward, was a farmer and an 
 ordained minister, who, although he 
 preached to a considerable extent, never 
 did so for a salary. The children of this 
 couple were: Mary Jane, who died in 
 infancy; Helen, who died at the age of 
 two years; Jeremiah, our subject; Eben- 
 ezer Johnson, and Electa. Ebenezer 
 was a soldier in the Union army during the 
 Rebellion (as was also Jeremiah), and was 
 killed at Port Hudson, June 14, 1863, 
 
 succumbing only after he had been shot 
 seven times. The children all remained 
 at home until they were grown. Their 
 mother died when Jeremiah was but six 
 years old, but in about a year thereafter 
 the father married Julia Washburn, who 
 cared for the children as if they were her 
 own. Selling his sixty-acre farm in War- 
 ren county, N. Y., Gamaliel Harrington 
 and his family came west to Chilton, 
 Wis., in 1856, locating upon forty acres 
 of wild land which he purchased. A log 
 house was erected, 18 x 26 feet in dimen- 
 sions, and there in the wilderness they be- 
 gan anew the struggle for a home. Mr. 
 Harrington preached to the few scattering 
 settlers in the surrounding countr\', and 
 the family remained in that localit\- until 
 i860, when they came to Bovina and set- 
 tled upon eighty acres of land in its primi- 
 tive condition. A small frame house 
 furnished them shelter until 1874, when 
 Jeremiah built a more modern edifice, his 
 wife accomplishing the feat of painting it, 
 and upon locating here they at once be- 
 gan clearing the land with but a limited 
 supply of tools. The first crop consisted 
 of potatoes, corn and wheat, the latter 
 being harvested with a cradle and threshed 
 by hand; they had a small flock of sheep 
 which were twice all killed by wolves, ex- 
 cept one. 
 
 Jeremiah Harrington, who was born 
 February i, 1837, in Johnsburgh, War- 
 ren Co., N. Y. , has in his veins the same 
 patriotic blood which led his great-grand- 
 father to march and fight and suffer for 
 his country during the seven years of the 
 Revolution. He enlisted June 14, 1861, 
 in Company E, Sixth Wis. V. I., which 
 became a part of the famous "Iron 
 Brigade." Being taken sick, however, 
 he was left at Camp Randall, Madison, 
 and finally sent home, where his discharge 
 reached him six months later, dating from 
 March iS, 1862. On September 18, 
 1864, he re-enlisted, this time in Com- 
 pany A, First Wis. V. C. , and after three 
 weeks' stay at Madison was sent to Louis- 
 ville, Ky., and thence into Tennessee. 
 
COMMEMOllATIVE DIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 797 
 
 The command was kept on a constant 
 raid, and it was the fortune of our soldier 
 to take part in the pursuit and capture of 
 Jefferson Davis, the fugitive president of 
 the Southern Confederacy. He was 
 finally discharged July 19, 1865, and re- 
 turned iiome, and for injuries sustained in 
 the service he now receives a small pen- 
 sion. After his first enlistment he was 
 married, January i, 1862, to Cynthia B. 
 Torrey, daughter of Thomas R. and 
 Achsah B. (Chapman) Torrey. She was 
 born in Hinsdale, Berkshire Co., Mass., 
 August 23, 1843, and on her mother's 
 side is a granddaughter of Samuel and 
 Cynthia fIJrown) Chapman, her grand- 
 mother Chapman being a daughter of 
 John and Samantha Brown. On the side 
 of her father, her grandparents were 
 Nathan N. and Polly (Rice) Torrey, her 
 grandfather being a son of Nathan W. 
 and Mary (Rose) Torrey. He was the 
 first settler, taught the first school and 
 laid the corner-stone of the Baptist 
 Church of Hinsdale, Berkshire Co., Mass., 
 and he was a Revolutionary soldier. Mrs. 
 Harrington was one of si.\ children: 
 Samuel, Nathan, Cynthia B., Daniel, 
 Mercy and Ella May. In 1855 her father 
 and his son Samuel came to Liberty 
 township, Outagamie Co., Wis., pur- 
 chased 200 acres of land at a dollar and 
 a quarter per acre, where they erected a 
 log shanty, 16x24 feet in dimensions, 
 and the next year, 1856, the mother and 
 the other children followed; from Fond 
 du Lac they proceeded by wagon, with 
 only a narrow trail to guide them. They 
 lived three years on the place in Liberty, 
 clearing sixty acres; then came to Bovina 
 and purchased eighty acres, upon which 
 the family resided about twenty years, 
 the timber being cleared away during that 
 time. From there Mr. Torrey removed 
 to Shiocton, where he died April 23, 
 1890, his widow's death occurring at the 
 residence of her son Samuel, in Horton- 
 ville, November 18, 1893. 
 
 At the time of her marriage Mrs. Har- 
 rington was teaching school in Shiocton. 
 
 During the absence of her husband on 
 his second term of enlistment she sup- 
 ported herself and family unaided. The 
 land has been cleared by Mr. Harrington, 
 assisted by his faithful wife, and he is still 
 the possessor of the original eighty acres. 
 They have two children: Dora, now Mrs. 
 Edward Birmingham, of Sturgeon Bay; 
 Fred N., born September 14, 1875, at 
 Shenandoah, Iowa, and residing at home 
 with his parents. Mr. Harrington is a 
 Republican in politics, and has tilled the 
 office of justice of the peace. His an- 
 cestry was of Scotch and Welsh descent, 
 that of his wife being English. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY BRIGGS, one 
 of the most prominent residents 
 Hortonville, Outagamie county, 
 has been closely connected with 
 the lumber interests of northern Wiscon- 
 sin for a number of years. 
 
 He was born August 21,1 84S, in Mon- 
 son, Maine, son of Daniel and Mary 
 (Washburn) Briggs, also natives of Maine. 
 The genealogy of the family, as traced 
 by Dr. Briggs, points to English origin, 
 the first ancestors of the family in this 
 country having been natives of England. 
 They settled first in Massachusetts, Daniel 
 Briggs, the grandfather of our subject, 
 moving thence to Maine. Daniel Briggs, 
 father of William H., was a farmer, mill- 
 man and lumberman by occupation, giving 
 his principal attention to lumbering, 
 though he was a man of extraordinary 
 business ability and made a success of 
 anything and everything he turned his 
 hand to. In about 1854 he went to Illi- 
 nois, and for nearly three years farmed in 
 the vicinity of Rockton, thence removing 
 to Outagamie county, Wis., and settling 
 in Hortonville became at once actively 
 associated with all its interests. He 
 owned a tract of forty acres near the 
 town, also a homestead comprising about 
 twenty acres in the town, and for a 
 time was engaged in mercantile trade, 
 
798 
 
 COMMEMORAriVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 though here, as in Mtiine, he was em- 
 ployed for the most part in the lumbering 
 business, confining his operations gener- 
 ally to Outagamie and neighboring coun- 
 ties. He also acquired a half interest in 
 the gristmill, and became a well-known 
 figure in the business circles of the county. 
 A prominent member of the Republican 
 party, and an ardent supporter of its 
 principles, he always took an active in- 
 terest in political affairs, and had con- 
 siderable influence among his fellowmen ; 
 he held several offices while in Illinois, 
 proving an efficient faithful servant of the 
 people, and after his removal to Outaga- 
 mie county did much to preserve the 
 peace and harmony of the new settlement, 
 his calmness in emergencies and sound 
 judgment commanding the admiration of 
 all. In all his dealings with his fellow- 
 men he was characterized by straightfor- 
 wardness and unswerving integrit}-, and 
 his many sterling qualities of head and 
 heart won him universal esteem. He was 
 taken away in the prime of life, dying 
 June II, 1865, aged forty-six years. Mr. 
 Briggs was married, in 1846, to Mary 
 Washburn (daughter of Ira Washburn, 
 and a half-cousin of Gen. Washburn, of 
 Minneapolis, Minn.), and their union was 
 blessed with ten children. Mrs. Briggs 
 was an energetic woman, and after her 
 husband's decease attended to the affairs 
 in a business-like manner until her sons 
 were old enough to release her from the 
 charge. She died at the age of sixty-two 
 years, highly honored and esteemed by 
 all who knew her, as an intelligent woman 
 and a devoted mother; she was a member 
 of the Congregational Church. 
 
 William Henry Briggs attended the 
 public schools of Hortonville, where he 
 received a thorough training in the com- 
 mon branches. At his father's death, 
 though but seveteen years of age, he left 
 school and from that time had the princi- 
 pal management of his father's business 
 affairs, for about ten years being practi- 
 cally the head of the family. For about 
 eight years he conducted his father's mill. 
 
 in the summer time working in the harvest 
 fields, and devoted himself unselfishly to 
 the interests of the younger members of 
 the family as long as it was nccessarj-. 
 On commencing life for himself, Mr. 
 Briggs turned his attention to lumbering, 
 making estimates of timber and timber 
 lands, and for the past twenty years has 
 dealt extensively in pine lands; is also 
 interested in mineral lands, having a half 
 ownership in a promising silver mine in 
 Colorado. His lumbering interests ex- 
 tended throughout the northern portion 
 of Wisconsin, where he engaged contin- 
 uously for eight years cutting and logging 
 on his own account. After abandoning 
 the logging he purchased a 160-acre farm 
 in Greenville township, Outagamie county, 
 where he farmed for about two years, and 
 then went to Missouri, during the winter 
 of 1886-87 looking up pine land in that 
 State. The following spring he went to 
 Arkansas, and making his headquarters 
 at Little Rock engaged in locating and 
 purchasing pine lands in the central and 
 southwestern part of the State. In the 
 summer of 1S87 he assisted in the organ- 
 ization of a company, comprising, besides 
 himself, Lindsay & Phelps, Nathaniel 
 French, the Richardson Brothers and 
 William Renwick, all of Davenport, Jowa, 
 the stock being divided into six parts, our 
 subject being the owner of one part, and 
 director and general agent of the com- 
 pany. Later, in 1890, a stock compan}' 
 was formed, and stock issued, in propor- 
 tion to the amount paid in by each party, 
 at $100 a share. Mr. Briggs is also di- 
 rector and general agent of the company, 
 which is known as the Richardson Land 
 & Timber Companj', and he devotes a 
 large part of his time to its interests, 
 buying all their timber and timberland, 
 which they hold for future use. 
 
 Mr. Briggs was married, in i 888, at 
 Chippewa Falls, Wis., to Miss Olive M. 
 Denney, who was born in Susquehanna 
 county, Penn., daughter of Warren Den- 
 ney, and to this marriage have come 
 three children: William Henry, Edward 
 
COMMEMORATIVt: BIOGUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 799 
 
 W. , and Jennie L. Mr. Briggs is a Re- 
 publican in politics, but is not connected 
 with any secret society or Church organi- 
 zation, clfiiniing the right to think for 
 himself on all questions, and respecting 
 the opinions of others. 
 
 JACOB NICKEL. The first of the 
 Nickel family to come to America 
 was Philip Nickel, who was a native 
 of Germany, and one of the family 
 of five children born to Jacob and Katie 
 Nickel. Philip married Miss Catherine 
 Muehl, who was also of German parent- 
 age, and they became the parents of eight 
 children, namely: Fred, Jacob, Philip, 
 George, John, K^atie, Henry and Will. 
 In an early day he came to the United 
 States, and pushing westward to Wiscon- 
 sin made a permanent settlement in Ger- 
 mantown township, Washington county, 
 where he became a prosperous farmer. 
 At the time of his coming here the city of 
 Milwaukee was a mere village, containing 
 a few houses. 
 
 Jacob Nickel, son of this old pioneer, 
 was born December 7, 1849, in German- 
 town, and was reared to farming, assist- 
 ing at home until he reached the age of 
 seventeen years, when he commenced 
 working for others. On May 28, 1872, 
 he was united in marriage with Miss Ellen 
 Sharp, daughter of Peter and Mary (Fry) 
 Sharp, and a granddaughter of Jacob 
 Sharp, who served in the war of 1812. 
 Peter and Mary Sharp had ten children, 
 as follows: Elizabeth, Tabitha, Sarah, 
 Ellen (Mrs. Nickel), Barbara, Lottie, 
 Jacob, Achsa, George and Dennis. The 
 father, who was a cooper by trade, lived 
 in New York State until 1858, when he 
 came with his family to Wisconsin, set- 
 tling in the town of Osborn, Outagamie 
 county. After their marriage Mr. and 
 Mrs. Jacob Nickel lived in Seymour about 
 fourteen months, keeping boarders, and 
 then removed to the farm in Seymour 
 township, where they have ever since had 
 their home. Jacob and his brother were 
 
 at the time joint owners of a tract of 120 
 acres, and as the brother was not yet 
 married he lived with them. There was 
 no road to this farm when they came to 
 it, and Mr. Nickel commenced the im- 
 proving and clearing of the land at once, 
 by hard work succeeding in clearing five 
 acres a year until the whole farm was re- 
 duced to its present fertile, highly-culti- 
 vated condition. Mr. and Mrs. Nickel 
 have had three children, namely: Edner, 
 born March 11, 1873; Philip, born June 
 19, 1875; and Gertrude, born March 29, 
 1877. Politically Mr. Nickel is a Repub- 
 lican, and in religious faith he is an active 
 member of the Methodist Church, in which 
 he is now serving as treasurer. He and 
 his wife are highlj' respected in their com- 
 munity. 
 
 Edner Nickel is a gardner, an occu- 
 pation in which he takes much interest, 
 and he is regarded as one of Seymour 
 township's rising, industrious young men. 
 
 WILLIAM MICHELSTETTER, 
 well-known as one of the sub- 
 stantial, reliable business men 
 of Seymour, and, indeed, of 
 Outagamie county, has been actively 
 identified with the business interests of 
 this section for the past twenty years. 
 
 He is a native of Wisconsin, born May 
 12, 185 1, in Milwaukee, son of Morris 
 and Cecelia Michelstetter, the former of 
 whom was born in Prague, Austria, where 
 the family holds a high position, and has 
 considerable prominence An uncle of 
 our subject, residing in that city, is a well- 
 known manufacturer. Morris Michel- 
 stetter received a thorough education in 
 the city of his birth, and in 1848 came to 
 the United States, accompanied by his 
 future wife, whom he married in New 
 York City shortly after landing. The 
 young couple came westward to Milwau- 
 kee, Wis., in the business circles of which 
 city he soon became well-known and 
 highly esteemed, his ability and trust- 
 worthiness gaining for him the confidence 
 
Soo 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of all who knew him. For many years 
 he conducted a grocery and provision 
 store on Spring street (now Grand ave- 
 nue), later embarked in business in the 
 Sixth ward, and afterward represented 
 a number of Milwaukee concerns as travel- 
 ing salesman. He was a man of temper- 
 ate habits, possessed of a firm, decided 
 character, strong in his likes and dislikes, 
 and he was recognized by those who 
 knew him best as a true friend, and a 
 thoroughly upright, honorable man under 
 any circumstances. He passed from earth, 
 in April, 1892, in Milwaukee, when nearly 
 seventy-two years of age. His wife died 
 in the same cit}' in i<S62, aged thirty-six 
 years, the mother of a large family of 
 children, eight of whom reached maturi- 
 ty, namely: James, William, Mrs. Emily 
 Greding, Henry, Robert, Fred, Paulina 
 (wife of Mr. Milrath, an artist decorator 
 of Milwaukee), and Arthur. 
 
 William Michelstetter received his 
 earlier education in the common schools 
 of Milwaukee, and at Engelman's Acad- 
 emy, an educational institution of that 
 city which has a high reputation for thor- 
 oughness, his teacher there being Mr. 
 Geilfuss. After the death of his mother, 
 in 1862, he left Milwaukee and for some 
 time had his home in Concord, near 
 Oconomowoc, where he also attended 
 school. For three years he followed 
 farming in the town of Concord, having a 
 comfortable, pleasant home in his employ- 
 er's famil)', and after this removed to 
 Appleton, Wis. , where he was employed 
 in the abstract office of Ballard & Schintz, 
 thence going to Green Bay, where he 
 was clerk in the office of the register of 
 deeds; and so satisfactory was his work 
 that it was said the books were never 
 kept neater or in better order. In 1873 
 he finally removed to Seymour, \vhere he 
 has ever since resided, and embarking in 
 the hardware business, at first in partner- 
 ship with his father, was connected with 
 same for fourteen years, having the man- 
 agement of the concern, but giving the 
 greater part of his time to other interests. 
 
 being engaged in the real-estate and loan 
 business, and as notary public. He fin- 
 ally sold out to his partner, G. H. Feurig, 
 and opened the Seymour Bank, which he 
 still carries on, and which has met with 
 success from the start. The bank is a 
 prix'ate institution, and is conducted on 
 sound conservative business principles, 
 looking not so much for quick returns as 
 safe investments; and the confidence re- 
 posed in him by his depositors and all his 
 business associates was fully demonstrated 
 during the panic of 1893. In addition to 
 banking he is interested in the real-estate, 
 loan and insurance business, and he has, 
 in all his ventures, met with well-deserved 
 success, now holding a prominent posi- 
 tion among the business men of Seymour 
 and the surrounding country. 
 
 Mr. Michelstetter was married, June 
 II, 1876, in Green Bay, to Miss Martha 
 ,A,melia Feurig, who was born October 
 24, 1857, in Bluefields, Central America, 
 daughter of Rev. G. R. S. Feurig, a 
 Moravian missionary. She was edu- 
 cated in the Moravian schools in Ger- 
 many, Bethlehem, Penn. , and Hope, 
 Ind., receiving a liberal training; she is 
 deeply interested in literary subjects, is 
 an artist and musician of considerable 
 merit, and, with her husband, holds a 
 high position in the social circles of the 
 community. She is the mother of three 
 children: Adelbert R. (now a student at 
 Ripon (Wis.) College), Stella A., and 
 Nita L. Mr. and Mrs. Michelstetter are 
 active members of the Congregational 
 Church; politically he is a lifelong Re- 
 publican. 
 
 EA. BAKER, attorney at law and 
 notary public, Kaukauna, was 
 born in 1869 at Appleton, Wis., 
 and is the son of Albert and Han- 
 nah (Stevens) Baker, natives of New York 
 who located at a comparatively early 
 period at Appleton. The father who was 
 a Methodist divine, and had been profes- 
 sor of elocution in Lawrence University, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWOliAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 So I 
 
 died in 1S76; his widow, who was for a 
 number of years a teaclier in the public 
 schools of Appieton, now resides at Ash- 
 land, Wis. Of their children, Laura is 
 now the wife of G. P. Rossman, city 
 attorney of Ashland; E. A. enjoys a good 
 law practice at Kaukauna; Aimee is en- 
 gaged as a teacher of art at Ashland; 
 Victor died at Ashland when but twenty- 
 one years old, of typhoid fever. 
 
 E. A. Baker was educated in the First 
 Ward public school at Appieton, from 
 which he was graduated in 1885. He 
 then attended Lawrence University for 
 one year, subsequently taking a course in 
 the business college at the same institu- 
 tion, in 1890. Upon removing to Ash- 
 land, in the spring of 1S87, he engaged in 
 newspaper work, and while thus employed 
 he began reading law in that city, in 
 1890, in the ofifice of G. P. Rossman, his 
 brother-in-law. He attended the law 
 course of the State University at Madi- 
 son, Wis., in 1892 and 1893, and was ad- 
 mitted to practice in the latter year, 
 opening an office at Kaukauna in Septem- 
 ber. He has attained considerable prom- 
 inence already in his chosen profession, 
 and is at present city attorney for Kau- 
 kauna. When but eleven years of age he 
 entered the Pettibone store at Appieton 
 as cash-boy, remaining two years. It is 
 thus seen that he was thrown upon his 
 own resources when very young; but this 
 and his subsequent experiences have 
 shown the sturdy timber of which he is 
 made, and the future seems full of prom- 
 ise for him. Mr. Baker, politically, is a 
 Republican, and he is a member of and 
 deacon in the Congregational Church of 
 Kaukauna. 
 
 HW. DONNER, a prominent 
 photographer of South Kaukauna, 
 with a studio on Second street, 
 opened his establishment in 
 1 889. He first came to the place in i 886, 
 operating a gallery for one }'earin Spran- 
 ger's building and subsequently for two 
 
 years in the Schlude block. He had 
 previously been engaged for eighteen 
 months in the same business at Fond du 
 Lac, as a member of the firm of Donner 
 & Lind, which partnership was continued 
 for a year and a half after coming to 
 Kaukauna, Mr. Donner then purchasing 
 the interest of his associate. 
 
 Our subject was born, in 1863, in 
 Sauk county, Wis., his parents, Samuel 
 and Lydia (Waltz) Donner, having come 
 to that county from their native State, 
 Pennsylvania. The father is now a 
 merchant in Jo Daviess county, 111. ; the 
 mother died in Winnebago county, same 
 State, in 1866. The early years of the 
 young man were passed in Wisconsin, his 
 education being acquired in the schools of 
 Beloit, at which point and Janesville he 
 learned his trade. What is now South 
 Kaukauna was known as " Ledyard " 
 when Mr. Donner first located here, and 
 the growth and development of the place 
 have gone forward under his observation. 
 At Brothertown, in 1889, he married Miss 
 Tress La Prairie, a native of Calumet 
 county, whose father, Sanford La Prairie, 
 was born in Canada, and was a pioneer of 
 Brothertown ; after locating at that place 
 he married Kate Brocher, who was reared 
 in Wisconsin. Both parents are \"et re- 
 siding on a farm in Calumet county. Mr. 
 Donner is a Republican in politics, a 
 member of the M. W. A,, and a success- 
 ful business man. He operates branch 
 galleries at De Pere and Stockbridge, 
 Wis., and enjoys an extensive custom. 
 
 SAMUEL P. LAYMON. of Bovina 
 township, Outagamie county, was 
 born in Sullivan county, N. Y. ,July 
 19,1831. His grandfather Samuel 
 Laymon, was a Hollander by birth, an 
 early settler in Pennsylvania and a soldier 
 through the whole of the Revolutionary 
 war. By occupation he was a farmer. 
 His son Benjamin, father of Samuel P., 
 was a butcher, a successful business man, 
 and served h's country well during the 
 
802 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mexican war, having participated in 
 nearly all the important engagements of 
 that struggle, including the siege and cap- 
 ture of the City of Mexico, and escaped 
 injury of any kind. He married Jerusha 
 Peters, who bore him eleven children, as 
 follows; Dennis, who died in infancy; 
 Dennis (second), Sarah Ann, John, Sam- 
 uel P., Caroline, Levi, Mary Elizabeth, 
 Isaac (who died in infancy), Isaac (second), 
 and Fannie; all who survived remained at 
 home until they became of age, except 
 Samuel P. 
 
 Our subject, at the age of twenty, left 
 home for Wayne county, Penn. , where he 
 was employed in a sawmill about a year; 
 he next worked for Nelson Tj'ler, whose 
 daughter he married, remaining with him 
 nearly five years. On January i, 1853, 
 Miss Maria Tyler, daughter of Nelson and 
 Lydia (Sherman) Tyler, became his wife, 
 and the couple proceeded to Sullivan 
 county, N. Y. , where Mr. Laymon's par- 
 ents were yet residing. In that vicinity 
 he worked, mostlv in the woods, and then 
 brought his family to Delhide. Wis. , rent- 
 ing a farm. After a year or so he re- 
 moved to Shiocton, and worked in the 
 lumber woods. On February 29, 1864, 
 he enlisted in Company F, Thirty-sixth 
 Wis. V. I., went with the regiment to 
 Virginia, and saw his first battle in the 
 battle of the Wilderness under Gen. 
 Grant; his subsequent engagements were 
 North Anna, Culpeper, Spottsylvania C. 
 H., and Cold Harbor. At the latter, June 
 2, 1864, he was badly wounded, receiving 
 a shot in the face which crushed the jaw 
 and nearly tore his tongue from his 
 mouth. He was sent to the field hospital — 
 a small tent — so called by courtesy, and 
 after nine days was sent up the Potomac 
 to the Harwood Hospital, where he re- 
 mained several months; was honorabl}- 
 discharged December 10, 1864, and re- 
 turned home. For some time afterward 
 he was disabled, and is now the recipient 
 of a pension on account of his wound. 
 When able, he again went into the woods 
 to work, and felled timber for twenty-two 
 
 winters in succession, being so badly 
 used up at times that he had to hobble 
 into camp at night with the aid of two 
 sticks. On one occasion while on his 
 way home at night, he was followed for 
 six miles by a pack of wolves, the animals 
 keeping so close that he had to use a club 
 to defend himself. 
 
 Mr. Laymon and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the M. E. Church. In politics he 
 is a Republican. When a boy he was 
 able to attend school but one term, con- 
 sequently has been obliged to pick up such 
 other education as he could outside of 
 the schoolroom; but he has made the 
 most of his opportunities. The children 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Laymon are: Nelson B., 
 Rhena A., William C, Elizabeth M., 
 Carrie O., Elias Grant, Samuel P. and 
 Ellen. 
 
 HENRY SIEFART, a prosperous 
 general merchant of Freedom 
 township, Outagamie count)', is a 
 native of Ba\aria, Germany, born 
 May 15, 1859, son of Theodore Siefart, 
 who was a government forester. 
 
 Our subject attended the common 
 schools in his native country, and later a 
 technological school, receiving a good edu- 
 cation. He subsequently spent three 
 years in a mercantile house, and when 
 seventeen years of age went to Switzer- 
 land as traveling agent, continuing to 
 travel for seven years in all, during which 
 time he visited various parts of Germany, 
 Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. 
 In the fall of 1882 he came to the United 
 States, sailing from Antwerp to Brooklyn 
 on the "Nederland," the trip occupying 
 thirteen days, and going direct to Mil- 
 waukee, secured a situation in what is 
 now the Northwestern Chemical Works. 
 One year later he was made foreman at 
 that works, and continued thus for five 
 years, earning good wages, but failing 
 health compelled him to resign his posi- 
 tion. Two years afterward, he con- 
 cluded, at the advice of his physician, to 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 803 
 
 move into the country, and, accordingly, 
 in March, 1 892, he came to Freedom town- 
 ship and opened out his present prosper- 
 ous business. He came here an entire 
 stranger, but by fair deahng has won the 
 confidence and custom of a large number 
 of families in his section, and by thorough 
 business methods has already placed him- 
 self on a firm financial footing. 
 
 On April 22, 1886, he was married, in 
 Milwaukee, to Miss Mary Breu, who was 
 born in Waukesha county. Wis., October 
 20, 1858, daughter of Henry Breu, and to 
 .this union have come three children, 
 Paul, Robert, and Hermann, the latter of 
 whom died when four months old. Mr. 
 Siefart cast his first vote for Grover 
 Cleveland, in 1884, but through his ex- 
 perience in different manufacturing estab- 
 lishments changed his political views, 
 and is now a stanch supporter of Republi- 
 can principles. He is a Catholic by birth 
 and education, although somewhat liberal 
 in his views. 
 
 PETER U. LOYSEN has been 
 identified with milling interests in 
 Wisconsin the greater part of his 
 life, for the past ten years in Outa- 
 gamie county. He was born May 31, 
 1850, in Milwaukee, Wis., son of Peter 
 and Mary Loysen, who were natives of 
 Holland, the latter of French descent. 
 They were married in their native coun- 
 try, and coming to the United States set- 
 tled in Milwaukee, Wis. , where the father 
 found employment. He died in that city 
 of cholera, when our subject was but 
 four months old, and Mrs. Loysen sub- 
 sequently married Johannes Grootemaat, 
 by whom she had two children, John G. 
 and Mary M. She died when her son 
 Peter was ten years of age, and after her 
 death Mr. Grootemaat married again. 
 
 During his youth Peter U. Loysen en- 
 joyed but meager educational advantages, 
 beginning to work at the early age of 
 seven jears, watching cows, and con- 
 tinuing to do various kinds of labor up to 
 
 the age of thirteen years, when he com- 
 menced in the milling business. He ac- 
 quired his knowledge of the business in 
 Milwaukee, afterward working in various 
 places, and in some of the best mills in 
 the United States. In 1878 he started 
 the first mill in Merrill, the county seat 
 of Lincoln county. Wis., which he sub- 
 sequently leased and operated for three 
 years, or until September, 1883, when he 
 took up his residence in Hortonville. 
 Prior to this he had always rented mills, 
 but on coming here he purchased, in part- 
 nership with A. Graef, the Fountain 
 Roller Mill, which he has ever since con- 
 ducted, either as part or sole proprietor. 
 Shortly after coming into possession of 
 the mill he built a new datp, and in 1884 
 put in the roller system, now having 
 a mill that is well-equipped in every 
 respect with the most highh' improved 
 machinery necessary to carry on a profit- 
 able and steadily increasing business. 
 Our subject bought the interest of Mr. 
 Graef in 1884, and conducted the es- 
 tablishment alone until 1888, when 
 his brother, John G. Grootemaat, pur- 
 chased a half interest, which he has since 
 retained. The mill has a capacity of 
 seventy-five barrels per day, manufactur- 
 ing the "Patent Straight " and "White 
 Star," two well-known brands, also a pure 
 buckwheat flour and fine Graham corn 
 meal, etc., which are used extensive- 
 ly in New London and the northern 
 part of the country and State. Both part- 
 ners are practical millers, and with their 
 wide e.xperience in this line have become 
 experts in the business, of which they 
 have made a signal success. Their con- 
 scientiousness and straightforward honesty 
 have brought them a large custom and 
 given them an enviable popularity with 
 all who have had dealings with them, and 
 they hold a high rank among the solid 
 business men of their section. 
 
 On August 31, 1879, Mr. Loysen wns 
 married to Miss Pauline Plisch, a native 
 of Austria, born April 15, 1855. Her 
 father, Gottlieb Plisch, was also born in 
 
8o4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Austria, and while in that country fol- 
 lowed the linen-weaving trade. In 1857, 
 with his family, he came to America, 
 where he turned his attention to teaching, 
 and taught school successfull}' near Wau- 
 sau, Wis., for many years; he now, at 
 the age of seventj-nine, resides in that 
 city with his daughter, Mrs. Emma Mar- 
 chetti. The mother of Mrs. Loysen, 
 Caroline (Grosz), also a native of Austria, 
 was a lady of unusual intelligence, and 
 acquired a broad education; was a fine 
 singer, and was engaged in Church sing- 
 ing in her native country. She died Oc- 
 tober II, 1893, aged seventy-four years, 
 the mother of nine children, eight of 
 whom lived to maturit\-; one son, Oswald 
 Plisch, was in the army four years, and 
 after his return taught school for many 
 years, and filled several county offices; 
 another son, Robert Plisch, is now a mem- 
 ber of the Wisconsin Assembly; two other 
 sons followed the profession of teacher 
 during their earlier years, but are now en- 
 gaged in farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Peter 
 U. Loysen has come one child, Laura 
 E., born July i, 1880, in Merrill, Lincoln 
 Co., Wis. Socially Mr. Loysen is a mem- 
 ber of Hortonia Lodge, No. 113, I. O. 
 O. P., and the Encampment, and takes 
 considerable interest in the order, having 
 been the representative to the Grand 
 Lodge; also member of Modern Wood- 
 men of America. Mrs. Pauline Loysen 
 is a member of the Rebekah Lodge of 
 the L O. O. F. 
 
 LOUIS LEHMANN. The State of 
 Wisconsin is indebted to the 
 beautiful land of Germany for 
 very many of its most successful 
 and progressive men, of whom the subject 
 of these lines is a typical representative. 
 
 He first saw the light in Alt-Custrin- 
 chen-on-the-Oder, in Brandenburg, near 
 Berlin, Prussia, April 8, 1836, a son of 
 Gotfried and Anna Lehmann, the former 
 of whom, a fisherman by occupation, 
 was born in 18 10, and died when our 
 
 subject was eight years old. They had 
 three children: Frederick (who lives in 
 Dodge county. Wis.), Louis and August. 
 The mother, after the death of Mr. Leh- 
 mann, was married again, two consecutive 
 times, but she is now, at the age of eightj-- 
 five jears, living with her son Louis. 
 When twenty years old, in 1856, our sub- 
 ject came to America, landing in New 
 York, June 2, of same year, and pushing 
 westward to Wisconsin arrived in Dodge 
 county, where he worked for farmers some 
 ten years. In July, 1866, he came to 
 Appleton, and here for a long time chiefly, 
 followed fishing, trapping and hunting; in 
 1872 he bought his present property in 
 the town, known as " Lehmann's Park," 
 a popular summer resort, where are kept 
 for hire boats and fishing outfits. In 1891, 
 to the attractions of the place, he added a 
 steam yacht, which is used for pleasure 
 trips on the river, and is well patronized. 
 He has also a beer garden in this popular 
 resort, which is within the city limits, one 
 mile from the courthouse. In 1870 he 
 built and filled large icehouses in Apple- 
 ton, from which he supplied ice in the 
 city retail, but for the past two years he 
 has sold it wholesale to other dealers. 
 While a resident of Dodge county Mr. 
 Lehmann owned a fine home, which he 
 lost through helping friends, and at the 
 time of his coming to Appleton he had 
 absolutely no means, and a wife and three 
 children to support; but, like the wise 
 men referred to somewhere in Shake- 
 speare's writings, he did not sit down and 
 bemoan his losses, but, on the contrary 
 cheerfully set to work to remedy them. 
 
 On September 26, 1859, Mr. Leh- 
 mann was married to Miss Amelia W^itte, 
 who was born in Prussia, November 14, 
 1844, daughter of David and Christina 
 (Gettzman) Witte, respectable, well-to- 
 do farming people of that country, where 
 the father died, the mother subsequently 
 emigrating to this country with her chil- 
 dren, when her daughter Amelia was 
 seven years old. The mother died in 
 Nebraska at the age of eighty-five years. 
 
/^^t^c^ 
 
 ^^y^^-^^^Z^^Z/:^^ 
 
COMMEMOHATIVK BlOUllAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 807 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Lchniann have been 
 born five children, named respectively: 
 Natalie, Minnie, Louis, Edmund and 
 Emma, all now married except Edmund; 
 Natalie is the wife of Paul F. Matthes, 
 and lives in Milwaukee; Minnie married 
 George Gleason, and lives in Kansas City, 
 Mo. ;■ Louis married Matilda Schultz, and 
 they live near his father's place (have one 
 child, named Georsre); Emma is the wife 
 of Charles W. Stribley, bookkeeper for 
 the Pulp Wood Supply Co., of Appleton. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lehmann were reared un- 
 der the influence of the Lutheran Church, 
 and in politics he has always been an ac- 
 tive worker in the interests of the Demo- 
 cratic party; for three years he served as 
 constable of Dodge county. Socially he 
 is a member of the I. O. O. F. , and his 
 popularity is only exceeded by his genial- 
 ity, courtesy and generosity. 
 
 EDWARD MAAS, like a number of 
 the successful farmers in Outa- 
 gamie county, is a native of the 
 the "Fatherland," having been 
 born June 3, 1835, '" Mecklenburg, son 
 of George Maas, who had a family of five 
 children — all sons. 
 
 Our subject was reared and educated 
 in his native countr\', and when eighteen 
 3'ears old commenced herding sheep for a 
 Mr. Wickboldt (his future father-in-law), 
 continuing in that occupation three years. 
 In the fall of 1S56 this man loaned him 
 the money to take him to America, and, 
 embarking at Hamburg on the "Sarah 
 Peal," he arrived in New York after a 
 voyage of thirt\'-one days, during which 
 thirty-six of the passengers died and were 
 buried at sea. Continuing his journey west- 
 ward by rail, he arrived in Milwaukee, 
 and finally in Cedarburg, Ozaukee county. 
 Wis, , where for five years, or until his 
 marriage, he worked in a brick3'ard. In 
 1 86 1 he wedded, in Cedarburg, Miss Adol- 
 phine Wickboldt, who was born in Ger- 
 many, daughter of Fred Wickboldt (above 
 
 mentioned), and with the money which he 
 45 
 
 had saved purchased a team of oxen and 
 a cow, and came to Outagamie county. 
 In Section 26, Greenville township, he 
 bought forty acres of new^land at ten dol- 
 lars an acre, going in debt for all but fifty 
 dollars of the amount, and, building a log 
 house near the site of the present resi- 
 dence, took lip his home in the midst of 
 the forest. The ox-team proved of great 
 service to him while chopping and clear- 
 ing, for, during the early part of their res- 
 idence here, their only income was de- 
 rived from the sale of wood cut from the 
 land. In later years he added to the 
 original purchase until his farm now com- 
 prises 1 10 acres, all of which has been 
 improved under his own management. 
 His barns and other outbuildings are as 
 good as an\' in the township, and the 
 family residence, which was erected in 
 1884, is very comfortable and substantial. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Maas have three children, 
 viz. : Annie, now^ the wife of Ernst 
 Klemme, a wholesale paper dealer of 
 Milwaukee; Lena, Mrs. Harry Leppla, of 
 Greenville township, and Albert G., who 
 was educated at the Ryan High School 
 and college, in Appleton, and is now his 
 father's able assistant on the home farm. 
 Mr. Maas has made a decided success 
 in his chosen pursuit, and solelj' by his 
 own exertions, having received no help 
 from any source to aid him in his career. 
 On landing in America he was in debt, 
 and was without friends in a strange 
 country, with whose language and cus- 
 toms he was totally unfamiliar; and had 
 it not been for that spirit of energy and 
 determination which has ever been one of 
 his chief characteristics, the outlook 
 would have been discouraging indeed. 
 But he accepted any honest employment 
 until he had saved enough to commence 
 on his own account, and his record since 
 then has been one of steady ad\'ancement. 
 Among his neighbors and fellow citizens 
 his industrj' and honesty have always 
 been recognized, and the\' respect him as 
 an honorable, self-made man. Realizing 
 the value of education, he has endeavored 
 
SoS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 to give his children all possible advan- 
 tages in that respect, and they have not 
 been slow to appreciate and improve their 
 opportunities. In church connection the 
 family are members of the Lutheran So- 
 ciety, in which Mr. Maas has held the of- 
 fice of trustee. Politically he is a Dem- 
 ocrat. 
 
 HENRY J. DICKERSON, pro- 
 prietor of the Western Screen 
 Plate Works, Appleton, Wis., 
 and its branch — Central Screen 
 Plate Works, Niagara Falls, N. Y. — was 
 born April 2, 1827, in Vail's Mills, Ful- 
 ton county. New York. 
 
 His father, James Dickerson, a native 
 of Saratoga county, N. Y. , and a black- 
 smith and machinist by trade, married 
 Mary Ann Hart, a native of Amsterdam, 
 N. Y., and to them were born eight chil- 
 dren, to wit: Two died in infancy; 
 George died in Gloversville, N. Y. , at 
 the age of si.xteen years; John M. died in 
 November, 1883, in Appleton, Wis., and 
 two sons and two daughters are yet liv- 
 ing, Henry J. being the eldest. The 
 father, who was a man with a host of 
 friends, and who commanded the respect 
 of all who knew him, died August 25, 
 1 868; his wife survived him six years, her 
 death occurring July 10, 1874. Both 
 were members of the Baptist Church, 
 with which organization Mr. Dickerson 
 united some \ears after his marriage, his 
 wife being at that time a member. 
 
 Henry J. Dickerson was educated in 
 the public schools of his native town, and 
 attended select school one winter, in the 
 summers assisting his father in the shop. 
 On September 27, 1848, he was married 
 to Harriet Amelia Porter, who was born 
 February 28, 1827, in Mayfield, Fulton 
 Co., N. Y. , and daughter of Elijah and 
 Sarah (Sherwin) Porter, the former born 
 in Rhode Island March 4, 1778, and died 
 in Gloversville, N. Y. , April 25, 185 1; 
 the latter was born in Vermont July 28, 
 1 78 1, and died in Mayfield, Fulton Co., 
 
 N. Y. , August II, 1856. These worthy 
 people were married February 15, 1800, 
 and reared a family of twelve chil- 
 dren, Mrs. Dickerson being the youngest. 
 Mr. Dickerson remained at home one 
 year after marriage, and then repaired 
 to Gloversville and engaged in the 
 manufacture of machinery for cutting 
 gloves and mittens, a year later being 
 joined in the work by his father. Our 
 subject had, during his school days and 
 for years afterward, made gloves and 
 mittens from skins purchased of the Indi- 
 ans; hence the work was not new to him. 
 To a limited extent he also manufactured 
 varnish. In 1851, along with his wife, he 
 joined the M. E. Church. Having been 
 repeatedly urged by his friends to enter 
 the ministry, he removed with his family 
 to Appleton, Wis., arriving October 5, 
 1858, and entered Lawrence University 
 to fit himself for that work, where he re- 
 mained three years, his wife, meantime, 
 conducting a milliner}' establishment. He 
 was a local preacher, and occasionally for 
 fifteen years filled the pulpit under differ- 
 ent pastors and presiding elders, conduct- 
 ing one of the first M. E. services in Kau- 
 kauna, in 1859; because of the failure of 
 his voice he was obliged to give up preach- 
 ing in 1873. In July, 1878, he established 
 his present business, the making of special 
 paper and pulp machinery, known for 
 several years as the Appleton Novelty 
 Works, and since 1891 as the Western 
 Screen Plate \\'orks, until recently the 
 only institution of the kind in existence 
 west of Paterson, N. J. In September, 
 1894, he established, at Niagara Falls, 
 N. Y. , a branch office and works known as 
 the Central Screen Plate Works, where 
 he is at present (February i, 1895) lo- 
 cated. His son, Fred, is now conduct- 
 ing the home office and works; these con- 
 cerns, acting jointly, are filling orders 
 from all portions of the continent where 
 paper and pulp mills are located. The}' 
 captured the first prize at the World's 
 Columbian Exposition, in Chicago (1893), 
 for work in their line, and bv that means 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOGBAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 S09 
 
 have since sent their work to, and have 
 been in correspondence with, firms in far- 
 away Austraha, Japan, etc. The board 
 of lady managers of the World's Colum- 
 bian Exposition conferred diplomas of 
 honorable mention upon both H. J. Dick- 
 erson and F. G. Dickerson, as inventors. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dickerson are the par- 
 ents of three children: Oscar, who died 
 in Gloversville, N. Y. , when but eight 
 weeks old; Frank, who died at Appleton 
 at the age of four months; and Fred, the 
 only living child, who was born June 4, 
 1868, in Appleton, Wis., and has always 
 resided in the city of his birth. He re- 
 ceived his early education in the ward 
 schools of that city, and in 1887 entered 
 the preparatory department of Lawrence 
 University, by so doing avoiding the 
 severe trials which most young men have 
 to contend with upon entering college in 
 strange places. Following the example 
 of his father, he became a member of the 
 Philalathean (" Lover of truth ") Society. 
 In many respects, this is one of the ver}' 
 best literary societies in the State, and 
 has loving members on every continent of 
 the globe. He satisfactoril}' completed 
 the course of study leading to the degree 
 of Bachelor of Science, securing a Smith 
 prize for mathematics in 1891. While 
 pursuing the regular course of stud}- he 
 found time to perfect several inventions, 
 each showing marked inventive ability. 
 Although he never had special instruction 
 he is proficient in designing, drawii^ and 
 mechanical drafting. The very excellent 
 souvenir of his class (the class of '93) was 
 designed by him; it was a book filled with 
 "mirths and morals." and as a work of 
 art shows remarkable skill. It was the 
 first college annual in the University. He 
 is one of the charter members of the Ap- 
 pleton Y. M. C. A., and was also a mem- 
 ber of the College Association; he also be- 
 longs to several musical societies — the 
 Philalathean Chorus, a banjo club, D. S. 
 M. T. Quartet, etc. During his last two 
 years in college he was drum major of the 
 college band, and filled an important part 
 
 on several occasions. He was also an 
 active member of the Appleton Zouaves, 
 a splendidly drilled military organization. 
 The parents are justly proud of such a 
 son, whose future career bids fair to be 
 eminently successful and honorable. Cer- 
 tainly his training and the record he has 
 already made bespeak much for the years 
 to come. The lifelong positions of both 
 father and son have been strictly on the 
 side of temperance, and as they believe 
 and preach, so they vote — for Prohibition. 
 
 CHARLES A. FIEWEGER, sec- 
 retary and treasurer of the D. 
 W. Dean Co., manufacturers and 
 jobbers of butter and cheese, 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, by virtue 
 of his progressiveness and pronounced 
 business ability, though yet a young man, 
 deserves more than a passing notice in this 
 work. 
 
 He was born November 3, 1861. in 
 Menasha, W'innebago Co., Wis., a son 
 of Julius and Caroline (Mahn) Fieweger, 
 both natives of near Breslau, Germany, 
 born within a short distance of each other, 
 Julius in 1827, the youngest of five sons 
 and two sisters. Carl Fieweger, his 
 father, was a miller by trade, to which 
 Julius was reared, following same in after 
 life, in connection with millwrighting. 
 In Germany he built mills propelled by 
 wind or water power, chiefly gristmills, 
 but on arriving in America in 1853. and 
 locating in Milwaukee, W'is., finding no 
 work of that kind, he learned the trade 
 of wheelwright, which he worked at one 
 and one-half years. In 1855 he married, 
 in Milwaukee, Miss Caroline Mahn, who 
 was born in 1831, and came to .America 
 in 1852 with her brother Hirum. After 
 marriage Julius Fieweger and his young 
 wife removed to Menasha, same State, 
 making the journej' with an ox-team. 
 Here in one end of their dwelling he 
 opened a wagon shop, but after a cou- 
 ple of years located where his shop 
 now stands, and where he still carries on 
 
8io 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his trade. For three years he was a sol- 
 dier in his native land, and he is the only 
 member of the family to come to the 
 United States. He is recognized as a 
 very benevolent man, was one of the orig- 
 inal organizers of the Concordia Society, 
 a beneficent institution of Menasha, in 
 which he has always taken a lively inter- 
 est, holding therein several offices. He 
 has also held various municipal positions, 
 the office in his case invariably seeking 
 the man. Eight children were the result 
 of his marriage with Caroline Mahn — fi\e 
 sons and three daughters — of whom are 
 yet living: Julius F., Joseph L. , Anna 
 M., Charles A., William H. and Caroline; 
 Delia died in infancy, and Edward died 
 at the age of twenty-two years. Carl 
 Fieweger, their grandfather, was a man 
 of stern qualities, strict with his children, 
 though very kind-hearted, and was pos- 
 sessed cf a strong, robust constitution. 
 
 Charles A. Fieweger, the subject 
 proper of this sketch, was educated at the 
 common and high schools of Menasha till 
 the age of thirteen, after which he at- 
 tended night school only. The first trade 
 he took up was carriage painting, at 
 which he worked three years, and then 
 learned that of a wheelwright in his father's 
 shop. At the age of seventeen he re- 
 ceived the appointment of messenger for 
 the bank at Menasha, and at the end of 
 eight months was promoted to teller, a 
 position he held over five years, impaired 
 health compelling him then to resign. 
 Proceeding to Colorado to recuperate, he 
 remained there one year, at the end of 
 which time, having regained his usual 
 health, he returned to his home and there 
 remained six months. In 1885 he went 
 to California, where, in San Francisco, 
 he spent one year in a grocery house, 
 then moved to Coronado, San Diego 
 county, where he filled a position as re- 
 ceiving clerk for a short time. We next 
 find him in the same part of the ■" Eureka 
 State " engaged in the manufacture of 
 fruit boxes, as secretary, treasurer and 
 manager of the Coronado Fruit Package 
 
 Fieweger was 
 
 Co. , in which capacity he remained nearlj- 
 four years. Again returning to Menasha 
 he embarked in the butter and cheese 
 business, but at the end of one 3'ear came 
 to Appleton where, in 1893, he organized 
 the D. W. Dean Co., manufacturers of 
 and jobbers in butter and cheese, of which 
 he is secretary and treasurer 
 
 In May, 1888, Mr 
 married to Miss Mary Schneider, who 
 was born in Menasha, Wis. , daughter of 
 John and Mary (Buechel) Schneider, 
 natives of Germany and early settlers in 
 Menasha, where Mr. Schneider conducts 
 a sash, door and blind factory; they reared 
 a family of eleven children, of whom eight 
 are yet living. To Mr. and Mr. Charles 
 A. Fieweger has been born one daughter, 
 Naomi L. Our subject and wife are 
 members of the Catholic Church, and in 
 politics he is a Republican. 
 
 JAMES M. BARKER. This gentle- 
 man is distinguished as one of the 
 oldest practicing civil engineers, as 
 well as one of the ablest members of 
 the profession in northern Wisconsin. 
 Forty years is a long professional life — 
 for Mr. Barker commenced hydraulic en- 
 gineering in 1854 and civil engineering in 
 1864 — and a record of that duration, to- 
 gether with such distinguished merit, be- 
 comes one of general public interest. 
 
 Mr. Barker is of English descent, trac- 
 ing his ancestry back to one Jonathan 
 Barker, his great-great-grandfather, who, 
 in company with his brothers, came to 
 America some time during the latter part 
 of the seventeenth centurj-. Jonathan 
 settled in Connecticut, and his brother in 
 Rhode Island or Providence plantation. 
 Jonathan married Rebecca Wardel, by 
 whom he had eight children, the second 
 of which was Uzel (the great-grandfather 
 of our subject), who was born in the year 
 1706, and was married in his twentj- 
 seventh year to Martha Munson in the 
 sixteenth year of her age. Thej' had 
 tweh-e children, and the sixth child, Elihu 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWaliAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Sii 
 
 Barker, grandfather of subject, was born, 
 in 1744, in Branford, New Haven Co., 
 Conn., married Bethiah Thomas, and 
 reared a family of thirteen children. 
 Uzel M. Barker, the twelfth child and 
 father of James M., was born in Duanes- 
 burg, Schenectady Co., N. Y., December 
 12, 1791, married Catherine Smith (of 
 whom special mention will presently be 
 made), by whom he had ten children, 
 named as follows: Elihu M., Uzelle M., 
 James M., Schuyler M., William M., 
 Josephine M., Susan M., Avery M., John 
 M., and Ella M., seven of whom are yet 
 living. The parents, who are well-to-do 
 farming people, died, the father at New 
 Haven, Oswego Co., N. Y., March 28, 
 1879, a former member of the M. E. 
 Church, but withdrew from it during the 
 slavery agitation, and the mother in i 874, 
 in the same place. The Barkers, as far 
 back as the family can be traced, were 
 liberally educated people, religious withal, 
 without any ostentation. " In the war of the 
 Revolution, Elihu Barker lived in a new 
 country ("Adams, Mass.), and in 1777, near 
 the seat of war, in which for a short time 
 he was personally engaged, notably, in 
 the battle of Bennington, August 16,1777. 
 Though emphatically a man of peace, he 
 was equally a friend of his country, and 
 eventually lost nearly all of his property 
 by supporting her measures. In the fall 
 of 1823, and at that time residing in 
 Schuyler county, N. Y.,and in his eightieth 
 year, he journeyed on horseback to the 
 place of his nativity in Connecticut, and 
 was absent about three months." 
 
 Uzel M. Barker, when a young man, 
 worked at farming and teachmg school. 
 The spring of 1818 found him living in 
 Mecklenburg, Schuyler county, and in the 
 beginning of April, with Andrew Stevenson, 
 he started on a journey to Ohio, Indiana 
 and Illinois, and after its completion re- 
 turned late in the fall. In the spring of 
 1829, with his wife and four children, he 
 removed to New Haven, Oswego Co., N. 
 Y. , where he lived until his death. He 
 always took a lively interest in schools. 
 
 was an active worker in the cause of 
 temperance, and was a zealous advocate 
 for the rights of man. 
 
 Catherine (Smith) Barker, mother of 
 James M. Barker, was a native of New 
 York State, born in 1801, on a farm at 
 Cayuta Lake, in Hector township, Schuy- 
 ler Co., N. Y. , a daughter of Capt. James 
 and Ruth (Hoffman) Smith. Her father 
 was a farmer and lumber man. He 
 served seven years as a Revolutionary 
 soldier, was in the battle of Long Island, 
 August 27, 1776, where he was taken 
 prisoner and was confined in the old 
 "Sugar House" on Liberty street, in 
 New York City, whence he and another 
 made their escape; on the river bank they 
 found a skiff which they took possession 
 of, and rowing across the stream reached 
 the wood on the Jersey shore, hotly pur- 
 sued by the British soldiers, but evading 
 them, reached. the American lines in safe- 
 ty. Her grandfather, William Hooker 
 Smith, was a native of London, England, 
 and an eminent physician in Wilkes-Barre, 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 James M. Barker, the subject proper 
 of this sketch, was born February 20, 
 1826, in Mecklenburg, Hector township, 
 Schuyler Co., N. Y., third in the family 
 of ten children born to his parents, Uzel 
 M. and Catherine (Smith) Barker. His 
 boyhood was passed much in the manner 
 of farmer boys of his early day — attend- 
 ing the winter schools of the neighbor- 
 hood, and working on the farm the rest 
 of the year. Cultivating a penchant he 
 had for "a life on the ocean wave," he at 
 the age of eighteen decided to sail the 
 Lakes, with which intention and with the 
 consent of his parents, he in early March 
 went to the lake port of Oswego, where 
 his ambition was somewhat cooled by the 
 lake breeze, and, concluding that home 
 was a safer and more congenial place for 
 him, he returned thither. Two years 
 afterward he revisited Oswego, and being 
 two years wiser commenced learning the 
 trade of carpenter, receiving the sum of 
 eleven dollars per month for his services. 
 
8l2 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 After three months spent at carpentry, he 
 took up the business of millwright, work- 
 ing four years for Julius R. Howell (a 
 noted millwright and hydraulic engineer, 
 of Fulton, N. Y. , and later of Boston, 
 Mass.). In 1852, at the age of twenty- 
 six, having acted as draughtsman and 
 foreman for Mr. Howell on the machinery 
 work of a large fiouring-mill ordered by a 
 Chilean company, through the great mer- 
 cantile house of Augustus Hemenway, of 
 Boston and Valparaiso, Chile, through 
 their auspices he went out to Chile, S. 
 A., and superintended its erection in the 
 city of Talca. He was absent from the 
 United States two years. On his return 
 in April, 1854, he was married in Oswego, 
 N. Y. , to Miss Laura Robinson, a native 
 of St. Vincent de Paul, Lower Canada 
 (as it was then called, now known as the 
 Province of Quebec), born September 
 30, 1830. 
 
 The Robinsons were an educated fam- 
 ily of considerable note in Massachusetts 
 and Vermont, the male members being 
 either ministers or ph)sicians, of which 
 latter profession Mrs. Barker's father, Al- 
 bigence W. Robinson, was a member. 
 He was born in Pawlet, Vt., in 1787, and, 
 as part of his education, wishing to be- 
 come conversant with the French lan- 
 guage, took up his residence in Lower 
 Canada, where he met and married Miss 
 Euphemia Chenet, a native of St. Vincent 
 de Paul, near Montreal. Doctor Robin- 
 son was indulgent and loyal to his family, 
 an able and conscientious physician, a 
 zealous and faithful worker in the civil 
 and moral reforms of his day, and his 
 house was always open to the stranger 
 and the needy. He died in Appleton, 
 Wis., March 6, 1859. In the year of his 
 marriage Mr. Barker came to Appleton, 
 where he was at once employed by the 
 Fox and Wisconsin River Improvement 
 Company in connection with the lock 
 work in Appleton and the Cedars. After 
 two years' work for the Improvement 
 Company he planned and built flouring 
 mills at Ripon, Wis., and on the lower 
 
 Fo.\ river, the Zeland mills at Little 
 Chute, the Albion mills at Kaukauna, the 
 Stone mills at De Pere, and the Fort 
 Howard mills at Fort Howard, all first- 
 class flouring mills. In 1863 he went 
 more directly into the work of civil engi- 
 neering. That year he engineered the 
 Walnut street bridge for the city of Green 
 Bay, and the first bridge in the city to 
 cross Fox river. It was a success in all 
 relations, and greatly due to the gentle- 
 manly, business-like and honorable com- 
 mon council at that time. In 1866 he 
 made the preliminary survey of the pro- 
 posed Lake Michigan and Sturgeon Bay 
 ship canal, to enable the . promoters of 
 the enterprise to obtain a land grant to 
 aid in its construction. In 1870 he engi- 
 neered Edward West's water canal and 
 the Appleton blast furnace. In 1880 and 
 '81 he was employed at South Kaukauna 
 in engineering its magnificent water-power 
 canal, in platting the village, and in mak- 
 ing the plans of the railroad shops, and 
 attending to most of their construction. 
 He has, between the years of 1866 and 
 1884, served eleven years as city engineer 
 and four years as alderman of Appleton. 
 In 1883 he engineered the commence- 
 ment of the regular sewer system of Ap- 
 pleton. Incidently he has done work on 
 the lower Fox for the government under 
 the direction of the United States engi- 
 neer in charge. All this is only a part of 
 the work Mr. Barker has done or has had 
 to do with in northern Wisconsin, besides 
 that in northern Michigan, but enough 
 has been given to show the active life he 
 has lead, and, though successful in doing 
 good work, yet not so in the gathering of 
 wealth, the aim of most all modern human 
 endeavor. 
 
 Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 James M. Barker, six in number, two are 
 now living, Frederic W. (an architect in 
 Chicago, 111.) and Katharine (living at 
 home with her parents). The other chil- 
 dren all died in infancy, except Eva, the 
 eldest, who was called from earth at the 
 age of eight years. Mr. Barker is toler- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 8'3 
 
 ant in religion; thoughtful and conscien- 
 tious in belief, and has a high admiration 
 and inspiring reverence for the works of 
 the Creator of all things, in whom there 
 can be no erring, as He must be infallible 
 and everlasting, the same to-day and for- 
 ever, and this truth so found imprinted on 
 all creative things in earth and visible 
 things in the universe must be the lessons 
 to draw humanity to a higher plane and 
 nearer to the Creator. In politics Mr. 
 Barker is independent, and, as he reasons, 
 the nature and methods of political action 
 are such in the United States that a party 
 in power over eight years will then grad- 
 uallv become corrupt, and if it were not 
 for the independent or conservative wis- 
 dom of the country in giving aid to the 
 less and more pure rising party to take 
 the place of the party tending to corrup- 
 tion, patriotism and wholesome laws 
 would soon be lost in the whirlpool of op- 
 pression and desolating strife. Socially 
 Mr. Barker has been a member of the F. 
 & A. M. since 1854. 
 
 PEDER PAULSEN, one of the self- 
 made prosperous farmers of Green- 
 ville township, Outagamie county, 
 is a native of Norwaj', born Octo- 
 ber 3, 1853, son of Paul Petersen, who 
 had a family of ten children — five sons 
 and five daughters. 
 
 Our subject passed his youth and early 
 manhood in the land of his birth, and in 
 the spring of 1872 came to America, the 
 party consisting of the parents and three 
 children. Christiana was their starting 
 point, and going thence to Liverpool, 
 England, they embarked on a vessel bound 
 for Quebec, landing at that port eighteen 
 days later. Their destination was Wis- 
 consin, in which State a number of the 
 family had already settled, and journey- 
 ing by rail to Grand Haven, Mich. , they 
 crossed the lake to Milwaukee, finally ar- 
 riving at Neenah, where a sister of Mr. 
 Paulsen resided. Our subject earned his 
 first wages in the New World at railroad 
 
 building on the Wisconsin Central road, 
 working about si.xty miles north of Stevens 
 Point, in a country which at that time 
 was a perfect wilderness, the laborers 
 boarding at camps along the line. Dur- 
 ing the following winter he lived at his 
 uncle's in Neenah, engaging with his 
 brother in cutting cordwood, and then 
 again, for several seasons, worked on the 
 railroad, all the while practicing the 
 closest economy, and saving his money. 
 In 1876 he was able to invest in land, 
 and selecting a site in Greenville town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, purchased a 
 tract of eighty acres lying in Section 32, 
 which contained a few rude improve- 
 ments. His aged parents had come to 
 this country to be with their children, so 
 as soon as he could prepare a home our 
 subject brought them to his farm, and 
 there they passed their declining years, the 
 mother passing from earth in 1889, the 
 father in October, 1891; they sleep their 
 last sleep in the cemetery at Winchester, 
 Winnebago county, Wisconsin. 
 
 On May 16, 1887, Mr. Paulsen was 
 united in marriage, in Neenah, to Miss 
 Annie Loken, also a native of Norway, 
 who was born in 1862, and came to the 
 United States in the fall of 1886. Their 
 union has been blessed with four children 
 — Palma, Charley, Olga and Ode. Mr. 
 Paulsen is the owner of 140 acres, free of 
 incumbrance, the accumulation of years 
 of patient and honest industry. The land, 
 which was new and covered with stumps 
 when he bought it, has been greatly im- 
 proved under his care, and is a credit to 
 his perseverance and thrift. Mr. Paulsen 
 is a Republican, politically, casting his 
 first Presidential vote for U. S. Grant, 
 and in religious connection he is a mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran Church at Winchester. 
 
 G 
 
 ful 
 
 EORGE McNAMEE, president 
 and general manager of the 
 Appleton Knitting Factory, and 
 who for fifteen years was a faith- 
 employe of the American Express 
 
Si4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Company, is a native of New York State, 
 born November 23. 1857, in Otsego 
 county, where he received his elementary 
 education. 
 
 At the age of eleven years he moved 
 to Chicago, 111., whither an elder brother 
 had migrated some time previously, and 
 was then residing there. Here young 
 George lived at the home and under the 
 care of an uncle, attended school, and at 
 the age of eighteen graduated at one of 
 of the high schools of the city. At this 
 time he entered the employ of the Ameri- 
 can Express Company, remaining in the 
 service fifteen years in all — six years in 
 Chicago, five years in Milwaukee, Wis., 
 and four in Appleton, in which latter 
 place he had charge of the company's 
 office. In 1891 he resigned his position 
 in order to be better at liberty to embark 
 in the manufacturing enterprise with 
 which he has since been identified, and it 
 was through his influence that the knit- 
 ting factory was brought from Chicago. 
 In January, 1892, the Appleton Knitting 
 Company was organized with Mr. Mc- 
 Namee as general manager. The enter- 
 prise gives employment to some thirt}' 
 hands, and since its commencement in 
 Appleton has proved a success. Mr. 
 McNamee has all along taken a deep in- 
 terest in the several manufacturing inter- 
 ests of Appleton, besides everything tend- 
 ing to the improvement of the city of his 
 adoption, and was the active secretary of 
 the Young Men's Business Club, two 
 years. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Mr. McNamee was married 
 to Miss Jennie Trerice, daughter of Dan- 
 iel and Sarah Trerice, early settlers of 
 Appleton, where she was born. Two 
 children — Sadie E. and George Wilford — 
 have been born to this union. Mr. Mc- 
 Namee in politics affiliates with the Re- 
 publican party, while socially he is a 
 member of the I. O. O. F. George and 
 Ellen (Bradford) McNamee, parents of 
 our subject, were both natives of New 
 York. They reared a family of six chil- 
 dren — three sons and three daughters. 
 
 The mother survives the father who died 
 in 1873. Grandfather Lawrence Mc- 
 Namee and his wife were among the ear- 
 liest settlers of Otsego county, N. Y. , 
 and the grandfather was a Revolutionary 
 soldier, our subject having now in his 
 possession ■•■his field-glass; the old flint- 
 lock musket and other relics are treas- 
 ured by the family. He occupied a very 
 prominent position in the patriot army, 
 while by profession he was a civil en- 
 gineer. 
 
 IRVING S. FAIRBANKS, of the firm 
 of Fairbanks & Swallow, machinists, 
 Appleton, was born December 29, 
 
 1 85 1, in Outagamie county, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 His father, S\'lvester Fairbanks, was 
 born in 1820 in Jefferson county, N. Y. , 
 and in 1848 married Clarissa Smith, who 
 was born in 1 8 18 in Oswego county, same 
 State; the}' had four children: Irving S., 
 Arista S., Clarissa E. and Mary. In 1884 
 they came to Wisconsin, settled on a farm 
 in Grand Chute township, and lived upon 
 it until their death. The father passed 
 away in October, 1889, the mother 
 in October, 1893. Sylvester Fairbanks 
 served during the Rebellion in Company 
 B. First \\'isconsin Cavalr}-, which regi- 
 ment was a part of the command of the 
 distinguished soldier, engineer and author. 
 Gen. James Harrison Wilson, and he was 
 with him at the capture of Jefferson Davis, 
 May 10, 1865. His father, Joshua Fair- 
 banks, was a native of Scotland. 
 
 Irving S. Fairbanks attended the pub- 
 lic schools until he was twelve years of 
 age, and for the next four years worked 
 on the farm. He then learned the black- 
 smith's trade, in Appleton, and when 
 nineteen years old went to Menasha, where 
 he learned the trade of machinist. Upon 
 reaching his majority he took a roving 
 commission and was employed at various 
 times in the best shops in Wisconsin, 
 Michigan and northern Illinois, with the 
 object of becoming familiar with all the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 best methods known to the trade, and the 
 various tools in use. This he continued 
 until 1878, when he was married, at 
 Stevens Point, Wis., to Miss Sarah A. 
 Walton, and remained in that place for 
 two years as shop foreman. He then re- 
 moved to Appleton, and was employed 
 by different companies until 1890, when 
 he engaged in business for himself as a 
 member of the firm of Fairbanks & 
 Swallow. Mrs. P'airbanks, who was born 
 in Bangor, Maine, is a daughter of Will- 
 iam H. Walton, who removed with his 
 famil}- at an early day to Stevens Point, 
 Wis. His children, besides Mrs. Fair- 
 banks, are William, Nellie H. and Robert 
 G. Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks had two 
 children, both daughters: Abbie C. and 
 Frankie B., the latter of whom died in 
 1 88 1. In matters political Mr. Fair- 
 banks acts with the Republican party. 
 
 NH. ADRIANS, county clerk of 
 Outagamie county, widely known 
 and respected for his geniality, 
 patriotism and progressiveness, is 
 a native of the county, born in Freedom 
 township, September 5, 1854. 
 
 John Adrians, his father, was born in 
 1 81 2 in Holland, whence in 1847, at the 
 age of thirty-five years, he emigrated to 
 the United States, and in Freedom town- 
 ship, Outagamie Co., Wis., carried on 
 farming operations. In 1874 he bought 
 out a store in the village of Freedom, 
 which he conducted till 1876, the year of 
 his death. In 1852 he married Miss 
 Lucy Juley, who was born in Germany, 
 and when ninej'ears old came to America 
 with her parents. Her father was a 
 wagon-maker by trade, but on settling in 
 Wisconsin he bought a farm in Outagamie 
 county, being one of the first settlers 
 here. He was also engaged in sawing 
 lumber for various lumber firms, hiring 
 men, before the days of sawmills when 
 whipsaws were in use. His wife's parents 
 came to this section before he did. Nich- 
 olas Juley was born in Germany, August 
 
 14, 1806; in February, 1835, he married 
 Catherine Rates, who was born in Blank- 
 enhain, Germany, April i, 18 12, and 
 nine children were the result of this union, 
 four born in Blankenhain — Lucy, Kate, 
 Peter and Clare. The family came to 
 this country, arriving in Green Bay, 
 Wis., in 1842, whence after a three- 
 months' sojourn they moved, by the ad- 
 vice of Paul Fox, of Green Bay, to the 
 Oneida Reservation. The father, who 
 was a shoemaker by trade, opened out a 
 shop, and would trade shoes to the 
 Indians for corn and other provisions. 
 For three years they lived among the 
 aborigines, who were still in a semi-bar- 
 barous condition. Paul Juley was born 
 there, and in 1845 they removed to Free- 
 dom, Outagamie Co., Wis., where Nich- 
 olas Juley died August 9, 1854. At the 
 time of his coming here, there being no 
 church building, he donated five acres of 
 land on condition that the congregation 
 build a church thereon, which they did, 
 naming it after him — "St. Nicholas 
 Church." The remaining children in his 
 family, John, Gertrude, Henry and Minnie, 
 were born in Freedom, of whom Henry 
 died in infancy. Catharine Juley, who 
 married Ed. Geenen in April, 1864, died 
 February 5, 1894. The mother of our 
 subject is at present living at Colb}', Wis. ; 
 she is one of nine children — two sons and 
 seven daughters. 
 
 N. H. Adrians, the subject proper of 
 these lines, until the age of twenty \\orked 
 on his father's farm during the summers, 
 attending school in the winter season. 
 From 1874 to 1876 he assisted his father 
 in the store above referred to, and then 
 commenced buying hoop-poles of the Indi- 
 ans, with his own hands shaving them 
 into hoops, which he sold in Green Bay 
 and other points. This industry he fol- 
 lowed a couple of years, at the end of 
 which time, deciding to take a commer- 
 cial course, he entered the commercial 
 college at Green Bay, and was grad- 
 uated from there in 1881. In the follow- 
 ing year he was placed in charge of a 
 
Si6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 grocery store at Green Bay, of which his 
 uncle was proprietor, but later on he re- 
 turned home and, in partnership with an 
 older brother, embarked in the blacksmith 
 business, in which he remained some 
 seven years, when he retired. 
 
 In October, 1885, Mr. Adrians was 
 married to Miss Mary Peiffer, daughter of 
 Martin Peiffer, a veterinary surgeon, and 
 early settler of Washington county, Wis. , 
 where Mrs. Adrians was born. Her par- 
 ents were Germans by birth, coming to 
 this country soon after marriage; the 
 father died in 1869, the mother yet sur- 
 viving him. To Mr. and Mrs. Adrians 
 have been born four children, viz. : Mag- 
 gie, Adaline, Rosa and Peter. In poli- 
 tics our subject is a Democrat, and has 
 always been an active worker in his party. 
 He has held many offices of trust; in 1885 
 was elected clerk of his township, an of- 
 fice he filled six years, being re-elected 
 each year; in 1892 he was elected to the 
 responsible office of county clerk. He 
 has served as justice of the peace, and as 
 a delegate to county and assembly con- 
 ventions. He and his amiable spouse 
 are members of the Catholic Church, and 
 are held in the highest esteem in the com- 
 munity. 
 
 potent 
 affairs. 
 
 NICHOLAS A. SCHMITisnotonly 
 one of the representative German 
 citizens of Ellington, Outagamie 
 county, but is an influential and 
 factor in municipal and county 
 He was born June 25, 1830, in 
 Luxemburg, Germany, and came to Amer- 
 ica from Germany in 1849. 
 
 Mr. Schmit. or " N. A.," as' he is 
 familiarly called, received his education 
 in the public schools in Germany, in 
 which country his parents were well-to-do 
 agriculturists. He was but nineteen years 
 of age when he reached America, and he 
 went direct to Milwaukee, Wis., where 
 he remained about six months, thence re- 
 moving to the town of Greenville, Outa- 
 gamie Co. , Wis. , where he found employ- 
 
 ment in different capacities until 1855. 
 In that year he purchased sixty acres of 
 timbered land in Ellington township, 
 Outagamie county, which he immediate!)- 
 commenced to clear and prepare for culti- 
 vation. From that time to the present 
 Mr. Schmit's career is a striking example 
 of what hard work, economical habits 
 and constant application to business will 
 achieve. Coming to this country with- 
 out one cent of money, in fact going in 
 debt to his brothers for his transportation 
 expenses, so well did he plan and carry 
 out his plans that he has been able as 
 the years have rolled by to add to his 
 original investment until at the present 
 time he is the sole possessor of 200 acres 
 of excellent farming land, and personally 
 is highly esteemed and regarded as a de- 
 sirable neighbor and friend. He is a 
 Republican in politics, and being a man 
 of great force of character and possessing 
 unlimited energy he occupies a most im- 
 portant place in the public affairs of his 
 county and town, has served as a member 
 of the town board, as assessor, and as an 
 officer of his school district for many 
 years. In religion he is a Catholic. In 
 1856 he was married to Miss Katharine 
 Nussbauni, who was born near Cologne, 
 Germany, April 9, 1825, daughter of 
 Peter and Katharine (Schweitzer) Nuss- 
 baum, who, in 1855, came from Germany 
 to Ellington, Wis., where they both died. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schmit have had four chil- 
 dren who reached maturity, viz. : Joseph, 
 who died in March, 1883, at the age of 
 twenty-two years; Katharine, now Mrs. 
 Henry Boehler, of Ellington; Josephine, 
 now Mrs. Joseph Hoier, of Greenville, 
 and Maggie, now Mrs. Wenzel Schreiter, 
 of Ellington. 
 
 CALVIN WASHBUJIN comes of 
 good old New England stock, his 
 grandfather, Samuel Washburn, 
 having been a native of New 
 Hampshire and of English ancestry. By 
 occupation he was a farmer, and a most 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 S<7 
 
 successful one, being shrewd, far-sighted 
 and industrious. He was the father of a 
 large family of children, of whom three 
 sons fought in the Revolutionary war. 
 His son Calvin, father of our subject, was 
 born in New Hampshire, and followed his 
 father's vocation of farming. When a 
 young man he went to Warren county, 
 N. Y., where he was married to Miss 
 Elizabeth Weddie, an Englishwoman of 
 much refinement and culture, who be- 
 came the mother of ten children. Being 
 a devout member of the Church of Eng- 
 land, she reared her children in that faith. 
 She died in Warren county, at the age of 
 sixty -six years; her husband passed away 
 some years after at the age of eighty-six 
 years. 
 
 Calvin Washburn, the subject proper 
 of these lines, was born February 2, 1820, 
 in Johnsburg township, Warren Co., N. 
 Y. , where his early life was spent on his 
 father's farm, receiving at the same time 
 a good common-school education. In 
 i860 he removed to Bovina township, 
 Outagamie Co., Wis., where he invested 
 in some land which he sold same year, 
 and then returned to New York State. 
 In 1867 he again came to Bovina town- 
 ship, and bought eighty acres, which he 
 sold in 1889. This land was covered with 
 forest trees, which he cleared with his 
 own hands, industriously and with hard 
 labor preparing the ground for cultivation. 
 In 1 85 1 Mr. Washburn was married to 
 Miss Betsey C. Downs, who died in War- 
 ren county, N. Y. , March 17, i860, the 
 mother of one son, Fred H., who is still 
 living. On September 4, 1867, for his 
 second wife, he married Miss Mary Ann 
 McCane, daughter of Allen McCane, and 
 their only son, Merton, died on reaching 
 the age of eleven years; the mother 
 passed away in 1886 at the age of fifty 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Washburn has been a lifelong 
 Republican, and has filled the offices of 
 chairman of the township board, and as- 
 sessor. During the administration of Ben- 
 jamin Harrison he was appointed post- 
 
 master at Shiocton. which position he 
 held four years. He has been equally 
 successful as a public officer and a tiller of 
 the soil. He attends closely to the busi- 
 ness in hand, and allows no part, be it 
 ever so unimportant, to be neglected, 
 while his careful attention to details has 
 brought him success, and made him a rep- 
 resentative farmer of that locality. 
 
 LEWIS A. BRIGGS, engaged in 
 the railway mail service, with resi- 
 dence at Appleton, Outagamie 
 county, wasborn January 21, 1845, 
 in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., a son of 
 Robert Briggs. 
 
 Robert Briggs was born in New York 
 State in 181 5, and was there married to 
 Miss Mary Banister, who bore him six 
 children, namely: Theodore W. , Rozella, 
 Lewis A., Abbie S., Almyra L. and Mary, 
 four of whom are yet living. The father, 
 who was a farmer in the East, came to 
 Wisconsin in 1853 with his family, set- 
 tling in Appleton, on the piece of ground 
 whereon his son Lewis A. now has his 
 residence. After coming here he was en- 
 gaged at mason work up to about the time 
 of his death in 1855; the mother died in 
 1 86 1. They were members of the M. 
 E. Church. 
 
 Lewis A. Briggs was eight years old 
 when he came with his parents from the 
 East to Appleton, at the common schools 
 of which city he received his education. 
 At the age of thirteen years he hired out 
 as a farm hand, for, his father being dead 
 and his mother an invalid, he had to com- 
 mence life pretty early. Thus things 
 went on until the breaking out of the 
 Civil war in 1861, he being then sixteen 
 years of age, on December i of which 
 year, his mother being now dead, he en- 
 listed, as a musician, in Company E, 
 Second Wis. V. I., which regiment was 
 attached to what was known as the 
 "Iron Brigade," Army of the Potomac. 
 He joined his regiment at Washington, 
 accompanied it in all its marches, and 
 
8iS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 participated in all its battles. In Decem- 
 ber, 1864, while lying in front of Peters- 
 burg, Va. , he was discharged, and on his 
 return home worked for a brother some 
 three years in a general store. In 1869 
 he established the Fox River Nursery, 
 which he carried on until 1S78. when he 
 closed it up; then in 1880 entered the 
 railway mail ser\'ice, his present incum- 
 bency. 
 
 On December 16, 1868, Mr. Briggs 
 was married to Miss Emma Elvira Ben- 
 nett, daughter of Rev. Philo Sage Ben- 
 nett, of Appleton, and three children 
 have blessed their union, viz.: Laura A. 
 (now Mrs. Dudley H. Pierce, of Apple- 
 ton), Emory Theo., and Calphurnia. Mr. 
 Briggs is a member of the F. & A. M. 
 and A. O. U. \V. ; political!}- he is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 REV. PHILO SAGE BENNETT, 
 tifty-six years of whose honored 
 life have been passed in the min- 
 istry of the M. E. Church, forty- 
 live of them in the State of Wisconsin, 
 was born in the town of Richland, Os- 
 wego Co., N. Y. , March 13, 1817. 
 
 Roswell Bennett, his grandfather, was 
 born in Connecticut in 1757, but in an 
 earl}' time of life moved to \'ermont, 
 where he followed farming. He was 
 twice married, and by his first wife had 
 four children — three sons and one daugh- 
 ter — Oliver, Reuben, Benoni and Esther; 
 by his second marriage there was one 
 child, Sarah. Grandfather Bennett died 
 at the home of his son, Reuben, in New 
 York State in September, i S30. Reuben 
 Bennett, father of our subject, was born 
 September 25, i 781, in Pawlet township, 
 Rutland Co., Vt. and was also a farmer. 
 In 1802, in \^ermont, he married Miss 
 Betsey \\'oods, daughter of Coffel \\'oods, 
 a cloth weaver, and a native of the North 
 of Ireland, who, when sixteen years old, 
 was impressed into the British service 
 and sent to America during the Revolu- 
 tionary war. At the close of the struggle 
 
 he settled in Vermont, where he married, 
 and reared a family of six children — two 
 sons and four daughters. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Reuben Bennett were born ten chil- 
 dren, as follows: Orson, Valentine, Polly, 
 Reuben J., Roxana, Oliver, William W. , 
 Philo S., Nanc}' and Roswell \\'. , three 
 of whom are yet living: Philo S., Nancy 
 and Roswell W. With the exception of 
 \'alentiiie, who died in boyhood, they all 
 lived till Roswell, the youngest, was over 
 fifty years of age. The parents both died 
 in Oswego county, N. Y. , the father 
 March 22, 1859, the mother August 
 30, 1839. 
 
 Philo S. Bennett, the subject proper 
 of this sketch, attended the common 
 schools of his place of birth until he was 
 seventeen years old, and then entered the 
 Academy of the Onedia Conference at 
 Cazenovia, N. Y. , subsequently pursuing 
 his academical studies at Mexico, N. Y. 
 Before graduating he was called, in 1838, 
 to the ministry of the M. E. Church, but 
 nevertheless continued his studies, and in 
 1852 graduated at Beloit, Wis., while he 
 was serving as pastor of the M. E. Church 
 there. He was in the ministry in New 
 York State eleven years, his first charge 
 being at Montezuma and Port Byron. In 
 1849 he was transferred to the W'isconsin 
 Conference, assigned to Plattville, and 
 his subsequent charges have been at Be- 
 loit, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine and 
 Appleton, of which latter city he has been 
 a resident some twenty-two years. He 
 has been Presiding Elder eight years — 
 four years each in the Milwaukee and 
 Appleton Districts. In 1890 he published 
 a history of Methodism in \\'isconsin (one 
 volume in four parts), at the request of 
 the pastors of the different churches, 
 which work has received considerable 
 praise; and, for one of local interest, had 
 an extensive and rapid sale. He has been 
 engaged in no little other literary work, 
 but none of a permanent nature. 
 
 On June 13, 1838, Mr. Bennett was 
 married to Miss Calphurnia Chase, who 
 was born in the town of Gorham, On- 
 
COMMEMOMATIVE BIOOHAFUWAL RECORD. 
 
 819 
 
 tario Co., N. Y. , February 6, 181 7. 
 daughter of Joseph and Mary Chase, the 
 former of whom was reared in the then 
 Province of Maine, and was a Revohi- 
 tionary soldier; the latter was a native of 
 New England. To Mr. and Mrs. Bennett 
 were born four children, a brief record of 
 whom is as follows: Mary Elizabeth died 
 December 21, 1867; Ellen M. died No- 
 vember 21, 1848; Emory Janes died Jan- 
 uary 9, 1864, in Appleton; Emma Alvira 
 is now the wife of Lewis A. Briggs, of 
 Appleton. The mother of these died in 
 Appleton, August 27, 1887. In national. 
 State and municipal politics Mr. Bennett 
 is a stanch Prohibitionist. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Temple of Honor, and for more 
 than a half century has been in the ad- 
 vance guard of temperance workers. 
 
 FRANK F. BECKER, cashier of the 
 First National Bank of Kaukauna, 
 is a native of New York State, 
 born in Herkimer county, in De- 
 cember, 1863. 
 
 Charles Becker, father of our subject, 
 was born in Germany, where he married 
 Miss Wolleman. Soon afterward the 
 young couple emigrated to the United 
 States, for a time making their home in 
 Herkimer county, N. Y. , and thence in 
 1867 moving to Outagamie county, Wis., 
 where for a time they followed agricultu- 
 ral pursuits on a farm they had bought in 
 Greenville township. In 1875 they re- 
 moved into the city of Appleton, where 
 the father engaged in the boot and shoe 
 business, and where they still have their 
 residence. 
 
 Frank F. Becker was about four years 
 old when his parents brought him to 
 Outagamie county, and at the public 
 schools of Appleton he received a liberal 
 education. On laying aside his books, he 
 entered his father's boot and shoe store, 
 remaining sixteen months, and then for 
 two years served as clerk in the post- 
 office at Appleton, under the postmaster- 
 ship of Ci. M. Miller. Resigning his 
 
 position in the postoffice, he entered the 
 service of the Appleton Furnace Com- 
 pany, as bookkeeper, remaining in that 
 capacity two years, at the end of which 
 time, in 1884, he secured a position in the 
 First National Bank of Appleton, as col- 
 lector. In 1887 he became connected 
 with the Commercial National Bank of 
 Appleton, as teller, remaining there till 
 April, 1889, at which time he came to 
 Kaukauna, having been appointed to his 
 present incumbency in the First National 
 Bank. By thorough business training 
 and experience, coupled with natural 
 ability, intelligence and courtesy, Mr. 
 Becker is admirably adapted for the re- 
 sponsible position he holds, and- he has 
 surrounded himself with hosts of friends. 
 In social matters our subject is a member 
 of Kaukauna Lodge, No. 233, F. & A. 
 M., and in politics he votes w^ith the Re- 
 publican party. 
 
 SAMUEL FREEMAN BRIGGS, 
 who is recognized as one of the 
 most thoroughly experienced lum- 
 bermen in northern Wisconsin, 
 was born September 25, 1851, in Guil- 
 ford, Maine, son of Daniel Briggs, a na- 
 tive of the same State. 
 
 In 1853 Daniel Briggs removed with 
 his family to Illinois, and there, in the 
 vicinity of Rockton, resided for a year 
 and a half, at the end of that time com- 
 ing to Outagamie county. Wis., and mak- 
 ing a permanent settlement on a farm in 
 Hortonia township. During his residence 
 in Maine he had acquired a wide, practical 
 knowledge of the lumbering business, to 
 which he gave his principal attention 
 after his removal to Wisconsin, and met 
 with unbounded success. He confined 
 his operations to this region, felling tim- 
 ber, cutting it and hauling it to the Wolf 
 river, a distance of four miles, where it 
 was made into rafts and sent to Oshkosh. 
 An enterprising business man, he also had 
 an interest in the saw and flour mill at 
 Hortonville, which did an extensive busi- 
 
S^o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ness, and it is a fact worthy of record 
 that he paid out the first dollar ever paid 
 in Hortonville for wheat. His kind- 
 heartedness was one of his most promi- 
 nent characteristics, and he gained the 
 respect and good will of all his employes 
 by the sincere interest in their welfare 
 which he always manifested, they show- 
 ing their appreciation b\' strict attention 
 to all the details of their work. Quiet 
 and unassuming in manner, and a man of 
 very few words under any circumstances, 
 he yet possessed great firmness of charac- 
 ter, and he was esteemed and beloved by 
 all who had the pleasure of his acquaint- 
 ance, either in business or social life. 
 For a number of \ears he was a well- 
 known justice of the peace, holding that 
 office at the time of his death, and he 
 was a representative citizen in every way, 
 winning and retaining a high position in 
 the community where he resided. Politi- 
 cally he was a lifelong Republican. In 
 religious matters he was identified with 
 the Congregational Church, though he 
 never joined a religious society, and he 
 gave liberally of his means to assist in 
 building and supporting churches and 
 church work. His life abounded with 
 deeds of kindness and charity toward his 
 fellowmen, and his quiet benevolence and 
 ready willingness to assist the unfortunate 
 won him universal admiration and regard. 
 Mr. Briggs was married, December 6, 
 1846, to Mary Washburn, and they be- 
 came the parents of ten children, namely: 
 William H. fli\-ing in Hortonville), Daniel 
 E. (who lives in Rhinelander, \Ms., but 
 is now in California for his health), Sam- 
 uel F. (our subject), Sarah M., Achsah, 
 Lizzie M., Jennie (deceased), Nellie E., 
 Hattie and Ira H. .All the sons were in- 
 terested in their father's lumber business, 
 and carried it on for a number of years. 
 Mr. Briggs was devoted to his home and 
 family, and at his death, which occurred 
 in June, 1865, when he was but forty-si.\ 
 years of age, they lost a kind, affectionate 
 father, and the community one of its most 
 useful, honored citizens. Mrs. Briggs 
 
 I 
 
 passed from earth in the spring of 1884, 
 aged sixty-one years. She was an ener- 
 getic, intelligent woman, and shared with 
 her husband the affectionate regard of a 
 large circle of neighbors and friends. 
 
 Samuel Freeman Briggs was but three 
 years of age when his parents settled in 
 Hortonville, and there he grew to man- 
 hood and received all his education. 
 When a young man he entered a grist- 
 mill at Hortonville, in which his mother 
 had an interest, continuing in the same 
 line for a period of twelve years, about 
 half of that time in Minnesota Falls, 
 Minn. Being finally induced to return 
 to Hortonville, he has since made his 
 home here, the greater part of his time 
 for the past twelve vears having been 
 occupied as explorer and surveyor of 
 timberland in Wisconsin for the \Viscon- 
 sin Central Railroad Company, to whom 
 he has been enabled to render valuable 
 assistance, his wide experience and know- 
 ledge of every detail of the business 
 amply qualifying him for this work. He 
 has also looked up and located land for 
 himself, and like his father has made a 
 success of everything he has undertaken. 
 Mr. Briggs was married September 16, 
 1882, in Hortonville, to Miss Emma G. 
 Griffin, daughter of Rev. Jacob Griffin, 
 and their home has been brightened by 
 two children. Harry Douglas and Bessie 
 Estella. Mrs. Briggs was educated in 
 Hillsdale (Mich.) College. Like his father 
 before him, Mr. Briggs is a Republican. 
 
 0\\'EN MERRITY, a prominent 
 and well-to-do agriculturist of 
 Grand Chute township, Outaga- 
 mie county, was born June i, 
 1 8 19, near Ballyjamesduff, County Ca\an, 
 Ireland, son of John Merrity, who was a 
 small farmer. The latter married Frances 
 Reed, and of their children seven lived to 
 adult age; the parents both died in 
 Ireland. 
 
 Our subject, who was the youngest 
 child but one, grew up on the farm, re- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 821 
 
 ceiving such meager educalion as the 
 common schools of his localit}' afforded. 
 His parents having but Hmited means, he 
 was set at work when but a lad, and as 
 he became older he was employed as a 
 herdsman and farmer. The first thirty- 
 one years of his life were spent in Ireland, 
 but at the end of that period, having suc- 
 ceeded in saving a portion of his earnings, 
 he was able to make his way to the 
 United States, where he believed he 
 might enjoy greater prosperity. Accord- 
 ingly, on November 5, 1850, he bade fare- 
 well to his native land, and took passage 
 on the ' ' Andrew Foster " from Liverpool, 
 a vessel on the St. George's Line of 
 Packet Ships, which arrived at New York 
 three months later, after a rough voyage. 
 After remaining there a short time Mr. 
 Merrity proceeded to Westville, Conn., 
 where he was employed in various capa- 
 cities. On April 20, 1856, in New 
 Haven, Conn., he married Mary Mc- 
 Donald, who was born in Ireland 
 about 1833, daughter of Owen McDonald, 
 and came to this country when twenty- 
 three years of age, at the time of her mar- 
 riage being employed as a domestic in 
 New Haven. One child was born to 
 them in New Haven, Mary, now the 
 widow of John Crow, of Appleton. After 
 saving some money Mr. Merrity came 
 west and found emplo3'ment in a railroad 
 shop at Peoria, 111., but lost the wages he 
 earned there, the company proving to be 
 irresponsible. 
 
 In the summer of 1858, with his wife 
 and infant, Mary, our subject concluded 
 to remove to Wisconsin, where he could 
 obtain a home at small cost, and they 
 journeyed by rail to Fond du Lac, thence 
 by the boat "Appleton Belle" to Apple- 
 ton, which was then a small town of 1,500 
 people, Mr. Merrity being attracted to 
 Outagamie county by the fact that his 
 elder brother, John, had already located 
 in Cisnter township. He covered the dsi- 
 tance from Appleton to that township on 
 foot, while his wife and child proceeded 
 on horseback, purchased eighty acres of 
 
 wild land in Sections 23 and 24, and, 
 establishing headquarters at his brother's, 
 began the work of clearing, in which his 
 brother assisted. There was at that time 
 no road to his property. Wild game was 
 yet plentiful, and deer tracks were not 
 uncommon around the fallen trees, upon 
 the green tops of which the animals would 
 come to browse. Wolves were numer- 
 ous, and at times dangerous. Late in 
 the fall of 1858, when Mr. Merrity and 
 his wife and child were returning home, 
 after spending a Sabbath afternoon at a 
 neighbor's, their trail was scented by a 
 roving pack of wolves, but they arrived 
 safel}- home before receiving injury from 
 them. They resided in Center-township 
 until April, 1866, when they removed to 
 Section i, in Grand Chute, and settled 
 upon about 174 acres of unimproved land, 
 to which forty acres were added a few 
 years later. This is all comprised in the 
 present excellent farm of 215 acres, a 
 portion of which, at the time they first 
 occupied it, was wild enough to afford a 
 rendezvous for a gang of cattle thieves. 
 Their hiding place was broken up, how- 
 ever, when the work of clearing began. 
 Mr. Merrity has since resided upon this 
 farm, which has been developed through 
 years of unremitting toil to its present ex- 
 cellent condition. 
 
 When Mr. Merrity first arrived in the 
 United States he had but a few dollars in 
 his possession, and after paying his rail- 
 road fare to his destination was practi- 
 callv penniless, a stranger in a strange 
 land; but he was young, had a strong will 
 and plenty of determination and energy, 
 and with these as his capital went bra\'ely 
 at the work before him. Improvement 
 in his condition began almost immediately, 
 and when, a little later, he secured a 
 noble wife, the additional factor to future 
 success was supplied. Both ha\e been 
 economical in the management ofthtir 
 affairs, and the comfortable competence 
 they now enjoy is the result of the care- 
 ful and wise application of business princi- 
 ples, with no help through any form of 
 
822 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 speculation. Throuuli all they ha\e held 
 the respect and esteem of their neighbors, 
 and the family has an excellent standing, 
 which is both merited and enjoyed. On 
 May 30, 1 84 1, Mr. Merrity took from 
 Father Theo. Mathew, the noted tem- 
 perance apostle, the pledge of total 
 abstinence, which for fifty-three years 
 he has scrupulously observed, which fact 
 has doubtless contributed in no small de- 
 gree to his success. In political matters 
 he is a stanch Democrat, loyal to his 
 party asd earnest in its work, and has 
 held minor offices in the township, but 
 does not aspire to political notoriety. The 
 following named children have been born 
 to Mr. and Mrs. Merrity: Mary, already 
 mentioned; Peter and John, at home; 
 Frances, now Mrs. Herman Bauer, of 
 Appleton; Ellen, at home; Catherine, 
 who died at the age of eight j-ears; and 
 Margaret and Julia, at home. 
 
 JOHN DEY. In this gentleman, who 
 has won honors as a farmer, as a 
 soldier and as an energetic, enter- 
 prising citizen, we find one of the 
 most prominent and greatl}' respected 
 men in Greenville township, Outagamie 
 county. Born May 17, 1825, in Root, 
 Montgomery Co., N. Y. , he is a son of 
 James Dey, a native of that State, whose 
 father came from Holland. James Dey 
 in early life was a shoemaker by trade, 
 finding his customers in a house-to-house 
 canvass, and when yet a young man had 
 located in Montgomery county, where he 
 married, for his third wife, Hanna Rus- 
 sel, a native of Sharon (or Cherry \'al- 
 ley), N. v., and who bore him five child- 
 ren^ — three sons and two daughters, one 
 of the sons being the subject of this 
 sketch. The parents passed the re- 
 mainder of their lives on their farm in 
 Montgomery county, N. Y. , dying there, 
 the father September 10, 1845, the 
 mother February !i, 1853. 
 
 John De\' received but a meager edu- 
 cation at the common schools of the 
 
 neighborhood of his place of birth, and 
 was reared tf) agricultural pursuits on the 
 home farm. When he was twenty years 
 old he was called to mourn the death of 
 his father, and the management of the 
 homestead thereby devolving upon him, 
 he remamed thereon until 1847. Mean- 
 while, October 9, 1845, Mr. Dey was 
 married in Schoharie county, N. Y. , to 
 Miss Evaline Kling, a native of that county, 
 born October 18, 1826, daughter of David 
 and Nancy (Chase) Kling. In 1847 he re- 
 moved to Cook county, 111., locating at 
 North Branch, about twenty miles north 
 of Chicago, and here remained until Sep- 
 tember, 1849, ^t which time, accom- 
 panied by his wife and two children, he 
 set out for Appleton, \Ms. , in a wagon 
 drawn by a team of oxen, making a set- 
 tlement in Section 29, Grand Chute town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, he being the 
 first to locate in that section, where not a 
 tree had as yet been cut. Here, for a 
 short time, a small shanty roofed with 
 marsh ha\', afforded shelter for the party, 
 now numbering twelve persons, Mr. Dey 
 and his wife and two children taking up 
 their abode with Mrs. De\''s father, David 
 Kling, and family, he having purchased 
 the property. In addition to his farm 
 work, Mr. Dej- found employment at the 
 cooper's trade, which he had learned dur- 
 ing his two-years' residence in Illinois. 
 
 In August, 1862, Mr. Dey enlisted for 
 three years, and left the State as second 
 sergeant of Company D, Twenty-first 
 Wis. V. I., and leaving his wife and fam- 
 ih", now numbering six children, on the 
 farm, marched away to begin a military 
 experience of a stirring nature. One 
 month was spent in the trenches around 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, and a few weeks later, 
 after toilsome marches and severe hard- 
 ships, he was engaged in the battle of 
 Perry ville, Ky. In that fight he was cap- 
 tured by the Rebels, held for two days, 
 and then paroled and sent to Camp Chase, 
 at Columbus, Ohio. In the following 
 May (1863), C. L. \'allandingham was 
 arrested b\- the militarx' authorities for 
 
^M^ fct 
 
 'y-^^-Af JM?^ 
 
COMMEMOUATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 S35 
 
 his attempts to stir up sedition, and on 
 an order from the Secretary of War, call- 
 ing on the paroled soldiers for that duty. 
 Sergeant Dey and one htmdred others 
 were sent to Dayton, Ohio, to preserve 
 order. He subsequently rejoined his 
 regiment at Chattanooga, participating in 
 the engagements there and others, later, 
 at Rocky Face Ridge, Snake Creek Gap, 
 Resaca, Pumpkin Vine Creek, Kenesaw 
 Mountain, Big Shanty, and following the 
 enem\' south of Marietta, Ga. At Peach 
 Tree Creek, August 7, 1864, while on 
 the skirmish line, with a prospective cap- 
 ture of the opposing force, he and his cap- 
 tain were badly wounded. The ball which 
 struck Sergeant Dey passed into the left 
 thigh, and he was carried to the rear on 
 a stretcher and left to die, as it was sup- 
 posed he was mortally hurt. Nine days 
 later, at the field hospital, the ball was 
 extracted, and he was sent to Chatta- 
 nooga, thence, ten days later, to Hospital 
 No. 2 at College Hill, Nashville, Tenn. 
 Up to this time he had occupied a reclin- 
 ing position, but for an e.xperiment he 
 had procured a pair of crutches, and was 
 soon after granted a furlough. He was 
 carried to the train at Nashville, and at 
 Louisville the surgeon tried to detain him, 
 not thinking him able to stand the jour- 
 ney home; but he pushed on. At the 
 expiration of his furlough. Sergeant Dey 
 returned, making a short stop at his old 
 quarters at College Hill, finall\' reaching 
 Nashville, where he witnessed the second 
 drubbing which Gen. George H. Thomas 
 administered to the Rebels at that point. 
 He also saw many poor maimed and 
 dying soldiers brought into the hospital 
 wards, and was so exasperated at the 
 sight that he applied for leave to go once 
 more into the trenches, but was refused. 
 As soon as he was able, he was sent on 
 detached duty to Indianapolis, and fin- 
 ally received an honorable discharge. 
 May 19, 1865. 
 
 Returning home, he foimd his farm in 
 excellent condition and well cared for 
 during his absence. His wife, who was 
 
 46 
 
 second to none in patriotism and energy, 
 had the year before, with the help of 
 their ten-year-old son, David J., and the 
 aid of a yoke of oxen, conveyed to market 
 at Appleton, twelve miles distant, and 
 there sold her wheat for seventy-six cents 
 per bushel. The shattered condition of 
 both body and health, which his war ex- 
 perience had brought about, necessitating 
 his giving attention to some other occu- 
 pation than that of farming, our subject 
 took up the work of pushing the circula- 
 lation of agricultural journals, and his ef- 
 forts in behalf of the Western Rum I, of 
 Chicago, won for him a six-hundred-dollar 
 piano, said to be the second largest prize 
 ever awarded in this country for similar 
 work. He also secured many other 
 prizes as rewards for his indomitable 
 energy, and "push, "and for sixteen years 
 he was also agent for the Home Insur- 
 ance Company of Outagamie count}-, 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 The children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Dey are: Martha, now Mrs. Leonard 
 Jewell, of Franklin, Minn. ; Melvina, wife 
 of Henry Calkins, of Deer Creek town- 
 ship; David J., a resident of Antigo, W^is., 
 and engaged in the railwa}* mail service; 
 John W., a farmer of Cicero township; 
 Elizabeth, now the widow of Jacob Rup- 
 ple; Ella, at home; Nettie, wife of -George 
 Berry; Annie, now Mrs. Emil Frank; 
 and Nannie, a twin sister of David J., who 
 died at the age of fourteen months. While 
 he has not yet reached the three-score- 
 and-ten mark. Sergeant Dey has thirty- 
 five grandchildren and three great-grand- 
 children. To such men the State owes 
 its position and the Nation its existence. 
 If Mr. and Mrs. Dey are spared till Oc- 
 tober g, this 3'ear (1895), the}- will cele- 
 brate their ' ' golden wedding, " as that day 
 will be the fiftieth anniversar\' of their 
 marriage. 
 
 Few men have been as active in the 
 development and successful progress of 
 their communities as Sergeant De}'. He 
 has been a stanch, loyal Whig and Re- 
 publican, consecutively, ever since cast- 
 
826 
 
 COMMEMOliATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ing his first Presidential vote for Martin 
 Van Buren; has been recognized as a 
 wheel-horse of the party in his section, as 
 one of its best-known advisers and coun- 
 selors, and has been called to several of- 
 ficial positions, all of which he has filled 
 with characteristic fidelity and ability. 
 He has been a justice of the peace thirty- 
 five years, township clerk and treasurer, 
 two years each, and assessor, thirteen 
 years. He has been president of the 
 Outagamie Agricultural Society since 1 880, 
 and president of the Outagamie County 
 Pioneer Societ)', thirteen years. In 1894 
 he was honored by his party with nomi- 
 nation for the State Assembly, and in face 
 of the fact that his District showed, in 
 1892, a Democratic majority of over 
 eleven hundred, he fearlessly accepted the 
 nomination, and succeeded in reducing 
 this formidable majority to a mere mini- 
 mum, losing the contest by only fiftj'-five 
 votes — virtually a significant victory for 
 him — so great was his popularity and such 
 the confidence of men of all parties in his 
 personal qualifications and integrit}'; Ser- 
 geant Dey would no doubt have succeeded 
 in wiping out the Democratic majorit)', it 
 is claimed, thereby reversing the results, 
 but for certain political issues that mili- 
 tated against him. On jirinciple he is a 
 temperance man, in sentiment a Prohi- 
 bitionist, though not so, politically (as is 
 well-known to everyone acquainted with 
 him), and those Republicans voting the 
 Prohibition ticket indirecth' aided the 
 Democratic party, whose views on the 
 subject of temperance were the very anti- 
 thesis of Sergeant Dey's. This was one 
 circumstance adverse to him; another, as 
 claimed by him, was as follows: One of 
 his sons is married to a very estimable 
 Catholic lady, and there is little doubt, 
 he avers, but what the radical A. P.' A. 
 members were apprehensi\'e of the influ- 
 ence she might exert over her father-in- 
 law. Another son is a member of the A. 
 P. A., which circumstance Sergeant Dey 
 believes lost to him some Catholic votes, 
 not a few of the electors who belonged to 
 
 that party dreading that this might influ- 
 ence the father in legislative matters. 
 There is no manner of doubt that, had it 
 not been for the trivial, frivolous and 
 ridiculous causes above referred to, all of 
 them imaginary on the part of the elec- 
 tors. Sergeant Dey would have been 
 elected by a good round majority, instead 
 of as the result proved. Immeiliately 
 after the State campaign he was appointed 
 by the Outagamie county board as a com- 
 missioner or trustee of the County Insane 
 Asylum at Appleton, to serve three years, 
 being elected over one of the most promi- 
 nent and popular men in Outagamie 
 county. 
 
 Sergeant Dey has been a member of 
 the M. E. Church for forty-five years, 
 having joined it while a resident of Illi- 
 nois, and for thirty-five j-ears has been 
 superintendent of the Sunday-school at 
 Medina. Socially he is a member of the 
 G. A. R. , Francis Steffen Post, and on 
 account of wounds received and services 
 rendered in his country's cause, he is now 
 receiving a fair pension. As a citizen he 
 stands in the foremost rank; as a official, 
 his record, covering a period of forty 
 years, is without a blemish; as a Chris- 
 tian gentleman of generous, charitable 
 sympathies, he is well known, and as a 
 patriotic citizen of the great Republic, 
 his long and brave service as a soldier in 
 the Union army during the war of the 
 Rebellion, well attests. 
 
 EDWARD W. GOODRICK, super- 
 intendent of the Valley Iron Works 
 Manufacturing Company, .Apple- 
 ton, was born at Brasher Falls, 
 St. Lawrence Co.. N. Y., May 17, 1857. 
 His father, Isaac Goodrick, a tanner by 
 trade, was born in England in 1813, and 
 came to America \\hen twelve years of 
 age. He was married in ^'ermont to 
 Elizabeth Munsell, whose parents were 
 farmers, and to them were born four sons 
 and seven daughters. Mrs. Goodrick was 
 a native of Vermont. The family re- 
 
COMMEMOUATIVE BIOGHAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 827 
 
 moved to Waupaca, Wis., in 1869, Mr. 
 Goodrick's death occurring at that place 
 in 1882. His widow is yet living. 
 
 Our subject, who had assisted his 
 father and attended the public schools 
 until he was eighteen, at that age entered 
 a machine shop at Waujmca, and spent 
 two years learning the trade. He was 
 subsequently employed four years at Hol- 
 land, Mich., and two years at Marinette, 
 Wis., coming from the latter place to 
 Appleton. Here he became foreman for 
 Morgan & Bassett, now the Appleton 
 Machine Company, and held the position 
 eleven years, or until September i, 1894, 
 at which time he resigned his position as 
 foreman of the Appleton Machine Com- 
 pany, and entered the Valley Iron Works 
 Manufacturing Company as general su- 
 perintendent, which position he still 
 holds. In 1 88 1 he was married, at 
 Waupaca, Wis., to Miss Belle Rich, a 
 native of Wisconsin, daughter of Truman 
 and Flora Rich, who were born in Ver- 
 mont, the former of whom, who before 
 the Civil war was a farmer, entered the 
 army during that struggle, was wounded, 
 and after returning home became a photo- 
 grapher. Mr. and Mrs. Goodrick have 
 five children: Bert, Fred, John, George, 
 and Perry. Both are members of the M. 
 E. Church, Mr. Goodrick also belonging 
 to the Temple of Honor. In politics he 
 is a Republican, has served as school 
 director in his district, and is a thorough 
 temperance man. During the war of the 
 Rebellion he had a half-brother killed in 
 the service. 
 
 RANDALL JOHNSON, one of the 
 most prominent men in his section 
 of Outagamie county, was born 
 December 2, 1822, in Gorman, 
 Maine, son of Robert and Mary (Knight) 
 Johnson, who were prosperous farming 
 people. Our subject is the second in 
 order of birth of their three children, of 
 whom the eldest, Miriam, is now the 
 widow of James P. Mann, of ;\uburndale. 
 
 Mass.; George C, the youngest, lived 
 and died in Maine. The paternal grand- 
 parents of our subject, Randall and 
 Miriam Johnson, reared a family of five 
 children, namely: Robert, Isaac, Mary, 
 Sarah and Betse}-. James and Frances 
 (Jackson) Knight, the maternal grand- 
 parents, had four children: Mary (mother 
 of Randall Johnson), Joshua, Frances 
 and Emeline. 
 
 Randall Johnson remained at home 
 until he was twenty-three years old, at 
 which time he commenced to work on the 
 canal, where he was employed several 
 years. On June 17, 1849, he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Eliza E. Crockett, daughter 
 of Samuel and Percilla (Hill) Q^ockett, 
 the latter of whom died when her daughter 
 Eliza was but two years old. In 1850 
 Mr. Johnson came to De Pere, W'is., 
 where he remained one year, during which 
 time he was at work on the Wolf river, 
 and in 1851, a home having been pre- 
 pared, his wife joined him. In partner- 
 ship with Woodford D. Jordan, Mr. 
 Johnson purchased about a secticfh of 
 land, including the site of the present 
 village of Shiocton, and they immediately 
 commenced to build, becoming thus the 
 founders of that now flourishing place. 
 They walked from De Pere to Shiocton, 
 a distance of about forty miles, on Christ- 
 mas Da\', then went to Stephensville, 
 and bought a load of lumber, and when 
 this arrived, about dusk, they set to work 
 at once to build their shanty. They only 
 lived in that house, however, until a sub- 
 stantial frame dwelling could be erected, 
 which was completed in 185 i, and other 
 improvements were rapidly added. They 
 continued to own the land in partnership 
 about six years, when Mr. Johnson sold 
 a part of his interest to Sanford H. Swift, 
 and removed three miles farther north, 
 purchasing another section on which he 
 lived about seventeen years. He built a 
 substantial frame house, which accom- 
 modated many lumbermen who were 
 teaming in that section, and during his 
 residence there he spent the summers 
 
828 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 clearing and culti\ariiig his land, and suc- 
 ceeded in making a good farm, now the 
 property of Edward Kendley. During 
 the winters he engaged in hnnbering, in 
 which he met with well-deserved success. 
 Moving from the farm to Binghamton he 
 built a sawmill, and conducted it success- 
 fulh' for two years, when he was burned 
 out. He rebuilt, this time on a larger 
 scale, having a planing, saw and feed 
 mill, and did a profitable business for 
 fifteen vears, when he sold to parties in 
 Oshkosh, and the mill was removed. In 
 addition to this he owned 1 20 acres of 
 land in the township, which had been 
 purchased in its primitive condition and 
 converted into a fertile, productive farm. 
 After the mill burned down Mr. John- 
 son built a home in Appleton, removing 
 his family thither, and here Mrs. John- 
 son died May 4, 18S9. She was the 
 mother of five children, viz: Thomas R. , 
 who died at the age of four years; Emma 
 P., Mrs. Henr}' Manse, of Appleton; 
 Mary Merrill, widow of Conrad Manse, of 
 Appleton; Mattie E., a school teacher, 
 and Randall, of Waukesha, Wis. In 
 his political affiliations Mr. Johnson has 
 been actively identified with the Demo- 
 cratic party, and has served three j'ears 
 as chairman of Bovina township. 
 
 HERBERT E. ELLSWORTH, M. 
 D., of Appleton, was born June 
 4, 1856, in Hudson, Ohio, and is 
 a son of Ransom P. and Caroline 
 N. (Ovitt) Ellsworth, the former of whom 
 was born in Winstead, Conn., in 1805, 
 was married in 1826, and moved to Ohio 
 in 1828. By occupation he was a farmer, 
 and his wife was the daughter of a farmer. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Ransom P. Ellsworth 
 were born five children, of whom one son. 
 Ransom J., died of wounds received at 
 the battle of Mission Ridge, while serving 
 as a member of Company I, Si.\ty-fourth 
 Ohio \'olnnteers. The mother died in 
 Hudson, Ohio, in 1868, and the father, 
 in 1869 or 1870, married Eliza Castle, 
 
 who bore him two children. The death 
 of the father took place in 1883, when he 
 had reached the ripe age of eight\-two 
 years. 
 
 Herbert E. Ellsworth passed his early 
 years in assisting his father on the farm in 
 summer and in attending the district 
 school in winter, as is usually the case 
 with farmers' sons. He was an apt scholar, 
 and in 1872 entered the high school at 
 Hudson, from which he graduated in 1876, 
 being then twent}' years of age. In 1878 
 he commenced the study of medicine in 
 the Medical Department of Worcester 
 University at Cleveland, Ohio, and grad- 
 uated in 1881. The winter of 1881-82 
 he attended the Columbia Medical College 
 at Columbus, Ohio, graduating from that 
 institution in February, 1S82, and first 
 located for practice in Saginaw. Mich., 
 but remained there for a short time only. 
 In the fall of 1882 he came to Appleton, 
 where his abilities were soon recognized, 
 and where he has built up a large and lu- 
 crative practice. He is a member of the 
 State Medical Society and the Fo.x River 
 Medical Society, and stands as high in the 
 esteem of his fellow practitioners as he 
 does in that of the public. In politics he 
 is a stanch Republican, and for four 3ears 
 has been city phjsician, and health of- 
 ficer. 
 
 The Doctor was united in marriage 
 September 3, 1884, to Miss Clarissa L. 
 Alvord, a native of Schoolcraft, Mich., 
 and daughter of Thomas Alvord; they 
 have by adoption one son, Thomas Har- 
 old Ellsworth. The Doctor and his wife 
 are consistent members of the Episcopal 
 Church, and their social standing is very 
 high. 
 
 JOHN STEFFEN, now living retired 
 in Hortonville, Outagamie county, 
 in which vicinity he has had his home 
 for over forty years, is a native of 
 German}', born March 19, 1825. 
 
 Jacob Steffcn, his father, was born in 
 Germany in 1794, and in 1820 was there 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHIC! AL RECORD. 
 
 839 
 
 married to Katharine Kichartz, who died 
 about three jears later, the mother of two 
 children — John J. and Nicholas. In i S24 
 Jacob Steffen wedded, for his second wife, 
 Mary Eli;;abeth Houbreck, who was born 
 in Germany in 1798, and died there De- 
 cember 31, 1838. To this marriage were 
 born John, Mathias, Leonard, Ignatz, 
 Katharine, Francis and Jacob, Jr., of 
 whom John, Leonard and Ignatz are now 
 the only survivors. Jacob Steffen, Sr. , 
 came to the United States in 1848, locat- 
 ing near Saratoga Springs, N. Y. , where 
 he remained until 1852, in that year re- 
 moving westward and settling in Hortonia 
 township, Outagamie Co., Wis., where he 
 had purchased the farm owned until re- 
 cently by his son Leonard. He cut the 
 timber from the land, and improved it 
 until he had a fine farm, which he operated 
 until his death, in 1870. 
 
 John Steffen obtained his education in 
 the common schools of his native country, 
 came with his father to America in 1848, 
 and also located in New York State. 
 Here he hired out as a farm hand, at 
 from $8 to $12 per month, continuing 
 thus until 1855, when he followed his 
 father to Wisconsin, having previously 
 invested his savings in a piece of timber- 
 land in Hortonia township, a tract of 
 eighty acres, for which he paid $115. 
 Settling upon this land, he commenced 
 the task of clearing it and preparing it for 
 cultivation; and he followed general agri- 
 cultural work successfully until 1886, since 
 when he has lived retired in the village of 
 Hortonville. Mr. Steffen came here with- 
 out money, but bravely endured all the 
 hardships to be met with by pioneers in 
 a new country, and by industry and econo- 
 my and careful management has accumu- 
 lated a comfortable competence. In 1845 
 Mr. Steffen was married, in Germany, to 
 Apollonia Stark, who was born in Ger- 
 many in 1823, daughter of Christopher 
 and Annie Stark, and died in Hortonville 
 December 10, 1893. Their union was 
 blessed with nine children, as follows: 
 Annie, Jacob, Nicholas, Peter, Ignatz, 
 
 Louis, Martin, Mary E. and John H., all 
 living except Annie, who was born in Ger- 
 many in 1847 and died in New York in 
 1850. The family are adherents of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 Peter Steffen, son of John and Apol- 
 lonia (Stark) Steffen, was born February 
 19, 1854, in New York State, came with 
 his parents to Hortonia township in 1855, 
 and has been a resident of that township 
 ever since. His education was received 
 in the common schools of the neighbor- 
 hood, and when twenty years of age he 
 commenced life for himself, engaging in 
 farm work in summer time, and during 
 the winter season working in the woods, 
 for some seven years; during one winter 
 he drove a supply team. He next pur- 
 chased an interest in a drilling machine, 
 and for about two years engaged in drill- 
 ing wells, afterward, in partnership with 
 his brother Louis, buying the farm they 
 now own and conduct. They also own 
 and operate a threshing outfit, and during 
 the season do a prosperous business in 
 addition to their regular farm work. Peter 
 Steffen is a Democrat in politics, and in 
 I 893 was- elected a member of the town 
 board. He is a member of the Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 Louis Steffen was born May 5, i860, 
 in Hortonia, Outagamie county, passed 
 his youth and early manhood on the farm 
 and at school, and at the age of twenty- 
 one began working for his own account. 
 For some three years he was engaged in 
 lumbering, and for the next five years fol- 
 lowed farming in the employ of others, 
 after which he bought a farm in North 
 Dakota, near Jamestown, upon which he 
 located and engaged in raising wheat. 
 After living four j-ears on this farm he 
 sold it, then, in company with his brother 
 Peter, bought the farm he now occupies, 
 and which they have since conducted. 
 On May 18, 1887, Mr. Steffen married 
 Miss Annie E. Steffen, who was born in 
 Hortonia township, June 27, 1863, daugh- 
 ter of Jacob and Isabella Steffen, and 
 two children have come to their home, 
 
830 
 
 OOMMEMORAl'IVB BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Florence Jessie, born May 26, 1S89, in 
 North Dakota, where she died Aii!;iist 
 1 8, 1889, and Ercoll, born December 10, 
 1890. Like the other members of the 
 family Mr. Steffen is a member of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 FRANK CARDINAL, a prominent 
 af^riculturist of Kaukaima town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, was born 
 I'ebruary 28, 1833, in Lower 
 Canada, in the town of St. Pierre, a 
 short distance from Montreal. His par- 
 ents were Felix and Dora (.Arcons) Card- 
 inal, both of whom were born and died 
 in Lower Canada, near Montreal. They 
 were the parents of ten children, all of 
 whom are dead w-ith the exception of our 
 subject. 
 
 Our subject remained at home on his 
 father's farm until he was twelve years of 
 afje, when ho liecided to strike out for 
 himself, being an ambitious youth and not 
 afraid of work. Coing to Chicago where 
 his two brothers had preceded him, he re- 
 mained there two years; but the restless 
 spirit of youth urging a change, he threw 
 up his position in the metropolis of the 
 west, and made his way to Green Bay, 
 Wis., where he secured a situation on a 
 passenger boat that ran up the Fox river 
 as far as Kaukauna. For six or seven 
 years he followed boating, and in 1849 he 
 had the honor of riding on the first sioam- 
 boat which went up the river. Meantime 
 he had taken up a homestead in Law- 
 rence townshi]!, Brown Co., Wis., which 
 at the time was all woods. During the 
 ■winters he busied himself clearing up his 
 land, and in due time quit the river and 
 became a farmer permanentlw 
 
 On June i, 1856. Mr. Cardinal was 
 married to Miss Kliza Snider, a sister of 
 the postmaster of Sniderville, and a 
 daughter of the founder of that \illage. 
 They commenced married life on the 
 homestead, but remained there only two 
 years, Mr. Cardinal selling the place, and 
 they then moved to their present home- 
 
 stead in the township of Kaukauna, where 
 the)- have lived ever since. They have 
 reared a family of seven chiklren — 
 six sons and one daughter — all of 
 whom ha\e reached maturity. They are 
 as follows; John F., born March 30, 
 1857, married Emily Perdue, and lives on 
 the homestead, a son and daughter making 
 up their family; Elsie, born March 2, 
 1859, married Meade LaPlant, by whom 
 she has three children living i^they reside 
 at Crystal Falls, Iron Co.. Mich.); Daniel 
 M., born in January, 1S61, married Eva 
 Ames, who has borne him three children 
 (they also reside in Michigan); George E., 
 born in June, 1863, an engineer in Mich- 
 igan; Henry- C, born in July. 1866, mar- 
 ried, has two children and lives in Snider- 
 ville; Charles E., born August i, 1868, 
 still lives at home; and Francis Adolph, 
 born October 1, 1873, is a lath sawyer 
 at Ellis Junction, Wis. Mr. Cardinal en- 
 listed in the Civil war February 12, 1864, 
 in the Third Wis. V. C, and remained 
 until the close of the struggle. ' He then 
 returned to his home and resumed the 
 duties of a citizen and his labor on the 
 farm. He is a member of the G. A. R. . 
 John P. Hartc Post. Crystal Falls, and 
 enjoys their reunions like a true soldier. 
 He is a Republican, although he takes no 
 active part in politics; has been road over- 
 seer in the town of Kaukauna, which 
 office he has filled with much satisfaction 
 to his friends. He is a thorough-going, 
 practical farmer and business man. and a 
 good citizen, plain and unpretentious, 
 and his sterling qualities have surrounded 
 him with a host of friends. 
 
 JOHN DOWNEY, a popular citizen 
 and well-known farmer of Center 
 township, Outagamie county, was 
 born in Utica, N. Y., May 9, 1840, 
 and is a son of Patrick and Ann Downey, 
 natives of Ireland. 
 
 Patrick Downey, son of Henry and 
 Bridget (Diamond) Downey, was born 
 March 17, 1792, in Londonderry, Ireland, 
 
COMMEAIOHATIVK BIOGUAPUICAL ItKCOUD. 
 
 831 
 
 came to the United States in 1S32, and 
 after a year passed in Rome, N. Y., 
 went to Utica, where he clerked fourteen 
 N'cars in a shipjiinj^ house. He there mar- 
 ried Mrs. AiHi Goff, a widow, who was a 
 native of Coleraine, Ireland, and one of 
 a family of two sons and three daufjhters 
 born to William and Mary McLaughlin. 
 She died in Wisconsin January 25, 1883, 
 at the home of her son Henry, her hus- 
 band dying at the same place September 
 24, 1884. Of the four children born to 
 these parents two are still livint,'; John 
 (our subject) and Henry. Patrick Downey, 
 after living in Utica, N. Y., over fifteen 
 years, came to Wisconsin, first locating in 
 Kenosha in October, 1849, but three 
 months later he bought a farm near the 
 city of Kenosha, where he lived until Oc- 
 tober, 1866, when he sold it. On the 
 occasion of his first coming to the State, 
 in 1848. he had entered a cjuarter section 
 of land in Outagamie county, but it was 
 not until he left Kenosha that he settled 
 on it. He increased the area of this tract 
 to 320 acres, and here he died, one of the 
 most respected men in the county, a de- 
 vout member of the Catholic Church, and 
 in politics an ardent Democrat. 
 
 John Downey was reared on his fath- 
 er's farm until eighteen years of age, and 
 then passed two years in canvassing for 
 Prof. Headley's works in Illinois. On 
 January 9, 1 87 1 , he married Miss Florence 
 M. Dow, a native of Dover, Maine, born 
 December 12, 1848, the accomplished 
 daughter of Asa P. and Edna A. (Clark) 
 Dow. Asa P. Dow, born in 18 ti, was 
 an agriculturist, and son of Lyford and 
 Eunice (Parsons) Dow, came to Wiscon- 
 sin in 1853, farmed near Sheboygan for 
 three months, and then went to Calumet 
 county, where he still resides with a son. 
 Mrs. Edna A. (Clark) Dow, the niother 
 of Mrs. Downey, was a daughter of Pliny 
 and Deliverance Clark, the former of 
 whom was a farmer, and died in Atkinson, 
 Maine, at the age of eighty-three, his wife 
 dying in the same place at the same age; 
 both were descendants of Revolutionary 
 
 heroes. Mr. and Mrs. Asa P. Dow had 
 si.x children, of whom two sons and two 
 daughters are still living. To the mar- 
 riage of Mr. and Mrs. Downey were born 
 eight children, as follows: Stella, W^ill- 
 iam B., Herbert A., Aurora (deceased), 
 H. Emmet, J. Adelard, Archibald and 
 Florence E. 
 
 Mr. Downey, after his marriage, set- 
 tled on a farm of 160 acres, improved 
 with a modest dwelling, in which he lived 
 imtil I 891, when he built his present sub- 
 stantial residence. During all this inter- 
 val, however, from his marriage to what 
 may be called his comparative retirement 
 from active work, he worked hard and 
 saved his earnings, and was thus enabled 
 to accumulate what he now possesses. 
 He has always enjoyed the confidence 
 and respect of his fellow townsmen, and 
 has been entrusted by them with several 
 Ifjcal offices, the duties of which he has 
 discharged with satisfaction to all con- 
 cerned. In politics he is a Democrat, 
 and cast his first Presidential vote for 
 Stephen A. Douglas, but his election to 
 the local offices he has held did not so 
 much depend on party politics as upon 
 his merits as a man. As a farmer he 
 ranks among the foremost in his section, 
 and probably no neater or better cared- 
 for farm than his can be found within 
 the limits of Outagamie county. 
 
 C^' R U S W I D G E R, one of the 
 most prosperous agriculturists of 
 Black Creek township, Outaga- 
 mie county, was born December 
 2C, 1826, in Preston, N. Y., son of Elias 
 Widger, a farmer, and grandson of Eli 
 and Lucy (Green) Widger; Eli Widger 
 was a sailor by occupation. Elias Wid- 
 ger married Mary Ann Atwell, daughter of 
 Joseph and Ruth (Sterling) Atwell, the 
 former of whom was a blacksmith, and 
 they reared a family of five children, viz. : 
 Cyrus, whose name opens this sketch; 
 Almeda, wife of David Hitchcock, a law- 
 yer, who lives in the Sandwich Islands; 
 
832 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Lucy, Mrs. Gilbert Alton, of New York; 
 Caroline, Mrs. Joseph Gardner, of Madi- 
 son county, N. Y. ; and Elbert, who died 
 in 1893 in Lena, Oconto Co., Wis., leav- 
 ing a wife and ti\e children. 
 
 C\rus Widger received his education 
 in the common schools of the home neigh- 
 borhood, and remained with his parents 
 until twenty-one years old, when he went 
 to work as a cheese maker, continuing in 
 one place seven years. In 1856 he was 
 married to Miss Lucy Gibson, daughter of 
 Aaron and Elizabeth (Woodard) Gibson, 
 and the young couple came westward di- 
 rectly to Appleton, Wis., which at that 
 time was but an insignificant village, in 
 an unimproved section of the country. 
 Mr. W^idger has shot duck and partridges 
 in the wofsds where the Northwestern De- 
 pot now stands, and other wild game still 
 abounded. On first coming to Appleton 
 he purchased forty acres of wild land, but 
 disposed of it about six months afterward. 
 He worked as a day laborer in a sawmill 
 and barrel factory, and they lived in Apple- 
 ton about eight years, in 1864 removing 
 to Hortonville, where he invested in forty 
 acres of land, twenty-five of which were 
 cleared. Mr. Widger remained here 
 three and a half years, and cleared 
 another five acres of the land. During 
 the early part of his residence in Horton- 
 ville he enlisted, March 13, 1864, in 
 Company G, Thirty-seventh ^^'is. V. I., 
 and participated in several battles, only 
 serving, however, until July 27, when he 
 was discharged toward the closing of the 
 war. In 1868 he sold his place in Hor- 
 tonville and bought 120 acres of totally 
 unimproved land in Black Creek township, 
 where he built a log house, 16x26, in 
 which his family lived sixteen years. The 
 land was covered with hardwood timber, 
 and with the few rude implements then 
 at his command the work of clearing pro- 
 gressed slowly at first; but he persevered, 
 and saw the forest gradually supplanted 
 by his present beautiful, fertile farm. 
 From time to time he has made additions 
 to the original tract, and now has 214 
 
 acres of good land, of which i 25 acres are 
 well improved and under cultivation, all 
 the result of his own earnest labors. 
 
 One child, Frank, was born to Cyrus 
 and Lucy (Gibson) Widger. The mother 
 died August 23, 1887, and was interred 
 in Black Creek cemetery, and in 1888 
 Mr. Widger wedded, for his second wife, 
 Miss Frances Dora Adams, who was born 
 in Ireland December i i, 1843, one of the 
 thirteen children of Thomas R. and Mary 
 (Morris) Adams, named as follows: Eliza, 
 Ann, Maria, Isabella, Kate, Thomas R., 
 William, Rose, Frances Dora, John, 
 Louise, Julia and Jane. In 1887 Mrs. 
 Widger sailed for America, landing in 
 New York after a voyage of thirteen days, 
 and coming directly to Black Creek town- 
 ship, Outagamie Co., Wis., where her 
 sister resided. She is a member of the 
 Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Wid- 
 ger affiliates with the Republican party. 
 
 WILLIAM WILSON, contractor 
 and builder, Appleton. This 
 gentleman's father, also a con- 
 tractor and builder, was born in 
 1807, and in 1837 married Miss Maria 
 Ladd. He came to the United States in 
 1850, and located at Syracuse, N. Y. , but 
 after two years removed to W'aukegan, 
 111., and in 1866 to Wisconsin, settling in 
 Oshkosh, erecting such buildings as the 
 high school, K. M. Hutchinson's house 
 and store, and Hopkins & Brays' Block, 
 Union Block, &c. Here he died in 1881; 
 his wife died, in 1888, at Appleton, Wis. 
 Her father had been a cattle dealer and 
 butcher in London, England. 
 
 William Wilson was born in March, 
 1S47, in Linconlshire, England, and came 
 with his parents to America in 1850. He 
 received the benefits of a common-school 
 education, and on January 4, 1864, when 
 not yet seventeen years of age, enlisted in 
 Battery M, Second Illinois Light Artil- 
 lery, commanded by Capt. Phillips, of 
 Chicago. The command was located at 
 Nashville, Tenn., where the battery was 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 S33 
 
 disbanded the same year, young Wilson be- 
 ing transferred to Battery C of the same 
 regiment, connnanded by Capt. James P. 
 Flood, located at Fort Donelson, and 
 served, mounted, in protecting the re- 
 gion against the guerrillas which infested 
 it. He was mustered out of the ser\ice in 
 August, 1865, and from that time until he 
 was twenty-six jears of age worked with 
 his father at the mason's trade. In 1 874, 
 at Appleton, Wis., he was married to 
 Miss Anna E. Taylor, and for two years 
 was located at Neenah. He then came to 
 Appleton, where he has since been engaged 
 in contracting and building. Aside from 
 the large amount of work he has done in 
 that cit}', he has fulfilled contracts at 
 Waco (Te.xas), Escanaba (Mich.), and 
 Sturgeon Bay and Omro (Wis.), employ- 
 ing at times as many as 1 50 men. He 
 has built several of the largest paper mills 
 in the Fo.\ Ri\er X'allej-, including the 
 very largest — the Combined Lock Paper 
 Mills. He has found some time to de- 
 vote to political matters, in which he is an 
 ardent I^epublican, and in the spring of 
 1894 was appointed by the city council 
 to the position of street commissioner. 
 He is an honored member of the G. A. 
 R. , as well as of the F. & A. M. and I. 
 O. O. F. His wife is a daughter of Ben- 
 jamin J. and Mary Taylor, of English na- 
 tivity, the former a mason and farmer by 
 occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have 
 seven children: Grace M., Edith M., 
 William L., Nettie B., Blanche T., Ethel 
 L. , and Henry L. 
 
 JAMES I. KITCHEY, e.\-superintend- 
 ent public schools, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, was born December 16, 1861, in 
 East Troy, Walworth Co., Wis. 
 His father, Patrick Ritchey, who was born 
 August 5, 1827, in Belfast, Ireland, and 
 was a farmer by occupation, in 1850 mar- 
 ried Agnes (Irving) Morrison, a native of 
 Scotland, and a daughter of Andrew Irv- 
 ing, a blacksmith. Patrick Ritchey and 
 his wife came to .\mcrica in 1851, and 
 
 settled in Walworth county. Wis. Pat- 
 rick served in Company B, Forty-second 
 Wis. V. I., during the Ci\-il war. With 
 the exception of a year passed in Illinois, 
 the family have always resided in this 
 State. Mrs. Ritchey had two children by 
 her first marriage, and six by her second — 
 live sons and one daughter, ^^'illiam 
 Ritchey, the eldest son, died January 20, 
 1895. In 1869 they came to the town of 
 Black Creek, Outagamie county, and here 
 Patrick Ritchey died in 1874, his widow 
 in 1885. 
 
 James I. Ritchey, the youngest in the 
 family, was reared on a farm, attending 
 school in winter until he was eighteen 
 years old, when, desirous of acquiring a 
 better education, he hired out as a farm 
 hand at $16 per month in order to secure 
 the necessary funds. In November, 1880. 
 he attended the Appleton High School; 
 by teaching next summer and working in 
 harvest time he earned sufficient means to 
 continue his studies, and thus he taught 
 and studied until the spring of 1882, when 
 he went to Billings, Mont. , working on 
 the Northern Pacific railroad; but, tiring 
 of that locality, he and three companions 
 went down the Yellowstone and Missouri 
 rivers from Coulson (Billings), Mont., to 
 Bismarck, N. D., a distance of nearly 
 one hundred miles in a row-boat, hunting 
 and fishing on the way. Mr. Ritchey 
 then returned to Appleton. In 1885 he 
 attended the business college at Oshkosh 
 five months; in January, 1886, he en- 
 tered the State Normal School at Osh- 
 kosh, and here finished his studies in 
 March, 1891, teaching, more or less, in 
 the meantime. During the following sum- 
 mer he was employed in selling school 
 furniture, and in the fall was elected 
 county superintendent of public schools by 
 the Democratic party, of which he is a 
 member; but, in the fall of 1894, he 
 "went down in the political avalanche." 
 Socially he is a member of the Northwest- 
 ern Teachers' Association, of the Forest- 
 ers, and of the Columbia Club; in religion 
 he is a member of the Catholic Church. 
 
S34 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 On June 8, 1892, Mr. Ritchey married 
 Miss Mary Hoeffel, a native of Wisconsin 
 and a daughter of Anthony Hoeffel, a 
 German, who was an earh' settler in Wis- 
 consin. Two children were born to this 
 union, viz. : Joseph Victor, who died 
 Avhen four and one-half months old, and 
 James Byron, born April 14, 1894, living, 
 well and hearty. The life of our subject 
 has been a most commendable one, and 
 lie well deserves the high esteem in which 
 he is held. 
 
 GE. HAAS, senior member of the 
 well-known hardware firm of 
 Haas & Breier, Kaukauna, was 
 born in 1858, in Buchanan town- 
 ship, Outagamie Co. , Wis. , a son of 
 George and Rose (Bowers) Haas. 
 
 George Haas was a native of Baden, 
 Germany, and at the age of twenty-two 
 years immigrated to Syracuse, N. Y. His 
 wife, Rose (Bowers) Haas, was born in 
 Saxony, and at the age of nine years be- 
 came a resident of the same county (Onon- 
 daga) in New York State. There they 
 were married, and subsequently they re- 
 moved to Wisconsin, locating first in 
 Brown county, then in 1855 at Little 
 Chute, finally on a farm in Buchanan 
 township, Outagamie county, in what was 
 then dense woods. He assisted in build- 
 ing the canal, aided in the construction of 
 the first railroad in Kaukauna, built the 
 first bridges across the river at that place 
 and Little Chute, rebuilt one of them 
 twice, built the first float bridge across 
 the canal, and cut the timber to open the 
 first road on the Island. He enlisted in 
 the Thirty-second Wis. V. I. in 1862, 
 but was rejected upon reaching Osh- 
 kosh, on account of disability. After re- 
 maining six weeks at that point he re- 
 turned home. With his wife he now 
 resides in South I\aukauna, which he has 
 seen grow out of the wilderness covering 
 the region upon his arrival nearly forty 
 years ago. Aside from the son whose 
 name opens this sketch, the children of 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Haas are: Mary, wife of 
 Henry Blancher, of Neenah; Elizabeth, 
 wife of John Myers, of Rock Creek. Pine 
 Co., Minn. ; \\'illiam and Henry, residents 
 of South Kaukauna; Margaret, wife of 
 William Alger, South Kaukauna; Emma, 
 wife of William Doran, of Rock Creek, 
 Minn. ; Delia, wife of W' illiam Smith, of 
 Montana. 
 
 Our subject was reared a farmer, and 
 was educated in the schools of the local- 
 ity of his birth. He learned the carpen- 
 ter's trade, and at the age of eighteen 
 years built a barn and launched out into 
 the business of contractor and builder, 
 which he still continues. Among the 
 buildings erected by him are the public 
 school, Kuehn block, Mulford, Mulloy's 
 livery, Jacobs block, and many of the 
 edifices on the South side. In addition 
 to his other business he engaged in the 
 hardware trade in 1889. In 1890 he 
 came to Kaukauna, and is at present the 
 senior member of the firm of Haas & 
 Breier, carrying a complete stock of hard- 
 ware, buggies and lumber. 
 
 Mr. Haas was married in Buchanan 
 township, Outagamie county, in 1882, to 
 Augusta Abel, a native of Saxony, Ger- 
 many, whose father, Ernst Abel, located 
 in Kewaunee county, Wis., in 1870, re- 
 moving subsequently to Menasha, thence 
 to Little Chute, and finally to Antigo, 
 where he now resides. Three children 
 have been given them: Erma, Edmond 
 and Martha. In political matters Mr. 
 Haas' convictions are those of the Re- 
 publican party. He is a member of 
 Ledyard Lodge, A. O. U. W., also of 
 Kaukauna Lodge No. 297, I. O. O. P., 
 and is one of the representative young 
 men of bis city and county, with years 
 full of promise before him. 
 
 J P. BUCK, prominent among the old- 
 time residents of Appleton, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born July 2, 
 1824, in Oswego, N. Y. His father, 
 Hiram Buck, was a native of Great Bend, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 S35 
 
 Susquehanna Co., Penn., and was a car- 
 penter and contractor. He married Pru- 
 dence Dean, b\' whom he had a family of 
 nine children, four of whom are now liv- 
 ing. His death took place in New York 
 in 1849, that of his widow occurring in 
 Wisconsin in 1872. 
 
 From the age of fifteen until he reached 
 twenty-one J. P. Buck was employed by 
 an uncle, Lucius Steele, a farmer and 
 lumberman, whom he assisted on the farm 
 in the summer and in lumbering in the 
 winter, so that his attendance at the dis- 
 trict school was limited to a very small 
 part of each year. Seeing no opening for 
 himself in the East, our subject came 
 West in September, 1845, ^^'th the in- 
 tention of settling in Illinois. But owing 
 to a storm on the lake, 01 route, he landed 
 at Milwaukee, W^is., and with a compan- 
 ion walked forty miles through the coun- 
 try, finally stopping at Barton, in Wash- 
 ington county, where he e.xercised his 
 pre-emption right and returned to Mil- 
 waukee to file his papers and to purchase 
 provisions, which he carried on his back 
 to Barton. Here, for about two months, 
 he assisted Mr. Salsbury in building a mill, 
 and then commenced clearing his own 
 land, chopping off the heavy timber from 
 twent}' acres the first winter. In 1852 
 Mr. Buck and two others purchased, in 
 partnership, the Salsbury mill, which was 
 run by Mr. Buck for six months, when he 
 traded his interest therein for a partially 
 improved farm of eighty acres. He farmed 
 successfully until 1855, when he moved 
 to Appleton, but subsequently passed a 
 year at Sun Prairie, near Madison, Dane 
 Co., Wis., and then returned to Apple- 
 ton, where in 1856 he bought an interest 
 in a mill and went into the lumber busi- 
 ness; after following this three years his 
 mill was burned, and he then, in partner- 
 ship with a brother-in-law, operated a 
 planing-mill until about i860. He then 
 entered the employ of the Fox River & 
 Wisconsin Improvement Company, trav- 
 eling over the State and looking after its 
 interests until it closed out its business in 
 
 1866. About this time the Green Bay & 
 Mississippi Canal Company was formed, 
 and in its employ Mr. Buck has been 
 ever since. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Buck is 
 a Democrat, and in his younger days was 
 very active in working for the success of 
 his party. He has held several minor 
 offices, such as supervisor, alderman and 
 justice of the peace; but was never an of- 
 fice-seeker, having always had ample 
 business interests of his own to demand 
 his attention. On November 27, 1847. 
 Mr. Buck was united in marriage with 
 Miss Susan Nichols, who was born in Car- 
 mel, Putnam Co., N. Y., a daughter of 
 Perry Nichols, who settled in Barton, 
 Wis., in 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Buck are 
 members of the Baptist Church, and are 
 highly esteemed for their piety and their 
 liberality in all church and educational 
 enterprises. He is a self-made man, and 
 is honored and respected for his energy 
 and usefulness as a citizen of Appleton. 
 
 WILLIAM ZIEHM, farmer, was 
 born June 12, 1848, at Frank- 
 fort-on-the-Oder, Brandenburg, 
 Germany, son of Friedrich and 
 Louisa (Krause) Ziehm, natives of the 
 same place, where the ancestors had re- 
 sided for many generations, engaged in 
 farming, they being landowners and free- 
 holders. 
 
 Friedrich Ziehm was a soldier in the 
 Prussian army, belonging to an artillery 
 regiment, for four years, during which 
 time he only went home once on a fur- 
 lough. He was a strong soldierl}- man, of 
 remarkable endurance and great physical 
 powers, having been known to lift greater 
 weights than any other man in his regi- 
 ment. Much of this strength and agility 
 he no doubt inherited, as he came from a 
 family who delighted in feats of strength. 
 His wife, Louisa TKrause), died June 12, 
 1853, he surviving her twenty-six vears. 
 They were the parents of four children, of 
 whom only two are living, viz. : William, 
 
$36 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 our subject, and Friedrich, who now re- 
 sides in Schoenfeld, Germany. 
 
 William Ziehm attended the German 
 schools and farmed in his native country 
 in the early part of his life, later learninf^ 
 the mercantile business, which he followed 
 in Germany for some time. Finally he 
 concluded to come to America, for he had 
 heard glowing accounts of the advantages 
 of that country for a young man to make 
 a fortune, but being past the age at which 
 he was allowed to emigrate, he had to re- 
 sort to various devices and strategems to 
 elude the vigilance of the police and de- 
 tectives of the government; however, 
 with the help of the emigration agent, 
 Helmering, together with ready cash 
 and quick wit. he managed to get on 
 board the steamer which brought him 
 safely to America. Landing in New 
 York City he was again confronted by 
 the government agents, but a ready 
 answer removed suspicion, and he made 
 his way to Milwaukee, Wis., and thence 
 to Grafton, where he worked on a farm 
 some six months. From there he went 
 to Sheboygan, Wis. , where he bought a 
 farm of eighty acres, and after improving 
 it sold it at the end of five years, making 
 a snug sum by the investment. He then 
 removed to Linden, where he bought io6 
 acres, selling this in Februar\', 1884, 
 when he came to Dale township, Outa- 
 gamie county, and here purchasing 1 50 
 acres commenced at once to improve it, 
 erecting substantial buildings and fences 
 which give the place an appearance of 
 neatness and thrift, and it has the reputa- 
 tion of being one of the best kept-up 
 farms in the township. 
 
 Mr. Ziehm was married, in Sheboy- 
 gan county, to Miss Augusta Zelm, 
 daughter of Johann Zelm, who is now 
 living in the town of Richfield, Wood 
 Co., Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Ziehm have 
 eleven children now living, namely: 
 Amelia, Ferdinand, Augusta. William, 
 Anna, Louisa, August, Frederick, Emma, 
 Lena, and Julius. Mr. and Mrs. Ziehm 
 are members of the German Evangelical 
 
 Church in Caledonia, where they are 
 greatly respected for their many good 
 qualities. In politics Mr. Ziehm is a Dem- 
 ocrat and very loyal to his party. He is 
 public-spirited, and gives his hearty co- 
 operation to any action which will benefit 
 the public in general. Like his father he 
 has a strong physical make-up, and takes 
 an honest pride in displaying his strength 
 and endurance. 
 
 CLINTON B. BALLARD. This 
 prosperous farmer of Grand 
 Chute township is a native of 
 Outagamie county, born Novem- 
 ber 16, i860, in Appleton, son of Daniel 
 P. and Elizabeth i Broad wellj Ballard. 
 
 Daniel P. Ballard was a native of 
 New York State, born about 1832 in 
 Watertown, and at an early date came 
 westward to Wisconsin, where in Section 
 24, Grand Chute township, Outagamie 
 county, he purchased a tract of wild land. 
 Their home was about three quarters of 
 a mile from the old stage road running 
 between Green Bay and Milwaukee, and 
 after leaving this road they had to cut 
 their way through the forest, which was 
 so dense that a clearing had to be made 
 for the small log cabin Mr. Ballard 
 erected for his family. Here he passed 
 the remainder of his days, dying in the 
 spring of 1 866, when yet a comparatively 
 j'oung man; his remains now rest in 
 Riverside cemetery. His widow now 
 has her residence in Los Angeles, Cal., 
 whither she removed in 1889. She was 
 the mother of five children: William, 
 who died 3'oung; Clinton B. ; Carrie, de- 
 ceased at the age of fourteen years; Al- 
 bert, of Appleton; and Mary, Mrs. M. 
 W. Brown, of Los Angeles, California. 
 
 Clinton B. Ballard received such an 
 education as the district schools of the 
 period afforded, and has been engaged in 
 agriculture all his life, commencing work 
 early, as he was but a small boy when 
 his father died. He has had the manage- 
 ment of the home farm, where he vet 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 S37 
 
 lives, since he was twehe years old, and 
 has succeeded in clearing the greater part 
 of it himself, his present prosperity being 
 the result of his own industry and tire- 
 less energy. On November 16, 1880, 
 Mr. Ballard was married to Miss Ella 
 Fo.x, a native of Dodge county, Wis., 
 and daughter of Timothy Fox, and this 
 union has been blessed with six chil- 
 dren, of whom four — Mabel, Henry, 
 Lida I. and Jesse E. — are living; the 
 other two died in infancy. Mr. Ballard 
 is a strong believer in the principles of 
 the Republican party, and is greatly in- 
 terested in its success; but beyond that 
 he is not an active politician, and no 
 office-seeker, though he has held vari- 
 ous school offices in his township. 
 
 REV. JOHANNES GENSIKE. 
 This gentleman who for the past 
 eleven years has been the beloved 
 and earnest pastor of St. Paul's 
 German Lutheran Church at Appleton, is 
 of German birth and descent, born in 
 Berlin, August 26, 1858. 
 
 His father, Rev. Traugott Gensike, 
 also a Lutheran minister, was a native of 
 Cologne on the Rhine, having been born 
 there January 18, 1827. He married 
 Miss Minnie Deewish, also of German 
 birth, and by her had a family of six chil- 
 dren, the subject of this sketch being the 
 eldest. In 1866 the family came to 
 America, the State of Wisconsin being 
 their objective point, their first stay being 
 made in Dunn county, and the parents 
 are now residents of Neenah, Winnebago 
 county. 
 
 Johannes Gensike, the subject of this 
 notice, was about eight years old when he 
 left the Fatherland with his parents for 
 the Western World, and the following 
 year he was sent to a parochial school at 
 Jefferson, Wis. , remaining there some 
 four years. At the age of thirteen he 
 entered the Northwestern University of 
 Wisconsin, atWatertown, taking a seven- 
 years' classical course, at the close of 
 
 which he commenced his theological 
 course at Condordia College, St. Louis, 
 Mo. , but remained only one year, as the 
 Seminary at Milwaukee having in the 
 meantime been opened, he finished his 
 studies at that institution. He was now, 
 at the age of twenty-three years, qualified 
 to preach the Gospel, and the first charge 
 given him was at Galesburg, 111. , but at 
 the end of about eighteen months, owing 
 to ill health, he had to resign and take a 
 year's rest. Having recuperated his phys- 
 ical strength, Mr. Gensike in 1883 took 
 charge of the present incumbenc}', one in 
 which he has been an active and zealous 
 worker. The church building, as well as 
 the church militant, has under liis watch- 
 ful care found many improvements, among 
 which may be mentioned the parochial 
 school, a brick building, put up in 1885, 
 and to such a congratulatory extent had 
 the attendance increased that in 1893 it 
 was found necessary to erect a larger and 
 better building. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Rev. Johannes Gensike was 
 married to Miss Eliza Starke, a native of 
 Milwaukee, Wis., and daughter of Chris- 
 topher and Ernestine Starke, of German 
 nativity and early settlers in the ' ' Cream 
 City, " where Mr. Starke is a contractor. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Gensike were born four 
 children; One, deceased in infancy; 
 Herbert, who died when one year old; 
 Ella and Nora, both living. A man of 
 peaceful deportment, quiet Christian walk 
 in life, having ever in view the work of 
 bringing erring man into the path of vir- 
 tue and rectitude, this reverend minister of 
 the Gospel could not fail meeting with the 
 respect and esteem in which he is held, 
 not only b}' his own flock, but also by all 
 who are acquainted with him. 
 
 JOSEPH JOOSTEN, a pioneer far- 
 mer of Grand Chute township, Ou- 
 tagamie county, is a native of Hol- 
 land, born January 21, 1838, in the 
 village of Gerwen. 
 
 Martin Joosten, his father, lived on a 
 
S3S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 small farm, which was not entirely paid 
 for. In the spring of 1 85 I he concluded 
 that the United States afforded better 
 prospects for himself and his sons, of 
 whom three of the four were then at home, 
 and he consequently engaged passage for 
 himself and family on the "Lila,"and, 
 sailing from Rotterdam in June, 1851, 
 reached New York after a voyage of thir- 
 ty-eight days. He had determined to 
 come to Wisconsin, and finally arrived in 
 this State, journeying by water from Buf- 
 falo to Milwaukee, thence to Green Bay, 
 where the party landed in August. A 
 quarter section of land was entered in 
 Section 8, Township 21, Range 18, Kau- 
 kauna township, Outagamie county, on 
 which they located, and, sickness having 
 made nearly an end of their limited means, 
 commenced life in the wilderness in an ex- 
 ceedingly primitive style. A cabin was 
 constructed of poplar poles, with a chim- 
 ney in one corner; a roof of the same ma- 
 terial was added, covered over the top 
 with red clay, and this was the extent of 
 the family's protection from the cold or 
 storm. Then followed the work of clear- 
 ing the land, which was all heavily tim- 
 bered, the first tree being cut by them 
 after their arrival. 
 
 Then it became necessary for some one 
 of the boys to put a shoulder to the wheel 
 and earn something to help support the 
 family, as the early returns from the farm 
 were but meager. By reason of his being 
 more robust, this lot fell upon Joseph, 
 and he succeeded in obtaining employ- 
 ment with the Fox River Improvement 
 Company. Working side by side with 
 him were many young pioneers, who in 
 many instances became in later years 
 some of the most substantial citizens in 
 Brown and Outagamie counties. In this 
 and other lines of work young Joosten 
 spent several years, and in the fall of 
 i860 journeyed south, and engaged at 
 cutting cordwood in Louisiana and Arkan- 
 sas. Remaining through the winter, he 
 found that the intense feeling against 
 northerners, and the difficulties then brew- 
 
 ing between the two sections, were liable 
 to make trouble for him. He therefore, 
 on the 8th of April, 1861, left for the 
 North, none too soon, as he afterward 
 found, for some who were so imprudent 
 as to remain until the beginning of hos- 
 tilities, a few days later, never again saw 
 their northern homes. Coming as far as 
 Lincoln county. 111., Mr. Joosten worked 
 a few weeks for a farmer, and then re- 
 turned to Kaukauna township, where he 
 remained several years. On May 4, 1861, 
 he was married, at Bay settlement. Brown 
 Co., Wis., to Nellie Van Laanen, who 
 was born in Holland May 20, 1840, daugh- 
 ter of George Van Laanen, who with his 
 wife and family had come across the ocean 
 on the same vessel with the Joostens. 
 The acquaintanceship there formed be- 
 tween the young people ripened, and, 
 although for nine j'ears they had been 
 separated, their marriage followed as 
 stated. 
 
 Joseph Joosten, up to the time of his 
 marriage, had given his earnings to his 
 parents, and was without money or much 
 clothing, but he bravely set his face 
 toward the future and took the important 
 step. With a capital of about thirty-five 
 dollars the young couple began life on a 
 rented farm at Bay Settlement, where 
 they lived three years. They then rented 
 a farm near the bay shore for three years 
 more, and on the first Monday in Octo- 
 ber, 1S67, removed to Grand Chute 
 township, Outagamie county. Their 
 children at that time were: Eliza- 
 beth, now Mrs. Joseph Van Handel, 
 of Kaukauna township; Frances, now Mrs. 
 Walter Bernards, of Oregon; Anna, now 
 Mrs. Anton Hermanns, of Oregon; and 
 Mary, now Mrs. John Ver Hagen, of 
 Grand Chute township. The goods of 
 the family were hauled to the new home 
 of eighty acres in Section 19, Grand 
 Chute township, a distance of thirt3'-five 
 miles, by a yoke of oxen and two horses, 
 with a couple of cows following behind 
 the wagon. The land had been only 
 partially cleared, and years of hard work 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 S39 
 
 were yet necessary before it could be 
 made a profitable farm; that work was 
 duly performed, and the place to-day 
 ranks amony the best in the township. 
 It now consists of one hundred acres of 
 highly improved land, on which a sub- 
 stantial brick residence and a commodious 
 barn have been erected and evidences of 
 prosperity abound. Here the family have 
 since had their home, with the exception 
 of one year, when Mr. Joosten, with a 
 portion of his family, resided in Washing- 
 ton county, Oregon, at a point twenty-five 
 miles west of Portland. On this farm, 
 also, the following children have been 
 born: Jennie, now Mrs. Cornelius Her- 
 manns, of Oregon; Catharine, now Mrs. 
 William Weyenberg, of KaUkauna town- 
 ship; and Martin, Christine and Margaret, 
 who are living at home. 
 
 Since Mr. Joosten's marriage farming 
 has been his occupation, and his success 
 has certainly been gratifying. He has 
 been an extensive traveler in his adopted 
 country, having visited both the eastern 
 and western coasts, and traversed the 
 southern regions as far as the Gulf of 
 Mexico, and has worked in many of the 
 States of the Union, becoming thoroughly 
 acquainted with its resources. In party 
 preferences he has always been a Demo- 
 crat, but has preferred to let other men 
 attend to the management of political 
 affairs, giving his attention to his farming 
 interests instead of aspiring to office. In 
 religious connection the family are mem- 
 bers of St. John's Catholic Church, at 
 Little Chute. 
 
 WILLIAM KLUMB. Nicholas 
 Khmib, grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, was an early settler in 
 Jackson township, Washington 
 Co., Wis., coming with his family from 
 Germany. Locating upon a farm, he 
 continued a resident of the localit}' until 
 his death in 1891. His son Philip, father 
 of William, was twelve years old when 
 the family came to Jackson, and grew up 
 
 on the farm in that township. He mar- 
 ried Theressa Small, like himself a na- 
 tive of Germany, and resided upon the 
 farm until his death, which also oc- 
 curred in 1 89 1. His wife's death oc- 
 curred twenty-five years earlier, or in 
 1866. Their children were: John, now 
 a resident of Marshfield, Wood Co., 
 Wis.; William, above named; Fred, liv- 
 ing in Marathon county, and Philip, at 
 present residing in Milwaukee. 
 
 William Klumb was born January 13, 
 1859, in Jackson, Washington Co., Wis., 
 where he was reared and educated. 
 When thirteen years of age he left home 
 and went to Cedar Creek, at which place 
 he learned the trade of wagon-maker. 
 In 1879 he came to Kaukauna and lo- 
 cated on the North side, engaging at his 
 trade. He commenced business in South 
 Kaukauna in 1884, and in 1888 built his 
 present complete establishment. He was 
 married, in 18S3, at Appleton, Wis., to 
 Miss Amelia Foster, a native of 
 that city and daughter of Conrad 
 and Amelia (Freslain) Foster, natives of 
 Germany, who located early at Appleton 
 and are both now deceased. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Klumb are the parents of four chil- 
 dren: Willie, Freddie, Walter and Ed- 
 ward. Mr. Klumb, who is a Republican 
 in politics, has served in various official 
 capacities, political and otherwise. He 
 was elected alderman from the Fourth 
 ward in 1890, and re-elected for one year 
 in 1893. He was four years chief of the 
 Fire Department, making an excellent 
 record. He is a deacon and treasurer of 
 the Reformed Immanuel Church, and has 
 held the office of treasurer in the local 
 branch of the A. O. U. W. since uniting 
 with that Order. He has always been 
 interested in all matters relating to pub- 
 lic improvement, and is one of Kaukauna's 
 representative citizens and business men. 
 Although a young man, he has witnessed 
 many changes in his city and county, 
 which are but forerunners of what he may 
 expect to see in the years which are >ct 
 before him. 
 
840 
 
 COMMEMOltATIVE BIOGllAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 NIELS CHRISTIAN TOLVER- 
 SEN. As a striking example of 
 \\hat ma\- be accomplished b)- 
 active energetic industr}-, when 
 backed by intelligence and integrity, this 
 worthy citizen of Greenville township 
 stands particularly- prominent. 
 
 He is a native of the northern part of 
 Denmark, born April 15, 1847, in Ven- 
 slov-Sjelland, a son of Tolver Nielsen, 
 and, according to the Scandinavian cus- 
 tom of christening children, was named as 
 above. His father was a poor man, who 
 by days' work earned a livelihood for his 
 family, which consisted of his wife and 
 nine children, four of whom were sons, 
 Niels C. being the second child and eld- 
 est son. He received but a meager edu- 
 cation, and, owing to the limited means 
 of his parents, was set to work when but 
 eight years of age, thus earning his own 
 living when almost yet a child, receiving 
 his board and clothing for his labor. He 
 worked for farmers, and for one employer 
 seventeen consecutive years (excepting six 
 months he was serving in the army), part 
 of the time receiving at the rate of twelve 
 dollars a s'ear, and at no time more than 
 fifty dollars or sixty dollars a year, and 
 his board. Yet out of these meager 
 wages he managed to save, and at the end 
 of seventeen years had accumulated about 
 three hundred dollars. In 1872 he was 
 married in Denmark to Christine Nielsen, 
 and the young couple at once came to 
 America, Wisconsin being their destina- 
 tion. .-\fter arrival he worked in and 
 around Menasha, and then bargained for 
 140 acres of land in Section 32, Greenville 
 township, Outagamie county, where he 
 3'et lives, going in debt to the amount of 
 three thousand dollars. The place at that 
 time was to a great extent in a wild state, 
 very little improvement having been made 
 on it; but the new proprietor began his 
 work bravely, accomplishing it slowly 
 at first, however, for lack of proper 
 tools. Little by little, however, he 
 added to his machinery and uten- 
 sils until in course of time his farm 
 
 became thorough!}' well-equipped. One 
 year after his settlement here his wife 
 died, and in 1876 he was married to 
 Miss Lena Schritzmyer, a native of the 
 town of Brandstrup, in the southwestern 
 part of Denmark, and to this union were 
 born five children: John, IdaC, Maria 
 L. , Malvina H. and Flora D., of whom 
 John and Ida C. are attending school at 
 Neenah. Since then manj- years of la- 
 borious toil have been spent in clearing 
 and improving the farm, and adding to it 
 until now it contains 220 acres, provided 
 with a neat and substantial residence and 
 a commodious barn and other outhouses. 
 Thus, although making his start among 
 absolute strangers, and under the most 
 trying circumstances, Mr. Tolversen has 
 succeeded in the accomplishment of his 
 wishes, and the consummation of the am- 
 bition of his youth. The struggles he has 
 undergone, and the difficulties he has 
 met and overcome, can be understood 
 and appreciated onl\' b}- those who have 
 been similarly situated. With his own 
 early days' experience before him, he is 
 giving his children the best possible ad- 
 vantages for obtaining an education. In 
 connection with the ordinary farming rou- 
 tine, Mr. Tolversen also conducts a large 
 dairy, the making of fine butter being a 
 specialty, one room, a model of cleanli- 
 ness and neatness, being de\oted ex- 
 clusively to that purpose. In this 
 room there is a "separator" and large 
 revolving churn, also a Babcock lo-bottle 
 Milk Test; a gearing is connected with 
 the "separator," and the churn with a 
 horse-power in another room ; the cream 
 is eliminated from the milk and then 
 churned, all by this power, and when the 
 butter is ready it is packed into jars 
 and stored in a cool cellar underneath, 
 ready for market, all the work in this 
 department being under the immediate 
 and sole supervision of Mrs. Tolversen. 
 at whose hands this most delicious butter 
 receives its finishing touches, the entire 
 product being disposed of to private fam- 
 ilies in Neenah \\ho have been rejrular 
 

 U^ /-^ ^^^^^€d<Z^^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWGHAFUWAL RECORD. 
 
 843 
 
 customers for years. The horse-power 
 is also used for cutting feed and grinchng 
 grain for the stock; thus utilizing every- 
 thing raised on the farm to the very best 
 advantage. Every domestic animal on 
 the premises is cared for in a warm and 
 comfortable stable, thereby not only 
 adding to their comfort, but also benfiting 
 their owner by their improved condition. 
 Mr. Tolversen, who is one of the suc- 
 cessful men of his town, is a typical rep- 
 resentative of the hardy and brave race 
 from which he descends, and is endowed 
 with its proverbial sturdy honesty. He 
 is in the enjojment of a well-earned suc- 
 cess, and commands the respect and con- 
 fidence of the entire community. A visitor 
 looking over his farm and improvements 
 is readily impressed with the fact that the 
 Tolversen homestead is the property of 
 thinking, as well as plodding, industrious 
 people, who have kept in time with mod- 
 ern ideas and adapted to their use the im- 
 provements of this advanced age. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Tolversen are members of the 
 Lutheran Church, in which faith all their 
 children are confirmed. In his political 
 preferences our subject has been a Re- 
 publican since becoming a citizen of the 
 United States, and has served his town- 
 ship in some local positions of honor and 
 trust, among which may be mentioned clerk 
 of the school board, three years. Soci- 
 ally he is a memoer of the Danish Broth- 
 erhood, a society for mutual improve- 
 ment, whose influence extends through the 
 United States, and he is also a member of 
 the State Dairy Association. 
 
 w 
 
 ILLIAM VANDENBERG, the 
 well-known proprietor of the 
 
 W 
 
 isconsin 
 
 Hous 
 
 Free- 
 
 dom, Outagamie county, was 
 
 born July 2, 1^49. in Holland, son of 
 
 Gerrard Vandenberg, a stock dealer. In 
 
 1856 the latter came to the United States 
 
 in search of a home, landing in New York 
 
 with his wife and family of five children 
 
 — one son and four daughters. In the 
 47 
 
 fall of the same year he purchased forty- 
 acres in Section 13, Freedom township, 
 Outagamie Co. , Wis. , residing there for 
 about eighteen years, when he removed 
 to the village of Freedom, and there passed 
 the remainder of his life, dying June 4, 
 1884; he was followed to the grave by his 
 wife February 17, 1891, an<l titcir re- 
 mains rest in the Catholic cemetery at 
 Sagole. Mr. Vandenberg was a Demo- 
 crat, and took an active interest in local 
 party affairs, at the time of his death hold- 
 ing the office of chairman in Freedom 
 township, in which he had served several 
 years. He was a Catholic in Churcli con- 
 nection. 
 
 William \'andenberg received such ed- 
 ucation as the common schools of his time 
 afforded, but. being the only son, his as- 
 sistance was needed at home, and he was 
 thoroughly trained to farm life. In early 
 manhood he commenced to work in saw- 
 mills, and in the winter seasons found em- 
 ployment in the lumber regions. On 
 April 21, 1 874, he was united in marriage, 
 by Rev. Verstegen, at St. Nicholas 
 Church, Sagole, with Miss Harriet Yon- 
 son, a native of Holland, who was a 
 daughter of Henry Yonson. The young 
 couple located on the home farm, which 
 Mr. Vandenberg owned at the time, and 
 they remained there until 1882, when he 
 bought eighty-three acres in Section 21. 
 In the spring of 1885 he removed to the 
 village of Freedom, and, renting the prop- 
 erty he now owns, opened out a liquor and 
 hotel business, in which he has since been 
 continuously engaged, with the exception 
 of a J'ear and a half when he was en- 
 gaged in working on improvements; he 
 purchased other property in Freedom, 
 and in June, 1893, bought the property on 
 which his hotel is situated, and by strict 
 attention to business has succeeded in 
 making the " Wisconsin House" as pop- 
 ular as its proprietor. Mr. Vandenberg 
 is a Democrat in politics, and for one 
 term served as member of the township 
 board. In religious connection he is iden- 
 tified with St. Nicholas Catholic Church. 
 
844 
 
 COMMEMORATI\'E BIOGRAPHICAL liECORD. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Vandenberg have had chil- 
 dren as follows: Harriet, George, John, 
 Peter, Henry, Minnie, Annie, William 
 and Ella, all living, and three sons that 
 died in infancy. 
 
 DK. BYRON DOUGLAS, one of 
 the best-known practitioners of 
 dental surgery in northern Wis- 
 consin, has been a resident of the 
 town of Appleton for over two score years, 
 and has made many friends, far and near. 
 He was born in the city of Albany, N. 
 Y. , July 30, 1824, the eldest in the 
 family of four children by the second wife 
 of Beriah Douglas, brother to Dr. Stephen 
 Douglas, who was the father of Stephen 
 A. Douglas. He received his education 
 at the conmion schools and academy of 
 his native place; then took up the study 
 of dentistry under the preceptorship of 
 his father, who was a physician and den- 
 tist, and with him practiced his profession 
 for a time in Albany, also witli his half 
 brother in Albany one year. In 1852 he 
 came to Appleton, where for a time he 
 was employed in the store conducted by 
 Mr. Woodward, his father-in-law, at the 
 same time, to a limited extent, following 
 dentistry. In 1855 he opened a regular 
 office, becoming the first resident dentist 
 in Appleton, and since then he has con- 
 tinuously and successfully practiced his 
 profession. He is a member of the 
 American Dental Association, also of the 
 Wisconsin State Dental Society, and its 
 treasurer for the last number of years. 
 
 On April 2, 1849, Dr. Douglas was 
 married to Miss Sarah L. Woodward, 
 who was born in Geddes, now a part of 
 Syracuse, N. Y., a daughter of John W. 
 Woodward, an early settler of Menomonee 
 Falls, Wis., whither he moved from the 
 East in 1 85 i , and from there to Appleton. 
 To this union were born three children — 
 two sons and one daughter — Earl W. , 
 practicing dentistry in his father's office, 
 Willard and Sophia, the latter two being 
 deceased. 
 
 Politically our subject is a Democrat, 
 and in 1856 he was elected to the office 
 of county treasurer, in which he served 
 four years; in 1862 he was elected to the 
 Assembly, serving one year. In religious 
 faith he and his wife are members of the 
 Methodist Church; socially he is a mem- 
 ber of the I. O. O. F. and Temple of 
 Honor. During his long residence in 
 Appleton the Doctor has seen a most 
 marvelous growth in not only the county 
 wherein he has had his home, but also in 
 the entire division of northern Wisconsin. 
 \\'hen he first set foot in Appleton forty- 
 two years ago, the entire township had a 
 population of but eight hundred, now 
 (1894) the city of Appleton itself can 
 boast of fourteen thousand souls. 
 
 JOHN HAFERBEKER, a well-to-do 
 farmer and land-owner of Grand 
 Chute township, Outagamie county, 
 is, like a number of the successful 
 agriculturists in his section, a native of 
 Germany, born January 8, 1840, son of 
 Daniel Haferbeker, a farmer and dairy- 
 man. 
 
 Our subject was educated in the schools 
 of Germany, and was reared to farming 
 from his earliest boyhood. On August i, 
 1862, he was married to Miss Amelia 
 Freming, and two children were born to 
 their marriage in Germany — William, 
 now a resident of Appleton, Wis., and 
 Bertha, Mrs. Christ Schroeder. On May 
 16, 1866, they sailed from Bremen in the 
 ' ' Asia, " and landing in New York twenty- 
 eight days later, continued their journey 
 westward to Wisconsin, where, in Fond 
 du Lac county, Mr. Haferbeker purchased 
 fort}' acres of brush and timber land, on 
 which they lived several years, undergo- 
 ing the many hardships incident to life on 
 a new farm. On April 10, 1875. they 
 settled on another tract of new land, sit- 
 uated in Section 2, Grand Chute town- 
 ship, Outagamie count\', which was cov- 
 ered with stumps, and was altogether in 
 such poor condition that many years 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 845 
 
 elapsed before the entire tract was re- 
 duced to fertility and could be called val- 
 uable. He has erected all the buildings 
 on the place himself, and has added to it 
 until now he has 173 acres of fine farm 
 land, well improved and highly cultivated. 
 Mrs. Haferbeker has assisted her husband 
 in every possible way, and has been no 
 small factor in his success. In Grand 
 Chute township children as follows have 
 been born to them: Annie, now Mrs. 
 John Van Oen, of Appleton; Charles, a 
 carpenter; Gustav, a blacksmith, of Ap- 
 pleton; Albert, a farmer of Grand Chute; 
 and Tillie, John and August (twins) and 
 Henry, at home. The family are identi- 
 fied with the Lutheran Church in Free- 
 dom township, and politically Mr. Hafer- 
 beker is a Republican. 
 
 HENRY J. DIENER, farmer, of 
 Ellington township, Outagamie 
 county, was born in Prussia, Ger- 
 many, June 20, 1 830. His parents, 
 Henry and Sophia (Tausend) Diener, were 
 cousins and neighbors in Germany, and 
 were educated and reared together. The 
 father was a linen-weaver by trade and a 
 most excellent workman. 
 
 In May, 1833, in company with his 
 wife and four children ^ — Christopher, 
 Philip, Charles, and Henry J. — Henry 
 Diener set sail for America, and on the 
 voyage a daughter, Sophia, was born. 
 They landed at New York City, thence 
 going to Rochester, N. Y., where Mr. 
 Diener obtained work as a mason, and 
 made a comfortable living. Just as they 
 were beginning to enjoy a few of the 
 blessings and comforts of the land of their 
 adoption, the wife and mother was taken 
 away, dying in 1841, leaving eight chil- 
 dren, three more — John, Caroline and 
 Jacob — having been born in Rochester. 
 The entire family being frugal and indus- 
 trious in their habits, Mr. Diener was 
 enabled to purchase a small piece of land 
 in Henrietta township, Monroe Co., N. 
 Y., where thev lived a number of years. 
 
 but he finally returned to Rochester, re- 
 maining there until he came to Wiscon- 
 sin to pass his declining years with his 
 children, some of them having settled 
 here. He lived to be ninety-two 3'ears 
 old, and even at that advanced age was a 
 remarkably well preserved man. In his 
 prime, Mr. Diener was possessed of a 
 grand physique, and almost superhuman 
 powers of endurance. In their old home 
 in Germany he and his wife were both 
 members of the Lutheran Church, but 
 after his wife's death and his removal 
 west, he united with the German Meth- 
 odist Church. He was always a devout 
 and God-fearing man, with disposition 
 and habits above reproach. 
 
 Henry J. Diener was educated in the 
 public schools of Rochester and vicinity. 
 At the age of eighteen years he came west 
 in company with his brother Charles, who 
 paid his expenses, our subject's entire for- 
 tune at the time amounting to only a five- 
 franc piece. On the boat which they 
 took at Buffalo for Sheboygan they met a 
 man named Gordon, who, they learned, 
 was a large lumberman of Maine. He 
 offered Henry sixteen dollars per month 
 to work that winter in the woods, and 
 eager to obtain employment the offer was 
 accepted, but it proved poor enough for 
 Mr. Diener, as he received no compensa- 
 tion at all for his whole winter's work. 
 The succeeding summer he worked for 
 Mr. Sam Hale on a farm near Oshkosh, 
 and during the next and many subsecjuent 
 winters he worked in the woods, farming 
 in the summer. In this manner he was 
 enabled to save some money, with which 
 he purchased land in Section 3, Ellington 
 township, Outagamie county; he was 
 rather unfortunate, however, in his first 
 investment, which was government land, 
 as another man "jumped" part of his 
 claim. The remaining forty acres he 
 sold, and purchased a tract in Section 9, 
 same township, where he has since re- 
 sided. He once owned 180 acres in the 
 section, and still has 140 acres. 
 
 While living in Section 3, Ellington 
 
846 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL liECOllD. 
 
 township, Mr. Diener was married Sep- 
 tember 5, 1855, by Rev. \Vm. Mitchell, 
 of Hortonville, Wis., to Miss Anna B. 
 Jenny, who is a native of Switzerland, 
 daughterof John H.and Magdalena Jenny; 
 Mrs. Jenny is still (1894) living, aged 
 eighty-fi\e years. Mr. and Mrs. Diener 
 have had ten children, as follews: Mrs. 
 Louisa Axtell, Charlena Schlafer, Mrs. 
 Florence Greely, Mrs. Amelia Finkel, 
 Mrs. Wilnia Boon, Mrs. Jessie Smolk, 
 Mrs. Carrie Tackman, Charles, Maggie 
 (deceased) and Walter. All of the nine 
 living children are happily married and 
 live within a day's drive of the parental 
 home, where at Thanksgiving and Christ- 
 mas time the children and grandchildren 
 gather. In politics Mr. Diener is a Re- 
 publican, and has filled various township 
 offices, having been twice chairman of the 
 township board, and he has been an officer 
 in his school district almost since its or- 
 ganization. He is a member of the Ameri- 
 can Protective Association. 
 
 THEODORE W. BRIGGS, State 
 agent and adjuster, for Wisconsin, 
 for the Home Insurance Company, 
 of New York, with his headquarters 
 at Afipleton, Outagamie county, is a native 
 of New York State, born December 20, 
 1840, in St. Lawrence county. 
 
 Robert Briggs, his father, was born, 
 in 1S15, in Schenectady count)', N. Y., a 
 son of Robert Briggs, also a native of 
 New York State, a farmer by occupation, 
 who died in St. Lawrence county in 1856. 
 Robert Briggs married Miss Mary C. 
 Banister, born in Vermont in 181 3, a 
 daughter of Heman Banister, who was 
 drowned when she was a young girl. Six 
 children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Robert Briggs, namely: Theodore W., 
 RozellaM., Lewis A., Seraph A., Almira 
 L. and Mary E., of whom Rozella M. 
 (who married George H. Ketchum, and 
 had one son. Friend), died at the age of 
 twenty, and Mary E. (married to Dr. H. 
 
 W. Long, and had one son, Frederick), 
 died at the age of thirty-two; the others 
 are yet living. The family came to 
 Wisconsin, settling in Appleton in 1853. 
 The father, who was a farmer in the 
 East, but after coming to Wisconsin was 
 engaged in mason work, died in 1855; 
 the mother passed away in 1 86 1 . Mr. 
 Briggs was a truly good citizen, and con- 
 sidering he had but a common-school 
 education, was a man of very general 
 knowledge. 
 
 He was also a hard worker. 
 
 and after coming to this State labored on 
 the Lawrence University building in 
 Appleton; was also employed on the 
 construction of the locks for the Green 
 Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, and 
 on other public works, till sickness put an 
 end to his life's labors, which at one time 
 were continued day and night, so anxious 
 was he for the welfare of his family. 
 
 Theodore W. Briggs, whose name in- 
 troduces this sketch, was thirteen years 
 old when the family came to Wisconsin 
 and to Appleton. He received but a lim- 
 ited common-school education, attending 
 only three months after his father's 
 death, which occurred when the lad was 
 fifteen years old. At the age of sixteen 
 he commenced clerking at the general 
 store of Phinney Bros., with whom he 
 remained about two jears, receiving for 
 his services two to three dollars per week. 
 He then clerked in Mr. J. W. Hutchin- 
 son's general store some four years, or 
 until 1 86 1, in which year he entered the 
 store of C. J. Pettibone, and there re- 
 mained until 1865. At this time he was 
 appointed agent at Appleton for the 
 American Express Company, in connec- 
 tion with which he opened a general 
 store, which, however, he discontinued in 
 1870. In April, 1867, he was appointed 
 agent for the Phcenix Insurance Company, 
 of Hartford, later taking the agency of 
 several other companies, and on closing up 
 his mercantile business he was enabled to 
 give his insurance interests his undivided 
 attention. In 1874 he formed a partner- 
 ship with A. H. Conkey, under firm 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 847 
 
 name of Conkey & Briggs. In 1878 he 
 commenced traveling for the Fire Associa- 
 tion of Philadelphia, as special agent for 
 Wisconsin and Minnesota, but still re- 
 tained his interest in the local agency, his 
 partner, iVIr. A. H. Conkey, attending to 
 the home business. This continued until 
 February, 1887, when Mr. Briggs was 
 appointed compact manager for all the 
 leading insurance companies, doing busi- 
 ness in twenty-seven towns and cities in 
 his vicinity. In 1891 he resigned this po- 
 sition, and accepted a special agency for 
 the States of Wisconsin and Minnesota, 
 with the Home Insurance Company, of 
 New York, with headquarters at Apple- 
 ton. In the fall of 1893, when the West- 
 ern Department of the "Home" was 
 discontinued, our subject was appointed 
 State agent and adjuster for Wisconsin, 
 with headquarters still at Appleton. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Briggs was married to 
 Leona S. Dane, a nati\'e of Nova Scotia, 
 born in 1844 in the town of Lockport, 
 and children as follows have been born to 
 them: Curtis E., Cornelia S., Jay Fred, 
 Mary E., Carrie H., Ina F,, and Theo- 
 dore L. , of whom Curtis E. (the eldest 
 in the family), died when twenty-si.x 
 years of age; Fred when aged six years 
 and si.\ months; Jerry B. was killed 
 while "coasting" in Appleton, at the 
 age of sixteen. Mrs. Briggs is a daugh- 
 ter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Locke) 
 Dane, both Nova Scotians, her father 
 being a ship owner; he came to Wiscon- 
 sin in i860, locating in Appleton, where 
 he conducted a general store, and was 
 interested in a hub and spoke factory. 
 The mother of Mrs. Briggs died there in 
 1886, and Mr. Dane then returned to 
 Nova Scotia, where he is at present liv- 
 ing. They were of English descent and 
 Mrs. Briggs' Grandfather Dane was an 
 officer in the British army. Of the fam- 
 ily of ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Dane, six survive. Politically Mr. 
 Briggs is a Republican, and he has served 
 the city of Appleton as treasurer two 
 years, and as assessor one year. Since 
 
 I 862 he has been a member of the F. & 
 A. M., Waverly Lodge No. 51, and also 
 a member of Appleton Chapter, No. 47. 
 
 WILLIAM BREIER, the junior 
 member of the hrm of Haas & 
 Breier, contractors and builders, 
 and dealers in hardware, build- 
 ers' materials and lumber. South Kaukau- 
 na, Outagamie county, is one of the prom- 
 inent business men of the city. He is a 
 son of Matthias and Mary (Stroesser) 
 Breier, natives of Luxemburg, Germany. 
 The father emigrated to New York in 
 1839, removing later to Milwaukee and 
 engaging in the hotel business. He mar- 
 ried in that city, and settled in 1851 on a 
 farm in the foi'ests of Sheboygan county. 
 Wis. , where he passed the remainder of 
 his life, his death occurring in June, 1888. 
 His estimable wife died at Chicago in 
 1S93. Their children, four in number, 
 were William, above named; Ellen, wife of 
 John Seebar, of Chicago; Anna, who died 
 in Sheboygan county, Wis., in 1882; and 
 John, a member of the police force of 
 Chicago. 
 
 William Breier was born May 10, 
 1854, in Scott township, Sheboygan Co. , 
 \\'is. , was reared on the home farm, as- 
 sisting in its devlopement and receiving 
 such education as could be obtained in the 
 neighboring common schools. He learned 
 the trade of carpenter and joiner, at which 
 he worked until entering mercantile busi- 
 ness. The firm to which he belongs en- 
 gaged in contracting in 1885, and has 
 built the greater portion of the residences 
 and business blocks on the South side, 
 Kaukauna. Mr. Breier located here in 
 1882, coming from Sheboygan county. He 
 was married in that county, in October, 
 1882, to Miss Augusta Shoetz, anativeof 
 Washington county. Wis., in which her 
 father, Michael Schoetz, was an honored 
 pioneer, and still resides. The children 
 by this marriage are four: Estelle, Mark, 
 William and Mary. Mr. Breier is perhaps 
 the most prominent Democrat in his ward 
 
848 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 — the Third — which he served as alder- 
 man for three years. He also represented 
 the Fourth ward two years in the same 
 capacity. He was chairman of the coun- 
 cil in 1893. He is a leading member of 
 the A. O. U. W. , and with his wife belongs 
 to St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 JOHN DRISCOLL, a prominent citi- 
 zen and well-known contractor of 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, was 
 born March i, 1846, in Oswego, New 
 York, of Irish parentage. 
 
 His father, who was a farmer by oc- 
 cupation, married Margaret Downey in 
 1835, emigrated to America in 1836, land- 
 ing at Quebec, and from there proceeded, 
 in 1837, to the State of New York, where 
 he found employment on the Erie railroad 
 and canal. In 1856 he moved westward 
 to Iowa, stopping for a short time in In- 
 diana and engaging in railroad work, and 
 in 1873 came to Wisconsin. He located 
 with his family at La Crescent, Minn., in 
 1876, and died at that place in 1884. 
 His wife died in December, 1888. Of 
 their nine children, Dennis, the eldest, 
 was the only one born in Ireland. The 
 others were Jerry, Ellen, Patrick, Johanna, 
 John, Mary, James and Michael. The 
 mother came of a family noted for lon- 
 gevity. Her grandfather lived to the great 
 age of 115 years. Three of the sons — 
 Dennis, Jerry and Patrick — served in the 
 army during the memorable war of the 
 Rebellion. 
 
 John Driscoll began to support him- 
 self at the tender age of ten years, work- 
 ing on a farm, on the railroad and in the 
 lumber woods, and having very little op- 
 portunity to attend school. When twenty 
 years old he went to McGregor, Iowa, 
 where he learned the brick mason's trade, 
 working winters in the pineries and driv- 
 ing logs in the spring, and continuing after 
 this manner until 1876. He settled with 
 his family in Appleton in 1873, and has 
 since made that city his home, although 
 the nature of his business has been such 
 
 as to compel his absence a considerable 
 portion of the time. He was foreman forthe 
 Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Kail- 
 way Company, during the construction of 
 its road and buildings, and erected its works 
 at Kaukauna in 1 882-83-84. He also built 
 the Third ward schoolhouse in Appleton. 
 In 1885 he formed a partnership with M. 
 K. Gouchner, the firm having, in 1886, a 
 contract to build three miles of sewer in 
 the city of Appleton. They built the Ap- 
 pleton street railway, said to have been 
 the first complete electric railway con- 
 structed and operated in the United States, 
 and also built a horse-railway at Sheboy- 
 gan, Wis. , two and three-fourths miles in 
 length. In 1 887 they constructed the wa- 
 ter-power canal at Kaukauna, and the 
 combined lock dam of Fox river, in 1888. 
 The latter is of solid stone masonry, 750 
 feet long, twenty-six feet high, twenty- 
 eight feet wide at the base and four feet 
 on the top, and occupied the time and 
 skill of ninety men for five months in its 
 completion. The firm built a street rail- 
 way three miles long at Marinette, Wis. , 
 in 1889. and the following year Mr. 
 Driscoll was in Duluth, Minn., superin- 
 tending the construction of a large iron 
 and brass foundry. In 1891 the street 
 railway track at .Appleton was relaid, and 
 four miles of new track built at Menom- 
 inee, Mich. The year 1892 found them 
 employed at home, and in 1893 they were 
 at Little Chute, quarrying 6,000 cords of 
 stone. The firm employs on an average 
 fifty men, six teams, two steam derricks 
 and two steam drills. 
 
 Mr. Driscoll was married, in 1872, at 
 Lebanon, Wis., to Miss Ellen Scanlon, 
 who was born in Ohio in 1854. Her 
 parents, John and Anna May Scanlon, 
 were natives of Ireland who came to 
 America in 1852, and in 1856 located in 
 Waupaca county. Wis., where the mother 
 died in 1857. The death . of the father 
 occurred in 1890. They were farmers, 
 and had four children, of whom two, John 
 and Ellen, are now living. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Driscoll also had four children : Johanna, 
 
COM.VEMOi;ATfVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 849 
 
 May E., Walter J., and Margaret Ann, 
 who died at the age of sixteen years. The 
 parents are members of the Catholic 
 Church. Mr. Driscoll is a Republican in 
 politics, and has served his ward four years 
 as alderman. He is an energetic, pro- 
 gressive citizen, and owes his success in 
 life solely to his own determined efforts 
 and natural ability. 
 
 RICHARD BOTTRELL. The fam- 
 ily of Bottrells has followed the 
 vocation of farming for three gen- 
 erations. The grandfather of our 
 subject, Sampson Bottrell, and his wife, 
 Mary Bottrell, lived and died on a farm 
 in England. Their son, Richard Bottrell, 
 was a farmer and recruiting officer for 
 some twelve years in England. He was 
 married to Miss Grace Harris, who, in 
 1846, accompanied him to America, where 
 they settled in West Troy, Walworth Co., 
 Wis., on the farm he had purchased, and 
 here the}' resided until his death, which 
 occurred in 1 864. They were the parents 
 of three children, of whom two are still 
 living, the subject of this sketch and John 
 B., the latter of whom is now living in 
 Linn county. Kans. , a prosperous and well- 
 to-do farmer; he has a family of three sons 
 and one daughter, all of whom are living 
 near home. 
 
 Richard Bottrell was born in Devon- 
 shire, England, in 1829. immigrating to 
 America in 1846 with his parents, and 
 remaining on the farm with them in West 
 Troy until 1849, when he came to the 
 town of Dale, Outagamie Co., Wis., and 
 bought a farm for himself. In 185 1 he 
 was united in marriage to Miss Emily 
 Otis, by whom he had twelve children, 
 two pair of twins being dead — one pair 
 dying at birth and the other when six or 
 seven months old (the former were a girl 
 and a boy; the latter two boys, named Mil- 
 ton and Linton, who died in 1878); the 
 other children are: William H., married 
 and living in the city of Antigo; John F., 
 married and living in the town of Dale, 
 
 who has a family cf chree children; Olive 
 C, married to P. Griswold, a farmer of 
 Clinton, Wis., and has three children; Ida, 
 married to L. Balliet, a lumberman (they 
 live in Rhinelander, and have four chil- 
 dren); Ed. R., in business, lives in the 
 village of Dale, is married and has one 
 child; Aletta, living at home; Charles, 
 living at Aniwa, Shawano Co., Wis., and 
 Milford, at home. 
 
 After spending thirteen uneventful 
 years on the farm the war broke out and 
 Mr. Bottrell changed his business from a 
 farmer to a soldier, enlisting in August, 
 1862, for a term of three years or, as he 
 patriotically put it, "until the war 
 closes." He belonged to Company I. 
 Thirty-second Wis. V. I., and shared 
 their fortunes and misfortunes until the 
 close of the war. His regiment reported 
 for duty at Appleton, the county seat of 
 Outagamie county, and from there went 
 south to Memphis, Tenn. From the 
 time they reached Memphis until Febru- 
 ary, 1863, they were almost continuously 
 on the march, occasionally indulging in a 
 skirmish with the enemy. Returning to 
 Memphis in February, they went into 
 camp and patrolled the city for about 
 three months, making frequent raids into 
 the country to keep out the guerrillas and 
 Rebels. In May they went to Vicksburg 
 on transports, and from there on the 
 Meridian march, driving the Rebels out 
 of Meridian and destroying a large 
 amount of the Confederate supplies in 
 that country. They were under Sherman 
 at Canton, and helped to destroy the 
 Rebel railroad, marching from there by 
 way of the Black river, where a sharp 
 skirmish took place with the enemy, and 
 reaching Vicksburg, where they remained 
 for ten days and were then transported to 
 Cairo, 111., on the Mississippi, and from 
 there to Paducah, Ky. , where they drove 
 the Rebels out. Continuing on the 
 march, they reached Waterloo, Tenn., 
 and from there marched across the coun- 
 try, having frequent skirmishes with 
 the guerrillas, and reaching Decatur, 
 
850 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ala., where they remained on picket 
 duty until about Auf,'ust 20, 1864. 
 Their next orders sent them to Atlanta, 
 where they remained until the city was 
 taken. After its capture, Mr. Bottrell re- 
 ceived his commission from Gov. Lewis, 
 of Wisconsin, as second lieutenant, and 
 did duty in the city of Atlanta until a day 
 or two after the Presidential election, 
 when Lincoln was re-elected. Then 
 came Sherman's memorable march to the 
 sea, in which Lieut. Bottrell marched 
 with his regiment. Capturing Savannah, 
 Ga. , about the 20th, they drew bj- and 
 reached the port of Fort Thunderbolton, 
 on the Savannah river, on Christmas Day. 
 A few days after this they embarked on 
 transports for Beaufort, S. C, and re- 
 mained there about two weeks, after 
 which they took up the line of march 
 through the Carolinas with Rebels on 
 every side who were hampering them in 
 every available manner; they dammed 
 the rivers, felled heav}' timbers across the 
 roads, and placed torpedoes wherever 
 they would do the most damage, not for- 
 getting to draw them into a skirmish 
 whenever their number would warrant 
 their doing so with safety to themselves. 
 Despite these many hindrances, however, 
 they reached their objective point, Colum- 
 bia, the capital of South Carolina, about 
 the last of February, 1865. Ere they 
 reached the city they were obliged to pon- 
 toon two rivers; but, arriving at last, they 
 destroyed the principal part of the city 
 and then moved on to Cheraw, S. C, 
 which they captured together with a 
 quantity of ammunition and supplies, m- 
 cluding furniture, goods, etc., that the 
 citizens had shipped out of Charleston, 
 supposing that Sherman intended making 
 that city fCharleston) his objective point. 
 Continuing their inarch they reached 
 Bentonville, N. C, about March 28, 
 1 865, where they had a sharp engagement 
 with the Rebel troops, consisting not 
 only of those who had been in their 
 path, but also a number from Lee's 
 army. This was the famous battle of 
 
 Bentonville, in which a large number of 
 Confederates were captured. On reaching 
 Goldsboro, N. C, Lieut. Bottrell was 
 sent home by order of the doctor. From 
 the time of his entering the service, fight- 
 ing and marching had followed each other 
 so closely that he was quite worn out. 
 x\fter the capture of Atlanta he was 
 granted a furlough; but he determined to 
 stay with the ' ' boys " as long as he was 
 able. While journeying home he stopped 
 at Baltimore, and was there at the time 
 President Lincoln was assassinated. [The 
 subscriber will not be considered as color- 
 ing the memoranda on account of dates 
 or the names of places, as he dictates 
 from memory. — R. Bottrell.] He was 
 mustered out June 24, 1865, in Milwau- 
 kee, after which he joined his family at 
 his home in Dale. 
 
 Mr. Bottrell's reputation as a citizen 
 and a town and county officer corresponds 
 in worthiness with his reputation as a 
 soldier. He was chairman of the town- 
 ship board for two terms, county treasurer 
 for tN\o years, and is now town clerk and 
 justice of the peace, having held the 
 latter office for eighteen years, and the 
 former for about thirty-seven years. In 
 party politics he is an ardent Democrat, 
 and is most active in aiding that party in 
 time of election. Although the war is a 
 thing of the past, Mr. Bottrell enjoys meet- 
 ing his old comrades at Francis Steffen 
 Post, G. A. R. , No. 210, Hortonville, of 
 which he is an enthusiastic member. He 
 is one of the few men who passed through 
 the war without injury, and now at the 
 age of sixty-five years is enjoying com- 
 paratively good health, and takes great 
 comfort in noting the prosperity of the 
 country and the part he has enacted in 
 bringing it about. 
 
 LS. OVITT, farmer and ex-soldier, 
 Bovina township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, was born February 20, 1831, 
 in Hadley, Saratoga Co., N. Y. 
 His parents, Samuel and ApoUonia 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 85' 
 
 (Brooks) Ovitt, farming people, had a 
 family of ten children, viz.: Lucinda, 
 Anson, Louisa, David, Rufus, L. S., 
 Chloe, Normal, Ravina, and Laura. 
 The children all left home when young, 
 and have since earned their own liveli- 
 hood. 
 
 At the age of eight years L. S. Ovitt 
 began to care for himself, working for his 
 board and clothes with Henry Blackwood, 
 and attending school a small part of the 
 time. He lived with Mr. Blackwood 
 five years, and from the end of that period 
 until he was twenty-one worked for Eben- 
 ezer Johnson. He spent the next three 
 years in the same county, learning the 
 carpenter's trade, and then came to Osh- 
 kosh, Wis. He worked there at his trade 
 three j'ears, and for three years following 
 at Shiocton, when he bought fort}' acres 
 of unimproved land, which form a part 
 of his present homestead. Upon this he 
 built a log house, 16x20 feet, and began 
 with his axe and hoe the work of clearing 
 and preparing the land for cultivation. 
 He arrived on the place January 2, and 
 April 30 put in a crop of wheat, potatoes 
 and corn, which yielded heavily; he took 
 his corn to Appleton to have it ground. 
 Believing in the adage that it is not good 
 for man to be alone, he was married, in 
 Oshkosh, to Susan GrifTith, daughter of 
 James and Betsey Griffith. On Decem- 
 ber 7, 1863, he enlisted in Company I, 
 Third Wisconsin Cavalry, but was trans- 
 ferred to Company K, the command being 
 sent to Fort Scott. He saw nearly two 
 years of hard service, and was finally dis- 
 charged September 29, 1865, when he 
 returned to his home. About 1 866 he 
 added forty acres to his original purchase, 
 and now has sixty of his eighty acres 
 in tillable condition. Mr. Ovitt is a Re- 
 publican in politics, and has creditably 
 served his townsmen as supervisor, treas- 
 urer and clerk. The children of Mr. 
 and Mrs. 0\'itt are: Laverna, Mary, Ida, 
 Temmie, Bertha, Matilda, James and 
 Norman, of whom three are still at home 
 with their parents. 
 
 JULIUS KUEHN, the well-known, 
 popular and hustling city marshal of 
 Kaukauna, is a native of Wisconsin, 
 born in Washington county in 1855, 
 a son of George and Sophronia Kuehn. 
 
 The parents were natives of Germany, 
 where they married, and in 1854 they 
 emigrated to this country, first locating 
 on a farm in Town 12, Washington county, 
 Wis., and thence in 1S61 remo\-ing to 
 Brothertown, Calumet county, where 
 they opened up a farm in the woods. Here 
 the mother died in 1887, and the father 
 is yet living. They were the parents of 
 ten children, all li\ing, to wit: Paulina is 
 the wife of Philip Ebling, a farmer of 
 Fond du Lac county; Ferdinand resides 
 on a farm in Calumet county; Amelia is 
 married to Robert Lintner, a farmer of 
 Adams county. Wis. ; Julius is the subject 
 of this sketch; ^^'illiam, married, lives on 
 a farm in Fond du Lac county; Bertha 
 is the wife of John Kitchen, an engineer, 
 of Omro, Wis. ; Emma is the wife of Jul- 
 ius Nemitz, a general merchant, of Osh- 
 kosh; Sophia is living in Oshkosh; George, 
 married, makes his home on the old home- 
 stead in Calumet county; Helen A. resides 
 in Oshkosh. 
 
 Julius Kuehn, the fourth in order of 
 birth in this family, was reared partly in 
 Washington county, and partly in Calu- 
 met county, in the common schools of 
 which latter he received his education. 
 In the village of Chilton he learned the 
 trade of blacksmith, which he followed to 
 some extent, and subsequently worked in 
 lumber woods till 1873, when, desiring to 
 try his fortune in California, he set out 
 thither, for a time living in Sacramento 
 and San Francisco, after which he mined 
 in \'irginia City, Nev., in which State he 
 passed the greater part of his time. After 
 an absence of three years he returned to 
 Chilton, Wis., and resumed his trade, but 
 shortlv afterward moved to Ripon, in 
 Fond du Lac county, whence after one 
 year's sojourn he came to South Kau- 
 kauna. This was in 1881, the year the 
 town was founded, and here Mr. Kuthii 
 
§52 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 continued his trade, conducting the first 
 blacksmith shop, which was located on 
 Second street, where the cheerful ring of 
 his anvil was heard for nearly eight years. 
 The first blacksmith shop he built was a 
 small frame one, which was torn down 
 and replaced by a larger one; this he sold, 
 and it is now occupied as a saloon. In 
 1 889 he erected what is known as 
 " Kuehn's Block," a two-story brick 
 building on the corner of Second street 
 and Main avenue, having fifty feet front- 
 age on Second street and seventy-eight 
 feet on Main avenue. In the same year 
 he was elected city marshal of Kaukauna, 
 a position he has held continuously to 
 the present time, discharging his duties 
 with characteristic fidelity and ability. 
 
 In 1882, in Green Lake county. Wis., 
 Mr. Kuehn was married to Miss Au- 
 gusta Heinke, daughter of Carl Heinke, 
 both natives of Germany, who immi- 
 grated to Wisconsin, first locating in 
 Green Lake county, the father moving 
 later to Kaukauna township, Outagamie 
 county, where he now resides; the mother 
 died in Green Lake county in 1885. Two 
 children have been born to our subject 
 and wife, viz. : Georgina and Roy. In 
 his political associations Mr. Kuehn is a 
 Democrat, 'and in 1887-89 he served his 
 adopted city as alderman from the Fourth 
 ward. He is a prominent member (and 
 present treasurer) of Kaukauna Lodge 
 No. 297, I. O. O. F. , and of the En- 
 campment, and he is also a member of 
 the A. O. U. W., of Kaukauna. 
 
 HENRY T. WATERS, well-known 
 as a popular cigar manufacturer, 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, is a 
 native of Wisconsin, born in the 
 city of Milwaukee June 19, 1849, a son of 
 M. D. W^aters, who was born in Chau- 
 tauqua county, N. Y., in 1825. 
 
 The Waters family trace their origin 
 to Wales, the land of the Cymri, but 
 grandfather Horton B. Waters was a na- 
 tive of New York State. M. D. Waters, 
 
 father of our subject, married, in the 
 State of New York, of which she was a 
 native, born of German descent. Miss 
 Mar\' M. Morey. In 1845 they came to 
 Wisconsin, settling in Milwaukee, where 
 Mr. Waters followed contracting and 
 building, although his trade was that of 
 wagon-maker. He was one in a family of 
 seven sons, and the rest of them were not 
 long in following him to this State. On 
 June 10, 1 86 1, he moved into the city of 
 Appleton, where he died in 1892, the 
 father of eleven children — five sons and 
 six daughters. 
 
 Henry T. Waters, the subject proper 
 of these lines, was twelve years old when 
 the family moved into Appleton in i86i, 
 at the schools of which place he received 
 the bulk of his education. At the age of 
 sixteen he commenced learning the trade 
 of cigar-maker, which has been his life 
 vocation, and in which he has had a very 
 wide experience. In 1879 he went to 
 California, afterward was in New York, 
 Harrisburg (Penn.), Worcester (Mass.), 
 Chicago, Sioux City (Iowa), besides many 
 other places, in all of which he w^orked at 
 his trade. During the years 1871-72 he 
 was in business for his own account in 
 Green Bay, Wis., and in 1887 he returned 
 finally to Appleton, where for the first year 
 he was in partnership with a Mr. Cobv, since 
 when he has been conducting the busi- 
 ness alone; and so great is his trade, and 
 so popular his various brands, that he 
 finds steady employment for some seven 
 hands. 
 
 In April, 1885, Mr. Waters was mar- 
 ried at La Crosse, Wis. , to Miss Mary A. 
 Dunn, daughter of Patrick and Mary 
 Dunn, well-to-do farming people of Craw- 
 ford county, Wis., the father a native of 
 Ireland, the mother of America. To this 
 union have been born three children: 
 Catherine, Julia and Lillian. In his po- 
 litical preferences, Mr. Waters is a Demo- 
 crat, and he takes a lively interest in all 
 public affairs tending to the advantage and 
 progressiveness of his city, county, State 
 and country. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DWGUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 853 
 
 S 
 
 TEPHEN BALLIET, one of the 
 most highl}' respected agricul- 
 turists of Dale township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born October 
 5, 1826, in Mifflin township, Richland 
 Co., Ohio, five miles from Mansfield. His 
 father, Henry Balliet, was a pioneer in 
 that county, whither he came in 1824. 
 It was a timber country, yet he and his 
 wife, Martha (Munce), and his three chil- 
 dren were not daunted, but erected a 
 cabin in the woods. Here Mr. Balliet 
 began the arduous task of clearing an 
 eighty-acre farm, to which a few years 
 after he added another eighty acres pro- 
 cured from the government. The land 
 being of unusual fertility, and the pre- 
 emption law most liberal, Mr. Balliet from 
 time to time added to his farm until he 
 eventually owned nearly a section of valu- 
 able land. Those early pioneers were 
 made of stuff well-suited to open up a new 
 country and plant a new civilization. 
 Added to their physical strength was a 
 generous amount of good common sense, 
 ingenuity and perseverance, and of such a 
 make-up was the father of our subject. 
 Besides being a successful farmer, he was 
 a mechanic of no mean order, and in 
 addition did his own blacksmithing and 
 carpenter work, often going to the relief 
 of his neighbors when such work was 
 pending and no other help available. 
 Aside from his usefulness to the commun- 
 ity he was highly respected for his integ- 
 rity of character and uprightness of pur- 
 pose, and his broadened ideas and love of 
 humanity impelled him to work for the 
 interests of the community as well as for 
 his household. Desiring to utilize the 
 fine timber that was being cut in the clear- 
 ing of the land, he put up a sawmill, and 
 for many years operated it to the advant- 
 age of his neighbors as well as himself. 
 Although necessarily busy with so many 
 occupations, he never forgot that there 
 are but six working daj's in a week, and 
 each Sabbath found him at the little 
 Dutch Reformed Church, a most active 
 and influential member. He died at the 
 
 ripe old age of eighty-four years and nine 
 months. No higher praise could have ■ 
 been given him than that contained in the 
 simple words of his pastor: " A good 
 man has gone to his reward." The gen- 
 tle, loving wife, who had shared his early 
 toil and privations and borne him twelve 
 children, was laid to rest in 1863 at the 
 age of fifty-nine years. Ten children 
 reached maturity, viz. : John, Caroline, 
 Paul, Stephen, Andrew Jackson, Solo- 
 mon, Katie Ann, Nancy, Mary Jane and Re- 
 becca. Little Polly died at the tender age 
 of two years, and Margaret was drowned 
 in the mill race near the house in 1843. 
 The sons all followed in their father's 
 footsteps, and became farmers. Stephen, 
 the subject of this sketch, especially en- 
 joyed the old-style pioneer life and, like 
 his father, operated a sawmill in connec- 
 tion with his agricultural pursuits. He 
 inherited the thrifty, business-like ability 
 which characterized his father, and every- 
 thing prospered under his management. 
 On December 6, 1849, he was married in 
 Ashland county, Ohio, to Miss Christina 
 Zehuer, a native of Pennsylvania, born in 
 Schuylkill county, from which locality she 
 came with her parents, David and Eliza- 
 beth (Swartz) Zehuer, to Outagamie 
 county, Wisconsin. They settled on a 
 farm adjoining Mr. Balliet's, both par- 
 ents dying there. Mrs. Balliet has borne 
 nine children: David Henry; Cassia 
 Jane, wife of Dr. L. A. Wolcott, of 
 Berlin, Germany; William Albert, who 
 died October 26, 1892; Adelia Ellis, 
 widow of T. K. Perkins; Mary Elizabeth, 
 wife of William Strange, of Menasha; 
 Stephen Douglas, who died in infancy; 
 Sarah A., wife of Frank McLaughlin; 
 Nancy Louisa Balliet and Alma Sophia, 
 who died at the age of two years. Will- 
 iam Albert, the third child, lived to his 
 thirty-eighth year, and was an unusually 
 bright young man, a great favorite among 
 all classes — old and young. He died of 
 pneumonia, leaving a widow, Mrs. Nellie 
 (Halpin) Balliet, now of Oshkosh, and five 
 children. 
 
854 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Our subject came to Wisconsin in 
 1853 and settled in Outagamie county, 
 township of Dale, where he bought 160 
 acres of land, to which he added forty 
 acres, clearing it himself and transforming 
 it into one of the finest farms in that 
 vicinity. Although he has always been a 
 hard worker, he yet finds himself in old 
 age strong and hearty, and quite capable 
 of working side by side with younger 
 men; but he sensibly considers that he 
 has done his work, and has now the right 
 to enjoy the fruits stripped of its added 
 cares. To this end he has divided his 
 farm between two sons, and is now prac- 
 tically retired from work. His ancestors 
 on his father's side were French, coming 
 to America as early as 1620; his mother's 
 people originally came from Hesse, Ger- 
 many. One branch of the famih^ settled 
 in Pennsylvania, and two brothers in 
 Virginia, where their descendants now 
 reside. 
 
 JOHN E. HOFFMAN, one of the 
 oldest settlers of Grand Chute town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, was born 
 December 4, 1826, in Schlesien, 
 Germany, son of Benjamin Hoffman, a 
 small farmer. He and his wife both died 
 in Germany. They were the parents of 
 five children — three sons and two 
 daughters. 
 
 Our subject was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of his native country, and 
 was trained to farming from earliest boy- 
 hood, remaining at home until si.xteen 
 years of age, when he began to work for 
 others. His wages were very small, but 
 by frugality and industry he saved a little, 
 and by 1854 had enough to bring him to 
 the United States. Bidding farewell to 
 his early home, in November of that year, 
 he set sail from Bremen in the " Plank- 
 ard," which arrived in New York forty- 
 two days later, and going thence by rail 
 to Buffalo he took passage at the latter 
 place for Milwaukee, Wis. He com- 
 menced work as a farm hand in Dodge 
 
 county, where, on February 8, 1857, he 
 was married to Miss Minnie Ulerich, who 
 was born in Germany in 1838, and came 
 to America with her father, Jacob Ulerich, 
 in 1854. After his marriage Mr. Hoff- 
 man purchased forty acres of land (for- 
 merly owned by his father-in-law), which 
 was new and stony and not very fertile, 
 and after putting several years of hard 
 labor on it he sold out and removed to 
 Outagamie county, where, in Section 2, 
 Town 21, Range 17, Grand Chute town- 
 ship, he invested in a wild tract of eighty 
 acres, taking up his residence thereon in 
 March, 1862. This was also a new farm, 
 without a road, a house, or an improve- 
 ment of any kind, and the task of convert- 
 ing what was literally a '• howling wilder- 
 ness " into a productive farm lay before 
 him. He rented a log-house on a neigh- 
 boring piece of land until his own modest 
 dwelling was ready for occupancy, and 
 then, with the rude tools which the set- 
 tlers of that early day were obliged to 
 make the best of, commenced clearing his 
 land. If it had not been for the money 
 received for w^od cut from the farm it 
 would have been almost impossible to 
 make a living there, the crops at first 
 were so poor. The first season he sowed 
 two bushels of grain and harvested two 
 bushels, and that at a time when wheat 
 was worth over three dollars a bushel. He 
 did not allow experiences of this sort to 
 discourage him, however, and he perse- 
 vered in his labor until the place began to 
 assume a somewhat different appearance, 
 and as his children grew old enough to 
 help him the work progressed more rapid- 
 ly. A number of substantial outbuildings 
 have been erected, and in 1880 a com- 
 fortable brick residence was built. From 
 time to time the area of the farm has been 
 increased until there are now 160 acres of 
 excellent land, in a highly cultivated 
 state. 
 
 Mr. Hoffman's prosperity is the direct 
 result of years of honest toil, for when he 
 arrived in Milwaukee he had but twenty 
 dollars as a foundation for his fortunes in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 855 
 
 the New World; but by the dint of 
 industry he has succeeded in accumulat- 
 ing a comfortable property, and has estab- 
 lished himself in a pleasant home. In 
 all his dealings with his fellow men he 
 has been honest and straightforward, and 
 he commands the respect of all who know 
 him. Realizing the value of those prin- 
 ciples of honest thrift and industry by 
 which he has succeeded, he has en- 
 deavored to instill them into the lives of 
 his children. Few men in his locality 
 have worked harder in their day, but he 
 is well preserved, and it is hoped that he 
 and his estimable wife may be permitted 
 to pass their declining years in the peace- 
 ful enjoyment of their well-earned pros- 
 perity. Their union has been blessed 
 with children as follows: Annie, Mrs. 
 Fred Westphal, Bertha, Mrs. Albert 
 Plaman, and Charley, all three resi- 
 dents of Appleton; Adaline, Mrs. Ed 
 Schwirke, of I-Cimberly, Wis. ; Fred, of 
 Appleton; John, of Nlilwaukee; Carrie, 
 living at home; Polly, of West Superior, 
 Wis., and Henry, at home. The family 
 are connected with the Lutheran Church 
 of Freedom township. In his political 
 preferences Mr. Hoffman is a Democrat, 
 but not strictly partisan, in township and 
 county elections usually selecting the best 
 man without reference to party line. 
 Though not an aspirant to office his fellow 
 citizens have called upon him to serve 
 them in various capacities, and he has 
 invariably proved worthy of the trust re- 
 posed in him. He has been school director 
 for thirty years, gravel commissioner 
 three years, and at present is also path- 
 master. 
 
 THE CULBERTSON FAMILY. 
 Most prominent among the early 
 pioneers of Greenville township, 
 Outagamie county, who took up 
 their homes here when this region was a 
 vast wilderness, and assisted in founding 
 what is now a prosperous farming com- 
 
 munity, we find this family, who made a 
 settlement here in "the forties." 
 
 The Culbertsons are descended from 
 sturdy Scottish ancestry who followed 
 farming in their native country. The first 
 member of the family to come to America, 
 of whom we have record, was James 
 Culbertson, who brought his family across 
 the Atlantic in about 1818, and became 
 an early settler on the then western fron- 
 tier, on the county line between Switzer- 
 land and Jefferson counties, Ind. His 
 son, John Culbertson, was born near Camp- 
 belltown, Argyleshire, Scotland, landed 
 in New York in 1822, and pushed on 
 immediately to Indiana. liii route he was 
 
 married in Pittsburg, Penn. 
 
 to Margaret 
 
 Reid, also a native of Campbelltown, and 
 the newly-wedded couple took up their 
 home in Jefferson county, Ind. , whither 
 his parents and brothers had preceded 
 them and settled, as previously stated. 
 Here, amid the dangers and hardships in- 
 cident to life in a new and sparsely set- 
 tled country, the}' passed over thirty 
 years, and here were born their family of 
 seven children — four sons and three daugh- 
 ters. Many rumors were afloat in 1 848 
 of the opportunities offered in Wisconsin 
 to those willing to settle on new land, 
 especially in the Fox River Valley, the 
 only apparent objection to the locality 
 being the bitterness of the winters. In 
 March, 1848, John Culbertson and his 
 son Matthew, having determined to ascer- 
 tain for themselves the value of the re- 
 ports, set out from their Indiana home, and 
 proceeding to Ohio journeyed by canal from 
 Cincinnati to Toledo, whence they were 
 able to travel by rail to a point sixty-five 
 miles west. Passing through Michigan by 
 stage they crossed the lake, and landing 
 in Wisconsin pushed northward and west- 
 ward until April 1 1, when they arrived at 
 what is now Medina, Outagamie county. 
 Here a guide was engaged in the person 
 of Louis Hyde, to show them the lines, 
 and conduct them through the woods un- 
 til a suitable location was found, their 
 choice falling on apiece of land in Green- 
 
856 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BWORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ville township, which has ever since been 
 in the possession of the famil\-. Mr. Cul- 
 bertson selected a large tract, in order to 
 provide for his sons, all of whom made a 
 permanent settlement in the township, 
 and with the exception of Matthew, who 
 has passed away, still reside there with 
 their descendants. The father and son 
 Matthew returned to Indiana the same 
 year, the former in June, the latter in the 
 autumn, Matthew coming again to Wis- 
 consin the following spring with his 
 brother James, and Matthew having made 
 improvements, the brothers had their home 
 together until James could prepare one 
 for himself. The mother died in Indi- 
 ana in 1854, and was buried there, and 
 in 1858 John Culbertson, the father, came 
 to Wisconsin to spend the remainder of 
 his days with his children. He was called 
 to his last resting-place December 6, 
 1877, and his remains now lie in the 
 Greenville cemetery. A devout member 
 of the Presbyterian Church, he was a 
 noble representative of the sturdy race to 
 which he belonged, and his whole life was 
 marked by those characteristics of up- 
 rightness and sterling integrity which 
 have ever distinguished Scotland's sons. 
 It is to such citizens — possessing rugged 
 health and vigor as well as a clear intel- 
 lect — that Outagamie owes her prosperity, 
 and her steady advancement along the 
 lines of progress — materially and socially. 
 He endeavored to instill into the minds 
 and lives of his children those upright 
 principles which he himself practiced, and 
 no family in the county has commanded 
 more respect for loyal citizenship and un- 
 blemished honor. 
 
 As before stated there were seven 
 children in the family, viz. : James (sketch 
 of whom appears later), Matthew (who 
 will be more fully mentioned presently), 
 John (sketch of whom appears farther on), 
 Jeanette (Mrs. Charles Ryan, of Switzer- 
 land county, Ind.), Alexander (a sketch 
 of whom follows in its order), Margaret 
 (Mrs. Laurence Barclay, of Greenville), 
 and Nancy (Mrs. Osias De Long, of Ap- 
 
 pleton). To each of the sons the father 
 gave 160 acres of wild land, in the culti- 
 vation of which they expended years of 
 toil and energy, and by good management 
 converted it into some of the most valua- 
 ble land in the township, and are among 
 its largest landowners. Of these, Matthew 
 Culbertson made the first permanent set- 
 tlement in Greenville township, and lived 
 on his farm until 1 890, becoming one of 
 the leading men of the vicinity. Every 
 enterprise for the welfare or advancement 
 of the township or county received his 
 hearty approval and co-operation, and he 
 lived to witness the marvelous growth 
 and development in the surrounding 
 country which he helped to set on foot. 
 In 1S90 he moved to Medina, where he 
 passed from earth May i, 1894, sincerely 
 mourned in the community where so many 
 years of his active, useful life were passed. 
 He left two sons, fohn O. and Henry M., 
 to take up his work where he laid it down, 
 and sustain the high reputation established 
 by him in his long and honorable career. 
 They now own and conduct the farm 
 which their father took from the wilder- 
 ness, ranking already among the foremost 
 agriculturists of the section; and being 
 public-spirited, like the members of the 
 family generally, they take a deep interest 
 in the public welfare, and hold a promi- 
 nent position among their neighbors and 
 fellow-citizens wherever known. 
 
 James Culbertson, the oldest mem- 
 ber of the prominent pioneer family of 
 that name now living, and who has prob- 
 ably spent more years of his life in Green- 
 ville township than any other resident, 
 was born August 6, 1823, in Jefferson 
 county, Ind., eldest son of John and Mar- 
 garet (Reid) Culbertson. 
 
 Our subject was reared a farmer boy, 
 and received but a limited education, as, 
 being the eldest son, his parents depended 
 upon his help. He lived on the home 
 farm in Jefferson county, Ind., until the 
 spring of 1 849, when he came with his 
 brother Matthew to Wisconsin. The 
 journey was made by team as far as Mad- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 857 
 
 ison, Ind. , where they shipped their goods 
 to IndianapoHs, and then hauled them the 
 remainder of the distance, purchasing a 
 team of oxen when about sixty miles from 
 Chicago to assist the other team. They 
 came to Outagamie (then Brown) county. 
 Wis., and James took up 160 acres in 
 Section 20, the farm where he yet re- 
 sides, for a brief period boarding with his 
 brother Matthew, who had already made 
 some improvements. 
 
 On March 18, i860, he was married, 
 in Greenville township, to Abbie Wick- 
 ware, who was born in 1824 in Kings 
 county, Nova Scotia, daughter of James 
 Wickware, an early settler of Greenville 
 township. To this union was born one 
 child, Ella, now Mrs. William G. Jami- 
 son, of Greenville. Before his marriage 
 Mr. Culbertson engaged in steam saw- 
 milling at Hortonville, having previously 
 had a steam mill in Greenville; but the 
 mill in Hortonville being burned in 1863, 
 he returned to his farm, and has been 
 living on it ever since. He followed agri- 
 cultural pursuits until 1886, when, his 
 health becoming somewhat impaired, he 
 disposed of his land, and has since led a 
 retired life. Mr. Culbertson spent many 
 years of industrious toil in the improve- 
 ment of his farm, which he converted 
 from its primitive condition to what it 
 now is — a fertile and well-cultivated tract. 
 He has paid his farming interests the 
 closest attention, and during the forty- 
 five years of his residence in Greenville 
 . township has never been more than forty 
 miles from home. Though always view- 
 ing with pleasure any evidence of pro- 
 gress in the community, and in favor of 
 any project tending to benefit the com- 
 munity at large, he takes no active part 
 in public affairs himself. His political 
 sympathies are with the Republican party. 
 
 John Culbertson. Among the best 
 known of the wealthy farmers of Green- 
 ville township, Outagamie county, is 
 John Culbertson, who has been closely 
 identified with her agricultural interests 
 for the past forty years. He was born 
 
 in 1827, in Jefferson county, Ind., third 
 son of John and Margaret (Reidj Cul- 
 bertson, and attended the common coun- 
 try district schools of his time and 
 place. 
 
 He was reared to the active duties of 
 farm life, and remained in his native 
 county until August, 1850, when he mi- 
 grated to Wisconsm, where his brothers 
 had made a settlement a short time pre- 
 viously. Going first to Cincinnati, he 
 journeyed thence by rail to Sandusky, 
 where he took passage on a vessel for 
 Detroit, and then embarked on another 
 boat for Sheboygan, Wis., and on his ar- 
 rival set out on foot for Fond du Lac. A 
 stage was then running between these 
 cities, but bad roads necessitated the 
 passengers walking certain parts of the 
 distance, and our subject, having made 
 an acquaintance on the boat whose desti- 
 nation was Menasha, concluded to walk 
 the entire distance with him. They ar- 
 rived at Fond du Lac the second day, 
 coming thence^ to Neenah, from which 
 place Mr. Culbertson walked to Green- 
 ville township, where his brothers were 
 then clearing land. He remained in this 
 vicinity for a couple of months, during 
 part of which time he employed himself 
 in the clearings of his brothers, attended 
 raisings and "bees" around through the 
 neighboring country, and also visited 
 Appleton, which now thriving city then 
 contained but a few houses and stores. 
 He returned to Indiana over the same route 
 by which he came, and remained there till 
 the spring of 1852, when, with a team of 
 horses and a wagon, he and a cousin, 
 Robert Culbertson, began the trip to 
 Wisconsin overland. They journeyed 
 through Indiana via Indianapolis, W'a- 
 bash and La Fayette, across to Grand 
 Prairie, 111. , through Chicago and Racine 
 to Milwaukee, and thence via the old 
 stage route to Fond du Lac, from which 
 place the team was shipped, as the roads 
 were impassable. Coming on by way of 
 Neenah, Mr. Culbertson finally arrived in 
 Greenville township, Outagamie county. 
 
85S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 where the X. \\'. (Juarter of Section 20 
 had been purchased and located for him. 
 At this time no improvements had been 
 made, the land was in its primitive con- 
 dition, and he was the first prospective 
 settler to make a clearinfj and build a 
 house. Deer were not uncommon here 
 in that day, and wolves were both 
 numerous and troublesome; our subject 
 killed two deer in this neighborhood, but 
 he was never much of a hunter. 
 
 In December, 1853, Mr. Culberston 
 was married, in Dale township, Outaga- 
 mie county, to Miss R. E. Prentice, a 
 native of New York, born in 1837, in 
 Broome county, daughter of Virgil and 
 Angeline (Webb) Prentice, who migrated 
 to Winnebago county, Wis., in 1852, and 
 lived there for about one year; Mr. Pren- 
 tice died in i 884 in Dale township, Outa- 
 gamie county, where his widow still lives, 
 at the age of eighty-one years. Mr. 
 Culbertson commenced housekeeping on 
 the farm which he still owns and occupies, 
 and which under his care and manage- 
 ment has assumed the beautiful appear- 
 ance it presents to-day, a change requir- 
 ing many years of hard work, and such 
 toil as only those who have experienced 
 can have any idea of. He has now 240 
 acres of exxellent land, all highly im- 
 proved, and has accumulated a comfort- 
 able competence as a result of his labors. 
 Among his fellow citizens he is regarded 
 as a thorough farmer and a kind-hearted 
 neighbor, and an excellent member of the 
 community, where he has gained the 
 esteem of all who have had dealings with 
 him in any way. Politically he is a Repub- 
 lican, and Mrs. Culbertson is a member of 
 the M. E. Church of Medina. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Culbertson have had 
 children as follows: Angeline, who died 
 at the age of twenty-six years, unmarried ; 
 Adolphus, who died January 28, 1888, 
 aged thirty years (for some few years 
 previous to his decease he had been in the 
 western States, to the Pacific coast, and 
 southern California); Franklin, deceased 
 in infancy; Elsie, Mrs. Charles Benedict, 
 
 of Osborn township: Eliza, a school 
 teacher, at home; Belle, at home, and 
 Myrtle, a school teacher, also at home. 
 
 ALEXANDER CULBERTSON, a 
 prominent farmer of Greenville 
 township, Outagamie county, was 
 born February 2, 1834, in Jeffer- 
 son county, Indiana. 
 
 He obtained a common-school educa- 
 tion, a good one for that period, and was 
 reared on a farm. When twenty-one 
 years old he pushed out into the growing 
 West, coming by rail to Chicago, thence 
 by steamer to Sheboygan, thence by 
 steamboat from Fond du Lac to Menasha, 
 and finally located on the N. E. quarter 
 of Section 21, Township 21, Range 16. 
 The first improvements on this land were 
 made by him in i855,and there he has since 
 resided. At the time of his arrival no roads 
 led near his land; now there are two 
 roads, one on each side, both of which he 
 has seen constructed. He has either 
 made the improvements on the property 
 or directed their accomplishment, and the 
 result of his years of labor is very grat- 
 ifying. 
 
 On April 15, 1S69, he was married, in 
 Appleton, to Sylvina M. Perry, who was 
 born in Greenville township, October 12, 
 1850. Her parents, Miles R. and Achsah 
 fEldred) Perry, were pioneers of the 
 township, Mr. Perry, in 1847, buying land 
 in Section 26, on which he settled in 
 1849. Children as follows were born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Culbertson: Miles J., born 
 February 9, 1870, died February 16, 
 1877; Frank, born June 23, 1871, now 
 at home; Perry, born February 14, 1873, 
 now at home: Archie, born March 21, 
 1875, died February 22, 1877; Harvey, 
 born December 16, 1877, and Percy, born 
 September 4, 1879, both now at home. 
 Mr. Culbertson has always been an un- 
 swerving Republican, and was once (1858) 
 elected township superintendent of schools; 
 he does not, however, aspire to notoriety, 
 politically. He is an excellent citizen, a 
 
O^^^/^^./V^^ "^^xJ^P^ ^ 
 
 -C-/^ 3 
 
COM ME MO RA Tl ^ 'K lilOQRA PIIICA L RMOORD. 
 
 8t)i 
 
 ri'iium^ man witli lnii.ul iialural inlrllcct, 
 and always oiitspdkcii and fi-aiK'ss in re- 
 gard to (pu'stions aUcctinj; i)ul)lic wi'lfaro. 
 His iinc farm, substantial bnildinj^s and 
 pleasant snrrnnndings bear cxiduncc to 
 the fact that \w is a thorough fanner, and 
 to the work tiiat has been accoini)lislu'(l 
 during the years he has been a resident of 
 this region. 
 
 Hl'.KMAN PAULI, retired. It is 
 always a source of ])leasure to 
 look upon and ronlcm|)latt' an 
 active anil useful life brought to 
 a successful close, apart and abstracted 
 from all the heat and turmoil of actual 
 business strife, as in the case of the gen- 
 tleman whose name is here recorded. 
 
 Mr. Pauli was born in Germany in 
 1843, a son of Frederic and Anna (I'fei- 
 fer) Pauli, also natives of the Fatherland, 
 who in I S47 emigrated to the New World, 
 au<l from their port of debarkation travel- 
 ing westward to the then Territory of 
 Wisconsin, settled in the woods of Wash- 
 ington county, where they opent'<l up a 
 farm. Here the father died in 18S4, the 
 mother ])receding him to the grave l)y 
 some years. They were the parents of 
 ii\e children now living, as follows: 
 Otilia resides in Minnesota; Anna, in 
 Wisconsin; Herman is the subject of this 
 sketch; Gottlieb has his home in Michi- 
 gan, and Charles is a resident of Sey- 
 mour, Outagamie coimty, Wisconsin. 
 
 Herman Pauli was a bright little boy 
 of four simuners when the family came to 
 the United States, and at the common 
 schools of Washington county, Wis., he 
 received all his education. When old 
 enough he was apjirenticed to learn the 
 trade of wagon maker, which he subse- 
 <|uently worked at stea<lily in that county, 
 until the breaking out of the Civil war, 
 when (in 1861) he enlisted in Company 
 F, Thirty-fointh Wis. V. I., nint'-mouths' 
 service, at the eiul of which time he: re- 
 eidisted in the same company for a term 
 of three years. His regiment was at- 
 
 48 
 
 tachcd lo llu' army of llu' West, and par- 
 ticipated in several engagi'ments, includ- 
 ing thi: battle of Memphis, 'I'enn. He 
 served to the close of the war, and was 
 then honorably discharged and returned 
 home to the pursuits of peace. In 1.S65, 
 shortly after his return, he made his 
 home in Freedom township, {)utagamie 
 county, and in the town of l'"r(i-clom 
 followed the wagon-making l)usiness till 
 1S.S9, in which year he moved to Kau- 
 katnia, and here for some time contin- 
 ued his trade. For the past few years 
 he has been comparatively retired, having 
 by industry and close attention to busi- 
 ness accumulated a comfortable compi;- 
 tence. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Pauli was married in 
 Washington county. Wis., to Miss Anna 
 Koontz, and six children were born lo 
 them, named respectively: Charles, John, 
 Carrie, Joseph, Matthew antl George, of 
 whom Charles is married and resides in 
 Kaukauna. fn politics Mr. Pauli is inde- 
 pendent, .ind in 1H93 he was elected alder- 
 man fr(jm his ward. Socially he is a 
 member of Paul H, Beaulieu Post No. 
 247, G. A. R. Although always a busy 
 man, he has nevertheless found time to 
 take a substantial interest in everything 
 tending to the advancement of his 
 adopted country, county and city, of 
 which he is recogni;ied as a thoroughly 
 representative citizen, and as such has 
 earned the respect and confidence of the 
 peojile. 
 
 WILLIAM H. ROGERS, president 
 and treasurer of the Apjileton 
 Pickle & Preserving C'om])any, 
 and proprietor of Rogers' Green- 
 house, Appleton, Wis., is a re]iresenta- 
 tive of a pioneer family, and oiu,' of the 
 oldest and best known business men of 
 A|)|ileton. 
 
 His father, Richaid Rogers, who w.is 
 of Welsh descent, was born in 171).! in 
 Connecticut, and was a veteran of the 
 war of 1812. When twenty-eight years 
 
862 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of age, in company with his brother, he 
 set out for Ohio on foot, finally reaching 
 that State and settling in the great ' ' West- 
 ern Reserve." There, in 1828, he mar- 
 ried Miss Cordillera Davis, who was born 
 in 1807 in Essex county, N. Y. , daughter 
 of Darius Davis, a farmer. Soon after 
 their marriage Mr. Rogers exchanged his 
 Ohio farm for that of his father-in-law in 
 Essex county, N. Y., and removed to the 
 latter. Selling out in 1S49 he came to 
 Wisconsin with his family and bought a 
 farm adjoining the then insignificant vil- 
 lage of Appleton, upon which the family 
 resided until 1877. In that year he sold 
 his interests to his son, and removed to 
 a fruit farm he had purchased near South 
 Haven, Mich., where he died in 1886, the 
 death of his wife occurring the following 
 year. They had a family of five sons and 
 five daughters. Richard Rogers was al- 
 ways a hard-working man. His health 
 had been badly broken down while living 
 in the State of New York, and it was with 
 the hope of benefiting it that he moved 
 west. The result was fully satisfactory. 
 Upon the land which he purchased was a 
 fine sulphur spring, the waters of which 
 he used for medicinal purposes, and at 
 the end of two years he threw away the 
 crutches he had been using, and once 
 more walked without their aid. 
 
 William H. Rogers was born February 
 5, 1S34, in Elizabeth, Essex Co., N. Y., 
 and remained at home until he attained 
 man's estate, assisting in the working of 
 the home farm and attending the com- 
 mon schools of the viciniU'. He had 
 come with his parents to Wisconsin when 
 but fifteen years of age, and seven years 
 later made a trial for an independent 
 livelihood. For three years he drove a 
 four-horse team throughout northern W'is- 
 consin, selling the product of the first 
 paper mill established at Appleton. At 
 that period there was no railroad north of 
 Milwaukee. Mr. Rogers' efforts were 
 so successful that he found a market for 
 the entire output of the mill. In 1857 
 he purchased 160 acres of land in Vinland 
 
 township, Winnebago county, upon which 
 he resided for the succeeding seventeen 
 years. He rented his farm in 1874, re- 
 turned to Appleton and bought his father's 
 farm, the one upon which was located the 
 sulphur spring previously mentioned, re- 
 siding there eight years, conducting a 
 dairy and market garden, and supplying 
 the city with milk. In 1877 he built the 
 first greenhouse in Appleton, and became 
 a resident of the Third ward of that city 
 in 1882. A man named Stone had es- 
 tablished a greenhouse in 1878, opposite 
 the collpge; but this was purchased by 
 Mr. Rogers the next year and conducted 
 by him for two years, when he removed 
 it to his present site and established what 
 is now the "Rogers' Greenhouse." In 
 connection with his other business he 
 opened a general store in 1883, which he 
 sold two years later. In 1893 he took a 
 prominent part in organizing the Appleton 
 Pickle & Preserving Company, with a 
 capital of ten thousand dollars, and was 
 elected its president and treasurer. He 
 is an active, energetic man, and superin- 
 tends, personally, all of his farming and 
 other interests. He has been largely in- 
 strumental in promoting the growth of 
 the city, by purchasing lots, building 
 houses upon them, and disposing of them 
 upon the easy-payment plan, enabling 
 many persons to own homes who could 
 not otherwise do so. Besides his other 
 enterprises, he has a wood, coal and lum- 
 ber yard at Appleton Junction. He sold 
 his W'innebago county farm in 1893, but 
 still owns the old homestead purchased 
 by his father in 1849. 
 
 Among the experiences of his youth in 
 this region, Mr. Rogers vividly remembers 
 an incident which occurred in the late fall 
 of 1849. He started with an ox-team and 
 a sleigh for Milwaukee, after the family's 
 household goods, but upon reaching Fond 
 du Lac found there was no sleighing 
 farther on, and as he could not procure a 
 wagon he was forced to return to Apple- 
 ton for one. This trip occupied four days. 
 On his return he reached Rock river at 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHIOAL RECORD. 
 
 863 
 
 dark, and was advised to cross that night, 
 as the water would probably freeze before 
 morning and make a crossing then impos- 
 sible. In the morning he offered his last 
 five-dollar bill to the landlord in settle- 
 ment for his fare over night, but the wor- 
 thy host scrutinized the piece of paper 
 and pronounced it counterfeit. This was 
 a shock to the young man, but nothing 
 strange in those days of poor currency and 
 unsound banking institutions. Finally a 
 " bank detector, " was hunted up, and the 
 bill found to be probably genuine, where- 
 upon the landlord accepted it and allowed 
 his guest to depart in peace. 
 
 Mr. Rogers was married, March 31, 
 1857, to Miss Lucinda Ann Coats, born 
 in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., in 1838, 
 and daughter of Denison and Orpha 
 (Conger) Coats, natives respectively of 
 Connecticut and Vermont, who had nine 
 children. They came to Winnebago 
 county, Wis., at an early day, settling 
 upon a farm, where Mr. Coats died in 
 1886. The children of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Rogers are Herbert C, HaskelE., Min- 
 nie J., Leonard A., Alice M., Gertrude 
 E., Fred J. and Daisy P. Mr. Rogers 
 and his wife are members of the Baptist 
 Church. He is a Republican in politics, 
 and has held the office of township asses- 
 sor and other minor positions. He is 
 spoken of as a gentleman of exceedingly 
 generous disposition, whose charitable 
 donations are greatly appreciated by the 
 poor whom he has aided. 
 
 PETER SCHMIT, retired farmer of 
 Ellington township, Outagamie 
 county, was born June 22, 1820, 
 in Lu.xemburg, Germany, and he 
 may truly be said to have inherited all the 
 characteristics of his nativity — persever- 
 ance, energy, thrift and honesty. 
 
 His early education was received in the 
 common schools of his native country. 
 At the age of twenty-two years he was 
 apprenticed to the carpenter's trade, which 
 he followed four years in Belgium, and 
 
 then worked at same one year near home. 
 In the spring of 1849 he came to America 
 on the good ship ' ' Liverpool, " the voyage 
 occupying sixty-three days, and arrived at 
 his destination, Milwaukee, Wis., on July 
 4, where he immediately found employ- 
 ment at his trade, and there remained for 
 the next six months. He then came to 
 the town of Ellington, Outagamie county, 
 here purchasing fifty acres of land, which 
 was in reality a small forest, and as he was 
 one of the earliest settlers in this vicinity, 
 he was obliged to undergo a great many of 
 the hardships and privations of pioneer life. 
 He commenced to clear and plant as soon 
 as possible, and prospered so well that he 
 was from time to time able to buy more 
 land until he owned one entire section. 
 He erected good buildings and was con- 
 stantly improving his property; in fact he 
 became one of the most successful farmers 
 in Outagamie county. Coming as he did 
 to Milwaukee with but fifty-one dollars to 
 his name, he has, by hard work and good 
 business judgment, amassed a comfortable 
 fortune, which he and his familj' now 
 enjoy. 
 
 In 1892 he concluded to let his chil- 
 dren assume the care of the farm, and re- 
 tired from active work, though he and his 
 estimable wife still reside upon the farm. 
 He was married to Magdelene Lepper,who 
 was born in 1826 in Bohemia, Austria, 
 and they have had seven children: Liz- 
 zie (deceased), John A. (of Greenville), 
 Mary (now Mrs. Frank Detz, of Elling- 
 ton), Annie (deceased), Charles (of El- 
 lington), Annie (deceased) and Margaret. 
 Though seventy-four years old Mr. Schmit 
 still enjoys comparatively good health, 
 and takes great interest in the affairs of 
 the farm. 
 
 CARL SCHOESSOW, one of the 
 respected, self-made farmer citi- 
 zens of Hortonia township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born March 
 II, 1S46, in Prussia, son of John and 
 Minnie Schoessow, also natives of Prussia. 
 
864 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 The father died in Germany in 1858, 
 when a comparatively young man, the 
 mother in 1892, in Watertovvn, Wis., at 
 the age of sixty-five. They had two chil- 
 dren, Hannah, now Mrs. Henry Henze, 
 of Watertown, Wis., and Carl, whose 
 name opens this sketch. 
 
 Our subject received a good practical 
 education in his native land, and in early 
 manhood commenced work, receiving at 
 first but $2. 50 per month, and continuing 
 to labor for very small wages up to the 
 age of twenty-two. By this time he had 
 managed to save a little money, with which 
 he came to the United States, in order, 
 if possible, to better his condition, locat- 
 ing at Watertown, Wis., where he re- 
 mained until 1880, engaged in farming. 
 He then came to Hortonia township, 
 Outagamie county, and, having saved 
 enough to invest in land, purchased sixty 
 acres, which forms but part of his present 
 farm, he having since added to his origi- 
 nal purchase, until his place now contains 
 160 acres. His is one of the best im- 
 proved tracts in the township, and he has 
 obtained a reputation for skillful farming 
 which he fully deserves. 
 
 Mr. Schoessow was first married to 
 Miss Hannah Moldear, a native of Ger- 
 many, who became the mother of three 
 children, namely: Ida, Emma and Will- 
 iam. Mrs. Schoessow died in 1875 in 
 Watertown, Wis., and in 1881 he wedded, 
 for his second wife, Bertha Schuman, who 
 has borne him two children — Charles and 
 Martin. Mr. Schoessow is a Democrat 
 politically, and in religious connection is 
 a member of the Lutheran Church. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL MASSONET, an en- 
 ergetic, wide-awake farmer of 
 Grand Chute township, has 
 passed nearly all his active busi- 
 ness 11 Outagamie county. He was 
 born February 8, 1858, in Belgium, son 
 of Michael Massonet, Sr. , and when 
 thirteen years of age came with his par- 
 
 ents to America and to Wisconsin, they 
 settling in Appleton, Outagamie county. 
 Michael Massonet received all his 
 school training in his native land, attend- 
 ing the common schools until he came to 
 the United States, so that his English 
 education has been acquired solely by 
 reading and practical experience. After 
 coming to Appleton he worked for about 
 three years in the chair factory at thirty- 
 five cents per day, and afterward was em- 
 ployed in the basket factory, acting as 
 watchman of that establishment for nearly 
 three years before it was burned down. 
 After this he went to Wood county, where 
 with his two brothers he was engaged in 
 " putting logs in " for Webster, of Mena- 
 sha. Subsequently, for two and a half 
 years, he was porter in the ' ' Waverly 
 House," at Appleton, and on leaving that 
 place he embarked in the butcher busi- 
 ness in partnership with his brother Perry, 
 in Appleton, " across the chute." They 
 conducted the business together four 
 years, at the end of which time our sub- 
 ject retired from the concern, with five 
 cents and a horse, wagon and harness, 
 and commenced wholesaling on his own 
 account — buying cattle and selling them 
 wholesale after butchered — continuing 
 thus for a year and a half, and obtaining 
 another fair start. He next engaged in 
 the sale of lime and mortar, sand, brick, 
 etc. , for about three years, and then, in 
 the fall of 1890, invested in land, buying 
 two pieces in Section 21, Grand Chute 
 township, one containing forty-one acres, 
 the other about fourteen. About five 
 acres had been improved, but the re- 
 mainder was not entirely cleared, and 
 the stumps were still standing, so that all 
 the improvements now seen upon the 
 place are the work of his hands, and 
 reflect great credit on him for his industry 
 and progressive spirit. In 1891 he built 
 a substantial new residence, and a year 
 later a commodious barn, and he also has 
 a slaughter-house on the place, being en- 
 gaged at times in his old business — whole- 
 saling meat. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 865 
 
 Since his removal to Grand Chute 
 township, Mr. Massenet has given his 
 principal attention to his farming interests, 
 but while residing in Appleton he took an 
 active part in public affairs and served 
 four years as alderman. However, he 
 takes a lively interest in any enterprise 
 for the welfare of his community, and is 
 recognized as a public-spirited citizen in 
 every way. A typical, hard-working self- 
 made man, his success in life is well- 
 merited, and his ready willingness to help 
 others has made him well-liked and re- 
 spected by those who have come in con- 
 tact with him, either in business or so- 
 cial life. 
 
 On October 19, 1880, Mr. Massonet 
 was married in St. Joseph's Church, Ap- 
 pleton, to Miss Mary Fischer, a native <jf 
 .New Hartford, Wis., who is a daughter 
 of Charles Fischer, a butcher. In politics 
 our subject is a Democrat, and in religious 
 faith he is a Catholic. 
 
 CHARLES SYLVESTER, a thrifty 
 industrious German farmer of 
 Cicero township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, was born December 23, 1838, 
 in Stolpe, Germanj-, son of Charles and 
 Henrietta (Kranzusch) Sylvester. He is 
 one of a family of seven children, the 
 others named as follows: Minnie, Johan- 
 na, Henrietta, Gottlieb, Augusta and 
 Bertha. 
 
 Our subject remained at home until he 
 was nineteen years of age, when he com- 
 menced life on his own account. When 
 twenty-three years old he was married to 
 Miss Caroline Renhak, and they remained 
 in Germany about seven years longer, in 
 1869 coming to America with their two 
 children, Herman and Amelia, borrowing 
 the money to pay their passage. From 
 the port of landing they came directly to 
 Osborn township, Outagamie Co., Wis., 
 where Mrs. Sylvester died two weeks 
 after their arrival, and after living for a 
 year on a farm the father came with his 
 two children to Appleton, where he re- 
 
 mained eight years, during which time he 
 married, for his second wife. Miss Barbara 
 Werner. Having purchased sixty acres 
 in Cicero township, for which he paid 
 about thirteen dollars an acre, the family 
 removed hither, living at a neighbor's house 
 until a site could be cleared and a dwell- 
 ing erected. Mr. Sylvester set at once 
 about the task of clearing his land, and 
 has also added twenty acres to the original 
 tract, having now eighty acres of fine 
 farming land, well improved and highly 
 cultivated. This has been accomplished 
 after a great deal of labor, in which his 
 wife has nobly assisted him. They have 
 had seven children: Sarah, W'alter, Ed- 
 win, Sanford and Alfred (twins), Oscar 
 and Gilbert. Politically Mr. Sylvester is 
 a stanch member of the Republican party, 
 and has held the office of township treas- 
 urer for fourteen years, sufficient proof in 
 itself of the confidence reposed in him by 
 his fellow citizens, among whom he is 
 highly respected. He and his wife are, 
 in religious faith, members of the Evan- 
 gelical Association, in which he takes » 
 great interest, at present serving as 
 treasurer. 
 
 GEORGE DAMBRUCH, a typical 
 self-made, enterprising, energetic 
 business man of Appleton, Outa- 
 gamie county, is a native of Wis- 
 consin, born February 20, 1853, in the 
 city of Milwaukee. 
 
 Jacob Dambruch, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Ger- 
 many, in 1 816, and learned the trade of 
 mason, which he followed many years. 
 In his native land he married Miss Eliza- 
 beth Sahart, and in 184S the\' came to 
 the United States, settling in Milwaukee, 
 Wis., where he is yet living. In his 
 younger days he served in the German 
 army. The mother, who was born in 
 Germany in 18 19, died in Milwaukee 
 January 17, 1890. Eight children were 
 born to this pioneer couple, named re- 
 spectively: Henry, John, Conrad, Jacob, 
 
866 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 George,- Elizabeth, Frederick and Mag- 
 gie, all yet living. Grandfather Dam- 
 bruch was a hotel-keeper in Germany, and 
 when eighty-nine years of age was killed 
 by an insane man. 
 
 George Dambruch, whose name in- 
 troduces this sketch, received a liberal 
 education at the common schools of his 
 native place, and early in life commenced 
 to assist his father in mason work, re- 
 maining with him until twenty-one years 
 of age, when he entered a tannery, and 
 having learned the trade continued in 
 same a total of fourteen years. At the 
 end of that time he formed a partnership 
 with August C. Henk, his brother-in-law, 
 for the manufacture of root beer in Mil- 
 waukee; but after two years he sold his 
 interest, and in iS^i removed with his 
 family to Appleton, Wis., where he again 
 embarked in the root beer industry, in 
 which he has since continued, the manu- 
 facture of soda water having been added 
 by him in 1882. Mr. Dambruch's busi- 
 ness is steadily expanding, the e.xcellent 
 article in both lines being well patronized 
 by an appreciative public. The business 
 is now known as the ' ' Appleton Bottling 
 Works." 
 
 On October 14, 1875, our subject was 
 married to Miss Carrie Henk, who was 
 born in Milwaukee in March, 1854, daugh- 
 ter of Matthew and Margaret (Brier) Henk, 
 natives of Germany, the father born in 
 1826, the mother in 1S28. They were 
 married in the United States, and had 
 four children: August, Jos'eph, Josephine 
 (who died at the age of two years) and 
 Carrie. The father, who was a mer- 
 chant, died in 1854. The mother sub- 
 sequenth', in 1856, married Daniel Erd- 
 mann, also a merchant, and of this union 
 six children were born, Lizzie and Peter 
 being the only survivors. To the union 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Dambruch came five 
 children, viz. : Edward, Flora, Ida, 
 Georgie (deceased in infancy), and Herbie 
 (who died in 1885 at the age of two 
 years). The entire family are members 
 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 
 
 HERMANN O. E. DIESTLER. 
 The record of successful business 
 men needs no introductory pre- 
 face among the citizens of their 
 native county, and the gentleman who is 
 the subject of this sketch is undoubtedly a 
 member of the class just referred to. By 
 his strict personal integrity and honorable 
 dealings, combined with brilliant business 
 qualifications, he has become not only one 
 of the leading manufacturers, but also one 
 of the most highly respected citizens of 
 Outagamie count}'. 
 
 Mr. Diestler is a son of Charles and 
 Julia (Kluge) Diestler. He received his 
 elementary education in the parochial 
 schools of Washington county, Wis., and 
 later, while learning his trade, that of a 
 carpenter, he took a course of study in 
 the Business College at Milwaukee, Wis. 
 He continued to work at carpentry until 
 1888, when he purchased a half interest 
 in a saw and feed mill opposite the site 
 of his present place of business (which is 
 situated in Hortonville), and the same 
 year added to it a planing-mill. Two 
 vears later he bought the premises, he now 
 occupies, from W. K. Rydock, from time 
 to time adding improvements thereto in 
 the way of new machinery, etc., until to- 
 day he has one of the finest and best 
 equipped lumber and planing-mills in the 
 county, having every facility for carrying 
 on a large and rapidly increasing business. 
 Mr. Diestler commenced for himself at 
 the age of twenty-three, with a capital of 
 $1,400. and his business has steadily in- 
 creased until to-day the output amount^ 
 to over $70,000 a jear. He is also a 
 stockholder in the new gold mines lately 
 opened up near Hortonville. He and his 
 family are members of the Lutheran 
 Church; in his political views he is a 
 Republican, and has been chairman of 
 the town of Hortonville for one year. 
 Our subject married Elizabeth Foester, 
 a native of Bavaria, daughter of John 
 and Maria Foester, and their union has 
 been blessed with five children — four 
 sons and one daughter, viz. : Hermann, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 867 
 
 Edmund, Henry, Alena and Armin, all 
 still residing with their parents in Horton- 
 viile. 
 
 The Diestler family are natives of 
 Brandenburg, near Berlin, Germany, and 
 the parents of our subject removed to the 
 United States in August, 1S68, first locat- 
 ing in Washington county, Wis., thence 
 removed to Outagamie county, December 
 23. 1875. where the father of our subject 
 follows farming, and is a prominent and 
 highly respected citizen. They had born 
 to them eleven children, eight of whom 
 survive, viz. : Charles, residing in Hor- 
 tonville; Albertina, wife of Gottlieb Mage- 
 danz, residing in Dale; Hermann O. E. ; 
 Otto; Robert, who is connected with his 
 brother in the mill; Albert, William, and 
 Annie; Hattie, Erman and Erns died 
 while young, of diphtheria. 
 
 JULIUS SCHNEIDER, farmer of 
 Greenville township, Outagamie 
 county, was born in Prussia June 16, 
 1838, son of John Schneider, a car- 
 penter in comfortable circumstances, who 
 made his living by working at his trade. 
 He had si.x children — four sons and two 
 daughters — of whom Julius and Ferdinand 
 (twins) were the eldest. 
 
 Julius Schneider received a good edu- 
 cation in his native language at the higher 
 institutions of learning, and was well 
 fitted to fill clerical positions in office; he 
 was once clerk to the mayor of Schneide- 
 muhl, and in his native country was con- 
 sidered an excellent penman. His home 
 was in a city, and at the age of fourteen 
 he began to learn the carpenter's trade un- 
 der his father's instruction, but was bound 
 out to another man to complete the work, 
 remaining with him for three years. When 
 twenty years old he entered the Prussian 
 army, and served three years — the last 
 year as a sergeant — at the end of which 
 time he resumed his trade and worked at 
 it one year. About this time it occurred 
 to him that, as he was young and strong, 
 he could do better in the United States, 
 
 and, early in February, 1865, -he bade 
 farewell to his home and friends and left 
 his native land to try his fortune in a 
 strange country. From Hamburg he 
 proceeded to Hull, England, thence by 
 rail to Liverpool, from which place he 
 took passage on the steamer "/Etna," ar- 
 riving nine days later in New York, and, 
 having an uncle, Louis Schneider, in 
 Ripon, Wis., he continued his journey 
 hither. Although he was a good carpen- 
 ter he had no tools, and no money to buy 
 them with, and he, therefore, came on as 
 far as Oshkosh, where he found employ- 
 ment at loading and unloading vessels en- 
 gaged in transporting limestone, sand and 
 brick between Clifton and Oshkosh. 
 Although it was work he knew little 
 about, the wages offered a strong in- 
 ducement, and he earned $40 per month 
 and his board. In two months he saved 
 sufficient money to buy the tools he needed, 
 and commenced working at his trade at 
 Ripon, working a year for one man at that 
 place, and then returning to Oshkosh was 
 for si.x months employed in the construc- 
 tion of the first bridge at that city, receiv- 
 ing good wages and saving his money. 
 In 1868 he came to Greenville, where he 
 found an excellent opening for a carpen- 
 ter. The first house he ever built was 
 one for Fred Julius, in the township, and 
 he continued to work exclusively at his 
 trade for ten j'ears, having at times four 
 or five men in his employ, and probably- 
 building more houses and barns in Green- 
 ville and neighboring townships than any 
 other carpenter of his time. That he was 
 a finished workman the quality of the 
 buildings erected will attest. 
 
 On November 2, 1870, in Greenville 
 township, Mr. Schneider married Sophia 
 Folzer, who was born in Mecklenburg, 
 Germany, but came to the United States 
 when but an infant with her parents, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Fred Folzer, and was reared 
 near Niagara Falls, N. Y. ; in later years 
 the Folzer family came to Wisconsin and 
 located in Greenville township. The par- 
 ents are now living a quiet, retired life. 
 
868 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Neenah. For some five years after his 
 marriage Mr. Schneider hved with his 
 father-in-law, and about 1874 purchased 
 eighty acres of land on Section 34, in 
 Greenville, at a cost of $4,070, and lo- 
 cated upon it. He has improved the farm 
 in many ways, remodeled the buildings, 
 and added forty-four acres to the original 
 purchase. He is the proprietor of a 
 thriving agricultural implement business 
 at Neenah, which is under the immediate 
 supervision of his son. He is a wide- 
 awake, progressive citizen, a reading and 
 a thinking man, and respected by all. In 
 political matters he is not a partisan, al- 
 ways being guided by his best judgment 
 in making his choice, after reading the ar- 
 guments of all sides and thoroughly post- 
 ing himself. Though never an aspirant 
 to office, he has been for thirteen years 
 treasurer of his school district. In re- 
 ligious connection he is a member of the 
 Lutheran Church, in which he has held 
 the office of trustee. The children of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Schneider are: Gustav, in the 
 agricultural implement business at Nee- 
 nah, Wis. ; Fred, a carpenter, residing at 
 Blue Earth City, Minn.; William, Julius, 
 Francis and Henry, at home; one child, 
 a son, the second in order of birth, died 
 in infancy. 
 
 DENNIS MEIDAM, superintendent 
 for the Riverside Association, Ap- 
 pleton, Outagamie county, was 
 born in Germany April 29, 1846, 
 a son of John and Richa (Van Smallan) 
 Meidam. The father, who was a farmer 
 and hewer pf timber, came with his fam- 
 ily in 1853 to this country, settling in 
 Appleton, Wis. , where he passed the rest 
 of his days, chiefly engaged in hewing 
 timber. Eight children were born to him 
 and his wife, five of whom are yet living, 
 viz. : Miles, Stephen, Dennis, Henrietta 
 and Mary. 
 
 The subject of these lines received but 
 a limited education in the common schools 
 of Appleton, having at the early age of 
 
 twelve years to work out in the woods 
 with his father, taking his end of a cross- 
 cut saw in felling the trees, in itself the 
 labor of a man. He also worked in Bee- 
 water's stave factory, running the ' ' shaper " 
 four years, after which he farmed until 
 1863, the year of his enlistment in the 
 Twelfth Wisconsin Infantry, Company F, 
 First Brigade, Third Division, Nineteenth 
 Army Corps. He served in the army of 
 the West, marched with Sherman to the 
 sea, was always with his regiment, and 
 never reported on the sick list. On the 
 occasion of the Grand Review at Wash- 
 ington, in 1865, he was present, and 
 in July, same year, was discharged, after 
 which he came to Appleton, Wis., where 
 he commenced farming. In 1867, how- 
 ever, he moved into the lumber woods as 
 foreman of a gang, and for three years 
 was running logs on the river during the 
 springtime, working his farm in the sum- 
 mer months. In this he continued some 
 six years, and then from 1873 to 1889 he 
 worked for the Riverside Association, in 
 the latter year being made superintendent 
 of the grounds, which include the ceme- 
 tery and greenhouse, a position he con- 
 tinues to fill with eminent ability and un- 
 qualified satisfaction. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Meidam was married to 
 Miss Martha \'an Owen, who was born in 
 Grand Island, N. Y., in 1849, daughter of 
 Dennis and Margaret Dewitt Van Owen, 
 also natives of Germany, who came to 
 America immediately after marriage, lo- 
 cating first in New York State, later, in 
 the fall of 1853, moving to Wisconsin. 
 They are now both deceased, the father, 
 who was a farmer, having passed away in 
 1893, the mother some j'ears before. 
 Four of their children are yet living, viz. : 
 Paul, 'Isaac, Martha and Wilhelmina. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Meidam have been born 
 eight children, as follows: John W^, 
 Henry, Stephen, Katie, Margaret, Jennie, 
 Wilhelmina and Dennis, Jr. Our subject 
 is a member of the G. A. R. , and of the 
 I. O. O. F. and the Encampment. A 
 stanch Republican, he cast his first vote 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHIGAL RECORD. 
 
 869 
 
 for Abraham Lincoln, and has always 
 taken a deep interest in the affairs of his 
 party. At one time of his Hfe, not re- 
 corded above, he went to Iowa to assist 
 in harvest work, for which he received six 
 dollars per day. After the harvest, in 
 company with one McCoy, he set out for 
 the "wild and wooly West," buying a 
 broncho, guns and all the paraphernalia 
 necessary for the make-up of a western 
 outfit. On his way he fell in with a party 
 of travelers who, in course of the journey, 
 proved to be a band of horse thieves. 
 After four days Mr. Meidam succeeded in 
 making his escape from them, alarmed 
 the ranchers and speedily made his way 
 back to Iowa. 
 
 WILLIAM STAMMER, proprietor 
 of the Columbian Experimental 
 Fruit Farm and Seedling Nurs- 
 er}'. Freedom township. Outa- 
 gamie county has within her borders 
 many self-made prosperous farmers, and 
 among these this gentleman ranks second 
 to none as a thorough agriculturist and 
 horticulturist, and an intelligent, respected 
 citizen. 
 
 Mr. Stammer was born in Germany, 
 March 14, 1844, son of Frederick Stam- 
 mer, a farmer and mason, who in 1857 
 came to the United States bringing his 
 family, which then consisted of his wife 
 and three children — William, a sketch of 
 whom follows; Rudolph, who is a farmer 
 of Freedom township, and Lazetta. Sail- 
 ing from Hamburg the family landed in 
 New York after a voyage of seven weeks, 
 and thence journeyed on to their destina- 
 tion, Waukesha, Wis. Here they rented 
 a small piece of land, which the family 
 worked, Mr. Stammer following his trade 
 to some extent, until i860, when they 
 came to Outagamie county, the family of 
 Christof Miller coming at the same time. 
 The entire journey was made by wagon, 
 and as the roads were bad and the mud 
 deep they traveled very slowly, enduring 
 many hardships and inconveniences on 
 
 the long and tedious trip. On their arrival 
 in Greenville township they stopped at the 
 house of Adam Miller, and passed the 
 next night in Grand Chute township at a 
 farmhouse situated on the Freedom road, 
 where they were charged exorbitant prices 
 for lodging, which they could ill afford. 
 There were very few clearings along the 
 road, and it led through the woods a 
 greater part of the way. Near the present 
 home of our subject stood a rude log 
 shant}', hardly fit for habitation, but 
 this house was the only shelter the two 
 families had for three months. Christof 
 Miller made the first purchase, and from 
 him Mr. Stammer bought forty acres in 
 Section 6, Freedom township, all in its 
 primitive condition, and heavily timbered, 
 not a stick having been cut by a prospect- 
 ive settler. There were no roads, no 
 fences, no improvements of any kind, and 
 at first the proceeds from the farm were 
 found to fall so far short of affording a 
 support to his family that Mr. Stammer 
 worked often at his trade. But in spite 
 of all the drawbacks the land was at length 
 made productive, and the family had 
 established a comfortable home as a re- 
 sult of their labors. The domestic circle 
 was increased in Wisconsin by the birth 
 of one child, Augusta, who married John 
 Sorenson and died May 29, 1890, in Ap- 
 pleton.. Mr. Stammer and his wife are 
 still living in Freedom township, highly 
 respected by all who know them. They 
 were formerly connected with the Luther- 
 ans, but now attend the Moravian Church. 
 In politics he sympathizes with the Dem- 
 ocratic party, but in voting supports the 
 man he thinks best fitted for an office. 
 
 William Stammer attended the com- 
 mon schools of the Fatherland from the 
 age of six years until he came with the 
 family to his country, when he was about 
 thirteen; he attended the English schools 
 only a short time, however, and his knowl- 
 edge of the language has been acquired 
 principally by experience. It was his 
 duty, after the family's settlement in the 
 woods of Freedom township, to watch the 
 
870 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 COWS and prevent them from straying 
 away. While at his work one day a wound- 
 ed deer passed near him, pursued by In- 
 dians and their dogs, and their appearance 
 so frightened him that he left his cows 
 and ran for home. When fourteen jears 
 old he was confirmed, and shortly after- 
 ward, though but a boy, he commenced 
 work in earnest, first chopping brush and 
 doing light clearing work in the Outa- 
 gamie county swamps. In Greenville 
 township he hired out to Adam Miller 
 at five dollars per month, on a new 
 farm, where work was plentiful, and re- 
 mained with him two years. He returned 
 home for a short time, and ne.xt engaged 
 to work for a farmer near Oshkosh, for 
 four dollars per month, his work being to 
 watch about eighty cows kept by Eli Still- 
 son, and here he worked for three years, 
 an evidence of satisfactorj' service. 
 
 In August, 1862, he enlisted, at Osh- 
 kosh, in Company C, Twenty-first Wis. 
 V. I. , and was sent to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 and thence to Louisville, K}'. , where he 
 was quite ill. His first active service was 
 at the battle of Perryville, Ky., and at 2 
 p. M., Octobers, 1862, he was wounded 
 by a niinie-ball (which passed through his 
 right shoulder), just as he was raising to 
 fire. For two hours he remained un- 
 conscious, and a:s soon as able crawled to 
 a stone wall, where he could see that the 
 left wing had been cleared. Following 
 an ambulance he was taken with other 
 wounded soldiers to Sulphur Springs, Ky. , 
 where his wound was treated, and a few 
 days later he walked back to Perryville. 
 From there he was sent to hospital at 
 Lebanon, Ky. , later to Louisville, and 
 thence to New Albany, Ind. , where, hav- 
 ing almost recovered, he was assigned to 
 the Invalid Corps, and was put on duty 
 at Jackson, Mich., guarding prison. He 
 was ne.\t sent to Detroit, about the time 
 of the threatened invasion from Canada, 
 and here, much to his disgust, was given 
 the work of driving a team. However, 
 he was soon given the care of officers' 
 horses, work he took great interest in; 
 
 it did not occupy- all his time, and during 
 his leisure hours he did various odd jobs, 
 among others husking corn for a farmer. 
 Thinking the horses under his care would 
 enjo)' some corn he went to the field one 
 night to get it, but he was caught and 
 brought up before the authorities, who 
 fined him twenty-four dollars, which he 
 paid, having to borrow the money from 
 his friends. In July, 1865, he received 
 an honorable discharge at Detroit, and re- 
 turned to the pursuits of peace and his 
 old home in Wisconsin. 
 
 On June 24, 1867, Mr. Stammer was 
 married, in the schoolhouse of District 
 No. 5, Freedom township, to Miss Louisa 
 Krabbe, who was born October 13, 1846, 
 in Mecklenburg, Germany, daughter of 
 Adam Krabbe, who came to the United 
 States in 1852, locating first in Wauke- 
 sha, later in Milwaukee county, and 
 finally in Freedom township, Outagamie 
 county, where he 3'et resides. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Stammer have been born chil- 
 dren as follows: Paulina, wife of David 
 Muench, of Appleton; Edward C, a 
 cheesemaker, of Freedom; Louis A., a 
 painter, of Appleton; Rosa A., who died 
 in infancy; Robert A. , a painter; Otto W. , 
 Amanda L., Willie O., Adella M., Eliza- 
 beth D. and Zanah E., at home; and 
 Arthur G. , who died in infancy. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Stammer set- 
 tled on his present farm, which was pur- 
 chased from the money saved from the 
 pay received for his services in the army, 
 and the first dwelling was a rude log 
 house, very simply furnished, the chairs 
 and various "ther articles having been 
 made b\- himself. His wife assisted him 
 in every way possible, and at times walked 
 the entire distance to Appleton and re- 
 turn, to market, with what little produce 
 they had. This was but one of the many 
 hardships they endured to secure a home, 
 but their united efforts have been crowned 
 with the highest success, and to-day they 
 can look with pride on their beautiful 
 farm, in the finest state of cultivation, 
 equipped with good buildings and a sub- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE UWORAPUIGAL RECORD. 
 
 871 
 
 stantial modern dwelling, all the result of 
 their own industry. Some years ago Mr. 
 Stammer commenced to give special at- 
 tention to the raising of small fruits, and 
 later the raising of the trees, this business 
 requiring land in the highest state of fer- 
 tility, a condition to which he has brought 
 his entire 113 acres, by care and skillful 
 management. He is also a practical hor- 
 ticulturist, and in his specialties is as well 
 read as any man in his vicinity, having 
 probably but few equals in his section. 
 In politics he is a stanch Republican, and 
 has served his township as school clerk 
 and for two years as justice of the peace, 
 being a pubHc-spirited and progressive 
 citizen, highly respected among his many 
 friends and acquaintances. In religious 
 connection he and his famiU' are identified 
 with the Evangelical Church. 
 
 JOHN SCHEFE, present constable 
 of Greenville township, Outagamie 
 county, was born June 4, 1838, in 
 Mecklenburg -Schwerin, Germany, 
 son of Fred Schefe, who came to the 
 United States with his family in 1853. Em- 
 barking at Hamburg they landed in New 
 York after a tedious voyage of over nine 
 weeks, and came immediately to the then 
 new State of Wisconsin, journeying by 
 rail to Milwaukee, and thence by wagon 
 to Greenville township, where Mr. Schefe 
 purchased eighty acres of timber land in 
 Section 34, of which section they were 
 the first permanent settlers, building the 
 first house there. On this farm, which 
 is now owned by our subject, Mrs. Schefe 
 died in 1892, and here her husband is yet 
 living at an advanced age. They were 
 the parents of four children — John, Fred, 
 Sophia and Adora, all living but Sophia. 
 John Schefe was in his sixteenth year 
 when he crossed the Atlantic with his 
 parents, and previous to that time he had 
 attended the common schools in Germany. 
 He found plenty of work awaiting him 
 on the pioneer farm, in the clearing of 
 which he assisted materially, sharing the 
 
 hardships and trials which are the com- 
 mon lot of settlers in a new and sparsely 
 settled region. For two years they had 
 no stove; for two years they had no beasts 
 of burden of any kind, and as all their 
 trading had to be done in Neenah, our 
 subject had many a long walk through 
 the forest, carrying provisions. When 
 working out for others he usually received 
 but twenty-five cents per day, and on one 
 occasion he worked four days, logging, 
 and received only four hens in payment 
 for his labor. In 1862 he married, in 
 Greenville township. Miss Sophia Raenke, 
 a native of Mecklenburg, and to this 
 union have been born children as follows: 
 Henry, who is a farmer of Greenville 
 township; George and Fred, living at 
 home; Anna, Mrs. Louis Schultz; and 
 Alvina and Lena, at home. 
 
 At one time Mr. Schefe owned 1 70 
 acres of good land, but he gave eighty 
 acres to his son, and now conducts a gen- 
 eral farming business on the remaining 
 ninety acres. Mr. Schefe always remained 
 at home and gave his earnings to his par- 
 ents, and his father gave him a farm, which 
 he improved and added to. His many 
 sterling qualities have made him respected 
 among his neighbors and fellow citizens, 
 who have called him to fill various local 
 positions, and he is at present serving as 
 constable of Greenville township, of which 
 he has also been supervisor. In political 
 affiliation he is a Democrat, and he at- 
 tends the Lutheran Church. 
 
 LEONHARD MERKEL, proprietor 
 of one of the leading butcher 
 markets in Appleton, was born 
 April 14, 1845, in Washington 
 county. Wis. , a son of John G. Merkel, a 
 native of Germany, born January 16, 1809, 
 and who came to America in 1840. John 
 Merkel, grandfather of our subject, was a 
 farmer in Germany up to some few years 
 before his death, when he took up the 
 occupation of a butcher. 
 
872 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 John G. Merkel, after a sojourn of 
 two years in New York city, came West 
 to Milwaukee, Wis., in 1842, and bought 
 land in Washington county. His family was 
 one of six that lived in a single log house 
 during their first winter. Having deter- 
 mined on becoming a farmer, Mr. Merkel 
 cleared up his eight)'-acre tract of land, 
 which he converted into a fertile farm, 
 and here reared his family; here, in 1875, 
 he departed this life. For six years he 
 served in the Bavarian army. His widow 
 died in Appleton in 1890, the mother of 
 ten children, namely: Catherine, Anna, 
 Leonhard, Magdalene, Barbara, John, 
 Charles, Mary, Margaretta (deceased at 
 the age of sixteen years), and one that died 
 in infanc)'. 
 
 Leonhard Merkel, whose name ap- 
 pears at the opening of this sketch, until 
 the age of nineteen worked on his father's 
 farm, attending school winters. In 1865 
 he enlisted at Camp Washburn in Com- 
 pany C, Fifty-first Wisconsin Infantry, 
 which was sent to western Missouri and 
 Kansas to deal with the bush-whackers. 
 The regiment was discharged in August, 
 1865, and our subject then remained 
 with his father, assisting him on the farm, 
 until he was twenty-four years of age, at 
 which time he went to Milwaukee in or- 
 der to learn the butcher trade. In 1873 
 he opened his present business in Apple- 
 ton, in which he is assisted by his three 
 sons. In 1873 he married Miss Louisa 
 Mary Palm, who was born in Manitowoc, 
 Wis., a daughter of Charles and Sophia 
 (Bower) Palm, the father a native of Prus- 
 sia, born in iSi i, the mother of Saxony; 
 they were married in Buffalo, N. Y. , and 
 had seven children, three of whom are yet 
 living: Elizabeth A., John H. and Louisa 
 M. Mr. Palm was a butcher and cattle 
 dealer, and one of the early settlers of 
 Manitowoc, where his first wife, the 
 mother of Mrs. Merkel, died. In i860 
 he married, for his second spouse. Miss 
 Regina Wellner, a native of Bavaria, who 
 bore him two children: Caroline and 
 George. The father died in 1883. Mr. 
 
 and Mrs. Leonhard Merkel had nine chil- 
 dren, as follows: George, Emma, Otto, 
 August, Leona, Eleanor, Margaret, Ed- 
 win, and Bernard, who died in February, 
 1887, aged three years. Mr. Merkel is 
 vice-president of the Butchers Associa- 
 tion of Appleton; is a member of the G. 
 A. R. , George D. Eggleston Post, No. 
 1333; of the Appleton Sharpshooters, and 
 of the Society of St. Joseph. He is a 
 member of the Catholic Church, and in 
 politics is a Democrat. Mr. Merkel is a 
 thoroughly representative, self-made man, 
 one who has attained financial success by 
 his own unaided efforts. 
 
 GEORGE BERRINGER, de- 
 ceased. The worth and charac- 
 ter of this gentleman is attested 
 by the kind words and affection- 
 ate remembrances of his surviving chil- 
 dren, as well as by the people among 
 wdiom he lived and moved so long. 
 Large and generous of nature, kindly and 
 charitable of disposition, with a deep 
 sense of right, he was greatly respected 
 by all, and his counsels were frequently 
 sought by his many friends. In a marked 
 degree he possessed the courage of his 
 convictions, and his faults, if he had any, 
 leaned to virtue's side. 
 
 Mr. Berringer was a native of Rhen- 
 ish Bavaria, born at Zweibruecker May 
 24, 1825. His father, George Berringer, 
 also a native of Rhenish Bavaria, and a 
 miller by trade, was a man of education, 
 wealthy and of good standing. He was 
 married in his native place, and had a 
 family of five children — two sons and 
 three daughters; he and his wife both 
 died in Bavaria. The son, George, of 
 whom this sketch mainly treats, received 
 his education at the schools of his native 
 town, and when fourteen years old, in 
 company with his older brother, John, 
 went to France where he entered the 
 employ of Chamberlain & Braisa, rail- 
 road builders, as ofiice boy, and with 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 873 
 
 them remained until coming to America, 
 filling various positions, such as inspector 
 of works at different places, and being 
 conversant with several languages he be- 
 came an invaluable and trusted employe. 
 While superintending a large contract for 
 the above-named firm, in Switzerland, 
 they were extremely anxious that he 
 should go from there to Australia in their 
 interests, but he did not accept their pro- 
 posal. In his native land he had married 
 Miss Elizabeth Erbelding, who was born 
 at his place of birth April 16, 1826, 
 daughter of Joseph Erbelding, a physi- 
 cian. In 1859 Mr. Berringer came with 
 his family to America, and after landing 
 proceeded to Bowling Green, Ky., where 
 his older brother, who had preceded him 
 to the New World, was engaged in the 
 packing business. At the breaking out 
 of the Civil war our subject moved to 
 Rochester, N. Y., where he sojourned a 
 short time, and then went to Cleveland, 
 Ohio. Being at this time much im- 
 pressed with the prospects offered by the 
 opening out of territories in the north 
 and northwest, he secured employment 
 with the Cleveland Iron Company, and 
 was sent to Ishpeming, Marquette Co., 
 Mich., his family, at that time consisting 
 of his wife and three children, accom- 
 panying him. With this firm he re- 
 mained one year, and was then appointed 
 superintendent and general manager of 
 the Parson mine, in the same county, an 
 incumbency he filled some fourteen years, 
 during which time he also took contracts 
 to open and operate other mines. In 
 1877 he commenced in the same line of 
 business for his own account — leasing 
 mines, prospecting, locating and operat- 
 ing them, in which he continued — meet- 
 ing with unqualified success — until his 
 death, which occurred September 22, 
 1888, at Norway, Mich.; he is buried at 
 Negaunee, Mich. The only partner he 
 had was his son, John R. , special men- 
 tion of whom will presently be made. 
 His widow died April 21, 18S2, at Negau- 
 nee, Mich., the mother of eight children. 
 
 of whom five died in infancy, three living 
 at the present time: John R. , Kate and 
 Elizabeth. In his political associations 
 Mr. Berringer was an ardent Republican, 
 and while a resident of Marquette county, 
 Mich., served as mayor of the city of 
 Negaunee with commendable zeal and 
 characteristic ability. A man of strong 
 character and an ambition that brooked 
 no defeat, persevering and determined, 
 he was a typical self-made man, and 
 withal a good judge of human nature, 
 kind-hearted and liberal to a fault. 
 
 John R. Berringer, the only son of 
 our subject, was born in Berne, Switzer- 
 land, October 4, 1858, and was, conse- 
 quently, but an infant when his parents 
 brought him to this country. He received 
 his elementary education at the common 
 schools of the mining coun<^ry in north- 
 western Michigan, where his father was 
 located, afterward attending the State 
 University at Ann Arbor, Mich., and the 
 University of Notre Dame, at South Bend, 
 Ind. At the age of twenty-one he united 
 with his father in business, and remained 
 with him until the latter's death, since 
 when he has continued in the same line 
 with equal success, confining his opera- 
 tions at present principally to the mining 
 regions of northwestern Minnesota, al- 
 though he and his family have resided in 
 Appleton since 1892. 
 
 On February 3, 1880, Mr. Berringer 
 was united in marriage, in Appleton, with 
 Miss Mary Bissing, daughter of Herman 
 Bissing, and they have two children: 
 Eliza Alma and Edgar George. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Berringer follows in the footsteps 
 of his father, being a stanch Republican, 
 and while residing in northwestern Michi- 
 gan he served as supervisor, treasurer and 
 postmaster of his town, besides in several 
 minor offices. He is a member of the 
 Catholic Church, and of the Knights of 
 Pythias. The father lived to see the son 
 grow to useful manhood, ready and capa- 
 ble to take up the life work where he laid 
 it down, and bear his untarnished name 
 to succeeding generations. 
 
874 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 AUGUSTUS PHILLIPS.— 
 This sterling citizen and promi- 
 nent farmer of Kaukauna town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, is a 
 member of a famil}- which for generations 
 has stood among the leaders in good work 
 in this country. His ancestors, who were 
 of sturdy English stock, were early set- 
 tlers and well-known tillers of the soil at 
 Providence, R. I. Some of the members 
 of the family bore arms during the Revo- 
 lutionary war. 
 
 John Phillips, great-grandfather of 
 our subject, was born near Providence, 
 R. I. His son, John, who was a farmer 
 by occupation, married Dorcas Cooper, 
 a native of the same State. She became 
 the mother of five children — Jason, Nancy, 
 Augustus, Otis and Cyrus — and lived to 
 be nearly one hundred years old, her 
 death occurring near the old Phillips 
 homestead in Rhode Island, at the home 
 of her daughter. Her son, Augustus Phil- 
 lips, was married in Rhode Island to Miss 
 Asenath Baker, daughter of Levi and 
 Anna (Moffat) Baker, and a relative of 
 Robert Moffat, the noted Scotch mission- 
 ary, who spent nearly sixty years among 
 the barbarous tribes of South Africa. It 
 may be mentioned also that a daughter of 
 this eminent missionary became the wife 
 of the noted African explorer. Dr. Liv- 
 ingstone. Mrs. Phillips became the 
 mother of eight children — John, Mo wry, 
 Daniel, Augustus, William, Nancy, Mary, 
 and Stephen; she was removed from her 
 sphere of earthly usefulness at the age of 
 forty-seven years, her death occurring at 
 Marcellus, N. Y. Of her children, but 
 three are now living, Augustus, William 
 and Stephen. The latter, a graduate 
 from North Scituate, R. I., is a Free- 
 will Baptist minister residing at Smith- 
 field, in that State; William, who was 
 also ordained a minister, is now a resi- 
 dent of W^estfield, Marquette Co. , Wis. ; 
 Daniel had a wandering disposition, and 
 traveled over a large part of the earth; 
 Mowr}-, who for forty years was a lead- 
 ing minister in the Free-Will Baptist 
 
 Church, was well-known throughout New 
 England. Augustus Phillips, father of 
 our subject, was a man of great firm- 
 ness, excellent principle, and sound con- 
 victions concerning the conduct of men, 
 both socially and morally. Soon after 
 the birth of his eldest son he left Rhode 
 Island and removed with his wife and 
 child to Onondaga county, N. Y. , where 
 he purchased land, improved it and con- 
 tinued to reside upon it until after the 
 death of his wife and his second marriage. 
 He then once more set his footsteps 
 westward, finally locating at Adrian, 
 Mich., where he died in 1865, while his 
 son Augustus was absent in the army of 
 the Union, serving in defense of his coun- 
 try during the war of the Rebellion. 
 
 With such excellent examples before 
 him, it is not strange that the lad Augus- 
 tus should profit by them. Receiving 
 something of an education, mainly through 
 his own exertions, the boy started out at 
 the tender age of eleven years to do battle 
 with the world and gain a livelihood for 
 himself. But, like many another youth, 
 he was fortified by the teachings of his 
 noble mother, and these he never forgot, 
 nor did he swerve from the path of duty 
 and rectitude which he knew she, if living, 
 would approve. He was born March 27, 
 1825, at Marcellus, Onondaga Co. , N. Y. , 
 and when his boyish feet turned toward 
 the setting sun eleven years later, his 
 purpose was to reach Ohio, which he did 
 at length, walking a portion of the way. 
 During the next few years he was thrown 
 in contact with people of all classes. He 
 was industrious and frugal, and saved 
 some money from his farm wages. Possi- 
 bly he might have continued in the same 
 line of work, but on being taken sick 
 there came a desire to see again the home 
 of his boyhood, and he accordingly paid 
 a visit to the old place. He had been 
 visited in Ohio by his brother, Mowry, 
 and was disappointed at not finding him 
 at home upon his arrival there. Hence, 
 after a good visit with his father, he pro- 
 ceeded to the latter"s birth-place in Rhode 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 875 
 
 Island, and found his brother already 
 preaching the Gospel in Millville, just 
 over the State line in Massachusetts. 
 Aug^ustus secured work in a woolen factory, 
 and became so expert at the business that 
 he commanded the best wages, was en- 
 gaged as foreman in different mills, and 
 was considered one of the most successful 
 operatives in New England. 
 
 In 1 85 1 Mr. Phillips removed to Wis- 
 consin with his wife (formerly Minerva A. 
 Green) and son, Ervin A., and purchased 
 160 acres of land in Kaukauna township, 
 Outagamie county, upon which he set- 
 tled and commenced improvements. He 
 cleared the land and worked in the fields, 
 bringing to his aid the intelligence which 
 had proven valuable in his previous occu- 
 pations. As a result his farm is to-day 
 one of the best in the township. His 
 success in this line may be measured by 
 the fact that he is now the owner of 320 
 acres of land in Outagamie county. Eight 
 children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Phillips: Ervin A., now a farmer of Kan- 
 sas; Melvin F., a farmer of Outagamie 
 county; Alice, wife of Edgar Padridge, 
 residing on a farm in Kansas; Mowry, 
 farming near the old homestead; Arthur, 
 foreman for the Menasha Wooden Ware 
 Company at Menasha, Wis.; Minerva A., 
 who died in infancy; Elbert, a teacher in 
 and graduate of the Oshkosh Normal 
 School; Clark, also a graduate of the 
 same school, and now teaching at Wrights- 
 town, Wis. The fidelity with which, in 
 youth, Mr. Phillips adhered to duty and 
 principle made him naturally, in later 
 years, a leader of thoughtful men and 
 women, and on account of it he has been 
 enabled not only to set an excellent e.xam- 
 ple to his fellow men, but to fill respon- 
 sible positions in the Church of his choi::e; 
 and socially to occupy a foremost place 
 in his community. His influence has 
 been the best which one man can exert 
 over others, and he has ever been at the 
 front in the promotion of all measures for 
 the best interests of the neighborhood. 
 With the example before him of his 
 
 brothers in the ministry, and wuth the in- 
 fluence of the Gospel stirring his deepest 
 nature, Mr. Phillips has often felt the desire 
 to preach. For over thirty-eight years 
 he has been an untiring worker in the 
 Church, principally without remuneration 
 other than the consciousness of blessing 
 from the Master to all who love and serve 
 Him faithfully. Shortly after the close 
 of the war of the Rebellion he assisted in 
 building the first Free-Will Baptist church 
 in this portion of the country, and a few 
 years later helped build another at Green- 
 leaf, Brown county, and a third near his 
 own home. He has been a liberal con- 
 tributor to the Church, and ever active in 
 the furtherance of its work. He has held 
 divine service throughout the Valley, and 
 has perhaps preached more funeral ser- 
 mons than any of its resident ministers. 
 At one period, while the church at Hor- 
 tonville was without a pastor, he filled its 
 pulpit for nearly a year. 
 
 This farmer preacher has been always 
 faithful to the work which his hands found 
 to do, and in his service for the upbuild- 
 ing of humanity, and the leading of his 
 fellow men into the better and purer light, 
 he has accomplished an amount of good 
 which is always the reward of an unselfish 
 Christian example and leadership. To 
 his noble and devoted wife, a true type 
 of the American pioneer woman, he gives 
 no small meed of praise. Her manage- 
 ment of his affairs in his absence, her 
 Christian character and patient devotion 
 to her husband, her children, her Maker 
 and her fellow beings, has won the love 
 and respect of all who have been so for- 
 tunate as to come under her tender influ- 
 ence. With such men and women rest 
 the peace and welfare of the future of the 
 American Republic. 
 
 OUIS BECKER, one of the life- 
 
 long farmers of Greenville town- 
 
 1^^ ship, Outagamie county, is a na- 
 tive of same, born June 25, 1854, 
 third son in the familv of Frederick and 
 
876 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE DlOGBAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 Mary (Neamann) Becker, but was the 
 first of the children born in America. 
 
 At the common schools of his town- 
 ship he received a somewhat limited edu- 
 cation, attending as circumstances per- 
 mitted, for his parents often needed his 
 help on the farm, and he obtained a 
 thorough knowledge of agriculture under 
 the tuition of his father. On July 22, 
 1882, he was united in marriage, in El- 
 lington township, Outagamie county, to 
 Miss Caroline Schrote, a native of that 
 township, and the young couple settled 
 on the farm in Greenville township which 
 has since been their home. It now con- 
 sists of 160 acres of good land, all of the 
 buildings and improvements on which 
 have been placed there by Mr. Becker 
 since it came into his possession. Having 
 a strong, robust constitution he has been 
 able to work steadily, and his persevering 
 industry has placed him in comfortable 
 circumstances. Mr. Becker is a Demo- 
 crat, but beyond casting his vote and 
 taking a general interest in the welfare of 
 the party is not active in politics; he is 
 always in favor of progress, however, and 
 ready to give his approval to an}' move- 
 ment of benefit to the public. In relig- 
 ious sentiment he and his wife are Luth- 
 erans. 
 
 NORMAN NASH (deceased) was 
 one of the early settlers of Hor- 
 tonville, Outagamie county, and 
 was closely identified with its 
 growth and progress for nearly forty years. 
 He was born July 23, 18 18, in Stock- 
 bridge, N. Y. , son of Samuel and Polly 
 (Bairdj Nash, the former of whom was a 
 native of Ellington, Tolland Co., Conn., 
 son of Ebenezer Nash, also a New Eng- 
 lander. The Nash family is of English 
 origin, and most of the members have 
 been tillers of the soil, though there are 
 also included a number of professional 
 men, ministers and doctors. Samuel 
 Nash was well-known and highly respected 
 in the section where he passed most of 
 
 his active life. He passed away in De- 
 cember, 1862, at Hortonville, Wis., at 
 the advanced age of eighty-two years, a 
 devout member of the M. E. Church, one 
 who led a consistent Christian life, and 
 had an unblemished reputation for honor 
 and integrity. He was married four times, 
 and had a large famih', of whom Norman 
 was the youngest son. 
 
 Norman Nash obtained a connnon- 
 school education, learned the carpenter's 
 trade, and followed same for many years 
 in Outagamie county, Wis., whither he 
 came in 1849, settling in Hortonville, 
 where the remainder of his life was passed. 
 By industry and economy, coupled with 
 shrewd foresight and good business 
 management, he acquired a comfortable 
 competence, and during his later years 
 lived a semi-retired life, his poor health 
 preventing him from doing a great amount 
 of active work. His straightforward bus- 
 iness methods and open honesty gained 
 for him the good will of all who came in 
 contact with him; though a quiet and un- 
 assuming man, he had many friends, and 
 was very popular in the community 
 where he resided, and in whose welfare 
 he took such a lively interest. 
 
 On March i, 1841, Mr. Nash was 
 married, in Stockbridge, N. Y. , to Miss 
 Sarah M. Kingsley, daughter of William 
 and Susanna (Nash) Kingsley, natives of 
 Connecticut, and members of an old New 
 England family who were probably of 
 English descent. William Kingsley was a 
 mason by trade, a competent, reliable me- 
 chanic, and was an intelligent well-read 
 man. He and his wife both lived to ad- 
 vanced ages, dying when eighty-six and 
 ninety-two years old respectively. Mrs. 
 Sarah M. Nash was born in Ellington, 
 Conn., and was educated in Augusta, N. 
 Y. She met Mr. Nash in Stockbridge, N. 
 Y. , where she resided three years, and 
 the}' led a happy married life for forty- 
 six years, when death separated them, 
 Mr. Nash passing from earth April i, 
 1888. They became the parents of four 
 children, all of whom died in infancy, 
 
NOf^MAN NASH. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 879 
 
 viz.: Sarah A., Matilda A., Norman A. 
 and one unnamed. Mrs. Nash is an ac- 
 tive member of the M. E. Church, and is 
 highly honored and esteemed by all who 
 know her. 
 
 HJ. MULHOLLAND, clerk of the 
 courts, Appleton,Outa<;amie coun- 
 ty. The father of this gentleman, 
 Daniel Mulholland, is a farmer, 
 and resides near Belfast, Ireland. The 
 mother, whose maiden name was Ann 
 McGarry, is a daughter of William Mc- 
 Garry, who was a linen manufacturer. 
 Their children were thirteen in number, 
 of whom seven are now living — five sons 
 and two daughters. 
 
 Our subject was born April 7, 1S52, 
 in Belfast, Ireland, and has had a varied 
 experience, with considerable uncertainty 
 at times in the first years of his life in 
 this countr}' as to the final outcome. He 
 attended school until he was fourteen 
 years old, when he was bound out for five 
 years to an uncle, John Edgar, for the 
 purpose of learning the mercantile busi- 
 ness, in which the uncle was engaged. 
 After the expiration of about two years 
 the latter died and the business was 
 closed. The boy then entered the employ 
 of Peter Dunley, a retail merchant at Bel- 
 fast, remaining with him one j'ear, or un- 
 til the spring of 1869, when he came to 
 the United States, landing in New York 
 city, in June of that year. He pushed 
 westward as far as Indianapolis, Ind., 
 but, not being able to secure employment 
 in the mercantile line in that city, he 
 hired out to a farmer at Southport, in the 
 same State, and worked for him during 
 the fall and a portion of the winter. His 
 next position was that of section-hand for 
 the Jefferson, Madison & Indianapolis 
 Railroad Compan}-, with which company 
 he ne.xt engaged as brakeman. During 
 two years with that corporation he saved 
 some money, and, having by that time 
 come to a realization of the fact that a 
 
 man with a good education was more 
 49 
 
 likeh' to secure remunerative employment 
 at something more agreeable than com- 
 mon labor, he entered Bryant & Stratton's 
 Business College, taking a course in book- 
 keeping and telegraphy and remaining 
 nearl}' one year. In February, 1873, he 
 secured a position with Horn Brothers, of 
 Chicago, who sent him to Horn's Pier, 
 Door Co., Wis., to clerk in their store and 
 the telegraph office at that point. There 
 he remained until the spring of 1875, when 
 he again visited Indianapolis and once more 
 entered the service of the Jefferson, Madi- 
 son & Indianapolis railroad, at that city, 
 as telegraph operator. In September, 
 same year, he returned to Wisconsin, lo- 
 cating at Manitowoc as telegraph opera- 
 tor and assistant superintendent's clerk 
 for the Milwaiikee, Lake Shore & Western 
 Railway Company. He was sent by that 
 company to Reedsville, Wis., in 1876, to 
 fill a similar position, remaining until the 
 spring of 1882, when he was transferred to 
 Kaukauna and placed in charge of the sta- 
 tion and telegraph office of the same com- 
 pany in that city. In August, 1884, he 
 resigned, and opened an insurance and 
 real-estate office in Kaukauna. He was 
 elected justice of the peace the same year, 
 serving until his appointment to the post- 
 mastership in 1885, by President Cleve- 
 land. In 1890, and again in 1892, he 
 was elected clerk of the courts, which 
 position he still holds. As a Democrat he 
 has always taken an active part in politi- 
 cal affairs. He was a delegate to the 
 Democratic State Conventions of 1888, 
 and 1 890, and for four years was a mem- 
 ber of the county board of supervisors, 
 resigning when appointed postmaster. 
 
 Mr. Mulholland was married, in Au- 
 gust, 1876, to Miss Katie Herr, daughter 
 of Michael Herr, a farmer, hotel-keeper, 
 general merchant and early settler of 
 Manitowoc county. He is a native of 
 Germany, having come to America when 
 a young man. Mr. and Mrs. Mulholland 
 are members of the Catholic Church. 
 They have three children: Lillie, George 
 and Lettie. 
 
88o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 EDWARD LOHRENZ, farmer, of 
 Ellington township, Outagamie 
 county, was born February 27, 
 1855, in Prussia, Germany. His 
 father, \\'illiam Lohrenz, was reared on a 
 farm and received a good common-school 
 education, and when a young man mar- 
 ried ISfiss Hannah Schultz, a well-educated 
 and refined young lady, the daughter of 
 a well-to-do lumber dealer in that locality. 
 
 In 1 8 57, when our subject was but 
 two years old, he accompanied his par- 
 ents and grandparents to the United 
 States. They went at once to Menasha, 
 Winnebago Co., Wis., where the}' re- 
 mained three years, and then settled per- 
 manently in the township of Ellington, 
 Outagamie county, where they invested in 
 land. W'illiam Lohrenz bought but twenty 
 acres at first, all heavily wooded and 
 difficult to clear, and later purchased 
 eighty acres, which he now owns and ac- 
 cupies; it is equipped with good buildings, 
 and is in a high state of cultivation. 
 When he came to the United States he 
 had no property and little money, and for 
 sometime he worked for the munificent 
 sum of twenty-five cents per day. In 
 their new home were born ten children, 
 and of the family of eleven five are de- 
 ceased. Those living are: Edward, Will- 
 iam, Alexander, Benjamin, Arnold, and 
 Adda, all residing in Ellington, the last 
 four mentioned being still at home. 
 
 Edward Lohrenz attended the com- 
 mon school, receiving a good practical 
 education, and remained at home until 
 of age, helping his father on the farm. 
 Learning the carpenter's trade he followed 
 that vocation until the fall of 1892, doing 
 contract work principally, and succeeding 
 very well financially. In the fall of 1892 
 he returned to farming, and he now owns 
 a place of 100 acres which he has since 
 occupied. He is a good manager and an 
 untiring worker, and has prospered well 
 in his agricultural work. In 1887 Mr. 
 Lohrenz was married, in Ellington, to 
 Miss Jane Laird, who was born Septem- 
 ber 12, 1866, in Ellington, daughter of 
 
 Edward and Fannie (Hall) Laird, who 
 were born in Ireland, of Scotch descent. 
 To this marriage have come three chil- 
 dren: Lottie, Fannie and W'ilbert. Mr. 
 Lohrenz belongs to the Republican party, 
 and has been a member of the township 
 board and superintendent of highways. 
 He is greatly interested in the protection 
 of the public schools, is an active mem- 
 ber of the A. P. A., and is a thoroughly 
 practical and public-spirited man. In 
 religious connection he and his family 
 belong to the Evangelical Church of 
 Ellington. 
 
 DAVID HODGINS, a prosperous 
 farmer and dealer in stone and 
 lime, Hortonia township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born Decem- 
 ber 31, 1850, in Upper Canada. His 
 father, Thomas Hodgins, was a native of 
 Ireland, who came from Canada in 1864, 
 locating in Hortonia township. He mar- 
 ried Elizabeth McGuire, who was born in 
 Canada, of Irish descent, and they had 
 five children: David, Joseph, Helen, 
 Hester and Joshua. The elder Hodgins 
 was a farmer by occupation, a quiet, un- 
 assuming man, and greatly respected. He 
 was a member of the M. E. Church. His 
 death occurred in Hortonia in 1873, and 
 that of his widow in Marinette, Wis. , in 
 1 88 1, each having reached the age of 
 about seventy years. 
 
 David Hodgins was educated in the 
 common schools of Canada, and was a 
 ready pupil, having a decided liking for 
 books and educational matters. At an 
 early age he was obliged to assist in 
 maintaining himself, his father not being 
 well provided with worldly goods, his first 
 work bringing him a salary of twelve dol- 
 lars per month. Until he was twenty- 
 two years of age he assisted in the sup- 
 port of his father's family, about this time 
 commencing work as a carpenter, in which 
 he continued some five years, and sub- 
 sequently engaged in logging, in partner- 
 ship with Lewis Steffen and Robert Mc- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Murdo, following that line of business for 
 ten years. He was yery successful, the 
 financial benefits accruing from it being 
 eminently satisfactory. Mr. Hodgins now 
 owns a fine farm of 200 acres, on which 
 he also operates a stone quarry and a 
 lime kiln, which latter business is also 
 proving a paying venture. His farm is 
 highly improved, and on all sides are evi- 
 dences of thrift and prosperity. Socially 
 he is a member of the I. O. O. F. ; polit- 
 ically he is a Republican, and has served 
 as a member of the town board. He is 
 deservedly popular for his geniality of dis- 
 position and unswerving honesty. Mr. 
 Hodgins married Miss Elizabeth Mc- 
 Murdo, a native of Hortonia township, 
 daughter of James McMurdo, Sr. , and 
 they have two children: Ellsworth and 
 Douglass. 
 
 FRED M. HYDE, merchant and 
 prominent citizen of Deer Creek 
 township, Outagamie county, was 
 born in Rosendale, Wis., Novem- 
 ber 15, 1848, son of Welcome and Sarah 
 (Markley) Hyde, pioneers in that locality. 
 There were three children in the family: 
 Fred M. ; De Forest M. , now a real-estate 
 dealer of Appleton; and Francis, who 
 died at the age of thirty years, leaving 
 three children — Earl, Lee and Ethel. 
 
 When Mr. Hyde was eighteen years 
 of age he went into the Michigan pineries, 
 and for about twelve years was engaged 
 in lumbering and locating lands. In 1878 
 he came to Deer Creek, previous to which 
 time he made his home with his parents 
 — erected a building 20 x 40 feet in dimen- 
 sions and opened the first store in the 
 vicinity. From time to time he has made 
 additions to stock and premises, as his 
 business increased, until at the present 
 period he carries ten thousand dollars' 
 worth of stock. With his father he has 
 dealt extensively in lands, the two owning 
 about six thousand acres at the time the 
 store was established, and Mr. Hyde 
 himself is at present owner of probably 
 
 five thousand acres. He is a pioneer in 
 the mercantile business in Deer Creek 
 township, and has established a reputation 
 for fairness and upright dealing in which 
 he may well take pride. Honest and 
 square in all his transactions, he holds a 
 worthy place in the confidence and esteem 
 of all who know him. 
 
 On December 3, 1881, Mr. Hyde was 
 married to Libbie Clark, daughter of 
 Walter and Janet (McMurdo) Clark, and 
 for three years they resided over the store, 
 but at the expiration of that period re- 
 moved to their splendid new home, which 
 is among the finest in the community. 
 They both belong to the Methodist 
 Church, of which Mr. Hyde is a trustee 
 and a leading and active member. Polit- 
 ically he is a Republican and has served 
 his town as treasurer. A pronounced 
 temperance man, he holds membership in 
 the I. O. G. T. and Temple of Honor. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hyde are the parents of 
 two children: Edith, born April 7, 1883, 
 and Rogers^ born March 17, 1893. 
 
 R EV. WALTER J. FITZMAURICE, 
 pastor of St. Mary's Parish Church, 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, is a 
 native of Wisconsin, born in Mani- 
 towoc county, July 27, 1859, a grandson 
 of Walter Fitzmaurice, who was a farmer 
 many years ago in Ireland, and after 
 whom our subject was named. 
 
 Michael Fitzmaurice, father of our 
 subject, was born, in 1812, in the western 
 part of Ireland, whence, when twenty-five 
 years old, he emigrated to the United 
 States, finally settling on a farm in Mani- 
 towoc county. Wis. , where he passed the 
 rest of his days in agricultural pursuits, 
 dying in 1884. He arrived there in 1850, 
 being one of the earliest settlers in that 
 county, and following year was married 
 in Chicago, 111., to Miss Bridget McDer- 
 mott, by whom there were born eight 
 children — three sons and five daughters. 
 The mother is yet living on the old home- 
 stead. 
 
SS2 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BWGUAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 Walter J. Fitzmaurice, who is fourth 
 in the familj- in the order of birth, was 
 reared on his father's farm until the age 
 of sixteen, during the winter season at- 
 tending the common schools of the neigh- 
 borhood. He then, even at that early 
 age. commenced teaching in the public 
 schools, an occupation he followed some 
 three jears, at the end of which time, in 
 order to prepare himself for the priest- 
 hood, he entered the Ecclesiastical Sem- 
 inar)- of St. Francis de Sales, near Mil- 
 waukee. After six \ears' diligent study at 
 this educational institution he went to 
 Europe, and at the Theological Seminary 
 at Salzburg, Austria, took a three-3-ears' 
 course. There he was ordained by Arch- 
 bishop Aeder to become a priest for the 
 Diocese of Green Bay, Wis., and he im- 
 mediately thereafter returned to the 
 United States and entered upon mission- 
 arj- work. The first charge he was as- 
 signed to were the villages of Winneconne, 
 Omro and Poygan, in Winnebago county, 
 and their environments, where he labored 
 fourteen months, or until November i, 
 1887, when he was appointed assistant to 
 Rev. Ferdinand Tanguay, then pastor of 
 St. Mary's Parish Church, Appleton. But 
 one short month, however, after his ar- 
 rival, Father Tanguay died, and Father 
 Fitzmaurice was appointed in his place. 
 Rev. \\'. J. Fitzmaurice is a man of rather 
 above medium stature, pleasing and kindly 
 in his manners, an earnest preacher of 
 the Gospel, and an enterprising citizen. 
 He is thorougly American, and his views 
 on politics are of a broad and liberal 
 character. 
 
 PHILIP DEMPSEY, farmer of Deer 
 Creek township, and postmaster 
 at Bear Creek, Outagamie county, 
 is the son of Martin and Mary 
 (Doran) Dempsey, natives of Ireland, who 
 immigrated at an early date to America, 
 locating in Dodge county. Wis., where 
 the father made an unpretentious home 
 for his family and found employment as a 
 
 laboring man. They were the parents of 
 the following named children: Maria, 
 James, Philip, Peter, Mary. John and 
 Catherine, of whom Catherine died when 
 twelve years of age; the others are yet 
 living. 
 
 Mr. Dempsey became a successful 
 farmer. In October, 1862, he sold his 
 Dodge count}' property and removed to 
 Belle Plaine, Shawano county, locating 
 upon eighty acres of land which had al- 
 ready been bought and paid for. Not 
 being satisfied with that section of the 
 country, however, he brought his family 
 to Deer Creek, then all included in Maple 
 Creek, and purchased eightj- acres of land 
 on which he erected the log house now 
 standing. About two 3ears later he se- 
 cured an additional eighty acres, mean- 
 while progressing as rapidly as possible 
 with the work of clearing and preparing 
 for cultivation. Inhabitants in the sur- 
 rounding region were even then scarce, 
 but wild animals and Indians were abun- 
 dant, and the blood-curdling howl of 
 wolves was by no means infrequently 
 heard. Mr. Dempsey was a lover of 
 hunting, and found unending opportunity 
 to gratify his taste in that direction. He 
 met an untimely death June 11, 1S69, 
 when he was killed by a falling tree. 
 
 Philip Dempsey, the son, was born in 
 Horicon, Dodge Co., Wis., January 29, 
 1858, and at the death of his father was 
 but eleven years old. He was thus 
 obliged to begin work at an early age, 
 and in the struggles following formed a 
 close acquaintance with all sorts of hard- 
 ships and privations. He was forced to 
 deny himself the privilege of attending 
 school, the nearest fount of education be- 
 ing five miles distant. At fourteen years 
 of age he commenced working in the lum- 
 ber woods, continuing until 1881. On Au- 
 gust 5, 1S79. he was married to Catherine 
 McDonah. and located upon 120 acres of 
 wild land which he had purchased. Four 
 years later he bought Jo. O'Brien's sa- 
 loon, and after conducting it two years 
 secured the propertj' upon which he and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BlOORAPlilVAL KECORD. 
 
 SSj 
 
 his family now reside. Here he has 
 since made various improvements, and 
 achieved a satisfactory measure of suc- 
 cess in his ventures. In politics a Dem- 
 ocrat, Mr. Dempsey has held positions of 
 honor and trust in the gift of his towns- 
 men, has been several years supervisor, 
 and chairman four years. He and his 
 wife belong to the Catholic Church. In 
 May, 1894, he was appointed postmaster 
 at Bear Creek. 
 
 ENRY BECKER. The father of 
 
 this gentleman, Frederick Becker, 
 
 H 
 
 I I was one of the earliest settlers of 
 Greenville township, Outagamie 
 county, and was honored as one of its 
 representative pioneers. 
 
 Frederick Becker was a native of Ger- 
 many, where he followed farming, own- 
 ing a small piece of ground, and was 
 there married to Mary Neamann. They 
 had two children born to them in Ger- 
 many, Fred (who is now a resident of 
 Appleton, Wis.), and Henry (our subject) 
 and on March i, 1854, this little family 
 left Hamburg on the sailing vessel ' ' North 
 America, " landed in New York eight weeks 
 later, and came directly to Fond dn Lac 
 county. Wis., where they made a brief 
 stay. They soon removed to Greenville 
 township, Outagamie county, where Mr. 
 Becker had bought land in the N. W. 
 Quarter of Section 15, and he also pur- 
 chased a yoke of oxen to assist him in 
 clearing the land, which was all new and 
 heavily timbered. He had no wagon, but 
 he contrived to make a dray of ironwood 
 trees, and with this outfit commenced to 
 clear away the timber and prepare the 
 ground for crops. He succeeded, not only 
 in putting the whole of his first purchase 
 under cultivation, but added another 160 
 acres, at the time of his death ranking 
 among the first farmers and most exten- 
 sive landholders in Greenville township. 
 He was a self-made man in the true sense 
 of the word, for he accumulated all his 
 property from a start of nothing, and he 
 
 was respected wherever known. Though 
 the welfare and advancement of the 
 region where he held such large interests 
 was necessarily of great importance to 
 him, he cared nothing for public life, 
 and though always willing to give his ap- 
 proval and co-operation to any worthy 
 undertaking, he never held but one of- 
 fice, that of overseer of the township. 
 In political sympathy he was a Democrat. 
 Mrs. Mary Becker died in Greenville town- 
 ship, June 4, 1859, leaving four children: 
 two above mentioned, and two born in 
 Greenville township — Louis, a farmer of 
 Greenville township, and Eliza, Mrs. 
 Daniel Schultz. The mother was buried 
 in Greenville cemetery. Mr. Becker 
 subsequently married Mary Mormon, and 
 two children were born to that marriage, 
 both of whom died young. Mr. Becker 
 was called to his long home February 16, 
 1893, and sleeps his last sleep in Green- 
 ville cemetery. He was a devoted mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran Church, to which he 
 gave a liberal support, and he donated 
 an acre of ground for a church site. 
 
 Henry Becker was born in August 
 1846, in Germany, and received a greater 
 part of his schooling in that country, 
 prior to his parents' removal to America, 
 the public-school system in Wisconsin 
 being at that time in its infancy. Up 
 to the age of nineteen years he lived at 
 home, and then commenced to work at 
 the carpenter's trade, for four winters 
 also following lumbering. On July 17, 
 1869, he was married in Ellington town- 
 ship, to Christina Pluger, who was born 
 in Germany in 1850, daughter of August 
 Pluger, and to this marriage have been 
 born eight children, as follows: Mary, 
 Mrs. Otto Zwerg, of Sheboygan county. 
 Wis.; Louis, also of Sheboygan county; 
 and Eliza, Henxy, Bernard, Caroline, Willie 
 and Mina, all at home. With the excep- 
 tion of the six years he followed carpentry 
 at Stephensville, Mr. Becker has been a 
 life-long farmer, and in connection en- 
 gaged in threshing for fifteen years, dur- 
 ing which time he became widely and fa- 
 
S84 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 vorably known anion^ the farmers of his 
 own and surrounding townships. He 
 owns 160 acres of fine land, the "old 
 home farm," and as one of the oldest and 
 most prosperous farmers in his township 
 ranks second to none. Like his father 
 he is a Democrat in national politics, but 
 in local elections gives his support to the 
 best man regardless of party lines. He 
 is a Lutheran in religious sentiment, and 
 has held various offices in the church. 
 
 WILLIAM COMERFORD, M. D. 
 Among the native-born phvsi- 
 cians of northern Wisconsin 
 stands prominent this gentle- 
 man, who though yet in the ranks of the 
 j-ounger members of the profession has 
 alread}' placed himself well in the van. 
 
 The Doctor was born in Appleton, 
 Outagamie Co.. Wis., April 2. 1869, a 
 son of ^^'illiam H. Comerford, a native of 
 Ireland, whence, in 1850, he emigrated to 
 this country, settling on a farm in or near 
 the city of Milwaukee, Wis., where he 
 remained some fifteen years, when he 
 moved to Appleton, Outagamie county, 
 his present place of residence. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received 
 his primary education at the schools of 
 Appleton, graduating at the Ryan High 
 School in 1885. He then commenced a 
 course of study in medicine under the 
 preceptorship of Dr. A. H. Levings, Ap- 
 pleton, now president of the College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons of Milwaukee, 
 and at the end of two years entered Rush 
 Medical College, Chicago, graduating 
 therefrom March 25, 1890, with high 
 honors. Having now completed his 
 course in medicine. Dr. Comerford opened 
 his first office in Rice Lake, Barron Co. , 
 Wis., but at the end of ajjout eighteen 
 months, desiring a wider field, he in Sep- 
 tember, 1 89 1, returned to Appleton, 
 where he has since continued in the suc- 
 cessful practice of medicine. Politically 
 the Doctor is a Democrat, but takes no 
 active part in the affairs of his party, his 
 
 entire time being devoted to his profes- 
 sion, in which he is more interested. 
 Socially he is a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen; in religious faith he is a 
 Catholic. 
 
 E 
 
 KNST HARP, farmer and car- 
 penter of Freedom township, 
 Outagamie count}', is a native of 
 Germany, born October i, 1845, 
 son of Christof Harp. During his \outh 
 he received a somewhat limited education, 
 and subsequently worked with his father, 
 with whom he remained while in Ger- 
 many. In the spring of 1864 he was 
 married to Miss Matilda Steingross. and 
 one child was born to them in Germany, 
 August, who died while en route to the 
 United States. 
 
 In 1866 the family came to America 
 (Mr. Harp borrowing money to bring his 
 parents), the voyage from Hamburg to 
 New York occupying six weeks, and 
 coming directly to Milwaukee, by rail and 
 water, remained there for some time, our 
 subject finding employment as clerk in a 
 hardware store. Later he worked on the 
 railroad two years, one year on a gravel 
 train, and during this time managed to 
 pay the one hundred and fifty dollars he 
 had borrowed. Commencing to learn the 
 trade of carpenter, he acquired a thor- 
 ough knowledge of it, and found plenty 
 of work in that line, afterward taking 
 contracts on his own account, and con- 
 j tinning in that business until 18S7. when 
 he took up farming. He removed to 
 Section 19, Freedom township, Outagamie 
 county, and bought eighty acres of new 
 land, for which he paid two thousand one 
 hundred and fifty dollars. .\t that time 
 the farm contained no buildings or other 
 improvements, and was covered with 
 brush and stumps, and the many improve- 
 ments and substantial buildings which 
 now beautify the place are all the work 
 of his hands. This has necessarily in- 
 volved a great deal of hard work, but the 
 result has been more than satisfactory. 
 
COMMEMOllA TIVE BIOORAPBICAL HECORD. 
 
 885 
 
 Since coming to Freedom township Mr. 
 Harp has also been engaged to some ex- 
 tent at carpentry, and has always given 
 satisfaction as a mechanic. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Harp were born 
 children as follows: August, mentioned 
 above; Wilhelmina, Mrs. Gustav Janke, 
 of Milwaukee; Albertine, Mrs. William 
 Nieland, of Freedom; Annie, Mrs. Albert 
 Luebke, of Grand Chute; William, a 
 farmer of Freedom township; Charles, a 
 carpenter, and Ernst, Jr., at home. In 
 religious connection Mr. Harp is a mem- 
 ber of St. Peter's Church, of which he 
 is now secretary. While in Milwaukee 
 he served as treasurer of the church with 
 which he was identified, which had a 
 membership of 500. In politics he is a 
 Republican, but not active in party affairs, 
 preferring to give his undivided attention 
 to his farming and other interests, in 
 which he has met with well-merited suc- 
 cess. He is highly respected as a sub- 
 stantial progressive citizen by all who 
 know him. 
 
 LOUIS WURL, a good citizen and 
 representative farmer of Elling- 
 ton township, Outagamie county, 
 is of German descent, his grand- 
 parents having been natives of Branden- 
 burg, Prussia, where they were farmers 
 by occupation and quite prominent peo- 
 ple. The family for man\' generations 
 back were Protestants. 
 
 Ludwig Wurl, father of Louis, was 
 born in Prussia in 1829. He received an 
 excellent education and secured a clerk- 
 ship under the government, which he 
 held for a number of years. In 1851 he 
 came to the United States, going first to 
 Tennessee, where he remained some 
 three years, thence coming to Outagamie 
 county, Wis., where he purchased land. 
 Later he moved to Dodge county, but in 
 1862 returned to Outagamie county, and 
 settled permanently in Ellington town- 
 ship, here purchasing eighty acres of tim- 
 berland, which he cleared. In 1858 he 
 
 was married to Wilhelmina Schultz, who 
 was a native of Prussia, born in 183 1, 
 and to this union were born three chil- 
 dren: Louis; Emilie, now Mrs. John 
 Thiel, of Cicero; and Welmi, now Mrs. 
 Frank Mor}', also of Cicero. Mr. Wurl 
 was very fond of hunting and was consid- 
 ered an excellent marksman. He served 
 ten months in the Civil war, enlisting in 
 1864 in Company F, of a Wisconsin 
 cavalry regiment, and was honorably dis- 
 charged, but died at St. Louis, on his 
 way home, and was buried at Cairo, 111. 
 Mrs. Wurl, so suddenly left a widow with 
 three small children, displayed much 
 business tact in managing the affairs of 
 the farm to yield them a comfortable in- 
 come. Mr. Wurl was a member of the 
 Evangelical Church, with which the fam- 
 ily are also identified. 
 
 Our subject was born in the town of 
 Center, Outagamie county, October i, 
 1859, and was educated in the schools of 
 his native count)', proving an apt pupil. 
 He attended school until he was old 
 enough to assist his mother on the farm, 
 subsequently taking entire charge of the 
 same, which in due time became his own. 
 In 1885 he was married to Miss Louisa 
 Weissenberg, who was born October 12, 
 i860, in Ellington, and they have two 
 children, Selma and Frank. In politics 
 Mr. Wurl is a Republican, and has served 
 as chairman of the township board two 
 years and as assessor for three years, and 
 takes an active interest in all public mat- 
 ters. He is a member of the A. P. A. 
 
 FRANK SCHULZE, a well-to-do 
 farmer of Greenville township, 
 Outagamie county, is a son of 
 Daniel and Nettie Schulze, the for- 
 mer of whom is remembered as one of the 
 early pioneers of Greenville township, and 
 one of its largest landholders. 
 
 Daniel Schulze was born in Germany, 
 and emigrating to America made his home 
 in Milwaukee. Wis., for about seven 
 years. In 1855 he came to Greenville 
 
886 
 
 COMMEMORATI\'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 township, Outagamie county, and settled 
 on land in Ejection 3, which at that 
 time was all in the woods, the rude log 
 house wherein the family lived being the 
 only building the place could boast of. 
 Mr. Schulze was for a time engaged in 
 chopping wood, at two shillings a cord. 
 As soon as possible he commenced to cul- 
 tivate his farm, subsequently making agri- 
 culture his principal vocation; he was a 
 man of medium height and build, enjoy- 
 ing robust health in spite of his many years 
 of hard labor, which brought him success, 
 however, beyond all his early hopes. At 
 one time he was the owner of 460 acres 
 of land. Mr. Schulze had two children 
 by his first wife — Charles, of Appleton, 
 Wis., and Martin, of Greenville township. 
 For his second wife he wedded Mrs. 
 Schmit, a widow, who became the mother 
 of four children, viz. : August, of Elling- 
 ton, Outagamie county; Daniel, a farmer 
 of Greenville township; Robert, a black- 
 smith of Greenville township; and Frank, 
 whose name opens this sketch. The father 
 died in 1889 on the home farm, a mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran Church, and was laid 
 to rest in Greenville Center cemeter}'. 
 He was a Democrat in political sympathy. 
 Frank Schulze was born on the home- 
 stead in Greenville township, June 6, 
 1858, and up to the age of thirteen years 
 attended the neighboring district schools. 
 Under the preceptorship of his father he 
 thoroughly mastered the mysteries of 
 agriculture on the home farm, and he has 
 made it his life work, now conducting a 
 profitable general farming business on the 
 place which has always been his home. 
 In the autumn of 1880 he was married, 
 in Greenville, to Miss Ida Bleick, daugh- 
 ter of John Bleick, and this marriage was 
 blessed with two children, George and 
 Hermann. The mother died August 4, 
 1887, and Mr. Schulze subsequently mar- 
 ried Anna Westphal,who was born Januar}' 
 5, 1862, in Clayton, Winnebago Co., Wis., 
 daughter of August Westphal. Our subject 
 commenced housekeeping on the home 
 farm, 124 acres of which he now owns. 
 
 giving to it that care and attention which 
 insures good returns. He has inherited 
 those principles of honesty and upright- 
 ness for which his father was so well and 
 favorably known, and his progress is evi- 
 dent from the many improvements which 
 add to the beauty and value of his farm 
 and home. Like his father he supports 
 the principles of the Democratic party, and 
 he and his wife are members of the Luth- 
 eran Church. 
 
 FERDINAND DUMKE, a success- 
 ful farmer, of Freedom township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 the Fatherland, born June 5, 1 840, 
 in Prussia, only son in the family of four 
 children born to Peter Dumke. 
 
 Our subject received a good common- 
 school education in his native land, and 
 was reared to farm life, remaining at 
 home until twenty years of age, when he 
 entered the army and served one year and 
 eleven months. Returning home once 
 more, he commenced to learn the trade 
 of stone-cutter, and continued to follow 
 it for two years, receiving one dollar per 
 day, out of which, by strict economy, he 
 managed to save a little. In 1864 he 
 married Miss Charlotte Ruge, who was 
 born February 29, 1840, and in the fall 
 of 1865, with what money he then had, 
 came to the United States, sailing from 
 Bremen and landing in New York after 
 a voyage of about nine weeks. His des- 
 tination was Wisconsin, and he journeyed 
 by rail to Milwaukee, where he remained 
 three months, working for the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, as a com- 
 mon laborer. Removing thence to Osh- 
 kosh, he commenced to work for the J. 
 J. Jenkins Lumber Company, and when 
 this firm sold out continued with the 
 successor, D. L. Libbey, as foreman, re- 
 maining over twenty-two years with the 
 same concern, a fact which speaks highly 
 for his efficiency and trustworthiness. In 
 1 888 he removed to Section 33, Freedom 
 township, Outagamie county, where he 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 887 
 
 purchased eighty acres of land and took up 
 farming. Two years later, however, he 
 returned to his old employers, as lumber 
 "rater, "at good wages, and continued 
 with them until 1892, his business calling 
 him to various places. About this time, 
 his eyesight beginning to fail, he con- 
 cluded to return to the farm, where he 
 has since had his home. The place was 
 but partly improved when he became the 
 owner, and he has since done much to 
 enhance the value of the property, ha\ing 
 erected good farm buildings and a sub- 
 stantial brick residence, besides adding 
 various other improvements. Mr. Dumke's 
 success and prosperity are entirely the re- 
 sult of his own industry, for, when he 
 landed in Milwaukee, in 1865, a stranger 
 in a strange land, he had but $10, with 
 which to commence life in the New- 
 World. Having youth and strength, how- 
 ever, he did not despair, but by thrift 
 and diligence succeeded in building from 
 this small capital until he now has a 
 comfortable home, and a snug farm which 
 yields him a good income. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dumke have had one 
 child, Edward A., who was born June i i, 
 1866, in Oshkosh, and on October 15, 
 1 89 1, was married in that city to Miss 
 Bertha Zilz, also of Oshkosh. To this 
 union two children, Lilly and Harvey, 
 have been born. Mr. Dumke was origin- 
 ally a Democrat in political affiliation, 
 but now votes with the Republican party. 
 In 1892 he was elected to the ofifice of 
 supervisor in his township, and is now 
 serving his second year in that capacit}-. 
 In religious connection he and his family 
 are identified with the Lutheran Church 
 at Freedom. 
 
 CLIFFORD CRANE One of the 
 leading industries, for which this 
 section of Wisconsin is particu- 
 larly famed, is the manufacturing 
 of cheese, in which connection the subject 
 of these lines, although a recent beginner 
 and yet a young man, is fast making for 
 
 himself a good reputation by the quality 
 of the article he turns out. 
 
 Mr. Crane was born May 27, 1871, 
 in Newville, Wis. His father, who was 
 a farmer by occupation, died before our 
 subject was born; the mother is now living 
 in Illinois. They were the parents oif 
 two children, Clifford and Everett, the 
 latter now a resident of Illinois. Our 
 subject received his education in Dane 
 and Rock counties, \\'is., and after leav- 
 ing school followed farming until 1892, 
 when he commenced learning the cheese- 
 making business in the Willow Springs 
 Cheese Factor}-, Tuscola, 111. After 
 making himself thoroughly conversant 
 with all the details of the industry, he 
 came to Maple Creek township, Outaga- 
 mie county, and in May, 1894, took 
 charge of his present cheese factory, 
 where he has already proved himself to be 
 no ordinar\' expert. Mr. Crane is a wide- 
 awake, progressive }-oung business man, 
 and, if energy, industry and perseverance 
 are a guaranty of success, he is bound to 
 become one of the successful manufactur- 
 ers, in his line, in this portion of the 
 State. 
 
 PETER PRUNTY, a well-to-do 
 farmer of Ellington township, 
 Outagamie county, was born June 
 29, 1820, in County Leitrim, Ire- 
 land. His grandparents were farmers in 
 good circumstances in that country. 
 
 Laughlin Prunty, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in 1791, received a good 
 common-school education, and early learn- 
 ed the routine of farm work, continu- 
 ing to follow agriculture until his death, 
 which occurred in Ireland in 1841. 
 When a young man he was married to 
 Miss Naby Kalahar, also a native of Ire- 
 land, and they became the parents of the 
 following named children: Peter, our 
 subject; Bridget, now Mrs. John Cana- 
 van, of Ellington; Patrick, of Ellington; 
 Katherine, now Mrs. William Clancy, of 
 Needham, Mass. ; Luke, who died in Ire- 
 
888 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BWORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 land, and Mary, who was married to Mr. 
 Hansom, and died in Fond du Lac count_\'. 
 Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Prunty were both 
 members of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 and reared their faniih' in that faith. 
 
 Peter Prunty was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of his native countr}', and, 
 like his father was reared on a farm, fol- 
 lowing this occupation while living in 
 Ireland. The opportunities for making 
 more than a bare living there being so 
 poor, however, he decided to emigrate to 
 America, and in 1845 embarked on the 
 "Bombay," landing after a voyage of 
 forty-five days, at Boston, Mass. , where 
 he secured work as a common laborer in 
 the United States Custom House, re- 
 maining there four years. Leaving Bos- 
 ton he went to California, and for three 
 years labored in the gold mines there. 
 Returning to Boston he wedded Miss 
 Bridget Mulvy, a native of Ireland, who 
 was born in 1828, and after their mar- 
 riage the}' came to Wisconsin, locating in 
 the town of Ellington, Outagamie county, 
 where they purchased 160 acres of tirn- 
 berland upon which they took up a resi- 
 dence. The task of converting a forest 
 into a cultivated farm was most discour- 
 aging, but Mr. Prunty went bravely to 
 work, and when once accustomed to the 
 labor progressed very well. He was one 
 of the first settlers in the township, com- 
 ing there in 1855, when there were but 
 few other settlers. When he came to 
 America he had almost nothing, but by 
 dint of hard work and careful economy he 
 is now owner of one of the finest farms in 
 the township. 
 
 Mrs. Prunty died November ig, 1890, 
 and was buried in the cemetery at 
 Stephensville, Outagamie county. She 
 was the mother of nine children: Pat- 
 rick, Mary, Bridget, Thomas, Luke, 
 Frank and Felix, living, and Katherine 
 and Jane, deceased. Mary is married to 
 P. H. O'Brien, of Antigo. Wis. ; Bridget 
 is now Mrs. Joseph Kennedy, of Antigo; 
 Thomas P. married Miss Cora Gaily, and 
 lives in Ellington; Patrick is married and 
 
 resides in Seattle, Wash. Mr. Prunty is 
 an excellent farmer, a good citizen and a 
 free-hearted, whole-souled man. In poli- 
 tics he is a Democrat, but though inter- 
 ested in public affairs prefers to have 
 others fill the offices. He early embraced 
 the religion of his ancestors, and is a de- 
 vout member of the Roman Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON WER- 
 NER, who in his particular 
 sphere of labor and activity has 
 distinguished himself as an ener- 
 getic, live business man, is a native of 
 Wisconsin, born in the city of New Lon- 
 don, July 4, 1S64. 
 
 He received his education at the pub- 
 lic schools of his native place, and then 
 for some five years served as clerk in E. 
 D. Dolph's grocery store, afterward 
 going to Manitoba, Canada, where for a 
 time he was employed as timekeeper on 
 the Northern Pacific railroad, then being 
 built. Returning to Outagamie county, 
 Wis., he engaged in the ice business at 
 Appleton for about eighteen months, at the 
 end of which time he once more came to 
 New London, where he has since been 
 successfully engaged in the grocery 
 business. Mr. Werner was married, 
 August 2, 1S85, to Tena, daughter of 
 Edward and Margaret (Inline) Becker, 
 natives of Germany, who came to 
 this country, settling in New London, 
 where her father at the present 
 time is a prominent brewer. This union 
 has been blessed with three children, 
 namely: Mabel Clara Magdalene, Grace 
 Winifred and Frankey George. 
 
 Francis Werner, father of our subject, 
 was a native of Germany, where he was 
 educated, learning also the trade of 
 blacksmith, after which, while yet a young 
 man, he emigrated to this country, after 
 a time locating in Appleton, Wis., and 
 finally, in 1856, removing to New Lon- 
 don. Here he engaged in the hotel busi- 
 iness, purchasing the ' ' Wolf River 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGUAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 889 
 
 House," in later years embarking in the 
 manufacture of potash, which he con- 
 tinued up to his death; he died, in 1887, 
 in New London, after an active and use- 
 ful life. His widow is now residing in 
 Milwaukee, the mother of_f:ve children, 
 all yet living, namely: Frances, wife of 
 Theodore Knapstein, a prominent brewer 
 of New London, of which city he is 
 postmaster; William A., a resident of 
 Dubuque, Iowa; Henry, in Clintonville, 
 Waupaca county; Annie, wife of Charles 
 Steir, of Caroline, Shawano Co., W^is., 
 and George Washington, the subject 
 proper of this biographical sketch. 
 
 FRED KEENER, one of the ener- 
 getic, self-made citizens of Free- 
 dom township, Outagamie county, 
 is a son of Andrew (better known 
 as Fred) Keener, who was born February 
 23, 1826, in Prussia, Germany. His 
 father, Andrew I\eener, who was a farmer, 
 had a family of ten children — six sons 
 and four daughters. 
 
 The father of our subject was reared 
 to farm life, and up to the age of about 
 fourteen 3-ears attended the common 
 schools. Immediately after leaving school 
 he commenced to work for others, and, 
 having by economy, managed to save 
 enough to bring him to the United States, 
 he sailed from Hamburg on the vessel 
 "Hobart," in the spring of 1850, and 
 forty-nine days later landed in New York, 
 going thence to Newark, N. J., where he 
 worked two months in a brickj'ard, and 
 then came westward to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 finding employment first on the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, then in 
 course of construction. Later he worked 
 for one dollar a week threshing with a 
 flail, and did anything in fact that would 
 bring him an honest dollar. In 185 1, in 
 Milwaukee, he was married to Miss Wil- 
 helmina Weise, also a native of Germany, 
 and the young couple began house-keep- 
 ing six miles north of Milwaukee, on a 
 rented place containing about two acres. 
 
 Two years later they bought si.x acres of 
 land, but, after living there one year, he 
 sold it and came to Winnebago with his 
 family, then consisting of his wife and 
 three children: Fred, subject of this 
 sketch; Louisa, now Mrs. William Sherck, 
 of Appleton; and Mary, now Mrs. Albert 
 Lesch, of Cicero township, Outagamie 
 county. They lived in Winnebago eigh- 
 teen months, during which time Mr. Keener 
 worked for farmers, and then came to 
 Greenville township and bought forty 
 acres, which he traded later for an eighty- 
 acre tract. He lived in Greenville town- 
 ship several years, engaged in clearing his 
 farm, and then invested in eighty-one 
 acres of land in Grand Chute township, 
 which he added to and sold from at differ- 
 ent times. Removing next to near Ap- 
 pleton, he commenced the slaughter and 
 sale of cattle in connection with farming, 
 and founded the extensive business now 
 carried on by his sons in that city. 
 
 Mrs. Keener died in 1868, and was 
 buried in Greenville township. She left 
 eight children: three mentioned above; 
 Pauline, who is now the widow of Henry 
 Hanert, of Appleton; Minna, Mrs. Anton 
 Gievisch, of Appleton; Avald, a butcher, 
 of Grand Chute township; Robert, also a 
 butcher of Grand Chute, and Henry, in 
 the Appleton postoffice. Mr. Keener sub- 
 sequently married Mrs. Amelia Paulsen, a 
 widow, who died in 1891, without issue, 
 and was buried in Appleton. In 1887 he 
 gave up active farm work, and has since 
 led a semi-retired life, residing at present 
 in Appleton with his daughter, Minna. 
 He is much respected as an honest, in- 
 dustrious man, who has accumulated a 
 comfortable property solely by his own 
 exertions, and has assisted his children 
 in their start in life. Politically he is a 
 stanch Republican, and though not aspir- 
 ing to political honors has held the office 
 of pathmaster in his township. In relig- 
 ious faith he is an adherent of the German 
 Methodist Church. 
 
 Fred Keener, whose name opens this 
 biographical sketch, was born December 
 
890 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 29, 1853, in Milwaukee. During his 
 youth he attended occasionally the com- 
 mon schools, but there was always plenty 
 of work at home, and it was often impos- 
 sible for him to attend regularly to his 
 literary training. When but sixteen years 
 of age he commenced to work in the lum- 
 ber regions, where he was fully initiated 
 into the hardships of a lumberman's life, 
 but up to the age of twenty he spent his 
 summers on the home farm. He then 
 bought 120 acres of land in Cicero town- 
 ship for twelve hundred and twenty-five 
 dollars, going into debt for part of that 
 amount; but he was young and willing to 
 work for a home of his own, and by per- 
 severance soon attained his object. On 
 August 20, iSSo. he was married, in Ap- 
 pleton, to Miss Bertha Reinke, who was 
 born September 15, i860, in Germany, a 
 daughter of Charles and Hannah Reinke, 
 who came to the United States when 
 Mrs. Keener was but a child. After mar- 
 riage Mr. and Mrs. Keener lived in Cicero 
 township one year and nine months, and 
 then came to Freedom township, and 
 bought eighty acres in Section 31, from 
 his father, where he has ever since re- 
 sided, engaged in general farm.ing. He 
 has added seventy-three acres more, and 
 in 1892 built the substantial residence 
 which the family now occupy. Mr. 
 Keener has always been a hard worker 
 and successful agriculturist, and having 
 good health has ever\- prospect of becom- 
 ing one of the most prosperous men in his 
 district. He is a stanch Republican in 
 politics, and in Church connection is a 
 Lutheran. To Mr. and Mrs. Keener have 
 been born five children, namely: Alvina, 
 Robert, Otto, Georsre and Ella. 
 
 WILLIAM RICHEY. In the 
 mosaic-like conformation (if we 
 may apply such a term in speak- 
 ing of population) of that peace- 
 ful and progressive portion of the State of 
 Wisconsin so well represented in this vol- 
 ume by many of its leading citizens, the 
 
 French-Canadian element, ever remarka- 
 ble for industry, thrift, honesty and loy- 
 alty, shows up in clear and bright color- 
 ing, being composed to a large extent of 
 such men as the subject of this biography. 
 
 Mr. Richey was born June 15, 1855, 
 in the Province of Ouebec, Canada, in 
 the village of Ste. Genevieve, Jacques 
 Cartier county, about fifteen miles west 
 of Montreal, and is a son of Thomas and 
 Amelia (Lemuel) Richej-, both also na- 
 tives of the Province of Quebec. He 
 was reared a farmers boy, and educated 
 at the parish schools of the vicinity of 
 his boyhood home until fourteen years of 
 age, when, having come, in 1868, to 
 Fond du Lac county. Wis., with his par- 
 ents, he commenced earning his own liv- 
 ing by working in the lumber woods. In 
 this he continued some ten years, or until 
 1878, the date of his coming to and 
 settling on his farm in Maple Creek town- 
 ship, Outagamie count}", where he has 
 since been successfully engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits and lumbering. 
 
 Mr. Richey was united in marriage 
 with Miss Lillie Beanut, daughter of 
 Charles and Lucadi Beanut, natives of 
 Canada, and thirteen children were born 
 to them, ten of whom are yet living, 
 named respectively: Thomas, Mary, 
 David, Leoni, Noah. William, Arthur, 
 .\mos, Clara and Leo. The entire fam- 
 ily are members of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, and in his political views our 
 subject is a Republican. 
 
 SOLOMON BRICOT, who, as a 
 progressive and prosperous agri- 
 culturist, has no superior in Ma- 
 ple Creek township, Outagamie 
 county, is a native of Wisconsin, born in 
 Fond du Lac, November 16, 1856, a son 
 of Solomon and Sarah Bricot. 
 
 The father was born in Chambly, 
 Province of Ouebec, Canada, and, coming 
 thence to Wisconsin, became a repre- 
 sentative farmer of Maple Creek town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, where he was 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 891 
 
 married, and where all his children were 
 born. His death, which occurred May 
 16, 1867, cast a deep gloom on the entire 
 community, for he was universally es- 
 teemed and respected as a man of ster- 
 ling integrit}-. On February 6, 1 866, 
 while he was engaged in the woods cut- 
 ting trees for railroad ties he was struck 
 by a falling tree, and so badly injured 
 that he never recovered, suffering some 
 fifteen months with heroic fortitude. He 
 left a widow and nine children to mourn 
 the loss of a loving husband and a kind, 
 indulgent father. 
 
 After his father's death the support of 
 the widow and numerous family in a great 
 measure fell on our subject's shoulders, 
 he being the eldest of the children, and 
 by hard labor at his occupation, farming, 
 he assisted in rearing and supporting his 
 brothers and sisters until they reached 
 manhood and womanhood; their names 
 are Philomene, Melinda, Sarah Ann, 
 Adeline, William, Alexander, George and 
 Jessie. Mrs. Bricot is now married to 
 Oliver Griener, and resides in Merrill, 
 Lincoln Co., Wis. Our subject received 
 a fair education at the public schools of 
 his native town and elsewhere, and has 
 always been industrious and well-to-do. 
 On October 24, 1880, he was united in 
 marriage, in Maple Creek, with Miss Mary 
 Belthazer, daughter of Charles and Ma- 
 tilda Belthazer, and to them were born 
 six children, as follows: Sarah Jane, 
 George (deceased in 1887), Alice, Diana, 
 Margaret (deceased in 1883), and Wini- 
 fred (born January 4, 1893). 
 
 THEODORE KORTZ, a much re- 
 spected farmer of Freedom town- 
 ship, Outagamie county, was born 
 June 13, 1844, inCleve, Germany, 
 son of William Kortz, a laborer who had 
 twelve children, four of whom grew to 
 maturity. The parents both died in 
 Germany. 
 
 Theodore Kortz attended school until 
 
 fourteen years of age, when he commenc- 
 ed to work, engaging in various kinds of 
 labor, and continuing to assist his parents 
 until thirty years old. About 1874 he 
 was married in Germany to Miss Bertha 
 Hendricks, who was born March 27, 
 1842, daughter of George Hendricks, a 
 small farmer. Mr. Kortz was employed 
 in a brickyard, burning brick, and being 
 thoroughly acquainted with the work was 
 foreman for ten years before leaving 
 Germany. Children were born in Ger- 
 man}' as follows: Minnie (now Mrs. Con- 
 rad Timmers, of Kaukauna), George, 
 William, Nellie, John, and Henry (born 
 Januar}' 15, 1881), who live at home, 
 and a daughter that died in infancy. In 
 the spring of 1883, Mr. Kortz determined 
 to see for himself what the United States 
 held in store for industrious men, what- 
 ever their means, and proceeding with 
 his family to Rotterdam took passage there 
 on the "Marsh" for New York, where 
 they landed after a voyage of two weeks, 
 sailing on the 17th of April. They came 
 at once to Wisconsin, and settling in 
 Little Chute, Outagamie county, Mr. 
 Kortz commenced to work for a farmer, 
 later finding employment on the Chicago 
 & North Western railroad. For the next 
 two years he rented a farm of forty-two 
 acres in Buchanan township, and then, 
 in the spring of 1886, came to Freedom 
 township, renting land here till the spring 
 of 1893, when he purchased eighty acres 
 in the N. E. corner of Section 36, and 
 removed thereon the spring following. 
 One child, Mary, has been born in Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Though Mr. Kortz has been engaged 
 in farming but a comparatively brief 
 length of time, he has succeeded well, 
 and his sons, all of whom have assisted 
 their father faithfully, should also have a 
 share of the credit. They are known 
 everywhere as a hard-working, thrifty 
 family, and are highly respected. Mr. 
 Kortz is a Democrat in politics, and the 
 family are adherents of the Catholic 
 Church. 
 
892 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JOHN A. FILLMORE, a resident of 
 Hortonia township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, is a native of New York State, 
 born October 24, 1826, in Wyoming 
 county. He is a son of John A. and 
 Martha Fillmore, who were born in Ver- 
 mont, the former a son of John A. Fill- 
 more, a native of England. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was the 
 eighth in a family of ten children, and, 
 his father being a farmer by occupation, 
 he spent his boyhood on a farm, attend- 
 ing also the schools of his native State up 
 to the age of seventeen, when he removed 
 with his parents to Milwaukee county, 
 Wis. Here his father purchased a farm, 
 and locating thereon carried on general 
 agriculture, also conducting the "Buck- 
 horn Tavern," a hostelry widely known 
 in the early days, and which had a large 
 patronage. Here the father died of 
 cholera, during the epidemic, and about 
 a year afterward our subject sold the 
 property in Milwaukee county, removing 
 to Hartland, Waukesha Co., Wis., where 
 he engaged in the grocery business. Later 
 he kept hotel, continuing in that until 
 1863, when he sold out, and coming to 
 Hortonia township, Outagamie county, 
 purchased the farm he now occupies. The 
 land at this time being all covered with 
 timber, he immediately began clearing it, 
 and has given his entire attention to farm- 
 ing ever since. He has met with gratify- 
 ing success, and has improved the place 
 with good buildings, fences, etc., having 
 to-day one of the neatest farms in the 
 vicinity, and he is one of the representative 
 farmers of his section. 
 
 On November 28, 1848, Mr. Fillmore 
 was united in marriage with Mary Butler, 
 who was born August 19, 1827, in New 
 Jersey, daughter of Charles and Deliver- 
 ance Butler, also natives of that State. 
 To this union came four children, viz. : 
 Orin P., who married Bella Bluer; Charles 
 M., who married Mertie B. Williams, of 
 Neenah, Wis.; Edwin N., who married 
 Nellie Benjamin, of Hortonville, and one 
 deceased. Mr. Fillmore enlisted, August 
 
 19, 1864, during the Civil war, in Com- 
 pany K, Fifth Wis. V. I., and served 
 until June 27, 1865, when he received an 
 honorable discharge. He is a member of 
 Francis Steffen Post No. 210, G. A. R., 
 of Hortonville, Wisconsin. 
 
 FRED TECKLIN, a well-known 
 and prosperous farmer of Apple 
 Creek, Freedom township, Outa- 
 gamie county, was born in Prussia 
 June 1 1, 1838, son of Michael Tecklin, a 
 farmer of comfortable means, who had 
 eight children — four sons and four daugh- 
 ters. Charles and John were the first of 
 the family to come to the United States, 
 both settling in Outagamie county, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Fred Tecklin attended the schools in 
 his native locality up to the age of about 
 fourteen years, after which he worked for 
 his father, and later for others, paying 
 all his earnings over to his father. The 
 latter assisted him to pay his way to the 
 United States, and the young man, in the 
 fall of 1857, sailed from Hamburg on the 
 sailing vessel "Hobart,"for New York, 
 which port was reached after a voyage 
 of fourteen weeks and three days. In 
 Rockland county, N. Y. , he hired out 
 to a farmer named Sherburt, remaining 
 fourteen months at the rate of seventy 
 dollars per year, from which he 
 saved over fifty dollars, and April, 1859, 
 came west to Milwaukee, where he found 
 employment among the farmers of the 
 vicinity. His parents having now also 
 crossed over he accompanied them to Cen- 
 ter township, Outagamie county, where 
 the father, who had some capital, pur- 
 chased one-quarter of Section 30 
 and gave forty acres to each of 
 his four sons — Charles, John, William 
 and Fred. A road had been partially 
 opened to this land, which was heavily 
 timbered. Fred made some improve- 
 ments upon his forty, then sold it and 
 purchased fifty-seven acres in Section 30, 
 Freedom township, from Anson Ballard. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 S93 
 
 He was married in that township, Septem- 
 ber 14, 1865, to Sophia Rusher, who was 
 born August 6, 1844, near Milwaukee, 
 Wis., of which locahty her father, Fred- 
 erick Rusher, was an early settler. 
 
 The land which Mr. Tecklin had pur- 
 chased in Freedom was covered with tim- 
 ber, no clearing having been done, and 
 he built a log-house on the site of his 
 present residence, his wife helping him in 
 its construction. He was the possessor 
 of one ox, and a neighbor had another, 
 so between them they managed to pro- 
 vide a team, which was fortunate, for 
 there was a great deal of hauling to be 
 done and their supply of agricultural im- 
 plements was rather limited, consisting of 
 an a.xe and a handspike. The work of 
 clearing progressed slowly, but Mr. Teck- 
 lin was steady and determined to have a 
 home. His wife could many times be 
 seen assisting him at his work, her's being 
 all the help he had, and between them 
 they succeeded in getting a start. For a 
 time, it being impossible to make a living 
 off their own place, Mr. Tecklin earned 
 such wages as he could among the other 
 farmers of the region. At length they 
 began to get the upper hand, prosperity 
 smiled upon them, and they were enabled 
 to purchase more land, until the farm now 
 consists of 137 acres. In 1874 the old 
 log-house was abandoned for a new brick 
 structure, at that time considered one of 
 the best in the township, and the posses- 
 sor is now a well-to-do and highly re- 
 spected citizen and successful farmer. 
 Both he and his wife know what it has 
 meant to carve a home out of an un- 
 broken forest, for their labors to that end 
 were mutual and difficult. To that wife 
 is due no little praise, not alone for her 
 hard work, but for the economical man- 
 agement of the household affairs and the 
 care with which she has looked after her 
 family. Children came, of course, and 
 they were well educated by their mother 
 in household duties, so that the daughters 
 who have found homes of their own did 
 not go to them unprepared to perform 
 
 their duty. The children are Annie, now 
 Mrs. Charles Stapcl, of F'reedom; Eliza, 
 now Mrs. Adolph Burmeister, of Free- 
 dom; Lena, now Mrs. Fred Ziegler, of 
 Center; Matilda and Otto, at home; and 
 three deceased — John, when aged ten 
 years; Albert, at six years; and Fred, at 
 six months. 
 
 In political matters Mr. Tecklin is a 
 Republican, with no desire for office, 
 though he has held the position of school 
 treasurer. He and his family are mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran Church in Center 
 township. His success is an example of 
 what may be accomplished by an indus- 
 trious, energetic man, who is honest and 
 fair in dealing with others. 
 
 JOHN MONTGOMERY, well-known 
 resident of Grand Chute township, 
 Outagamie county, was born De- 
 cember 25, 1840, in Tyrone, Ire- 
 land, a son of James Montgomery, who 
 was born at the same place in 1801. 
 
 James Montgomery was of Scotch- 
 Irish descent. He was reared on a farm, 
 attended the Episcopal parochial schools 
 of Ireland, where he obtained the rudi- 
 ments of a sound business education, and 
 when a young man learned the weaver's 
 trade, which he followed some twenty- 
 five years. In the year 1846 he removed 
 to Dundee, Scotland, remaining there 
 until 1866, when he returned to Ireland 
 and there died about the year 1880. He 
 was united in marriage with Mary Stuart, 
 to which union were born six children — 
 all sons. Mary Stuart was born at Ty- 
 rone, Ireland, in 1803, and died at Dun- 
 dee, Scotland, about the year 1872. Her 
 ancestors were Stuarts and Gordons. 
 
 John Montgomery, whose name opens 
 this sketch, spent his early days in the 
 common schools of Ireland and Scotland, 
 also learning the weaving trade, until 
 
 1856, when he came to America and to 
 Wisconsin, landing at Fond du Lac in 
 
 1857. His education being somewhat 
 limited, he engaged in working on a farm 
 
894 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in summer, and attended the public 
 schools in the winter. In 1865 he re- 
 moved to Appleton, Wis., and thence to 
 Dodge county, same State, returning to 
 Appleton in 1869, and residing there 
 about three years, until his removal to 
 the farm in Grand Chute township where 
 he still has his home. He is a successful 
 business man, and having come to the 
 United States with a limited education 
 and no money, none can understand and 
 appreciate more thoroughly than he the 
 advantages here offered to the ambitious 
 and energetic — intellectually and finan- 
 cially. In politics he is an adherent of 
 the Republican party, in whose move- 
 ments he has taken quite an active part, 
 especially in the local affairs of his town- 
 ship and county. He has served as an 
 officer of the school board in District 
 No. 4, for nine \-ears; in 1885 he was 
 elected town clerk, which position he held 
 until 1889, being re-elected three times; 
 in 1891-92 he was elected chairman of 
 the county board of supervisors, and 
 from this time to 1894 has been chair- 
 man of the township board. In all these 
 positions of trust he has proven his worth 
 bv being a faithful servant of those who 
 placed their trust in him. 
 
 Mr. Montgomery was united in marri- 
 age, September 28, 1864, with Christiana 
 Smith, who was born at Montreal, Cana- 
 da, June 9, 1845. Her father, William 
 Smith, was born in Caithnesshire, Scot- 
 land, in 1 801, was a soldier in the British 
 army, and came to Canada as a member 
 of the Seventy-ninth Highland Regiment. 
 He married Euphemia Boa, and to their 
 union were born children as follows: 
 Robert. James and Jessie. Mrs. Euphe- 
 mia fBoa) Smith died January 3, 1S39, 
 and Mr. Smith was again married, in 
 September, 1841, this time to Anna Mc- 
 Dougal; by this marriage there were two 
 children, Anna and Christiana. William 
 Smith came to Appleton in i860, here 
 following the mason's trade to some ex- 
 tent, and in 1873 he removed to Utah, 
 where he died May 29, 1882. Mrs. Anna 
 
 (McDougal) Smith died December 23, 
 1868. To this union of John and Christ- 
 iana (Smith) Montgomery were born four 
 children, viz.: George H., Elmer J., 
 Effie H. and John S., all living, except 
 John S., who died September 12, 1882. 
 
 CURTIS MITCHELL. This worthy 
 citizen of Bovina township, Outa- 
 gamie county, a well-known pio- 
 neer, farmer and soldier, was born 
 in Lebanon, Wayne Co., Penn., Decem- 
 ber 8, 1829. His father, Abraham Mitchell, 
 who was a successful farmer, married 
 Mary Smith, and reared a family of four- 
 teen children: Ursula, Bateman. Sarah, 
 Olive, Osborn, Orpha, Thomas. Julia, 
 George, Catherine, Solomon, Curtis, Vir- 
 gil and Nathan, of whom Julia is now 
 Mrs. Seeley Budd, of Bovina. The chil- 
 dren all remained at home until reaching 
 maturity, when they married and sepa- 
 rated. Abraham Mitchell was a son of 
 Nathan Mitchell, who died before Curtis 
 was born; consequently the latter knows 
 but little concerning him. 
 
 Curtis Mitchell received such educa- 
 tion as could be obtained in the schools 
 of his native locality, and was eighteen 
 years of age when his father met with se- 
 rious reverses and lost all his property. 
 The children were then compelled to shift 
 for themselves, and Curtis was for six 
 months emplo3-ed by his brothers, George 
 and Thomas. He then worked for his 
 board for his brother-in-law, \'irgil Brooks, 
 having been sick, a few months later re- 
 pairing to Bradford county, Penn., and for 
 the succeeding three years was in the em- 
 ploy of another brother-in-law, during 
 which period he learned the carpenter's 
 trade, at which he worked eight or nine 
 years after leaving his brother-in-law. In 
 1854 he located at Barton, Washington 
 Co. , Wis. , and remained about three 
 years, working at his trade. While a resi- 
 dent of Barton he married Hannah Jane 
 Buffington, daughter of Oliver and Lvdia 
 (Hunt) Buflfington, from Nichols, N.Y.. 
 
^^^ . <4p..c^i:^>sJ^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 897 
 
 who had a family of three children — the 
 others being Adonijah and Cyril — all now 
 living. Her grandparents, Adonijah and 
 Jane (Mitchellj Hunt, with whom she 
 came to Washington county. Wis., at the 
 age of fourteen years, purchased a farm 
 upon which they passed the remainder of 
 their lives, and at their home the young 
 lady became the bride of Mr. Mitchell. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell re- 
 moved to Bovina, and located upon a 
 farm of 160 acres of land which he had 
 purchased in the woods. Settlers were 
 very scarce, but bears, deer and wolves 
 abounded in sufficient numbers to satisfy 
 the most exacting nature. Mr. Mitchell 
 cut his own road, and brought his goods 
 in with an ox-team. The trees grew so 
 closeh" that he had to make a clearing be- 
 fore he could erect his 12 x 16 shanty, 
 which was built of logs, covered with 
 shakes and floored with basswood pun- 
 cheons, and in it the new home life in the 
 tremendous wilderness was begun. His 
 implements consisted simply of a logging 
 chain and an axe, and his ox-team was 
 only partly paid for; yet, notwithstanding 
 all these difficulties, he bravely began to 
 clear his land,' and when the timber on 
 about two acres had been cut he sowed a 
 small patch of buckwheat and planted some 
 corn and potatoes. The buckwheat crop 
 was a failure, but the corn and potatoes 
 yielded finely in the fertile soil. He had 
 gone in debt for three barrels of flour, 
 which lasted until the corn was harvested, 
 and by means of a " pung " — or rude sort 
 of sled — and his ox-team he transported 
 the corn to Hortonville to be ground; but 
 he found the gristmill out of repair, and 
 the family were obliged to live on parched 
 corn for two weeks. From that time the 
 family enjoyed a rich diet of potatoes and 
 johnny-cake, and meantime the work of 
 clearing was continued until twenty acres 
 had been made ready for cultivation. 
 
 About that time the war of the Rebel- 
 lion broke out, and, after making what 
 improvements he could, Mr. Mitcfiell en- 
 listed, August 12, 1862, in Company D, 
 
 Twenty-first Wisconsin Infantry. On 
 August 31 — on the formation of the com- 
 pany — he was made corporal, receiving a 
 sergeant's warrant on the first of the fol- 
 lowing January. His first engagement 
 was the memorable battle of Perryville, 
 Ky., October 8, 1862, where he was 
 slightly wounded in the forehead by a 
 glancing bullet, and he was subsequently 
 in the battles of Stone River (Murfrees- 
 boro), Hoover's Gap, Chickaniauga, and 
 numerous skirmishes. On September 20, 
 1863, he was captured on the field at 
 Chickamauga, was taken three miles to 
 the rear of the Rebel lines, and the next 
 morning was started on foot for Rich- 
 mond. He was well treated by his cap- 
 tors, except that a first lieutenant cut off 
 his canteen. The men had thrown their 
 arms into the brush when they surren- 
 dered. Mr. Mitchell remembers remark- 
 ing: " This is pretty rough, but I guess 
 it is the fortune of war." In the course 
 of the first day's march they came to a 
 small railroad station, where the prison- 
 ers were literally packed into cattle cars 
 as thickly as they could stand. They 
 were ordered out in the morning and as- 
 sembled in an open field, their captors ev- 
 idently having conceived the notion that 
 if they had less baggage they could pack 
 closer and travel easier, and they were ac- 
 cordingly stripped of their blankets and 
 knapsacks (which was the last they saw 
 of them) and marched all day. That 
 night and most of the following day were 
 spent in a cow-yard. They were then 
 driven into a negro pen, where they were 
 robbed of their jacknives, for fear, per- 
 haps, that they might cut their way out 
 and escape. Two days after their cap- 
 ture it must have dawned on the minds of 
 their captors that they had appetites, for 
 they were given two crackers each. Be- 
 ing once more packed into cattle cars, 
 their next stop was Belle Isle prison, sit- 
 uated on an island in the James river op- 
 posite Richmond — a cold, bleak spot with 
 no protection whatever from the elements 
 — where he was kept ten days, and then 
 
89S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 taken to the infamous Libby prison, where 
 he was held from October i to December 
 27. Here his daily rations were one gill 
 of bean soup and a small piece of brown 
 bread, occasionally supplemented by a ra- 
 tion of sweet potatoes cooked in the filth- 
 iest manner — mixed with gravel — and 
 served in small balls to each man; on 
 such fare the prisoners soon became weak, 
 and could hardly walk without reeling. 
 
 On December 27, 1863, Mr. Mitchell 
 was taken to Danville prison, and kept 
 there until April 10, 1864, being confined 
 in an old tobacco factory — a three-story 
 brick building — and fed on very poor 
 rations, one article of which was raw 
 and rotten cabbage stumps, from which 
 the best part had been cut. At this place 
 some of the prisoners tunneled out and 
 made an attempt to escape, which so en- 
 raged the commandant of the prison that 
 he suspended all rations, however poor, 
 so that for forty-eight hours the prisoners 
 (among whom was Mr. Mitchell) had 
 nothing at all to eat, and no water to 
 drink, in consequence of which they suf- 
 fered fearfully. While here Mr. Mitchell 
 was prostrated with bilious fever, and 
 was taken to the prison hospital, where 
 he received fairly good treatment and 
 wholesome food — though in limited quan- 
 tities — after two weeks being returned to 
 prison. On April 10, 1864, he was taken 
 from Danville, arriving April 17 at An- 
 dersonville prison, where there were five 
 thousand prisoners, and here he remained 
 until September 14 following, enduring 
 all the barbarities and evils of the other 
 prisons and half as much again, and in 
 addition was afflicted with scurvy. Here 
 he was under the control of the notorious 
 Capt. Wertz, who was afterward hung 
 for his brutality to and inhuman treatment 
 of Union prisoners, and for some whim 
 of Wertz was at one time, v\'ith the other 
 prisoners, deprived of all nourishment for 
 three days — an act of cruelty which was the 
 immediate cause of many deaths among 
 the prisoners. In the month of August, 
 1 864, the prisoners at Andersonville had 
 
 increased to thirty-two thousand, making 
 it inhumanly crowded and unhealthy, and 
 Mr. Mitchell among others was moved 
 thence to Charleston, S. C, where they 
 arrived September 20, and were camped 
 on the "Race Course," with guards 
 surrounding them. Here they received 
 better and more wholesome food; but 
 after remaining there four weeks they 
 were removed, on October 20, to the 
 prison at Florence, S. C, which con- 
 sisted of a stockade, where about eight 
 thousand prisoners were confined. The 
 fare here was similar to that at Anderson- 
 ville, the rations usually consisting of 
 about a pint of Indian meal a da}-, very 
 coarse, such as is generally given to cat- 
 tle. He was incarcerated at this place 
 until February, 1865, when he was again 
 taken to Libby prison, and here paroled. 
 When the train left Florence it contained 
 one thousand Union prisoners, and on its 
 arrival at Richmond only seven hundred 
 were alive, three hundred having died of 
 disease and starvation in the seven days 
 that it took to make the journey, during 
 three days of which time the prisoners were 
 deprived of food, no rations being issued 
 to them of an kind. Mr. Mitchell was 
 paroled February 23, 1865, was taken to 
 a point of the James river, thence to Ann- 
 apolis, Md., and thence to the parole 
 camp at St. Louis, Mo., where he was 
 granted a furlough and came home, ar- 
 riving March 11, 1S65. His furlough 
 was extended, as he was very feeble — • 
 nothing in fact but skin and bones — and 
 besides, as he had only been paroled, and 
 not exchanged, he could not enter active 
 service. The hardships that he was com- 
 pelled to undergo during his seventeen- 
 months' confinement were of a nature 
 calculated to undermine the strongest 
 constitution, and touch the sympathies of 
 all who were not dyed and steeped in 
 brutality and heartlessness. But Mr. Mit- 
 chell lived through it all, and was finally 
 discharged from the service at Madison, 
 Wis., on May 17. 1865. 
 
 Returning after his discharge to Shioc- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 S99 
 
 ton, Mr. Mitchell resumed the work of 
 clearing his land, and the struggles of 
 himself and family in the wilderness were 
 of the severest nature. Salt was worth 
 five cents a pound, and not always to be 
 had even at that figure. Flour cost nine 
 dollars a barrel, bacon eighteen cents 
 per pound, and other things in propor- 
 tion. While her husband was in the 
 army the noble wife drew her own wood, 
 and made trips to the base of supplies at 
 Shiocton with the ox-team, enduring 
 privations and suffering hardships which 
 none can realize but those who have had 
 experience along the same line. But her 
 pluck and wonderful powers of endurance 
 triumphed, and like her husband she has 
 lived to enjoy the fruits and comforts of 
 prosperity and peace. Mr. Mitchell pur- 
 chased forty acres of additional land in 
 1866, and is the present possessor of 200 
 acres, of which 120 acres are under cul- 
 tivation. Mr. Mitchell was a Democrat 
 in politics up to the administration of 
 President Pierce, cast his next presiden- 
 tial vote for Gen. J. C. Fremont, and 
 since that time has been a stanch sup- 
 porter of the Republican cause. Except 
 as to attending strictly to his duty as a 
 voter he does not take an active part in 
 political matters, although he has served 
 as supervisor of his town four terms. 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell 
 are: Frank A., born August 23, 1857, 
 now a painter residing at Eagle River, 
 Wis.; Emerson, born June 30, 1861, an 
 electrician at the same place; Curtis M., 
 born September 9, 1871, now on the 
 homestead; Ella May, born September 
 29, 1875, also at home. The last two 
 named are members of the Society of 
 Christian Endeavor, in which they take 
 an active interest. 
 
 RYER H. RANDALL. This well- 
 known and highly esteemed 
 pioneer farmer of Grand Chute 
 township, Outagamie county, was 
 born August 11, 1825, in Sandgate town- 
 
 ship, Bennington Co., Vt., son of Levi 
 and Annie (Hurd) Randall, farming peo- 
 ple, who had a family of nine children — 
 seven sons and two daughters^Ryer H. 
 being fourth in the order of birth. 
 
 Our subject received a common-school 
 education, and grew to manhood on the 
 home farm, the parents being in comfort- 
 able circumstances. Late in the fall of 
 1845, being desirous of obtaining a home 
 for himself, the young man started for 
 what was then the Territory of Wiscon- 
 sin, away in the "Far West," proceed- 
 ing by wagon to Troy, N. Y. , thence .by 
 Erie canal to Buffalo, where he shipped 
 for a lake trip to Milwaukee. In January 
 of the same year he married Sarah A. 
 Prindle (daughter of Zenas Prindle), born 
 in Bennington county, Vt., April 4, 1824, 
 and the young wife accompanied him on 
 his western journey, the twain finally 
 reaching their destination, Brookfield, 
 Milwaukee (now Waukesha) Co., Wis., 
 safely. Mrs. Randall had an uncle 
 living in the township of Brookfield, with 
 whom they lived until 1849, Mr. Randall 
 finding employment as a farmer and a 
 laborer in saw and flouring mills. In 
 1849 he removed to Pewaukee, Waukesha 
 county (then still included in Milwaukee 
 county), where he engaged in running 
 both a sawmill and a flouring-mill until 
 early spring, when he concluded to re- 
 move to Appleton. With his family he 
 pushed out by team as far as Fond du 
 Lac, thence going by row-boat to Me- 
 nasha, and finally by an Indian canoe to 
 within three miles of Appleton, walking 
 the remaining distance. Appleton then 
 (February, 1849) consisted of a small 
 collection of log buildings, not a frame 
 structure having been yet built, although 
 the first one, the residence of Elder 
 Sampson, was in process of erection. 
 Mr. Randall purchased, at the govern- 
 ment price of a dollar and a quarter per 
 acre, the southwest quarter of Section 24, 
 160 acres, in Grand Chute township, a 
 tract of unbroken forest, not a stick 
 having been cut, and the first white 
 
900 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 man's habitation upon it was the log 
 cabin built by him. As may be imagined 
 the task of clearing was a most diffi- 
 cult one, with no tools but an axe and a 
 "grub hoe;" but a home was the 
 reward, and the work was bravely en- 
 tered upon. Wild game abounded, and 
 the settlers were enabled to provide the 
 family larders with delicious meat. 
 
 While for the first few j'ears Mr. Ran- 
 dall was obliged to find work a portion of 
 the time in Appleton, in order to support 
 his family, each year saw the farm in bet- 
 ter .condition, and it yielded at length a 
 comfortable income. Here he has re- 
 sided during all the succeeding years, en- 
 gaging in both agriculture and the rear- 
 ing of such stock as there has been a 
 demand for. From his present condition 
 of comfort and content he can look back- 
 ward over the many years of the hardest 
 kind of toil spent in bringing his property 
 from its wild and unproductive state to a 
 condition providing support and profit. 
 The work of the early pioneers in this 
 region was almost beyond the compre- 
 hension of those who have not seen it in 
 progress, but the way has been prepared, 
 by heroic struggles, for the generations to 
 come after. It is thought probable that 
 Mr. Randall is the only one now living in 
 Grand Chute township of the number 
 who were resident therein at the time of 
 his arrival. His estimable wife, who has 
 been with him through all the years of 
 toil and hardship, is entitled also to great 
 credit. If their lives are spared, this 
 venerable couple will celebrate the golden 
 anniversary of their wedding in January, 
 1895. They have one daughter, Viola, 
 now Mrs. J. N. Fox, of Appleton. To 
 the latter have been given two children, 
 George R. and Eugene G. 
 
 Politically Mr. Randall is a Democrat, 
 having been a stanch and unswerving 
 member of that party for more than fifty 
 years. He has held leading offices in his 
 township, serving five or six years as 
 chairman and one year as assessor, and 
 in the discharge of all his public duties 
 
 has met with the approval of his fellow 
 citizens. On July 16, 1861, soon after 
 the breaking out of the Rebellion, Mr. 
 Randall enlisted as a musician in the 
 regimental band of the Sixth Wis. V. I., 
 playing the first tenor part, and served, 
 principally at Washington, D. C., and 
 Arlington Heights, Va. , until October i, 
 1 86 1, when he was honorably discharged 
 on account of disability resulting from ex- 
 posure while marching. He returned to 
 his family, but again entered the service 
 in September, 1864, having been drafted, 
 this time being assigned to Compan)' E, 
 Twenty-second Wis. V. I., with which 
 he served until the close of the war, re- 
 ceiving an honorable discharge May 18, 
 1865. During his second term of service 
 he was engaged principally on detail 
 duty, guarding recruits, bounty jumpers, 
 etc., from Madison to the seat of war; he 
 now receives a small pension. 
 
 JULIUS PEERENBOOM. This 
 leading dry-goods and clothing mer- 
 chant of Appleton, one of the 
 most enterprising business men of 
 Outagamie county, is conspicuous not 
 only as such, but as one of the best known 
 and most widely-respected citizens in this 
 portion of the State. 
 
 He was born April 25, 1837, in the 
 village of Valburg, Holland, a son of Ger- 
 hart and Lydia (Johnson) Peerenboom, 
 natives, the father of Prussia, the mother 
 of Holland, where they were married in 
 1835. They had nine children, six of 
 whom are now living, Julius being the 
 eldest in order of birth. Grandfather 
 Peerenboom was accidentally killed when 
 Gerhart was very young, and the latter 
 then moved with relatives to Holland, 
 where he learned the trade of carpenter, 
 afterward carrying on contracting and 
 building. In 1858 the family came to 
 America, settling on a farm in Little 
 Chute, Outagamie Co., Wis., where the 
 mother died in 1864, the father in 1874. 
 Julius Peerenboom received part of 
 
COMMEMORAiIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 901 
 
 his education in Holland, and part at 
 night schools in the neighborhood of his 
 new American home at Little Chute. At 
 the age of fifteen he commenced working 
 with his father at carpentry, in Holland, 
 and continued with him till he was twen- 
 ty-four years old, assisting in the support 
 of the family. After that he frequently 
 worked for other contractors until he was 
 twenty-seven, when, having married, he 
 commenced business for his own account 
 contracting and building in Appleton. 
 In this line he continued till the fall of 
 1869, at which time, having saved some 
 $1500, he embarked in mercantile trade, 
 in company with his brother-in-law, An- 
 ton Vanstratom, buying out this partner 
 at the end of two years, and in January, 
 1874, associating himself with Jacob 
 Kober, with whom he remained in part- 
 nership for si.xteen years. They then 
 dissolved, Mr. Peerenboom continuing 
 the business alone, as sole proprietor of 
 one of the most complete dry-goods and 
 clothing stores in the county. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. Peerenboom was mar- 
 ried, in Appleton, to Miss Wilhelmina 
 Speel, who was born in The Hague 
 (Gravenhage), Holland, in 1838, and 
 came to America with her parents in 
 1846, Father Vandenbrook accompany- 
 ing them. They were the first settlers 
 in the woods at Little Chute, Wis. , to 
 come from the capital of the Netherlands, 
 and here the father, Michael Speel, who 
 had been a cabinet maker in Holland, 
 followed farming; he died on his farm in 
 Buchanan township, Outagamie county. 
 They were wealthy people in the old 
 country, accustomed to refined living, 
 and coming as they did to the wilds of 
 Wisconsin, they found the contrast far 
 from pleasant, their experiences as pio- 
 neers in the forest being both extremely 
 novel and severe. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Peerenboom were born eleven children, 
 three of whom died in infancy, and eight 
 are yet living, as follows: Morris S., 
 George H. , James A. , Frederick J. , Lydia, 
 Mary, Minnie and Isabel, of whom, 
 
 George H. is the only one married (he is 
 teller in the Commercial Bank at Apple- 
 ton), and Morris S. is in business with 
 his father. In his political associations 
 Mr. Peerenboom is independent, having 
 voted both the Republican and Demo- 
 cratic tickets, and in local elections he 
 invariably votes for the best man. He 
 has served as alderman of his ward and 
 as supervisor, two terms. In religious 
 faith he and his wife are members of the 
 Catholic Church. A typical self-made, 
 thorough business man, and strictly hon- 
 orable in his dealings, he ranks among 
 the best. He takes an active interest 
 in everything pertaining to the welfare of 
 the city of Appleton. 
 
 ARNOLD VERSTEGEN. Con- 
 spicuous among the early settlers 
 of Little Chute, Outagamie 
 county, is the family of Verste- 
 gens, who emigrated from Holland at an 
 early date. 
 
 John Verstegen was born in Holland 
 in 1789, and came to America in 1850, 
 dying at Little Chute, Wis., in 1858. 
 His wife was Jennie Beavers, also a 
 native of Holland, born in 1780, and dy- 
 ing in Holland December 23, 1832. Their 
 family consi-sted of two sons: John, born 
 in 1 819, who came to America in 1849, 
 and settled in Little Chute, W' is. , where 
 he was a merchant, dying there October 
 20, 1870; and Arnold, the subject of this 
 sketch, who was born December 23, 
 1820, came to this country in 1850, and 
 settled in Little Chute, Wis. , where he 
 engaged in farming for about fifteen years. 
 In 1862 he built the Zeeland Flouring 
 Mill, and abandoning farming became a 
 miller, which vocation he has followed 
 ever since. Through a system of fair 
 dealing he has won the patronage of a 
 large portion of the surrounding country, 
 farmers coming a long distance to have 
 their flour and feed ground at his mill, 
 knowing that he always gives good meas- 
 ure and never requires extortionate toll. 
 
902 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 On February 14, 1844, Mr. Verstegen 
 was mnrried to Miss Anna Marie Beamens, 
 ■who was also a native of Holland, born 
 April 2 1, 1 82 1, and died at Little Chute, 
 December 23, 1863 ; he has had eleven 
 children, five of whom are now living, a 
 brief sketch of whom is as follows: 
 Johanna Catharine (the eldest) is married 
 to Martin Coonen; Anna Marie is married 
 to John Hooyman, one of the prosperous 
 farmers of Freedom township, Outagamie 
 county (they have a family of nine chil- 
 dren); John E., the present postmaster at 
 the village of Little Chute, also conducts 
 a large furniture store (he was married 
 July 20, 1880, to Miss Mary Feldmyer, 
 by whom he has six children); Herman J., 
 who is superintending the business in the 
 mill for his father, was marri2d to Miss 
 Christan Whiman, October 24, 1882, and 
 has five children; Jennie is the wife of 
 John Wymelenberg, who conducts a large 
 general store in Wrightstown, Brown Co. , 
 Wis., and they have five children. 
 
 In December, 1S63, Mr. Verstegen 
 lost his wife, and in 1867 he married Miss 
 Cathrana, a daughter of Nicolas and 
 Wilhelmina Vanderaa, and thirteen chil- 
 dren were born to this marriage, seven of 
 whom are now living, namely: Frank, 
 who assists in the mill; Dianna, who mar- 
 ried Martin Hartges, a mason and builder, 
 of Little Chute, and has three children; 
 Peternala, who is married to Edward 
 Jannson, a prominent and prosperous 
 farmer of Buchanan; Arnold and Joseph, 
 living at home; and Peter and Cornelius, 
 who are still in school. Had Mr. Verste- 
 gen resided in Canada he would have re- 
 ceived eighty acres of land from the gov- 
 ernment on account of his numerous 
 family. He was the father of twenty- 
 four children, twelve of whom are still 
 living, a remarkable record. He is public- 
 spirited, intelligent, and, despite his foreign 
 birth, is well informed on the affairs of 
 the country of his adoption. His friends 
 have given proof of their confidence in 
 his integrity and capabilities by electing 
 him to fill various town offices, and he 
 
 has served as chairman of the township 
 board in Kaukauna, and as school trus- 
 tee. He is a stanch Democrat, using his 
 influence for the success of that party; is 
 a member of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 and attends regularly the parish chapel in 
 Little Chute. 
 
 Since his arrival in America in 1850, 
 Mr. Verstegen has made three trips to 
 Holland, the first one on December 23, 
 i860; second trip on December 10, 1867; 
 third trip, left May 27, 1889, arriving in 
 Antwerp June 10, visited old relatives and 
 friends, and left Antwerp for home August 
 10, same year, arriving August 22. In 
 this connection it may be proper here 
 to relate that during his first voyage from 
 Holland to America, in 1850, when the 
 ship, the "Tuskena," had been at sea 
 eight days, she sprung a leak in a heavy 
 storm, and the passengers and sailors 
 were obliged to pump day and night, by 
 relays, for twenty-one days. When the 
 vessel reached port and was in dock, 
 after the passengers had been landed, and 
 before the freight had been moved ashore, 
 she sank. 
 
 WILLIAM JOHNSON (deceased) 
 was born in Philadelphia, Penn., 
 July 27, 181 1, and his earliest 
 recollection was of life in Colum- 
 bia county, in the same State, where he 
 received such tuition as the country 
 schools of that period afforded. His 
 mother died when he was very young, 
 and the family became separated. 
 
 Our subject lived with a cousin on a 
 farm until he was sixteen years of age, 
 and passed the following two years in 
 learning the wagon-maker's trade. Pro- 
 ceeding to Oswego, N. Y. , where a 
 brother was living, he remained in that 
 place eleven years, during which time he 
 became master also of the carpenter's 
 trade. Locating at Syracuse, he for five 
 3'ears was there engaged in contracting 
 and building, at the end of that period 
 moving to New York Citj-, where he fol- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 903 
 
 lowed the same line of business for five 
 years. Among buildings for which he 
 had contracts were a cut-stone hotel at 
 Syracuse, costing two hundred thousand 
 dollars; another at Oswego, costing one 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars; 
 numerous fine buildings in New York City, 
 and many costly residences at Brooklyn 
 Heights. In 1850, having met with 
 serious business reverses, he arranged his 
 affairs as advantageously as possible, 
 and came to Appleton, which was then in 
 the midst of a decidedly new region, as 
 far as settlements were concerned. Here 
 he joined his wife's father, Amos A. Story, 
 who had the contract for building the 
 Green Bay & Mississippi canal, from 
 the Wisconsin river to Green Bay, and 
 Mr. Johnson, who was made foreman, was 
 engaged on this work about two years when 
 the company sold out. He then proceeded 
 to Chicago and entered into contract to 
 build depots for the Illinois Central rail- 
 road, remaining with that company three 
 years. Upon his return to Appleton he 
 became interested with others in the saw- 
 mill business, but sold his interests in 
 1 87 1, and in company with Mr. Mory 
 built a gristmill; disposing, however, of 
 his share of the property inside of two 
 years, he began the manufacture of rakes, 
 seed-sowers and wood-work of all de- 
 scriptions. Meeting with fresh reverses 
 about two years later, he was obliged to 
 relinquish that line of work, after which 
 he was not steadily engaged in business. 
 He superintended the construction of a 
 a number of buildings, and busied himself 
 in various ways, but for a few years pre- 
 ceding his death he lived a retired life. 
 Mr. Johnson died November 19, 1894, 
 aged eighty-three years, in which connec- 
 tion we glean the following from the 
 Appleton Daily Post of November 20, the 
 day after: 
 
 "William Johnson, who was stricken 
 with paralysis Sunday, continued to fail 
 in strength all day yesterday. Last night 
 the end came quietly, and his spirit en- 
 tered into the great hereafter to claim the 
 
 reward of a well-spent life. Mr. Johnson 
 had been a resident of Appleton for forty- 
 four years, and during all that period 
 possessed the esteem and confidence of 
 his fellow citizens to a degree which falls 
 to the lot of few men. In his passing is 
 removed another of the sturdy personali- 
 ties which bind the Appleton of the pres- 
 ent to that Appleton of the early ' fifties ' 
 which was little more than a name and a 
 clearing in the virgin forest." 
 
 In politics Mr. Johnson was a Demo- 
 crat, and he served as city treasurer, 
 alderman, and chairman of the board of 
 supervisors; was also mayor of Appleton 
 three terms during the war of the Rebel- 
 lion. In 1867 he was appointed United 
 States collector of customs for this Dis- 
 trict, the duties of which office he dis- 
 charged for two years. He was a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic Order twenty-five 
 years, and became an Odd Fellow in 
 1842, being at the time of his death the 
 oldest member of the latter organization 
 in Appleton. He was married, in Syra- 
 cuse, N. Y. , May 18, 1845, to Miss Lydia 
 Sophia Story, a native of that State, 
 daughter of Amos A. and Sarah (Tourte- 
 lotte) Story, and eight children were born 
 to this union, viz. : Amos A. , DeWitt S. , 
 Sarah Lois, Frances S., Ina B. and John 
 Allen, living; and Lina B. and William 
 B. , deceased. John Johnson, grand- 
 father of William Johnson, the subject of 
 our sketch, was a mason by trade. He 
 married Hannah Duberry, and reared a 
 family of seven children: Charles, David, 
 James P., Gilbert, Eliza, William and 
 Ellen. 
 
 M 
 
 ARTIN WEYENBERG, farmer 
 and mill owner, was born in 
 Holland in 1834. When fifteen 
 years of age, he accompanied 
 his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore 
 Weyenberg, to America, stopping first at 
 De Pere, Wis., and then moving to Lit- 
 tle Chute, same State, where the father 
 still resides. Martin was not satisfied to 
 
904 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 remain there; his ambition pictured a 
 farm all his own, and he started out to 
 secure it. Arriving at Big Suamico, he 
 was so prepossessed with the country that 
 he located there and remained until 1856, 
 when he moved onto his present farm in 
 the town of Kaukauna. 
 
 Five years previous to this event he 
 took to himself a wife in the person of 
 Miss Ellen Maria Hayden, who died June 
 13, 1874. She was a daughter of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Silas Hayden, originally of New 
 Hampshire, where Mrs. \\'eyenberg was 
 born; they both died in Big Suamico, 
 whither they had come from New Hamp- 
 shire. The Weyenberg family originally 
 consisted of nine children: Mary Ellen, 
 born May 5, 1856, is the wife of Charles 
 Rohrer, of Evanston, 111. ; Lizzie Maria 
 was born January 2, 1859, -and is married 
 to \\'illie Smith, by whom she has three 
 children (they now make their home in 
 Julian, Cal.); Susan was born June 16, 
 1 86 1, is the wife of James Strong (they 
 have two children and reside in Blue 
 Earth City, Minn.); Hallie Frances, born 
 April 2, 1863, was married to Hart Mo- 
 ritz, four children composing their famil}' 
 (their home is at Apple Creek, Outa- 
 gamie Co., ^^'is.); William Henrj', the 
 eldest son, was born February 26, 1865, 
 married Katy Joostin, and thej' live on 
 the homestead with his father; Anna, born 
 April 3, 1867, was married to Peter 
 Peters, and died in 18S7; Catherine 
 Louisa, born April 5, 1869, is married to 
 Peter Beelen, and they have one child 
 (they reside in Little Chute); Francis 
 Henry, born July 28, 1871, died in 1873, 
 aged two and one-half years; Ellen Maria, 
 born March 22, 1874, is unmarried. 
 
 Mr. Weyenberg is an excellent farmer 
 and business man, combining the old- 
 country thrift with the American push. 
 He takes an active part in local politics, 
 belonging to the Democratic party, who 
 have continuously elected him to various 
 offices. He was supervisor of Kaukauna 
 one year, assessor nine years, and at 
 present writing is chairman of the town- 
 
 ship board. He is an honored member 
 of Little Chute Parish Roman Catholic 
 Church, in which faith he has carefully 
 reared his children. He is an intelligent 
 and agreeable conversationalist, and is 
 very popular among his neighbors and 
 acquaintances. 
 
 JACOB MARX. Among the enter- 
 prising and prosperous citizens of 
 Kaukauna. Outagamie county, stands 
 prominent this gentleman, who, in 
 the few 3'ears he has been a resident of 
 the place, has surrounded himself with 
 hosts of warm friends, and is a potent 
 factor in the business of the county. 
 
 He is a native of Prussia, Germany, 
 born in 1845, a son of Nicholas and Mary 
 (Kouth/ Marx, of the same nativity, who 
 in 1867 came to the United States, and 
 to \\'isconsin, settling in the village of 
 Clifton, Calumet county, where the father 
 died in 1877, the mother in 1883. They 
 reared a family of six children, all resi- 
 dents of Wisconsin, of whom the follow- 
 ing is a brief record: John is married, 
 and conducts a gents furnishing and cloth- 
 ing store in Menasha, Winnebago county; 
 Lena is the wife of Nicholas Blau, a grain 
 merchant in Brillion, Calumet county; 
 Jacob is the subject of this sketch; Lucy 
 is the wife of George Seidel, in the malt- 
 ing business in Milwaukee; Joseph is in 
 the grain business in Hilbert, Calumet 
 county; Hannah is the wife of George 
 Huhn, register of deeds for Shawano 
 county. 
 
 Jacob Marx, the subject of these lines, 
 was, as will be seen, twenty-two years 
 old when the family emigrated from Prus- 
 sia to the United States, so that all his 
 education was received in his native land. 
 His first work in the New World was in 
 a sawmill in Clifton, Wis., commencing 
 with the very rudiments of the business, 
 and in this he continued, in Clifton, till 
 1876, when he moved to the village of 
 Hilbert, same county, where he was en- 
 gaged in general merchandising and grain 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 905 
 
 business, building there a commodious 
 grain elevator. In 1886, he moved to 
 Appleton, and in partnership with M. F. 
 Barteau. embarked in the hay-pressing 
 industry, as well as grain-buying in i 889, 
 the time of his coming to South Kau- 
 kauna, where he has since conducted an 
 extensive business of a similiar nature, 
 dealing also in real estate. In his many 
 ventures Mr. Mar.x has met with the most 
 encouraging success, and he is now the 
 owner of four residences besides a ware- 
 house in Kaukauna, all his success being 
 due to his characteristic enterprise, push 
 and tireless energy. 
 
 On November 23, 1875, our subject 
 was united in marriage in Calumet county. 
 Wis., with Miss Lizzie Arns, who was 
 born in Fond du Lac county, Wis., in 
 1858, a daughter of John and Katie 
 (Weiler) Arns, natives of Germany, and 
 early pioneers of Calumet county, both 
 now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Mar.x 
 have been born three children, viz.: 
 Joseph, clerk in the Bank of Kaukauna; 
 and Odilia and Cyrillius, at home. In 
 his political preferences our subject is a 
 Republican, and in 1894 he was elected 
 to the office of city treasurer of Kaukauna, 
 which he is now filling with eminent abil- 
 ity, securing a large majority in a con- 
 stituency where the Democratic ticket 
 usually carries the polls by about 300, in 
 itself a strong evidence of his wide popu- 
 larity. ^^'hilst in the village of Hilbert, 
 he held the office of notary public for 
 eight years; also was postmaster for four 
 years, and was treasurer for their school 
 district for eight years. He and his wife 
 are influential members of the Catholic 
 Church, and are held by the community 
 at large in the highest esteem. 
 
 PP:TER KETTEXHOFEN. an old 
 citizen and prominent business 
 man of Appleton, Outagamie 
 county, is an excellent example of 
 what an energetic, liberal minded and de- 
 termined man may accomplish, even in 
 
 the face of adverse circumstances. Grand- 
 father Nicholas Kettenhofen, who was a 
 blacksmith by trade, died in his native 
 land, Germany. His son John, father of 
 Peter, who was born in the Fatherland 
 in 1803, was also a blacksmith, and was 
 married to Mary Schaller, whose birth 
 occurred at the same place in 18 16. Her 
 father, a farmer by occupation, spent his 
 life in his native country. John Ketten- 
 hofen and family came to America in 
 1853, settling on a farm in Manitowoc 
 county, Wis., w-here the father died in 
 1 8 74; the mother passed from earth in 
 Appleton in 1884. Of their ten children, 
 all born in Germany, seven are now- 
 living: Peter, Lena, Mary, Philip, John, 
 Frank and Elizabeth; the others all died 
 at an early age. John Kettenhofen, 
 after coming to this country, continued to 
 work at his trade. 
 
 Our subject was born August 3, 1836, 
 in the Rhine Province, Germany, and 
 came with the family to America in 1853. 
 As he was the eldest child, the work of 
 conducting the farm fell to him, while his 
 father worked at his trade. This con- 
 tinued until the young man was twenty- 
 three 3'ears of age, when he went to the 
 Lake Superior region and w'as employed 
 in the copper mines four years. Return- 
 ing, he purchased a farm in Sheboygan 
 county; but after two years he sold out 
 and located at Centerville, Manitowoc 
 county, where for thirteen years he was 
 engaged in mercantile pursuits. Again 
 selling out, he took up his residence in 
 the city of Sheboygan, but a short time 
 later removed to Chilton, Calumet county, 
 bought an elevator, and for six years 
 dealt extensively in grain. He finally 
 sold and removed to Appleton in the fall 
 of 1883, and in company with his brother 
 John built an elevator. He disposed of 
 his interest to his brother the following 
 year, and in 1885 established a liquor 
 store, at the same time investing in the 
 stock of the Appleton Chair Company, of 
 which latter he was president until the 
 year 1894, at which time he sold his 
 
got 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 stock. He disposed of his liquor store in 
 1 89 1, and the same season paid a six- 
 months' visit to his brother Phihp and 
 friends in Germany. He organized a 
 company in 1893, of which he was made 
 president, and estabhshed a sulphite mill 
 at Ashland, Wis., this business being still 
 continued. 
 
 Mr. Kettenhofen was married August 
 27, 1 859, to Miss Anna Mallmann, a native 
 of Germany and daughter of Joseph and 
 Mary Mallmann, who came to America 
 when Anna was six years of age. Mrs. 
 Kettenhofen died in 1890, and her hus- 
 band the second time entered the marriage 
 relation on August 23, 1892, when Miss 
 Tena Morgeneier became his wife. This 
 lady is also a native of Germany, and 
 came to America with her parents when a 
 child four years of age. Mr. Ketten- 
 hofen received his education in the 
 schools of his native locality. He is a 
 member of the Catholic Church, as is his 
 wife, and in political affiliations is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 CAPTAIN N. E. MORGAN, city 
 clerk of Appleton, Outagamie, 
 county. This well-known citizen 
 and popular official is the son of 
 Reace Morgan, who was born in the town 
 of Morgan, Allegheny Co., Penn. , in 
 1 8 19, and was a farmer by occupation. 
 His father, Jehu Morgan, who was also 
 a farmer and a native of Pennsylvania, 
 was the son of an early immigrant from 
 "Wales. About the year 1838 Reace 
 Morgan married Mary Ann Rogers, a lady 
 of Irish parentage, her father, William H. 
 Rogers, having when a young man come 
 from the Emerald Isle. Two sons and 
 two daughters were born to Reace Mor- 
 gan and his wife; the father died, in 1892, 
 in Pennsylvania, where the mother yet 
 resides with her daughters. 
 
 Our subject was born in May, 1842, 
 in the village of Waynesburg, Chester 
 Co., Penn. Until he was sixteen years 
 ■of age he worked on the home farm, at- 
 
 tending district school during the winters 
 and passing his youth in a similar man- 
 ner to that of boys generally in his neigh- 
 borhood. At seventeen he entered the 
 Parkersburg Academy, remaining one 
 year, subsequently teaching for a year at 
 Sinking Spring, Berks county. Ini86i, 
 he set out for the northern peninsula of 
 Michigan, locating in Ontonagon county, 
 entering the store of his uncle, B. T. 
 Rogers, and remaining until 1863, when he 
 went to Chicago and engaged in the retail 
 boot and shoe business. Selling out to 
 his partner in 1871, he came to Appleton 
 in September of that year. In 1872, in 
 company with Capt. Turner, he built the 
 " Waverly House," the firm conducting 
 it until 1875, when Mr. Morgan sold to 
 his partner and became interested in the 
 livery business. After two years he be- 
 came a dealer in cattle, continuing in this 
 line until 1888, when he was elected city 
 clerk, a position he still holds. 
 
 Capt. Morgan has been interested in 
 military matters since 1863, when he was 
 first sergeant of a battery of artillery or- 
 ganized in northern Michigan, for protec- 
 tion against the Indians, which were very 
 numerous in that region. It was at the 
 time of the terrible massacre by the In- 
 dians at New Uim, Minn., and the set- 
 tlers were greatly in fear that a similar up- 
 rising would occur in their own locality. 
 The battery was equipped by the State, 
 and remained in service about eighteen 
 months. The "Appleton Light Infan- 
 try," Company G, Second Regiment 
 W. N. G. , was organized in 1882. Mr. 
 Morgan, who was a member, was com- 
 missioned its captain July 16, 1883, and 
 has since been continuously in the State 
 service to the present time. He is the 
 ranking captain over sixty-nine others, 
 and has been offered promotion, but pre- 
 fers to remain with his company. He 
 has raised its standard to so high a point 
 that it ranks third among the more than 
 forty companies in the State. The Cap- 
 tain is also actively interested in political 
 matters, as a Democrat, not only locally, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 907 
 
 but in State and National politics as well. 
 He has considerable interests in the min- 
 eral lands of northern Michigan, and has 
 traveled extensively over that region; 
 spent the winter of 1864-65 trapping and 
 trading in that section, and recollects the 
 event as one of the most enjoyable ex- 
 periences of his life. 
 
 Capt. Morgan was married, in north- 
 ern Michigan, in August, 1867, to Miss 
 Virginia Birtenshaw, a native of Michigan 
 and daughter of James Birtenshaw, then 
 a merchant in Ontonagon, but now a 
 resident of Detroit. They have four chil- 
 dren — two sons and two daughters. The 
 Captain and his wife are both members of 
 the Episcopal Church, and he is affiliated 
 with the F. & A. M., the M. W. A., and 
 the A. O. U. W. 
 
 
 JOHN KETTENHOFEN, for the 
 past twelve years a resident of Apple- 
 ton, Outagamie county, and one of 
 the best known business men in the 
 State, has had a remarkable commercial 
 experience, which commenced when he 
 was but a lad of fifteen summers, and is 
 by no means yet ended. For the past 
 third of a century he has been more or 
 less identified with leading industries in 
 this portion of the country, in enterprises 
 in which it may be said he has Ij^th made 
 and lost money; yet his present financial 
 status is an unimpeachable witness to his 
 general prosperity and indomitable en- 
 erg}'. 
 
 Mr. Kettenhofen was born December 
 8, 1846, in Friedeberg, Prussia, whence 
 when about six years of age he came to 
 the United States with his parents, arriv- 
 ing in Sheboygan, Wis., July 5, 1853, the 
 journey from Buffalo, N. Y. , being made 
 by boat. His earlier education was re- 
 ceived at the common schools, supple- 
 mented with a two-years' attendance at 
 St. Nanphom's Catholic school in Eaton, 
 Wis., where he studied German. At the 
 early age of fourteen he left home, and 
 in the mines of northern Michigan worked 
 
 four years- — one year as laborer, and 
 three as contractor, making his first con- 
 tract, opening mines, when he was but 
 fifteen years old. During this time he 
 made money readily, and he was enabled 
 to build a comfortable home for his father 
 in Centerville, Wis., which showed that 
 the whirl of money making did not cause 
 him to forget his filial duties. In 1867 
 he left the mines, and in the spring of 
 1868 commenced dealing in cattle, buying 
 them at various points, and shipping 
 them to the mines of Michigan. After 
 his marriage in 1870 he conducted a farm, 
 which he had purchased, for a year, but 
 then sold it and bought a hotel in Cen- 
 terville, Trempealeau Co. , Wis. He 
 graded a side track on the Lake Shore 
 railroad, and at his own expense built a 
 depot which he turned over to the rail- 
 road company. He also bought grain, 
 being the first grain buyer on that road, 
 and for some seven years was in this line of 
 business, at the end of which time, sell- 
 ing out, he moved to Chilton, Wis., and 
 there remained till 1882, when he came 
 to Appleton. Here he built the first 
 grain elevator in the place, which for six 
 years he operated, at the same time hand- 
 ling grain in various localities in A\'iscon- 
 sin — in Oakfield, Calvary, Hortonville, 
 Pickett and Clintonville, in which latter 
 town he is still conducting a grain busi- 
 ness. For a time he was interested in 
 the Appleton Chair Co., but sold out; 
 with his brothers, Peter and another, he 
 is interested in a sulphite mill in Ashland, 
 Wis. , the three brothers owning the con- 
 trolling stock in same. Our subject and 
 one of his brothers also own and carr\- on 
 a wholesale liquor store in Appleton. 
 
 In November, 1 870, Mr. Kettenhofen 
 was united in marriage with Miss Katie 
 Molman, a native of Germany, born on 
 the Rhine, who died October 18, 1890. 
 On September 6, 1892, he married, for 
 his second wife. Miss Lena Crister, who 
 was born in Illinois of German parentage, 
 and the\' have one child, John P. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Kettenhofen are members of 
 
9o8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Appleton, 
 and in his political preferences he is a 
 sound Democrat. 
 
 FM. CHARLESWORTH. This 
 gentleman, the genial, courteous 
 and popular postmaster at South 
 Kaukauna, Outagamie county, 
 which incumbency he has filled since 
 1889, is one of the most prominent hust- 
 ling business men of the locality. 
 
 He is a native of Wisconsin, born in 
 Winnebago county in 1857, a son of 
 Samuel and Mary (Manley) Charlesworth, 
 who resided in Middlewich. Cheshire, 
 England, until 1848 when they immi- 
 grated to America, and coming westward 
 to Wisconsin located on a farm in Winne- 
 bago county. There was a fence on this 
 farm which Mr. Charlesworth had to take 
 down, as it trespassed across an Indian 
 trail, a time-honored right of way of the 
 aborigines; this was somewhere between 
 Waukau and Lake Poygan. In later years 
 they moved into the village of Omro, in 
 the same county, where the father died, 
 and the mother is yet living. They were 
 the parents of six children, viz. : Thomas, 
 who went to St. Anthony, Minn., and 
 died while en route for home, in 1870; 
 George H., in the furniture and under- 
 taking business in Omro, Wis.; Sarah and 
 Libbie, both deceased; F. M., our subject; 
 and one that died when a year old. 
 
 Our subject received his education at 
 the schools of Omro, and learned a mer- 
 cantile trade. For a time he was with 
 his brother in the furniture business in 
 Omro, but later he separated himself from 
 this, and opened a drug store in the same 
 town for his own account. Learning of 
 the great boom which had come to the 
 young town of Kaukauna he moved hither 
 in 1 88 1, and in the following year estab- 
 lished a first-class drug store (the first in 
 that line in the town), complete in every- 
 thing pertaining to the business, which he 
 successfully conducted until January, 
 1892. In 1S89, as already intimated, he 
 
 was appointed, under the Garfield admin- 
 istration, postmaster at South Kaukauna. 
 In 1883 Mr. Charlesworth was mar- 
 ried at Kaukauna to Miss Frances E. 
 Walsh, who was born in Sheboygan Falls, 
 Wis. , a daughter of John Walsh, an early 
 settler in Sheboygan county, \Ms., a 
 farmer by occupation; her mother died in 
 Door county. Wis., in 1884. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Charlesworth have been born 
 two children — Frank M. and Guy Ros- 
 well. Politically, it is hardly necessary 
 to add, our subject is a Republican, and 
 he served as city clerk of Kaukauna at 
 the time the two towns merged into one 
 for civil government. He is a member 
 of Kaukauna Lodge No. 233, F. & A. M., 
 in which he has been both junior and 
 senior warden; also a member of Apple- 
 ton Chapter No. 64, R. A. M., in which 
 he is master of the exchequer. He is a 
 member of Fox River Lodge No. 90, 
 K. of P., of the A. O. U. W., and of the 
 Modern Woodmen. Hospitable and affa- 
 ble in manner, intelligent and considerate 
 in conversation, Mr. Charlesworth has 
 won the respect and esteem of all. 
 
 LUDWIG SCHROEDER, one of 
 the most industrious young farm- 
 ers of Center township, Outagamie 
 Co., was born in Mecklenburg, 
 Germany, December 6, 1843. His par- 
 ents, John and Elizabeth (Snell) Schroe- 
 der, natives of the same place, came to 
 the United States in 1857 and lived on a 
 rented farm in Erie county, N. Y., until 
 1864, when they came to Outagamie 
 county. Wis. They bought a partly im- 
 proved farm of 160 acres in Center town- 
 ship, where they passed the remainder of 
 their days, both dying at the age of sixty- 
 three years. Of their five children three 
 are yet living. 
 
 Ludwig Schroeder was educated in the 
 common schools of Germany, came with 
 his parents to America, aud remained at 
 home until his marriage, November 20, 
 1870, with Miss Bertha Wege, a native of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 909 
 
 Prussia, born May 2, 1854. Her parents, 
 Ludwig and Christina (ClarenJ Wege, 
 also natives of Prussia, came to the United 
 States in 1864, and bought a farm in 
 Outagamie county near the home of our 
 subject, on which they made a permanent 
 home; they died at the ages of seventy- 
 six and sixty-two years, respectively. Of 
 their eight children three are still living. 
 To Ludwig and Bertha (Wege) Schroe- 
 der have been born five children, as fol- 
 lows: Charles (who married Lena Tech- 
 len, and has one daughter), \\'illiam, 
 Anna. Lena and Arthur. After his mar- 
 riage Mr. Schroeder bought a tract of 
 eighty acres of wild land, on which he 
 built a comfortable log house, 20x26 
 feet, in which he lived until he erected 
 his present commodious dwelling in 1885. 
 In the meantime he had worked industri- 
 ously, and has added to his estate until 
 he now possesses 1 20 acres, which he de- 
 votes to mixed farming, deriving a good 
 income from his land. In his political 
 connection Mr. Schroeder is a Republi- 
 can, and cast his first Presidential vote 
 for Gen. Grant. His famil)- are all mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran Church, and enjoy 
 the respect of their fellow citizens and 
 neighbors. 
 
 M 
 
 ARK LYONS. This well-known 
 resident of Appleton, Outaga- 
 mie county, was born in Rus- 
 sian-Poland in November, 1833. 
 His father, Louis Lyons, who was also a 
 native of Poland, born in 1793, married 
 Amelia Pyezer, and three children were 
 born to them, named respectively: 
 Henry, Pauline and Mark. The mother 
 died in Poland in 1842; the father, who 
 was a tailor by trade, died at Memphis, 
 Tenn., while on a visit to his son, Mark, 
 in 1866. 
 
 Our subject, who, during the first 
 fourteen years of his life remained in his 
 native land, received a partial education 
 in the common schools, leaving at the 
 end of that period, in 1847, for England, 
 
 where he attended night schools, and 
 earned his living by peddling small arti- 
 cles. In 1857, he came to America, 
 landing at New York Cit\', thence pro- 
 ceeding to Utica, N. Y., where he re- 
 mained a year and a half. From there 
 he went to New Orleans, thence to Texas, 
 in which latter State he clerked in a gen- 
 eral store. In June, 1861, after the 
 breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, 
 he came north as far as St. Louis, and in 
 1863 opened a general store at Memphis, 
 Tenn. There he remained until 1872, 
 serving during the balance of the war in 
 the Tennessee National Guards. In the 
 year last named he came to Appleton, 
 and engaged with other parties in the 
 manufacture of furniture. In 1873 he 
 commenced to manufacture cigars, em- 
 ploying thirteen men. 
 
 He was married, in St. Louis, Mo., 
 November 2, 1865, to Miss Bertha Led- 
 erer, daughter of William and Marion 
 (Bloch) Lederer, who was born near 
 Carlsbad, Bohemia, in 1846. Her father, 
 who was a commission merchant, died in 
 Bohemia when she was very young; her 
 mother died in 1884. Nine children were 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Lyons, of whom 
 Amelia, William L. , Rose, Clare and 
 Benjamin F. are living. Lillian, Hannah, 
 Disraeli H. and Marion are deceased. In 
 political preferences Mr. Lyons is a 
 Democrat. Socially he holds member- 
 ship in Waverly Lodge, F. & A. M., at 
 Appleton, also in the I. O. O. F., 
 K. of H., and A. O. U. W. He is one 
 of the trustees of Zion Temple, which he 
 took an active part in building, and has 
 been its secretary for fifteen years. 
 
 CARL A. JOHNSON. In the sci- 
 ence of agriculture, both practical 
 and theoretical, Mr. Johnson 
 stands second to none in this por- 
 tion of the State; and that in dairy work 
 he is especially well skilled, a visit to his 
 cheese factory at Maple Creek, Outagamie 
 county, will amply prove. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 John F. and Anna Johnson, his par- 
 ents, had a family of nine children, all 
 yet living except one, the only member of 
 them to come to America being Carl A. ; 
 their names are as follows: John Peter, 
 Louisa, Clara, Carl A. , Matilda, Andrew 
 Alfred, Christina and Oscar. Of these, 
 John Peter is a farmer; Andrew Alfred is 
 a minister in the Lutheran State Church, 
 and Oscar is an engineer on a merchant 
 steamer running between European coun- 
 tries. All have been or are married, ex- 
 cept Carl A. and Christina, the latter of 
 whom cared for their mother up to her 
 death in 1878; the father had passed from 
 earth in 1852. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch was 
 born March 20, 1840, in East Gothland, 
 Sweden, where he received a liberal pub- 
 lic-school education. In 1S55 he left 
 home for the big farm known as ' ' Thor- 
 sesta, " situated in the Province of Up- 
 land, about twenty-five miles from Stock- 
 holm where he was a student of agri- 
 culture two 3'ears, afterward serving as 
 assistant bookkeeper two years. In 1859 
 he accepted the position of bookkeeper 
 on Count Eric Josias Sparres' farm Bro- 
 Gard (of about the same size as a town 
 in the United States), which had also 
 a distillery and b.rickyard on it. In 1 860 
 he went to Swiss for the purpose of learn- 
 ing the art of cheesemaking, returning to 
 Bro-Gard in 1 86 1 . In 1 862-63 he passed 
 through the practical class at the Agricul- 
 tural College of Ultuna, near Upsala Uni- 
 versity, making himself thoroughly con- 
 versant with all the branches of geoponics, 
 and fitting himself to fill any position on 
 any farm; then in 1864, for the third 
 time went to Bro-Gard, his services being 
 much appreciated there, for he was con- 
 sidered a good bookkeeper. In 1866 he 
 commenced running farms as foreman, 
 and from if^/S to 1880 he was managing 
 F. Neumuller's model farm, "Skarpneck" 
 (formerly named " Scharfen Ecke " by 
 some German), situated three English 
 miles from Stockholm; it comprised 1800 
 acres of land, whereon were one hundred 
 
 full-blooded Holstein milch cows, and some 
 fifty younger or older ones, in order to keep 
 up the number of milch cows to one hun- 
 dred, the milk being sold in Stockholm. 
 Mr. Johnson's last two summers in Swe- 
 den were passed in running the outdoor 
 business for Grundsborg's pea-preserving 
 works near Stockholm. In 1S58, when 
 times w-ere really good in Sweden, Free 
 Trade was established there; but this 
 Free Trade medicine, administered to a 
 sound body, proved terribly disastrous to 
 the country in the long run, all indus- 
 tries, including farming, dying a slow 
 death, so that by 1S88, the jear Sweden 
 again got a Protective tariff, seventy-five 
 per cent of the industries had become 
 bankrupt. It was in that j'ear (1888) 
 that Mr. Johnson, in spite of his compar- 
 atively advanced years, decided to visit 
 the great, free and glorious New World 
 and the Far West. One time before, in 
 1868, he was prepared to set out for 
 America, but for some reason or another 
 he abandoned the idea for the time. 
 
 After his arrival in this country, Mr. 
 Johnson resided three months in Chicago, 
 111., from there removing to the western 
 part of Illinois, where for some time he 
 was engaged on farms, later coming to 
 Sheboygan county, Wis., where he em- 
 barked in the cheese-making industry. 
 On September 16, 1893, his rented fac- 
 tory in New London, Waupaca county, 
 was destroyed by fire, whereby he sus- 
 tained a heavy loss; but, with " ;/// c/cs- 
 pcraiiduin" for his motto, he soon after- 
 ward purchased his present place of busi- 
 ness at Maple Creek, Outagamie Co., 
 commencing operations at that place in 
 February, 1894. 
 
 RICHARD MILLER, a well-known 
 manufacturer and business man of 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, was 
 born in Saxony, Germany, Sep- 
 tember 22, 1843. His father was Michael 
 Miller, a German coachman, who brought 
 his family to this country in 1 8 1^3, settling 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 911 
 
 in the town of Ellington, Outagamie 
 count}', Wis. He was a pioneer of the 
 region, and with his son, Richard, drove 
 through from Sheboygan with a yoke of 
 steers and a cart, the family coming by 
 boat from Fond du Lac to Menasha, 
 thence by team to Ellington. By clear- 
 ing twelve acres of land for another set- 
 tler, he earned the money with which he 
 purchased his first forty acres, and in that 
 manner established his home. As he was 
 possessed of but a meager share of worldly 
 goods, he and his family would have 
 fared desperately but for the kindness of 
 the Chippewa Indians, who frequently 
 brought them game. The mother, Martha 
 (Angelroth) Miller, was a native of Ger- 
 many and the daughter of a farmer; she 
 had three children, Richard, the eldest 
 and the only son, and two daughters; she 
 is yet living. Her husband, who was 
 obliged to start so humbly in the forest, 
 added to his possessions as the years 
 passed by, until he at length owned 160 
 acres. He sold out in 1892, and removed 
 to Minnesota, in which State he died in 
 December, 1893. He had been one of 
 the first to settle in Ellington township, 
 and knew thorough!}' the struggles and 
 privations incident to life in the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Richard, the son, found it necessary 
 to give most of his time and attention to 
 work on the farm, and had very little op- 
 portunity for obtaining an education, at- 
 tending the district schools a portion of 
 the time during the winters in his boy- 
 hood. At twenty-two he was married to 
 Mary Graetz, a native of Germany, who 
 came to America when twelve years old 
 with her father, Ernest Graetz, a school 
 and music teacher by profession. In 
 1863 Mr. Miller settled in Stephensville, 
 and formed a partnership in the black- 
 smithing business with a first-class me- 
 chanic, who soon taught him to be equally 
 good at the work, he having already 
 learned a little of the trade in a smaller 
 shop. For twelve years their business 
 was continued, when the shop was burned. 
 
 with no insurance. Removing to Apple- 
 ton in 1875, Mr. Miller entered the service 
 of the Appleton Manufacturing Company 
 as a traveling salesman, and continued in 
 that capacity four years. He has since 
 invented and patented many useful ap- 
 pliances. In 1882 he patented the first 
 successful swivel hay carrier, and for a 
 year engaged in its manufacture. His 
 shop, located at the west end of College 
 avenue, was built out of 1,000 feet of 
 lumber and 3,000 shingles, and was a 
 rather sorry affair. People finally began 
 to recognize the value of his patent, and 
 in the fall of 1883 he succeeded in enlist- 
 ing capital and forming the Eagle Fork 
 Company. A few years later they organ- 
 ized a stock compan\-, under the title 
 "Eagle Manufacturing Compan}-," with 
 Mr. Miller as president and general man- 
 ager. He sold his interest January i, 
 1894, and during the present year (1894) 
 began the construction of a building in 
 which to manufacture hay tools and hard- 
 ware novelties. The institution is to be 
 called the Appleton Hay Tool Company. 
 Mr. Miller has recently perfected an im- 
 provement in his swivel hay carrier, which 
 will increase its already large sales. Aside 
 from this he holds patents on nine differ- 
 ent articles, including his adjustable land 
 roller. In politics Mr. Miller is conserva- 
 tive, voting for the men who seem to him 
 best fitted for positions of trust and honor. 
 He attends the Lutheran M. E. Church, 
 and is a member of the A. O. U. W. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Miller have eight children: 
 Oscar, Alfred, Henry, Walter, Alma, 
 Emma, Mattie and Mary. Of these, three 
 are married, the others remaining at home 
 with their parents. 
 
 WILLIAM O. KENYON, M. D., 
 homeopathic physician and sur- 
 geon of Appleton, Outagamie 
 county, was born in the town of 
 Hartland, N. Y. , November 27, 1845. 
 His father, Daniel Kenyon, was a native 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of New York, born of Scotch descent, his 
 father having come from Scotland. 
 Eleanor Vanauken, the wife of Daniel 
 Kcnyon, was also a native of New York, 
 and the daughter of a Revolutionary 
 soldier. The Kenyon family came to 
 Wisconsin in 1846, locating near Vienna, 
 Walworth county, where they resided on 
 a farm about seven years, thence remov- 
 ing to a farm purchased in Hartford, 
 Washington county. The father died in 
 the village of Hartford in the spring of 
 1856, and the mother in the fall of 1858. 
 They had a family of six children — five 
 sons and one daughter — the Doctor being 
 the youngest. 
 
 Until he was thirteen years of age our 
 subject lived at home, assisting in the 
 work of carrying on the farm, and attend- 
 ing the district schools during the winters. 
 After the death of his mother he resided 
 for two years with 11 brother, spending 
 the winters in school as before. He then 
 obtained emploj-ment in a sawmill, re- 
 maining ten years, and when he left was 
 head sawyer, having worked upward 
 through every branch of the business. In 
 the spring of 1872 he took charge of the 
 new Whitney mills at Seymour. Outaga- 
 mie county, holding that position two 
 years. He was next in the employ of the 
 Fox River Iron Company for one year, 
 and in the spring of 1874 began studying 
 medicine with Dr. Tabor, of Stephens- 
 ville. In the fall of the same year he 
 entered Hahnemann Medical College, 
 Chicago, from which excellent institution 
 he was graduated in 1876. He opened 
 an office in Black Creek, Outagamie 
 county, and began practice, removing 
 finally to Appleton in August, 1886. Dr. 
 Kenyon was married in October, 1877, to 
 Miss Frances Edgerton, a native of Ohio, 
 daughter of Austin and Margaret Rowan 
 (Wilkins) Edgerton, who were farmers. 
 Of the three children born to Dr. and 
 Mrs. Kenyon, Earl, a son of fourteen 
 years, is the only one living, the others 
 having died in infancy. The Doctor is a 
 Republican in politics, and a member of 
 
 the F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F. Lodges 
 at Appleton. Both he and his wife hold 
 membership in the Congregational Church. 
 
 CARL CORDES, proprietor of the 
 "Hotel Union," Black Creek, 
 Outagamie county, was born 
 June 19, 1840, in Latferde, and 
 reared in Grossen-Berkel, Province of 
 Hanover, Germany. His great-grand- 
 father Cordes was a highly educated and 
 greatly esteemed Lutheran minister, by 
 the provisions of whose will his descend- 
 ants were to receive benefit only after 
 they had reached the age of fifty years. 
 This proved to be a most excellent ar- 
 rangement, and the succeeding genera- 
 tions of the worthy gentleman's descend- 
 ants have profited by it. George Cordes, 
 father of Carl, was for ten years a volun- 
 teer soldier, a hussar in the German 
 cavalry, and was a man of distinguished 
 presence and fine military bearing. He 
 later became a well-known grain and 
 commission merchant, and was a promi- 
 nent character in Grossen-Berkel, where 
 his family was highly connected. He 
 died in Germany. 
 
 Carl Cordes was one of three brothers 
 who reached maturity. He was educated 
 in the German schools, confirmed at the 
 age of fourteen years, and then for a year 
 was employed in a paper mill. When 
 sixteen years old he entered a mer- 
 cantile establishment in Saltz Gitter, 
 Hanover, remaining there one year, and 
 from that time worked in the Province of 
 Braunschweig until he was nineteen, at 
 which time he came to America, landing 
 at New York. He was accompanied by 
 his sweetheart, Josephine Kirchhof, whom 
 he afterward married at Milwaukee, Wis. 
 After remaining one month in Paterson, 
 N. J., he was persuaded by his intended 
 wife to push westward to Milwaukee, 
 where the young lady had relatives, and 
 there they were married. Commencing 
 as a peddler, with a capital of nine dol- 
 
fei*M> 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 915 
 
 lars and fifty cents, he prospered to such 
 an extent that he engaged in both mer- 
 chandising and tavern-keeping, and after 
 a two-years' residence in Milwaukee was 
 finally induced to locate in Center town- 
 ship, Outagamie county. He cleared 
 about three acres of land, but was cheated 
 out of it, and in 1862 started anew at 
 Appleton, where for a short time he was _ 
 employed by the Chicago & North West- 
 ern Railway Company. 
 
 On August 14, 1862, he enlisted for 
 three years in Company I, Thirty-second 
 Wis. V. I., which regiment went into 
 camp at Oshkosh, and after two months 
 went to the front under command of Col. 
 James Howe, of Fort Howard. Moving 
 to Memphis, Tenn. , the command partic- 
 ipated in the various skirmishes in the vi- 
 cinity of that town, and was next sent 
 out in the expedition in pursuit of Gen. 
 Price to Holly Springs, Tenn. Mr. 
 Cordes participated in the engagements at 
 La Fayette and Jonesboro, Ga., in which 
 latter he was wounded and sent to hospi- 
 tal, whence after partial recovery he re- 
 turned to Appleton, having been granted 
 a thirty-days' furlough, and here he was 
 kept eighty days under order of Dr. Fuller. 
 From Appleton he was transferred to the 
 general hospital at Madison, Wis., and 
 two weeks later was sent to New York 
 City. In ten days he was removed to 
 Blair's Landing at Hilton Head, S. C, 
 and after two months to Wilmington, N. 
 C. He then marched to Goldsboro, 
 where he nearly died from the effects of 
 chronic diarrhea, but was at length suffi- 
 ciently relieved to enable him to take up 
 the march to Raleigh, which place he 
 reached after it had fallen into the hands 
 of the Union troops. From Raleigh he 
 was transported in an ambulance to 
 Washington, 1). C, where he went into 
 camp, being subsequently transferred to 
 the General Harewood hospital, Wash- 
 ington, D. C, from which he was after- 
 ward discharged before he was fully cured. 
 He was finally discharged from the serv- 
 ice Time 26, 1865. Had it not been for 
 
 51 
 
 his wound and subsequent disability, it 
 is probable he would have risen to a 
 higher rank than that of corporal, which 
 he held at the time he was wounded. 
 
 Returning to Appleton after the war, 
 Mr. Cordes succeeded in regaining his 
 health, and in time located on a forty- 
 acre farm in Center township. In 1872 
 he disposed of this and came to Black 
 Creek, where, until 1891, he was pro- 
 prietor of the well-known "Travelers' 
 Home," which he sold in the year last 
 named, and the following year built the 
 " Union Hotel," of which he is still pro- 
 prietor and manager. He has the honor 
 of having organized J. W. Appleton Post 
 No. 116, G. A. R., of which he is a 
 worthy member. As a Democrat in poli- 
 tics he has served as supervisor of Center 
 and Black Creek townships, and treasurer 
 of his school district. Of his children, 
 three are now living: Amelia, Louis and 
 George, the latter of whom is bookkeeper 
 for the New London Lumber Company. 
 Mr. Cordes is an enterprising, progressive 
 citizen, and an acknowledged leader in 
 his community. His fine property, the 
 "Carl Cordes Park," is a handsomely 
 fitted-up park and garden in Black Creek, 
 well-kept, and devoted to the use of 
 picnic parties and the public generally at 
 all times; by permanent arrangement, this 
 park will always be called ' ' Cordes Park. " 
 This pleasant place has been beautifully- 
 improved, and is one of the prettiest 
 parks in the country. Mr. Cordes planted 
 by hand over two thousand shade trees in 
 the grounds, which are also furnished with 
 a large hall, 56x30 feet, for dancing and 
 other arnusements — a saloon, a temper- 
 ance stand, a band stand, and all the 
 other accessories necessary to supply the 
 wants and comfort of visitors and pleas- 
 ure and picnic parties. The cost of beau- 
 tifying these grounds can not be accuratel}' 
 estimated, as the work has occupied a 
 period of several years. Recently an 
 artesian well was sunk, which furnishes a 
 constant supply of the purest water, to 
 slake the thirst of visitors to the park. 
 
gi6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 ROWELL. vice- 
 
 general 
 
 GUILFORD D. 
 president and 
 of the Valley Iron Works Manu- 
 facturing Co. , Appleton, Outaga- 
 mie county, is a native of New York 
 State, born in Springvvater, Livingston 
 county, December 4, 1833. 
 
 Ira Rowell, his father, was born in 
 New Hampshire in 1803, whence when a 
 young man he moved to New York State, 
 where he became a manufacturer of plows 
 and other farm implements. In 1825 he 
 married Miss Maria Ford, who was born 
 in New York State, where her father was 
 a farmer and owned a large woolen mill. 
 To Ira Rowell and his wife was born a 
 family of eleven children — ten sons and 
 one daughter, namely: John K. , Lewis 
 P., Elijah G., Ira B.", Mark M., Guilford 
 D. , Dwight A., Lucia Matilda, George, 
 Horace V. and Charles, all living except 
 the last named, who died at the age of 
 four years. In 1841 Ira Rowell and his 
 family moved to Lisbon township, Wau- 
 kesha Co. , Wis. , where he bought a farm, 
 and manufactured farm machinery on a 
 large scale for nearly forty years. He 
 died August 8, 1893, his wife in 1886. 
 
 Guilford D. Rowell received his edu- 
 cation in the common schools of Lisbon 
 township to the age of sixteen, at which 
 time he left home, and until he was 
 twenty-one years old led a somewhat 
 roving life. About the year 1854 he took 
 up his residence in Beaver Dam, Wis. , 
 where for one year he worked in his 
 uncle's shop. In July, 1855, he married, 
 then rented a farm, and for three consec- 
 utive years followed agricultural pursuits, 
 at the end of which time, building a 
 foundry and machine shop, he conducted 
 same some seven years. Being induced to 
 move his business to Menomonee Falls, 
 same State, he did so, and after carrying 
 it on four years there sold out and came 
 to Appleton, where, in 1873, he purchased 
 a foundry and machine shop — the prop- 
 erty now owned by the Appleton Manu- 
 facturing Co. In 1876 he organized a 
 stock company under above name, of 
 
 which he remained president and mana- 
 ger until 1 886, when he sold his interest 
 therein. This enterprise Mr. Rowell 
 built up from its earliest infancy till it 
 gave employment to between one hundred 
 and fifty and two hundred hands. In 
 1887 he and his father bought an interest 
 in the Valley Iron Works Manufacturing 
 Co., of Appleton, of which at the present 
 time he is vice-president and general man- 
 ager. The business gives employment to 
 some fifty men. 
 
 Mr. Rowell is of decidedly an inventive 
 turn of mind. He it was who patented 
 the first fine-tooth cultivator, and ap- 
 plied for the first patent on a machine 
 for bending timber endwise, which was 
 when he was comparativel}- a boy; but 
 through lack of means h2 failed to carry 
 it through. He also invented a broad- 
 cast seeder, hay tools, and, in 1865, the 
 first horse hoe cultivator ever patented in 
 America, besides the first frame seeder 
 ever manufactured, and many other agri- 
 cultural implements. By his marriage 
 with Miss Eliza Jane Thompson, daughter 
 of Smith and Jane E. Thompson, he had 
 three children, to wit: Dudley G.. Hattie 
 E. , and Ray Clifton, who died in infancy. 
 Mr. Thompson was a large farmer in 
 Waukesha county, whither he had come 
 from the West in 1850. Mr. Rowell is a 
 member of the F. & A. M., and in poli- 
 tics he is a "dyed-in-wool" Republican. 
 He and his wife attend the services of the 
 M. E. Church. 
 
 Dudley G. Rowell, only surviving 
 son of the above, was born in Lisbon 
 township, Waukesha Co. , Wis. , Septem- 
 ber 27, 1858. At the public and high 
 schools of Appleton he received a liberal 
 education, and at the age of seventeen he 
 entered the counting house of his father's 
 business as bookkeeper, remaining there 
 about six years. Having developed supe- 
 rior business tact and characteristic push 
 and energy, he was offered, and accepted, 
 the appointment of secretary for the Ap- 
 pleton Manufacturing Co., a position he 
 held five years, after which he became 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 917 
 
 identified, along with his father, with the 
 Valley Iron Works Manufacturing Co., he 
 being appointed secretary and treasurer, 
 his present incumbency. 
 
 On June 24, 1885, Dudley G. Rowell 
 was married to Mary F. Wilder, who was 
 born in St. Charles, Minn., daughter of 
 Orimal and Helen (Robinson) Wilder, 
 natives of Vermont, who came to Minne- 
 sota in 1840, where her father died when 
 she was but four years of age, after which 
 the widowed mother moved to Appleton, 
 Wis., where she now resides. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Rowell have been blessed with one 
 child, Ellen E. Socially our subject is a 
 member of the F. & A. M. ; politically he 
 is a pronounced Republican. 
 
 EARLE HASTINGS OSTRAN- 
 DER, M. D., one of the leading 
 physicians and surgeons of Apple- 
 ton, Outagamie county, is a 
 Canadian by birth, having first seen the 
 light April 6, 1835, in St. Thomas, Elgin 
 Co., Ontario. 
 
 Peter Ostrander, his grandfather, was 
 a farmer in Holland, and came to Canada 
 in an early day. His son, William Ostran- 
 der (father of the Doctor), was born 
 December 8, 1797, in Canada, and was 
 also a farmer. He married Sarah Ryck- 
 man, who was born in Hamilton, Ontario, 
 in 1803, a daughter of Cornelius Ryck- 
 man, who in his earlier years was a 
 farmer, in later life a merchant. Eight 
 children were born to William and Sarah 
 Ostrander. The father died in 1873; his 
 aged widow is yet residing in her native 
 town, having passed the ninety-first mile- 
 stone in life's pathway. 
 
 Our subject received his earlier educa- 
 tion at the common schools; at the age 
 of fifteen he became a pupil in the gram- 
 mar school at St. Thomas, and at seven- 
 teen entered the Toronto Medical Uni- 
 versity, remaining about four years, or 
 until that institution was closed. From 
 there he went to a university in Buffalo, 
 N. Y., then under control of Profs. Flint 
 
 and Hamilton, and was graduated in 
 medicine in 1857, at the age of twenty- 
 two years. Returning to St. Thomas he 
 commenced the practice of his profession, 
 continuing until 1861, when he came to 
 Appleton and practiced in association 
 with Dr. Sutherland until 1865, at which 
 time he revisited his old home, but was 
 unable to satisfy himself with the loca- 
 tion, and, removing to Detroit, Mich., he 
 opened an office in that city, practicing 
 there for ten years. He then returned, a 
 third time to Canada, and located in 
 Rodney, Elgin Co., Ontario, where he re- 
 mained three years, or until 1880. About 
 this time his old partner at Appleton, Dr. 
 Sutherland, desiring to visit Scotland, 
 prevailed upon Dr. Ostrander to return 
 to Appleton and settle up his business for 
 him. This he did, and after'ward again 
 located at Detroit. In 1888 he received 
 a telegram from an old friend at Apple- 
 ton, Rev. Ferdinand Stern, announcing 
 the latter's illness and asking the Doctor 
 to come and for care him. He had once 
 before saved the reverend gentleman's 
 life, and this exhibition of so great faith 
 in the Doctor's skill, together with the 
 promise that all his expenses should be 
 paid, led him to return to Appleton, 
 whither in May, 1889, he removed his 
 family, and where they have since con- 
 tinued to reside. He enjoys a lucrative 
 practice, and the esteem and confidence 
 of all. 
 
 Dr. Ostrander was married January 
 15, 1872, to Miss Eliza Grover, only 
 daughter of Judge Grover, of Wardsville, 
 Middlesex Co., Ontario, who was born in 
 Canada in 1805, the eldest son of Major 
 John Grover, of the British army, and a 
 native of England, who married Mrs. Marri- 
 man, a native of Massachusetts. Mrs. Os- 
 trander's mother, Elizabeth (Drewry) 
 Grover, was born in England in 1804, 
 and when fourteen years of age came to 
 Canada with the family of her father, 
 George Drewry, who was the second son 
 of William Drewry, Sr. , and rented the 
 castle and domains of Castlereigh, where 
 
9iS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the daughter was born. Her father died 
 in 1870, but her mother is ye\. hving. 
 Four children were born to Dr. and Mrs. 
 Ostrander: Estella and Anna (now 
 Hviof^), Herbert (deceased in infancy), 
 and George (who died at the' age of four 
 years and eight months) The Doctor is 
 an Episcopahan, and in poHtical matters 
 has always affiliated with the Democratic 
 party. 
 
 C.-VSPER F. SEARCH, superin- 
 tendent for the Appleton Manu- 
 facturing Company, Appleton, 
 Wis. , and Geneva, 111. , was born 
 January 17, 1850, in Philadelphia, Penn. 
 His father, Christopher Search, a farmer 
 by occupation, was a native of Bucks 
 county, Penn., and married Margaret 
 Fitter, whose father, George Fitter, was 
 also a farmer. Her grandfather, on the 
 maternal side, was George B. Montanyne, 
 a French soldier, who came to America 
 with Gen. La Fayette during the Revolu- 
 tionary war. Christopher Search moved 
 to Maryland when Casper was very young, 
 and upon the breaking out of the war of 
 the Rebellion, located in Baltimore, where 
 he died in 1880, si.xteen years after the 
 death of his wife. They were the parents 
 of four sons and four daughters, three of 
 the sons serving in the army during the 
 war: George F. , Newton C, and Casper 
 F. The rather was a Republican in pol- 
 itics. 
 
 Casper F. Search, who had lived at 
 home and attended school until the break- 
 ing out of the war, was a lad filled with 
 patriotic ardor, and in 1863, when his 
 two brothers had already gone into the 
 army, he also enlisted, although but thir- 
 teen years of age, as a bugler in the Ninth 
 Maryland. His father considered him too 
 young for the service, and succeeded in 
 obtaining his discharge. The bo}' re- 
 mained in Baltimore, attending the schools 
 and was subsequently graduated from the 
 Baltimore Cit}' College, and the Mary- 
 land Institute and Peabody Institute, both 
 
 in the same cit}'. After graduating from 
 the Baltimore City College in 1867, he 
 began to learn the pattern maker's trade, 
 serving a four-years' apprenticeship, and 
 two years as a machinist. During this 
 time he attended the Institutes mentioned, 
 in the evenings, finally graduating from 
 both with high honors, and receiving many 
 compliments for his close attendance. He 
 was never tardy, and accomplished in seven 
 years, by strict attention and hard work, 
 that which took eight years of the time of 
 others. When twenty-two 3'ears of age, 
 having completed his apprenticeship, he 
 came west as far as Chicago, securing em- 
 ployment at the Columbian Iron Works. 
 After six months he was transferred to 
 the drawing rooms, and thirty days later 
 was promoted to the position as foreman 
 of the works. He remained four years, 
 and then accepted the foremanship of the 
 Chicago Malleable Iron Works, at that 
 time having the largest foundry under one 
 roof in the country. After about three 
 years he became a draughtsman for Will- 
 iam Deering, and foreman of his pattern 
 department, being advanced to master 
 mechanic of the works a year later. He 
 remained at the Deering Works four years, 
 when he became financially interested in 
 the Winona Harvester Works, at Winona, 
 Minn., taking the position of superinten- 
 dent and manager of the manufacturing 
 department. Here he also remained four 
 years, and was next employed as expert 
 engineer for the Pennsylvania Iron Works, 
 at York, Penn. For six months he was 
 engaged in overhauling the engines on 
 certain government vessels, over which 
 there was some dispute, and at the end 
 of that time returned to Chicago, enter- 
 ing the service of the West Side Cable 
 road as mechanical engineer. He finally 
 came to Appleton in 1890, as superinten- 
 dent of the Appleton Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, a position he still holds. Mr. 
 Search, with a practical mechanic's idea 
 of improvement, has invented seventy- 
 five different machines, devices and appli- 
 ances, the majorit}' of which are now in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 919- 
 
 use. Among them are a sulky plow, 
 knotting device for binders, mower, corn- 
 sheller, feed cutter, tread power, corn 
 thresher, wood saw, seeder, and corn har- 
 vester. The Appleton Manufacturing 
 Company has removed its plant to Geneva, 
 Kane Co., 111., during the present year, 
 (1894), and Mr. Search has also gone to 
 that point in the same capacity as before 
 removal. The new plant will be very ex- 
 tensive, and much nearer Chicago than 
 the old one. 
 
 Mr. ^iearch was married, in 1874, to 
 Miss Nellie Gist, a native of Baltimore, 
 Md., and daughter of Joseph Gist, a com- 
 mission merchant of that cit}'. They 
 have four children: Catherine, Joseph 
 Gist, Eleanor Gist and Margaret C. 
 Both parents are members of the M. E. 
 Church. Mr. Search is a member of the 
 Masonic Order and Royal Arcanum, and 
 in politics is a Republican, though never 
 an office-seeker. He has alwa\'s taken 
 an active interest in military affairs; was 
 a member for five years of the Fifth 
 Maryland Militia, an independent regi- 
 ment, was successively first lieutenant 
 and captain of the Appleton Zouaves, 
 and for about two years sergeant in the 
 First Regiment, I. N. G., at Chicago. 
 With the light of his own experience in 
 night schools before him, he has alwa\'s 
 been greatly interested in such institu- 
 tions, and conducted with marked success 
 night schools in Winona and Chicago. 
 He is the possessor of an elegant gold 
 watch presented to him by his class of 
 young men at Winona. He was proprie- 
 tor and principal of mechanical drawing 
 in the Business Institute aud Polytechnic 
 School of Design at No. 213 West Madi- 
 son street, Chicago, being particularly 
 well fitted for the position by reason of 
 his skill as an experienced designer and 
 mechanical draughtsman. This school 
 was for both ladies and gentlemen desir- 
 ing either a thorough practical business 
 education or proficiency in mechanical 
 drawing. Hundreds of young men who 
 attended this institution are now either in 
 
 business for themselves or holding posi- 
 tions of trust in Chicago offices and 
 counting houses. Mr. Search's career 
 has, therefore, been one of great useful- 
 ness wherever he has been located, and 
 he is yet young and in full possession of 
 his faculties. 
 
 CARL HELM. Germany has given 
 to the State of Wisconsin many of 
 her most stalwart, industrious and 
 thrifty citizens, among whom it is 
 a pleasure to classify the gentleman whose 
 name here appears. 
 
 Mr. Helm was born in January, 1856, 
 near the center of the ancient city of 
 Gotha, North Germany, a son of Chris- 
 tian and ^^'ilhelmina (Graf) Helm, both 
 natives of the Fatherland, who were mar- 
 ried in 1844 in Gotha. They had three 
 children, viz.: Carl, our subject, and 
 two daughters. In 1876 the family moved 
 from Gotha to Erfurt, Saxony, Prussia, 
 where they had their home some six years. 
 In 1882 the parents came to the United 
 States, settling in Wrightstown, Brown 
 Co., Wis., where the father followed his 
 trade, that of mason and stonecutter, up 
 to his death, which occurred in 1891 ; the 
 widowed mother is now a resident of 
 Appleton, Wis. Grandfather Andrew 
 Helm, a farmer by occupation, died in 
 Germany in 1870. In his experience he 
 saw a considerable amount of active mili- 
 tary life, having been a soldier in the Ger- 
 man army before Napoleon conquered it, 
 and in 181 3 followed the fortunes, or 
 rather, in this instance, the misfortunes, 
 of the " Man of Destiny " in his disastrous 
 Russian campaign of 181 3. 
 
 Carl Helm, the subject proper of this 
 sketch, received a liberal education at the 
 schools of his native town, and at the age 
 of eighteen commenced to learn the trade 
 of stonecutter and mason. When twenty 
 years old he entered upon a three-years' 
 service in the German artiller\', and after 
 his discharge worked at his trade in vari- 
 ous cities of his native land. In 18S2 he 
 
930 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 married Miss Magdalene Sander, daugh- 
 ter of Georse and Kegine (Hoerschehnann ) 
 Sander, the former of whom, by trade a 
 mason, died in Germany, in 1874; the 
 mother is yet hving. They had a family 
 of eight children, namely: Theressa, 
 Anna, Herman, Louisa, Clara, Magda- 
 lene. Dorotha and Mary, of whom Doro- 
 tha died in 1 890. To Mr. and Mrs. Carl 
 Helm have been born four children, all 
 Americans by birth, named respecti\elv 
 Minnie, Max, Otto and Oscar. In 1883 
 Mr. Helm and his young wife came to the 
 United States, making their way west- 
 ward to \\'isconsin, where in Wrights- 
 town. Brown county, he first located, and 
 here followed his trade as well as in 
 Appleton, Green Bay, Oshkosh and other 
 cities. In 1890 he moved his family to 
 Appleton, and in 1892 established his 
 present stone yard, where he prepares 
 and furnishes all kinds of building stone 
 cut to order, shipping as far east as In- 
 diana and Ohio, employment being given 
 to four men the year round. Politically 
 Mr. Helm is a Republican, and he is a 
 member of the Sons of Hermann. By 
 perseverance, honest\- and industry he 
 has amassed considerable property, and 
 by his probity, and sterling worth, has 
 surrounded himself by a large circle of 
 friends. 
 
 CAPTAIN EDWIN M. NEFF, for 
 the past decade a resident of Ap- 
 pleton, Outagamie county, prior 
 to which he had his home for a 
 considerable time in Oshkosh, Winne- 
 bago county, is a native of the State of 
 New York, born April 7, 1829, in the 
 town of Burlington, Otsego county. The 
 Neff famih- are of English descent, the 
 first in this country having come from 
 England in a very early day, settling in 
 Stonington, Conn., where Joseph NefT, 
 grandfather of our subject, was born. He 
 was a farmer by occupation, but saw con- 
 siderable military service, having been 
 engaged in the Indian wars under Gens. 
 
 Harmar, St. Clair and Wa\ne, and was 
 one of the fifteen survivors in Harmar's 
 defeat. 
 
 Oren NefT, father of the Captain, was 
 a native of the same place as his son, 
 born in 1790, and was reared to agricul- 
 tural pursuits. In 1825 he married Miss 
 Cynthia Phillips, also a native of Burling- 
 ton, N. v., and they had five children: 
 Edwin M., Mary Elizabeth, William W., 
 Miriam and Samuel. The family came 
 to Wisconsin in 1851, settling in the 
 town of Oshkosh, where the father died 
 in 1885, the mother in 18S8; they were 
 members of the Congregational Church. 
 Mrs. Oren Neff's father, Barnard Phillips, 
 was born in Rhode Island, and descended 
 from old Puritan stock. During the 
 Indian wars of the last century he served 
 as an Indian scout, and on one occasion was 
 captured b}" the savages, who condemned 
 him to be burned at the stake; but, after 
 being bound and the fire kindled, he was 
 rescued by some soldiers who fortunately 
 came up in time. 
 
 Capt. Edwin M. Neff comes of a sea- 
 faring stock, representative men of their 
 times, and it is here worthy to be placed 
 on record as a singular coincidence that 
 four uncles of his grandfather Neff, all 
 captains of vessels, W2re lost at sea. Our 
 subject was educated at the schools of 
 New York State, at the age of eighteen 
 graduated at the Garrettsville (N. Y.) 
 Academy, and for the following two years 
 taught school winters, working on his 
 father's farm in the summer season. In 
 1849, then twenty years old, became west 
 to Wisconsin, and locating in Oshkosh 
 engaged in boating on Fox river and 
 Lake Winnebago. His first craft was a 
 sail boat, carrying also oars, a sort of fish- 
 ing smack, which conveyed passengers be- 
 tween Fond du Lac and Oshkosh; she 
 was named the "Dr. Henning, " after a 
 doctor of that name, who served as a 
 major under Gen. Blunt in the Civil war 
 of 1861-65. The Captain also taught 
 school in Oshkosh two winters, and 
 superintended the building of many boats, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 921 
 
 including the first steamer on the Missis- 
 sippi river, besides building grain barges. 
 In 1850 he ran a sail boat between 
 Neenah and Appleton, which carried 
 about fifteen passengers, there being no 
 other mode of traveling between those 
 two points at that time. For sixteen 
 seasons he boated on the Mississippi, and 
 along with an uncle bought a small craft 
 on that river, of which he was captain. 
 In 1875 he entered the government em- 
 ploy as captain of the steamer ' ' Craw- 
 ford," which was employed at the time in 
 conveying material for the U. S. Engi- 
 neers' Department, to be used in the im- 
 provement of Fox river, and (with the 
 exception of two years) has been in the 
 service ever since, commanding the 
 " Henrietta " thirteen seasons, the " De- 
 korsa " and the " Boscobel," all tugs or 
 tow boats. 
 
 On October 4, 1853, Capt. Neff was 
 married to Miss Catherine A. Tuttle, who 
 was born in Lancaster, Glengarry Co. , 
 Upper Canada (now Ontario), in 1834, 
 daughter of Solomon and Mary (Day) Tut- 
 tle, highly respectable farming people, who 
 in 1836 migrated westward to Michigan, 
 settling in Romeo, Macomb county, 
 where the father died in 1849. The 
 widow then came to Oshkosh with her 
 children, and there, in 1874, passed away, 
 the mother of fourteen children, all of 
 whom she outlived except three — Solo- 
 mon, Steven and Catherine. The chil- 
 dren born to Capt. and Mrs. Neff, five in 
 number, are named: Ella M., Edwin D., 
 Eugenia C, Kate M. and Clarence L. 
 The Captain in politics is a Republican, 
 and socially he is a member of the I. O. 
 O. F., Lodge No. 120, Oshkosh, which 
 city he still looks upon as his home, al- 
 though now for some ten years a resident 
 of Appleton. In 1855, when Oshkosh first 
 became a city, he was appointed city 
 marshal, serving two years. His brother 
 Samuel, in Milwaukee, is owner of a line 
 of boats. 
 
 Two hundred years ago, Mary Neff, 
 niece of Joseph Nef?, grandfather of Capt. 
 
 Edwin M. Neff, met with a thrilling ad- 
 venture with Indians, in which she proved 
 herself a heroine, and we are enabled to 
 give a brief account of the affair; " The 
 most famous of all the escapes of New 
 England captives was that of Hannah 
 Duston, Mary Neff, and a boy, Samuel 
 Leonardson. These three were carried 
 off with many others, in 1697, in the at- 
 tack on Haverhill, Mrs. Duston's infant 
 child having been killed by the Indians. 
 When the captors had separated, the 
 party to whom the two women and the 
 boy were assigned encamped on an island 
 in the Merrimac river. At midnight, the 
 captives secured hatchets and killed ten 
 Indians — -two men, two women, and six 
 children — one favorite boy, whom they 
 meant to spare, and one badly wounded 
 woman escaping. After they had left 
 the camp, the fugitives remembered that 
 nobody in the settlements would believe, 
 without evidence, that they had performed 
 so redoubtable an action; they therefore 
 returned and scalped the Indians, after 
 which the\' scuttled all the canoes on the 
 island but one, and in this escaped 
 down the Merrimac, finally reaching 
 Haverhill. This was such an exploit as 
 made the actors immediately famous in 
 that bloody time. The Massachusetts 
 General Court gave Mrs. Duston twenty- 
 five pounds, and granted half that amount 
 to each of her companions. The story of 
 their daring deed was carried far to the 
 southward, and Governor Nicholson, of 
 Maryland, sent a valuable present to the 
 escaped prisoners." 
 
 PHILIP DEAN. This gentleman, 
 who is a well-known architect of 
 acknowledged ability, and for the 
 past thirteen years a resident of 
 Appleton, Outagamie county, is a na- 
 tive of Wisconsin, born in the city of 
 Milwaukee, October 20, 1856. 
 
 His father, Thomas Dean, was born 
 in England, where he married Miss Eliza- 
 beth Brocklist, after which they came to 
 
932 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 America, settling in Milwaukee, where 
 their family of eight children were born, 
 to wit: Two that died in infancy, Joseph, 
 Thomas, Philip, William, Margaret and 
 Emma. In 1858 the famil}" moved to 
 Madison, Wis. , where the parents re- 
 mained until 1887, at which time, owing 
 to the impaired health of the mother, 
 they made a trip to Florida, where the 
 father died in 1892, the mother in 1893. 
 Thomas Dean was an active business 
 man, applying himself closely to his busi- 
 ness — the manufacturing on an extensive 
 scale of sash, doors and blinds, in Mil- 
 waukee and Madison, Wis. . and also in 
 Florida. He was an influential Republi- 
 can in his political associations, and while 
 a resident of Madison served as alderman 
 four terms; socially he was a member of 
 the I. O. O. F. 
 
 Philip Dean, whose name introduces 
 this sketch, received his education in the 
 common schools of Madison, and at the 
 age of fifteen commenced working in the 
 blacksmith department of a carriage shop. 
 After serving three years in this branch 
 he went to Chicago, 111., following his 
 trade there one year, at the end of which 
 time he returned to Madison, and enter- 
 ing his father's sash, door and blind fac- 
 tory, continued therein as one of the em- 
 ployes until 1S78. In the following year 
 he' moved to Jefferson, same State, where 
 he superintended the building of the 
 courthouse, under his father's contract, 
 and there remained until 1881, when he 
 came to Appleton, to superintend the 
 construction of the courthouse in that 
 city, for which his father was also con- 
 tractor. On his return from Chicago, 
 about 1875, Mr. Dean had taken up the 
 study of architecture, and afterward, 
 while working for his father, studied nights 
 and other spare time, during which he 
 drew plans for several small buildings, 
 besides executing all the drawings for his 
 father. After completing the building of 
 the Appleton courthouse, our subject com- 
 menced contracting for and building pri- 
 vate residences; and several elegant build- 
 
 ings are to-day pointed out as memorials 
 to his taste and skill. In 1888 he aban- 
 doned contracting and building, and has 
 since confined himself exclusively to archi- 
 tecture, a profession in which he stands 
 second to none in northwestern Wiscon- 
 sin. He has furnished plans for many 
 public as well as private buildings, employ- 
 ing for most of the time four or five 
 experienced assistants, and giving uni- 
 versal satisfaction. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Dean was married at 
 Madison, Wis., to Miss Margaret O'Neil, 
 a native of Ohio, daughter of William and 
 Margaret rComber) O'Neil, who had a 
 family of six children, vi^. : Margaret, 
 William. Catherine, Hugh, John and 
 Owen. The father, who was by trade a 
 mason, was born in Ireland, whence, when 
 a young man, he came to America, locat- 
 ing at first in Ohio, but finally settling in 
 Madison, Wis., where he died; his widow 
 is still living. To Mr. and Mrs. Dean 
 have been born four children, named as 
 follows: William H., Philip J., James J., 
 and Ruth C. The family attend the ser- 
 vices of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Ap- 
 pleton, and stand high in the esteem of 
 their fellow citizens. 
 
 ARNOLD PEERENBOOM, a 
 prominent, progressive and wide- 
 awake business man, proprietor 
 of one of the leading drj-goods 
 and clothing stores in Appleton, Outa- 
 gamie county, and well-known and re- 
 spected in the entire county, is a native 
 of Holland, born in February, 1849. 
 
 Gerhart Peerenboom, his father, was 
 a native of Prussia, whence when a boy 
 he moved with relatives to Holland, his 
 father having been accidentally killed. 
 He here learned the trade of carpenter, 
 afterward carrying on contracting and 
 building. He married Miss Lydia John- 
 son, a native of Holland, and by her had 
 nine children, six of whom are }'et living. 
 In 1858 the family came to the United 
 States, settling on a farm in Little Chute, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 923 
 
 Outagamie county, Wis., where the 
 mother died in 1864, the father in 1874. 
 The subject proper of these Hnes was 
 nine years old when the famih' came to 
 the wilds of Wisconsin. He received a 
 fairly liberal education at the common 
 schools of the neighborhood of his new 
 home, and at the age of fifteen com- 
 menced to learn the trade of carpenter, 
 working for a time with an older brother. 
 Having spent some nine years at this 
 trade, he commenced clerking in the gen- 
 eral dry -goods store of his brother Julius, 
 in Appleton, remaining with him five 
 years, or until 1882, at which time he 
 embarked in business for his own account 
 in Appleton. He commenced in a small 
 way, with a capital of one thousand 
 dollars, and to-day, by thorough business 
 tact and sound judgment, he owns and 
 conducts one of the leading stores in the 
 county, it being known as the "Depart- 
 ment Store," wherein are to be found 
 every variety and all grades of dry goods, 
 clothing and carpets. He is, in the true 
 sense of the word, a self-made man, and 
 is much respected for his push, energy 
 and fair dealing. In 1875 Mr. Peeren- 
 boom was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elizabeth Toner, who was born in Apple- 
 ton, but whose parents removed from 
 there to New York City, taking her with 
 them when she was but an infant. To 
 our subject and wife have been born nine 
 children. The family are members of the 
 Catholic Church, and in politics Mr. 
 Peerenboom is an ardent Republican, 
 taking considerable interest in the affairs 
 of his party. Some time since he was 
 nominated for mayor of Appleton, but 
 the city being. strongly Democratic he was 
 defeated. 
 
 GM. RAUGHT, M. D. This 
 well-known physician of the ec- 
 lectic school is a son of Jacob 
 and Christiana ^Meyers) Raiight, 
 the former a native of Pennsylvania, the 
 latter of Connecticut. The father located 
 
 early in Herkimer county, N. Y., married, 
 learned the cabinet maker's trade, and 
 subsequently removed to St. Lawrence 
 county. Coming later with his family to 
 Wisconsin, he located at Menasha and 
 worked at his trade for three years, thence 
 removing to a farm in Winnebago county, 
 which he opened up. At a later date he 
 settled at Neenah, and at present resides 
 on a farm in Marquette county. His 
 wife died in Winnebago county in 1871. 
 Besides the Doctor they had a daughter, 
 Margaret, now the wife of I-iobert Tipler, 
 of Clayton, Winnebago county. 
 
 Our subject was born in 1846 in St. 
 Lawrence county, N. Y., and in 1853 
 came to Wisconsin, locating with his par- 
 ents at Menasha. In 1856 he removed 
 with them to Neenah, Winnebago county. 
 Trudging on foot three miles to school, 
 the lad began acquiring an education. 
 When old enough he learned the trade of 
 a paper maker, and while working in the 
 mills began the study of medicine. But 
 the sound of warfare called him from 
 his studies, and, in 1863, at the age of 
 seventeen years, he enlisted in Battery 
 C, First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, for 
 three years or during the war. His com- 
 mand served in the Western army, under 
 Gen. Thomas, and after the battle of 
 Chattanooga was engaged in garrison 
 duty. Young Raught received an honor- 
 able discharge in 1865, at Madison, Wis. , 
 and returning to Neenah spent a short 
 time on the farm in the town of Winches- 
 ter. During the same year he was mar- 
 ried, in Winnebago county, to Miss Jane 
 Slover, a native of New York and daugh- 
 ter of Daniel Slover, a pioneer of the 
 county last named and later a resident of 
 Neenah. Having finally completed his 
 studies, the young physician began prac- 
 tice, working on tbie canal a portion of 
 the time to assist in making a living. His 
 studies after the war were commenced at 
 Neenah in 1872, where he subsequently 
 practiced his profession. In 1 876 he re- 
 moved to Appleton, and a year later to 
 Kaukauna, where he has since continued 
 
924 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to reside. By untiring application and 
 careful attention he has succeeded in 
 building up a lucrative practice where 
 many men with less determination would 
 have failed. As mill boy, soldier and 
 physician he has made an honorable rec- 
 ord, and is deserving of whatever of re- 
 ward he may receive. 
 
 Politically the Doctor is a Republican, 
 and at the time the notes were given for 
 this sketch he was a candidate for super- 
 visor from the Fifth ward. He is a mem- 
 ber of Kaukauna Lodge No. 297, I. O. O. 
 F. , and has been surgeon of Beaulieu 
 Post No. 247, G. A. R. , since its organ- 
 ization. He and his wife are members of 
 the M. E. Church of Ivaukauna, and their 
 two sons, Charles E. and Melvin, are 
 worthy and respected young men, the 
 former being editor and proprietor of the 
 Kaukauna Times, the latter residing at 
 home with his parents. The Doctor has 
 always been interested in every move- 
 ment tending to benefit the city and 
 county, and has witnessed the complete 
 upbuilding of South Ivaukauna. His 
 home is a pleasant one, which the mem- 
 bers of his family doubtless appreciate to 
 the fullest extent. 
 
 ARL SCHULTZ, an extensive 
 
 landowner and one of the leading 
 
 r 
 
 \_ ^ farmers of Greenville township, 
 Outagamie county, is a German 
 by birth, having been born in the Father- 
 land May 19, 1833. 
 
 John Schultz, father of Carl, was a 
 shepherd in the old country, in moderate 
 circumstances, and had a family of four 
 children, three of whom lived to maturity. 
 He lived in Germany until the fall of 
 1853, when he set sail from Hamburg for 
 New York, the voyage occupying seven 
 weeks. Traveling from New York by 
 rail to Buffalo, he resided there for a 
 short time, coming to Winnebago county, 
 Wis. , the next spring. Carl and his brother 
 chopped cordwood in New York State 
 during the winter of 1853-54, in the 
 
 summer of 1854 working as farm hands, 
 and in the fall following their father to 
 Wisconsin. They journeyed by rail as 
 far as Chicago, thence by boat to Sheboy- 
 gan, thence by stage to Fond du Lac, 
 thence on foot via Oshkosh to Neenah, 
 from which point they proceeded, in a 
 wagon drawn by oxen, to the place on 
 which their father had located, which 
 was owned by August Westphal. One 
 week later they went to Stiles, Wis., but 
 finding work scarce there went to Oconto, 
 where they found work in the lumber 
 regions at $18 per month. \\'^hen the 
 season for logging had passed they re- 
 turned home, crossing the ice to Green 
 Bay and thence via Appleton to their 
 destination. They then helped their 
 father for two weeks, afterward returning 
 to Stiles, and for three years were en- 
 gaged in driving rafts down the Oconto 
 river to the lake. During this time they 
 not only assisted their father but saved 
 money for themselves. 
 
 In the fall of 1857 Carl Schultz was 
 married, in Winnebago county, to Miss 
 Hannah Kaphingst, a model farmer's 
 woman, of good North-German stock, 
 who came to this country with her father. 
 Christian Kaphingst, in 185 i. The young 
 couple resided one winter with his father, 
 and then settled on a farm which has 
 ever since been their home. Children 
 were born to them as follows: John, a 
 farmer and thresher, of Greenville town- 
 ship, Outagamie county; Louis, a black- 
 smith, also of Greenville; Fred, living at 
 home; Alvina, Mrs. Stacker, of Clayton, 
 Winnebago county; Charles and Reka, at 
 home; and twins that died in infancy. 
 Mrs. Schultz has been mainly instru- 
 mental in the successful rearing of a 
 family of model children, who are univer- 
 sally respected in the neighborhood and 
 county generally. 
 
 Mr. Schultz has increased the area of 
 his farm from eighty to 260 acres, 220 of 
 which have been put under cultivation, 
 either by his labors or under his direction, 
 while in every important transaction 
 
COMMEMUEAiIVE BIOGBAPHIOAL RECORD. 
 
 rs 
 
 relating to the management of their farm 
 he usually and wisely consults his estim- 
 able wife, and a great deal of his success 
 is due to her good judgment. Having 
 commenced life with no capital but hon- 
 esty and industry, their property has 
 been accumulated altogether by their 
 own exertions, and although attended 
 with unusual success, it is universally 
 agreed that their reward is well merited, 
 and their energy and open honesty have 
 won for them an enviable standing in the 
 community. In State and National elec- 
 tions our subject generally votes the 
 Democratic ticket, but he voted for 
 Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and is not an 
 ardent partisan. In religious matters he 
 and his family are connected with the 
 Lutheran Church. 
 
 HENRY WIESE. Among the 
 energetic, intelligent young farm- 
 ers of Freedom township, Outa- 
 gamie county, this gentleman 
 takes a prominent place. He is a native 
 of Wisconsin, born May 18, i860, in 
 Waukesha county, where his early years 
 were passed. 
 
 Fred Wiese, his father, was born 
 October 2, 1829, in Mecklenburg, Ger- 
 many, and learned the trade of wagon 
 maker, which he followed in his native 
 country until his emigration to the United 
 States, in 1855. In 1859 he was married, 
 in Milwaukee, Wis., to Miss Mary Schroe- 
 der, who was also a native of Mecklen- 
 burg, Germany, born January 29, 1838, 
 daughter of John and Magdalena Schroe- 
 der, who came to the United States in 
 the spring of 1857, crossing from Ham- 
 burg to New York in fifteen days and 
 coming thence to Milwaukee, where Mrs. 
 Wiese was living at the time of her mar- 
 riage. Mr. Wiese had previously pur- 
 chased forty acres of new land in Section 
 6, Freedom township, Outagamie county, 
 and the young couple took up their resi- 
 dence in a log house in the midst of the 
 forest, and commenced the work neces- 
 
 sary to transform their land into a fertile, 
 comfortable farm. Four children were 
 born to their union as follows: Henry, 
 the subject proper of this sketch; Alvina, 
 who died at home at the age of twenty- 
 eight; Albert, who died at home at the 
 age of twenty-five; and Emma, Mrs. John 
 Groat, of Freedom. The father of this 
 family died in 1872, when Henry, the 
 eldest child, was but twelve years of age, 
 but the mother took the farm under her 
 own management, and successfully con- 
 ducted affairs until the children were able 
 to assist her. She has always been a 
 thrifty, hard-working woman, and has 
 gained the respect of all who know her for 
 her many good qualities; she now lives on 
 the home farm with our subject. In re- 
 ligious faith she is a member of the Mora- 
 vian Church, as was also her husband; in 
 politics he was a Republican. 
 
 Henry Wiese was but an infant when 
 his parents came to Freedom township, 
 and here he has ever since had his home. 
 He received such education as could be 
 secured at the district schools of his time, 
 but, being the eldest, the death of his 
 father, when he was but twelve years of 
 age, compelled him to begin work at an 
 early age, and he was thoroughly induct- 
 ed into agricultural work. When yet 
 young he had much of the care and 
 responsibility of the farm work, and re- 
 mained at home until he reached the age 
 of twenty-one, when he learned the 
 painter's trade, at which he worked for 
 six years. In 1886 he was married, in 
 Freedom township, to Miss Annie Krabbe, 
 a native of that township, whose father, 
 Frederick Krabbe, came from Germany. 
 To this union have been born two chil- 
 dren, Lester and Theresa. Mr. Wiese is 
 a stanch Republican in politics, and in 
 April, 1892, was elected supervisor of his 
 township, still serving in that capacity 
 and proving himself a faithful officer. In 
 church connection he and his family are 
 Moravians. Though still a young man 
 he has achieved a good reputation as a 
 thorough farmer, and has put himself on 
 
9-^6 
 
 COXXEMORATIVE BWGRAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 the road to success in his life work. He 
 now owns eighty acres of fine land, the 
 farm occupied for years by his faiher-in- 
 law. 
 
 HENRY ZEH. fanner oi Greenville 
 rownship. Outagamie county, is 
 a native of Germany, bom .\pril 
 2/. 1836. son of Henry Zeh. a 
 farmer. 
 
 In the fall of 1S46. the father set 
 sail from Hamburg with his wife and 
 family of seven small children, arriving 
 nine weeks later in New York, and con- 
 tinued thence via the Erie canal to Buf- 
 falo. N. Y. Here he died, and the 
 mother was left in limited circumstances, 
 in a strange country, with the entire care 
 of a lanre family, the eldest of whom was 
 but twelve years of age. She brought 
 them to Gran\-ille township. Milwaukee 
 county. Wis., where she invested all her 
 capital in twenty acres of timberland. and 
 the children, young as they were, worked 
 out and helped to support the family as 
 much as possible. The eldest son. Gott- 
 lieb, followed coopering in the winter sea- 
 son, and Henry", working with him. hav- 
 ing also gained some knowledge of that 
 trade, they were, of considerable assistance 
 to their mother. In 1S57 they moved to 
 Green\ille township. Outagamie court. 
 where, with their joint sa\-ings. Go:: ; 
 purchased eighty acres of land, and the 
 older sons hired out to neighboring 
 farmers, the mother and the younger 
 member? of the family managing the home 
 farm. Mrs. Zeh passed from earth in 
 1SS5. and now sleeps her last sleep in the 
 Lutheran cemeter>- of Greenxnlle township. 
 She «"as an industrious, hard-working 
 woman, and is held in grateful and Io\"ing 
 remembrance by the children in whose 
 wielfare she toiled so many \-ears. 
 
 Henry Zeh received all his schootiiig 
 in his native country, for after the family 
 settled in Wisconsin his mother needed 
 all the help he could give her. and he 
 remained ^nth her until tus marriage. 
 
 when twenty-one years old removing 
 with the rest of the family to Outagamie 
 county. On June 22. 1862. he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Hannah Hoh. who was bom 
 April 24. 1S3S. in Germany, daughter of 
 John Hoh. who came to the United States 
 in 1847. and became an early settler of 
 Outagamie count)". Wis. This union has 
 been blessed with children as follows: 
 Mary. Mrs. Ed. Warner, of Green\-ille 
 township: Lucetta. Mrs. Wallie Leppla, 
 of Appleton: William, a farmer of Green- 
 Wile township: Fred and Eddie, at home; 
 I and three that died early in Ufe. In re- 
 ' ligious faith the family are Lutherans. 
 > Mr. Zeh has 120 acres of excellent 
 land, and in 1891 erected a fine residence 
 to replace the comfortable brick home 
 which had bumed do«"n. He has made 
 his success by hard work. ha\-ing com- 
 menced life a poor boy. and the pros- 
 perity" he now enjoys is the result of years 
 of labor and self-denial. His land was 
 included in what was a dense forest at 
 one time, and he has seen it change grad- 
 ually beneath his hands to its present con- 
 dition of fertilir>-. and pro\-ided for him- 
 self a comfortable competence. Gottheb 
 Zeh. brother of our subject, is a farmo' 
 in Center township. Oatagamie county. 
 
 GEORGE RICKERT. a well-to-do 
 respected farmer of Freedom 
 township. Outagamie count>".was 
 bom July 8, 1S46. in Hesse- 
 Darmstadt, Germany, son of John Rick- 
 ert. who was a mason by trade- 
 in 1 8; I John Rickert set out alone 
 for America, and arrived after an ocean 
 voyage of three months. Two years 
 later his family followed, they sailing 
 from Hamburg and landing in New York 
 after a vovage of seven weeks. Their 
 desrination was Milwaukee. Wis., and 
 they resided in that cit}." until the fall of 
 i860, when they removed to .Applet on. 
 and there rented land from Ed»"ard West, 
 the father also foUowing his trade. In 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQBAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 927 
 
 the spring of 1865 he bought eighty acres 
 in Section 17, Freedom township, Outag- 
 amie county, the only improvement on 
 the place at that date being a small clear- 
 ing. The first building was erected by 
 the Rickerts, and after removing to the 
 farm they persevered in the work of im- 
 proving and cultivating the place until 
 the)' had established themselves in a com- 
 fortable home of their own. The father 
 passed from earth August 19, 1875, and 
 was buried in Sagole cemetery; he was a 
 Catholic in religious faith, and in politics 
 affiliated with the Democratic party. 
 His widow still resides on the farm with 
 our subject. They were the parents of 
 six children, viz. : Adam (a farmer of 
 Freedom township), George, John (who 
 died in Outagamie county shortly after 
 the Civil war), and Peter (of Shawano 
 county, Wis.), all four born in Germany; 
 and Elizabeth (Mrs. William Swindler, 
 of Milwaukee) and Augusta (who died 
 young), both born in America. 
 
 George Rickert only attended school 
 a short time in his native country, and 
 subsequently spent a year in a German 
 school in Milwaukee. When nineteen 
 years old he removed with his parents to 
 Freedom township, where he was fully 
 initiated into the mysteries of agriculture 
 on the pioneer farm. He also hauled 
 wood to Appleton from Grand Chute 
 township, receiving seventy-five cents a 
 cord, and from the age of seventeen up 
 to the time of his marriage worked dur- 
 ing the winters in the lumber woods. On 
 August 6, 1 87 1, he w-as united in mar- 
 riage, in Freedom township, to Miss 
 Martha Siddens, who was born in that 
 township June 30, 1853, and has been 
 living there probably longer than any 
 other native-born resident, having passed 
 her entire life here, with the exception of 
 one Near; she received all her education 
 in the district schools. John and Eliza- 
 beth (Hartman) Siddens, her parents, 
 were among the earliest pioneers in Free- 
 dom township, having come from Indiana 
 at an early day and settled in what was 
 
 known in pioneer times as the " Hoosier 
 settlement." 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Rickert bought 
 forty acres in Section 14, only four acres 
 of which tract were then cleared, the re- 
 mainder being still in its primitive condi- 
 tion, and he finished the first house on 
 the farm, a log one, which stood west of 
 the present comfortable residence, which 
 was erected in 1890. The farm has been 
 improved in many other ways, and gives 
 abundant evidence of the thrift and in- 
 dustry of the owner, who may well take 
 pride in having one of the neatest farms 
 in his locality. For the past twenty 
 years, in addition to his other farm work, 
 Mr, Rickert has run a threshing machine. 
 He is a stanch Democrat in politics, and 
 in religious faith a Catholic, being a mem- 
 ber of the Church at Sagole. 
 
 CHARLES S. THOMPSON, one of 
 the most popular citizens of Maine 
 township, Outagamie county, 
 where he has held numerous 
 positions of trust, is a native of Clinton, 
 Maine, born June 23, 1840. 
 
 George W. Thompson, his father, was 
 a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Proctor) 
 Thompson. By occupation he was a 
 farmer and mechanic. He married Char- 
 lotte Johnson, daughter of Henry and 
 Rachel (Burton) Johnson, and they had a 
 family of eleven children, as follows: 
 Charles S., the subject of this sketch; 
 Rutherford B., a resident of Clinton, Me. ; 
 Clara A., Mrs. Berry, of Roseburgh, 
 Oreg. ; Harriet M., deceased; Lizzie M., 
 of Thorndyke, Mass., wife of E. B. Will- 
 iams, a superintendent of cotton mills at 
 that place; Ella M., deceased; George H. ; 
 Bina S., now Mrs. Nash, of Tomahawk, 
 Wis.; Roscoe Lawrence, deceased; Flor- 
 ence P., Mrs. Cook; and Fred R., of 
 Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 
 
 Charles S. Thompson remained under 
 the parental roof until twenty-one years of 
 age, in the meantime learning the black- 
 smith's trade, at which he worked most 
 
92S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of the time. On April 17, 1861, he en- 
 Hsted in the town of Burnhain, Waldo 
 county, Maine, in Compan\' K, First 
 Maine V. I. , for three months, and at the 
 expiration of his term re-enlisted, this 
 time in Company I, Fourteenth Maine V. 
 I., for three years. But on June 30, 
 1862, he had a fall, while on the United 
 States transport "North America," which 
 disabled him, and he was consequently 
 obliged to leave the army, returning 
 home, where he slowly recovered. In 
 1863 he went to California, and there en- 
 gaged in carpenter work until May, 1867, 
 when he returned to Detroit, Maine, 
 thence, in January, 1869, again coming 
 westward, stopping three months in the 
 town of Maine, Outagamie county. Wis., 
 whence in 1878, he went to Clinton, 
 Maine, and thence made a second trip to 
 California, remaining until 1880, when he 
 returned to Maine, Outagamie county, 
 where he has ever since resided. Here, 
 on May 27, 1869, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Carrie F. Spaulding, 
 daughter of James and Betsey (Stinson) 
 Spaulding. In Maine township Mr. 
 Thompson purchased eighty-five acres of 
 land, and lived thereon until August, 
 1874, when he took his family to Clinton, 
 Maine, and leaving them there made a 
 trip, alone, to California, returning for 
 them in 1875, in which year they all went 
 to that State and made their home there 
 until 1 8S0, when they came back to Maine, 
 Wis. Here Mr. Thompson resumed his 
 trade, blacksmithing, and worked at same 
 for some time, after which he purchased 
 the home of his father-in-law, consisting 
 of eighty acres, where he has ever since 
 resided. 
 
 Mr. Thompson is a strong supporter 
 of the principles of the Republican party, 
 and has been elected to man}' official 
 positions, having served as justice of the 
 peace, sixteen years; town clerk, eight 
 years; chairman of town board, two 
 terms; and as postmaster at Stinson, 
 where he is the second appointee, dis- 
 charging all his duties with satisfaction to 
 
 his constituents and credit to himself. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have had one 
 son, George, who was married October 
 II, 1892, to Miss Maggie Penworden, and 
 lives at home with his parents, his father 
 having deeded him forty acres of land 
 when he reached his majority. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Thompson also own forty acres. 
 In the spring of 1894 Mr. Thompson 
 made another trip to California, looking 
 up timber land in Oregon, Washington, 
 and other points. 
 
 HT. SHEPHERD, one of the sub- 
 stantial, well-to-do-farmers of 
 Maine township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, is a native of Canada, born 
 February 4, 1839, in the Province of On- 
 tario. His parents, James and Sarah 
 (Anst) Shepherd, were the parents of 
 eleven children, viz. : John, George, 
 William, Ana, James, Charles, Richard, 
 H. T., Levi, David and Joseph. The 
 father of these was a successful farmer, 
 and gave all his children good educational 
 advantages. He and his wife both died 
 at the age of seventy years, and their re- 
 mains now rest in Canada. 
 
 Our subject commenced to make his 
 own way in the world at the age of 
 twenty years. On September 23, 1S63, 
 he was married to Miss Margaret Pen- 
 worten, daughter of John and Sarah 
 (Bramell) Penworten, natives of England, 
 who came to America in 1841, the voy- 
 age occupying six weeks and two days. 
 They located in Quebec, where Mr. Pen- 
 worten worked at his trade, that of black- 
 smith, and he was frozen to death while 
 coming from his workshop. Afr. and 
 Mrs. Penworten had six children, namely: 
 Thomas, John, Margaret, David, George 
 and Simeon. In 1S65 Mr. and Mrs. 
 Shepherd went to Illinois, and there re- 
 mained about a year and a half, when, 
 on account of the ague, then so preva- 
 lent, they removed to Wisconsin. In 
 Shiocton, Outagamie county, they pur- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 929 
 
 chased an old homestead, where they re- 
 sided for some years, but on account of 
 floods from the Wolf river they were 
 obliged to abandon it, and came to Maine 
 township. Here they purchased a tract 
 of ninety-three acres of wild land, and for 
 three years lived in a lumber camp, when 
 a more substantial house of logs was 
 erected, in which they made their hom.e 
 for fifteen years. Mr. Shepherd has 
 cleared the entire place himself, and he 
 now has a fine farm of 1 1 5 acres of pro- 
 ductive land, which yields him a comfort- 
 able income. Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd 
 have had nine children, as follows: David, 
 William, Hattie, Flora, George, Jennie, 
 Albert, Effie and Luella, all of whom 
 have had excellent educational advant- 
 ages, which they highly appreciate. Po- 
 litically Mr. Shepherd is a lifelong mem- 
 ber of the Democratic party. 
 
 OLIVER SMITH. The family 
 from which this gentleman is de- 
 scended is of English origin, the 
 early ancestors having settled in 
 New England in the latter part of the 
 seventeenth century. Grandfather Smith 
 was born in Massachusetts, carrying on a 
 farm there until the breaking out of the 
 Revolutionary war, when he enlisted and 
 went away to fight for liberty. He was 
 married in Vermont, and in his later 
 years settled in Oneida county, N. Y., 
 where he died at the age of eighty years, 
 very soon after the death of his wife. 
 Their family consisted of children as fol- 
 lows: Oliver, James, Lucy and Alsomine. 
 The father of our subject, also named 
 Oliver, was born in Massachusetts and 
 was reared on a farm. He married Miss 
 Lydia Cross, daughter of Samuel Cross, 
 and they at first settled on a farm in New 
 York State, Mr. Smith having drawn a 
 160-acre land warrant from the govern- 
 ment, living there a number of years. 
 Mr. Smith then removed to Weyauwega, 
 Waupaca Co. , Wis. , where he bought 
 eighty acres of land and made a perma- 
 
 nent settlement, he and his wife both dy- 
 ing there, he at the age of sixty-nine 
 years and she at the age of seventy-two 
 years. They were the parents of ten 
 children, of whom Oliver was born Octo- 
 ber 4, 1825, in Renisen, Oneida Co., N. 
 Y. He learned the trade of carpenter 
 and joiner. In 1844 he was married 
 to Miss Jane C. Sweet, daughter of Lee- 
 land and Susan Sweet, and the same 
 year came to Wisconsin, settling in the 
 village of Weyauwega, where his parents 
 had also located. There he followed his 
 trade until 1880, when he removed to 
 Shiocton, Outagamie county. He was a 
 skillful workman, and erected nearly all 
 of the best buildings in that town, build- 
 ing a school house, and in 1881 bought 
 the only hotel of importance in the place, 
 which he conducted for ten years, proving 
 quite as successful and popular as a land- 
 lord as he had as a builder. 
 
 Mr. Smith was for a number of ^ears 
 a minister of the M. E. Church, of which 
 Society he was a member for thirty-iive 
 years. He continued to preach on Sun- 
 day and carry on his other business dur- 
 ing the week for seventeen years, or until 
 he moved to Shiocton, when he was 
 obliged to relinquish his work to some 
 extent, on account of his lungs, preach- 
 ing only now and then, as his services 
 are required. \\'hile in Shiocton he has 
 connected himself with the Congrega- 
 tional Society, of which he is a most use- 
 ful and respected member. He still does 
 a great deal of ministerial work, such as 
 looking after the sick and unfortunate, 
 officiating at funerals and comforting the 
 dying. When preaching he often went 
 to his appointments at his own expense, 
 driving his own horse when the distance 
 would allow. Politically he belongs to 
 the Republican party, and was a justice 
 of the peace for ten \-ears, finally de- 
 clining to serve longer. Mr. Smith holds 
 the confidence and respect of a large cir- 
 cle of friends. His family consists of five 
 children — all living — namely: Helen, De- 
 vella, Melissa, Susan and Perry. 
 
93° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 FRANCIS STEFFEN, of Hortonia, 
 Outagamie county, was born in 
 Germany, November 5, 1836, 
 a son of Jacob Steffen, Sr. He 
 obtained a good comrnon-school educa- 
 tion, besides receiving thorough instruc- 
 tion in his mother tongue. 
 
 In September, 1862, up to which time 
 he had remained on the farm with his 
 parents (who had become residents of 
 Wisconsin), he enhsted in Company I, 
 Thirty-second Wis. V. I. He served 
 until 1865, the command being in Sher- 
 man's army and with him on his memor- 
 able march from Atlanta to the sea. 
 After his return from the army he pur- 
 chased the farm now occupied by his 
 family, and became a very successful 
 farmer and thrifty business man. A man 
 who read e.xtensively and was thoroughly 
 posted on all questions of public moment, 
 he became a leading and highly respected 
 citizen. In politics and all public mat- 
 ters he ever took an active interest. In 
 1878, and again in 1879, he was elected 
 to the Wisconsin Assembly, where he 
 served his constituents well and was an 
 active, intelligent member. He filled the 
 office of clerk of the circuit court of Outa- 
 gamie county one term, and for many 
 years was chairman of the town board, 
 besides being elected chairman of the 
 county board. In all these positions he 
 proved, by his able and honest conduct of 
 the offices, the wisdom of the people who 
 had placed confidence in and elected him. 
 Mr. Steffen was married, in 1866, to 
 Mrs. Isabella (McMurdo) Steffen, daughter 
 of John and Elizabeth McMurdo, and 
 widow of Mr. Steffen's brother, Jacob, who 
 died in the army. She was born in New 
 Brunswick, Canada, January 24, 1845. 
 By her first marriage she had one daugh- 
 ter, Anna, now Mrs. Lewis Steffen, of 
 Hortonia. Si.\ children were born to her 
 second marriage: Ira, born in 1S67, 
 died May 30, 1890; Matilda, James, Mel- 
 lie, Leonard, and Frankie, the latter born 
 May 24, 1879, and died May 26, 1888. 
 The children, like their father, are greatly 
 
 interested in books and educational mat- 
 ters. Matilda is a teacher in the public 
 schools of Hortonville. 
 
 M 
 
 B. FULLER, a well-known 
 successful merchant of Maine 
 township, Outagamie county, 
 was born June 29, 1856, in 
 Jefferson county, W^is. , son of David W. 
 and Emily (Putney) Fuller. The parents 
 of our subject first resided in New York 
 State, and were very highly esteemed 
 members of the community in which they 
 lived. In 1846 they migrated westward 
 to Wisconsin, taking up their abode in 
 Jefferson county, where they remained 
 for twenty-six years. In 1865 they sold 
 their property in Jefterson county, and 
 removed to Calumet county, same State, 
 where Mr. Fuller died in 1878. He was 
 a very successful man. He and his wife 
 were the parents of seven children, viz.: 
 La Fayette, D. W., Matilda (who was 
 burned to death when three years of age), 
 Alice, M. B., Byron (deceased in in- 
 fancy), and Gertrude. The family were 
 all possessed of great physical strength, 
 inherited from their parents. Grandfather 
 Fuller, when eighty years of age, chopped 
 two and a half cords of wood in one day, 
 a remarkable feat, especially for one of 
 his age. 
 
 On October 18, 1879, M. B. Fuller 
 was united in marriage with Miss Marj' 
 A. Allen, daughter of Andrew and Martha 
 (Lindley) Allen. At this time he owned 
 forty acres of land in Maine township, 
 and here they lived for a short time, when 
 he traded the farm for property else- 
 where. Five years later he made another 
 exchange, b\' which he acquired his pres- 
 ent property in Maine township. Here 
 he has erected a store, where he conducts 
 a very profitable business. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Fuller have three children, viz. : 
 Jessie I., Alice and Paulina. Mr. Fuller 
 takes little interest in politics except as a 
 regular voter. 
 
^yii^!^ ^c^o 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPHIVAL RECORD. 
 
 933 
 
 D BRADLEY, proprietor of the 
 "Bradley House," Green Bay, 
 was born in the city of Brooklyn, 
 N. Y. , December i8, 1846, a son 
 of John and Mary (McKelver) Bradley, 
 natives of Ireland, but who, when young, 
 came to America and located in New 
 York. 
 
 After marriage the elder Bradley 
 brought his family to the town of Lake, 
 near ^[ilwaukee, Wis. , and engaged in 
 farming until his death; his wife had died 
 in Brooklyn. He reared the following 
 family, born to this marriage: John, who 
 enlisted in Company E, First Wis. V. I. , 
 was appointed color bearer, served through 
 the war, and died in Chicago in 1873; 
 Hugh, who joined the navy at New York, 
 and is now a barber in Chicago; William, 
 who enlisted in Beloit in the First Wis- 
 consin Heavy Artillery, served two and a 
 half years, and now lives in Chicago, and 
 D. Bradley, the subject of this sketch. 
 The children of John Bradley, by a sec- 
 ond marriage, are Burney, a farmer of 
 Oak Creek, Wis. ; James, born in the 
 town of Lake, and now in the mail ser- 
 vice at Milwaukee; Michael, also born in 
 the town of Lake, and also in the mail 
 service; Mary, wife of James Monohan, 
 of Lake county. 111. ; Ellen, wife of J. 
 Monohan, also in Lake county. 111., and 
 Catherine, who resides in Milwaukee. 
 
 D. Bradley was educated in the town 
 of Lake, Milwaukee Co. , Wis., and was 
 reared a farmer. For a time he worked 
 at the "Newhall House" in Milwaukee, 
 and in 1871 came to Green Bay as stew- 
 ard for the "Beaumont House"; from 
 1872 to 1883 he worked for Joannes 
 Bros., and in September, 1883, opened 
 the "Bradley House." In 1890 he 
 erected the building at the corner of 
 Crooks and Washington streets, where 
 he has since also run a saloon. In 1874 
 he was married, at Menasha, Wis. , to 
 Elizabeth Boyle, a native of New York, 
 whose parents, Michael and Mary (Mc- 
 Laughlin) Boyle, came to Green Bay in 
 1882; here her father died in 1SS6, and 
 
 52 
 
 here the mother resides with our subject. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Bradley was born one 
 son that died when but one year old. 
 Mr. Bradley is a stanch Democrat; he is 
 supervisor from the Second ward of 
 Green Bay, and is also deputy collector 
 for the port of Green Bay. He is a 
 member of the French Catholic Church, 
 and is vice-president of the Catholic 
 Knights of Wisconsin, No. 21. He is a 
 self-made man, takes much interest in the 
 well-being of his adopted city and count}', 
 and is respected both as a citizen and as 
 a business man. 
 
 JAMES BLACK, one of the most in- 
 telligent farmers of Suamico town- 
 ship, Brown county, was born Octo- 
 ber 14, 1826, in Kingston, Canada, 
 a son of Adam and Elizabeth (Kerr) 
 Black, natives of near Dundee, Scotland. 
 The father, who was a general trader, 
 came to America about the year 1 8 1 5, and 
 he and his wife died at Kingston, Canada, 
 he at the early age of thirty-eight, she 
 when sixty-six years old. They were the 
 parents of two children, James and 
 Matthew, the latter of whom served two 
 years in Companj' E, Twelfth Wis. V. I. , 
 was discharged for disability, and died, 
 unmarried, at the home of our subject, 
 when aged fifty-eight. The parents of 
 Adam Black were James and Elizabeth 
 Black, natives of Scotland, who came to 
 Canada about 1827, at advanced ages, 
 and settled on a farm near Toronto; they 
 had two sons and three daughters. Eliz- 
 abeth (Kerr) Black's parents were Scotch 
 people, and had a family of three chil- 
 drep — two sons and one daughter. 
 
 James Black was practically a resi- 
 dent of the home farm up to the age of sev- 
 enteen, when he began life as a lumber- 
 man on the Ottawa river. On May 21, 
 1 86 1, at the call for 75,000 men, he en- 
 listed in a Pennsylvania regiment of vol- 
 unteers, but that State having filled her 
 quota, he was assigned to Company A, 
 Second \\. Va. \. I. At the front he 
 
934 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was appointed sergeant, and soon after- 
 ward — in the early part of 1862 — was 
 commissioned second lieutenant, serving 
 as such with his company in all its en- 
 gagements till May, 1863. He was then 
 detailed to the quartermaster's depart- 
 ment in Nashville, Tenn., serving in this 
 department until the close of the war; 
 was ne\er off duty except once, when he 
 lay in Libby Prison forty-six days, until 
 exchanged. While on scout duty one 
 day he was thrown over a precipice, by 
 which accident he lost an eye, sustained 
 a rupture, and received several flesh 
 wounds; but, being granted a furlough and 
 transportation to Pittsburg, Penn., he 
 soon afterward reached his home. It is 
 recorded of Mr. Black that he was among 
 the first to draw blood in the great war in 
 the West. After the war was over Mr. 
 Black, in 1865, came to Wisconsin and 
 settled where he now lives in Suamico 
 township. Brown county. For fourteen 
 years he was foreman in the logging camp 
 of Martin E. Trimble; then bought forty 
 acres of wild land, to which he subse- 
 quently added ninety-three acres, and is 
 now carrying on general farming, being 
 largely interested in dairying, at which he 
 is as successful as he formerly was at 
 logging, for which he was famous all over 
 the section, at one time receiving as much 
 as $10 per day for his services. 
 
 James Black was united in marriage 
 April I, 1873, with Mrs. Rhoda Salter, 
 widow of George H. Salter, who was 
 born in Dorchester, England, and died in 
 Chicago, 111., at the age of forty-six 
 years, leaving three children, two of 
 whom are still living: George H., and 
 Rosalind, wife of Thomas Gillingham, of 
 Oshkosh. Mrs. Rhoda Black is a native 
 of Somersetshire, England, and in her 
 earlier days passed nine years in a dry- 
 goods store in London, with her cousin, 
 Robert Cornish, coming to the United 
 States when twenty-four years old. She 
 is a highly accomplished lady, being a 
 graduate of one of the most fashionable 
 boarding schools of England, and is de- 
 
 scended from a very ancient family, the 
 Wyatts, who trace their lineage to King 
 Henry VIII, of which fact she holds his- 
 torical documents in proof. She is one 
 of nine children born to William and 
 Susanna (Gillettj W\'att, the former of 
 whom was a builder by occupation in 
 early life, later becoming a lawyer of 
 note; he died in Somersetshire, England; 
 his wife also passed away in England, 
 aged fifty-two years. One of Mrs. Black's 
 brothers was well known as a leading 
 barrister in Great Britian. After her first 
 husband's death Mrs. Black came to Wis- 
 consin and bought the farm on which she 
 was residing at the time of her union 
 with Mr. Black, enjoying to the full the 
 love and respect of all who knew her. 
 
 In politics Mr. Black is a thorough 
 Republican, and first voted for Abraham 
 Lincoln for President. He has filled sev- 
 eral local offices, is a member of T. O. 
 Howe Post No. 124, G. A. R., at Green 
 Bay, and is in receipt of a pension for his 
 gallant services during the Civil war. 
 He is a churchv\'arden in the Episcopal 
 Church, of which he and his first em- 
 ployer in Suamico were the founders, and 
 builders of the edifice; Mrs. Black is also 
 an Episcopalian, adhering to the faith of 
 her ancestors. She and her husband are 
 most sincere in their religious professions, 
 and their daily walk through life, their 
 works of charity and unswerving devotion 
 to duty, give full evidence of that sincer- 
 ity coming directly from the heart. No 
 family in the county is more highl\' re- 
 spected, and none fills a more prominent 
 position within its social circles. 
 
 ABRAUNS, insurance agent, civil 
 engineer for Green Bay, and 
 count}- surveyor for Brown county, 
 Wis., was born in the Province 
 of Hanover, Germany, August 4, 1S42, a 
 son of Henry and Dora (Hotop) Brauns, 
 both of whom died in their native land, 
 the father in 1881, the mother in 1S84. 
 Thev reared a familv of four children: 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 93S 
 
 Dora and Henry, still living in Hanover; 
 A., the subject of this sketch, and Caro- 
 line, wife of Henry Mueller, a furniture 
 manufacturer of Berlin, Germany. 
 
 Our subject was educated in the city 
 of Gifhorn, and later in the engineer's 
 department of the Vlilitary school at 
 Hanover, and then took a course in the 
 Polytechnic Institute. For five and a 
 half years he was in the army as a mem- 
 ber of the corps of engineers, and was in 
 the Danish and German war in 1863, and 
 in the Prussian and Austrian war of 1866. 
 In the fall of the latter year he came to 
 Green Bay, and engaged as clerk, then 
 as bookkeeper for A. Klaus; next he en- 
 tered upon the profession of architecture, 
 and while thus engaged furnished the 
 specifications for the Bishop's and other 
 buildings. He then opened a wholesale 
 grocery under the firm name of Klaus, 
 Lenz & Brauns, and, later, that of Lenz 
 & Brauns, which was continued until 
 1877, when he established himself in in- 
 surance, architecture and civil engineer- 
 ing, which have been his vocations ever 
 since. In politics Mr. Brauns is inde- 
 pendent; he has served as alderman, and 
 while filling that office introduced the 
 system of bookkeeping at present used 
 by the city; he was city treasurer from 
 1876 to 1877, and was elected count}' 
 surveyor in 1886. He is a member of 
 Navarino Lodge No. 1384, K. of H. ; 
 member of the Royal Arcanum, Iron 
 Gate Lodge No. 546; of the American 
 Legion of Honor, Northern Council No. 
 1 170; of the Modern Woodmen, Navarino 
 Camp No. 534; and of the Turn Verein. 
 In religion he is a member of the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 Mr. Brauns was married in Green Bay, 
 in 1867, to Miss Magdalena Maria Barth, 
 of Bavaria, a daughter of Christopher 
 Barth, and who came to Green Bay in 
 185 1. To this union were born four 
 children: August E. ; Otto Henry, who 
 died May 20, 1874; Lydia, principal of 
 the high school of Edgerton, Wis. ; and 
 Otto Fred, who is studying dentistry. 
 
 Mr. Brauns is thoroughly acquainted with 
 the topography of Brown county, while 
 his residence of over twenty-seven years 
 in Green Bay has made him fully familiar 
 with the city, and he is equally identified 
 with the phenomenal growth of both. His 
 standing, socially and professionally, is 
 with the highest. 
 
 ARCHIBALD M. DUNCAN, of 
 Fort Howard, Brown county, is 
 of Scottish descent, as his name 
 indicates, but is a native of the 
 State of Wisconsin, having been born in 
 Milwaukee January 23, 1853. His parents, 
 John and Margaret (McCune)_ Duncan, 
 were natives of the land of Duncan of old, 
 of Bruce and Wallace, and were the 
 immediate founders of the family in this 
 State. 
 
 John Duncan learned the trade of ma- 
 chinist and iron-founder in the old coun- 
 try, and learned it well, as his after 
 career in America gave full proof. He 
 there married Miss Margaret McCune, a 
 native of Glasgow, and when about 
 twenty-five 3-ears of age came to the 
 United States, sailing from Glasgow and 
 landing in New York after a voyage of 
 six weeks. Thence coming directly to 
 Milwaukee, Wis., Mr. Duncan followed 
 his trade in that city, working in the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul machine 
 shops for nearly fourteen years, and con- 
 structing the first locomotive ever turned 
 out of a machine shop in Wisconsin. 
 After leaving these shops Mr. Duncan 
 came, in about 1868, to Fort Howard, 
 and bought the foundry and machine shop 
 formerly operated by John Whitney in a 
 somewhat primitive manner, managing 
 this so successfully that, when burned 
 out, in 1878, he was able to erect a far 
 better frame structure, one and a half 
 stories high, 55 feet front, and 190 feet 
 deep. In this shop he employed from 
 ten to fifteen men, until it was burned 
 down in 1888; when, with unflagging 
 energy, he erected his present brick 
 
936 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 foundry and machine shop, 55 x 190 feet, 
 complete with all modern improvements. 
 In the winter of 1890-91 he built two 
 steam barges for freight traffic on the 
 lakes, for the accommodation of his own 
 trade, but later sold one. At one time 
 Mr. Duncan made a specialty of saw- 
 milling, and in 1875-76 built a mill at 
 Westboro, Wis., which is now in charge 
 of his three sons. Being strictly a busi- 
 ness man, he has never mingled much in 
 politics, but has served his fellow citizens 
 more than once as alderman, feeling it to 
 be his duty to answer at their call. He 
 has been absorbed in his business, and 
 has invested at least $200,000 in his 
 foundry and boat -building in Fort Howard 
 alone, to say nothing of the mill at West- 
 boro, where he has a son as manager of 
 the store in connection with the same, 
 and another employed as bookkeeper. 
 His four sons are all married and have 
 families, and all learned their trade of 
 their father. John Duncan is to-day 
 worth a quarter of a million, every cent 
 of which he has made by his own labor, 
 and no man stands higher in the esteem 
 of the community, or is a more honored 
 member of the Presbyterian Church. He 
 has now withdrawn from the cares of 
 business and retired for the remainder of 
 his days, to live in ease and comfort on 
 his well-earned competency. 
 
 Archibald M. Duncan began his busi- 
 ness life, at the age of eleven, as a cash 
 boy in a dry-goods store, and was one of 
 the first to engage in this kind of employ- 
 ment. After two years' experience in this 
 line, he entered the railroad shops at 
 Watertown, Jefferson Co., Wis., of which 
 his father was then superintendent, and 
 since that time he has been identified with 
 his father's business. On October 6, 1876, 
 he married Miss Katie Eisman, a native 
 of Washington county. Wis., daughter of 
 John and Katie (Imig) Eisman, who had 
 a family of six children — two sons and 
 four daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Eisman 
 were born in Germany, and came to the 
 United States when quite young, Mr. 
 
 Eisman becoming a merchant of Fort 
 Howard, where he and his wife ended 
 their days, honored by all who knew them. 
 To the union of Archibald M. and Katie 
 (Eisman) Duncan have been born four 
 children, two of whom are deceased. The 
 survivors, Kate M. and Jessie, are receiv- 
 ing the best educations that money can 
 provide. Mr. Duncan has manifested ex- 
 traordinary capacity for business, to which 
 he has added diligence, which indeed may 
 be considered a component of business 
 capacity. He has risen from the position 
 of a cash boy to that of proprietor of one 
 of the most important foundries and ma- 
 chine shops of northern Wisconsin, hav- 
 ing had entire charge of his father's im- 
 mense plant for two years, and now, in 
 1894, succeeded to the ownership on the 
 virtual retirement of his honored father. 
 
 GEORGE O. SPEAR, a citizen of 
 whom any State might be proud, 
 a man whose presence would 
 benefit any community, and 
 whose name would reflect honor upon 
 any office or station, is one of the many 
 loyal and industrious men New England 
 has sent to the Western States. 
 
 He was born in Sagadahoc county, 
 Maine, in 1840, a son of Thomas and 
 Amanda (Preble) Spear, also natives of 
 Maine. The father, who was a ship- 
 builder by occupation, came in 1857 to 
 Wisconsin, bringing his family, and locat- 
 ing in Fort Howard, Brown county, con- 
 tinued his trade there with much success. 
 He built the " Permelia Flood," a fine 
 full-rigged barque, which was sent to the 
 Atlantic laden with oak staves. In i860 
 he went to St. Louis, Mo., but in 1861 
 returned to Wisconsin, and for two years 
 resided at Peshtigo, Marinette county, 
 where he built lake vessels; thence pro- 
 ceeded to Red River, and there erected a 
 sawmill, which in 1865 was destroyed by 
 fire, entailing a heavy loss. From Red 
 River he moved to Little Sturgeon, Door 
 county, where he rebuilt the " F. B. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 937 
 
 Gardner" and the "Union." In 1866 
 he built the vessel now known as the 
 "James G. Blaine," also the tug "John 
 Spry," the schooners "Halsted," "Ellen 
 Spry," and "Doane," and in all these in- 
 dustries he was assisted by his son George 
 O. In 1887 the father returned to Green 
 Bay, and lived a retired life the remainder 
 of his da\"s, dying in 1891 ; his wife passed 
 away in 1883, while residing at Sturgeon 
 Bay. The}' were the parents of two 
 children, George O. , subject of sketch, 
 and Marshall, in Marj'land. Great-grand- 
 father Robert Spear, who was an officer 
 in the Revolutionary army, built the first 
 house erected in Brunswick, Maine. 
 Grandfather Thomas Spear passed his 
 entire life in Maine, his native State. 
 
 George O. Spear received his educa- 
 tion at the public schools of the vicinity 
 of his place of birth, and at the age of 
 seventeen came to Green Bay, Wis., 
 where he assisted his father in the ship- 
 yard. He accompanied him to Missouri, 
 Peshtigo, Red River and Little Sturgeon, 
 and in all these places was closely identi- 
 fied with him in the various enterprises 
 in which he was engaged. In 1879 our 
 subject removed to Sturgeon Bay, where 
 he purchased the McMaster property, 
 consisting of a complete sawmill plant, 
 besides about two thousand acres of land, 
 and immediately went into the manufac- 
 ture of lumber. He also operated a line 
 of tugs and several scows, known as the 
 "Dummy Line," employed in carrying 
 lumber to Chicago. This Mr. Spear con- 
 tinued in until 1885, when he commenced 
 the banking and brokerage business in 
 Sturgeon Bay, which in 1891 he trans- 
 ferred to Green Bay, where he now 
 resides. 
 
 In 1873 Mr. Spear was married to 
 Miss Louise Graves, who was born in 
 Green Bay, of which place her parents, 
 Orlo B. and Lucy Lessey Graves, were 
 early settlers. Mr. Graves, who was an 
 .Indian trader, and for many years served 
 as sheriff and district attorney, died in 
 1 88 1, at Green Bay, where his widow is 
 
 yet living. To Mr. and Mrs. Spear were 
 born four children, only one of whom is 
 now living, Clara; the deceased are 
 Thomas, who died at the age of six 
 months; Cordelia, in early infancy, and 
 Frank, when two years old. Mr. Spear 
 is prominent in social orders; he is a mem- 
 ber of Washington Lodge No. 2 1 , F. & 
 A. M. ; Warren Chapter No. 8, and is a 
 Knight Templar of Palestine Commandery 
 No. 20; he is also a member of the I. O. 
 O. F. and Encampment; of the Order of 
 Rebekah, of the K. of P. and of the Elks. 
 In politics he is a Republican, but his 
 wife is a Democrat. 
 
 C.\PTAIN CHARLES A. GRAVES, 
 commander of the propeller, 
 " Fountain City," plying between 
 Chicago and lake ports, is a son 
 of Orlo and Lucy Ann (Lessey) Graves, 
 and was born in Green Bay in 1862. 
 
 Orlo Graves was born at Chagrin 
 Falls, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, October 23, 
 1819, and some time in the "thirties" 
 came to Green Baj', where he was first 
 employed as a mechanic. Later he served 
 as deputy sheriff, and then as sheriff of 
 Brown county. Wis. ; later still, studied 
 law at Green Bay, was admitted to the 
 bar, and became prosecuting attorney, 
 which office he held for twent}' years, and 
 also city attorney for six or seven years. 
 He was married at Green Bay, March 14, 
 1 84 1, to Miss Lucy Ann Lessey, who was 
 born in Litchfield, Conn., but reared in 
 New York; her father died in New York, 
 her mother in Green Bay. Orlo Graves 
 was a prominent Odd Fellow, being vice- 
 grand of Wisconsin; he died February 19, 
 1 879; his widow now resides with her son, 
 Capt. Graves. To Orlo Graves and his 
 wife were born five children, as follows: 
 Cornelia H., wife of A. M. Spear, of 
 Marshall Hall, Charles Co. , Md. ; Orlo 
 J., who died at the age of thirty-seven, at 
 Fort Howard; Chester F. , of Green Bay, 
 who died when forty-one; Louise, wife of 
 
93S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 George O. Spear, a capitalist of Green 
 Bay, and Charles A. , our subject. 
 
 Capt. Charles A. Graves was reared 
 and educated in his native citv, and com- 
 menced life on the lakes at the age of 
 twenty as linesman, but soon worked his 
 way upward, receiving his commission as 
 captain in 1883, and as such has served 
 on the Bay and lakes ever since. He was 
 at one time foreman of Company No. 3, 
 of the Fire Department of Green Bay. In 
 politics he is a Democrat. His mother 
 had two brothers who were Indian traders 
 in the early history of Brown county, viz. : 
 John F., who was a marble cutter by 
 trade, and also clerk of courts in an early 
 day, but who later kept a store and was a 
 successful trader (he died November 20, 
 1879), a"d Henry, who was also a trader, 
 and died in 1850. The father of Capt. 
 Graves also had an experience as an In- 
 dian trader in the early days. Our sub- 
 ject being a descendant of one of the 
 earliest families to locate in the county, 
 and having led an industrious and useful 
 life, enjoj'Sto the full the esteem and con- 
 fidence of the inhabitants of Green Bay 
 and all the points to which he trades. 
 
 FW. BASCHE, the well-known and 
 gentlemanly merchant of Green 
 Bay, is a native of that city, born 
 June 8, 1844, son of Jacob and 
 Mary (Smith) Basche, who were both 
 born near the ancient and historic city 
 of Frankfort, Germany. 
 
 Jacob learned the trade of shoemak- 
 ing in his native country, remaining there 
 until 1841, when he came with his wife 
 and family to America, and settling in 
 Green Bay, Wis., followed his trade there 
 until his decease, in 1846. He left five 
 children, as follows: Kate, who became 
 the wife of Jacob Juker, sergeant-major 
 at Ft. Howard, who went thence to Cali- 
 fornia, and died at Dallas, Oreg. ; An- 
 thony, who has for the past twenty-five 
 years been a member of the firm of Du- 
 ville & Basche; Michael, a carpenter of 
 
 Green Bay; Peter, a resident of Baker 
 City, Oreg., where he has been engaged 
 in the hardware and agricultural imple- 
 ment business since 1868 or 1869; and F. 
 W., subject of sketch. Mrs. Basche was 
 an honored resident of Green Bay for 
 many years, surviving until June, 1S94, 
 when she was called to her last resting- 
 place. 
 
 F. \\'. Basche was reared and edu- 
 cated in Green Bay. In 1864 he enlisted 
 at Green Bay in Company C, Forty- 
 seventh Wis. V. I., for three years or 
 during the war, and for some time was 
 post quartermaster's clerk at Tullahoma, 
 Tenn. , afterward serving as parole clerk, 
 signing thousands of passes. He was 
 stationed in Tennessee, on garrison duty, 
 and when peace was declared received an 
 honorable discharge at Nashville in 1865. 
 On returning to Green Bay he became a 
 traveling salesman, selling notions, sta- 
 tionery, etc. , through northern Wisconsin 
 and Michigan, until 1868, when he com- 
 menced business in Green Bay, at the cor- 
 ner of Cherry and Adams streets. In Au- 
 gust, 1889, he bought his present place, at 
 No. 22 1 North ^^^ashingto^ street, where he 
 has a large stock of wallpaper, toys, fancy 
 goods, etc. ; he has met with unusual suc- 
 cess, having always commanded a liberal 
 share of the public patronage through his 
 affabilit}', fair dealing and moderate prices. 
 Mr. Basche in his business career has won 
 for himself the proud distinction of being 
 one of the few merchants of the city who 
 have pursued a continuous course of hon- 
 orable trade so many years without defal- 
 cation or failure or compromise. He is 
 entirely self-made in a business point of 
 view, ha\ing earned all he possesses b}' 
 his frugality, strict attention to the wants 
 of his customers, and the exercise of a 
 sense of strict justice in all his dealings. 
 Having continued in his line of trade for 
 so long a period, he has necessarilj- been 
 a witness of the great changes that have 
 taken place in his native citj' during the 
 interval, and he has ever taken an active 
 and ardent part in every change that has 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 939 
 
 tended to its moral and material progress. 
 He is fully recognized as one of the sub- 
 stantial citizens of Green Bay and Brown 
 county, and is deservedly entitled to the 
 high esteem in which he is held. 
 
 On October 4, 1871, Mr. Basche was 
 united in marriage, in Green Bay, with 
 Miss Elizabeth Moger, a native of New 
 York and daughter of Ezra Moger, an 
 honored pioneer of Green Bay and a 
 practical cooper. To this union have 
 been born four children, two of whom 
 died in infancy, of diphtheria, and two 
 are still living: Maud, now twenty years 
 of age, and Douglass, sixteen years old. 
 Politically Mr. Basche is a Republican; 
 fraternally he is a member of the K^. of 
 P., Uniform Rank; he was for some years 
 an Odd Fellow, is a member of the K. of 
 H., Lodge No. 1384, and was one of its 
 financial reporters. In religion Mr. and 
 Mrs. Basche are Presbyterians, and both 
 are consistent members of the Green Bay 
 Congregation. 
 
 'HE LAU FAMILY have ever been 
 
 counted among the most indus- 
 
 T 
 
 I trious and substantial citizens of 
 Preble township, Brown county. 
 Jacob Lau was born in Alsace (now a 
 portion of Germany), and in 1850 came 
 to the United States and to Green Bay, 
 Wis. Here, on July 28, 1853, he mar- 
 ried Miss Caroline Meister, who was born 
 February 18, 1834, in Sachsen-Meiningen, 
 Germany, daughter of George Henry 
 Meister, who came to the United States 
 in 1853 with his wife and three daugh- 
 ters. The family crossed the ocean in a 
 three-masted schooner, the voyage occu- 
 pying seven weeks, during which time the 
 masts were blown away, and it seemed at 
 times as if they would never reach port 
 safely. But their troubles did not end 
 here. Mr. Meister's circumstances were 
 limited, and by the time the family 
 reached Buffalo, N. Y. , on their way 
 westward, the funds gave out, and they 
 were obliged to remain in that city four 
 
 weeks, in order to earn the money to en- 
 able them to continue their journey to 
 Green Bay, Wis., their destination. 
 
 Soon after coming to Green Bay Jacob 
 Lau set out for Manitowoc, to look for 
 work, but he lost his way in the woods, 
 and had his feet so badly frozen that am- 
 putation of one-third of each foot was 
 found necessary, which proved a serious 
 drawback to him. In the spring of 1851 
 he embarked in the dairy business, begin- 
 ning at first with three cows, and carry- 
 ing the milk, but later he was able to 
 purchase a horse, and as his business in- 
 creased he became still better equipped. 
 Shortly after his marriage he located in 
 the east end of Green Bay, where he re- 
 mained until 1867, when he located on a 
 farm in the town of Preble, one mile east 
 of the city limits, which the family still 
 owns, and which is part of the present 
 farm. Here, in a log house, they resided 
 two years, or until 1870, when they re- 
 moved to their present place, on which 
 they have erected a very comfortable 
 home. Mr. and Mrs. Lau became the 
 parents of seven children, four of whom — 
 two sons and two daughters^died young. 
 Those living are (i) H. J., who married 
 Miss Annie Heller, and has two children, 
 Elmer and Benjamin H. ; he is a Repub- 
 lican in politics, and has been a member 
 of the school board in his township, at 
 present holding the office of director. 
 (2) Andrew H., who resides at home ; he 
 is a Republican in politics. (3) Lena, 
 also living at home. 
 
 The dairy business, in which they 
 have met with well-merited success, has 
 been the principal business of the family, 
 who are the pioneers in that industry 
 here. They have stood the test where 
 others failed, and by working together, 
 father and sons have made the business a 
 profitable one. The sons have assisted 
 ever since they were old enough, and no 
 small measure of the general success may 
 be attributed to their energy and good 
 management. They received in their 
 youth the education afforded by the com- 
 
940 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 mon schools of the time, but their enter- 
 prise and business sagacity fully make up 
 for any lack of educational advantages. 
 The)' have shown themsehes capable of 
 conducting their affairs in a systematic 
 manner, and are owners of 200 acres of 
 land, nearly all under cultivation. The 
 farm of ninetj- acres, on which the family 
 now reside, while a very productive one, 
 has only been made so by a great deal of 
 labor and expense, having been practi- 
 call}' redeemed from a swamp. Over 
 five miles of drain tile have been put in, 
 their outbuildings are equalled by none in 
 the township, and all the other details of 
 the farm work are equally well attended 
 to. They now have about thirty cows, 
 and own some of the finest Devon stock 
 in the county, to the rearing of which 
 strain they give no little attention; their 
 first stock was secured from A. E. Baker, 
 of Beaver Dam, ^^'isconsin. 
 
 In the economical management of the 
 household, and in the general success of 
 the famil}-, Mrs. Lau has taken an im- 
 portant part. During her forty years of 
 married life she has e\er been ready and 
 willing to do an}thing to improve their 
 circumstances; and, though now nearly 
 sixty years of age, she is still an active 
 woman, "notwithstanding the many years 
 of hard work through which she has 
 passed. In religious connection she is a 
 member of the Moravian Church, and is 
 highly respected and well-known in the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 JOSEPH KALB, retired, was born in 
 Hessia, Germany, in 1826, a son of 
 Melchor and Elizabeth (Schumm) 
 Kalb,of the same part of the countr)-, 
 where they married. Melchor, who was 
 a merchant of prominence in his day, died 
 in 1828, his wife in 183S; they had but 
 one child by their marriage, Joseph, the 
 subject of this sketch, who has a half- 
 brother yet living. 
 
 Joseph Kalb received all his education 
 and learned his trade, that of butcher, in 
 
 Germany, being twenty-one years old 
 when he came to the United States and 
 to Wisconsin. He first located, in 1 849, 
 in Manitowoc county, where he carried 
 on a hardware business for some years, at 
 the end of which time he took up his res- 
 idence in the town of Two Rivers, and 
 here conducted a meat market till 1864, 
 the year of his coming to Green Bay, in 
 which city he carried on a butchering 
 business with considerable success, until 
 retiring from same in 1880, having sold 
 out to his son Louis. 
 
 During the Civil war, he assisted State- 
 officer Bates in raising Company F, Twen- 
 ty-sixth \\'is. \'. I., and went with the 
 compan\- as sutler, his commission as such 
 dating from 1 86 1 to 1864, three months 
 of which time he was in active service as 
 a regular soldier. He participated in the 
 battles of Chancellorsville and Gettys- 
 burg, at which latter all the officers of his 
 regiment were killed or wounded except 
 two. At the close of the war he returned 
 to Two Rivers, and same fall moved into 
 Green Bay. In 1852 he married Miss 
 Mary Hauser, a daughter of Frederic and 
 Mary (Dedenon j Hauser, the father a na- 
 tive of Germany, the mother and daugh- 
 ter natives of France, the latter educated 
 and reared in Germany. In 1845 they 
 came to \Msconsin, settling on a farm in 
 Manitowoc county, but in later years the 
 parents moved into the town of Two 
 Rivers, where they died, the father in 
 1866, the mother in 1884. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Joseph Kalb were born five children, 
 to wit: William, married, and residing 
 in Idaho; Louis, a sketch of whom fol- 
 lows; Otto, who lives in Manitowoc; 
 Emma, who married Robert Kusterman, 
 and died in 1889; and Nora, wife of \\'ill- 
 iam Collett, of Menominee, Michigan. 
 
 In politics Mr. Kalb is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and he has served in various 
 offices of honor and trust with ability and 
 fidelity, among which may be mentioned: 
 County treasurer, two years, from 1887 
 to 1889 (elected in a strongly Democratic 
 county); member of the council; mem- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 941 
 
 ber of the County Agricultural Society. 
 Of the Turn Verein in Green Bay he has 
 been a member ever since corning to the 
 city, and for twelve years of the Society 
 in Two Rivers, their hall there being 
 built by him. He has done a large 
 amount of real-estate business, and for 
 the past fifteen years has given consider- 
 able attention to the cultivation of the 
 grape — making specialities of the Dela- 
 ware, Concord and Muscatel. After sup- 
 plying the home market, the balance of 
 fruit on hand he makes into choice wine, 
 pronounced by connoiseurs to be excel- 
 lent. In the summer of 1893 Mr. Kalb 
 visited Europe in order to see his old 
 home and such of his old acquaintances 
 and friends as were still living there. 
 
 Louis Kalb, proprietor of a meat- 
 market in Green Bay, and a leading en- 
 terprising citizen, is a native of Wiscon- 
 sin, born in the town of Two Rivers in 
 1862. 
 
 He received a liberal education at the 
 schools of Green Bay, whither the fam- 
 ily had come when he was about five 
 years old, and then commenced to work 
 for his father in the butchering and meat- 
 market business, continuing with him 
 until buying him out in 1884. Since 
 then Mr. Kalb has conducted the busi- 
 ness alone with eminent success, proving 
 himself in all his undertakings a worth}- 
 son of a worthy father. He has t\\o 
 places of business in Green Bay, one on 
 Washington street, which was opened in 
 1866, the other on the corner of Pine and 
 Adams streets, established about twenty 
 years ago. The Kalb meat-markets are 
 known as the oldest establishments of the 
 kind in Green Bay, and enjoy a high rep- 
 utation in all respects. Employment is 
 given to ten hands, besides the proprietor. 
 As a Republican Mr. Kalb takes a lively 
 interest in politics. He is a member of 
 the Royal Arcanum, also of the Brown 
 County Fair and Park Association, and 
 he is a wide-awake, liberal and loyal citi- 
 zen, enjoying the respect of all who 
 know him. 
 
 ERNST W. SERVOTTE, of the 
 firm of E. W. & J. H. Servotte, 
 the well-known contractors and 
 builders, (]reen Bay, is a native 
 of Belgium, and was born November 25, 
 1850. 
 
 His parents, Guillaume and Victoria 
 (Demaiffe) Servotte, were also natives of 
 Belgium, \\here the father followed the 
 trade of carpenter until 1856, in which 
 year he brought his family to America, 
 settling in Brussels township, Door county. 
 Wis., in the wild woods, and having for 
 his neighbors the Indians of the then un- 
 settled region. Here the family resided 
 until 1864, and then moved to Green 
 Bay, where the mother died October 25, 
 1865. The father, while living in Door 
 count}', was a very popular citizen, and 
 was honored by election on the Repub- 
 lican ticket to several offices of trust. In 
 Green Bay he followed his trade until his 
 death, which occurred July 21,1 887. His 
 four children, who were brought by him 
 to Green Bay, were Ernst W., whose 
 name opens this sketch; Julia, widow of 
 Emil Brosteau; Joseph H., partner of 
 Ernst W. , and Desire, who died at the 
 age of five years. One son, Frank, died 
 in Door county, Wisconsin. 
 
 Ernst W. Servotte had the advantages 
 of the schools of Door county and of 
 Green Bay until competent to enter an 
 apprenticeship under his father. Having 
 fully mastered his trade, he engaged in 
 partnership with his brother under the 
 title given above, and the young men 
 have been very successful. In 1875 our 
 subject was married in Green Bay, to 
 Flora Piraux, a native of Belgium and 
 daughter of Peter and Angeline iBradie) 
 Piraux, who came from Belgium to 
 America in 1856, locating in Milwaukee, 
 Wis., same year. In 1877 Mr. Servotte 
 built his present handsome residence in 
 Green Bay, and has here had born to 
 him three children, viz. : Frank, now at- 
 tending business college; Emily A. and 
 Edward J. In politics Mr. Servotte is a 
 Republican, but has never been an ofifice- 
 
942 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 seeker, although he has filled one or two 
 official positions, when he has felt it to be 
 his duty to do so as a good and faithful 
 citizen. Mr. Servotte is a devout Catholic, 
 and has reared his family in the same 
 faith. He has depicted in his daily walk 
 through life his earnestness in his religious 
 belief, and has always manifested a de- 
 cided interest in the progress of the city 
 which he has chosen as his home, and in 
 which he has seen many and rapid 
 changes for the better since he has been 
 a resident thereof. His business has been 
 profitable and consquently satisfactory, 
 and his social position is all that could be 
 desired. 
 
 JOSEPH H. SERVOTTE, member 
 of the widely-known firm of E. W. 
 & J. H. Servotte, contractors and 
 builders. Green Bay, is a native of 
 Wisconsin, born in Door county on March 
 17, 1862. 
 
 Guillaume Servotte, father of subject, 
 was a native of Belgium, where he mar- 
 ried Miss Victoria Demaiffe, of the same 
 country, and in 1856 they emigrated to 
 the United States, locating in Green Bay, 
 Wis., where the father followed his trade, 
 that of carpenter, until 1858, in which 
 year the family moved to Door county, 
 same State, settling on a farm for eight 
 years, in 1864 returning to Green Bay, 
 where Mr. Servotte resumed his trade. 
 Here he died July 21, 1887, the mother 
 October 25. 1865. Five children were 
 born to them, viz: Frank, deceased in 
 Door county; Ernst W., in business 
 with our subject; Julia, widow of E. 
 Brosteau a resident of Green Bay; Desire, 
 who died in Green Bay at the age of five 
 years, and Joseph H. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received a 
 liberal education at the schools of Green 
 Bay, and afterward learned carpentry, a 
 trade he followed exclusively till 1888, 
 when he commenced contracting and 
 building in both Green Bay and Fort 
 Howard, in partnership with his brother 
 
 Ernst W., the firm confining themselves 
 chiefly to residence building, in which 
 they have met with well-merited success. 
 In 1 89 1 Mr. Servotte was united in mar- 
 riage, in Green Baj', with Miss Mary 
 Theresa Lefebvre, who was born in Brown 
 county. Wis., January 21, 1867, a daughter 
 of John B. Lefebvre, an early settler of 
 Green Bay, who for several years owned 
 and operated a saw and grist mill com- 
 bined in the town of Green Bay. To 
 this union was born July 28, 1894, one 
 child, Agnes Albertina. Our subject, as 
 was his father before him, is a Republican, 
 and from 1889 to 1892 he served the 
 city as alderman from the First ward; 
 in 1892 was elected supervisor, in 1893 
 re-elected, and is serving in that office at 
 the present time. Socially he is a mem- 
 ber of the Rojal Arcanum, and enjoys the 
 respect, confidence and esteem of a wide 
 circle of friends and acquaintances. 
 
 REV. H. W. THOMPSON. The 
 experiences of a minister of the 
 Gospel in a comparatively unset- 
 tled region must of necessity be 
 full of interest, and the reverend gentle- 
 man whose name introduces this article 
 could furnish many chapters of such na- 
 ture from his years of life in the work of 
 his Master in the northern country. But, 
 more than this, the entire span of his ex- 
 istence has been within an atmosphere 
 out of which the thrilling events of his- 
 tory have come forth, and to an unusual 
 degree is he qualified to entertain those 
 who seek after substantial facts in the 
 history of a nation's progress. 
 
 Mr. Thompson comes of a pioneer 
 family. His parents, William and Ellen 
 M. (Browne) Thompson, natives respec- 
 tively of Seneca and Niagara counties, N. 
 Y. , removed in an early day to Michigan, 
 in which State they were united in mar- 
 riage. They originally located in Hills- 
 dale county, but later settled upon a farm 
 in Livingston county. The elder Thomp- 
 son died October 2, 1894, his wife having 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWORAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 943 
 
 preceded him to the gra\'e in i8S8. This 
 worthy couple reared a family of five 
 children: H. W. , the subject of this 
 sketch; Frederick William, of Fenton, 
 Mich. ; Frank Howard, of Rockford, 111. ; 
 Nellie, now Mrs. Fisher, of Reeseville, 
 Wis. ; and Charley, who resides at Sault 
 Ste. Marie. 
 
 H. W. Thompson, the t-ldest child, 
 was born in Brooklyn township, Jackson 
 Co., Mich. , in 1847, and grew to young 
 manhood in Tyrone, Livingston county, 
 receiving his early education in the schools 
 of that period. His youthful blood was 
 stirred by patriotic impulses when the 
 tremendous wave of rebellion broke upon 
 the land, and in 1863 he tendered his 
 services to the government, enlisting in a 
 cavalry regiment. In the spring of 1864 
 he became a member of Company F, 
 Tenth Michigan Infantry, which formed 
 part of the First Brigade, Second 
 Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, and 
 served with great distinction under Gen. 
 \\'. T. Sherman. Mr. Thompson took 
 part with his command in the battles of 
 Resaca, Peach Tree Creek, Kenesaw 
 Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Rome and 
 the two-days' fight with Thomas at Nash- 
 ville, being wounded during the second 
 day's engagement at the latter place. He 
 was present at the memorable grand 
 review of the army at Washington in 
 May, 1865; was honorably discharged 
 soon after at Louisville, Ky., and finally 
 mustered out of the service at Jackson, 
 Mich. Returning to Livingston county 
 he engaged in farming until 1871, when 
 he entered the ministry of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, Detroit Conference. 
 In 1876 he was transferred to North 
 Michigan, laboring on the Manistique cir- 
 cuit, thirty-nine miles in extent, and 
 having few settlements. During two 
 terms of three years each he was sta- 
 tioned at Escanaba, and later one year 
 at De Pere, from which latter point he 
 came to Green Bay in 1890. He is now 
 pastor of the First M. E. Church in the 
 last named place. During his seventeen 
 
 years service in pastoral labor in this 
 northern country many changes have 
 come under his notice, and his experience 
 has been of a nature to ripen his judg- 
 ment and qualify him for even more effi- 
 cient work in the future. 
 
 The soldier who successfully with- 
 stood the ordeal of severe service in the 
 field during the great Civil war, and re- 
 turned to his home to pursue the voca- 
 tions of peace, was strongly impressed 
 with the necessity for being well-equipped 
 for the struggles of life, and the first act 
 of many a "boy in blue" was to take to 
 himself a helpmeet for the years to come. 
 Young Thompson, not yet of age when 
 the war closed, only awaited the year of 
 his majority to take the next great step 
 of his life. On May 24, 1868, in Oak- 
 land county, Mich., he married Miss Mary 
 J. House, a native of Hartland township, 
 Livingston county, and daughter of 
 Amasa and Cynthia (Durfee) House, na- 
 tives of New York and early pioneers of 
 Michigan, both now deceased. Three 
 children have been given these parents: 
 Minnie L. , wife of John Symmons, of 
 Escanaba, Mich.; Harry A., now freight 
 and ticket auditor of the Wisconsin & 
 Michigan railroad, with offices at 418 and 
 419 Western Union Building, Chicago, 
 111., and Berenice M. 
 
 Mr. Thompson has met the reward of 
 preferment at the hands of his fellows in 
 other lines than those of the ministry. 
 As a Republican in politics, he served 
 from the Delta District in the Michigan 
 Legislature in 1887. In Grand Army 
 circles he is also well known, having 
 served as chaplain of the Department of 
 Michigan in 1887, and been elected to a 
 similar position for the Department of 
 Wisconsin, April 28, 1894. He is a mem- 
 ber of T. O. Howe Post No. 124, G. A. 
 R. , and a past commander of the T. O. 
 Howe Post in the order. He is also 
 chaplain in Washington Lodge No. 21, 
 F. & A. M. ; Scribe in Warren Chapter 
 No. 8, R. A. M., and Prelate in Palestine 
 Commandery No. 20, K. T. 
 
944 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 W 
 
 W. NUSS, a photographic art- 
 ist of much merit and abihty, 
 having his studio at No. 2 1 5 
 North Washington street. Green 
 Bay, was born in 1858 in Bucks county, 
 Penn., son of Michael and Matilda 
 (Wiedner) Nuss, natives of the same 
 county and State, where they were mar- 
 ried. 
 
 The father enlisted, in 1863, in a 
 Pennsylvania regiment, and served in the 
 Civil war as a snare drummer, and in 
 1865 came to Wisconsin and located in 
 De Pere, where he worked at his trade as 
 a mason until 1 869, when he purchased a 
 farm of 140 acres; but in a short time re- 
 turned to De Pere, where he is now en- 
 gaged in tailoring, having learned that 
 among several other trades in his earlier 
 years. He was also a minister of the 
 Evangelical Association, and preached for 
 a long time after his arrival in Brown 
 county. Wis. His wife left her earthly 
 cares in August, 1882, her remains find- 
 ing their last resting place in De Pere. 
 She had borne her husband fifteen chil- 
 dren, of whom eight sons and three 
 daughters still survive, viz. : Amelia, 
 living with her father; Elmina, wife of F. 
 W. Schneider, of Green Bay; M. W., of 
 St. Paul, Minn.; W. W., our subject; P. 
 W., of Minnesota; A. O., preaching at 
 Montello, Wis. ; James Franklin, of Ana- 
 conda, Mont. ; Edwin Michael, of Chilton, 
 Wis. ; Anderson R. , bookkeeper at Dous- 
 man's Mill, De Pere; Charles H., in the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad 
 office, De Pere; and Carrie, wife of Jules 
 Roels, of the same city. 
 
 W. W. Nuss, the accomplished pho- 
 tographer of whom this sketch pertains, 
 reached De Pere about 1865, and was 
 here reared, but learned his art in Green 
 Bay, where he has now the best gallery 
 in the city, and is also recognized as being 
 one of the city's best artists. In October, 
 1890, he married Miss Clara Rathman, a 
 native of Green Bay and a daughter of 
 one of its early pioneers. One child. 
 Verna W., now adds sunshine to the 
 
 happy household. Mr. Nuss is a member 
 of Pochequette Lodge No. 26, K. P., and 
 also a member of the Royal Arcanum at 
 Green Bay; in politics he is a Republican, 
 and socially fills a high position. 
 
 ASPRAGUE, veterinary surgeon. 
 Green Bay, also conducting a 
 horse infirmary and boarding barn, 
 is a native of Broome county, N. 
 Y. , born November 25, 1856, a son of 
 Milton and Jerusha E. (Elwood) Sprague, 
 natives of Delaware county, New York. 
 
 Milton Sprague when a young man 
 served in the United States Navy during 
 the Mexican war, being stationed along 
 the Pacific coast, and at the close of the 
 struggle returned to Delaware county, 
 where he married, shortly afterward 
 bringing his young wife to Wisconsin, for 
 a time settling in Calumet county, where 
 he carried on blacksmithing, later moving 
 to the town of Shawano, Shawanc county, 
 making their home with their son, our 
 subject. The mother died in 1881 at 
 Brothertown, Wis., and the father is now 
 living in Green Bay, with his son. They 
 w-ere the parents of eleven children, four 
 of whom are yet living, to wit: Milton, 
 married, in business with his brother A. ; 
 Catherine, wife of Andrew Moyes, of 
 Brothertown, Wis ; Dr. A. Sprague and 
 Mary, wife of Needham Richmond, of 
 Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Great-grandfather 
 Abram Sprague, and Grandfather Daniel 
 Sprague, were both natives of Delaware 
 county, N. Y., and were in the Revolu- 
 tion and war of 181 2, respectively. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received his 
 elementary education at the common 
 schools of Calumet county, and learned 
 the trade of blacksmith. Being desirous 
 of following the profession of veterinary 
 surgeon, he attended Indiana College, In- 
 dianapolis, where he received a diploma, 
 and he also studied under Dr. R. W. Ea- 
 ton, of Fond du Lac. In 1881 he com- 
 menced practice in Calumet county, re- 
 maining there till November, 1 890, when 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 945 
 
 he came to Green Bay and opened an of- 
 fice on Cherry street, later moving to his 
 present place on the corner of Washing- 
 ton and Stuart streets. 
 
 In 1876 Dr. Sprague married Miss 
 Victoria Keliher. who was born in Calu- 
 met county, a daughter of John C. and 
 Bridget (Morrissey) Keliher, the father a 
 native of London, England the latter of 
 Ireland, who emigrated many years ago 
 to America, settling in Wisconsin. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sprague have been born 
 five children, viz. : Walton, married and 
 living at Lake Geneva; and Ralph, Harry, 
 Olive and Lottie. Mr. Sprague in his 
 political associations is independent; he 
 is a member and past grand of Green 
 Bay Lodge No. 19, I. O. O. F. ; was 
 grand representative of Shawano Lodge 
 in June, 1890, and was noble grand of 
 Shawano Lodge at Eau Claire, Wis. 
 The Doctor, by his widely-known skill, 
 has succeeded in securing an excellent 
 practice, and he is now the city veterina- 
 rian of Green Ba}'. 
 
 M 
 
 J. CLAREY, an engineer of 
 some considerable note in the 
 employ of the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul Railway 
 Company, was born at Menasha, Winne- 
 bago county, Wis., June i, 1857. 
 
 Maurice and Catherine (Scanlan) 
 Clarey, his parents, were natives of Ire- 
 land, but were married in America. 
 Maurice Clarey first located in Worcester, 
 Mass., and was there married. After fol- 
 lowing railroading at Worcester several 
 years he came to Menasha, Wis., where 
 his death took place a few years after his 
 arrival; his widow still has her residence in 
 Menasha, and is venerated by all who 
 know her. She has reared a family of 
 five sons, the first of whom, Michael, an 
 engineer on the Milwaukee & Northern 
 railroad, died at Marinette; Garrett re- 
 sides in Everett, Wash; M. J. is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; John is an engineer 
 at Menominee, Mich., in the employ of 
 
 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- 
 way Company, and T. L. , passenger con- 
 ductor for the same company from Mil- 
 waukee, Wis., to Champion, Michigan. 
 
 M. J. Clarey was educated in the 
 schools of Menasha, began his railroad 
 life by firing on the Wisconsin Central, 
 working up to the position of engineer, 
 and is now the oldest engineer on the 
 Lake Superior Division of the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul railway. Since 
 1 878 his residence has been in Green Bay. 
 His marriage took place, in 1877, to Miss 
 Delia Scott, daughter of John Scott, a 
 native of Canada, and one of the oldest 
 settlers of Stevens Point, Portage county, 
 Wis., but now deceased. Two children 
 have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Clarey, and are named Katherine and 
 Willie G. Mr. Clarey and wife are mem- 
 bers of St. John's Catholic Church, and he 
 is affiliated with the Brotherhood of Loco- 
 motive Engineers, No. 297, at Green 
 Bay. In politics he is a Democrat, but 
 has never been an office seeker, his strict 
 attention to his duties having placed him 
 beyond the seeking of extraneous public 
 aid. 
 
 FE. DUBOIS, the congenial and 
 accommodating conductor on the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
 railwa}', having his run between 
 Green Bay and Milwaukee, has punched 
 checks and tickets from 1882 until the 
 present time, and is now the oldest and 
 most popular passenger conductor running 
 into Green Bay. As a railroad man, his 
 apprenticeship began on the Wisconsin 
 Central, in 1873, as brakeman, and by 
 his faithful attendance to his duties he 
 has been advanced, degree by degree, to 
 his present responsible position. 
 
 Our subject first saw the light in 1856 
 in Fort Howard, Wis., and is a son of C. 
 E. and Augusta (Alexander) Dubois, who 
 were born in the State of New York, 
 were married there, and in 1855 came to 
 Wisconsin, stopping for a time at Kau- 
 
946 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 kauna and settling, -within a year, at Fort 
 Howard. The father was one of the 
 early school-teachers at this point, follow- 
 ing the profession until 1866, when he 
 went to Menasha, Wis., and taught until 
 1883, the year he and his family came to 
 Green Bay. Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Dubois 
 reared four children, viz. : Charles, of 
 Chicago; F. E. ; Carrie, wife of W. E. 
 Smith, district carpenter on the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad; and J. 
 W. , engineer of a passenger train on the 
 same railroad, and residing in Green Bay. 
 Mr. Dubois is a Freemason of promi- 
 nence, being a member of Palestine Com- 
 mandery No. 20, having, of course, 
 passed through the various degrees; he is 
 also a member of Island City Chapter 
 No. 23, of Wisconsin Consistory, of 
 Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and 
 still is an active member of the Blue 
 Lodge, Chilton No. 1 54. He is also a 
 member of the Benevolent and Protective 
 Order of Elks; socially he enjoys the ad- 
 miration of a large and influential circle 
 of acquaintances. 
 
 CHARLES THEODORE KIM- 
 BALL, manager of the A. Kim- 
 ball wholesale and retail hardware 
 store. Green Bay, was born Oc- 
 tober 10, 1847, in Dalton, Berkshire 
 county, Mass., son of Alonzo and Sarah 
 (Weston) Kimball, who came to Green 
 Bay in 1849. The father was a highly- 
 educated gentleman, and in early life was 
 a school-teacher. These parents had a 
 family of si.x children, viz.: Mary C, 
 who is married to M. H. Walker, of 
 Green Bay; A. Weston, general agent 
 for the State of Illinois of the Northwest- 
 ern Life Insurance Company, of Milwau- 
 kee, and located at Chicago; Charles T. , 
 the subject proper of this sketch; Mather 
 D., the literary manager of the North- 
 western Life Insurance Company, at Mil- 
 waukee; Sarah, widow of L. B. Sale, 
 who with his two sons, Richard and 
 Robert, was drowned in the Fox river; 
 
 and William Dwight, who died at the age 
 of two years. 
 
 Charles T. Kimball received his 
 primary education in the city schools of 
 Green Bay, and his commercial training 
 at a Milwaukee business college. Some 
 time after his graduation from the latter 
 (now over thirty years ago), he became 
 associated with his father in the hardware 
 trade — in 1870 — and is now general man- 
 ager of the business, his father having 
 retired some years since. The business 
 has always been a successful one, having 
 been at the start based on principles of 
 strict integrity and square dealing. On 
 September 5, 1872, C. T. Kimball was 
 united in the bonds of matrimony, in 
 Green Bay, with Miss Hannah Elizabeth 
 Cawthorne, a native of Canada, of English 
 descent, and daughter of William B. and 
 Jane (Bell) Cawthorne, who came to 
 Green Bay about the year 1868. Here 
 Mrs. Cawthorne passed the remainder of 
 her life; William B. Cawthorne is a 
 jeweler by vocation, and is now a resi- 
 dent of Henry, S. D. To the happy 
 marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. 
 Kimball have been born three children — 
 Mary Bell, Myra Weston and Charles 
 Theodore — and there are few families in 
 the city more highly respected. 
 
 Mr. Kimball is an active member of 
 the K. of P., affiliated with Pochequette 
 Lodge No. 26, and C. T. Kimball Di- 
 vision, Uniform Rank, and he is Past 
 Grand Chancellor of the State of Wis- 
 consin. He is an accomplished musician 
 and composer, and in connection with 
 Mr. Dorn has published a number of 
 meritorious and popular compositions, in- 
 cluding well-known church music and 
 temperance songs and band publications. 
 For many years he was leader of Kim- 
 ball's Silver Cornet Band of Green Bay, 
 comprising eighteen pieces, and also for 
 a number of j-ears choir leader and or- 
 ganist for the First Presbyterian Church. 
 He is highly respected as a business man, 
 and his social standing is equally high. 
 In all enterprises having a tendency to 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 947 
 
 improve the intellectual advancement of 
 his fellow citizens he has taken an active 
 part, and he has freely given of his means 
 to promote the material progress of the 
 city in which he has been reared, and of 
 the population of which he is so promi- 
 nent a factor. 
 
 FRANK B. DESNOYERS. This 
 gentleman, who is a member of 
 the well-known firm of Desnoyers 
 & Duchateau, breeders of horses, 
 Green Bay, is a native of that city, born 
 in 1859. 
 
 Francis Desnoyers, father of our sub- 
 ject, was a native of Michigan, and came 
 from Detroit to Green Bay, where he was 
 engaged in mercantile pursuits some 
 years. On retiring from same he took 
 up the real-estate business, and among 
 other buildings he, about the year 1865, 
 erected what is known as ' ' Uncle Frank's 
 Block," besides six stores on the west 
 side of Washington (which belong to the 
 family) and four on the east side. At 
 Green Bay he married Miss Louisa A. 
 Beard, a native of Philadelphia, and 
 daughter of Capt. Beard, who at one 
 time was a captain in the regular army, 
 and died in Pennsylvania; he was a 
 brother of Judge Beard, of Green Bay. 
 She came to Green Bay with Mrs. Law- 
 ton. Three children were born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Francis Desnoyers, viz. : Marie 
 L., Elizabeth and Frank B. The father 
 died in 1868; he was a Republican, and 
 at different times served as alderman and 
 mayor of Green Bay. His widow was 
 subsequently married to Dr. C. E. Crane, 
 and died in 1888. 
 
 Frank B. Desnoyers, the subject 
 proper of this sketch, received a liberal 
 education in the schools of Green Bay, 
 after which he proceeded to Milwaukee, 
 Wis. , where for a time he clerked in the 
 dry-goods store of Skeeles & Best, and 
 returning to Green Bay continued clerk- 
 ing about two and one-half years in that 
 town. He then opened out for his own 
 
 account a gents' furnishing-goods estab- 
 lishment, which he successfully conducted 
 until I 890, in which year he embarked in 
 his present line of business, in partner- 
 ship with Mr. Duchateau. In the same 
 year they built a commodious and well- 
 equipped barn on Monroe avenue, be- 
 tween Main and Pine streets. 
 
 In 1883, at Green Bay, Wis., Mr. 
 Desnoyers was united in marriage with 
 Felia A. Lindsley, a native of that city, 
 daughter of Myron P. and Frances F. 
 (Ingalls) Lindsley, who in an early daj' 
 came to Brown county from Lockport, 
 N. Y. Mr. Lindsley was an attorney at 
 law and dealer in real estate, and a promi- 
 nent member of the I. O. O. F. , in which 
 Order he held the office of State Lec- 
 turer. He died in Madison, Wis., in 
 1882. To our subject and wife have 
 been born three children, viz. : Frank 
 L. , Mary Elizabeth and Henry B. In 
 politics Mr. Desnoyers is a Republican, 
 and for the past four years he has repre- 
 sented the Second ward in the council as 
 alderman, and was chairman of the 
 finance committee two years. 
 
 JULES C. NEVILLE. This wide- 
 awake young hustling business man 
 of Green Bay, member of the firm 
 of Delaporte & Neville, proprietors 
 of "The Hub," a leading clothing and 
 gents' furnishing store, is descended from 
 an upright, honored Belgian family. 
 
 Julian Neville, his father, was born in 
 May, 1842, in Belgium, a son of Josef 
 Neville, who had a family of four sons 
 and one daughter, and died in Belgium 
 when Julian was three years old. His 
 widow and her little son, then, in 1855, 
 came to the United States, and from New 
 York, their port of debarkation, came 
 westward to Wisconsin, making their first 
 Western home in Green Bay. The de- 
 voted mother died at the home of her 
 son in Scott township. Brown county, 
 Wisconsin. Julian received a fair educa- 
 tion at the schools of Green Bav, and 
 
948 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 then took up agricultural pursuits for his 
 life vocation. In Door county he cleared 
 a farm, also one near Sturgeon Bay, on 
 which he resided some seventeen years. 
 In 1874 he came to his present home in 
 Green Bay, where in 1883 he built a fine 
 brick residence and business room com- 
 bined, which latter he carries on, as well 
 as a hotel. In every sense of the word 
 he is a self-made man, a hard worker, 
 progressive and public-spirited, honest 
 and upright, one who has brought up his 
 family well, giving them all a good educa- 
 tion, and a fair start in life. He is a Re- 
 publican in politics; in religious faith a 
 member of the Holy Cross Church at Bay 
 Settlement, and enjoys the respect of the 
 community as a well-to-do loyal citizen. 
 He has been twice married; first time at 
 Sturgeon Ba\-, Wis., to Miss Mary V. 
 Erlache, who bore him five children, viz. : 
 Josef E. (died when young), Jules C. 
 (subject proper of this sketch), and Henry, 
 Mary and Vina. The mother of these 
 died in 1880, and Mr. Neville subsequent- 
 ly married Miss Philomena Brice, by 
 whom there are six children: Josef, 
 Octavian, Louis, Vina, John and Albert. 
 Jules C. Neville, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, was born March 25, 
 1 87 1, in Door county, Wisconsin, where, 
 at the common schools, he received his 
 literary education, which was supple- 
 mented with an eighteen-months' course 
 at a business college, after which he en- 
 tered the employ of J. P. C. Schmidt, 
 wholesale liquor dealers, remaining with 
 them three years, part of the time having 
 charge of the government books. Later 
 he engaged as traveling salesman, and on 
 leaving the road he entered into a partner- 
 ship with C. H. E. Delaporte, at Fort 
 Howard; but after conducting the business 
 one year and four months, they opened 
 up their present place of business, "The 
 Hub," in Green Bay. In October, 1893, 
 Mr. Neville was married to Miss Bertha 
 Zerrener, daughter of Frederick Zerrener. 
 In his political proclivities our subject is 
 a straight Republican. 
 
 LOUIS C. VAN DYCKE (deceased), 
 for many years a prominent citi- 
 zen of Green Bay, was born in 
 Antwerp, Belgium, April 12, 1S29, 
 and died in Green Bay, Wis., January 9, 
 1 88 1. 
 
 The family were originally Holland- 
 Dutch, and were of noble origin, as is 
 shown by their coat of arms, now owned 
 by the Van D3xkes of Green Bay. 
 Grandfather Constante \'an Dxxke was a 
 seafaring man for many years as captain 
 of his own ship, and was remarkably 
 handsome and attractive. He married 
 MissCollette Blankeman, a beautiful Bel- 
 gian girl, truly called "the rose of Ant- 
 werp," who lived to a ripe old age, re- 
 taining to the last much of her beauty, 
 as proven by a portrait of her taken in 
 Paris, F"rance, when she was sixty-five 
 years of age, and which is now in the 
 possession of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. 
 Louis Van Dycke; her husband died in 
 Ostend, Belgium. 
 
 Their only son, Louis C. , was edu- 
 cated in Antwerp, and in his younger days 
 was a sea captain; he was a great linguist, 
 being able to read and write seven dif- 
 ferent languages. At the age of twenty- 
 seven, in 1855, he immigrated to the 
 United States, and for nearly one year 
 was a merchant in New York City. In 
 1857 he came to Wisconsin, making his 
 first Western home in Brown county, but 
 two years later moved Kewaunee county, 
 where he established a general store at a 
 point in Red River township, on Green 
 Bay, which came to be known as Dyckes- 
 ville, being named in his honor. He was 
 also postmaster there, and first district 
 attorney, and township treasurer ten 
 years. In 1S6S he returned to Green 
 Bay, and was here engaged in mercantile 
 business, brewing, etc., up to his death. 
 In 1875, in connection with John M. 
 Shoemaker, he established the dry-goods 
 house of Shoemaker & Van Dycke, and 
 in all his enterprises he made a success, 
 becoming a man of great influence 
 throughout the country. On Mav 11, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 949 
 
 1857, Mr. \'an Dycke was married to 
 Miss Octavia Cesar, a daugiitcr of Lam- 
 bert Cesar, a native of Belfjium, as is also 
 Mrs. Van Dycke, who was born August 
 4, 1S40, in Bouveclien, near Louvain, 
 Belgium. Six children came to the union 
 of ^^r. and Mrs. Louis Van Dycke, 
 namely: Erma (wife of Dr. H. M. Beck), 
 Emil C, Julius J., Constance F. , Alice 
 C. and Louis Paul. The mother is still 
 making her home in Green Bay. 
 
 JuLiLS J. Van Dvcke, son of Louis 
 C. and Octavia Van Dycke, was born 
 August 14, 1868, in Red River township, 
 Kewaunee Co., Wis. His elementary 
 education was received at the public 
 schools of Green Bay, after which he 
 attended the Business College in that 
 city, graduating there in 1887. Becom- 
 ing interested in pharmacy, he studied 
 the science two years under the pre- 
 ceptorship of his brother-in-law. Dr. H. 
 M. Beck, and then attended the uni- 
 versity at Madison. Returning to Green 
 Bay, and having passed his examination 
 in Milwaukee before the State Board 
 of Pharmacy, in 1890, he, in part- 
 nership with Charles LeComte, opened a 
 drug store, the firm continuing about 
 three years, at the end of which time Mr. 
 Van Dycke sold out his interest, and be- 
 came associated in business with the O. 
 Van Dycke Brewing Company, of which 
 he is now the bookkeeper and financial 
 agent. As a druggist he was a pronounced 
 success, and he still maintains close re- 
 lations with the profession. In social 
 circles he holds prominent place, being 
 bright and intellectual, and in fraternal 
 associations he is a member of the Royal 
 Arcanum. 
 
 GEORGE GROESSL, foreman of 
 the Van Dycke Brewery, Green 
 Bay, was born November 22, 
 1 85 I, near Furth, I^avaria, Ger- 
 many, on the confines of Bohemia, in the 
 Bohmer Wald. His ancestry for the 
 
 most part were industrious, plodding 
 53 
 
 farming people in that part of the world, 
 living unc\entful lives. 
 
 Ignat/; Groessl, also a native of near 
 Furth, a farmer by occupation, came to 
 America some time after his son George, 
 the subject of sketch, had emigrated, and 
 making a settlement in Manitowoc county, 
 Wis., resumed agricultural pursuits. He 
 is now seventy-hve years old, and is living 
 a retired life at Ahnapee, Kewaunee 
 county, hale" and hearty, as is also his be- 
 loved wife, a German by birth, whose 
 maiden name was Barbara Pry. They 
 had a family of eight children. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was seven- 
 teen years old when he immigrated to 
 America, and on landing at New York 
 immediately came west to Indiana, where, 
 in the town of La Porte, he had relatives. 
 After a six-months' sojourn there he pro- 
 ceeded to Ahnapee, Wis., and from there, 
 after a short stay, to Green Bay, where 
 he secured work in the brewery of Henry 
 Rahr, remaining some three years; then 
 went to Milwaukee, and in the brewery 
 of Frank Falk found employment for sev- 
 eral months. From the " Cream City " 
 he took a run up to Chicago, where in the 
 brewery of M. Gottfried he worked for a 
 time; from the "World's Fair City" he 
 went to Naperville, 111., and in the brew- 
 ery of F. Stenger passed a few more 
 months — in all his experiences in these 
 various localities never losing sight of the 
 main object he had in view, namely, 
 making himself thoroughly acquainted 
 with all the details of the Isrewing busi- 
 ness, and perfecting himself in them. 
 Being recalled to Green Bay, he secured 
 the position of foreman in Rahr's brew- 
 ery, but at the end of two years he once 
 more moved to La Porte, Ind., where he 
 served in a similar capacity another two 
 years, or until 1877, when he returned to 
 Green Bay and connected himself with 
 the Van Dycke brewery, since when he 
 has been mainly identified with the con- 
 cern as foreman; for five years he was 
 partner in the business with Mrs. O. Van- 
 Dycke, widow of Louis \'an Dycke, at 
 
95^ 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 one time proprietor of the brewerj'. Mr. 
 Groessl is widely known as a thorough, 
 practical brewer, second to none in the 
 State, and no one has had better training 
 to the business or knows more about it. 
 Our subject was married in Green 
 Bay, Wis., to Miss Antonia Hollub, a 
 native of Wisconsin, and to this union 
 have been born six children, named, re- 
 spectively, Frank, George, Josephine, 
 Jacob, Clara and Lena. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Groessl are members of the Catholic 
 Church, aud are highly respected in the 
 community in which they live. 
 
 ERNEST BECKER, a well-known 
 citizen of Fort Howard, Brown 
 county, is a son of Peter and 
 Elizabeth (Newfield) Becker, na- 
 tives of Germany, in which country they 
 were reared and married. They emi- 
 grated to New York in 1852, thence 
 moved to Savannah and finally to Oconto, 
 Wis., the same year, in which latter city 
 they are yet living. Their children were 
 Charley, now deceased; Mary, wife of A. 
 Watternich, of Oconto; Ernest, of Fort 
 Howard, and Anna, who died at the age 
 of four 3"ears. 
 
 Our subject was born at Oconto, Wis. , 
 in 1864, and in that place received his ed- 
 ucation. He learned the machinist's trade 
 in the shops of A. Halbach, working later 
 for D. C. Prescott, at Marinette; in the 
 shops at Florence; afterward for the Green 
 Bay, Winona & St. Paul Railroad Com- 
 pany two years, and in 1887 he located 
 at Fort Howard, where he has been in 
 in the employ of the Milwaukee & North- 
 ern Railroad Companj' six years and three 
 months. He was at one time engaged in 
 the hardware business on Broadway 
 street. 
 
 Mr. Becker was married January 31, 
 1888, at Fort Howard, to Miss Carrie 
 Schwarz, daughter of C. Schwarz, and 
 they had four children, of whom three 
 are now living: Erna, Carl Arthur and 
 Mark Harry; Walter died when but eight 
 
 months old. Socially Mr. Becker is a 
 member of the Modern, Woodmen at Fort 
 Howard, and like his wife belongs to St. 
 Paul's Lutheran Church. He is super- 
 visor from the Fourth ward. Fort Howard, 
 was elected to that position in 1893, and 
 has made a useful officer, serving on the 
 extra committee on printing and tax cer- 
 tificates. He is a substantial citizen, des- 
 tined to become prominent in his city 
 and county. 
 
 CE. CRANE, M. D. In this 
 gentleman the most noble, the 
 most humane and the most phil- 
 anthropic of all professions finds 
 an honored and worthy representative. 
 For forty-three years he was in the active 
 practice of physic and surgery, in earlier 
 days making a specialty of the latter, but 
 for the past few years he has been living 
 retired. 
 
 Dr. Crane was born November 27, 
 1827, in that part of Huron county, Ohio, 
 that is now embodied in Erie county. 
 He is a son of Simeon and Eliza (In- 
 graham) Crane, natives of Connecticut 
 and Massachusetts, respectively, who in 
 181 5 came to Huron (now Eriej county, 
 Ohio, locating near the town of Florence, 
 later moving to Oberlin, same State. 
 Here the father, who was a farmer by 
 occupation, died in 1877; the mother 
 passed from earth when the subject of 
 this sketch was seven years old. They 
 were the parents of three children, all 
 sons, as follows: C. E. ; Samuel I., who 
 died in Erie county, Ohio, in 1868; and 
 George M., who during the Civil war 
 enlisted in the Eighth Missouri Infantry, 
 was wounded at Jonesboro, and died 
 three days after reaching his home in 
 Erie county, Ohio. Simeon married a 
 second time, and by this union had one 
 son, Joel, who joined the Union army in 
 Ohio. 
 
 C. E. Crane was reared and educated 
 in Erie county to the age of thirteen 
 years, at which time he moved to Nor- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 951 
 
 walk, where he remained until he was 
 twenty-one years old, receiving the chief 
 part of his education at the schools of 
 that town, including the reading of 
 medicine. In 1848-49 he attended the 
 Western Reserve College, where he 
 graduated in 1849, inmiediately there- 
 after, in May, same year, coming to 
 Green Bay, then but a small place with 
 bright prospects, and here continued in 
 the successful practice of his profession 
 until 1892, a period of over forty years 
 (with the exception of the time, three 
 years, he served in the army), when he 
 retired. Dr. Crane was commissioned, 
 in 1 86 1, assistant-surgeon of the Fifth 
 Wisconsin Infantry, joining the regiment 
 in June of that year at Madison, Wis. 
 The Fifth was attached to the army of 
 the East, and participated in the battle 
 of Williamsburg; the Peninsular cam- 
 paign of 1862; the second battle of Bull 
 Run; the battles of Fredericksburg (under 
 Gen. Burnside), Chancellorsville (1863), 
 Gettysburg, Rappahannock Bridge (No- 
 vember, 1863), and iinally in the W'ilder- 
 ness campaign. In 1863 the Doctor was 
 promoted to surgeon. In 1864 the regi- 
 ment was mustered out and August 2, 
 same year, our subject was discharged at 
 Madison, Wis. He was recommissioned, 
 but on account of impaired health de- 
 clined the honor, and returned home, 
 resuming practice at Green Ba\'. He is 
 a member of the Brown County Medical 
 Society (of which he was one of the 
 organizers and president from 1868 to 
 1880), and of the Fox River Valley Medi- 
 cal Society. 
 
 In 1872 Dr. C. E. Crane was married 
 in Green Bay to Mrs. Louise Desnoyers, 
 a native of Pennsylvania, daughter of 
 Capt. Beard, formerly of the United 
 States army, who died many years ago. 
 Mrs. Crane has three children by her first 
 husband, viz.: Marie L. , Catherine and 
 Frank B. In his political preferences he 
 is a Republican, and he served his town 
 as mayor five years, 1874-75-77-78 and 
 '79; as president of the school board six 
 
 years, and on the board of public health. 
 Socially he is a member of T. O. Howe 
 Post No. 124, G. A. R., Green Bay; of 
 Washington Lodge No. 21, F. & A. M., 
 Warren Chapter No. 8, and of Philistine 
 Comrnandery No. 20, Green Bay. 
 
 OHN L. McABEE, one of the well- 
 
 known successful agriculturists of 
 
 ^ f Lawrence township, is a native of 
 
 Brown county, born November i , 
 
 1842, in Fort Howard, son of Lambert 
 
 McAbee, an early resident of the county. 
 
 Lambert McAbee was born, about 
 1818, in Detroit, Mich., of French and 
 Scotch extraction, and was a member of 
 one of the early families of his section of 
 Michigan. In an early day he came to 
 Green Bay, Wis. , to trade with the In- 
 dians, with whose language he was quite 
 familiar, and this business, in which he 
 was very successful, was his principal vo- 
 cation. In about 1840 he married, in 
 Green Bay, Miss Sophia La Vigue, who 
 was born in that city in 1820, daughter of 
 John La Vigue, a native of Canada, of 
 French extraction. John La Vigue came 
 to Green Bay in early manhood, and there 
 married Elizabeth Huldrick, who was 
 born in Fort Howard, daughter of Peter 
 Huldrick, a native of Germany, who came 
 to the United States about the beginning 
 of the present centur}', arriving at Fort 
 Howard with the first English troops that 
 ever landed there. 
 
 To Lambert and Sophia McAbee were 
 born five children, namely: John L. , 
 whose name introduces this memoir; 
 Catherine, Mrs. Augustus Gerarden, of 
 Outagamie county, Wis. ; Mary, unmar- 
 ried, of Lawrence township; Angeline, de- 
 ceased; and Josephine, unmarried, of 
 Lawrence township. In the spring of 
 1850 the father of this family died, and 
 was buried in Allouez cemetery, and the 
 widow was thus left with five small chil- 
 dren, our subject, the eldest, being not 
 yet eight years of age. The family at 
 that time were living on a small piece of 
 
952 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 land along the Fox river, which Mr. Mc- 
 Abee had purchased of the Government; 
 but they were defrauded of this, and the 
 onl}' home left to them was an old sugar- 
 house on Section 22, Lawrence township, 
 where Mr. McAbee had operated a sugar 
 camp. Never having been intended for 
 a dwelling-house, it was but a rude con- 
 struction, without even a floor; but with 
 the assistance of willing and kind-hearted 
 neighbors it was improved and made hab- 
 itable, and here they lived until 1861, 
 when a substantial log house was erected, 
 which is \'et standing. They squatted 
 eighty acres of land, which they subse- 
 quently purchased from the Fox River 
 Land Company at $1.25 per acre, selling 
 the onl}' horse they had to pay for it. 
 But one path led to or from their loca- 
 tion, and that was a "winter road" lead- 
 ing to the Fox river, at a point one mile 
 from Little Kaukauna. The first space 
 cleared on the land was planted to corn 
 and potatoes, and each year, as the land 
 improved, and the children grew old 
 enough to help, the farm became more 
 and more productive, till it j'ielded them 
 a comfortable support. 
 
 John L. McAbee was about nineteen 
 3'ears old at the breaking out of the Civil 
 war, and, like many other 3'oung men, 
 longed to take part in the suppression of 
 the Rebellion. Accordingly, in Decem- 
 ber, 1 86 1, he enlisted in Company K, 
 Seventeenth Wis. V. I. , being sent to 
 Madison, Wis., whence, after a short 
 stay at Camp Randall, he was sent to 
 Camp Benton, St. Louis, and thence to 
 Tennessee, arriving at Shiloh shortly after 
 the engagement at that place. He partici- 
 pated in the fight at Corinth (his first 
 battle), and next in the engagement at 
 Holly Springs, from there going to Mem- 
 phis, where, in January, 1863, he was 
 discharged on account of illness, the 
 result of a cold he had contracted at 
 Madison, Wis. Mr. McAbee returned to 
 his home in Brown county. Wis., and 
 after recuperating his health re-enlisted, 
 in January, 1864, this time in Company 
 
 F, Fourteenth Wis. V. L, proceeding 
 with the command to Vicksburg, Miss., 
 and thence to Eastport. He took part in 
 the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, and in 
 the march to Atlanta, participating in 
 seventeen engagements around that city, 
 and after its fall he was among those 
 who returned to Nashville with Hood. 
 From Nashville they were convej'ed by 
 transports to New Orleans, near where 
 they camped for three weeks, on Dauphin 
 Island. He was in the engagement that 
 followed at Spanish Fort, and in the land 
 forces around Mobile, and at the time of 
 Lee's surrender was on the march to 
 Montgomery, Ala. Mr. McAbee was 
 mustered out of the service at Mobile, 
 and October 29, 1865, received an hon- 
 orable discharge at Madison, Wis. ; during 
 his long term of service he was never 
 injured. 
 
 Immediately after receiving his dis- 
 charge our subject returned to Brown 
 county, and on November 14, 1865, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Abigail 
 Garity, who was born October 7, 1848, 
 in Milwaukee, Wis. She was the daugh- 
 ter of George and Abigail (Childs) Garity, 
 natives, respectively, of Ireland and New 
 York State, who came in an early day to 
 Milwaukee, and subsequently to Kau- 
 kauna, Outagamie county, where they 
 were residing at the time of Mrs. Mc- 
 Abee's marriage. Mr. Garity was at one 
 time an extensive landowner in Outaga- 
 mie county, where he ranked among the 
 leading men of his section. He died in 
 Kaukauna, and his widow now makes 
 her home in Wausau, Wisconsin. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. McAbee built 
 a log house on his present farm, and here 
 he and his family resided until the erec- 
 tion of the pleasant home they now oc- 
 cupy. They have had children as fol- 
 lows: Angeline, deceased in infancy; 
 Amos and Lambert, at home; Geneva, 
 Mrs. James Sullivan, of Lawrence town- 
 ship; Martha, deceased when two years 
 old; James, at home; Sophia, a well edu- 
 cated 3'Oung lady, who has held a teach- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOdHAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 953 
 
 er's certificate since her fifteenth year; 
 Henry, deceased in infanc}'; Henry, Hving 
 at home; Mar}', deceased in infancy; 
 Gertrude, at home; Ellen, deceased in 
 infancy, and Louis and Maggie, at home. 
 Mr. McAbee has ninety-two acres of e.x- 
 cellent farm land, all of which he himself 
 has taken from its primitive state. He 
 has been successful in his chosen voca- 
 tion, and deserves great credit for what 
 he has accomplished, especially as it is 
 all the result of his own efforts. By 
 reading and observation he has acquired 
 a good practical education, in spite of his 
 lack of early literary training. In poli- 
 tics he is a stanch Republican, and has 
 served his township as supervisor, at 
 present holding the position of health 
 officer, and for fourteen consecutive years 
 he has been school director. He was se- 
 lected to act as juryman three times, and 
 served each time. In religious connec- 
 tion he and his wife are members of St. 
 Paul's Catholic Church at W'rightstown. 
 
 M 
 
 WEBER, a leading well-known 
 citizen of New Denmark town- 
 ship, Brown county, is a native 
 of Germany, born September 
 12, 1850, in Lu.xemburg, son of Hubbard 
 and Mary (Dewald) Weber, the former of 
 whom was a mason by trade. They had 
 fivechildren, namely: William (deceased), 
 Anna (deceased), Nicholas, Paulina and 
 our subject. 
 
 In 1 85 3 this family embarked at Ham- 
 burg in a sailing vessel bound for America, 
 landing in New York City after a long, 
 weary voyage of 146 days. Coming 
 directly to Milwaukee, Wis., they re- 
 mained in that city two weeks, and then 
 proceeded, via Green Bay, to New Den- 
 mark township. Brown county, where Mr. 
 Weber invested in eighty acres of wild 
 land, which at that time was all in the 
 woods and inhabited by wild beasts. 
 They commenced life on this place with 
 almost nothing, and soon commenced to 
 clear the land, Mr. Weber also working 
 
 in mills, as the farm at first did not yield 
 enough to support the family. By inces- 
 sant toil the whole tract was finally cleared 
 and cultivated, as well as an additional 
 forty acres, and at the time of his death 
 Mr. Weber was the owner of a highly im- 
 proved farm of 120 acres all acquired by 
 his own earnest labor. He was called 
 from earth November 5, 1888, since 
 which time his widow has made her home 
 with her son, Mathie, who now owns and 
 conducts the home farm. She has reached 
 the advanced age of ninety-one years. 
 
 Our subject was reared to manhood 
 on the pioneer farm, where he was 
 thoroughly trained by his father to agri- 
 cultural pursuits. On May 22, 1877, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Catherine 
 Bartelme, and to their union have been 
 born eight children, viz. : Josephine, 
 John, Minnie, Mary, Lizzie, Tillie, Henry, 
 and one that died in infancy. On the 
 death of his father, Mr. Weber bought 
 the old homestead, where he carries on a 
 profitable farming business, and since 
 1890 he has also conducted a saloon. In 
 politics he has been actively identified 
 with the Democratic part}', taking grea 
 interest in its success, and he has held 
 various offices in his township, having 
 served as supervisor (two years), con- 
 stable (nine years), pathmaster and 
 school director nine years, discharging all 
 the duties connected with these offices in 
 a creditable and highly satisfactory man- 
 ner. Socially he is a member of the 
 Catholic Knights, Branch No. loi, 
 Cooperstown, and in religious connection 
 he and his wife are members of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 WILLIAM CASHMAN (deceased), 
 who in his lifetime was one of 
 the leading farmers of Rockland 
 township. Brown county, of 
 which he was a resident some forty years, 
 was a native of County Cork, Ireland, 
 born in November, 1818. His parents, 
 William and Mary (Leary) Cashman, who 
 
954 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 were farming people, had a family of ten 
 children — six sons and four daughters. 
 
 Our subject was reared to agricultural 
 life, and during his youth received a 
 somewhat limited education in the com- 
 mon schools. In April, i 840, his father 
 having provided him with means to emi- 
 grate, he sailed from Cork on the brig 
 "John Wesley," and after a passage of 
 five weeks and three days landed in Bos- 
 ton, where his brother John resided. 
 Here he obtained employment, working 
 as deck-hand on boats plying along the 
 Atlantic coast between Boston and 
 Charleston, continuing in this until his 
 marriage, after which he worked in lum- 
 ber jards. But as he never received 
 more than sixty cents a day, and had to 
 board himself, he could save nothing, 
 and finall}' concluded to come westward 
 to Wisconsin, where cheap homes were 
 then offered to settlers. In Februar\', 
 1843, he was married, in Boston, to Miss 
 Hannah Corcoran, who was born in 
 County Cork, Ireland, in 1823, daughter 
 of William Corcoran, who brought his 
 family to the United States in 1836. 
 They sailed from Cork on the ship 
 "Palace," and after a six-weeks' voyage 
 landed at Bangor, Maine, thence in a 
 short time coming to Boston, where Mr. 
 •Corcoran died the following year, when 
 his daughter Hannah was but fourteen 
 years old. Two children, Mary and 
 Ellen, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cash- 
 man in Boston, and in the fall of 1849 
 this little familv migrated westward, going 
 by rail to Buffalo, thence by water to 
 Sheboygan, and thence to Alenomonee. 
 At that time there was but one saw- 
 mill in that region, and Mr. Cash- 
 man, after remaining there a month in 
 the employ of Dr. Hall, came to Green 
 Bay, which city at that early day did not 
 contain a single brick house. Later he 
 removed to De Pere, and from there to 
 Kaukauna, where he remained six years, 
 working on the canal then in course of 
 construction, during which time he dug 
 many of the lock-pits for the Fox River 
 
 Improvement Co. In those days Mr. 
 Cashman was capable of performing a 
 great deal of hard labor, and never "took 
 a back seat" for any of his fellow work- 
 men. Few of them could lift greater 
 weights than he could, for at one time he 
 was able to lift 1,080 pounds! In the six 
 years of hard work at Kaukauna he saved 
 four hundred dollars, and about 1852 he 
 invested in forty acres of totally unim- 
 proved land in Section 16, Rockland 
 township, shortly afterward removing 
 thereon, and making their home in the 
 frame shanty then standing. A few 
 years later he commenced to devote his 
 time exclusively to the cultivation and 
 improvement of his land, on which a vast 
 amount of clearing needed to be done, 
 and he labored early and late to reduce 
 it to a fertile condition, a task which he 
 saw accomplished after years of perse- 
 vering toil. In addition to clearing and 
 improving the original purchase, he added 
 to it from time to time, ultimately be- 
 coming owner of 200 acres of prime land, 
 all accumulated from the four hundred 
 dollars he saved while working as a day 
 laborer. Having risen by his own exer- 
 tions to such enviable position among 
 the leading farmers in Rockland town- 
 sh'p, he was truly a self-made man, and 
 one of the few remaining pioneers of this 
 section, who did so much toward opening 
 up and improving the country. During 
 their half century or more of wedded life 
 Mrs. Cashman had, by her thrifty man- 
 agement of the household affairs, assisted 
 her husband greatly in the gathering to- 
 gether of his property. Mr. Cashman 
 died October 12, 1894, aged seventy-six 
 years. 
 
 Politically William Cashman was for- 
 merly a Democrat, but though never a 
 strict partisan, he in the later years of 
 his life was altogether independent, in- 
 variably selecting the best man regard- 
 less of party. Though not a politician, 
 he was called upon to serve his township 
 as chairman, an office in which he gave 
 complete satisfaction. In religious connec- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 955 
 
 tion he was a member of St. Francis Cath- 
 olic Church, De Pere, as is his widow, and 
 was highly respected wherever known. 
 After their removal to Wisconsin their 
 family was increased by children as fol- 
 lows: William, who is now a resident of 
 Colorado; Thomas, deceased when six 
 years of age; Julia, Mrs. Patrick Curley, 
 of Stiles, Mich. ; Kate, Mrs. Martin Mc- 
 Donough, of Wausaukee, Wis. ; Edward, 
 a farmer of Rockland township; John, of 
 Washington, and Celia, who died at the 
 age of six years. Mary and Ellen, who 
 were born in Boston, are now deceased. 
 
 IVI 
 
 GAGNON, Green Bay, Wis- 
 consin. This gentleman was 
 born in Louisville, Canada, 
 December 6, 1841, and leaving 
 his home before he was ten years old 
 went to Montreal with the intention of 
 attending school, instead of which he was 
 put to work. On discovering that he 
 was placed on his own responsibility, he 
 hired out to learn the trade of baker, at 
 which he worked eleven months, at the 
 end of which time he commenced to 
 learn the art of wig-making, and for 
 three months worked with a man who, 
 unfortunately, then died. Mr. Gagnon 
 then hired out as porter on the " Riche- 
 lieu," of the mail boat line, which boat 
 ran between Montreal and Toronto. 
 When he got to the latter city he found 
 he liked the place so well that he hired 
 out as a bell-boy in the "Rossin House," 
 and after working there some time got 
 acquainted with William Osborn, a wig- 
 maker and barber, with whom he re- 
 mained five years, part of the time 
 finishing his trade and part of the time in 
 partnership. From there he went to 
 Buffalo, N. Y. , thence to New York 
 City, where he worked in a wig establish- 
 ment about six months, and then pro- 
 ceeded to Boston, thence to Troy, from 
 the latter place returning to New York, 
 thence back to Toronto, Canada, where 
 he sojourned a few months. From 
 
 Toronto he went east as far as Quebec, 
 from there returned west to Montreal, 
 thence journeyed to Ottawa, and from 
 there to Peterboro. From Peterboro he 
 journeyed to Lindsay, thence to Port 
 Hope, from there to Belleville, then 
 northwest to Owen Sound, and from 
 there to Penetanguishene, thence to 
 Guelph, thence to London, and thence 
 to Hamilton — all in Ontario. From 
 Hamilton he once more went to Buffalo, 
 N. Y. , from there to Toledo, thence to 
 Detroit, thence to Muskegon, Mich., from 
 there to White Lake, thence to Chicago, 
 where he engaged in wig-making three 
 months. From Chicago he once more 
 went to Montreal, after which he viewed 
 a little of the country, and then, con- 
 cluding to embark in business for himself, 
 he bought out a place in Montreal and 
 remained there two months. Finding, 
 however, that it was too much of a 
 French city for him, he left there and 
 came back to Oconto, Wis., with fifty 
 cents in his pocket, which had to be 
 divided between three brothers, the price 
 of the cheapest meal that could be got 
 being fifty cents ! And he says he never 
 knew the value of a dollar until he struck 
 Oconto. After spending a year in this 
 town Mr. Gagnon moved to Muskegon, 
 Mich., but did not remain there any 
 length of time, as he came back to Wis- 
 consin, and locating in Green Bay has 
 lived here ever since. In the course of 
 his travels he was twice shipwrecked: 
 Once in 1863, on LakeErie, and again 
 in 1864 on the Georgian Bay, on which 
 latter occasion he was on the "Moun- 
 taineer," a three-masted sailing vessel. 
 
 In October, 1870, Mr. Gagnon was 
 married to Miss Emily Porier, who died 
 March 4, 1873, leaving two children: 
 Archie, who died in 1880, and Emily, 
 now Mrs. Harry Donville, of Green Bay. 
 On June 2, 1875, our subject married 
 Kate Malt, a native of County Kildare, 
 Ireland, who died July 29, 1884, leaving 
 no children; she had long been an invalid. 
 Since her death Mi. Gagnon has lived 
 
95' 
 
 cuMMJ'JMui; \ in r lumn; \i-iiif\i hi-coihk 
 
 alone. l'>ilili(';illy lit' is .1 I tciiKx i.it , in 
 I't'linions 1 lUUircl inn ,1 luciulii'i 111 111!' 
 I'ulliolir ( liniiii 
 
 jnscpll liilgllnll, J^l.lHill.llilil nl nni 
 
 Siil>|('>'t, was |iy ix'i'upiilinu .1 hiinu'i, iiiul 
 a inanol icin.u L.iMr iihyslcal stifiif^lli, 
 iifxi'i knowmj; uli.il Miknt'ss wiis inilil .i 
 lew linins lifliMi' his dr. illl, wlihli 1 'i 
 I lined when he ie,u heil the ^'.le.il ,lj;i' nl 
 one hinulted >iiid one y.iis. lie was 
 ni.niieil when eiejileen yeair> ol ,if;e, and 
 Ins \\\W li\ed lu.iils as loii^ a hie as lie, 
 laekiiif; luil two 01 lliiee weeks ol hein^; 
 one hnndled \eais ohi when she died 
 They had a hiniil\ ol sivleen i hildien. 
 
 ('^eo^^e (iii^nuii, tluMV son, hilhei of 
 0111 snlijeel, was iioiii in l'"i.iiiee, .iiul 
 W ill 11 hill ,1 ho\ I, line Willi he. p.ilellls lo 
 Aineiiea, the Luiiilv lesidiiif; .il WHIt 
 i\i\ei, ('.111. id. 1 Piiinif; Ins \oiilh he 
 le.u ned ihi' iiiillii's tiade, wliieii he fol- 
 lowed ,lli 111:, iilr 111 1 S ;o In iii.inieil 
 ll.llliel lllhh.iid. who w,is ,1 n.ilue ol 
 ICnf;l.uul and ilan^hlei ol haiis and i'llsie 
 (Ailiistidiif;^ llilih.iid, ,it thai lime iiviiu; 
 
 .1! llie ,i^e ol siNly. riiey weic the p.ii- 
 eiil-. ol lonr sons 
 
 Wllhehli I'. impel 111 W.ls l.lllidlt llle 
 
 trades ol l,iiloi ,iiid slioeniakei, and in 
 lS.(S eaiiie to the I'liited Stales in the 
 sailing,' vessel " Howard," laiulini; in New 
 N'ol'k aflei a pass.iL;e of loity d.iys, a lew 
 d.iv. I.ilei ■.l.iilin;; h'l llle WCsl, \ 1.1 i?nl- 
 lalo and llu' lakes, .iiul ariivin^ at Mil- 
 waukee. I'or live months he was ein- 
 plo\eil 111 eleiU'illj; land 111 I he \ i( mil \ , .iiid 
 then went lo (alimiil. wlieie he woiki.l 
 .IS ,1 shoem.ikei -.iv inMiilh-., .md tlun. m 
 .\ll|.;llst, 1 S.p), loe.iled ill (iieen l!,l\, 
 where he woikeil ,il shoemakiii}; until 
 1851 lie wasniained, JiiiU'(>, 1S50, to 
 Miss .\niia Klasson, who was horn Anj,Mist 
 .•.|, iS:;.S, in Holland, daughter ol John 
 ,iiid rhrir-tme Klasson, the lornier of 
 whom eainc to the I'nited M.ites in iS.pS 
 ill the saiiiiin vessel •• I .iehenou^jh," beiiif; 
 seven \\et>ks on the \oy.i^e. lie died in 
 I'ort Howard, W is , .it the .i,L;e ol M\t\ 
 eij^lit years; his wile h.id ilied m lloll.ind 
 ,it the aj;e of lillv two. He h.id heeii an 
 
 in I oms\ille, I .in.id.i, wheie Mi llihh.iid I'llieei in the L;real N.ipoleon's aim\. .md 
 
 was en^,ii;ed 111 I he imllwii^ht husiiU'SS, j the l.iiiiiK w.is well eonneeted. Anna 
 
 in wliieh he mil with ^latilvin^ sneeess, | w.e. llie only daiiL;htei in his famil\' of 
 
 loiiliimiii:' ih.il hue ol work until Ins ' lliiee ehildn'ii. 
 
 de.ilh 111 I .'~!( 'o l.eoij^e (iai;ii>in i .line 
 wilh his l.uiiiU lo (leonto, Wis, where 
 he iiin, lined imtiliS,";', theiiee ieino\in(; 
 to Maiiiulte, where he \ et resiiles, having; 
 leliiid lioiii Inisiness riie ehildltMl of 
 this woiihv roiipli- Wile M, o'lir snhjocl), 
 (ieor};e, Idw.iul, Ameh.i. I'lnis (ileoeasi'il 
 at the aj;e ii| lwent\ uMis), lllsie and 
 .Mlieil, ('ieori;e now lives with his father 
 in M.iimette, the inoiher having iliod 
 Heeemhei ^'o, lS.'^(l, at lli.il pl.iii', where 
 her rem.iiiis now lesi. 
 
 Wll 111 I M IWMIMCKIN. resilient 
 ol How, lid township, Hidwii 
 .omii\, w.is hoiii Noveinhei^, 
 iS^i,,!!! Meeklenhiuj;, liennaiiy, 
 a son ol Hem\ ,iiid M.iif^aret ^Hallisl 
 rainperm, w ho hoth died in (lerniauy, the 
 niotller.it the .lee ol loilv .md the f.itlier 
 
 I'o the union ol \\ illulni .md .\nn,i 
 r.iliipeim h.i\r heeii I'oiii lomteell ellil- 
 dreii, ol whom nine ,ne still living;, as 
 folli>ws: .Anna (.',, who is ni.mied, ,ind 
 li.is ihiee ehildirii, Willi. nil I"., a faiinei 
 ol I low .lid low iisliip, I onis.i, wlu>is in. li- 
 ned, ,iiid li.is se\en ehildren; Josephine, 
 who is married and has two ehildren; 
 Theoilore .\., who is m.uried and has two 
 children, hied, m.iiiied; l\os;i, a seliool 
 teiuhei ; I'liiiK, also a sehool teaeher, 
 and Sophi,i, I'ookki-epei fov her hrother 
 at Oconto; tlie\ h.i\e all been hif^hly eil- 
 neated, either at Milwaukee or lireeii 
 Haw or in the best schools of Cishkosh; 
 some of the sons are ()ihte piomineiit ,is 
 hiisiness men or f.niners, 
 
 111 1.^1; 1 Wilhelm I'ainpeiin left Tiieen 
 |i,i\ .md opened the Inst shoe shop in 
 I'oil How. lid. i.iii\ini; it on with !;ie.it 
 success until iSn,', when he hoiii^lll his 
 
OOMMIiMOIlATlVli UIOUHAJ'JJJUAL UKUOUJJ. 
 
 ')'-,! 
 
 present property, livitif( for a riiiriiljcr of 
 years in an old frame lioiisr; and later 
 erectinj^ liis present handsome residence. 
 During; (lie inteiv,<i, liowever, h<: honxlit 
 several farms, wliicii he disposed of at a 
 profit, and has been quite prosperous in 
 all his undertakings. He owes much of 
 his prosperity to his arniahle helpmeet, 
 for tof^ether they liave earned every cent 
 of their present fortune, on which they 
 are now living in peaceful retirement, in 
 lh<t full enjoyment of tin-, esleem of their 
 neighbors. In politics, Mr. Painperin has 
 always been a iJemocrat, having cast his 
 first Presidential vote for I'"ranklin Pierce, 
 and he has been faithful in his party affil- 
 iations <;ver since. The family ae up- 
 right in all tfieir transactions, and Mr, 
 Pamperin is universally regarded as a use- 
 ful and valuable citizen. 
 
 M 
 
 .MM HAS 'illOKNTON (de- 
 ceased; was a son of Michael 
 and Mary ''Conway; Thornton, 
 natives of Ireland, who came 
 to America in (848, and for seven years 
 resided in Canada, thence coming to the 
 United States and settling in Cato, Mani- 
 towoc Co., Wis. Herts they purchased 
 a farm in the wilderness, wjiich they 
 cleared up, having gone through the 
 same tedious process in Canada. There 
 were five children in the family, vl/..: 
 Thomas, Matthias ^deceased j, Mary ''de- 
 ceased;, Sarah 'deceased; and John. The 
 parents died in Cato, and Thomas now 
 lives on part of the old homestead; 
 John is Israel icing medicine in Lansing, 
 Iowa. 
 
 On the jnarriageof Matthias Thornton 
 to Miss Catherine A. Peppard, .May 9, 
 1859, his father gave him (20 acres of 
 good land, containing some improve- 
 ments. Matthias lived here ujitil 1882, 
 when the entire estate was w.»ld and di- 
 vided among the heirs, 240 acres being 
 bought in by Matthias, on which tract 
 his widow now makes her home. Mr. 
 Thornton passed through all the priva- 
 
 tions, vicissitudes and hardships of pi(^- 
 neer life, and had succeeded in bringing 
 his farm to a high state ui cultivation 
 wlien he met his untimely death while 
 going to Church, Decei/iber 5, 1890, 
 caused by a runaway horse. His remains 
 were interred at Duck Creek, and were 
 followed to their last resting-place by a 
 large number of friends. He died i/i the 
 Catholic faith, in which (church he had 
 held lay offices oi trust and honor. In 
 politics he was a Democrat, and while 
 a resident <jf Cato held several public 
 offices, but declined public service after 
 bircoming a citizen of Hrown county. 
 The cliildren born to Mr. and Mrs. Mat- 
 thias Thornton were thirt<'i;n in number, 
 as follows; .Mary Ann, born bebruary 27, 
 i860; Michael, born February 14, 1862; 
 John H,, born January r 1, 18O4; Thomas, 
 born February 19, 1866; (^atheritie, born 
 May 16, 1868; Walter, Ijorn June 5, 
 1870; Matthias, born January 18, 1872; 
 Celia, born January 24, 1874; Alice, 
 born October 19, 1876; l'",llen, born Jan- 
 uary 15. 1878; William, born November 
 10, 1880; Francis, born July 21, 1882; 
 and Ivdward, born Pebruary 22, 1884, 
 Of the above Michael died November I2, 
 1893. and left a widow with four children 
 ■ — So|>hia, P'rederick, Daniel and Mary, 
 
 Catherine Anna Peppard, daughter of 
 John and Mary CMadigan; Peppard, was 
 borji August 3. 1840, in County Clare, 
 Ireland. There were eight children iti 
 this family, named as follows: Cath- 
 erine A,, Patrick H,, Michael Cdeceased;, 
 Mary, John, Bridget (deceasedj, Thomas 
 and Daniel ''the last named also deceased). 
 Of the survivors, Catherine A. will be 
 mentioned farther on; Patrick H. is a car- 
 )jenter in Chicago, 111., and has a family; 
 John is a farmc-rof Cato, Manitowoc coun- 
 ty. Wis. ; Thomas is a miner of Dead wood, 
 Dak, , and Mary is the wife of John O'Con- 
 ner, a farnier. 
 
 Miss Catherine A. Peppard was about 
 nine years of age when she was brought 
 to America by her parents, who landed 
 in New Orleans; a few days later the fam- 
 
958 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ily went to Louisville, Ky. , where the 
 father was employed on a railway train 
 for some time; they then went to Jeffer- 
 sonville, Ind., and in 1854 came to Wis- 
 consin, where the father bought eighty 
 acres of land in a dense forest, inhabited 
 only by Indians and wild beasts. A clear- 
 ing was made, and a 14x16 cabin put 
 up, in which the family lived until a fine 
 farm was developed and better accommo- 
 dations afforded. There the father died 
 July I, 1 89 1, and was buried; the mother 
 passed from earth October 28, 1892, 
 while on a visit to her daughter, Mrs. 
 Thornton, in Pittsfield township. Brown 
 county, being stricken with paralysis at 
 the age of seventy-six. Since the death of 
 her husband, Mrs. C. A.Thornton has most 
 successfully conducted the farm, and few 
 persons could have manifested a business 
 talent superior to that exhibited by her 
 since she has had the management of the 
 place. 
 
 HIRAM P. HAYDEN, one of the 
 oldest settlers of Pittsfield town- 
 ship, Brown county, was born in 
 Fitzwilliam, N. H., August i, 
 1 81 8, a son of Ezra and Elizabeth (Par- 
 mity) Hayden, who were the parents of 
 eight children, viz. : Sally, Caroline, 
 Israel, Otis, Ruth, Hiram P., Eliza and 
 Harriet, of whom Hiram P. is the only 
 survivor. 
 
 At the age of seven years our subject 
 was bound out to a man named James 
 Blodget for eight years; but as he was 
 given nothing to eat, save bread and milk, 
 for five consecutive years, he ran away. 
 From that time on he worked at various 
 places and at different employments until 
 nearly twenty-four years of age, when he 
 returned to the home farm, and had con- 
 ducted the place for his father a year and 
 a half when the latter died. A short time 
 after that sad event the farm was sold 
 under foreclosure, and for two 3'ears more 
 Hiram worked the place on shares, caring 
 for his aged mother until 1852, when he 
 
 came to Flintville, Brown Co., Wis., his 
 mother remaining in the East with a 
 daughter. Here he found a half acre 
 cleared on the tract on which he settled, 
 occupied by a mill, but there was not a 
 dwelling for six miles back toward Green 
 Bay. He worked through the winter in 
 the mill, until January 4, and with others 
 was sleeping in the structure when it was 
 destroyed by fire, and all hands were 
 thrown out into the cold, without cloth- 
 ing, Mr. Hayden saving an overcoat onl\-. 
 He worked all through the remainder of 
 the winter without even a pair of mittens. 
 At last he obtained an order from William 
 Lamb on a man in Chicago for money 
 enough to go East. He had been mar- 
 ried there to Mary Prescott, daughter 
 of Eli and Rhoda (Record) Prescott, 
 and to this union had been born 
 three children — Amelia, Myra and Caro- 
 line. On his return West he brought 
 this family with him, and alsoW. D. Rice, 
 George Holden and his brother Silas. 
 On his arrival at Green Bay he had twelve 
 cents in his pocket and eight persons to 
 care for. But he had a friend, John 
 Tiernan, who settled the bill at the 
 "United States Hotel," and with him 
 they stayed one day at his place across 
 the river. Mr. Hayden walked to Pitts- 
 field, secured an ox-team and returned 
 for his family next day. He went to 
 work at milling, and by the next winter 
 owned a yoke of oxen; in 1855 he bought 
 eighty acres of land, on which were a 
 small clearing and a frame dwelling, and 
 by hard and continuous work he suc- 
 ceeded in making a fortune. 
 
 David Page, Sr. , about the year 1855 
 or 1856, came to Pittsfield, Wis., from 
 Lower Canada. He was a widower, and 
 the father of seven children, viz. : Sam- 
 uel, George, Levi, Martha, Eliza, David 
 and John. He brought with him his son, 
 David, Jr., and for some time they lived 
 with Mr. Hayden. David Page, Jr., 
 married a daughter of Mr. Hayden, and 
 there came to this union three children: 
 Hiram David, born March 4, 1859; James, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 959 
 
 who died in infancy, and Charles, who 
 died at the age of three years. David 
 Page, Jr., had purchased from Mr. Hay- 
 den si.xty acres of wild land, but in 1863 
 he enlisted in the Thirty-second Wis. V. 
 I., and started for the front, only reach- 
 ing Oakland, however, when he was taken 
 sick, and on his return homeward died at 
 Green Bay. Mrs. Page and her son, 
 Hiram D., made their home with Mr. 
 Hayden about a year, when Mrs. Page 
 married Solomon Dean, and a few 
 months after this marriage she, too, was 
 called from earth, thus leaving her son, 
 Hiram D., an orphan. From that time 
 forward he lived with his grandfather, 
 Hiram P. Hayden, who was appointed 
 his guardian, until he became of age. He 
 then worked in the woods and on the 
 river through twelve winters. On Sep- 
 tember 6, 1887, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Cora Handeyside, daughter of 
 John and Amelia (Packard) Handeyside. 
 He was then the owner of fifty acres left 
 him by his father, and bought, besides, 
 thirty-six acres from his grandfather, and 
 he is now the owner of i 39^ acres. The 
 four children born to Hiram D. Page and 
 his wife are named Edith Blanche, Lola 
 B. , Cathline B., and one whose name is 
 not given. In politics Mr. Page is a 
 stanch Republican. 
 
 WALTER E. GARDNER, editor 
 and proprietor of the Daily, 
 Sunday and Weekly Gazette, 
 Green Bay, is a native of New 
 York State, born August 7, 1849, in 
 Watertown. 
 
 The first of the Gardner family, of 
 which Walter E. Gardner is an honored 
 member, came in 1680 from the shores 
 of Old England to those of New England, 
 settling in Rhode Island, where they re- 
 mained for many years, multiplying and 
 prospering. From there the immediate 
 progenitors of the subject of these lines 
 moved to New York State, where was 
 born at Saratoga Springs, Henry S. 
 
 Gardner, his father, and \\ho was married 
 to Martha McCully, whose father, Robert 
 McCully, was of New York nativity, and 
 a son of a well-to-do Scotch farmer who 
 emigrated from the land of shaggy heath 
 and mountain flood to America, settling 
 in New York State. When Walter E. 
 Gardner was a two-year-old child his 
 parents moved from Watertown, N. Y. , 
 to Oswego, in the same State, and he 
 was there reared, receiving a liberal edu- 
 cation at the public schools of that city, 
 afterward attending Rochester (N. Y.) 
 University, paying his way through that 
 institution with his boyhood earnings, for 
 at the early age of twelve years we 
 find him self-supporting, commencing his 
 future bright journalistic career in the 
 office of the Oswego Palladium. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Gardner, attracted by 
 the glowing accounts of the marvelous 
 growth and prosperity of Wisconsin, 
 turned his steps hitherward, and in the 
 city of Milwaukee accepted a position as 
 reporter on the Evening Wisconsin, his 
 salary at first being but eight dollars per 
 week; and with the exception of the four 
 years he was serving, under the adminis- 
 tration of President Harrison, in the 
 capacity of United States Consul for the 
 Netherlands (his residence during that 
 period being at Rotterdam), continued 
 with that newspaper some eighteen years, 
 serving at every desk on the editorial 
 floor, including those of city editor, tele- 
 graph editor, managing editor, associate 
 editor, and editor-in-charge during the 
 absence in Europe at various times of the 
 senior proprietor of the paper. As above 
 stated, Mr. Gardner himself was absent 
 in Europe four years on official business, 
 and on his return to Milwaukee in 
 October, 1893, he resumed his old posi- 
 tion on the Evening Wisconsin, retaining 
 his connection therewith until August i, 
 '1894, when he bought the Green Bay 
 Gazette * which has since become one of 
 the newsiest and most readable of the 
 
 * A brief account of the early history of this journal will 
 be found in the sketch of Mrs. Rosamond FoUett, at Page 17. 
 
/ 
 
 960 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 daily papers in the State. He has re- 
 modeled the building, doubled the capac- 
 ity of the plant, placed the paper on the 
 list of members of the Associated Press, 
 and now receives and publishes daily (in- 
 cluding Sunday, for a Sunday edition was 
 commenced at Easter, 1895) the admira- 
 ble reports of that organization — in fact 
 he has established the paper on thorough- 
 ly metropolitan lines, and not only the 
 city of Green Bay, but the entire county 
 and the State of Wisconsin at large, has 
 reason for congratulation that the Gazette 
 is in such safe, sagacious and thoroughly 
 clean hands. In each of twelve towns 
 surrounding Green Bay Mr. Gardner has 
 placed carrier boys, thereby securing for 
 his patrons at these several points the 
 same service as is enjoyed in metropoli- 
 tan cities, such as Chicago and Xew York. 
 The proprietor in his prospectus says: 
 ' ' The publisher of The Gazette is per- 
 suaded that this great north country is 
 entitled to have and will support a live, 
 clean, up-to-date metropolitan paper of 
 its own. It is his purpose to furnish 
 such a paper, which shall give all the 
 news, all the time, and give it promptly 
 and reliably. " The Gazette is ably edited 
 in every department: and is a credit alike 
 to its enterprising editor and proprietor, 
 and to the thriving prosperous city where 
 it now "sings its daily song," and under 
 Mr. Gardner's administration has easily 
 taken front rank among the leading news- 
 papers of the State of Wisconsin. Its 
 editor dedicates the influence of his paper 
 to the building up of the business inter- 
 ests of the city of his adoption, by all 
 proper methods, in which connection, at 
 this period of the history of both Green 
 Bay and Fort Howard, it is not inappro- 
 priate tg record that Mr. Gardner was 
 prominently active in securing the recent 
 amalgamation of those two cities. 
 
 On January 20, 1874, Walter E. 
 Gardner and Miss Mary Dunbar, of Syra- 
 cuse, N. Y. . were united in marriage, and 
 they live in a pleasant home in Green 
 Bay. In religious faith they are mem- 
 
 bers of Plymouth Congregational Church, 
 of Milwaukee; socially he is a member of 
 the F. & A. M., and in politics he is a 
 sterling Republican. Mr. Gardner, in 
 addition to his ability as an editor, pos- 
 sesses the executive skill requisite to the 
 safe conducting of a first-class daily paper, 
 and with such men at the helm of the 
 ship of journalism we can not fail to find 
 that there is yet something in store for 
 our country and the world even better 
 than aught they have seen, and that 
 there is a bright future before us that 
 will as far surpass the present as this 
 present itself rises above the meanest and 
 most distant past. 
 
 DR. CHARLES W\\CHEN- 
 REITER, of Pittsfield town- 
 ship. Brown count}', a most ex- 
 perienced physician and surgeon, 
 was born in Paris. France, August 25, 
 1842. He is a son of Lawrence and 
 Dorothea Wachenreiter, the former of 
 whom was a physician in the Bavarian 
 army, as well as a prominent citizen in 
 private life. 
 
 Our subject began his studies at the 
 age of nine, and followed them eight years 
 before he entered a universit}-, in which 
 he remained six years; he then had two 
 years of hospital practice, after which he 
 practiced at home until 1872, when he 
 came to .America, landing at Baltimore, 
 Md. Thence he went south as far as 
 Georgia; then northward to Xew York, 
 through Philadelphia and westward to St. 
 Louis; then through nearly all the cities 
 east of the Mississippi river to Chicago, 
 and thence to Menominee. Mich., and 
 throughout the Northwest, stopping for 
 some time at Stephenson, Mich. He 
 finally settled at Bagley, Mich. , where he 
 opened a drug store and also engaged in 
 the practice of his profession. Three 
 j'ears later he was burned out. He then 
 went to Daggett, Mich., and thence came 
 to Pittsfield, \\'isconsin. 
 
 Dr. W^achenreiter was married Sep- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 961 
 
 tember 2, 1886, to the widow of Charles 
 White, who had died of consumption 
 three years previously. Mr. and Mrs. 
 White came to Pittsfield in 1874, where 
 he bought forty acres of land, now the 
 property of Mrs. Wachenreiter. He left 
 one child, Amanda May, now at home 
 and attending school. In 1889 the Doc- 
 tor and his wife settled in Flintville, 
 where he has ever since enjoyed a large 
 and increasing practice. In his politics 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 CONSTANT DAIX. Many of the 
 thrifty well-to-do citizens of 
 Brown county are natives of the 
 Kingdom of Belgium, and among 
 these we find the subject of this sketch, 
 who was born in that country February 
 19, 1838. His father, Anton Dai.x, who 
 was a farmer, died in 1847, leaving a 
 widow with nine children — six sons and 
 three daugfhters — and as soon as they 
 were old enough the children w-ere obliged 
 to assist their mother, finding employ- 
 ment principally in the thread mill and 
 coal mines in the vicinity of their home. 
 In 1865 the entire family sailed from 
 Antwerp, and after a voyage of thirteen 
 days landed in New York, from where 
 they immediately came to W'isconsin, ar- 
 riving in Green Bay on the first of June. 
 A few weeks later they purchased forty 
 acres of wild land in Bellevue township, 
 and here the mother passed the remainder 
 of her life, dying in 1879. She was 
 buried in Shantytown cemetery. In re- 
 ligion she was a member of the Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 Constant Daix was but a small boy 
 when his father died, and being put to 
 work when very young, had but little op- 
 portunit}- for an education. In 1865 he 
 came with the rest of his family to W^is- 
 consin, and here in 1868 he was united 
 in marriage with Miss Desire Goffard, also 
 a native of Belgium, who bore him five 
 children, only one of whom is living, 
 namely: May, born January 21, 1869, 
 
 now at home. The mother died Decem- 
 ber 25, 1879, and was buried in Shanty- 
 town cemetery. On May 18, 1880, Mr. 
 Daix married, for his second wife, Miss 
 Mary L. Friepond, who was born April 
 17, 1848, in Belgium, daughter of Pros- 
 per Friepond, a farmer of that country. 
 They came to the United States in 1856, 
 sailing from Antwerp, and after an ocean 
 voyage of six weeks arrived in this coun- 
 try. On landing they came at once to 
 Green Bay, Wis., reaching here August 
 3, and shortly afterward settled in Kewau- 
 nee county. 
 
 Mr. Daix has always followed farming, 
 and has met with no small degree of suc- 
 cess in his chosen pursuit; he owns 140 
 acres of excellent land in Bellevue town- 
 ship. He is also the owner of seven 
 houses in Green Bay, which he rents, and 
 in 1893 he built a brick block where he 
 now makes his home. This property has 
 all been acquired by industry and econ- 
 omy, and Mr. Daix is respected through- 
 out the township for his honest, upright 
 methods. He and his wife are Spiritual- 
 ists in religious belief. In politics he is 
 independent, voting invariably for the 
 best man, regardless of party connection. 
 
 WS, GREELY, one of the indus- 
 trious young farmer citizens of 
 Maine township, Outagamie 
 county, was born December 2, 
 1862, son of Paul Ames and Martha 
 (Stinson) Greely, both of whom were 
 born in Clinton, Maine. They reared a 
 family of eight children, viz. : Martha, 
 Forest, Rosa, W. S., Adelia, Merrit, 
 Sewell and Dora. 
 
 Our subject was a hard worker, even 
 in youth, and he early acquired habits of 
 economy and thrift. At the age of thirty 
 he was thus enabled to purchase his pres- 
 ent farm in Maine township, consisting of 
 eighty acres of good farming land, which 
 now yields him a comfortable income. 
 He has succeeded by energy and perse- 
 
962 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 verance in clearing the place, and it now 
 contains many improvements. 
 
 On November 4, 1892, Wr. Greely 
 was united in marriage with Miss Jennie 
 Shepherd, daughter of Henry and Mar- 
 garet (Penworten) Shepherd, who had a 
 family of nine children, viz. : David, 
 A\'illiam, Hattie, Flora, George, Jennie 
 (Mrs. Greely), Bert, Effie and Luella. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Greely has come one 
 child, Helen. In politics he is a stanch 
 supporter of the principles of the Repub- 
 lican party, in whose success he takes a 
 lively interest. 
 
 GEORGE H. HAWTHORNE, a 
 prosperous agriculturist of Black 
 Creek township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, is a native of New Brunswick, 
 Canada, born October 28, 1822, of Eng- 
 lish descent. John and Mary (Carruth- 
 ers) Hawthorne, his parents, were well- 
 to-do farming people, who reared a 
 family of seven children, Alexander, 
 John, George H., Johnson, William, and 
 Maria and Jane (twins), of whom but 
 four are now living. The father of these 
 died at the age of fort}' years. 
 
 When thirteen years of age George 
 H. Hawthorne commenced to work in the 
 pineries of his native country, and has 
 earned his own livelihood ever since, en- 
 gaging in lumbering for forty years. On 
 August 7, 1 85 1, he was married to Miss 
 Mary Jane Whorton, daughter of Richard 
 S. C. and Ann Angel (Grant) Whorton, 
 the former of whom was a native of 
 North Carolina, and was a sea captain for 
 many years. His family consisted of 
 thirteen children, as follows: Spencer 
 E., Phoebe Sophia, Eliza Ann, Mary 
 Ann (who died at the age of eight years), 
 William Grant, George A., John H., 
 Almira ^l., Charles, Thomas A., Mary 
 Jane, Richard E., and Samuel H. (who 
 died in infancy). In 1861 Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hawthorne removed to Fort Fairfield, 
 Maine, and there remained seven years, 
 Mr. Hawthorne engaging in the lumbering 
 
 business. In 1868 they came westward 
 to Wisconsin, locating in Grand Chute 
 township, Outagamie county, where they 
 purchased two acres of land, on which 
 they built a house and lived two years. 
 ■Removing thence to Black Creek town- 
 ship, Mr. Hawthorne worked three years 
 for his brothers-in-law, John and William 
 Whorton, and in 1871 invested in eighty 
 acres of land in its primitive state, in the 
 midst of the forest. A small space was 
 cleared and sowed to wheat, and when 
 that was harvested he erected a frame 
 dwelling, in which they have ever since 
 had their home. Mr. Hawthorne had 
 cleared 120 acres for the Whortons, and 
 he set about the clearing of his own land at 
 once, improving and cultivating the origi- 
 nal tract and in addition another forty 
 acres adjoining, which he has also pur- 
 chased, the farm comprising at present 
 120 acres of well-improved land, in a 
 high state of cultivation. 
 
 Nine children have blessed the union 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne, as follows: 
 Anna Eliza, who died at the age of ten 
 years; Mary Ada, who died in 1892, 
 leaving two children — Arnold J. and 
 Georgia A.; Celia J., Mrs. Joseph Batley, 
 of Cicero township, Outagamie county; 
 John N., who married Miss Mina M. 
 Batley, and now lives on the home farm, 
 of which he has full charge; Almira ^I., 
 wife of Dr. D. J. Townsend, of Lohr- 
 ville, Iowa; William G., a resident of 
 Black Creek. Wis.; Sophia G., Mrs. W. 
 J. Tompkins, of Elmore, Minn. ; Thomas 
 Ray, who died when nine years old, and 
 Lila F. , who lives at home. Lila F. 
 Hawthorne was educated at Ryan High 
 School, Appleton, and she subsequently 
 taught school for four years — two in Wis- 
 consin and two in Iowa, after which she 
 returned to Appleton and took a course in 
 Lawrence University. Politically Mr. 
 Hawthorne affiliates with the Republican 
 party, and has served as supervisor and 
 member of the school board. In religious 
 connection the family are members of the 
 M. E. Church at Black Creek. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BlOORAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 963 
 
 PHILIP HAWK, farmer, of Dale 
 township, Outagamie Co., comes 
 of a family of agriculturists. His 
 parents, Daniel and Katharine 
 (Franc) Hawk, were natives of Pennsyl- 
 vania, of German ancestry. In 1848 
 the}' removed to Medina county, Ohio, 
 where they died. They were members 
 of the Lutheran Church and were well 
 known and greatly respected throughout 
 that portion of the countr}'. Their fam- 
 ily consisted of eight children: Wilson, 
 of Medina county, Ohio; Ferdinand, who 
 died in the town of Dale, Outagamie Co., 
 Wis. , in 1888; James, of Tiffin, Ohio; The- 
 odore, a resident of Ashland county, Ohio; 
 Freeman, of Medina county, Ohio; Mary 
 Anne, now Mrs. John Kramer, of Medina 
 county, Ohio; Susanna, now Mrs. William 
 DeLong, of Medina county, Ohio, and 
 Philip. Mr. Hawk was a Democrat, but 
 took no active part in politics. 
 
 Our subject was born March 4, 1840, 
 in Pennsylvania, and was but eight years 
 of age when his parents moved to Ohio. 
 Having settled in a part of the country 
 which was comparatively new and con- 
 tained but few schools, he consequently 
 received but a meager education, and be- 
 sides his parents were in very straightened 
 circumstances at the time and needed his 
 help. At the age of eighteen years he was 
 appointed by the government United 
 States mail carrier between Homerville 
 and Wooster, Ohio, which position he 
 held for three years. During the Civil 
 war he enlisted in Company I, Twenty- 
 ninth Ohio V. I., and served until July, 
 1865, when he was honorably discharged; 
 he participated in the battles of Winches- 
 ter, Cedar Mountain, Chancellorsville, 
 Champion Hills, New Hawk Church, 
 Buzzard's Roost and many other minor 
 engagements. Owing to the severe ex- 
 posure to which all soldiers under march- 
 ing orders are subjected, Mr. Hawk 
 contracted rheumatism, from which he 
 suffered for over six months after his dis- 
 charge. In 1886 he came to Wisconsin, 
 locating in the township of Dale, Outa- 
 
 gamie county. Here he soon married 
 Miss Amanda Miller — daughter of Har- 
 rison and Rebecca Miller, who were also 
 natives of Pennsylvania, and of German 
 descent. Mr. and Mrs. Hawk are the 
 parents of six children: Harvey, Elmer, 
 James, Milo, Elnora and Lydia. Since 
 his marriage Mr. Hawk has followed 
 farming continuously. Politicall}' he is a 
 Democrat, and socially he is a member 
 of Francis Steffen Post No. 210, G. A. 
 R. , of Hortonville. He is a member of 
 the Presbyterian Church. He is greatly 
 respected in the community in which he 
 lives for his kindly disposition and up- 
 rightness of purpose. 
 
 DR. HERBERT C. DELANO 
 (familiarly known as "Bert" De- 
 lano), a popular, courteous and 
 successful dentist of New London, 
 is a native of that city, born November 9, 
 1 87 1, a son of Timothy and Sarah D. 
 (Keith) Delano, and is descended from 
 some of the earliest settlers of Massachu- 
 setts. He received his literary education 
 at the common and high schools of New 
 London, after which he attended the 
 Chicago College of Dental Surgery, also 
 the American College of Dental Surgery, 
 of Chicago, 111., graduating, with honors, 
 from the latter institution in 1893. Dur- 
 ing his graduating term he also studied at 
 the Chicago Postgraduate School of Pro- 
 thetic Dentistry, and within a few months 
 after graduation commenced the practice 
 of his chosen profession in his native 
 city. 
 
 Timothy Delano, father of our subject, 
 was born in Bedford, Mass. , February 
 26, 1836, a son of Ezra K. and Amelia 
 (Potter) Delano, who were of English 
 origin. Timothy was by vocation a 
 sailor, and at the commencement of the 
 Civil war entered the United States navy 
 as acting ensign on the ship ' ' San Diego, " 
 where he served with distinction through- 
 out the entire struggle, participating in 
 numerous engagements. After the close 
 
964 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of the war he came to Wisconsin, locat- 
 in.t,' in 1868 in New London, where he 
 estabhshed a sash and door manufactur- 
 ing business. This, in course of time, 
 he abandoned, and moving to Ironwood, 
 Mich. , was given the position of engineer 
 at the iron mines, continuing in same up 
 to within about eight months of his de- 
 cease, which occurred December 22, 
 1889. 
 
 On October 26, 1865, Timothy De- 
 lano and Miss Sarah D. Keith were united 
 in marriage, and three children were born 
 to them, to wit: Frederick K. , who first 
 saw the light in New Bedford, Mass. , was 
 educated in New London, Wis., worked 
 at iron mining in Ironwood, Mich., and 
 died April 3, 1887; Walter, born in New 
 London, Wis., August i, 1869, where he 
 was educated, worked in the Elora Iron 
 Mines, Michigan, and is now studying 
 dentistry; and Herbert C, the subject 
 proper of this biography. The parents 
 of Mrs. Sarah D. (Keith) Delano, Mar- 
 shall and Eliza (Davis) Keith, were natives 
 of Massachusetts, of which State the 
 Davises were very early settlers. They 
 were a long-lived family in some instances 
 — Grandfather Davis was over fourscore 
 years when he died, and Grandmother 
 Davis saw more than a century of life, a 
 veritable patriarch. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MARTIN, by his 
 many friends familiarly styled 
 "Chris," is one of the leading 
 and most progressive farmers of 
 Maple Creek township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, of which locality he has been a well 
 known resident for many years. He is a 
 native of Wisconsin, born May 13, 1859, 
 near Milwaukee. His parents were na- 
 tives of Denmark, whence they emigrated 
 to this country some twelve months be- 
 fore the breaking out of the Civil war. 
 Thay had two children. Christian, and 
 Caroline, wife of James Peterson, resid- 
 ing in Wausau, Wisconsin. 
 
 The subject of this notice received 
 
 his education at the public schools of the 
 neighborhood of his place of birth, 
 and then for about twelve years worked 
 at lumbering and river driving, after which 
 he settled on his present farm in Maple 
 Creek township, Outagamie county. He 
 has been hard-working, industrious and 
 frugal, and won for himself a solid repu- 
 tation and a good name. On September 
 4, 1883, he was married to Tena, daugh- 
 ter of Carl Widd, a native of German}-, 
 and to this union were born five children, 
 four of whom are yet living, namely: Ella, 
 Caroline, Irwin and Maurice. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Martin are members of the Lutheran 
 Church, and in his political preferences 
 he is a stanch Republican. 
 
 BERNARD RODEN. Among the 
 well-known and highly respected 
 agriculturists of Maple Creek 
 township, Outagamie county, 
 stands prominent this gentleman. He 
 was born April 12. 1854, about eight 
 miles from Milwaukee, Wis., a son of 
 John and Mar\' Eva Roden, natives of 
 Prussia, whence they emigrated to America 
 in 1846, settling in Wisconsin. 
 
 John Roden, father of our subject, 
 though a weaver by trade, was engaged 
 for the most part in farm work in this 
 country, about eight years in Lebanon 
 township, Waupaca county, afterward in 
 Outagamie county, whither he came about 
 twenty-five years ago, and in Maple Creek 
 township passed the remainder of his life, 
 dying December 22, 1889; his wife sur- 
 vived him till January 3, 1893, when she 
 too was gathered to the silent majority. 
 Their family numbers six children, all 
 yet living, namely: Susan, wife of Joseph 
 Bell, residing in Bear Creek township; 
 Mathias, in Deer Creek township; Gert- 
 rude, wife of Nicholas Wallard, residing 
 in Lebanon township, Waupaca count}'; 
 Bernard, and Joseph and John, both re- 
 siding in South Dakota. 
 
 The subject proper of this notice se- 
 cured a fairly liberal education at the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 965 
 
 public schools of his day, and was reared 
 to farming pursuits, which have been his 
 lifework, and in which he has prospered. 
 On January 9, 1876, he was married to 
 Josephine, daughter of Joseph and Sarah 
 Housey, and eight children were born to 
 them, five of whom are living, viz. : 
 George Ambrose, Henry Joseph, Jose- 
 phine, Elizabeth and Julia; Alary, Agnes 
 and Bernard are deceased. The entire 
 family are identified with the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and in his political 
 sympathies our subject is a Democrat. 
 
 CHARLES L. MILLER, of Deer 
 Creek township, Outagamie coun- 
 ty, was born in the adjoining 
 township of Bear Creek, Wau- 
 paca county, January 20, 1863. 
 
 Charles and Anna Miller, his parents, 
 were both natives of Germany, where 
 they married. About 1856 they came to 
 America, reaching Bear Creek, Wiscon- 
 sin, after a lengthy trip of thirteen weeks. 
 Here the father was employed by F. 
 M. Hyde about one year, when he pur- 
 chased eighty acres of wild land, built a log 
 house about 16 x 20 feet in dimensions, 
 into which he moved with his family, and 
 this building was their home for a num- 
 ber of years, and the birthplace of Charles. 
 Mr. Miller had an outfit of tools consist- 
 ing of an axe, a grub-hoe and a scythe, 
 and with these implements he began the 
 work of improvement. His first crop was 
 a heavy yield of fall wheat. The ex- 
 pression among old settlers that their 
 land, when first occupied, was up to that 
 time "inhabited only by bears, deer and 
 wolves," applied well in Mr. Miller's case. 
 . He afterward purchased forty acres addi- 
 tional, and the whole was cleared by him- 
 self. The only roads in those early days 
 were Indian trails, and New London was 
 the trading center. Mr. Miller, after 
 bringing his farm into excellent condition 
 and residing upon it many years, died of 
 heart trouble in 1881; his widow yet re- 
 sides on the old homestead. They had 
 54 
 
 ten children, namely: Ernst, Paulina, 
 Bertha, Emma, Mollie, Charles L. , Will- 
 iam, Edward, Louisa and Clark, of whom 
 seven are yet living, Ernst, Emma and 
 Bertha being deceased. 
 
 Charles L. Miller early obtained a 
 knowledge of farm work on the old home- 
 stead, under his father's instruction, but 
 his educational advantages were very 
 slight, and when twelve years old he went 
 into the woods to work. In 1S83 he was 
 for four months employed in the lumber 
 woods at Swamp Creek, next returning 
 home and working three months in a saw- 
 mill. He at length located at Clinton- 
 ville, where he learned the carpenter's 
 trade and built his first house. Proceed- 
 ing to Eagle Ri\er, he worked six months 
 as foreman, and then once more returned 
 to his home, where for three years he at- 
 tended to the sawmill, in which he owned 
 a share. Disposing of his interest he re- 
 mained two years on the farm, and 
 finally, after selling forty acres of land 
 which he owned, he came to Bear Creek 
 and engaged in the construction of the 
 grain elevator; finally he entered the em- 
 ploy of P. Dempsey, where he has since 
 remained. In religious faith he is a mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran Church; socially he 
 is affiliated with the Germania Society, 
 and in politics he votes with the Demo- 
 cratic party. 
 
 Mr. Miller was married, December 25, 
 1885, to Emma Shoepke, daughter of 
 Charles and Augusta Shoepke, and they 
 had four children: Bertha, now attend- 
 ing school; Robert and Earnst, both de- 
 ceased in infancy; and Laura. 
 
 M 
 
 ICHAEL WOODS (deceased) 
 
 ranked during his lifetime among 
 the wealthiest farmers and most 
 extensive landowners of Green- 
 ville township, Outagamie county, and 
 was highly repected as one of its success- 
 ful self-made men. 
 
 He was a native of the Emerald Isle, 
 born March 10, 181 7, in County Limer- 
 
966 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ick, son of Michael Woods. The family 
 were in very comfortable circumstances 
 during Michael's early boyhood, but re- 
 verses came which left them compara- 
 tively destitute, and as a consequence his 
 educational opportunities were materially 
 lessened, being limited to a brief attend- 
 ance at the common schools. During his 
 youth and early manhood he hired out as 
 a farm hand, and was also engaged in 
 boating on the river Shannon, continuing 
 thus until the spring of 1848, when he 
 came to seek his fortune in the United 
 States. Strong inducements were then 
 offered to settlers in the new Western 
 States, and Mr. Woods worked in various 
 parts of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin 
 (principally around Milwaukee), at the 
 same time keeping a sharp lookout for a 
 suitable location, and in 1853 investing in 
 a tract of wild land in the S. W. Quarter 
 of Section 12, Greenville township, Outa- 
 gamie Co., Wis. He did not settle there 
 at once, however, but returned east, and 
 on October 4, 1855, was married, in New 
 
 York City, to Miss Ellen , who is 
 
 a native of Ireland, where he had become 
 acquainted with her. He brought his 
 bride immediately to the new home in the 
 forests of Wisconsin, arriving -here No- 
 vember 12, and here were born their four 
 children, as follows: John, Michael (of 
 Grand Chute township, Outagamie Co.), 
 Joanna (deceased) and James, who lives 
 at the home place. Mrs. Ellen Woods 
 died August 16, 1864, and was buried in 
 Greenville township, and Mr. Woods sub- 
 sequently married Kate Leh, a native of 
 Cork, Ireland. He was called to his long 
 home April 12, 1892, and his remains 
 now rest in Greenville cemetery. 
 
 Mr. Woods was a good manager and 
 a successful agriculturist, at the time of 
 his death owning 425 acres of improved 
 land, all accumulated from a start of 
 nothing but a robust constitution, unfail- 
 ing energy, and a determination to make 
 a success in life. The buildings and other 
 improvements of this extensive farm were 
 all placed there by himself or members of 
 
 the family, and the result of his labors 
 shows what a young man may accomplish 
 by patience and industry. He continued 
 in good health up to within a short time 
 of his death, which was caused by "la 
 grippe." 
 
 John Woods, eldest son of this worthy 
 pioneer, was educated in the common 
 schools of his district, and was reared 
 from earliest boyhood to his father's vo- 
 cation, farming, in which he has always 
 continued. The management of the farm 
 requires all his time and attention, and 
 beyond feeling a loyal interest in the gen- 
 eral advancement and welfare of his com- 
 mimity he leaves public affairs to others. 
 Like his father, he is a stanch Demo- 
 crat in political belief, taking an interest 
 in the success of his party, and has served 
 as assessor of his township. 
 
 JOHN H. McGILLON, now a pros- 
 perous farmer of Center township, 
 Outagamie county, is a native of 
 Ireland, and was but an infant when 
 brought to this country by his parents, 
 Francis and Nancy (Malone) McGillon, 
 natives of County Tyrone, Ireland, who 
 settled in New Jersey. Francis was a 
 son of Thomas and Rose McGillon, the 
 former a school-teacher of some note, 
 both of whom died in their native county. 
 Tyrone. 
 
 Francis and Nancy McGillon were the 
 parents of seven children, of whom four 
 sons and two daughters were born in this 
 country. Francis McGillon became nat- 
 uralized soon after reaching America, and 
 cast his first presidential vote for Martin 
 Van Buren. He came west in 1851, 
 entered land with a Mexican war land . 
 warrant that he had bought for $116, and 
 here passed the remainder of his life, dy- 
 ing at the age of sixty-five. Mrs. Nancy 
 McGillon died at fifty-five years of age. 
 John H. McGillon was thirty-six years 
 of age when he left the parental roof, 
 and on September 17, 1867, married Miss 
 Catherine McNeil, a native of County 
 
COMMEMOaATIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 967 
 
 Antrim, Ireland. To this marriage have 
 been born six children, one of whom, 
 James, died at the age of seven years. 
 The others are, Anna, married to Dennis 
 McGuinness; Bernard, an artist, living at 
 home; Robert, attending college; Edward, 
 and Mary. Mr. McGillon, after his mar- 
 riage, purchased a piece of wild land, 
 which he has developed into one of the 
 best and most fruitful farms of the town- 
 ship for mixed crops, managing it himself 
 all the time. In politics he is a thorough 
 Democrat, and cast his first vote for 
 James Buchanan for President. 
 
 GEORGE W. BOON. Among the 
 early settlers of Outagamie coun- 
 ty, whose names are intimately 
 associated with its advancement, 
 and especially in Greenville township, this 
 gentleman is well and favorably known. 
 Mr. Boon was born February 20, 1 8 1 9, 
 in Bolton township, Warren Co., N. Y. , 
 son of Francis and Lois (Allen) Boon, 
 farming people. Francis Boon was a 
 native of the State of Vermont, and his 
 father, also named Francis, was a native 
 of France. Francis Boon, grandfather 
 of our subject, married a Miss Wallace, 
 whose father was a soldier in the French 
 and Indian war, and was, as the name 
 indicates, of Scotch descent. A com- 
 pass he carried during his service in 
 that struggle is now in the possession 
 Francis Boon, father 
 was a farmer in New 
 many years, and there 
 all born, as follows; 
 
 of Mr. Boon, 
 of George W. , 
 York State for 
 his family 
 
 were 
 
 Stephen K., who died in New London, 
 Canada; John A., who died on Rock 
 Island, in Lake Michigan; Dennis, who 
 died in Negaunee, Mich.; George W. , 
 whose sketch follows; Lois, who died in 
 New York at the age of five years; 
 Francis, who died in New York when 
 three years old; twins that died in in- 
 fancy; and Anna M., who was first mar- 
 ried to Christopher Dewel, and after his 
 decease to Moses Bowen fshe died in Ap- 
 
 pleton). On May 14, 1851, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Francis Boon came to Wisconsia 
 with their son George W. , and here 
 passed the remainder of their days, he 
 dying June 17, 1857, she on November 
 17, 1877; their remains rest side by side 
 in the cemetery at Stephensville, Outa- 
 gamie county. Mr. Boon was originally 
 an old-line Whig in politics, later becom- 
 ing a Republican. In religious sentiment 
 he was a Universalist. 
 
 During his early youth George W. 
 Boon was given a practical, though some- 
 what limited, education, in the country 
 district schools. He was married, March 
 I, 1840, in Jefferson county, N. Y. , to a 
 native of the State, Miss Phctbe Chase, 
 and two children blessed their union, viz. : 
 Lois A. (now Mrs. Ransom Johnson, of 
 Shawano county. Wis.) and Sarah A. 
 (Mrs. Philip Rose, of Oshkosh, Wis.). 
 This wife died July 27, 1842, and was 
 buried in Leray township, Jefferson 
 county, N. Y. On May 31, 1847, Mr. 
 Boon wedded, for his second wife. Miss 
 Charlotte A. Smith, who was born March 
 7, 1829, in St. Lawrence county, N. Y. , 
 daughter of Isborn S. Smith, and the 
 children of this marriage are as follows: 
 Francis I. and John A., farmers of Green- 
 ville township, Outagamie county. Wis. ; 
 Josephine H., Mrs. Charles W. Lent, of 
 Redwood county, Minn.; Henrietta A., 
 Mrs. Albert E. Clark, also of Redwood 
 county, Minn.; Mary C. , Mrs. Lewis 
 Hardacker, of Green Valley township, 
 Shawano county, Wis. ; and Marion 
 (twin brother of Mary C), who died 
 when one year old. In 185 1 Mr. and 
 Mrs. George W. Boon, with their family — 
 then consisting of four children — and Mr. 
 Boon's parents, came to Wisconsin, jour- 
 neying by boat to Milwaukee and thence 
 by team to Winnebago county, the trip 
 occupying about a fortnight. After a 
 short residence in that county Mr. Boon 
 purchased the N. W. Quarter of Section 
 3, Greenville township, Outagamie county, 
 paying $1.50 an acre for the land, which 
 at that early date was all in the woods. 
 
-968 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 To use a pioneer phrase, ' ' there was not 
 a stick amiss " on the place at the time it 
 came into his hands, and a few improve- 
 ments were made before the family took 
 up their home on it, in February, 1S53. 
 Their house was a frame one, built along 
 the road which led from the southern 
 part of the county to the pine woods, and 
 they had accommodations for a number 
 of the lumbermen, the income derived 
 from this source being almost all they had 
 to depend on until the farm produced 
 enough to keep them. The wild animals 
 had not yet been driven out of the region, 
 and one day two wolves chased a deer 
 into the dooryard, where they killed it. 
 
 Mr. Boon was alwa3's a thrifty, hard- 
 working man, and all the improvements 
 on his farm have been made by his own 
 hands. He still retains eighty-six acres 
 of his original purchase, having sold the 
 remainder of the quarter section to his 
 eldest son, who is engaged thereon in gen- 
 eral agriculture. Mr. Boon raised the 
 first wheat in Outagamie county that was 
 converted into merchantable flour, the 
 milling being done at the old 'Government 
 Mill at Neenah. He is one of the few 
 old pioneers of Greenville township who 
 have been spared to see its wonderful de- 
 velopment, in which he has taken no un- 
 important part, for it is to those brave 
 few who are willing to risk the dangers 
 and hardships of life in a newly opened 
 and sparsely settled country that the 
 community owes its steady advancement 
 and continued prosperity. Enjoying at 
 the present time all the comforts and con- 
 veniences of a modern country home, 
 and yet able to look back upon the early 
 days, when even the necessaries of life 
 were often lacking, he is an interesting 
 link between the past and the present of 
 this progressive community. Mr. Boon 
 has always taken a lively interest in pro- 
 moting any enterprises which have for 
 their object the advancement or welfare 
 of the public in general, and gives a ready 
 support to any worthy undertaking. His 
 fellow citizens have called him to serve 
 
 them in various capacities, and he has 
 held the offices of supervisor and justice 
 of the peace. Originally a Whig in poli- 
 tical connection, he cast his first Presi- 
 dential vote for William H. Harrison, 
 and since the birth of the Republican 
 party has supported its principles. He 
 has only missed one Presidential election. 
 
 PATRICK NEWCOMB, farmer of 
 Ellington township, Outagamie 
 county, was born July 20, 1832, 
 in South Ireland, Province of 
 Leinster, and comes of an old family who 
 came to Ireland from England in the 
 time of Cromwell. 
 
 Grandfather Thomas Newcomb was a 
 carpenter and joiner, and resided on a 
 farm which he also managed. He was a 
 man of large physique, unusually strong 
 and active. His wife was Catherine 
 Cavanaugh, a native of Ireland and a 
 direct descendant of the kings of Leinster. 
 They were both honored members of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, and lived to a 
 good old age. They had five children, 
 two sons and three daughters, namely: 
 Bernard, Ann, Catharine, Margaret and 
 Patrick. Bernard resided on the old 
 homestead, where he died at the age of 
 sixty-four years. He inherited his father's 
 large form and great strength, and was 
 well-known throughout the country round. 
 He married Miss Julia Savage, daughter of 
 Nicholas Savage, a merchant in Ireland. 
 She was a strong woman, physically and 
 mentally, and possessed many happy traits 
 of character which she transmitted to her 
 children, of whom she had ten. She lived 
 to the ripe old age of eighty-two years. 
 Her children all emigrated to America 
 with the exception of one daughter. 
 
 Patrick Newcomb was kept at school 
 until he reached his fifteenth year. He 
 then worked on his father's farm for two 
 years, after which he came to the United 
 States in company with his brother 
 Thomas and sister Margaret. They had 
 been preceded by their brother Bernard, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 969. 
 
 and their sisters Rose, Anna, Catharine 
 and Juha, who had settled first in New 
 York City, and then removed to Wiscon- 
 sin, where they located in Outagamie 
 county. Thomas, Mrs. Rose (Newcomb) 
 Clark and Margaret located in Fond du 
 Lac, Wis., where Margaret and Thomas 
 died, the latter on Januar}' 16, 1893; he 
 was a builder and \\'as well-known 
 throughout the State. Patrick Newcomb 
 commenced to learn the mason's trade, 
 but disliking the work abandoned it at 
 the end of one year. He worked two and 
 one-half years in Orange county, N. Y., 
 then coming to Outagamie county, bought 
 120 acres of land in Ellington township, 
 and located thereon. Later he added 
 twenty acres to his first purchase, and 
 now has a fine farm of 140 acres. Desir- 
 ing a change from farming he worked on 
 the Oconto river for seven years, during 
 the early part of his residence here. In 
 September, 1862, he was married to Miss 
 Mary McGillon, a daughter of Francis 
 and Nancy (Malone) McGillon, and they 
 began housekeeping on the farm. Seven 
 children were born to them, \\z. : Julia, 
 who died at the age of eighteen years; 
 Bernard F. ; John James, Mary, Katie, 
 Margaret and Thomas. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb were conspi- 
 cuous among the founders of the Roman 
 Catholic Church in Ellington, and in 
 erecting a house of worship at a later date. 
 In politics Mr. Newcomb is an adherent 
 of the Democratic party; he has been a 
 member of the township board for a num- 
 ber of years, and has been chairman of 
 that board for three years, proving an 
 efficient officer and an excellent citizen, 
 and using his influence for the right and 
 the furthering of all measures which will 
 benefit the public. 
 
 EDWARD WEST, Appleton, was 
 born in Perry county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, March 20, 1818. His 
 parents, William and Susannah 
 {>u'f Loy) West, were both natives of 
 
 arriving in Detroit on the loth of 
 
 Pennsylvania. His father was a farmer 
 and surveyor, and until his fourteenth 
 year Edward resided at home on the 
 farm, early in life assisting in such labor 
 as his age and strength would permit. In 
 1832 he was sent to the Washington 
 (Pennsylvania) College, and for three 
 years pursued his studies in that institu- 
 tion. Leaving college when about eigh- 
 teen years old he journeyed alone west 
 ward 
 April, 1836 
 
 There Mr. West was informed that 
 vessels could not pass through the Straits 
 of Mackinac for several days, owing to 
 the prevalence of ice. Being impatient 
 and an.xious to make his way to Milwau- 
 kee as rapidly as possible, he decided to 
 inake his way overland to Lake Michigan, 
 and after making arrangements with the 
 captain of a schooner to carry his trunk, 
 as soon as the straits were clear of ice, he 
 started on foot across what is now the 
 State of Michigan. The distance to St. 
 Joseph as he traveled it was about 200 
 miles. The journey was made in five 
 and a half days. He found the road 
 fairh' good the first day after leaving De- 
 troit, and the country fairly well settled. 
 Thereafter, he found few inhabitants, and 
 the road — a simple track through the 
 woods — was difficult to travel. The third 
 day was one of unpleasant experience. 
 The country \yas low and swampy and 
 contained but few inhabitants, who re- 
 sided in widely separated log cabins. 
 When night came the hungry and tired 
 traveler applied at a small cabin for per- 
 mission to stop over night. He was told 
 that there was sickness in the family and 
 it would not be convenient to accommo- 
 date him; but as there was no other place 
 for quite a long distance, he was kindly 
 offered a bed on the floor which he ac- 
 cepted. The woman of the house said 
 her husband was very sick. Mr. West, 
 upon making inquiries about the sanitary 
 condition of the country, was told that 
 the family had not lived there long, 
 but that they thought it healthy after 
 
■970 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 people lived there long enough, •• but 
 they must take a seasoning." He was 
 informed before morning that the woman's 
 husband was dead. Mr. West concluded 
 that this seasoning process was too much 
 for him. 
 
 Next morning he left the house of 
 gloom as soon as he could, intending to 
 have breakfast farther on, at a more sea- 
 sonable time and with better appetite 
 Unfortunate!}', when he became very 
 hungry he was far beyond the sparse set- 
 tlement which he had left. On and on 
 he traveled through the woods, expecting 
 every step would bring him in sight of a 
 clearing and a cabin, but none were seen 
 until about five o'clock in the evening 
 when a cleared patch and small cabin 
 were reached. There was no person in 
 sight outside or inside. The door was 
 not fastened and he walked in. A table 
 stood in about the center of the one-room 
 cabin with dinner dishes left as if two 
 persons had risen from it after dinner and 
 gone out into the woods. There was no 
 food left except two large potatoes with 
 their jackets on. They looked good and 
 tempting to the hungry young man, who 
 had traveled twenty-four hours without 
 food. He wanted the potatoes very 
 much, and stepped outside and called at 
 the top of his voice, but obtained no re- 
 sponse. He could not think of leaving 
 without the precious food, and, returning 
 to the cabin, took a potatoe in each hand 
 and departed on his journej', but for 
 some reason glanced over his shoulder 
 until his quick steps carried him out of 
 sight. The day after leaving "Potatoe 
 Hall," as Mr. West named the cabin 
 which he had left, he reached St. Joseph, 
 on the beach of Lake Michigan. There 
 he found a settlement of a few houses, 
 probably a half dozen in number, and the 
 beach was higher than the houses. 
 
 Michigan Territory at that time em- 
 braced what is now the States of Michi- 
 gan, Wisconsin, Iowa and the greater 
 part of Minnesota. Most of the territory 
 west of Lake Michigan was only partially 
 
 surveyed, and, although the land had 
 been ceded to the government by the 
 Indians, the treaty provided that until 
 the survevs were completed and the lands 
 brought into the market the Indians could 
 remain upon the lands. Therefore, upon 
 his arrival in Mil-wauk-kee, as the Indians 
 pronounced the name, the j'oung man 
 found the major portion of the inhabitants 
 consisted of tribes of aborigines; in fact 
 there were estimated to be over one hun- 
 dred Indians to each Caucasian. It was 
 not until some four or five years later that 
 the survey's were finished and the lands 
 brought into market, and during those 
 years the greater portion of the popula- 
 tion of Milwaukee and surrounding coun- 
 try was composed of Winnebago, Chip- 
 pewa, Monominee and Pottawatomie 
 Indians. 
 
 Upon the arrival in the night at the 
 mouth of the Milwaukee river of the 
 schooner upon which he had embarked at 
 St. Joseph, Michigan, Mr. West hired an 
 Indian to "canoe" him up the river to 
 the little village, which at that time con- 
 tained but one tavern, a story-and-a-half 
 building, conducted by a man named 
 Childs. Being hungry he asked for sup- 
 per, but was informed that the cook had 
 retired and therefore no food could be 
 served him. He then inquired for a bed, 
 but was also told that he could have none 
 as all were occupied. He was then furn- 
 ished with a shake-down on the floor and 
 retired to rest. He had hardly settled 
 on his blanket when several men who 
 had been in the timber, with which the 
 entire section was covered, entered the 
 room. He overheard their conversation 
 and learned that they were engaged in 
 making claims to the unpre-empted lands. 
 Being ver\' anxious to make a start as 
 soon as possible, and being almost desti- 
 tute (his entire capital consisting of $3), 
 he determined, if possible, to join these 
 men in their enterprise, and early the 
 following morning started out with them 
 for the woods. On the way out they 
 expressed regrets that the land was 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 971 
 
 unsurveyed, as it was impossible to 
 exactly locate their claims. He re- 
 marked that he had a large chest of 
 clothing and a surveyor's outfit coming 
 by the lakes as soon as the ice in 
 the straits would break up, and as soon 
 as tools were brought he would run out 
 lines. The leader of the company turned 
 around and, looking the boy over, in a 
 tone of the utmost contempt, said, "You 
 survey it ! " However, he did survey it. 
 Although Mr. West realized the situation, 
 — that he was in straightened circum- 
 stances, he did not think it a sin or dis- 
 grace to be poor, but found it to be very 
 inconvenient about making change. He 
 continued surveying the entire summer of 
 1836, enduring all the hardships that 
 were the natural sequences of wandering 
 in a new and untraveled country. Mr. 
 West's compensation was his regular $5 
 per day, and very thankfully received. 
 He also located a claim for himself four 
 miles from Milwaukee, and erected a log 
 cabin upon it. 
 
 Mr. West was his own carpenter. His 
 nearest Indian neighbors kindly helped 
 him to carry the logs from the woods, 
 and roll up the timber after he had cut it. 
 They also helped roll the short timber on 
 the bod}' of the cabin after it was raised, 
 cobbing up the gable ends; also cobbing 
 up the long light timber on which the 
 shack roof had its foundation. A shack 
 roof is made of nice black oak timber, 
 cut three feet long, rived out with a com- 
 mon frow, and then laid on timbers or 
 heavy poles, built up with the log cobbing 
 of the gable ends. The kindly Indians 
 helped him to carry and lift up the long 
 heav)- weight poles for holding the shacks 
 in place. The roof was built without a 
 nail. He made a puncheon floor of nice 
 sound and straight basswood trees, rang- 
 ing from twelve to sixteen inches in diam- 
 eter, cut the desired length and split 
 through the center and laid flat side up. 
 His friend, Chief Menominee, called to- 
 gether enough able-bodied Indians to go 
 through the woods and pick up the split 
 
 basswood and carry it to the cabin floor. 
 His Indian neighbors had at three or four 
 times rendered material aid in such work 
 as Mr. West could not do alone. His 
 nearest white neighbor was four miles 
 distant. It is true Indian labor is inex- 
 perienced and consequently somewhat 
 awkward, but the assistance rendered by 
 them was thankfully received. As a re- 
 ward for their assistance, Mr. West pur- 
 chased a barrel of flour and placed it in 
 the hands of his friend, Menominee, to be 
 divided equally among the families of 
 those Indians who had assisted him. He 
 built his chimney on the outside and lined 
 it with mortar made of clay and chopped 
 wild grass mixed with the mortar. He made 
 his own furniture — a bedstead and table 
 hewn out of rough timber. His bedding 
 consisted of wild hay covered with 
 blankets. He kept bachelor's hall and 
 began to till the soil of his claim; also 
 fenced seven acres, cutting the rails and 
 poles and carrying them on his back from 
 all over the clearing to fence out Indian 
 ponies — for they were commoners, and 
 owned by the neighboring tribes. 
 
 He was surrounded on all sides by 
 Indian neighbors, and soon learned to 
 understand and speak the language of 
 the four tribes, namely: the Winnebagoes, 
 Chippewas, Pottawatomies, and Menomi- 
 nees; and was treated in a most friendly 
 manner by the wild men, whom he always 
 found peaceably disposed unless under 
 the influence of "firewater." He de- 
 termined to plant some potatoes in his 
 field; purchased and shipped enough seed 
 from Cleveland, Ohio, $3 per bushel, to 
 plant about one-eighth of an acre, carry- 
 ing them on the back of his Indian pony, 
 with pack-saddle, from Milwaukee to his 
 home. When he had finished planting 
 he received a friendly call from ' ' Meno- 
 minee," chief of the Menominee tribe, 
 and was invited to accompany him on a 
 hunting expedition. Inviting the chief to 
 dine with him, he prepared a meal from 
 his store of provisions, and seated at the 
 rough table, they ate heartilj'. He had 
 
973 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 some tea, the first that the chief had ever 
 tasted, and he afterward became very 
 fond of the beverage. Upon his return 
 froni the hunt he discovered to his dis- 
 may that the Indians, during his absence, 
 had dug up his seed potatoes and carried 
 them away. Menominee was very angry 
 and would have inflicted severe punish- 
 ment upon the guilty persons if he could 
 ha^■e discovered who they were. 
 
 Immigration to Wisconsin was com- 
 paratively speaking quite large, and the 
 village of Milwaukee grew quite rapidl}' 
 in population. The only schools in the 
 Territory up to the fall of 1837 were paro- 
 chial or private schools, and as the num- 
 bers of the inhabitants increased, it was 
 deemed advisable to found a public school. 
 One day during the early fall, Mr. West 
 was visited at his claim by trustees, and 
 was tendered the position of public-school 
 teacher by them. He accepted, and as 
 soon as a building was erected entered 
 upon his duties, thus becoming the first 
 teacher of the first public school of Wis- 
 consin Territory. He was known as the 
 "boy teacher," because of his youthful 
 appearance. His scholars numbered forty 
 during the first year, but the ne.xt year 
 they were increased by several new comers 
 and he then had an enrollment of seventy 
 (about one-half of both se.xes as old and 
 older than himself). There were not 
 enough books to go round among the pu- 
 pils, and scarcely any two of those avail- 
 able were alike. Moreover, no school- 
 books were to be had nearer than Detroit, 
 a long journey distant, by the lakes. 
 Night after night he labored in the school- 
 room until midnight, setting copies for 
 the next day, making and mending quill 
 pens for the whole school, and laying out 
 tasks for the various classes. His re- 
 muneration was $60 a month. 
 
 In those days most men's word w-as 
 as good as their bond, and while teach- 
 ing school he was offered a one-half sec- 
 tion claim for $60. He borrowed the 
 money and purchased it, giving no note 
 to the lender, nor receiving any acknowl- 
 
 edgment from the seller. The lands had 
 not been placed upon sale by the Govern- 
 ment, and to protect themselves against 
 land speculators the pioneers organ- 
 ized an association and framed laws for 
 their self-protection, until the lands 
 should be brought into the market. One 
 of the regulations of the " club laws, " re- 
 quired all claim-holders to do $50 worth 
 of work, within a year, on each quarter- 
 section held, unless more than one quarter- 
 section lay in a body, in which case all 
 the work for the additional ones could be 
 done on an\' one of them. (Claimants 
 were protected to the amount of one sec- 
 tion of landj. To fulfill this requirement, 
 Mr. West, in the fall of 1838, went upon 
 the claim he had purchased while teaching 
 school. He baked up the last of his 
 flour in his cabin, and, adding mashed 
 potatoes to the dough, baked bread of 
 flour and potatoes. Tying this in one end 
 of a bag and placing his last piece of pork 
 in the other, he tied the sack on the back 
 of his Indian pony, and traveling through 
 the woods reached his claim on Root 
 river, twelve miles from the village of 
 Milwaukee. Upon his arrival he stopped 
 with a man known as "Pioneer" Smith, 
 who had a claim near his, and from 
 whom he had purchased his claim. He 
 was heartily welcomed by Mr. Smith and 
 invited to reside with him, and was in- 
 formed that relatives of Mr. Smith, who 
 had dwelt with him. had been starved out 
 and returned to Indiana. Pioneer Smith 
 had just begun to use his potatoes, and 
 their fare consisted of new potatoes, and, 
 while it lasted, the bread and pork that 
 Mr. West had brought with him. About 
 that time the stock of flour in Milwaukee 
 became exhausted and at no price could 
 any be obtained, and the inhabitants of 
 the village and the surrounding territory, 
 to a great extent, were forced to exist 
 upon potatoes during the time of the 
 great flour famine. For two months Mr. 
 West and his companions tasted no 
 bread. The country had been cleared of 
 game b}' the Indians and their only food 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 973 
 
 was potatoes. One midnight in Novem- 
 ber two sons of a neighbor, a Kentuckian 
 named Howard, who resided two miles 
 distant and was their nearest neighbor, 
 awakened them at their cabin about mid- 
 night and informed then: that their father 
 had returned from Milwaukee with a 
 barrel of flour, a cargo of which had ar- 
 rived that afternoon, and that their 
 mother was then baking bread and de- 
 sired them to come over and partake. 
 They most willingly complied, jumped 
 out of bed and dressed with haste and 
 thankfulness. Upon their arrival at the 
 Howard home they found Mrs. Howard 
 baking short-cake in a tin reflector at the 
 flre-place. As soon as one batch was 
 baked, another was put in the reflector, 
 and the half-famished beings ate the de- 
 licious food. Mr. West has always con- 
 sidered this the sweetest feast he ever 
 attended. Mr. and Mrs. Howard retired 
 after sufficient bread had been eaten, but 
 the young people of the family and Mr. 
 West and Pioneer Smith remained up all 
 night holding a jollification over the 
 short-cake. Flour at that time sold for 
 $25 a barrel, but even at that price was 
 exceedingly scarce for some months, and 
 if Mr. Howard had not happened to be in 
 Milwaukee that very day, it is doubtful if 
 his family or Mr. West would have tasted 
 bread for another long period. Mr. 
 Howard had gone to Afilwaukee in the 
 morning, driving through the timber with 
 an ox team, arrivijig there about noon. 
 A vessel was seen in the distance on the 
 lake. All were on the alert for flour, 
 and had almost given up hoping for the 
 arrival of Capt. Blake, who had promised 
 to bring a cargo. Finally the vessel ar- 
 rived in the baj', and it proved to be 
 commanded by Capt. Blake and loaded 
 with flour. The vessel had been carried 
 by Milwaukee in a storm and put into 
 Chicago, where Capt. Blake had been 
 offered a large profit on his cargo; but 
 having promised to bring it to Milwaukee 
 he sailed back as soon as he could get 
 out and gladdened the hearts of the resi- 
 
 dents of the village by his arrival. Mr. 
 Howard knew that the flour would be all 
 sold as soon as it arrived, and he there- 
 fore waited all day, until he found an op- 
 portunity to purcfiase a barrel. Then he 
 journeyed homeward at night through 
 the timber, arriving after midnight. 
 
 A full and complete history of the 
 events of Mr. West's career, during the 
 pioneer days, would of themselves fill a 
 large volume. A few interesting incidents 
 are herein cited to illustrate to future 
 generations the hardships endured by the 
 pioneers who laid the foundations of the 
 great Northwestern empire. Pioneer 
 Smith's cabin was a rudely constructed 
 log house. It had two doors, ^ one hung 
 on hinges, the other placed loosely 
 against the opening in the wall. A half 
 barrel of pickles that had been put up 
 by Mr. Smith's sister-in-law, before she 
 and her husband returned to Indiana, 
 was placed upon a bench against the 
 door. Pioneer Smith was a religious 
 man, and nightly fell on his knees and 
 prayed to Almighty God. One night, 
 while prostrated in the act of praying, a 
 severe wind storm suddenly arose and 
 carrying the door before it scattered the 
 pickles and brine all over the floor. Mr. 
 West jumped to his feet and said, "Pray 
 on. Smith, and I'll pick up the pickles." 
 Smith discontinued praying, got up, and 
 sitting with his hands over his face said, 
 "West, 3-ou're a hard case." Although 
 provisions were expensive the cost was 
 slight compared with the difficulty of 
 transporting them to the claim. At one 
 time, having purchased a barrel of flour 
 for $25, Mr. West loaded it into an 
 Indian canoe, and paddled it up the 
 Menominee river; the canoe was capsized 
 b\' the wind, the boat going one way and 
 the barrel of flour the other, and Mr. 
 West between them. Finding himself 
 unable to save both the canoe and flour, 
 he let the former go, and swimming with 
 the barrel guided it down the stream. 
 He was assisted out of the water, at 
 Walker's Point, and reloading the barrel 
 
974 
 
 COMMEMOEATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 on another canoe, or Indian dugout, 
 paddled up the Menominee. About a 
 mile and a half below his cabin, his pro- 
 j^ress was interrupted by trees which had 
 been thrown across the stream as bridges, 
 and he was forced to land and carry his 
 flour home. He had provided himself 
 with a sack in Milwaukee, and carried 
 the flour from the barrel to his claim, 
 making three trips backward and forward, 
 each time covering the barrel with boughs 
 and leaves to hide it from the Indians. 
 At another time he left an unopened 
 barrel of flour at his home while he went 
 away, and returning at night heard a 
 crackling sound, which he believed was 
 caused by Indians opening the barrel. 
 Coming close, cautiously and silently, he 
 discovered that wolves were breaking 
 some bones that he had thrown out of his 
 cabin door. In the fall of 1836, while he 
 was at \\'alker"s Point, an Indian who 
 was on the eve of departure to a distant 
 point became into.xicated, with his friends, 
 and forced his attentions upon all who 
 were about him. Mr. West was busy, and 
 being pressed for time refused to bother 
 with him. The Indian became angry and 
 abusive. Some bystanders called to Mr. 
 West to look out, but before he could 
 move away the Indian began stabbing 
 him, inflicting three wounds, one in the 
 face, one in the body and one in the 
 thigh, the latter a most serious wound 
 several inches in length. The scars of 
 these wounds are still visible. 
 
 In 1837 Mr. West started out in charge 
 of a surveying party, employed to operate 
 in the western part of the Territory of 
 Wisconsin. The part}' consisted of sev- 
 eral men, and the provisions, tents, 
 blankets and other utensils were carried 
 on the back of Indian ponies; each pony 
 was provided with an Indian pack-saddle. 
 They proceeded along in Indian fashion, 
 in single file. The pony in the rear was 
 very heavily loaded with the provisions. 
 They journeyed through dense timber 
 without guides all day, until at dusk they 
 reached the Fo.\ river, at a point near 
 
 what is now Mukwonago. The Fo.\ ri\er 
 divided the timber from the prairie open- 
 ings, and fording the stream they en- 
 camped on the west side of the river. 
 When crossing at the ford the pony that 
 carried the provisions was missed, and 
 supposing that it had merely stepped out 
 of the trail to browse, a man was sent 
 back to hunt it. He returned without 
 discovering a trace of the lost animal. 
 That night Mr. West and his company 
 retired supperless. He carried with him 
 for his ponies some damaged cornmeal, 
 which he moistened and placed before 
 them on the ground. The ponies sniffed 
 at it but refused to eat it, mussing it some 
 and then leaving it to eat the grass. 
 They continued their journey the next 
 da}', leaving a man to find the pony and 
 catch up with them. At night the man 
 arrived and brought the doleful informa- 
 tion that the pony was lost. This left 
 no alternative but to return to Milwau- 
 kee. They started back, after being 
 without food for two nights and two days. 
 Arriving where they had camped the pre- 
 vious night, they gathered up from the 
 ground the sour meal that the ponies had 
 refused to eat, and mixing a dough there- 
 from, baked it and enjoyed their repast. 
 When he reached Milwaukee Mr. West 
 related his experiences to Solomon Jun- 
 eau, the Indian trader, whose wife was an 
 Indian woman, and who was the Indians' 
 confidant. Mr. Juneau sent out Indian 
 runners to look for the pony, which 
 proved to have been stolen. Mr. West 
 offered a reward, and a few days later an 
 Indian came in and stated he had found 
 a pony, which proved to be the one that 
 had been stolen. The provisions and 
 pack-saddle, however, had disappeared. 
 It was afterward discovered that the In- 
 dians had hid in the thicket, and after 
 the surveying company had passed by 
 them, they caught the bridle of the last 
 pony and took it with them. Mr. West 
 made another start, and successfully sur- 
 veyed the territory to which he was sent. 
 In December, 1838, he started on an 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOORArmCAL RECORD. 
 
 975 
 
 expedition, and had arrived at a point 
 "near where Fort Atkinson is now located, 
 when he was severely attacked with rheu- 
 matism, so started to walk back to Mil- 
 waukee, and being anxious to reach there 
 as soon as possible, tra\eled quite late 
 into the night, guiding himself by the 
 stars, through the forest and over the 
 prairies. He had proceeded to within 
 five or six miles of where Waukesha is 
 now built, when he heard the report of a 
 gun. Being unable to account for the 
 shot, knowing no one resided in that sec- 
 tion, he at once changed his course, and 
 went in the direction of the sound. He 
 found a family of three — man, woman 
 and child — in a sled pulled by two yoke 
 of steers, and a young fellow trying to 
 drive them, who with his steers and sled 
 was hired to take them to Milwau- 
 kee. The weather was extremely cold, 
 and they were all enduring such intense 
 suffering that they were at the point of 
 giving up in despair. In response to his 
 inquiry they replied that they had been 
 living on the east side of Wisconsin river, 
 and were trying to reach Milwaukee. 
 They had, however, lost their bearings, 
 and were journeying in an opposite direc- 
 tion! The man's feet were frozen and he 
 was helpless; the steers were exhausted 
 and refused to climb a hill that was be- 
 fore them; the boy driver was equally 
 discouraged. As a last resort they dis- 
 charged their gun, thereby hoping to at- 
 tract attention to them. Mr. West got 
 the steers turned and headed in the right 
 direction, and helped them along until 
 they reached a haystack in a marsh and 
 a fallen tree near by, when he built a fire 
 and made them as comfortable as possi- 
 ble. He mounted the body of the tree, 
 and, axe in hand, began chopping off the 
 limbs for fuel. The night was clear and 
 bitterly cold, and the sound of the axe 
 resounded clearly and distinctly for a great 
 distance. About one mile further on a 
 young man resided on his claim. Hear- 
 ing the sound of the axe he came to the 
 door and saw the fire. He immediately 
 
 started on his horse to investigate, and 
 upon his arrival invited them to his cabin, 
 riding ahead to prepare a fire on his 
 hearth. Before Mr. West and the suffer- 
 ers reached the hospitable bachelor's 
 home, a small but deep stream, which 
 the steers refused to cross, interrupted 
 their progress. Being unable to success- 
 fully urge them over, Mr. West took the 
 disabled man from under his blankets on 
 his back, and carried him some fifty rods 
 to the house. He then immediately got 
 a bucket of spring water, and placed the 
 frozen feet therein. Food and lodging 
 were furnished there, and the next day 
 they proceeded safely to Milwaukee. 
 Owing to Mr. West's assistancetheir lives 
 were saved, as they would certainly have 
 perished unless succored. 
 
 For several years after the events nar- 
 rated Mr. West was engaged in surveying 
 the western part of Milwaukee county 
 (now Waukesha county), and in 1842 he 
 took up a farm in that county at a place 
 called Summit, and followed farming and 
 surveying there until 1845. In that year 
 he located on a 400-acre tract of land 
 that he had purchased of the government, 
 and put in a large crop of fall wheat, 
 which he sold for $1 a bushel on the farm 
 to new settlers, as soon as it could be 
 threshed. In 1852 he leased his farm, 
 with a large stock of cattle and sheep, for 
 a term of seven years, and moved to Ap- 
 pleton, which at that time was a small 
 village. He purchased one hundred 
 acres on the north boundary of the vil- 
 lage, on which he resided for two years, 
 later selling part of it for fair ground and 
 other purposes. In January, 1855, he 
 purchased 533 acres of land in the city of 
 Appleton, on the south side of Fox river, 
 including Grand Chute island, and later 
 made other purchases of city real estate. 
 He has always been public-spirited and 
 enterprising, and has ever been in sym- 
 pathy with all enterprises organized 
 that would add to the material worth 
 of the city, and has financially in- 
 vested in various manufacturing com- 
 
97 
 
 76 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 panics to aid in making their estab- 
 lishments successful. He was one of the 
 first to forsee the great advantages to be 
 derived from the water-power at this 
 point. When in 1855 he purchased the 
 large tract of wild land (which included 
 Grand Chute islandj he knew that a por- 
 tion of the purchase would soon become 
 very valuable, because of its water-power 
 privileges. He at once began improving 
 the flow of water at the upper portion of 
 the island in a small way, and opened up 
 a water-power by constructing a dam 
 across the south channel, and selling some 
 water-power lots. The island was cov- 
 ered with a growth of very large sugar 
 maples principally, which he cleared off, 
 and in 1857 the first manufacturing 
 plants — a machine shop and woolen mill 
 were established. In 1S5S he dug a small 
 canal about 300 feet in length, which 
 furnished the power for a woolen mill and 
 a hub and spoke factory. In the spring 
 of 1 870 he began digging the grand canal, 
 through nearly the entire length of the 
 island. He began operations April i, 
 1S70, employing 130 men and twenty- 
 nine teams, one half of the teams being 
 from the neighboring villages, Neenah, 
 Menasha and the town of \'inland, Win- 
 nebago county. In the latter part of 
 December the work was completed and 
 the city of Appleton furnished with suf- 
 ficient water-power to place her in the 
 first rank of the manufacturing cities of 
 the Northwest. The work was under 
 Mr. West's supervision from the start to 
 its completion, his early education in civil 
 engineering enabling him to conduct it in 
 all branches in a most satisfactory man- 
 ner. The construction of the grand canal 
 was without doubt the most important of 
 all Appleton's improvements, and as long 
 as the water flows down the Fox river the 
 canal, with its manufacturing establish- 
 ments, will be a living monument to its 
 enterprising builder. After this great un- 
 dertaking was completed the citizens of 
 Appleton held a mass meeting and testi- 
 fied to their appreciation of Mr. West's 
 
 efforts to benefit the city. Appropriate 
 speeches were made and a silver tea ser- 
 ^■ice, bearing the following inscription, 
 ' • Presented to Edward West by the citi- 
 zens of Appleton as a token of their ap- 
 preciation of his enterprise in building the 
 Grand Chute island canal," was presented 
 to him. Letters of congratulation were 
 received from Governor Lucius Fairchild, 
 Col. C. D. Robinson and Hon. Hiram 
 Barney. Hon. A. L. Smith, then mayor 
 of Appleton, presented the silver service 
 and mads the following brief remarks: 
 "It is not my intention to try and add to 
 the interest of this occasion by indulging 
 in a speech, but on the part of the citi- 
 zens of Appleton congregated here we 
 owe to Mr. West a just recognition. 
 .Among the events of great usefulness to 
 Appleton which have transpired during 
 the past year, not the least is the im- 
 provement just completed. I, therefore, 
 sir, do most heartily congratulate you, in 
 behalf of the citizens of .\ppleton, that 
 your long and an.xious labors are ended; 
 that the purpose you have had so long in 
 view is now an accomplished and realized 
 fact. Without exception we all earnestly 
 hope that where you have sowed so liber- 
 ally you may reap abundantly. The 
 courage necessary to enter upon such a 
 work, and the faith demanded to carry it 
 through, would have appalled many a 
 stout heart; and it is, sir, prompted bj' a 
 consideration of these, and the great use- 
 fulness of the work, that the citizens of 
 Appleton have made it my pleasant duty 
 to present \ou with this service of silver, 
 as a slight testimonial of their appreciation 
 of the public spirit that has carried you 
 through \our labors. This is not to be 
 considered b}' anv means as commensur- 
 ate with their --ideas of the importance of 
 the improvement, but we hope it will be 
 received in the spirit it is given, and the 
 monument which you have erected on 
 Grand Chute island will be a lasting tes- 
 timonial to you as a public benefactor, and 
 perpetuate your name in grateful memory 
 so long as the city of Appleton exists." 
 
COMMEMORA TI I 'E BWGRAPUICA L RECORD. 
 
 977 
 
 Mr. West responded as follows: " Mr. 
 President and Mayor of the city of Apple- 
 ton: — To me this is quite as unexpected 
 as it is unmerited. I can hardly find 
 words adequate to e.xpress my thanks to 
 you and to my fellow citizens for the aid 
 that has been so freely and liberally ex- 
 tended during the progress of the im- 
 provement, and for the sympathy, kind- 
 ness and appreciative spirit that have been 
 manifested in so many different ways for 
 what I, in my humble endeavors, have, 
 through the aid and interposition of a 
 kind and overruling Providence, been able 
 to accomplish. Such demonstrations of 
 encouragement, such lively interest taken 
 by our citizens in the development of our 
 great natural resources, is not only laud- 
 able in itself but it augurs good for a 
 bright future in store for Appleton. It 
 more than compensates me for all the 
 hardships and anxiety of mind I have un- 
 dergone — for the days of trial and nights 
 of sleeplessness during the year just 
 passed. As canal diggers are not speech 
 makers, I will not be so presumptuous as 
 to attempt such an infliction upon you, 
 but come right to the point and acknowl- 
 edge a deep sense of gratitude, and ten- 
 der my humble, sincere thanks to you 
 and through 3'ou to my kind and appreci- 
 ative friends and fellow citizens of Apple- 
 ton. These to me are tokens of regard 
 and kindly feeling. They are evidences 
 of disinterested friendship and apprecia- 
 tion. As such they will ever be prized 
 and cherished by me." In a great many 
 other directions has Mr. West added to 
 the material prosperity of the city, and he 
 has invested over $100,000 in improve- 
 ments, which will be of permanent ben- 
 efit to Appleton and its citizens. Polit- 
 ically, Mr. West affiliates wtth the Repub- 
 lican party, but is in no sense a politician, 
 believing that in all cases the best men 
 should be elected to positions of trust. 
 He was married in September, 1865, to 
 Miss A. Mary Fenno, a daughter of Lio- 
 nell Udell Fenno and A. Melvina Fenno, 
 nee Dutcher. They have one child living. 
 
 a daughter, Nellie M., wife of Frank 
 Crombie Studley, M. D., of Milwaukee. 
 Another daughter, Tina Bell, died in in- 
 fancy. Mrs. West was born in Wauke- 
 gan, 111. Her paternal ancestry was of 
 French origin, her maternal ancestry 
 English. She is fond of art and litera- 
 ture, and has labored with a devotion 
 born of love to master the art of paint- 
 ing. Her work is full of expression, 
 and by connoisseurs much of it is 
 pronounced of a very high order. She 
 shrinks from publicly exhibiting any 
 of her work, but in years to come, 
 probably after this generation has 
 been succeeded by others, her paint- 
 ings will be classed, as they should be, 
 among the works of acknowledged merit. 
 Mr. West's biography is replete with 
 incidents that illustrate clearly the condi- 
 tion of the Northwest more than half a 
 century ago. His life has been most ac- 
 tive and the hardships he has passed 
 through would have discouraged any but 
 a man of great force and of stout heart. 
 His career should serve as a lesson to the 
 young and prove to them that hard and 
 steady work, combined with honor and 
 integrity, are the forces of success. He 
 is now seventy-seven years of age, but in 
 appearance much younger. His physique 
 is robust and his health perfect. He has 
 never indulged in the use of tobacco or 
 ardent spirits, and his present physical 
 vigor is undoubtedly due to this fact. 
 
 COLONEL GABRIEL BOUCK. 
 Talent is something, but tact is 
 everything. Talent is serious, 
 sober, grave and respectable; tact 
 is all that and more, too. It is not a 
 sixth sense, but it is the life of all the 
 five. It is the interpreter of all riddles, 
 the surmounter of all difficulties, the 
 remover of all obstacles. Talent is 
 power, tact is skill; talent is weight, tact 
 is momentum. Talent knows what to do; 
 tact knows how to do it, and for all the 
 practical purposes of life, when under the 
 
97S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPBICAL JiECOIW. 
 
 sway of such men as Col. Bouck, tact 
 carries the day against talent ten to one. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born 
 December i6, 1828, in Fultonham, Scho- 
 harie Co., N. Y. , of sturdy Holland- 
 Dutch ancestry who about the year 17 10 
 came to this country, and settled in the 
 Schoharie Valley, which locality was 
 peopled mainly by Germans from the 
 Palatinate of Germany, and Dutch, some 
 of the latter coming from the vicinity of 
 New York, others direct from Holland. 
 Great-grandfather Bouck (who spelled the 
 name " Bauck") lies buried in Fultonham, 
 N. Y. As were his ancestors before him, 
 he was a lifelong follower of the plough, 
 industrious and prosperous. His son. 
 Christian, inherited the old Bouck home- 
 stead, in Schoharie county, N.Y. , and suc- 
 ceeded his father in agricultural pursuits. 
 He died at the advanced age of eighty 
 years, hardy and healthy to the last, in 
 that respect not differing from the family 
 in general, who were a long-lived race. 
 
 Christian had two sons, \\'illiam C. 
 and Joseph, the first named, originally a 
 farmer, becoming a prominent actor in 
 the arena of politics in the State of 
 New York. Of his county he was sher- 
 iff at one time, and he filled several 
 minor offices in a manner that could not 
 fail to gain for him the respect and es- 
 teem of the community. A member of 
 the Legislature several terms, he was a 
 potent factor in the construction of the 
 canals in that part of the State, having 
 succeeded in securing the appointment of 
 canal commissioners (of which body he 
 himself was a member till 1838), and 
 getting the necessary measures passed 
 through the Legislature. His popularity 
 was unbounded, for he was recognized as 
 a political power in his day, and no man 
 was better known in his State. In 1840, 
 during the Harrison campaign of "Tippe- 
 canoe and Tyler, too, " he ran for gov- 
 ernor, and although non-elected, he was 
 in nowise disheartened, for two years 
 later he ran again, this time with success, 
 being elected by the Democrats; and it is 
 
 said of him, as a trueism, that "he made 
 a good governor." In the constitutional 
 convention of 1844 he made his voice 
 heard with substantial results, and it was 
 ever raised in behalf of the State he 
 represented, and its people. The next 
 public office he held was that of sub- 
 treasurer of the city of New York, the 
 first one to be appointed to such office, 
 and this incumbency he held until the 
 Whigs came into power, when he retired 
 to the quietude of his farm, passing the 
 rest of his days " far from the madding 
 crowd," in private retirement. He re- 
 ceived but an ordinary public-school edu- 
 cation, yet for half a century he was a 
 leading spirit in his county, and during 
 his service in the Legislature his deport- 
 ment was dignified, his demeanor at all 
 times conciliatory to the opposing fac- 
 tion. Honest and straightforward, simple 
 in manner, he was yet a giant in the man- 
 agement of the affairs of the people of 
 his county and State that were so justly 
 proud of him ; for he was a power among 
 the people. A man of brawn and brain, 
 a veritable civic Napoleon, he was hon- 
 ored and revered by all who knew him. 
 He belonged to the New York regency, 
 more especially, perhaps, to the Albany 
 regency, which embraced some of the 
 brainiest men of his day, and such men 
 as Marcy, Van Buren, Croswell and other 
 leading Democrats were his associates 
 and friends. He died at the old home- 
 stead in I 8 58, at the age of seventy -three 
 years, rugged, hale and hearty to the 
 latest. His farm, or plantation, com- 
 prised 600 acres, was chiefly worked by 
 slaves who were eventually liberated by 
 their owners. In religious faith he was 
 a Lutheran, and he was a strict church- 
 man. 
 
 William C. Bouck was married to 
 Miss Catherine Lawyer, also descended 
 from a hardy race of Hollanders, with an 
 infusion of Teutonic blood. She was a 
 remarkable character, and a fit helpmeet 
 for such a man, though in some charac- 
 teristics the very antithesis of her hus- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 979 
 
 band, beinp quick and aggressive, while 
 he was more phlegmatic and conserva- 
 tive. Yet she was possessed of all the 
 graces of her sex, gentle in both manner 
 and speech, and had a charm in her man- 
 ner that attracted all with whom she 
 came in contact; her hospitality was un- 
 bounded, and she was often the center 
 figure of large groups of friends gathered 
 around her, and also her husband, whom 
 they both loved and esteemed. She 
 passed away at the age of seventy-three 
 years, a consistent member of the Luth- 
 eran Church, one who had great influence 
 in her surroundings, and dwelt in an at- 
 mosphere of charity and benevolence. 
 To Gov. Bouck and his wife were born 
 eight children — five sons and three daugh- 
 ters — a record- of them in brief being as 
 follows: James Madison was an attorney 
 in Schenectady, N. Y. ; Joseph, at one 
 time a farmer, later was a resident of 
 New York City; Christian, sometime a 
 merchant, in later life was president of a 
 Brooklyn Insurance Company; Gabriel 
 will be more fully spoken of immediately; 
 Charles is farming on the old homestead; 
 Catherine was married to Erskine Dan- 
 forth, Caroline to Dr. Volney Danforth, 
 and Anna to Lyman Sanford. 
 
 Col. Gabriel Bouck, the subject proper 
 of this memoir, is a typical son of such 
 parentage, inheriting something from 
 each, in stature and temperament taking 
 more after his mother. He received his 
 academic education in part at Hartwick, 
 in part at Schoharie, and in part at Al- 
 bany (where Dr. Beck was president), 
 which, in itself a thorough foundation, 
 was supplemented with a course at Union 
 College, New York, where he graduated 
 in the class of 1847. At the conclusion 
 of his collegiate course he commenced the 
 study of law in the office, in Binghamton, 
 N. Y., of Daniel S. Dickson, but at the 
 end of a year, in September, 1848, he 
 came west to Wisconsin, and in Mil- 
 waukee studied law another year. In 
 September, 1849, he moved to Oshkosh, 
 where he at once " hung out his shingle," 
 
 and commenced the practice of general 
 law, laying the foundation of the most 
 prosperous and lucrative clientage in the 
 town and surrounding country. He has 
 had three partners since he began — G. 
 W. Washburn for a few years; then M. 
 A. Edmunds, and lastly, commencing in 
 1888, George Hilton — and has been in 
 continuous practice ever since with the 
 exception of the time he was absent at 
 the seat of war during the Rebellion, a 
 record of which service will be given 
 presently. 
 
 Law naturally led our subject into 
 politics, and he has been a politician from 
 his youth as a Democrat of the purest 
 type. In the fall of 1857 he was elected, 
 on that ticket, to the office of attorney 
 general, serving two years; in i860 he 
 was elected to the Legislature, and re- 
 elected in 1873, being speaker of the 
 House in 1874. In 1876-78 he served in 
 Congress, and although his District was 
 strongly Republican, yet he carried it by 
 a majority of 3000, Tilden getting about 
 1000 majority. Col. Bouck, while repre- 
 senting his constituency, never once lost 
 sight of the interests of his party and the 
 people at large. In the Legislature he 
 fought the Granger law to the death, and 
 never sheathed his sword till the obnox- 
 ious bill had been repealed. That was 
 one of the most noted sessions held in 
 the State, and was known as the 
 " Granger Legislature." In i860 he was on 
 the Judiciary committee, and during that 
 session he introduced a law (which was 
 passed) giving to the laborers in the log- 
 ging and lumber regions a lien on the logs 
 cut, without reference as to who owned 
 them. This law is still extant, and 
 though a somewhat remarkable one has 
 been introduced all over the State, and 
 followed up on all kinds of matter per- 
 taining to timber, lumber or bark. It 
 was an immense benefit to the laboring 
 lumberer, and the Colonel's services were 
 so highly appreciated that their influence 
 was substantially felt at subsequent elec- 
 tions. He is fearless and independent, 
 
980 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 plain, blunt and outspoken; but at heart 
 he is pure gold, tender as a woman, 
 withal an "up and up" man, one that 
 can neither be bought nor sold. The 
 longer he is known, the more warmly is 
 he esteemed, respected and admired, for 
 under a stern demeanor he conceals a 
 kindly, generous and charitable nature. 
 Everybody who has ever had any deal- 
 ings with him is aware that he means pre- 
 cisely what he says, and says precisely 
 what he means. 
 
 In April, 1861, Col. Bouck raised the 
 first company in Oshkosh assigned to the 
 Second Wis. W I., of which he was made 
 captain; in April, 1862, he was trans- 
 ferred to the Eighteenth Wis. V. I., as 
 colonel. At the close of his term of ser- 
 vice, three }-ears, he resigned and honor- 
 ably retired on his laurels, having rendered 
 efficient ser\ice as a loyal and brave offi- 
 cer. Among the many engagements in 
 which he participated may be mentioned 
 the battle of Bull Run; siege of Corinth; 
 battles of Raymond, Jackson, Champion 
 Hill, and Black River Bridge; siege of 
 Vicksburg, and the battle of Missionary 
 Ridge. In addition to all these he was 
 in numerous skirmishes while in Grant's 
 army, seeing as much service as an\' man 
 who went to the front, and, probably, a 
 good deal more than man}- of the officers. 
 His popularity and influence in the State 
 were put to a practical test when it came 
 to raising a company of volunteers for 
 active service; when a captain authorized 
 to recruit a company failed in his object, 
 our subject went to work and raised, in- 
 side of twenty-four hours, not only the 
 company of which he was made captain, 
 but also one for each captain. 
 
 Socially Col. Bouck is a prominent 
 member of the F. & A. M., at Oshkosh, 
 having joined the Order at the age of 
 twenty-two years. At the time of the 
 breaking out of the Civil war he was 
 grand master, has filled the office twice 
 since, and for forty years he has attended 
 every meeting of the Grand Lodge of the 
 State; he is a Knight Templar. The 
 
 Colonel, soldier though he be, has never 
 enlisted in the noble army of Benedicts. 
 Personally he is handsome, his voice 
 strong and melodious — with an eye deep- 
 ly set, from which nothing escapes; his 
 intellect is clear, his memory tenacious, 
 and his thirst for knowledge unbounded. 
 
 HON. PHILETUS SAWYER. 
 Everywhere in our broad land 
 arise leaders of men, individuals 
 who, from some inherent qualities 
 which usuall}' can not be forecast, are 
 pushed irresistibh" to the front, and in 
 periods of grave national danger and 
 doubt skillfully guide their fellovvmen to 
 prosperity again. The subject of this 
 sketch, an able but once inconspicuous 
 pioneer lumberman of northern Wiscon- 
 sin, rose steadily and in a measure un- 
 willingly out of obscurity to a fame that 
 cast its reflection over the whole country. 
 Seen from the effect to cause, the tower- 
 ing greatness of the man readily appears. 
 Mr. Sawyer is a native of Vermont, 
 born September 22, 18 16, but the real 
 home of his bo} hood was in Esse.x county, 
 N. Y. , among the mountains and forests 
 of the Adirondacks, the family having 
 moved thither when Philetus was but a 
 year old. The father was a farmer and 
 blacksmith, employments that in those 
 days meant hard work and scant returns, 
 but the son was brought up to them as a 
 part of his education, which was other- 
 wise provided for at the somewhat primi- 
 tive schools of the neighborhood. Yet 
 all the surrounding circumstances of his 
 j-outh combined in a remarkable degree 
 to hasten the development of his charac- 
 ter; and as the lad was possessed of 
 vigorous natural abilities, what he may 
 have lacked in literarj- education he amply 
 made up for by close observation of men 
 and affairs. He came into the world 
 with the instinct of constantly storing up 
 that quality of knowledge which is a con- 
 dition of leadership and success in a gen- 
 
^^^.kz:5'c^^y^^.--^ 
 
COMMEMOllATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 9^3 
 
 eration eminently practical, and looking 
 mainly to material results. 
 
 The summer that he was fourteen 
 Philetus worked out for the munificent 
 wages of six dollars per month. Among 
 the pines of the Adirondack region, at that 
 time, the business of lumbering was car- 
 ried on in a primitive fashion, and in the 
 woods and at a neighboring sawmill Mr. 
 Sawyer, at an early age, became initiated 
 in the business in which, afterward, he 
 laid the foundation and reared the super- 
 structure of a fortune which, in his most 
 hopeful dreams, in those days would have 
 appeared impossible. It was a wild, and 
 with exceptional small areas of land here 
 and there, a barren and sterile region in 
 which he grew up to manhood. At the 
 age of seventeen, by an arrangement with 
 his father, he became the master of his 
 own time and labor. His father wanted 
 money; he wanted to be master of his 
 own time, and a bargain was easily made. 
 He borrowed one hundred dollars from 
 an older brother, and paid it to his 
 father for his own services for the next 
 four years. Before the time expired his 
 debt to his brother was paid, and he had 
 given himself two more winter terms in 
 the district school, from his savings as a 
 sawmill hand. Gifted with both brains 
 and muscle, he used both, and was soon 
 operating the mill, at which he worked, 
 under contract, sawing "by the thous- 
 and." It was one of those water-power 
 sawmills of primitive construction, of the 
 kind in which the saws were placed in a 
 frame, which are facetiously spoken of 
 by more modern lumbermen as ' ' going up 
 to-day and coming down tomorrow." 
 Operating a mill with a capacitj' for 
 sawing two or three thousand feet of 
 lumber per day seemed a slow method 
 of acquiring wealth, under the most favor- 
 able circumstances. At the age of thirty- 
 one, in 1S47, he found himself the pos- 
 sessor of a capital of two thousand dol- 
 lars, part of which he had earned in 
 "logging" and lumbering in the Adiron- 
 dacks. 
 
 55 
 
 It was his good fortune that at 
 
 this time an opportunity presented itself 
 for him to turn his steps in the direc- 
 tion of Wisconsin. He pnirchased and 
 settled upon a farm in Fond du Lac 
 county, and for two years was engaged 
 in farming, not very successfully. It hap- 
 pened — fortunately perhaps — that there 
 were two seasons of short crops following 
 his settlement there. This was discour- 
 aging. Two years of toil without some 
 remuneration was a new experience to 
 him. Only a short distance away the 
 great pineries of the Wolf river held out 
 tempting inducements to lumbermen. 
 The work of the farmer was monotonous; 
 if to continue unremunerative, unen- 
 durable. 
 
 His decision was soon made. The 
 farm was disposed of, and in December, 
 1849, he removed to the village of Al- 
 goma — now in the city of Oshkosh. The 
 previous winter he had worked for small 
 wages in the pineries. The country was 
 rapidly filling up with the emigration from 
 the East; the new comers and the old 
 settlers, whose residence had acquired 
 the antiquity of two or three or half a 
 dozen years, were alike anxious to make 
 all the improvements they could, and 
 houses and barns were needed every- 
 where, with a constantly increasing need. 
 Consequently Mr. Sawyer turned his 
 thoughts to his former occupation of 
 lumbering, as above stated, taking up his 
 residence in the village of Algoma, con- 
 venient to the great Wolf river pinery, 
 which as yet had been scarcely touched, 
 and in which there was an undeveloped 
 mine of wealth. Here stood a sawmill 
 which had nearly, if not quite, ruined 
 its owners, and this mill Mr. Sawyer 
 operated successfully in 1850, upon a 
 contract by the thousand feet. Then 
 he rented the sawmill, and operated 
 it successfully until 1853. In that year 
 he formed a partnership with Messrs. 
 Brand & Olcott, lumber manufacturers 
 and dealers, of Fond du Lac, and pur- 
 chased the mill which he had been 
 operating. The mill was improved and 
 
9S4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 soon rebuilt, the production increased, 
 and thereafter, until railroads opened an 
 outlet to more distant markets, a large 
 part of the production of the mill was 
 shipped upon sailing vessels to Fond du 
 Lac, where it was sorted, piled and mar- 
 keted. Mr. Olcott retired from the firm 
 in 1856, and the firm of Brand & Sawyer 
 continued the business until 1862. 
 
 Marked success in the lumbering busi- 
 ness during that period was rather excep- 
 tional. The histor\- of Oshkosh and 
 Fond du Lac was dotted with the wrecks 
 of lumbering enterprises. The best illus- 
 tration of the sagacity and success with 
 which the business of Brand & Sawyer 
 had been continued is the fact that in 
 1862 Mr. Sawyer purchased the interest 
 of his partner, Mr. Brand, at an advance 
 of over seventy thousand dollars above 
 his original capital in the business. The 
 following year his only surviving son, 
 Edgar P. Sawyer, was taken as a partner 
 in his general business, and since that 
 time the firm has been P. Sawyer & Son. 
 
 With native shrewdness, Mr. Sawyer 
 invested his surplus capital in pine tim- 
 ber lands and other industries. He has 
 been a stockholder and officer of the 
 National Bank of Oshkosh from its incep- 
 tion; is a stockholder in extensive mills 
 on the Menominee river and elsewhere, 
 and owns extensive lumber 3'ards at 
 Chicago. Litigation on logging and lum- 
 bering contracts in Wisconsin has been 
 almost interminable, ^fr. Saw3'er has 
 had hundreds of such contracts, yet he 
 was never individually a party to a law- 
 suit. His judgment of men was so ac- 
 curate that those with whom he' con- 
 tracted seldom, if ever, tried to defraud 
 him. His sense of justice or generosity 
 frequently led him, when the result of a 
 contract had been favorable to him, to 
 add a gratuity after the settlement was 
 completed. His habit always was never 
 to exact more nor accept less than a fair 
 day's work for a fair day's pay from those 
 employed by him. Yet to his employes 
 he was ever generous. In the old saw- 
 
 mill at Oshkosh was an employe who had 
 been there over twenty-five years. He 
 borrowed about three thousand dollars 
 from Mr. Sawyer to help pay for a farm. 
 Old age approached and the debt hung un- 
 diminished upon the property. Mr. Saw- 
 yer cancelled the mortgage and brought 
 tears of joy to the eyes of the old couple. 
 The wedding gift of Mrs. Sawyer to a 
 girl who had been long in her service was 
 a house and lot in fee simple which she 
 afterward bought for three thousand dol- 
 lars. Instances of like kindness are num- 
 erous. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Sawyer organized the 
 Keshena Improvement Company with 
 $100,000 capital, to make accessible to 
 water transportation some large tracts of 
 very valuable pine timber around the 
 head waters of the Wolf river. He care- 
 fully investigated the chances of success, 
 then quietly purchased large tracts of 
 the best timber land at prices which 
 were a few years later merely nominal, 
 and though old woodsmen jeered and 
 doubted made the work a great and profit- 
 able success. He took no blind chances, 
 but carefully investigated all the facts be- 
 fore undertaking any enterprise. 
 
 It is not probable that Mr. Sawyer 
 had, at this time, any ambition for great 
 public honors or preferment. Neither his 
 early training, nor his course of life to 
 this period, was likely to suggest to his 
 mind any probability that such ambition 
 could be realized. His first ambition was 
 to secure a competency. When that was 
 acquired his next ambition, doubtless, 
 was to acquire a respectable fortune. A 
 national reputation, as the honored repre- 
 sentative of a State, was not in his 
 thoughts. In municipal matters he for 
 many years served in the common coun- 
 cil of Oshkosh, and filled the mayor's 
 chair two years, during the most trying 
 period of the Civil war. In 1 864 he was 
 given full power and discretion to com- 
 promise and settle the bonded debt of the 
 city, which he succeeded in accomplish- 
 ing on most favorable terms. In 1857, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 9S5 
 
 also in 1861, he was a member of the 
 State Legislature, and in 1862, though 
 strongly solicited, he declined, on account 
 of his private business, to become a can- 
 didate for Congress. He was a Republi- 
 can of Free-soil Democratic antecedents. 
 In the year just named the District elected 
 a Democratic candidate by a majority of 
 over one thousand, and two years later 
 Mr. Sawyer, consenting to be a candi- 
 date, was elected by a majority of about 
 three thousand. From 1865 to 1875 he 
 was retained in the House of Representa- 
 tives, and retired after a continuous serv- 
 ice of ten years, only because of his re- 
 fusal to be a candidate for re-election. 
 
 His record as a member of Congress 
 is one of which he may well feel proud. 
 Quickly winning the confidence of that 
 august body, he became one of its wisest 
 and most willing workers. It was not 
 by speeches that he served his constitu- 
 ents, but by arduous work in the com- 
 mittee rooms, by personal conference 
 with his fellow men, and with the depart- 
 ments of the government. During his 
 first term he secured fairly liberal appro- 
 priations for the rivers and harbors of 
 northern Wisconsin, and in his second 
 term he was appointed a member of the 
 committee on Commerce, which was one 
 of the most important. In his third term 
 he might have aspired to the chairman- 
 ship, but with his consent. Speaker Blaine 
 appointed Mr. Dixon, of Rhode Island, 
 chairman. During the latter's long ill- 
 ness, Mr. Sawyer was acting chairman. 
 At the next session Mr. Saw3-er again 
 withdrew magnanimously in favor of Mr. 
 Shellabarger, of Ohio, and again served 
 as acting chairman. And in his fifth 
 term, with an unequaled generosity, he 
 again permitted the chairmanship to go 
 to another, William A. Wheeler, of New 
 York, taking second place himself. Thus 
 for eight years he served on this import- 
 ant committee, most of the time as acting 
 chairman, and so great was the confidence 
 of the members in his fidelity and integ- 
 rity, that in 1871, he secured the passage 
 
 of the River and Harbor Bill, appropriat- 
 ing six or seven million dollars, under 
 suspension of the rules. During his last 
 term he was also chairman of the com- 
 mittee on Pacific Railroads. While faith- 
 ful and attentive to his legislative duties, 
 he carefully looked after the interests of 
 the humblest constituent, and assisted in 
 getting through many just claims, which 
 had become entangled in the red tape of 
 some bureau. 
 
 Hon. James G. Blaine, in his ' ' Twenty 
 Years of Congress," said of him: "It is 
 easy to supply superlatives in eulogy of 
 popular favorites; but in modest phrases, 
 Mr. Sawyer deserves to be ranked among 
 the best of men^honest, industrious, 
 generous, true to every tie, and to every 
 obligation of life. He remained ten j-ears 
 in the House with constantly increasing 
 influence, and was afterward promoted 
 to the Senate." Voluntarily returning 
 to private life, March 4, 1875, Mr. Saw- 
 yer, in the following year, purchased and 
 reorganized the West Wisconsin railroad, 
 treating the old security holders of the 
 road with a fairness then unknown in rail- 
 road transactions. Other weak lines were 
 acquired and consolidated into the strong 
 Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha 
 road, of which Mr. Sawyer was vice-presi- 
 dent, a director, and member of the ex- 
 ecutive committee until 1880, when he 
 severed his connection and prepared to 
 make a trip to Europe with his famil}-. 
 The term of Hon. Angus Cameron, as 
 United States Senator was to expire 
 March 4, 1881, and he was not a candi- 
 date for re-election. Among other names 
 that of Mr. Sawyer was proposed for the 
 honor, but he discouraged the solicita- 
 tions and engaged passage for Europe. 
 The time for departure approached rap- 
 idly. At Milwaukee one day he heard of 
 some disparaging remarks made about him 
 and his influence by one of the candi- 
 dates, and again the influential men of 
 the party urged him to accept the honor. 
 He yielded, sent his son-in-law, William 
 O. Goodman, to Europe with the family. 
 
^S6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was in January elected United States 
 Senator by a large majority, and in 1887 
 was re-elected without opposition. 
 
 His influence in that body was felt all 
 over the United States. He makes no 
 pretentions to oratorical influence, but 
 depends upon his natural business quali- 
 fications, financiering and executive abil- 
 ity, which never fail him. While in the 
 Senate he reported for different commit- 
 tees over two thousand bills, and as the 
 reports were all written, it will readily be 
 understood that a vast amount of labor 
 was entailed. In executive sessions he 
 was a power, and his mere word was 
 often sufficient to pass on a matter. For 
 ten years he was a member of the com- 
 mittee on Postoffices and Postroads, and 
 for six years its chairman, and all bills he 
 reported were in\'ariably passed on his 
 simple recommendation. Also for sev- 
 eral years he was on the committee on 
 Pensions, Railroads and Commerce, and 
 the town of his adoption was not forgot- 
 ten by him, for the passage of the Appro- 
 priations for public buildings in Oshkosh 
 was due to his influence. In any legis- 
 lative body such a clear-headed man of 
 affairs, who brings strict integrity as well 
 as sound judgment to the work of legisla- 
 tion, must be a valued and respected 
 member — and such a member Hon. Phi- 
 letus Sawyer has always been. Not even 
 the "noble Red man" escaped his pro- 
 tection, and as a legislator Mr. Sawyer 
 guarded the interests of the Menomonee 
 tribe of Shawano county from the depre- 
 dations of timber thieves, and thereby 
 won the undying gratitude of the Indians. 
 
 In 1 84 1 Mr. Sawyer was united in 
 marriage with Miss Melvina M. Hadley, 
 and of their family of children three are 
 living, viz.: Edgar P., Mrs. Howard G. 
 White, of SjTacuse, N. Y. , and Mrs. W. 
 O. Goodman, of Chicago. Mrs. Sawyer 
 died May 21, 1888, after a lingering ill- 
 ness of several years. She possessed a 
 sympathetic, benevolent nature, and her 
 unostentatious charities were almost num- 
 berless. 
 
 Mr. Sawyer has been a man of action 
 more than study, yet he has found time 
 for wide reading, and he possesses a 
 thorough and minute knowledge of the 
 history of the government of the country. 
 He makes no pretentions, does every- 
 thing he undertakes in a quiet, undemon- 
 strative way, and is faithful to all the ob- 
 ligations of life. — [In compiling the above, 
 the writer is largely indebted to the ex- 
 haustive sketch of Mr. Sawyer by George 
 Gary. — Ed. 
 
 EDGAR P. SAWYER, son of Phi- 
 letus and Melvina M. (Hadley) 
 Sawyer, was born December 4, 
 1842, in Crown Point, Essex 
 county. New York. 
 
 In the fall of the year i S47, his parents 
 journe3'ed westward to Fond du Lac 
 county, Wis., where- his father purchased 
 a farm. Two years later the farm was 
 disposed of, and in December, 1849, the 
 family moved to the village of Algoma — 
 now in the city of Oshkosh, where in the 
 common schools Mr. Sawyer obtained his 
 rudimentary education, which was, later, 
 supplemented bv a course in the local 
 
 high school. 
 
 His father had engaged in 
 
 the lumber manufacturing business, and 
 had laid the foundation of a successful 
 career, and when he attained the proper 
 age Edgar devoted himself to assisting his 
 father, and displayed a natural aptitude 
 for business. Therefore he early in life 
 was consulted in all his father's business 
 relations, and the responsibilities attaching 
 to managing growing manufacturing inter- 
 ests were placed upon him when he had 
 barely reached man's estate. In 1S53, 
 Philetus Sawyer had formed a partnership 
 with Messrs. Brand and Olcott, lumber 
 manufacturers and dealers, in Fond du 
 Lac, and purchased a sawmill located in 
 Algoma, which he had operated for three 
 years previous on contract work. The 
 mill was rebuilt and improved. The busi- 
 ness prospered, and in 1855 another new 
 mill was added to their property. This 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 987- 
 
 mill still stands. In 1S56 Mr. Olcott re- 
 tired and the firm of Brand & Sawyer 
 continued the business until 1862. In 
 that year Philetus Sawyer purchased Mr. 
 Brand's interest, and in April, i S64, 
 shortl}- after attaining his majority, his 
 eldest and only surviving son, Edgar P. 
 Sawyer, the subject of this biography, 
 was admitted as a partner in his general 
 business, the firm being since then P. 
 Saw\-er & Son. For two years previous 
 to being admitted into active partner- 
 ship Mr. E. P. Sawyer had been actively 
 engaged in his father's business, and dis- 
 played business ability of a high order. 
 In all of the business affairs of P. Sawyer 
 & Son, Edgar Sawyer has been most ac- 
 tive. When his worthy father was called 
 upon to serve his fellow citizens in the 
 House of Representatives and in the Sen- 
 ate, his business interests were left under 
 the control of his son and partner; and 
 that he has shrewdly and conservatively 
 conducted the affairs entrusted to his judg- 
 ment and management is testified to by 
 the fact that the business career of P. 
 Sawyer & Son has been a continuous suc- 
 cess. As profits from the lumber busi- 
 ness accumulated, it was essential to their 
 prosperity to discover safe avenues for in- 
 vestment, and some of the largest and 
 most successful enterprises of northern 
 Wisconsin have been founded with their 
 capital. Pine lands were purchased and 
 large mills established on the Menominee 
 river and elsewhere; an extensive lumber 
 yard opened in Chicago, and the stock of 
 financial institutions purchased. From 
 the foundation of the National Bank of 
 Oshkosh — one of the most solid financial 
 institutions in Wisconsin — P. Saw}'er & 
 Son have been largely interested therein, 
 and for several years Edgar Sawyer has 
 been vice-president of that institution, and 
 he is also a director in a similar institu- 
 tion in Fond du Lac. In 1S94 the Saw- 
 yer Cattle Company was organized with a 
 capital stock of $390,000. This company, 
 which succeeds to the business of Sawyer, 
 McCoy & Rumery, owns 220,000 acres of 
 
 land under fence, located in Tom Green 
 and Irion counties, Texas, on which 
 21,000 head of cattle graze. Politically 
 Mr. Sawyer is a stanch and zealous Re- 
 publican, but has never desired nor ac- 
 cepted political position. He is inter- 
 ested in Masonry, and has reached the 
 Thirtj'-second degree, Scottish Rites, and 
 is also a noble of the Mj'stic Shrine. He 
 has been in sympathy- with his father in 
 all of his generous acts, and has bestowed 
 cheerfully of his store to aid religious, 
 charitable and educational institutions, 
 and to alleviate private suffering. He 
 was married in October, 1864, to Mary 
 E. Jewell, of Oshkosh. Two children 
 have blessed this marriage, Maria M., 
 wife of C. C. Chase, of Oshkosh, and 
 Philetus H., a student at the University 
 of Wisconsin, at Madison. Mrs. Sawyer's 
 father, Hon. Henry C. Jewell, was a 
 man of prominence in the community, 
 and was called upon by his fellow-citizens 
 to fill positions of trust, and served as 
 mayor of Oshkosh and member of the 
 State Legislature. 
 
 Mr. Sawyer is domestic in his tastes 
 and habits. He is a steady and regular 
 reader of the higher class of literature, 
 and keeps fully in accord with the times 
 by giving many of his spare moments to 
 literature upon current events. He is 
 courteous to all, every ready with a 
 cheerful word and kindly smile to greet a 
 stranger or friend, and in all affairs he 
 conducts himself with the unostentatious 
 dignity of a true gentleman. 
 
 HON. GEORGE GARY was born 
 March 16, 1824, in Potsdam, St. 
 Lawrence Co., N. Y. , a son of 
 Eli Bush and Frances O. (Easton) 
 Gary, the father a native of Vermont, 
 born of Irish descent, the mother a na- 
 tive of Connecticut. In 1856, coming 
 with their family to Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county (whither our subject had preceded' 
 them in 1850), Eli B. Gary here contin- 
 ued his trade, that of carpenter and: 
 
9SS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 joiner, 
 1 86s. 
 
 till his death, 
 He served in 
 
 which occurred in 
 the war of 1812, 
 
 and his widow, who died in Chicago, 111. , 
 in 1875, enjoyed a pension. His father, 
 grandfather of Judge Gary, and a native 
 of New Hampshire, was, through the in- 
 fluence of his cousin, Elbridge Gerr\', 
 awarded a contract during the Revolu- 
 tionary war to furnish beef to the army; 
 but as the contracts were paid in "Con- 
 tinental money," which proved absolutely 
 worthless, he was financially ruined. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Eli B. Gary were born five 
 children, to wit: Eliza, who married Rens- 
 selaer Baile}', and died in New York in 1 837 ; 
 Judge Joseph E., a well-known citizen 
 of Chicago; George, subject; F'rancesP., 
 wife of Charles Higgins, a prominent 
 man in the business circles of Chicago; 
 and Samuel P., who came to Oshkosh in 
 1852, and engaged in the insurance busi- 
 ness (he died in 1891). 
 
 When the subject of this sketch was 
 five years old his parents removed to 
 Clintonville, Clinton county, N. Y. , and 
 later to Keeseville, Essex county, whence, 
 as alread}- related, they came to Wiscon- 
 sin. The son George received his earlier 
 education at the common schools of Clin- 
 ton, supplemented with a three-terms' at- 
 tendance at an academy at Keeseville. 
 When two years old his eyes had been 
 seriously affected with a violent inflam- 
 matory disease, which considerably re- 
 tarded his studies (and from which, in- 
 have never fully recovered), 
 he became a young man his 
 urgently advised him to try 
 the virtues of a sea voyage. Accordingly, 
 in 1845, he shipped before the mast on 
 board a Nantucket whaler bound round 
 Cape Horn. After various adventures, 
 including a residence of seven months at 
 Callao, Peru, he returned home in the 
 fall of 1847, his eyes and general health 
 much improved. For some time after 
 this, and until coming to W^isconsin in 
 
 deed, they 
 and when 
 physicians 
 
 1850, 
 
 he taught school at various 
 
 places. 
 
 In June of that year he arrived in the then 
 of Oshkosh, without any trade. 
 
 village 
 
 profession, capital or business. He was 
 first employed as clerk in a steamboating 
 and forwarding business, and, from the 
 fall of 1850 to the spring of 1854, he took 
 charge of the forwarding and commission 
 house of W. A. Knapp & Co. ; then 
 became cashier and bookkeeper for the 
 steamboat line of Fitzgerald & Moore, 
 which at that time included all steamers 
 on Lake Winnebago and the Wolf and 
 Fox rivers. He had participated as a 
 Whig stump-speaker in the Presidential 
 campaign of 1852. In the spring of the 
 following year he was the unsuccessful 
 candidate of the opposition to the Demo- 
 cratic party for city clerk, at the first 
 election in the young cit\' of Oshkosh. 
 In the fall of 1853 he was nominated and 
 elected a member of the Assembly for the 
 First District, comprising the city of Osh- 
 kosh and south half of ^^'innebago count}", 
 and in the fall of 1854, the Republican 
 party having been organized in Wisconsin, 
 he was nominated without opposition and 
 re-elected to the Assembly of 1855. Of 
 this body he was chosen speaker />i-o tcm. , 
 and served as the presiding officer at 
 various periods during the session. In 
 the spring of 1855 he became connected 
 with Hon. Horace Rublee in the publica- 
 tion of the " State Journal" at Madison, 
 but retired the following spring and en- 
 gaged as clerk and bookkeeper in a for- 
 warding and transporting institution at 
 Green Bay. That business, however, 
 being ruined by the suspension of naviga- 
 tion on the Lower Fox river, in the fall 
 of the same year he returned to Oshkosh 
 and engaged in the forwarding and com- 
 mission business in partnership with M. 
 E. Tremble, late of Suamico. In the fall 
 of 1857 he was elected, without opposi- 
 tion, to fill a vacancy in the office of the 
 clerk of the circuit court of Winnebago 
 county, to which position he was re- 
 elected in 1858, and, having declined a 
 renomination in i860, retired from it 
 January i, 1861. In 1859 he had pur- 
 chased the Oshkosh Democrat, which 
 paper, under his control, was devoted 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 989 
 
 especially to sustaining the national and 
 conservative view of the then much agitated 
 question of State Rights. In December, 
 i860, he sold this paper to the proprietors 
 of the Nortlnvcstcrii, with which it was 
 consolidated. 
 
 During and preceding his term as 
 clerk of the court, he had devoted con- 
 siderable time to reading law, and on 
 April 17, 1 86 1, he was admitted to the 
 bar. In 1S62, on the passage of the In- 
 ternal Revenue Act, he was appointed 
 assessor of Internal Revenue for the old 
 Fifth District of Wisconsin, comprising 
 thirteen counties. Physical debilit}-, fol- 
 lowing a severe attack of diphtheria, and 
 the duties of editor of the NortJnvcstent, 
 of which, in company with B. F. Davis, 
 he had become proprietor, induced him 
 to resign the office of assessor a few days 
 before the assassination of President 
 Lincoln, in the spring of 1865. In the 
 summer of the same year he sold his in- 
 terest in the Northwestern to C. G. Fin- 
 ney, and associated himself with G. W. 
 Burnell in the practice of law. In the 
 fall of 1866 Mr. Gary was elected State 
 senator for Winnebago county. On the 
 passage of the Bankruptcy Act of 1867 
 he was appointed register in bankruptc}', 
 in accepting which he had to resign his 
 senatorship after serving one session. In 
 1869 he resigned the office of register in 
 bankruptcy to take that of county judge 
 of Winnebago county, which incumbency 
 he held from January i, 1870, till April 
 I, 1882, when he resigned in order to 
 give his exclusive attention to law^ prac- 
 tice, as senior partner of the firm of 
 Gary & Berry. Mr. Berry died in 1S85, 
 and since 1886 the firm has been Gary & 
 Forward, with offices at No. 144 Main 
 street, Oshkosh. 
 
 On August 24, 1854, George Gary and 
 Miss Georgiana Enery were united in 
 marriage at Berlin, Green Lake Co., 
 Wis., her then place of residence, and 
 four children were born to them, viz. : 
 Mary Frances, Paul, George H. (who 
 died in 1877 at the age of twenty-one 
 
 years, five months) and Ann Eliza (who 
 died in May, 1862, at the age of five 
 years). Mrs. Gary is a native of the 
 Province of New Brunswick, Canada, 
 born near the beautiful and classic city of 
 Frederickton. 
 
 Judge Gary, who is an able writer and 
 a clear-headed thinker, has contributed 
 miscellaneous articles to magazines and 
 the press for many years, and is the 
 author of "Gary's Probate Law," pub- 
 lished first in 1879, a revised edition of 
 whicli was issued in 1892, published by 
 Callahan & Co., Chicago. He is presi- 
 dent of the Pioneer Association, elected 
 in 1894, and has seen Oshkosh grow from 
 a village of about seven hundred inhabi- 
 tants in 1850 to become a bustling and 
 prosperous city, the second in size and 
 importance in the State of Wisconsin. 
 
 True to his friends, loyal to his part}', 
 ardently devoted to the town of his adop- 
 tion. Judge George Gary was as much a 
 conspicuous and faithful member of that 
 great body of intelligent citizens who con- 
 trol the destinies of the State as he is, 
 to-day, and always has been, wise in 
 counsel, original in conception, shrewd 
 in management and fearless in the execu- 
 tion of those plans which he believes will 
 result in prosperity to the city, the State 
 and the Nation. 
 
 HON. JOHN D. RUSH, of Win- 
 neconne, Winnebago county, has 
 been prominently connected with 
 the political history of that 
 count}', and also with the growth and de- 
 velopment of the community thereof. 
 He claims Ohio as the State of his na- 
 tivity, having been born four miles north 
 of Chillicothe, March 16, 1825, a son of 
 John and Martha (Williams) Rush, the 
 former of German lineage, the latter of 
 English and Irish descent. The father, 
 who successfully carried on agricultural 
 pursuits, becoming prosperous, on leav- 
 ing the Buckeye State removed to Cass 
 county, Mich., where he purchased a 
 
99° 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 farm of 240 acres in Howard township, 
 upon which he and his wife made their 
 home until called to their final rest. 
 
 At the time of their removal John D. 
 Rush was still a young boy. He acquired 
 his primary education in the public schools 
 of Cass county, and when eighteen years 
 of age became a student in the academy 
 at Niles, Mich., where he remained two 
 years. He then engaged in teaching 
 school two years, when wishing to enter 
 the legal profession he began reading law 
 in the office of Joseph N. Chipman. He 
 came to Wisconsin in 1848, and in 1881 
 was admitted to the bar in Oshkosh. For 
 several years after his arrival in Wiscon- 
 sin, he was connected with the lumber 
 trade, chiefly as scaler or measurer, a 
 business that proved very remunerative. 
 He was also for about two years employed 
 in the capacity of bookkeeper for the 
 Wolf River Boom Company on the Wolf 
 river, severing his connection with that 
 firm in 1869, at which time he began de- 
 voting his entire energies to the practice 
 of law and the real-estate business in 
 Winneconne, where he has resided con- 
 tinuously since September, 1848. 
 
 In March, 1854, Mr. Rush was united 
 in marriage with Miss Eliza J. Edwards, 
 and they became the parents of two 
 children, both now deceased. The daugh- 
 ter, Mary Ella, was married, in Decem- 
 ber, 1877, to J. W. Barnum, and died in 
 1886. Arthur, who was a railroad con- 
 tractor, died of typhoid fever, Januar} 3, 
 1883, at Memphis, Tenn., at the age of 
 twenty-si.x. Mr. Rush has always been 
 a supporter of the Democracy, and has 
 served in nearly all the township and vil- 
 lage offices. In the fall of 1858, he was 
 elected by a majority of two to one to the 
 State Legislature, and served one term. 
 He ably represented his District, and 
 labored for the best interests of his con- 
 stituents. During the last five years he 
 has not been actively connected with 
 party work, yet still maintains his inter- 
 est in the same, and always keeps him- 
 self well informed on the issues of the 
 
 day. His life has been a busy and useful 
 one, and whatever success he has 
 achieved is the result of his own efforts. 
 He started out in limited circumstances, 
 but diligence and perseverance have 
 brought to him a comfortable compe- 
 tence, which he well deserves. Socially 
 he belongs to Winneconne Lodge, No. 
 186, A. F. & A. M., and he takes a deep 
 and abiding interest in the cause of educa- 
 tion, for twenty consecutive years serving 
 as school director. 
 
 HON. HENRY CHAPIN JEWELL, 
 for forty years a prominent and 
 worthy citizen of Oshkosh, Win- 
 nebago county, was born Decem- 
 ber I, 181 1, at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., 
 Conn., and died at Oshkosh, Wis., Janu- 
 ary 1, 1888, aged seventy-si.\ years, one 
 month. Now that he is gone, it only 
 remains to pay him the poor tribute of 
 words; to say that his was a well-spent 
 life; that he was energetic, firm, reliable 
 in his dealings with all with whom he was 
 brought in contact in business; helpful in 
 all work tending to the benefit of those 
 around him, and respected and trusted by 
 all who knew him. 
 
 Mr. Jewell was a son of Ezra and 
 Mary (Chapin) Jewell, also natives of 
 Connecticut, the latter of whom was re- 
 lated to the Grahams (or Graemes), of 
 Scotland, of whom the Earl of Montrose 
 was a member. The Jewell family in 
 America are descended from Thomas 
 Jewell, an Englishman, who had three 
 sons — Thomas, Joseph and Nathaniel — 
 the latter of whom settled, in 1699, in 
 Plainfield, Mass. , and seems to have been 
 eminent in ecclesiastical affairs. His 
 sons were Nathaniel and Gideon, of 
 whom the first-named had a son named 
 Joshua, who begat a son, Oliver by 
 name, whose son, also named Oliver, 
 begat Ezra, father of the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 When Henry C. Jewell was yet an 
 infant, his father. Judge Ezra Jewell, 
 
Jf^, Juv-UL 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 993 
 
 removed to Lyons, N. Y., and here died 
 at the early age of thirty-five years, Henry 
 C. being a nine-year-old lad at the time. 
 The widowed mother then returned to 
 Chapinville, Conn., and was afterward 
 twice married, and as often again widowed, 
 being but forty years old when she lost 
 her third husband, after which she came 
 to Wisconsin with her children; she died 
 in Milwaukee at the home of her daugh- 
 ter, Mrs. John Bradford. She was a 
 woman of proud but quiet dignity — a 
 dignity she bore with the most becoming 
 propriety — and she was as highly culti- 
 vated, mentally, as she was handsome, 
 physically, a woman whom to see was to 
 admire, to know was to love. She was 
 the mother of seven children, all of 
 whom lived to be married. 
 
 Our subject, who was the eldest child, 
 was educated in part at Lyons, N. Y. , in 
 part in Connecticut, and was reared to 
 mercantile life in Hartford, Conn., where 
 he followed merchandizing. Coming 
 west about the year 1843 for the benefit 
 of his health, he first located on a farm 
 
 Green Lake county. Wis., where for 
 
 m 
 
 five years he followed agricultural pur- 
 suits, from there moving, at the end of 
 that time (1848), to the village of Algoma, 
 now a part of Oshkosh, where he soon 
 established himself as a leading, repre- 
 sentative citizen. He always interested 
 himself in public affairs, no matter where 
 he was, and while a resident of Green 
 Lake county he helped to survey the first 
 roads, had the first schoolhouse built, 
 and freely threw open his house to all 
 CTiurjh denominations for public worship; 
 he w^as the first postmaster appointed in 
 that county. In Oshkosh he was the 
 first general merchant to open out a 
 store, and later engaged extensively in 
 the lumber business, with which he was 
 identified nearly up to the time of his 
 death, and in this industry he was cotem- 
 poraneous with Philetus Sawyer and other 
 wealthy lumbermen. Offices of trust 
 (and many were placed in his way) he 
 filled with ability and fidelity, especially 
 
 as member of the Assembly, mayor of 
 Oshkosh, president of the council, and 
 member of the county board, which latter 
 office he was holding at the time of his 
 death. As a neighbor and close friend of 
 Philetus Sawyer, the Jewell-Sawyer com- 
 bination in State, municipal and social 
 affairs had always to be reckoned upon 
 in either political or municipal matters. 
 Though not a politician in the generally 
 accepted sense of the word, he was re- 
 markably successful wherever he allowed 
 his name to appear as a candidate for 
 office. Well known and highly esteemed 
 all over the State, his influence for good 
 was felt by all, and in his day he was ad- 
 mired as much for the sincerity of his 
 heart as for the nobleness of his charac- 
 ter. His manners, though dignified and 
 decorous, were nevertheless remarkable 
 for their simplicity, while his moral char- 
 acter was wholly without reproach. In 
 height nearly six feet, with hair and beard 
 as black as the raven, and possessed of a 
 commanding presence, he was a born 
 leader — "a combination and a form in- 
 deed, where every god did seem to set his 
 seal, to give the world assurance of a 
 man." Although no Church member, 
 yet in all his walks he was a true Chris- 
 tian, liberally giving of his means toward 
 the support of the Congregational Church, 
 which was especially felt in his donations 
 toward the erection of the church build- 
 ing in Oshkosh. In his political prefer- 
 ences he was in his younger dajs imbued 
 with the principles of the Democratic 
 party, but for several years prior to his 
 death he was a strong Republican. In 
 social life he was the observed of all ob- 
 servers, and his hospitality was one of 
 the strongest traits of his character, all 
 tending to give him a popularity among 
 both rich and poor that made his name 
 as familiar, wherever heard, as household 
 words. Above all things he was abso- 
 lutely honest, and his integrity was a fort 
 that even his enemies could not assail. 
 
 On October i, 1833, Mr. Jewell was 
 married in Salisbury, Litchfield Co., 
 
994 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Conn., to ^[iss Mary Ann Russell, the 
 eldest child of Hon. "Williani P. Russell, 
 a lawyer and wealthy iron manufacturer 
 of that place. She was educated at 
 Catherine Reecher's Young Ladies' Semi- 
 nar}-, at Hartford, Conn., where at the 
 time Harriet Beecher (afterward Mrs. 
 Stowe, author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin") 
 was one of the teachers. Mrs. Jewell 
 was hij,'hly educated, as were also her si.\ 
 sisters, and three brothers, two of whom 
 were collefi;e-educated men, and she in- 
 herited in a marked degree much of the 
 executive ability of her father. Her sis- 
 ter, Marcella, a very able woman, became 
 the wife of Rev. Dr. McMurdy, while an- 
 other sister, Cynthia, married Dr. D. P. 
 Kidder, of New York, well known in 
 Methodist Episcopal circles as a great 
 traveler and writer. Mrs. Mary Ann 
 Jewell died June 23, 1889, surviving her 
 husband not many months. In Church 
 work and deeds of benevolence and char- 
 ity, especially in the dark days of the 
 Civil war, her influence was felt far and 
 near. As president of the Ladies Aid 
 Society of Oshkosh, she did grand work, 
 the intiuence of which is not yet lost. 
 As a conversationalist she was most en- 
 tertaining, even fascinating, so bright and 
 witty was she at all times; moreover, she 
 was a great reader, ever keeping herself 
 well abreast of the times up to within a 
 short period of her last illness. Beloved 
 by all, particularly the poor whom she 
 never forgot, the memory of her life is as 
 the aroma of a multitude of God's flowers 
 — imperishable in their fragrance. In re- 
 ligious faith she was a prominent and 
 consistent member of the Congregational 
 Church. Seven children were born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Jewell, two of 
 whom are yet living, namcl}': Henry A., 
 who will presently be further spoken of. 
 and Mrs. Mary Eleanor Sawyer (wife of 
 Edgar P. Sawyer), who received the 
 greater part of her education at Milwau- 
 kee Female College and Ripon College; 
 she is the mother of two children: Nia 
 M., now the wife of Charles C. Chase, 
 
 and Philetus Horace, named after his 
 grandfather, Hon. Philetus Saw\er. 
 
 Henkv a. Jewkll was born Novem- 
 ber 7, 1843. in Marquette (now Green 
 Lake) county, \\'is., and was about five 
 j'ears old when he was brought by his 
 parents to Oshkosh, where he received 
 his education. When of proper age he 
 united with his father in the lumber busi- 
 ness, and for ten j'ears has been inter- 
 ested in a cattle ranch in Texas and 
 Montana. At the present time he is sec- 
 retary and treasurer of the Wisconsin 
 Land and Lumber Company, with which 
 association he has been identified some 
 five years. 
 
 On May 14, 1867, he was united in 
 marriage at Winslow, 111., with Miss 
 Coralin Wickwire, a native of Ohio, and 
 three children came to brighten their 
 home, viz.: Alice M., Henrietta and 
 Edgar W. Politically Mr. Jewell is a 
 Republican, and he wields a wide in- 
 fluence throughout northern ^^^isconsin, 
 where he is recognized as a man of ability 
 and worth. 
 
 LEANDER CHOATE, son of Nehe- 
 miah and Rebecca (Kimball) 
 Choate, was born in Bridgetown, 
 Maine, November 17, 1834. His 
 ancestors, both maternal and paternal, 
 were among the early settlers of New En- 
 gland. His paternal grandfather was a 
 drummer boy in the Revolutionary war. 
 He moved from Essex county, Mass., to 
 Maine about the year 1800, when the 
 father of our subject was an infant in 
 arms. Leander passed his early days in 
 the manner of the New England boy of 
 that day — attending district school in the 
 winter and working upon his father's farm 
 in the summer season. His father was a 
 man of limited means, who by hard work 
 and economy had managed to remain free 
 of debt, but owing to the unfortunate de- 
 struction of his house by fire he found 
 himself some $250 in debt. Young Le- 
 ander agreed to pay this indebtedness pro- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DlOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 995 
 
 vided that he be permitted to leave home 
 and embark upon the world on his own 
 account. He started out and kept his 
 word b}' paying the indebtedness in full. 
 When he was about twenty j'ears of age 
 he was taken ill with tjphoid fever, and 
 was compelled to return home, where he 
 remained for six months, and upon re- 
 covery was virtually without a dollar. At 
 the age of twenty-one years he became an 
 employe of the firm of Choate & Tollman, 
 of Lynn, Mass., with whom he continued 
 for about eighteen months. He then 
 purchased a package e.xpress route be- 
 tween Boston and Charlestown, and con- 
 ducted the business with a fair degree of 
 success. 
 
 In 1857 Choate & Tollman decided to 
 move west, and young Choate being of- 
 fered a tempting inducement determined 
 to come with them. They located in 
 Oshkosh, a city that Mr. Choate has 
 since called "home." Messrs. Choate 
 & Tollman purchased the interests of 
 Danforth and Carter, of the lumber firm 
 of Bray, Danforth & Carter, and the 
 business was conducted under the firm 
 name of Bray, Tollman & Company until 
 1862. Our subject was an employe of 
 this firm, and superintended their in- 
 terests in the woods. In 1862 Mr. Matt. 
 Bra\' and Mr. Choate bought out the firm 
 of Bray, Tollman & Company, and es- 
 tablished the firm of Bray & Choate. 
 Mr. Choate had no money then, but his 
 business ability even at that time was of 
 a high order. The father of Matt. Bray 
 assisted the young men, and they launch- 
 ed upon a partnership that has continued 
 up to the present time, and which death 
 alone can sever. Mr. Choate was yoimg, 
 ambitious and energetic, and the new firm 
 was successful from the outset. At 
 various times they owned mills on the 
 Oconto and the Wisconsin rivers. In 
 1890 the business became known as the 
 Oshkosh Log & Lumber Company, and 
 was incorporated with a capital of $500,- 
 000; of this corporation Mr. Choate is 
 president. The company operates mills 
 
 in the northern peninsula of Michigan, 
 and cuts about 40,000,000 feet per an- 
 num. Mr. Choate is also president of 
 the Lake Shore Companj', of Tomahawk 
 Lake, Wisconsin, which cuts 12,000,000 
 feet annually. In addition to the above 
 lumber companies he has an interest in 
 the firm of Bray, Choate & Company, 
 which also cuts about 12,000,000 per year. 
 Mr. Choate is also vice-president of the 
 Bray & Choate Land Company, which 
 extensively operates in pine lands and 
 owns about 150,000,000 feet of standing 
 timber in the Northwest. 
 
 Mr. Choate has also become con- 
 spicuous as a financier. He is now vice- 
 president of the Commercial Bank of 
 Oshkosh; president of the First National 
 Bank of Khinelander, Wis., which is 
 capitalized for $50,000 and has a surplus 
 of $10,000; and was formerly president 
 of the First National Bank of Merrill, of 
 which Bray & Choate are the largest 
 stockholders. He is also a director of 
 the First National Bank of Marshfield, 
 Wis. He is ever ready to enter into any 
 feasible undertaking that will benefit 
 Oshkosh. He was identified with the 
 water-works system for some time, and 
 was also one of the organizers of the 
 street railway. 
 
 Politically Mr. Choate has alwaj-s 
 been a stanch and zealous Republican — a 
 firm believer in Republican principles, and 
 a strong advocate of the doctrines of the 
 party of advancement and progress. He 
 has been alderman in the city council for 
 two years. In 1882 he was the candidate 
 of the party for the mayoralty, and as an 
 indication of the way he was esteemed it 
 may be said that he reduced the usual 
 Democratic majority by about fifty per 
 cent. 
 
 In i860 Mr. Choate married Miss 
 Adeline P. Choate, of Oshkosh. Five 
 children, all of whom are dead, have re- 
 sulted from this marriage. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Choate are attendants of the Congrega- 
 tional Church of Oshkosh. 
 
 Mr. Choate owes the position he now 
 
996 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 holds in the community entirely to his 
 own efforts. He has confined himself to 
 legitimate business transactions, has 
 avoided speculation, and the fortune he 
 has accumulated is but the natural result 
 of sound business principles and steady 
 application. As a man of business, no 
 citizen of Oshkosh stands higher; as a 
 citizen he is public-spirited and is always 
 in sympathy with those movements which 
 tend to increase the prosperitj' of the 
 city of Oshkosh. 
 
 ORVILLE BEACH. Standing 
 prominent among the representa- 
 tive men of Oshkosh is Orville 
 Beacli. He was born in New 
 York State July 31, 1826, and is the son 
 of John H. and Abigail (Phillips) Beach, 
 both native Americans of sturdy, pro- 
 gressive disposition. The father was a 
 farmer by occupation, in addition to 
 which he sometimes worked as a me- 
 chanic, principally as a mason. The 
 subject of this sketch was reared on his 
 father's farm, where he received not only 
 a physical training, but also a moral edu- 
 cation which has been of inestimable 
 benefit to him in fashioning a successful 
 career. He attended the common schools 
 of his neighborhood, and when sixteen 
 years of age began to assist his father as 
 a stone mason, being at other times em- 
 ployed on his own account as a machinist. 
 He was thus engaged for four years, 
 when he entered the lumbering business 
 on the Hudson river, at Glens Falls and 
 Sandy Hill, with James O. French. 
 They cut and handled considerable lum- 
 ber, not operating a mill, but having all 
 their lumber cut by contract. Under the 
 firm name of French & Beach he attained 
 considerable prominence as a shipper of 
 lumber, and was successful. 
 
 The adventuresome spirit of the time 
 made itself felt in Mr. Beach, who con- 
 cluded to seek his fortune in the West, 
 where the opportunities for advancement 
 were so much greater than in the East. 
 
 Accordingly, in 1855, after having wound 
 up his business in New York State, he 
 started westward, seeking the pineries of 
 the Northwest for the purpose of engag- 
 ing in lumbering, in which direction his 
 tastes ran. He first stopped in Chicago 
 and later in Milwaukee, but neither 
 realized his ideal. He proceeded farther 
 west and finally came to Fond du 
 Lac, but soon afterward settled in 
 Oshkosh, where he has ever since 
 resided. On arriving in the latter place 
 he immediately commenced to look up 
 and enter pine timber lands on the Wolf 
 river. He also erected a grain elevator, 
 which was the second one built in Osh- 
 kosh, and engaged in buying and selling 
 grain. These business enterprises were 
 carried on b}' Mr. Beach alone, and were 
 financially successful. His business in- 
 creased and was carried on until 1861, 
 when Mr. Beach associated himself with 
 his brother-in-law, Mr. E. N. Conlee, 
 under the firm name of Beach & Conlee. 
 The grain business was discontinued and 
 the elevator was converted into a sash, 
 door and blind factory, which they con- 
 ducted in connection with their mill busi- 
 ness. The active lumbering business of 
 Beach & Conlee did not begin until 1864, 
 and, in 1867, Mr. G. W. Conlee was 
 added to the firm, without any change, 
 however, in the name. The business of 
 the company became one of the most 
 important in the city, and was conducted 
 with continuous success until 1877, when 
 their mill was swept away by fire. They 
 immediately bought a new mill and con- 
 tinued the business uninterruptedl\' as if 
 nothing had occurred. When the sash, 
 door and blind factory was added to the 
 interest of the firm its name was changed 
 to that of Beach, Conlee & Brother, 
 which continued until 1879, when Mr. 
 Beach retired from the business. 
 
 Soon after his retirement Mr. Beach 
 formed a connection with his brother, 
 Mr. Darwin Beach, and a brother-in-law, 
 W. P. Warwick, under the firm name of 
 O. Beach & Brothers, who built a mill 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 997 
 
 and entered into active business. Every 
 enterprise with which Mr. Beach has been 
 connected has been uniformly successful. 
 Every worthj^ object which was presented 
 for Mr. Beach's consideration received his 
 hearty co-operation and financial aid. 
 The firm of Beach & Brothers bought a 
 mill in i S79 and confined itself to the man- 
 ufacture of lumber. Their output reached 
 as high as 10,000,000 per annum, and 
 their yard would store more than a year's 
 output. Their business continued with 
 uninterrupted prosperity, when, in 1SS5, 
 Mr. Beach attempted to retire from active 
 business, but his industrious habits over- 
 came his desire, as we find him soon after 
 connected with Mr. D. L. Libbey, of 
 Oshkosh, in a mill which they built on 
 the Milwaukee & Lake Shore railroad, 
 and which they successfully conducted 
 three \'ears and then closed out. 
 
 The financial operations of Mr. Beach 
 have-not been limited to the lumber busi- 
 ness. He was one of the originators of 
 the Oshkosh & Mississippi railroad, which 
 was built from Oshkosh to Ripon. He 
 served as one of its directors and was its 
 treasurer. Mr. Beach is a stockholder in 
 the German National Bank, the German- 
 American Bank, and the South Side Ex- 
 change Bank, all of Oshkosh, Wis., and 
 of the Wisconsin National Bank, of Mil- 
 waukee, and is a holder of valuable city 
 property. His energy and progressive- 
 ness have aided materially in the building 
 up of the city. Mr. Beach is a strong 
 Republican politically, and has at all 
 times taken a great interest in the various 
 campaigns of his party, which he has 
 aided to the best of his ability. He is in 
 no wise a politician, but has served 
 several terms as a member of the county 
 board of supervisors and in the city 
 council. 
 
 On January 19, 1859, he was married 
 to Miss Helen A. Thompson, of Saratoga 
 county, N. Y. , a woman of charming per- 
 sonality. She is an active member of 
 Trinity Episcopal Church, of Oshkosh, 
 of which Mr. Beach is a regular attendant. 
 
 The early training of Mr. Beach has led 
 him into great reverence for the Church 
 of God, and to him are credited many 
 contributions, but, with characteristic 
 modesty, he does not countenance any 
 publicity in these matters, which he con- 
 siders of an entirely private nature. Mr. 
 Beach has always been domestic in his 
 tastes, taking greater delight in his home 
 circle than in club life or society in gen- 
 eral. He and his wife have a great liking 
 for instructive travel, and have visited 
 most parts of the United States, Cuba, 
 Mexico and the Pacific coast, including 
 Alaska. 
 
 The reasons for the success of Mr. 
 Beach are easily traceable. It is due to 
 his fairness, honesty and integrity. He is 
 not a strong partisan, as such men seldom 
 are, but his patriotism and desire for 
 good and honest government prompt him 
 to vote for the best men who may be in 
 nomination. Such a life is a model for 
 the young man, who is sometimes 
 tempted, amidst the only too great de- 
 grees of loose commercial moralit}-, to 
 think that success depends upon methods 
 unapproved by conscience and public 
 opinion. Mr. Beach has achieved suc- 
 cess and maintained his honor unspotted. 
 He is well known in Oshkosh for his un- 
 swerving honesty and integrity. His 
 career has been a credit to himself in 
 every respect, and creditable to the cit}' 
 in which he has so long lived and is so 
 well known. 
 
 DANIEL L. LIBBEY. The career 
 of this gentleman illustrates most 
 forcibly the possibilities that are 
 open to a young man who pos- 
 sesses sterling business qualifications. It 
 proves that neither wealth nor social posi- 
 tion, nor the assistance of influential 
 friends at the outset of his career, are at 
 all necessary to place a young man upon 
 the road to success. It also proves that 
 ambitious perseverance, steadfastness of 
 purpose and indefatigable industry, com- 
 
99S 
 
 CU.VMi:MUHATI\.h: BIOGRAPUICAL JitCOBD. 
 
 billed with souiul business principles, will 
 be rewarded, and that true success fol- 
 lows individual efforts only. 
 
 Daniel Lord Libbey was born Octo- 
 ber 28, 1823, in Ossipee. N. H., the fifth 
 of eleven children. His father. Nathaniel 
 Libbey, followed the sea in his youth, 
 but later entjaged in lumbering and farm- 
 ing. The .American ancestry of Mr. Lib- 
 bey is traceable to the earliest settlement 
 of New England. He is a descendant, of 
 the seventh generation in a direct line, 
 from John Libbey, who was born in Eng- 
 land in the begiiming of the seventeenth 
 century, and who emigrated to New Eng- 
 land about the year 1635. 
 
 When Daniel was about ten years old 
 his father removed to Bethlehem. N. H., 
 where he was engaged in lumbering for 
 several years, and afterward in farming. 
 He was a selectman of that town several 
 years, and represented it in the Legisla- 
 ture of the State. When Daniel was 
 about seventeen his father died, leaving 
 his widowed mother with si.\ children 
 younger than himself, and with scanty 
 means. The situation required that he 
 should in some way provide for himself, 
 and at the age of eighteen he left home 
 to make his way in the world as best 
 he might. His education had been 
 such as the common schools of New 
 Hampshire afforded at that time, and 
 without any definite idea of how or 
 where to begin he went to Boston and 
 thence to Lowell. Mass., where he found 
 employment in an iron foundry and learned 
 the trade of moulder. He followed this 
 occupation industriously, saving a little 
 money from his earnings, until the fall 
 of 1849. 
 
 Upon the discovery of gold in Califor- 
 nia, in 1S49, Mr. Libbey, like many other 
 young men. heard of the rich gold dig- 
 gings, and resolved to try his fortune there. 
 But to him. as to many others, the mat- 
 ter of going or not going was a business 
 problem. Risks were to be taken ingoing 
 at all. but to reduce the risk to a mini- 
 mum he and his companions made the 
 
 adventure legitimate business enterprise. 
 He became one of a company of one 
 hundred who invested a capital of $300 
 each in a ship and cargo for the San 
 Francisco market. The company was 
 formed in December, 1849, and on the 
 4th day of February, 1850, they sailed 
 from Boston, a company of genuine Argo- 
 nauts of '49. .-\fter a fairly good voyage 
 of five months and a day they reached 
 San Francisco on the 5th of July, not 
 without some risk, nor without encount- 
 ering some perils, which those who re- 
 mained at home avoided. Thick weather 
 between the coast of Patagonia and the 
 Falkland Islands, in which for days the 
 sun was invisible, rendered a shipwreck 
 not improbable. A terrific gale of forty- 
 eight hours off Cape Horn threatened to 
 terminate their voyage and their lives 
 together. But when they reached and 
 sailed into the Golden Gate their original 
 capital was with them unimpaired. They 
 sold their cargo and paid off a debt of five 
 thousand dollars contracted in its pur- 
 chase. They then sold their ship and 
 cargo, and each took his share of the 
 proceeds and went his way. 
 
 Mr. Libbey, with two companions, 
 journeyed to the diggings with pick, pan 
 and shovel. For three years he worked 
 and led the life of a miner in the early 
 days of California, a life of toil, privation 
 and isolation from all that renders life 
 enjoyable. At the end of three years 
 Mr. Libbey returned home, but after a 
 visit of three or four months he went 
 back to California, where he remained 
 two years more, being most of the time 
 engaged in mining. In the spring of 
 1855 he returned home, and was mar- 
 ried, and in the fall of that year removed 
 to the State of Wisconsin, with a few 
 thousand dollars of accumulated capital 
 and a determination to engage in the 
 lumbering business. The little city of 
 Oshkosh, with a population of about 
 4,000 in 1855, was even then the seat of 
 an active industry in the manufacture of 
 lumber. No railroads had vet reached 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 999 
 
 that point, and the business of lumbering 
 was then subject to vicissitudes wliicli 
 could not be foreseen. 
 
 To this little western city of Oshkosh 
 Mr. Libbey came to engage in his chosen 
 occupation at the age of thirty-two. His 
 first investment was the purchase of an 
 undivided half of a sawmill, the other 
 half being owned by Mr. John Chase. 
 Instead of forming any business connec- 
 tion, the two men operated the mill al- 
 ternately for two years, each running it 
 half the time during the sawing season 
 on his own account. At the end of the two 
 years Mr. Libbey purchased the interest 
 of Mr. Chase in the mill, and for many 
 years afterward quietly and unostenta- 
 tiously pursued the business of manufac- 
 turing ami selling lumber. His close at- 
 tention to, and sagacious management of, 
 his business insured its success, and he 
 soon began to be known and inspire con- 
 fidence as a man fair and honorable in 
 his dealings and true to all obligations; a 
 safe man, who was reasonably sure to 
 score a success. 
 
 The energetic character of Mr. Libbey 
 was well illustrated in 1862. His mill 
 and a large quantity of lumber were en- 
 tirely consumed by fire. It was nearly or 
 quite impossible, at that time, to procure 
 insurance on that kind of property in 
 Oshkosh, and he consequently had none. 
 This was a serious blow to him, but he 
 went energetically to work to rebuild, 
 and in ninety days he had a new and 
 better mill on the site of the old one. 
 
 In a few years he began to take rank 
 among the capitalists of the growing city. 
 In 1 87 1 the Union National Bank of 
 Oshkosh was organized with $100,000 
 capital, and Mr. Libbc}' was elected its 
 president — a position he has since con- 
 tinuously occupied. He has always been 
 foremost in aiding the growth and pros- 
 perit}' of Oshkosh by the use of his capi- 
 tal in aid of the skill and industry of 
 others in various business enterprises. 
 He is a large stockholder in and president 
 of the Williamson & Libbey Lumber 
 
 Company, which was incorporated in 1 879, 
 to continue the business of the former 
 firm of Williamson, Libbey & Company. 
 This corporation has an extensive factory 
 for the manufacture of sash, doors, 
 blinds, and other finished work. Mr. 
 Libbey has embarked in many other en- 
 terprises where the use of his capital 
 created employment for a large number 
 of men and sustained many families. He 
 is a director in several corporations, and 
 is treasurer of the Thompson Carriage 
 Works of Oshkosh, and largely interested 
 in the Fulton & Libbey Company of 
 Minneapolis. He was one of the jiromo- 
 ters of, and is now a large stockholder 
 in, the "Atheran," a magnificent hotel 
 building, which is a pride to the city. 
 Aside from his various business enter- 
 prises he devotes much attention to his 
 fine farm of 300 acres, which is situated 
 a mile north of Oshkosh, on the shore of 
 the beautiful Lake Winnebago. 
 
 Mr. Libbey has never posed as a 
 philanthropist or public benefactor, but 
 by the honest and honorable methods by 
 which he has acquired a fortune, and 
 especially by the manner in which he 
 uses it, he is fairly entitled to considera- 
 tion, and is recognized as one who de- 
 serves the utmost confidence and esteem 
 of his community. He has always 
 evinced a public-spirited citizen's interest 
 in municipal affairs, but has been too 
 busily engaged with personal matters to 
 engage prominently in public matters. 
 He has, however, served several times as 
 alderman in the city council, and also as 
 a member of the county board of super- 
 visors, and his intelligent and conscien- 
 tious discharge of his duties in these 
 capacities, as well as the good influence 
 which his sound judgment and high 
 character e.xerted on them, are evidences 
 that he would be a valuable representa- 
 tive in higher positions. He is, however, 
 not only too busy, but is also too modest 
 a man to enter the list for public honors. 
 
 Mr. Libbey was first married. May 
 29, 1855, to Mary Caroline Reynolds, of 
 
lOOO 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 Greenfield, N. H., who died January 29, 
 1869, greatl}' lamented bj' all who knew 
 her. On June 11, 1872, Mr. Libbej- 
 was married to Liira A. Reed, of 
 Phillips, Maine. He has four surviving 
 children; his oldest son, a young man of 
 great promise, died several years ago. 
 
 It is not because of special prominence 
 in public affairs that Mr. Libbey has, 
 and is justly entitled to, the respect and 
 confidence of his fellow men, nor is it 
 solely because he has acquired wealth, 
 for some do that who have neither the 
 respect nor confidence of others; but it is 
 because, in a comparative pre-eminent 
 degree, he is a representative man of a 
 class, to whom, more than any other, 
 is due the continued growth and pros- 
 peritv of the manv thriving cities of the 
 West. 
 
 S.\MU1:L M. hay. The ability 
 which is developed in an active 
 business life, in great commercial 
 transactions, anil the rapid changes 
 and fluctuations of trade and finance, 
 have proved in practice as valuable in the 
 management of the public affairs of the 
 State and Nation as that which comes 
 from the exclusive study of law. The ac- 
 complished merchant, banker or financier 
 is more likely to take a plain, common- 
 sense view of the questions of State, and 
 to be unembarrassed by the quibbles, 
 chicanery and superfine distinctions and 
 definitions of the law3'er, than the man 
 who has been trained in the school of pre- 
 cedent, authorities anil legal hairsplitting. 
 To this class of business men belongs 
 Samuel M. Hay; and the signal services 
 he in his younger days rendered the State, 
 county and city where he has passed so 
 many jears of his useful life, are due, in 
 perhaps equal measures, to the eminently 
 practical and sensible constitution of his 
 mind, and to the thoroughness of his busi- 
 ness training. 
 
 Mr. Hay is a nati\c of Pennsylvania, 
 
 born August 7, 1825, in Erie county, son 
 of John and Nancy (Laughlin) Hay, well- 
 to-do farming people, natives of Maryland 
 and Washington count}-, Penn., respec- 
 tively. For some time during her child- 
 hood and early womanhood the mother 
 had her home in Erie county, Penn. The 
 first of the family to come to this country 
 was the great-grandfather of Samuel M. 
 Hay, who, accompanied by his brothers, 
 immigrated from Scotland and settled in 
 the town of Havre de Grace, Maryland. 
 
 Our subject received his education at 
 the winter schools of his native count}-, 
 assisting on the home farm in the summer 
 season. For a short time he also at- 
 tended a select school, and his father, 
 desiring his son to have the benefit of a 
 higher education, concluded to send the 
 lad to Allegheny College, at Meadville, 
 Penn., to which I'nd he purchased for him 
 a scholarship in that institution. Having, 
 however, at that time a greater desire to 
 learn a trade than to drink deeper of the 
 "Pierian spring," young Samuel per- 
 suaded his parents to apprentice him to 
 the trade of tin, copper and sheet-iron 
 worker; and in accordance with his wishes 
 he was, at the age of fifteen, bound out 
 to a tinsmith. At the end of four years 
 and six months he found himself master of 
 the trade. 
 
 In 1845 ^''- Hay, attracted by the 
 great boom prevailing in the then Terri- 
 tory of Wisconsin, came hither, the trip 
 from Erie, Penn., to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 being made by boat, and in the town of 
 White Water he found work at his trade 
 with S. C. Hall, a merchant and former 
 resident of Erie county, Penn. With 
 Mr. Hall he remained some three years, 
 performing his duties in a highly satis- 
 factory manner to his emplojer, his re- 
 muneration being one dollar per day and 
 his board. In 1846 Mr. Hay set out on 
 a visit to his old Pennsylvania home, 
 where his parents were yet living. In 
 those days, there was no railroad of any 
 description in W'isconsin, so the route he 
 took was by boat across Lake Michigan 
 
if/^. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOaBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1003 
 
 to some point in the State of Michigan, 
 thence by stage to Kalamazoo, where he 
 found the first railroad he had ever 
 seen. It was a very primitive affair, 
 being one of the old-fashioned strap-rail 
 species. Over this road he journeyed to 
 Detroit, where he took boat for Erie. 
 After a brief sojourn with his relatives, he 
 returned to Wisconsin, and resumed his 
 duties at White Water. In 1846, meet- 
 ing a friend who was about to make a 
 business trip to the trading post that in 
 those days stood where is now the fine 
 city of Oshkosh, he decided to accom- 
 pany him, that he might see something 
 more of the country. Oshkosh presented 
 to his eye nothing more than a semi-bar- 
 barous collection of uninviting huts; but 
 the grandeur of the surroundings, offering 
 as they did wonderful natural advantages, 
 at once captivated his attention, and set 
 him to thinking. There was a fascina- 
 tion in the picturesqueness of the whole 
 scene — the beautiful silvery river, dotted 
 here and there with Indian canoes; the 
 rtjmantic appearance of the inhabitants 
 and the general tout ensemble, all com- 
 bined, riveted the attention of the young 
 man, who in his soul prophesied the met- 
 amorphosis of the scene before him into, 
 ere many j'ears, a prosperous hive of 
 industry; and his decision then and there 
 was, as soon as his means permitted, to 
 make the spot his future home and place 
 of business. Returning to White Water, 
 he continued at his work until he felt the 
 time had come to make a change. Ever 
 thirsting for information, especially of a 
 mercantile and progressive character, Mr. 
 Hay did not fail, while residing in White 
 Water, to find opportunities of visiting 
 other portions of the new country. On 
 one occasion he was enabled to visit the 
 western part of Wisconsin, having to 
 make the journey by team, and was much 
 interested in the lead-mining district, 
 which revealed evidences of considerable 
 prosperity. 
 
 In the year 1848 Oshkosh was a set- 
 tlement of about one hundred inhabitants, 
 
 56 
 
 mainly French, and Indian half-breeds, 
 and October of that year saw Mr. Hay 
 located, for weal or for woe, in the ham- 
 let, in the growth and prosperity of 
 which he has ever since materially as- 
 sisted, and been closely identified with. 
 In company with his friend, E. C. Hall, 
 brother of his former employer, and whom 
 he had taught his own trade, he estab- 
 lished in a small way a tinware and stove 
 business, including a line of general hard- 
 ware. This partnership continued until 
 June, 1 85 1, when Mr. Hall, retiring, was 
 succeeded by Orson J. Clark, who had 
 been an employe of Mr. Hay, the firm of 
 Hay & Clark continuing until 1862, when, 
 owing to ill health, Mr. Clark retired, 
 Mr. Hay purchasing his interest. Some 
 twelve months later W. H. Hay, a 
 younger brother of our subject, was ad- 
 mitted into partnership, and from that 
 time until January, 1892, when the Hay 
 Hardware Company was organized, the 
 business was carried on under the name 
 of S. M. Hay & Brother. Conducted on 
 sound business principles, the industry 
 has always been successful, having pros- 
 pered from its very incipiency, slowly at 
 first, but surely, the only set-back of any 
 magnitude experienced being the destruc- 
 tion in 1859 by fire of the store and part 
 of the stock. In September of the same 
 year the fine fireproof building now occu- 
 pied by the firm was erected. The pres- 
 ent officers of the Hay Hardware Com- 
 pany are: S. M. Hay, president; W. H. 
 Hay, treasurer; and S. M. Guilford, 
 secretary. 
 
 In 1863 Mr. Hay assisted in the or- 
 ganization of The First National Bank of 
 Oshkosh, in 1864 became a stockholder 
 and director of same, and a year later 
 was elected its president. In 1884 the 
 charter of the bank expired, and it was 
 then reorganized under the name of The 
 National Bank of Oshkosh, Mr. Hay con- 
 tinuing as president. For thirty years 
 he has been the captain and pilot of this 
 institution, and has safely steered it 
 through all the storms of financial dis- 
 
I004 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tress that have struck the country, pre- 
 serving the credit of the bank unshaken. 
 The shrewd business acumen of its presi- 
 dent has frequently been highly com- 
 mended, and his record as a safe and far- 
 seeing financier has done much to place 
 and sustain the bank on a secure and 
 solid basis. 
 
 In addition to the businesses already 
 enumerated, Mr. Hay has since 1881 
 been interested in a Te.xas cattle ranch, 
 at the present time owning a herd of some 
 five thousand head of cattle. He is a 
 stockholder and director of the Manufac- 
 turers National Bank of Neenah, and a 
 stockholder of the Commercial Bank of 
 Appleton, as well as of the Kellogg Na- 
 tional Bank of Green Bay. He is also 
 financially interested in the Fond du Lac 
 National Bank of Fond du Lac, of the 
 Wisconsin National Bank of Milwaukee, 
 as well as of the Royal Trust Company 
 of Chicago. Notwithstanding his vast 
 business interests Mr. Hay has yet found 
 time to devote to the welfare of his 
 adopted city, county and State, and has 
 well proven that not alone in business 
 matters is he a pre-eminently capable 
 man; the rather, as hinted at the com- 
 mencement of this sketch, has he been 
 all the better qualified for public office 
 because of his consummate business pro- 
 ficiency. In 1856 he was chosen alder- 
 man to represent the First ward of Osh- 
 kosh; in 1858 was elected mayor, and 
 re-elected in 1859. In 1857 he was 
 elected to the General Assembly; in 1858 
 he took his seat in the Lower House, and 
 in 1862 was elected to the State Senate. 
 In 1876 he was appointed, by the Gov- 
 ernor, to fill the vacancy on the State 
 Board of Normal School Regents occa- 
 sioned by the death of Charles A. Weis- 
 brod, and was a member of that body 
 fifteen years. In 1892 he was appointed, 
 by President Harrison, a member of a 
 commission to examine the United States 
 Mints at Philadelphia. He was elected 
 president of the Wisconsin Bankers As- 
 sociation. In local matters, he has 
 
 served as president of the Oshkosh Stock 
 Grovs'ers Association; as president of 
 Oshkosh Business Men's Association, and 
 as president of the Island Park Associ- 
 ation. In educational matters he has 
 always taken an active interest, and 
 as school commissioner has done his 
 share toward promoting the welfare of 
 public schools. Indeed, in all matters of 
 public enterprise and improvement he 
 has even taken an active part, contrib- 
 uting freely of his time and means to the 
 advancement and building up of the city 
 wherein he has passed nearly half a 
 century. 
 
 As a Republican, Mr. Hay has been 
 as successful in politics as he has been in 
 everything else; and had he desired to 
 become prominent in the affairs of State, 
 he would undoubtedly have risen to yet 
 higher public positions, but that his mind 
 was drawn more toward mercantile and 
 financial pursuits than toward politics. 
 He attends the services of the First Con- 
 gregational Church of Oshkosh, and, irre- 
 spective of denomination, has been liberal 
 in his contributions toward all religious 
 societies. In 1852 he was married to 
 Miss Maria E. Spaulding, of Oshkosh, 
 who passed from earth in 1875, leaving 
 three children — two sons and one daugh- 
 ter — Samuel T. , Mary E. and William J. 
 Mr. Hay has been abroad in the world, 
 having traveled extensively throughout 
 Europe, Mexico and the United States. 
 
 A self-made man in its truest and 
 broadest sense, Mr. Hay has, by his own 
 energ}' arid untiring efforts, risen from 
 the humbler ranks of life to his present 
 affluence and the proud distinction of 
 being one of the most universally re- 
 spected and influential citizens of Winne- 
 bago county. A gentleman of refinement 
 and polished address, spotless in both 
 public and private life, his personal char- 
 acter has stood and still stands beyond 
 the reach of any assail ment; and it can 
 be further fully said of him that he has 
 never lost a friend except by death, and 
 never made an enemy intentionally. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lOo; 
 
 HON. HIRAM WHEAT WEB- 
 STER. In perpetuating, in words 
 more enduring than monuments 
 of brass or stone, the memory of 
 men of prominence whose active and val- 
 uable lives were passed in the Fo.\ River 
 Valley, the pages of this volume would 
 be incomplete were mention not made of 
 the honored pioneer whose name is here 
 recorded. 
 
 Mr. Webster was a native of New 
 York State, born January lo, 1824, in 
 Hampton, Washington county, and on 
 both sides was descended from sterling 
 old New England families, and from stal- 
 wart English stock, which at an early 
 period in the history of New England was 
 transplanted from the mother country to 
 Connecticut. A son of Wait and Hannah 
 (Wheat) Webster, he was on his father's 
 side related to Noah Webster, the learned 
 lexicographer, and both the Websters and 
 Wheats were settlers of Hampton, N. Y. , 
 grandfather Webster having migrated 
 thither from Middletown, Conn. ,at an early 
 day, the Wheats in all probability about 
 the same time. Wait Webster, father of 
 the subject proper of this memoir, was 
 born in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., 
 Conn. , was by occupation a farmer, and 
 enjoyed the reputation of being a good 
 loyal citizen, and a man of most exem- 
 plary character. His wife, Hannah 
 (Wheat), who was born in Hampton, N. 
 Y. , was a woman of more than ordinary 
 strength of mind, energetic to the ex- 
 treme, and possessed of much ability and 
 superior common sense, withal extremely 
 devout and pious, a consistent member of 
 the Methodist Church, charitable and be- 
 nevolent in all her acts — grand character- 
 istics that were liberally transmitted to 
 her son. Both parents died on the old 
 Wheat homestead in Washington county, 
 N. Y. , leaving five children — two sons, 
 Horace and Hiram, and three daughters. 
 Hiram ^^^ Webster, who was the 
 youngest in the family, was reared on the 
 home farm, and received his primary ed- 
 ucation at the schools of the neighbor- 
 
 hood, at the age of eighteen entering the 
 Troy Conference Academy, Poultney, 
 Vt., after which for five consecutive years 
 he taught school in his native village. 
 As a teacher he acquired more than aver- 
 age success, much of which was due to 
 his irresistible spirit of resolution and 
 thorough, though not severe, discipline, 
 qualified with natural modesty and re- 
 serve, the attributes of a true gentleman. 
 By the time he was twenty-ihree years 
 old he had succeeded in accumulating, by 
 his own industry and unaided efforts, a 
 few hundred dollars, with which sum, and 
 with every promise of a bright future be- 
 fore him, he set out for the then new 
 State of Wisconsin. He located in Osh- 
 kosh, and in course of time, having in his 
 possession several land warrants, entered 
 a quantity of timber-covered land lying 
 between Oshkosh and Omro, which he 
 diligently set to work to improve; prior 
 to this, however, he had purchased a 
 shingle-mill, and for a time — in partner- 
 ship with J. B. Dean — operated same; 
 but it unfortunately turned out a barren 
 speculation, and he lost his entire invest- 
 ment. Mr. Webster then took up his 
 residence on the land just referred to, 
 built a frame residence thereon, and then 
 returned to his native town in New York 
 State, at which time he married his first 
 wife, soon afterward bringing his young 
 wife to her new Wisconsin home on his 
 farm in Omro township, Winnebago 
 county. Here he remained five years, at 
 the end of which time he moved into the 
 village of Omro, there continuing to re- 
 side until 1884, when he visited Califor- 
 nia; and it was during his sojourn there 
 that he was suddenly seized with pneu- 
 monia, of which he died at Tracy, San 
 Joaquin county. May 14, of that year, at 
 the age of sixty years and four months, 
 deeply lamented by his family and many 
 friends. 
 
 During the time he was engaged in 
 clearing his land, Mr. Webster did a con- 
 siderable amount of real-estate business, 
 both buying and selling, and within two- 
 
ioo6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 years after coming to the State he found 
 himself largely interested in the lumber 
 business. At Omro, just at the time of 
 his first wife's death, he had bought an 
 interest in a steam lumber mill, which for 
 fifteen \-ears he successfully operated, 
 giving employment to about forty men. 
 During the later years of his life he dealt 
 largeh" in pine and other timbered land, 
 which brought him in an enormous in- 
 come, so much so that at his death his 
 estate was inventoried as worth $200,000. 
 In his many undertakings he was remark- 
 ably successful, nor is it to be wondered 
 at when we consider his wonderful 
 sagacity, extreme caution and calm judg- 
 ment. At all times and on every occa- 
 sion gentlemanly and courteous, he was 
 ever regardful of the feelings and opinions 
 of others, and treated with the utmost 
 consideration his small army of employes, 
 by whom he was uniformly respected and 
 beloved as a faithful friend who was sure 
 to protect them and certain to reward 
 conscientious service. He was a man of 
 strict moral habits, and possessed of keen 
 and discerning judgment: was a devoted 
 and kind husband, an indulgent father, a 
 faithful friend, and a charitable and 
 benevolent citizen. Although not a mem- 
 ber of any Church, he during the later 
 years of his life regularly attended the 
 services of the Presbyterian and Episco- 
 pal Churches at Omro, to the former of 
 ■which he bequeathed five thousand dol- 
 lars as a perpetual fund, the interest of 
 which is applied exclusively to the sup- 
 port of that Church; and he, moreover, at 
 all times gave liberally of his means to all 
 denominations, besides many charities and 
 beneficent institutions. To the village of 
 Omro he also bequeathed the sum of five 
 thousand dollars, the interest thereof to 
 go toward the support of the poor of the 
 place. Beset in his lifetime with man}' 
 trials, he bore them all with patience; 
 and when he was summoned from our 
 midst he left as an heirloom the impress 
 of one whose exemplary life was well 
 worthv the emulation of the vouth and 
 
 manhood of an\' land — a life whose course 
 was illumined with the qualities of in- 
 tegrity, fidelity, justice and charity. 
 
 Honored with the confidence and es- 
 teem of his neighbors and fellow citizens, 
 Mr. Webster was on many occasions 
 nominated and elected to offices of trust 
 and responsibilitj', and for over thirty 
 consecutive years filled some position in 
 public affairs — from district clerk to mem- 
 ber of the Wisconsin State Assembh', in 
 which latter incumbency he served two 
 terms, from 1879 to 1882 inclusive, hav- 
 ing been twice elected, first time in 1878; 
 subsequently his friends urged him to be- 
 come a candidate for State senator, but 
 having about that time decided to retire 
 from public life he, to their disappoint- 
 ment, was obliged to decline the honor. 
 In municipal affairs, as long as he would 
 accept he served as a member of the 
 count}- board. 
 
 Mr. Webster was twice married; first 
 time, in 1848, at Hampton, X. Y. , to 
 Miss B. J, Hudson, daughter of a promi- 
 nent citizen of that locality, and by this 
 union there were three children, two of 
 whom died in infancy. The eldest in this 
 little family, Delphine by name, married 
 M. D. Morris, and became the mother of 
 one son, Hiram Webster, at present 
 attending college: she died in 1883, in 
 the thirty-second year of her age. In 
 1870, while living at Omro, Mrs. B. J. 
 Webster was called from earth, and Octo- 
 ber 7, 1876, Mr. Webster was married, at 
 Hampton, N. Y. , to Miss Louise M. 
 Hulett, a lady of English descent, her 
 grandfather. Mason Hulett, having been 
 a native of England. She is a daughter 
 of Mason and Abigail (Andrews) Hulett, 
 the father a member of one of the oldest 
 settled families of Hampton, N. Y. , their 
 farm of some 360 acres almost adjoining 
 that of the Websters. Mrs. Louise M. 
 Hulett received her education at Miss 
 Emma Willard's seminary, in Troy, N. 
 Y. , where she graduated at the age of 
 nineteen. In the year of the Vienna Ex- 
 position she was one of a party of former 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1007- 
 
 schoolmates who made an eight-months' 
 tour of Europe, and as a pleasing coinci- 
 dence it is worthy of being here recorded 
 that some years later, while visiting the 
 World's Fair at Chicago, Mrs. Webster 
 recognized in the person of Miss Hastings, 
 who had charge of the Emma Willard 
 School exhibit, a former teacher and one 
 ol her fellow tourists in Europe. Mrs. 
 Webster is a member of the Episcopal 
 Church, and takes an active interest in 
 all matters pertaining to its welfare and 
 and support. 
 
 LUCIUS WEBSTER. This vener- 
 able and honored pioneer, who 
 stands like a giant monarch of the 
 forest when all its no less stalwart 
 companions have fallen before the ruth- 
 less axe of civilization, is one of the few 
 earliest settlers now living who first 
 located at Winneconne, Winnebago 
 county. 
 
 He is of English descent, and was 
 born in Kingsville, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 
 January 10, 1814, descended from a 
 family of that name who for several gen- 
 erations were residents of Connecticut, of 
 which State his parents were natives, 
 born in the city of Litchfield. Wait 
 Webster, his father, a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, married Miss Phoebe Hart, and in 
 an early day, accompanied by his w-ife 
 and two daughters, migrated from the 
 " Nutmeg State " to the Western Reserve 
 in Ohio, where he bought and operated 
 a farm, on which he and his wife both 
 died, strong in the faith of the Baptist 
 Church. Lucius now operated the home- 
 stead (which had been deeded to him by 
 his father; until 1854, when he sold out 
 his interests in Ohio, and coming west to 
 Wisconsin, located in Winneconne same 
 year, his wife and two daughters accom- 
 panying him. .\t that time the place was 
 pretty much all brush, and on the west 
 side of the river there were only two 
 houses, occupied, the one by David Hink- 
 ley, the other by a half-breed Indian 
 
 named John Williams, while on the east 
 side there were seven houses, occupied,, 
 respectively, by C. R. Hamlin, A. D. 
 Gumaer, Jeremiah Pritchett, F. R. Liver- 
 more, Rev. Samuel Robertson (Presby- 
 terian minister), Phillipps and 
 
 Renel Kellogg, which at that time com- 
 prised the entire village. 
 
 Mr. Webster and his little family stop- 
 ped at the tavern kept by C. R. Hamlin, 
 now known as the " Mapes House," and 
 enquired for their friend Livermore, little 
 guessing that he lived only about forty 
 rods off; but so dense was the "deep- 
 tangled wildwood " that a guide had to-be 
 sent to pilot them to the spot. During 
 the first five years after coming to Win- 
 neconne, Mr. Webster was engaged in 
 mercantile business; for the next eight 
 years was postmaster and justice of the 
 peace, and subsequently, for some fifteen 
 years, conducted a small-fruit farm. He 
 is now living retired in the village, enjoy- 
 ing the ease and comfort that comes to a 
 industrous life well spent. Originally a 
 Whig in politics, he has been a stanch 
 Republican since the organization of that 
 party, and has filled various offices of 
 trust and responsibility, such as chairman 
 of the board of supervisors, and he also 
 served several times as a United States 
 grand juror. Sociall)' he is a member of 
 the I. O. O. F. , and in religious faith he 
 has for over two decades been a member of 
 the Presbyterian Church, and for the past 
 three years has been an elder in same. 
 
 In 1834 Mr. Webster was married, in 
 Kingsville, Ohio, to Miss Lydia M. Web- 
 ster (same name, but no blood relation), 
 by whom he had three children, a brief 
 record of whom is as follows: Lora La- 
 mira married Joseph Roberts, and died 
 leaving two children : Julia and one whose 
 name is not given ; Luriottis L. lives at 
 Burton, Geauga Co., Ohio; Phoebe E. 
 was married twice, first time to a Mr. 
 Mcintosh and after his death to a Mr. 
 Beckwith (she is again a widow and is 
 living at Rock Creek, Ohio). The mother 
 of these died in Ohio in 1846, and Mr.. 
 
looS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Webster subsequently married Miss Emily 
 A. Pickett, daughter of Joseph Pickett, 
 to which union were born two children, 
 as follows: Emily F. , who was a member 
 of the first class ever graduated at Osh- 
 kosh State Normal School, and is a 
 teacher of Latin and Mathematics ; Sarah 
 Adelaide, married to Rev. H. G. Denni- 
 son, a Presbyterian minister at McComb, 
 Hancock Co., Ohio. The first of the 
 Pickett family in this country, who were 
 of English and Scotch lineage, in an early 
 day settled in Massachusetts, where sev- 
 eral generations of them were born. In 
 1 8 19 the parents of Mrs. Webster, Joseph 
 and Oriza (Kingsley) Pickett, moved from 
 that State to the Western Reserve, Ohio, 
 where she was born March 21, 1820. 
 Since the age of eighteen years she has 
 been a member of the Presbyterian 
 Church, has ever been an active worker 
 in same, and for the better part of forty 
 years was a teacher in the Sabbath-school. 
 For the past five years she has been a 
 member of the W. C. T. U. , and for a 
 long time was a member of the Daughters 
 of Rebekah, an auxiliary society of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 WILLIAM WALLACE WRIGHT, 
 a veritable pioneer of the pic- 
 turesque city of Oshkosh, Win- 
 nebago county, may in truth be 
 called the father of the town; and his 
 name, like the spell of an enchanter, 
 awakens every feeling that responds to all 
 that is good and noble and elevated in 
 human nature. One can not but feel that 
 his life has been devoted in a great meas- 
 ure to the benefit and amelioration of the 
 community in which he has passed nearly 
 threescore years of e.xistence. 
 
 Mr. Wright was born in Auburn, N. 
 Y. , July 7, 1 81 9, a grandson of Dr. 
 Thomas Wright, a native of Dublin, Ire- 
 land, and a member of one of the leading 
 families of that city. Coming to Amer- 
 ica, when yet a young man, just priorto 
 the Revolutionary war, Dr. Wright joined 
 
 that patriot army in that movement by 
 offering his services to Gen. Washington, 
 who appointed him one of the surgeons 
 in his own command. He remained with 
 the army in all its vicissitudes, trials and 
 hardships, finally attaining the rank of 
 surgeon-general. He was a noted figure 
 in that historic and dramatic period. Af- 
 ter the war he settled in New York City 
 where he bought a one -half-acre lot of 
 land, part of which is now included in the 
 Trinity Church property. He continued 
 the practice of his profession, attaining 
 great fame as a successful physician and 
 surgeon; and in addition to his profes- 
 sional qualifications he presented a stately, 
 soldierly appearance that never failed 
 to attract attention; and withal he was a 
 courteous, dignified gentleman of the old 
 school. In New York he married a lady 
 of that cit}', who was of Irish descent, by 
 which union was born January i, 1779, 
 in the same city, a son named George. 
 After the death of his father in Ireland 
 Dr. Wright was summoned to his native 
 land, to settle up the estate, but he never 
 reached his destination, for he was lost 
 on the ocean. His widow survived him 
 many years, dying at Albany, N. Y. , at 
 a good old age. 
 
 George Wright, only son of Dr. 
 Thomas Wright, received his education 
 at Albany, N. Y. , whither his widowed 
 mother had removed with him, and on 
 leaving school he learned the trade of 
 millwright, which he followed through 
 life. He became a fine mechanic, had a 
 wide reputation for expert workmanship, 
 and in the State of New York may yet 
 be found evidences of his skill. He also 
 worked in Canada, Michigan and Wiscon- 
 sin, in which latter State, at Brother- 
 town, Calumet county, he built his last 
 mill, which was for the Brothertown 
 Indians. As was his handiwork — honest, 
 straight and accurate — so were his acts 
 and general walk in life. On June i, 
 1836, leaving behind, in Henderson, Jef- 
 ferson Co. , N. Y. , his wife and four chil- 
 dren, he came to Oshkosh, at that time 
 
COMMEyrORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1009 
 
 but an Indian village, where lived Chief 
 Oshkosh, head of the Menomonie tribe, 
 the only indications of the white men's 
 presence being two log houses, occupied 
 by Chester Gallup and Webster Stanle\-. 
 In the summer of the following year he 
 returned east for his family, bringing them 
 by boat to Green Bay, where he left them 
 until the next winter, when he convej'ed 
 them by sleigh to their new home in 
 Oshkosh, being the third family to settle 
 in the place. Here Mr. Wright took a 
 squatter's claim, comprising about 156 
 acres, which he subsequently entered, 
 and which now constitutes the First ward 
 and part of the Fourth. The early home 
 of the Wrights was noted for the hospi- 
 tality e.xtended to wayfarers and new- 
 comers, who were always welcome, and 
 it was the stopping place of many a min- 
 ister of the M. E. Church. Rev. Reeder 
 Smith, of Appleton, with his wife and 
 family, remained under its roof for a short 
 time, while he was laying out the plat for 
 the university of Appleton. Here George 
 Wright died, March 30, 1841, a true pio- 
 neer of the now thriving town of Oshkosh, 
 where he and his family endured all the 
 trials and privations incident to the days 
 of its infancy. 
 
 His wife. Electa (Whitney), was born 
 in Salem, N. Y. , February 19, 1783, a 
 daughter of Capt. John Whitne}-, a native 
 of Ridgefield, Mass., who as a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary army entered the serv- 
 ice as a private, and received an honor- 
 able discharge as a captain. Mrs. George 
 Wright died in Oshkosh February 10, 
 1847. The following is a genealogical 
 record of the Whitney family: The 
 genealogy of the Whitney family begins 
 in the year 1066, at the time of the Nor- 
 man conquest, in the person of Sir Bald- 
 win Whitney of Hertfordshire, England. 
 Henry Whitney, a descendant of the above, 
 emigrated to America in 1647, settled on 
 Long Island, subsequently moved to Nor- 
 walk, Mass., where he died. His son, 
 John, also lived and died there. From 
 him to Electa \\^hitney, mother of our 
 
 subject, is six generations, which brings 
 William W. Wright in the seventh gener- 
 ation from Henry Whitney, the first from 
 England. The land was equally divided 
 in the will of George Wright — among the 
 three sons — George F. , William W. and 
 P. V. ; the daughters were Electa W. and 
 Henrietta A. 
 
 William Wallace Wright, the subject 
 proper of this biographical sketch, re- 
 ceived the chief part of his education in 
 New York State, and after coming to 
 Wisconsin, then a youth of sixteen sum- 
 mers, attended the academy at Green 
 Bay, and he was just a year older when 
 he first set foot in Oshkosh. His father 
 always predicted that it would become a 
 place of prominence, and no one was 
 more instrumental in the fulfillment of the 
 prediction than our subject. For several 
 years he carried on a grocery business in 
 the village, but his chief interests lay in 
 real estate and insurance. Practically he 
 was the first to set the ball rolling in lay- 
 ing the foundation for a rising town, and 
 it literally grew up with him more like a 
 foster brother than a foster child, for they 
 were both yet young. In the division of 
 his father's estate it appears the lion's 
 share fell to him, and he subsequently 
 laid it out into additions, three in num- 
 ber, to this day known as " W. W. 
 Wright's Additions;" also laid out the 
 original plat of the town on west side 
 Main street. To poor but deserving fam- 
 ilies, who he thought would make good, 
 useful citizens, he sold lots at low fig- 
 ures, in order to give them a fair start in 
 life, and the first lot he so disposed of was 
 to a shoemaker named Edwards, an En- 
 glishman, charging him the nominal price 
 of five dollars conditional that he put up 
 a house on the property. By such wise 
 and beneficent arrangements he materi- 
 ally assisted in building the town, and by 
 holding out such inducements for people 
 to come to the place substantially helped 
 to increase the population. It may truly 
 be said that transactions of that nature 
 would not make him rich; that is true. 
 
lOIO 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 but they enriched the town, the sole ob- 
 ject he had in view. But toward the 
 welfare of Oshkosh alone he did not limit 
 his generosity, for outside its limits he 
 was no less a benefactor. He was instru- 
 mental in laying out the principal roads 
 in the county, especially those leading 
 into town, and improving them. The 
 several churches also felt the touch of his 
 liberality, regardless of creed, and to the 
 Methodist and Catholic elements alike 
 came a generous share of his munificent 
 gifts. Another distinguishing trait in Mr. 
 Wright's character stands out in promi- 
 nent relief, worthy of being recorded as 
 an example to the rising generation, and 
 that is his broad, patriotic Americanism 
 and genuine Republicanism. He never 
 deviated from the path he had mapped 
 out, and was always found on one and 
 the same side, never on the fence. He 
 seems to have come down to us from a 
 former generation to teach us what 
 strong, brave, honest, resolute men our 
 forefathers were who founded this Re- 
 public and endowed us with the liberties 
 which, alas, we too often misuse. The 
 city of Oshkosh he has served, in muni- 
 cipal matters, well and faithfully. He 
 was the first town and county treasurer 
 and served the city as alderman for some 
 time; but he never sought office, the 
 office invariably came to him. He has 
 always been a strong advocate of tem- 
 perance, and for many years was grand 
 worthy patriarch of the Good Templars. 
 On July 23, 1843, Mr. Wright, at the 
 residence of Thomas Evans, in Oshkosh, 
 which stood at the foot of Washington 
 street, was married to Miss Mary Eliza- 
 beth, daughterof Daniel and Mary (Need) 
 Evans, natives, the father of Penns3-1- 
 vania, the mother of Canton, Ohio. Mrs. 
 Wright was born, in 1823, in Geauga 
 county, Ohio, was educated at the village 
 of Parkman, and in 1842 came to Osh- 
 kosh with her brother Thomas, who is 
 now a farmer in the vicinity of the town. 
 Nine children blessed the union of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wright, named as follows: 
 
 Walter W., George Frederick, Frank E., 
 Edward E., Newton G., Mary A. (wife 
 of Dudley Fernandez), Ida Ma\-, Jennie 
 A. and Nellie K., the last named being 
 an artist in Chicago. The sons all take 
 after their father in temperance princi- 
 ples, and are sterling, honorable, upright 
 men. 
 
 HON. A. H. FREDERICK KRUE- 
 GER, one of the leading influen- 
 tial citizens of Neenah, W'innebago 
 county, is prominently connected 
 with its business interests, and with those 
 enterprises which tend to promote the 
 welfare of the conmiunit}'. A native of 
 Germany, he was born July 21, 1823, in 
 the city of Crivitz, Mecklenburg, and 
 comes of one of the old families of that 
 country. The paternal grandfather, J. 
 Henry Krueger, was born in Lindow, 
 Prussia, was a wagon maker by trade, 
 and became possessed of considerable 
 means, owning a large brewery and dis- 
 tillery. He was thrice married, and had 
 a family of twenty-three children, of 
 whom John Henry Krueger, father of our 
 subject, was the youngest. His birth 
 also occurred in the city of Lindow, and 
 he, too, learned the wagon maker's trade. 
 During the Napoleonic wars he served as 
 a member of the artillery in the Prussian 
 army, was chosen among others to aid 
 the French emperor, and refusing to do 
 this ran away. 
 
 J. H. Krueger was united in marriage 
 in 1820, in the city of Crivitz, with Miss 
 Mary Hohe, who was born in that local- 
 ity, a daughter of Augustus and Mary 
 Hohe. Her father, who was a fisher- 
 man, amassed quite a fortune. His family 
 numbered thirteen children, and three of 
 his sons were soldiers, fighting against 
 Napoleon. To Mr. and Mrs. Krueger 
 were born si.x children — Henry, A. H. 
 Frederick, Sophia, Lottie, W^illiam and 
 Louisa. Henry came to America in 1847, 
 the following year A. H. Frederick 
 crossed the Atlantic, and in 1S49 the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lOI I 
 
 parents came with their other children, 
 locating in Niagara county, N. Y. In 
 1850, the family, with the exception of 
 Henry, migrated to Wisconsin, settling 
 on a heavily-timbered farm in the town 
 of Clayton, Winnebago county, and here 
 the father spent his remaining days, 
 passing away in 1855. The mother's 
 death occurred in 1870. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his 
 boyhood days in the Fatherland, and at 
 the age of sixteen began learning the 
 wagonmaking trade, which he followed 
 for six years in the different cities of 
 Germany. As above related, he sought 
 a home in the New World in 1848, and 
 since 1850 has been a resident of Winne- 
 bago county. In the year last named he 
 returned to Germany, where, on March 
 15, 1850, he was joined in wedlock with 
 Mary Heese, and soon afterward arrived 
 with his bride in the "Badger State," 
 where in the town of Clayton he built a 
 little shanty eleven feet square, in which 
 the young couple began their domestic 
 life. This primitive home was supplied 
 with furniture which was made from the 
 timber growing in that region, all save 
 two chairs which they brought with them, 
 and their linen chest, which they used as 
 a t^ble, and there they lived for sixteen 
 years, Mr. Krueger bringing the land to 
 a high state of cultivation. In 1867 he 
 sold out and removed to Neenah, and 
 there, in connection with Carl Stride, be- 
 gan building a gristmill, which when com- 
 pleted, a year later, was put in operation, 
 and this business has since occupied Mr. 
 Krueger's attention. He is now the 
 senior member of " The Krueger & Lach- 
 mann Milling Company," proprietors of 
 the Island City Flouring Mill, also an- 
 other mill and a large elevator in Neenah. 
 The two mills, combined, have a capacity 
 of 400 barrels of flour daily. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Krueger have been 
 born nine children, of whom four are yet 
 living — Dora, Louisa, Tillie and William. 
 Mr. Krueger has taken considerable in- 
 terest in civic societies, belongs to the 
 
 Odd Fellows Lodge, and is a Thirty-sec- 
 ond-Degree Mason. In his political 
 views he is a Democrat, and has been 
 honored with a number of public offices. 
 He has twice represented his District in 
 the State Legislature, has three times 
 served as mayor, has filled the office of 
 alderman, and at this writing is serving as 
 county supervisor. To him is due great 
 credit for the fine County Asylum which 
 Winnebago county possesses, he having 
 been one of its principal promoters, and 
 he has spent much time in its improve- 
 ment; visiting and examining institutions 
 of the kind in the Old World, he ob- 
 tained many excellent ideas which have 
 here been adopted and profitably used. 
 
 Mr. Krueger started out in life empty- 
 handed, and has never received financial 
 aid, unless we except a gift of fifty dollars 
 from his father. He may truly be called 
 a self-made man, for he has labored 
 earnestly and untiringly, and the pros- 
 perity' he now enjojs is the reward of per- 
 severance and good management. Since 
 his marriage he has twice visited Europe, 
 the last trip being made in 1891. 
 
 HON. PUBLIUS V. LAWSON. 
 Winnebago county abounds in 
 prominent families whose record 
 may well be perused by those to 
 come, who therein can not fail to find 
 splendid examples of thrift, progress and 
 honesty well worthy of emulation. To 
 the citizens of northern Wisconsin the 
 mere mention of the name Lawson sug- 
 gests almost invariably the idea of respect- 
 ability, intelligence and enterprise, for all 
 of which the family are noted, it being a 
 marked exception to the general rule when 
 aught else is the case. 
 
 Publius V. Lawson, father of the sub- 
 ject proper of this sketch, was born in 
 1825, in Pultneyville, N. Y. , a son of 
 Nicholas and Joanna (Pepper) Lawson, 
 the former of whom was a typical Ameri- 
 can of English descent; his wife was born 
 
10I2 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Holland, coming to this country when 
 fourteen years old. P. V. Lawson, Sr. , 
 learned the trade of blacksmith with his 
 father, but only followed it a short time, 
 preferring that of carpenter and joiner, 
 which he also learned, and in which he 
 became an expert. He was a well-edu- 
 cated man, and at one time taught school. 
 In 1850, or about that year, he was mar- 
 ried in New York State to Miss Elizabeth 
 Fleming, daughter of Jacob C. and Lu- 
 cinda (Baird) Fleming, both natives of 
 New Jersey, and to this union were born 
 eight children, only two of whom survive, 
 Helen E. and Publius V., the others 
 either having died in infancy or child- 
 hood. It is a coincidence worthy of 
 record that Mrs. Elizabeth Lawson was 
 born not only in the same house as her 
 husband, but in the same room, and upon 
 the same day of the same month, he being 
 the elder by just two years, and they were 
 married in the same room in which they 
 were born, and on their birthday. 
 
 In 1854 the family came to Wiscon- 
 sin, landing at Green Bay, whence they 
 went by boat down the Fox river to the 
 then young village of Menasha, where 
 Mr. Lawson worked at his trade of con- 
 tractor and builder. He it was who 
 erected manj' of the public buildings in 
 Menasha, among which are the present 
 M. E. Church and high school; he also 
 had a contract on the Lawrence Univer- 
 sity building in Appleton. After some 
 years successfully pursuing this line, he 
 opened out a sash, door and blind fac- 
 tory in Menasha, on the Fargo property, 
 situated on the Fox river water-power, 
 and this he conducted three years. In 
 1856, in company with A. J. Webster, he 
 started the Hub & Spoke Factory at 
 Menasha, which grew to be one of the 
 largest in the United States at that time. 
 The firm established the grade for all 
 first-class spokes and hubs, gaining a 
 wide reputation in this line, and for 
 nearly twenty-five years Mr. Lawson was 
 connected with this enterprise, the firm 
 closing out their business in 1880. In 
 
 1876 he bought a half interest in the 
 Menasha valuable water-power system; 
 in 1S79 purchased the other half, becom- 
 ing the owner, and it still remains in the 
 family, they leasing the power to others. 
 He and Mr. Webster also operated saw- 
 mills at' various points — one at Menasha, 
 others at Stevens Point and elsewhere; 
 also operated a spoke and hub factor}' at 
 De Pere, where was also manufactured 
 all kinds of wagon material, having a 
 capacity for 200 wagons and sleighs per 
 day, and consuming eight million feet of 
 lumber per annum. At the time of his 
 death he was also partner of John Strange 
 in both a lumbering and manufacturing 
 business, and not long before his decease 
 he bought a half interest in Clintonville 
 (Waupaca Co. , Wis. ) property, consisting 
 of water-power, flour and saw mills, be- 
 sides a general store. Indeed, few men 
 in northern Wisconsin can boast of such 
 a record for enterprise, coupled as it 
 was with uninterrupted success, a suc- 
 cess reached by no royal road, for the 
 day Mr. Lawson landed in Menasha in 
 1854 his entire wealth consisted of one 
 solitary dollar. W' hen his death occurred, 
 October 5, 1881, the city of Menasha, 
 the county of Winnebago, all northern 
 Wisconsin, had to mourn the departure 
 of a good man and a useful citizen, one 
 beloved by all who knew him. To the 
 poor, to benevolent institutions and to 
 churches, he was always liberal, and in 
 the cause of Temperance he was a pro- 
 nounced champion, the subject being one 
 on which he both wrote and spoke much, 
 throwing his whole soul into what he 
 both practiced and preached. To his 
 many employes he was kind and consid- 
 erate; and so well was he liked among 
 them that some remained in his employ 
 from twenty to twenty-five years. He 
 lived to see the village of Menasha grow 
 up to be a thriving city, and he always 
 took the liveliest interest in its welfare 
 and advancement. During the dark days 
 of the Rebellion, although he did not 
 enlist in defense of his country, he gave 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1013 
 
 liberally of both time and money toward 
 the support of the Federal cause, and 
 sent one man to the front at his own ex- 
 pense. He was a member of the Univer- 
 salist Church, but, as already said, was 
 liberal to all denominations alike, and 
 his entire life for exemplary rectitude and 
 moral atmosphere was a sermon in itself. 
 A Republican in politics, he served in 
 various offices of honor and trust, for five 
 consecutive years as mayor of Menasha. 
 Socially he was a Sir Knight and a mem- 
 ber of Oshkosh Commander)". His widow 
 is still a resident of Menasha, where she 
 is calmly and reverently awaiting the 
 summons that shall call her to rejoin those 
 loved ones who have ' ' gone before. " 
 
 Hon. p. V. Lawson, the only sur- 
 viving son of P. V. and Elizabeth Law- 
 son, was born in Corning, N. Y. , Novem- 
 ber I, 1853, and was an infant in his 
 mother's arms when the little family 
 came to Menasha, where he was reared 
 and partly educated. On leaving the 
 public schools, at the age of nineteen, he 
 entered the Wisconsin State University 
 at Madison, taking a three-years' literary 
 course, also one in the Law Department 
 of the same institution, graduating in 
 1879. In the meantime, during the 
 years 1877 and 1878, he had studied law 
 in the office of Senator W. F. Vilas, in 
 the latter year was admitted to practice 
 in all the courts, and at once opened an 
 office in Menasha for the practice of his 
 chosen profession. In this he continued 
 until 1888, when failing health compelled 
 him to seek a change, not, however, until 
 he had succeeded in building up a hand- 
 some practice, and fully manifesting his 
 pre-eminent abilities as a disciple of 
 Blackstone. His attention having been 
 directed to manufacturing interests, Mr. 
 Lawson became associated with the Men- 
 asha Wood Split Pulley Company, as 
 prime mover in its establishment, and is 
 now owner of all the stock. This enter- 
 prise is now one of the largest of the 
 kind in the United States, giving employ- 
 ment to from fif:y to 150 hands, and the 
 
 product, wooden pulleys, is sent to all 
 parts of the world. He is also largely 
 interested in an extensive flouring-mill in 
 Clintonville, Waupaca county, and in 
 real estate in Menasha, as many as thirty 
 or forty dwelling houses having been 
 erected by him there. Enterprising and 
 progressive, he has always supported 
 measures tending to the building up of 
 his adopted city, and this public spirit 
 has justly placed him among the foremost 
 of Menasha's most prominent and popu- 
 lar citizens. 
 
 On August 5, 1884, Mr. Lawson was 
 married to Miss Florence J. Wright, 
 daughter of Dr. I. H. and Rachel 
 Wright, of Neenah, Wis. , and six child- 
 dren have blessed this union, named, 
 respectively, Harold K., Percy V., Lil- 
 lian, Marian, Donald and Kenneth. Mr. 
 Lawson for several years has been promi- 
 nent in public life, and has frequently 
 been called upon to fill responsible civic 
 offices, among which we record those of 
 alderman, one term; member of the 
 county board of supervisors, one term; 
 mayor of Menasha, five terms, commenc- 
 ing with 1886, all of which incumbencies 
 he filled with ability and fidelity. In 
 1888 he was the Republican candidate for 
 the State Senate, and although running 
 in a Democratic District came within 
 1,200 votes of being elected, greatly re- 
 ducing the Democratic majority. So- 
 cially, he is a member of the F. & A. 
 M., and is a Knight Templar. At the 
 time of his retirement from law practice 
 Mr. Lawson possessed a law library of 
 nearly one thousand volumes, and at the 
 present time has a private library which 
 also contains about a thousand volumes. 
 He has energy and vigor, both of mind 
 and body; his thorough acquaintance with 
 all the higher business of life; his com- 
 mand of speech and pen and the adapta- 
 bility of his requirements, remind one of 
 the men of the same character, and the 
 same versatility of life, who figure under 
 similar circumstances in the annals of the 
 ancient republics. 
 
IOI4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 HON. GEORGE W. PRATT, 
 member of the State Senate, and 
 the eminently well qualified 
 United States marshal for the 
 Eastern District of Wisconsin, is a native 
 of Connecticut, born March 23, 1840, in 
 the town of East Haddam, Middlesex 
 county. 
 
 His ancestry is traceable to the year 
 1400, in England, but the first, of whom 
 there is reliable record, was Thomas 
 Pratt, of Baldock, Hertfordshire, who 
 was born in 1539, and died leaving four 
 children. His son Andrew had three 
 children, one of whom. Rev. William 
 Pratt, born in i 562, became, as a clergy- 
 man of the Established Church of En- 
 gland, rector of the Parish of Stevenage, 
 in Hertfordshire. His son, and si.xth 
 child, was Lieut. William Pratt, born in 
 161 5 at Baldock; in 1632 he came to 
 America, for a time residing in Cambridge, 
 Mass., from there removing in 1636 to 
 Hartford, Conn., thence, in 1645, to 
 Saybrook, same State, where are now 
 living some of his descendants; he died 
 in 1678. His son, and fifth child, Capt. 
 William Pratt, was born in 1653, married, 
 and died in 17 18, the father of five chil- 
 dren. His son, Benjamin Pratt, the 
 date of whose birth is 1681, was the first 
 of the family to be born at Saybrook, 
 Conn. His son, and eldest child, Benja- 
 min Pratt, was born in 1709, had seven 
 children, of whom Capt. Benjamin Pratt, 
 a mariner and shipmaster, was the fourth 
 child; the latter married Svbil Stowe, 
 and they had a family of ten children, of 
 whom Sylvia and Sylvester were twins. 
 Capt. Sylvester Pratt, who was also a 
 mariner and shipmaster, was born De- 
 cember 22, 1777, and died in 181 1; he 
 was married October 4, 1801, to Miss 
 Sarah White, of East Haddam, Conn., 
 and they had two children, one of whom, 
 Richard S. Pratt, was born October 23, 
 1805. 
 
 When Richard S. Pratt was three 
 years old the family removed to 
 New York, but four years later, in 
 
 1 8 12, returned to Connecticut, settling 
 in East Haddam. At the age of fourteen 
 Richard S. was apprenticed to Noah 
 Bulkeley, a merchant of East Haddam, 
 and when twenty-one years old he bought 
 out his employer, successfully conducting 
 the business fifty-three j'ears for his own 
 account. It was a boast of which he was 
 proud that, during his long business ex- 
 perience, he had always paid his obliga- 
 tions in full. He was married, April 25, 
 1836, to Miss Mary Bulkeley, of Middle 
 Haddam, Conn., and eight children were 
 born to them, the subject proper of this 
 sketch being third in order of birth. 
 Richard S. Pratt died November 7, 1879. 
 He was a typical self-made man, a fluent 
 speaker, and, withal, a Christian gentle- 
 man. He was a lifelong Democrat in 
 his political affiliations, and took an active 
 interest in public affairs, representing his 
 District in the State Senate, and holding 
 many other public positions of trust. He 
 was also an able writer, and furnished 
 many articles to the Press; he was spe- 
 cially gifted, however, as a letter writer, 
 with a diction clear, vigorous and pleas- 
 ing, a faculty which has been inherited 
 to a great degree by his son, George W. 
 On September 5, 1891, when aged sev- 
 enty-seven years, Mrs. Mary (Bulkeley) 
 Pratt died at the home of her devoted 
 son, George W. Pratt, in Oshkosh. She 
 was a native of Middle Haddam, Conn., 
 spent the greater part of her life at East 
 Haddam Landing, that State, and in 1887 
 came to Oshkosh to pass her remain- 
 ing years with her son. She was a 
 woman of comprehensive education and 
 broad culture, held in high esteem by all 
 who knew her, and was indefatigable in 
 her efforts to help the poor and afflicted, 
 devoting much of her time to public and 
 charitable enterprises. She belonged to 
 one of the best families in New England, 
 the founder of the family in America be- 
 ing Rev. Peter Bulkeley, who came in 
 1632 to Concord, Mass., where he was 
 the first minister, and among his descend- 
 ants are found some of the best thinkers 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1015 
 
 and most progressive spirits of the coun- 
 try. Henry C. Bulkeley, brother of 
 Mrs. Pratt, was a master mechanic of 
 great ability; he made the patterns for 
 one of the first engines of the Boston & 
 Albany railroad, and invented and placed 
 the first steam whistle on an engine. 
 
 George W. Pratt was reared to man- 
 hood in his native town, and received a 
 liberal education. In i860, at the age of 
 twenty years, his energetic, progressive 
 nature not well assimilating with the 
 more conservative manners and customs 
 old Connecticut, he decided to try his 
 fortune in the West, and accordingly set 
 out, his cash capital on reaching Chicago 
 being one hundred dollars. In that ris- 
 ing city he remained three years clerking 
 in a wholesale grocery establishment, 
 after which he proceeded to Grand Rap- 
 ids, Mich., where for two years he held 
 a similar position. In 1868 he took up 
 his residence in Rockford, 111., and be- 
 came a partner in the lumber firm of 
 Regan, Chaney & Pratt, who in 1870 
 purchased the old Porter mills in Oshkosh, 
 Wis., which they operated one season, in 
 1 87 1 erecting a new mill. About this 
 time Mr. Pratt came to Oshkosh to take 
 charge of the concern; in 1875, ^^r. 
 Regan dying, Mr. Chaney and Mr. Pratt 
 bought his interest, and three years later 
 Mr. Chaney retired from the firm, Mr. 
 Pratt buying out his interest, and after- 
 ward conducting the mill as sole owner. 
 In the midst of his unbounded prosperity 
 it is not to be expected he would be proof 
 against adversity, particularly in the 
 shape of unexpected conflagrations. In 
 1879 his mill and yard were burned, 
 entailing a net loss of $25,000 beyond 
 the amount of his insurance; in 1883 
 his lumber yard was again devastated 
 by fire, and his insurance policies 
 failed to cover his loss, this time by 
 $50,000; and it is worthy of mention 
 that in neither case did the fire originate 
 on his premises. Such heavy losses, be- 
 sides others beyond his control, were 
 enough to drive any ordinary man out of 
 
 business, but, such was Mr. Pratt's in- 
 domitable courage, he never once thought 
 of "giving up the ship;" on the other 
 hand at each repulse he at once set to 
 work to rally his scattered resources and 
 re-enter the conflict. 
 
 The breadth of Mr. Pratt's mental 
 guage, and the magnitude of his opera- 
 tions, may be imagined when it is stated 
 that at one time he was the owner of 
 seventy-five million feet of standing tim- 
 ber, and that in 1885 he built and 
 equipped, at a cost of one hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand dollars, a standard- 
 guage logging road, sixteen miles in length, 
 the purpose of which was to transport 
 logs to the Wolf river, down which they 
 were floated to Oshkosh. During the 
 three years he operated this road he em- 
 ployed more hands than any other citizen 
 of Oshkosh, perhaps of the State, his pay- 
 roll exhibiting the names of several hun- 
 dred men. Subsequently he sold this road 
 to the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western 
 Railroad Company. 
 
 Mr. Pratt is an ardent and consistent 
 Democrat, and has proven himself as suc- 
 cessful in politics as he has been in busi- 
 ness matters. In 1882 he was elected 
 mayor of Oshkosh; re-elected by an over- 
 whelming majority in 1883, and again in 
 1884. His administration during these 
 three years was marked as an era of pros- 
 perity, advancement and public improve- 
 ment, water works, electric lighting, and 
 street cars being introduced, and from a 
 village Oshkosh became a city. It was 
 he who proposed and urged that a uni- 
 form system of sewerage be adopted, and 
 finally encompassed the result. It was also 
 he who, by his determined course, com- 
 pelled the Telephone Company to pay a 
 tax, and was foremost in the fight that 
 ended in the city being saved the paying of 
 a bonus of $30,000 to the Wisconsin Cen- 
 tral Railroad Company. In many other 
 ways did Mr. Pratt prove himself a true 
 and fearless champion of the rights of the 
 people, and to his personal efforts was 
 due the much-needed reform in assess- 
 
ioi6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ment matters, resulting in the revision of 
 the personal property tax, in which, 
 hitherto, glaring abuses had been permit- 
 ted to exist, chiefly in the undertaxing of 
 the rich and the overtaxing of the poor. 
 One tangible result of this reform meas- 
 ure was the increase, in one single j'ear, 
 of the city revenue by $50,000, which 
 sum came through the readjustment of 
 the assessment of the wealthier class, and 
 was used in needed improvements in the 
 city, which gave work to the laboring 
 classes. In short, instead of increasing 
 the rate and thereby increasing the taxes 
 of the poor, he raised the assessment of 
 the rich. 
 
 In 18S8 Mr. Pratt consented to allow 
 himself to become a candidate for the 
 Assembly on the Democratic ticket, and 
 though confronted by a strong man with 
 a powerful influence, he was elected by a 
 handsome majority. In 1890 his party 
 again demanded his services, and he again 
 responded, this time to once more fill the 
 mayor's chair, and he was elected by a 
 handsome majority. At the last general 
 elections, after much solicitation, he re- 
 luctantly consented to again run, this 
 time for the office of State Senator from 
 the Nineteenth Senatorial District, com- 
 prising Winnebago county, which was 
 considered securely Republican, and he 
 was elected over his popular opponent by 
 a large majority. In the fall of 1890 
 his friends wished him to accept the 
 nomination for governor, but he re- 
 spectfully declined, much to the regret 
 of thousands of his friends and ad- 
 mirers all over the State. In Feb- 
 ruary, 1894, he was appointed United 
 States marshal for the Eastern District 
 of Wisconsin, a position he fills with 
 dignity and ability, being assisted by his 
 eldest son, who is deputy. In every po- 
 litical contest in which he has been en- 
 gaged the opposition parties have made 
 the most strenuous efforts to defeat him; 
 but barrels of money and mountains of 
 influence have counted for naught, so 
 substantial has been his popularity, and 
 
 he has a clear record of victories nobly 
 won. In the administration of the city 
 affairs of Oshkosh he has shown an in- 
 telligence and executive ability that is 
 simply statesmanship, and during his ser- 
 vice in the Assembly and Senate no Dis- 
 tricts have possessed a more creditable 
 representative, either in appearance or 
 capability. He invariably commanded 
 the respect of his co-workers in the Leg- 
 islature, creating the impression that he 
 was a man of judgment and convictions, 
 one who could voice his sentiments be- 
 fore a body politic when there was occa- 
 sion. He has administered the affairs of 
 every office occupied by him with marked 
 ability and success; and to him more than 
 any other man does the city of Oshkosh 
 owe its present prosperity and proud dis- 
 tinction. For the past twelve jears he 
 has been more than a prominent feature 
 in Wisconsin politics, and has been given, 
 not undeservedly, the sobriquet of ■ ' Na- 
 poleon of Wisconsin politics." At vari- 
 ous times his master-hand has been dis- 
 cernible in the mj^steries of American 
 politics, revealing a master-mind that is 
 quick to decide and unhesitating to act. 
 Mr. Pratt, in or out of politics, is a 
 genial, courteous gentleman — a man 
 among men. Polite by nature and edu- 
 cation, his politeness is of the every-day 
 sort, not reserved for Sunday wear or for 
 his compeers, but apparent on all occa- 
 sions, and one and the same for all sorts 
 and conditions of men. One who has 
 lived in a community a score of years, 
 and be as popular as Mr. Pratt, particu- 
 larly among the laboring classes — those 
 unerring jurors who do not hesitate to 
 render judgment — must have a character 
 to merit it. The noblest qualities of 
 head and heart he possesses in the high- 
 est degree, and these qualities he brings 
 into play not only in private life but also 
 in his public capacities; but perhaps the 
 greatest factor in his success is his relia- 
 bility. The people always know that he 
 is one of them, and is with them on all 
 questions pertaining to their welfare, and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 1017 
 
 they have long since become convinced 
 that his poHcy is as safe and sure as it is 
 broad, generous and progressive. He 
 discharges all duties, be they pleasant 
 or otherwise, with his old-time firmness 
 and affable manner, showing in all things 
 a tact that is rarely met with. 
 
 On December 3, 1867, in Rockford, 
 111., George W. Pratt and Miss Mary 
 Jennette Bronson were united in mar- 
 riage. She is of English descent, trac- 
 ing her ancestry direct to John Bronson, 
 founder of theWaterbury (Conn.) branch 
 of the family, who was an early resident 
 of Hartford, Conn., whither he came, it 
 is supposed, though not certainly known, 
 in 1636, with the company brought by 
 Rev. Thomas Hooker, of whose Church 
 he was a member. He was a soldier in 
 the bloody Pequot conflict in 1637. In 
 1641 he removed to Farmington, and was 
 one of the seven pillars at the organiza- 
 tion of the Farmington Church, in 1652. 
 He was the father of seven children. The 
 descent in direct line to Mrs. George W. 
 Pratt is as follows: His son. Sergeant 
 Isaac, father of Isaac, father of Isaac, 
 father of Capt. Issac, father of Virtue, 
 father of Isaac Carrington, father of Mrs. 
 Pratt. The name is spelled Brownson in 
 the Hartford records in Connecticut, and 
 Brunson in the Farmington records. 
 Mrs. Pratt's grandfather, Virtue Bronson, 
 a circuit court judge, was born March 22, 
 1778, and died in 181 5. He married 
 Nancy Carrington, and by her had child- 
 ren as follows: Isaac Carrington, James, 
 Ethel v., Caroline and Maria. A brother 
 of Judge Virtue Bronson, Dr. Isaac Bron- 
 son, became a famous banker in New 
 York City. 
 
 Isaac C. Bronson, eldest son of Judge 
 Virtue Bronson, was born September 6, 
 1803, in Waterbury, Conn., whence, in 
 1823, he removed with his father to Shel- 
 don, N. Y. , where the latter died same 
 year. At the age of twenty-two Isaac C. 
 Bronson embarked in mercantile business 
 on his own account, in Warsaw, N. Y. , 
 in which he continued successfully in the 
 
 same place for nearly thirty years. Dur- 
 ing this time he was also interested in 
 many different branches of manufactur- 
 ing, all of which he pursued with great 
 energy and uniform success. In 1851-52 
 he was a director and also a member of 
 the executive committee of the Buffalo & 
 New York City railroad, in the construc- 
 tion of which he aided greatly, although 
 he suffered considerable pecuniar}' loss in 
 consequence of his connection with this 
 enterprise. In 1840 he assisted in the 
 organization of the First Congregational 
 Church at Warsaw, N. Y. , and until 
 his removal from that place in 1854 to 
 Rockford, 111. , was among its most active 
 members and liberal supporters. He was 
 a total abstinence man, in both precept 
 and practice, long before any temperance 
 organization was known in the vicinity 
 where he lived. In politics he was orig- 
 inally a Whig, hence, in 1854, he was 
 prepared to welcome and join in the or- 
 ganization of the Republican party, of 
 which he was afterward an active and 
 influential member until he died. He 
 was a man of sagacity, good judgment 
 and indomitable energj', in every un- 
 dertaking in which his sympathies be- 
 came enlisted. As a husband and fa- 
 ther he was kind and indulgent, as a 
 neighbor, generous and obliging, as a citi- 
 zen, enterprising and upright. He died 
 in Rockford, 111., May 16, 1873. He 
 was married October 24, 1826, to Calista 
 Gates, daughter of Deacon Seth Gates, 
 of Sheldon, N. Y. , and eight children — 
 five sons and three daughters — were born 
 to them, one of whom, Mary Jennette, is 
 the wife of George W. Pratt. Calista 
 Gates was born May 25, 1807, in Shel- 
 don, Genesee Co., N. Y. Her husband, 
 removing to Rockford, 111., in an early 
 day, became prominently identified with 
 the early history of the city, and up to 
 the day of his death his wife was a help- 
 meet in ever}' sense of the word. She 
 was recognized by her friends as a hard 
 worker, and seemed to accomplish with- 
 out fatigue what would be impossible in 
 
loiS 
 
 COMMEyrORATIVE BIOGBAPRWAL RECORD. 
 
 women of more sturdy physique. She 
 possessed rare executive ability, and a 
 talent for making home pleasant, a fac- 
 ulty appreciated by all her family, and 
 her elder grandchildren can also give will- 
 ing testimony to these facts. She loved 
 her home and could always be found 
 there when not on some errand of mercy 
 or ministering to the wants of those she 
 loved. No worthy appeal to her bounty 
 or sympathy was ever refused, and if for 
 each heart, lightened of its load by her 
 generosity, a flower had been dropped 
 upon the bier of this noble, lovable 
 woman, the sexton's services would have 
 been unnecessarv. 
 
 Mrs. Bronson was a Christian in the 
 broadest sense. She was, withal, philo- 
 sophical in her judgments. To impugn 
 the motives of others, or to speak harshly 
 of the absent and defenseless, was a trait 
 utterly foreign to her character. She was 
 a good reader, displaying rare taste in her 
 selections, and remembered what she had 
 read. Until within a very few years of 
 her death she was posted on current 
 events, and kept pace with the advanced 
 thought of the age in a surprising degree. 
 A woman with whom it was always a 
 pleasure to converse, no one ever left her 
 presence feeling that the time had been 
 misspent. In her wide circle of relatives 
 and acquaintances none knew her but to 
 love, and those who are left can have 
 nothing but sweet memories of a loving 
 mother, a kind and sympathetic friend. 
 For a number of years she resided in 
 Chicago with her daughter, Mrs. Hepburn; 
 upon the death of the latter, in 1887, she 
 removed to Rockford, 111., and made her 
 home with her daughter, Mrs. Smith, 
 until her decease, November 21, 1893. 
 Three children — S. G. Bronson, of Buf- 
 falo, Ohio; Mrs. C. J. Smith, of Rock- 
 ford, 111., and Mrs. George W. Pratt, of 
 Oshkosh, Wis. — and numerous grand- 
 children and great-grandchildren survive 
 her. Her brother, Hon. Seth M. Gates, 
 of Warsaw, N. Y. , uncle of Mrs. Georsre 
 W. Pratt, was a prominent lawyer, poli- 
 
 tician and writer. He held many public 
 positions of trust and honor, among which 
 were two terms in Congress. 
 
 PROF. GEORGE SUMNER 
 ALBEE, President of the Osh- 
 kosh State Normal School. The 
 most westerly portion of this vast 
 country is indebted to the East for many 
 of its eminent professional men, promi- 
 nent manufacturers and successful farm- 
 ers, and in the fore rank of the class first 
 mentioned stands the gentleman here 
 named. He is a native of the State of 
 New York, born May 23, 1837, in Alle- 
 gany county, a son of Lovett S. and 
 Eliza (Marvin) Albee, both natives of 
 New England, the father of Milford, 
 Mass., the mother of Westminster, Ver- 
 mont. 
 
 The genealogy of the family can be 
 traced back to the year 1465, and to the 
 county of Norfolk, England, at which 
 time and place lived one Albee, whose 
 coat of arms indicated his holding title. 
 He was of Norman origin (one collateral 
 branch of the family in Vermont coming 
 direct from Normand}'), many of William 
 the Conqueror's followers having settled 
 down to the vocations of peace, such as 
 they were some centuries ago, in that 
 part of England. One of his descend- 
 ants, by name Benjamin Albee, came to 
 America about 1635, settling in Brain- 
 tree, and later received a grant of land in 
 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 
 the purpose of erecting a flouring-mill on 
 Mill river, in the town of Mendon, now 
 known as Milford. During King Philip's 
 war, like most of his townsmen, he fled, 
 to Braintree probably; but at the close of 
 that struggle his three sons certainly re- 
 turned, and from John, the youngest 
 (1680), and his son John (1721), de- 
 scended Simeon (1760), ninth of thirteen 
 children. 
 
 Simeon Albee, grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, was a native of Massachusetts, born 
 in Milford in 1760. He for some years 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 I02I 
 
 lived at Charlestown, N. H., but later 
 returned to Milford, Mass., where he 
 died at the advanced age of eighty- 
 eight years. By occupation he was a 
 farmer, and in religious belief a strong 
 orthodo.x churchman. He married Miss 
 Rebecca Stoddard, a member of an old 
 New England family, a lineal descendant 
 from Thomas Clarke, ' ' first mate of the 
 Mayflower," who was the latest survivor 
 of that notable company. Fifteen children 
 were born of this marriage, thirteen of 
 whom reached maturity, and married, 
 and of them the youngest child was Lovett 
 S. (iSio). 
 
 In 1836 the father of our subject 
 moved to Hume, Allegany county, in 
 western New York, where he followed 
 farming and milling, being owner of a 
 mill on the Genesee river. He became a 
 prosperous and representative man, hon- 
 ored with election to local offices of 
 trust. Although strong and vigorous, of 
 fine physique and active habits, he died 
 in 1863 at the comparatively early age of 
 fifty-three. His wife was Miss Eliza 
 Marvin, daughter of Giles Marvin, a man- 
 ufacturer of Westminster, Vt. She was 
 born January 31, 1808, and died Decem- 
 ber 9, 1893, the mother of four children, 
 viz.: George S. , Rebecca (deceased), De- 
 Witt C. (of Bolivar, N. Y. ,) and Frances 
 E. (deceased.) 
 
 George Sumner Albee. the subject 
 proper of this memoir, received a thor- 
 ough school training in the East, in part 
 at the academ\- of Westminster, Vt., and 
 Genesee College, Lima, N. Y., from 
 which latter, in October, 1861, he en- 
 tered the University of Michigan, Ann 
 Arbor, where he took a full classical 
 course, graduating A. B. in June, 1864. 
 Prior to this he had taught in academies 
 at Lima and Rushford. N. Y. Soon after 
 taking his degree at Ann Arbor he was 
 appointed principal of the Central High 
 School at Peoria, 111., remaining there but 
 one year, however, when he received the 
 appointment of principal of the Kenosha 
 
 (Wis.) High School, filling that incum- 
 57 
 
 bency three years. His next position was 
 that of su])erintendent of the city schools 
 and principal of the High School at Ra- 
 cine, Wis., from 1868 to 1 871, at the 
 end of which time he was elected the first 
 president of the Oshkosh State Normal 
 School, which, in that capacity, he or- 
 ganized, and with which he has since 
 been so prominently identified. 
 
 Pres. Albee was married August 16, 
 1866, at Ann Arbor, Mich., to Miss Linda 
 A. Hatt, a native of Niagara county, N. 
 Y. , a graduate of Ann Arbor High School, 
 and an accomplished linguist. Three 
 children have been born to this union, 
 namely: Robert S., a graduate of the 
 Oshkosh State Normal School, now a 
 student at the University ot Michigan, 
 Ann Arbor; Ernest, and Constance. 
 Pres. and Mrs. Albee are members of the 
 First Congregational Church of Oshkosh; 
 socially he affiliates with the F. & A. M., 
 in politics with the Republican party, but 
 is no politician. He was early honored 
 as president of Wisconsin Principals' 
 Association, and of Wisconsin Teachers' 
 Association. 
 
 Pres. Albee is a progressive spirit, as 
 is manifested by his steady advancement 
 in his profession. He is pre-eminently an 
 educator of the most advanced type and 
 best quality. Pres. Albert Salisbury, of 
 the State Normal School at White Water, 
 Wis. , in his " Historical Sketch of Normal 
 Institutions " at the Columbian Congress, 
 Chicago, pays Pres. Albee the following 
 tribute: "The Oshkosh school has been 
 more fortunate than any of its sister 
 schools in continuity of administration. 
 Before the opening of the schools, in 
 1 87 1, George S. Albee was elected to its 
 Presidency, a position which he has held 
 with great and increasing acceptance until 
 this day — a wise and unbroken adminis- 
 tration of over twenty-one years. In 
 this time the school has grown to be the 
 largest in the State and one of the most 
 efficient in the whole country." Also in 
 the same sketch Pres. Salisbury says: 
 ' ' From the first the Wisconsin Normal 
 
I022 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 Schools have recognized the indispensa- 
 bility of schools of practice. The earliest 
 efforts at realizations were crude and in- 
 effective; but they paved the way to the 
 marked success of later years, the amount 
 and organization of the practice teaching 
 being now such as will bear the most 
 thorough examination and criticism. It 
 is impossible and unnecessary to trace in 
 detail the various steps of this advance in 
 pedagogical thought; it has been gradual, 
 never revolutionary, and more discernible 
 in the present result than in the stages of 
 its progress. It would be invidious and 
 inaccurate to attribute leadership in this 
 advance to one school or another, all have 
 contributed to it in greater or less degree; 
 but no one will take exception to the as- 
 sertion that great credit is due, in the 
 general reckoning, to the wisdom, insight 
 and persistence of the veteran president 
 of the Oshkosh school." 
 
 JOSEPH KLOECKNER. There is 
 no citizen of Oshkosh more worthy, 
 whose memory should be preserved 
 in this volume, and be placed before 
 the public as an example and presenting 
 the record of a life teaching important 
 lessons of honesty and industry, than this 
 gentleman. 
 
 A native of Rhein Prussia, Germany, he 
 was born January i6, 1848, in Hedde- 
 sheim Kreis, of which localitj' his ances- 
 tors had been residents for many gener- 
 ations, and were held in high esteem by 
 the community at large. Grandfather 
 Kloeckner was a farmer and wine maker 
 in Heddesheim, growing the grapes on 
 his own land, and became fairlj- wealthy; 
 but his chief wealth was the good name 
 he earned for honesty and integrity, 
 qualities that he left to his posterity. He 
 died in the F'atherland at the ripe age of 
 eighty-six years, the parent of one son 
 and three daughters, who all married well 
 in Germany and reared families. The 
 son, John G., inherited the homestead, 
 kept a vineyard, made wine, and for a 
 
 considerable time conducted the well- 
 known hostelry in Heddesheim called 
 "Hotel Kreutznach. " He married Miss 
 Catherine Luckas, a woman of refine- 
 ment and considerable talent, who be- 
 came an ideal German housewife and 
 mother, and an excellent business mana- 
 ger. She died at the age of sixty-eight 
 years, her husband when aged seventy- 
 three 3'ears, their son, John J., inheriting 
 the property, of which he is still in pos- 
 session. They were the parents of five 
 children, who reached maturity, to wit: 
 Anna M., John J., Lorenz, Joseph, and 
 Anton, who also came to Wisconsin, and 
 is now a farmer in Winnebago county. 
 
 Joseph Kloeckner, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, received an ordinary 
 public-school education in his native town, 
 and at the age of seventeen, seeing and 
 appreciating, young as he was, the tre- 
 mendous vigor and growth of the United 
 States, he resolved to come here and 
 grow up with us. Consequently in No- 
 vember, 1865, with buoyant hopes and a 
 correspondingly light purse, he set out for 
 the \\'estern World, ultimately finding 
 himself in \\'ashington county. Wis., at 
 the home of a cousin. With him he re- 
 mained about one year, and then came 
 to Oshkosh, arriving in the town Septem- 
 ber I, 1866. During his first \ear's resi- 
 dence here he found various sorts of em- 
 ployment, but not sufficient encourage- 
 ment to remain, for we next find him in 
 Muskegon, Mich., where for four years 
 he found congenial employment. Re- 
 turning in 1 87 1 to his first love, the fair 
 town of Oshkosh, he has since been 
 closely identified with its history, and 
 been an eyewitness to the marvelous 
 growth characteristic of most western 
 towns. Between 1871 and 1884 Mr. 
 Kloeckner worked, and in the latter year 
 he went into the furniture business (al- 
 though, it maj' be said, against his in- 
 clination) by buying out the Union Fur- 
 niture Company, becoming sole proprie- 
 tor. This he conducted with a consider- 
 able degree of success some five years. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 when he disposed of the machinery, later 
 seihnfj the buildings. 
 
 A Democrat from the day he became a 
 citizen of the United States, Mr. Kloeck- 
 ner has always had a full share of political 
 iutlucnce, and in the fall of 1885 he was 
 appointed deputy Revenue collector for 
 the Seventh Division of the Wisconsin 
 Revenue District embracing seven coun- 
 ties. This office he held four years (dur- 
 ing Cleveland's first administration), and 
 filled it in a manner highly satisfactory to 
 the people of the District, doing his duty 
 faithfully to all concerned. On his re- 
 tirement from this office he received the 
 Democratic nomination for sheriff of 
 Winnebago county, and was elected, serv- 
 ing two years. In 1893 he received, on 
 the same ticket, the nomination for mayor 
 of Oshkosh, but was defeated; however, 
 on February 14, 1894, he received the 
 appointment of postmaster at Oshkosh, 
 which incumbency he has since filled with 
 eminent satisfaction to the public. As an 
 able financial manager Mr. Kloeckner has 
 always been regarded as second to none 
 in his county. On the organization of 
 the South Side E.xchange Bank, he was 
 elected vice-president, and on the death 
 of the president, Frank Leach, he was 
 elected to fill the vacancy, and has since 
 been its efficient president. The bank 
 has a capital stock of $50,000, is in a 
 flourishing condition, and has always been 
 controlled on the best business principles. 
 
 On June 15, 1875, Mr. Kloeckner was 
 united in marriage with Miss Anna M. 
 Ruedinger, daughter of Valentine Rue- 
 dinger, an honored German pioneer farmer 
 of Winnebago county. Wis. Our subject 
 and wife have been active members of 
 St. Vincent de Paul Church, having been 
 identified with it since 1 871. She takes 
 prominent interest in works of charity 
 connected with the Church, while he has 
 been financial manager of its funds, and 
 treasurer for eleven years. Mr. Kloeck- 
 ner since coming to Oshkosh has been 
 instrumental to a great extent in the 
 building up of the town, has been the 
 
 promoter of various business concerns, 
 proving himself one of her most active 
 and enterprising citizens, as well as a 
 typical self-made successful man. 
 
 PROF. R. H. HALSEY, superin- 
 tendent of the city schools of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, is a 
 man of fine as well as forcible in- 
 tellectual c]ualities, is an entensive reader 
 and close thinker, and is possessed of a 
 remarkably practical cast of mind. 
 
 He is a native of New York State, 
 born in Blooming Grove, Orange county, a 
 son of Warren and Lydia (Foster) Hal- 
 sey, also natives of New York State, the 
 former of whom was for a long time in 
 mercantile business at Brooklyn, N. Y. , 
 where he died in 1871 ; his widow is now 
 residing at West Hampton, Long Island. 
 They reared a family of four children, a 
 brief record of whom is as follows: 
 Charles is living with his mother at West 
 Hampton, L. I., where he is engaged in 
 farming (at one time he owned and con- 
 ducted a sheep ranch in Texas); Mary is 
 now the wife of George D. Hornbeck, of 
 Chester, Conn. ; Anna resides in the city 
 of Brooklyn; R. H. is the subject of 
 these lines. 
 
 R. H. Halsey received his elementary 
 education in the schools of Brooklyn, N. 
 Y. , after which he took a literary and 
 classical course at Williams College, 
 Williamstown, Mass., where he graduated 
 with the class of 1877. Immediately 
 thereafter he commenced teaching school 
 near Albany, N. Y. , then for a time was 
 engaged in the Brooklyn (N. Y.) Collegi- 
 ate and Polytechnic Institute as teacher 
 of English, remaining there till 1883, 
 when he came to Oshkosh to accept the 
 position of principal of the High School 
 of that place. In 1891 he was appointed 
 superintendent of the city schools of Osh- 
 kosh, an incumbency he is eminently 
 adapted for by virtue of his energy and 
 vigor of both mind and body, his high 
 literary attainments, thorough experience 
 
I024 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in the profession, and unquestionable ad- 
 ministrative abilities. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Prof. Halsey was married, in 
 New York, to Miss Emma L. Cole, who 
 was born in Claverack, N. Y. , daughter 
 of Henr\- and Lucretia (Rowland) Cole, 
 both nati\es of New York, the former of 
 whom died in Claverack in 1876, the 
 latter coming, in 1883, with her daughter, 
 Mrs. Halsey, to Oshkosh, where she passed 
 from earth May 30, 1893. To Prof, and 
 Mrs. Halse}' were born children as fol- 
 lows: Mary C, James T. (deceased at 
 the age of ten years), Rowland, Richard 
 and Elizabeth. Our subject and wife 
 are members of the Congregational 
 Church. He is a member of the Board 
 of Examiners for State Certificates, of 
 the Board of Visitors of the University of 
 Wisconsin, and vice-president of the Wis- 
 consin Teachers' Association. 
 
 JAMES GILLINGHAM, who has 
 been a resident of Oshkosh, Winne- 
 bago county, for over forty years, 
 and is one of the representative busi- 
 ness men of the city, is a native of Eng- 
 land, born December 14, 1832, at Oakford 
 farm, in Dorsetshire. He is an English- 
 man not only by birth, but by inheritance, 
 as his ancestry before him as far back as 
 can be traced were natives of ' ' the tight 
 little island;" and he is the second eldest 
 living of the family of children born to 
 Thomas and Ann (Northam) Gillingham, 
 the other survivor being his brother 
 Francis, who resides in Vinland town- 
 ship, \\'innebago county, Wisconsin. 
 
 Our subject was reared and educated 
 in his native country, and after leaving 
 school learned the trade of blacksmith, 
 which has been his lifework. In 1852 he 
 came to the United States, and made his 
 first New- World home in Rochester, N. 
 Y. , but at the end of a year, attracted by 
 the seductive reports that were wafted 
 eastward from the then new State of Wis- 
 consin, he set his face westward, and 
 ■coming hither took up his home in Osh- 
 
 kosh, then a small rising village. Here 
 he worked at his trade as a journeyman 
 until 1865, in which year he commenced 
 business for his own account, and to-day 
 he stands at the head of the list, in his 
 line, as the oldest blacksmith in Oshkosh. 
 In 1877 he took into partnership his eldest 
 son, Thomas E., the style of the firm 
 being Gillingham & Son, and went largely 
 into the manufacturing of logging tools 
 and sleighs, in connection with general 
 blacksmithing, including work for boats, 
 mills, etc., employment being now given 
 to nearly a dozen hands the year round. 
 In 1855 Mr. Gillingham was married 
 in Oshkosh to Miss Louisa Clark, daughter 
 of Elisha and Mary Ann (Mott) Clark, 
 who came to Oshkosh in 1848 from Jef- 
 ferson county, N. Y. , where Mrs. Gilling- 
 ham was born. To this union have been 
 born five children, three of whom are yet 
 living, to wit: Thomas E., a partner with 
 his father; Ida May, wife of Charles G. 
 Johnston, and Almina Alice. The family 
 attend the services of the Episcopal 
 Church. In his political preferences Mr. 
 Gillingham is a Democrat, and he has 
 served the city as alderman one year, and 
 represented the Fourth ward at the county 
 board; socially, he is a member of \\'inne- 
 bago Lodge No. 120, I. O. O. F. As a 
 citizen Mr. Gillingham occupies a high 
 rank, his honesty being above question, 
 and his character beyond reproach. He 
 is possessed of excellent business tact as 
 well as indefatigable energy, and he has 
 an extensive acquaintance and solid repu- 
 tation, not only throughout the county 
 wherein he resides, but also in others ad- 
 joining. 
 
 JOSEPH KLUWIN. Among the 
 highly respected residents of Osh- 
 kosh, \\'innebago count}-, none is 
 more deserving of the high esteem of 
 the community than the subject of this 
 sketch, who for the past three years has 
 been living a retired life. 
 
 Mr. Kluwin is a native of Rhine- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 1025 
 
 Prussia, born July 24, 1834, a son of 
 John and Francisca Kluwin, also of Prus- 
 sian birth, who emigrated to the United 
 States in 1853, and, coining to Wiscon- 
 sin, first located on a farm in Black Wolf 
 township, Winnebago county. In about 
 a year, however, they moved into Osh- 
 kosh, where the father worked at his 
 trade, that of a stonemason, some ten 
 years, and then returning to Black Wolf 
 township purchased a farm there, which 
 he operated about twelve years, at the 
 end of that time once more making their 
 home in Oshkosh, where they passed the 
 rest of their busy lives, the father dying 
 in 1882, the mother in 1891. They were 
 the parents of six children, five of whom 
 are yet li\ing, as follows: Joseph; Cath- 
 erine, wife of John Schmidt; Theresa, 
 wife of John Bock; Elizabeth, wife of 
 John Ackerman, and Andrew. 
 
 Joseph I\luwin, the subject proper of 
 this sketch, received his education in his 
 native land, and, as will be seen, was 
 nineteen years old when the family came 
 to America. He was reared to horticul- 
 tural pursuits, which he followed for a 
 few years prior to making his home in 
 Winnebago, and till within the past few 
 years continued the business with such 
 success as to enable him to retire on a 
 comfortable competence. As a practical 
 gardener and landscape artist he has no 
 superior and few equals. Mr. Kluwin is 
 an honored, upright citizen, whose genial 
 manners and warm-hearted sympathies 
 have made for him many sincere personal 
 friendships. In his political affiliations 
 he is a Democrat, and in religious faith 
 he is a Catholic. 
 
 JOHN B. KING. The dexterous 
 manipulation of the chisel has at all 
 times commanded a liberal share of 
 wonder and admiration; it has pre- 
 served to us the beauty of antiquity, has 
 marked the resting place of our dearest 
 and most beloved friends, and has made 
 the home of their mortal remains a gar- 
 
 den of art and loveliness; it has also con- 
 tributed largely to the beautifjing of our 
 cities, the adornment of our public parks, 
 and to the perpetuating of the memory of 
 the great and good. In this connection it 
 is with pleasure we here present a brief 
 sketch of Mr. John B. King, proprietor of 
 the Mausoleum and Monumental Granite 
 and Marble Works, Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, who as a born carver in stone 
 has earned his way to fame and recogni- 
 tion. 
 
 He is a native of New York State, 
 born February 12, 1852, in St. Lawrence 
 county, a son of Laor and Mary (Cole) 
 King, who had a family of six children, as 
 follows: John B., Adell (wife of Wright 
 Wakeman), James, George, William and 
 Andrew, all, except our subject, residing 
 in North Dakota, where their father is 
 also living, and is filling the office of pro- 
 bate judge; the mother died in 1862. 
 Laor King during the Civil war served in 
 the Thirty-sixth Regiment Wis. V. I., 
 and participated in several engagements, 
 receiving a wound in the hand. About 
 1854 our subject, then a two-year-old 
 child, was brought by his parents to 
 Wisconsin, in Vernon county received his 
 education, and was reared to manhood on 
 his father's farm. At the age of about 
 twenty-two years he left the parental 
 roof, and proceeding to Kaukauna there 
 learned the trade of stone-cutter. In 
 1882 he came to Oshkosh, where he em- 
 barked in business for his own account, 
 and he is now proprietor of the well- 
 known Oshkosh Stone Works, located at 
 No. 1 1 5 Marion street, where he employs 
 from six to eight men. 
 
 In 1S75 Mr. King was united in mar- 
 riage, at Kaukauna, with Miss Cora Pat- 
 terson, and two children were born to 
 them: Milla and Grace E. The mother 
 of these dying, Mr. King married Miss 
 Louisa Hixon, who also died, and in July, 
 1887, he wedded, in Oshkosh, Miss Louisa 
 Rice. By the last two marriages there is 
 no issue. The family attend the Congrega- 
 tional Church, and in his political views 
 
I026 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. King is a stanch Republican. He is 
 a member of Winnebago Lodge No. 1 20, 
 I. O. O. F. , and of Encampment No. 31, 
 Oshkosh; also a member of the Royal Ar- 
 canum, No. 215, and the Sons of Veter- 
 ans. He was the first to use Oshkosh 
 stone for building trimmings, and furn- 
 ished and cut the stone for Trinity 
 Episcopal Church and many of the most 
 prominent buildings in Oshkosh. An 
 artist of true genius, his love for the pic- 
 turesque and beautiful asserts itself in 
 every detail of his business. The home- 
 stead residence of the family is No. 28 
 O.xford street, Oshkosh. 
 
 ALBERT G. LULL (deceased), 
 who was one of the most promi- 
 nent public-spirited and success- 
 ful farmer citizens of Winnebago 
 county, was a typical product of the 
 Green Mountain State — having been born 
 in Hartland, Vt. , December 14, 18 19, son 
 of Levi and Fanny (Farwell) Lull. 
 
 He was educated in his native town, 
 and reared to agricultural pursuits, follow- 
 ing same in Vermont until 1 840, when, 
 at the age of twenty-one years, he came 
 to \\'isconsin. Two vears later he set- 
 tled in Winnebago count}', where he suc- 
 cessfully followed agricultural pursuits 
 the rest of his busy life. He died April 
 13, 1887, the county, which had been 
 his home for nearly half a century, losing 
 an upright, loyal citizen. He was ever 
 looked upon as a leader in all measures 
 tending to the public good, and during 
 his long residence in Winnebago county 
 his superior intelligence, energetic busi- 
 ness methods and whole-souled geniality 
 gave him more than a local prominence. 
 For several years he held offices of trust, 
 including that of county treasurer, and 
 served three terms as alderman of the 
 original Third ward, including all of South 
 Oshkosh, as well as in various other posi- 
 tions of trust. He was an early member 
 of Oshkosh Lodge No. 27, F. & A. M. 
 On September 12, 1847, Mr. Lull 
 
 was united in marriage, at Waukesha, 
 Wis., with Miss Anna M. Forbes, and 
 eight children blessed their union, of 
 whom the following is a brief record: 
 Clara F. , born June 18, 1849, died 
 October 31, 1852; Helen Ada, born 
 November 25, 1S51, is the wife of Charles 
 Ryckman, of Oshkosh, to whom she was 
 married August 20, 1873; Edward A., 
 born April 7, 1854, resides with his 
 mother on the homestead in South Osh- 
 kosh; Charles F., born February 25, 
 1857, died November 13, 1859; Wilham 
 E., born September 29, i860, resides in 
 Oshkosh; Emma, born December 27, 
 1863, died January 3, 1864; Genevieve, 
 born October 3, 1865, and Katie M., 
 born May i, 1870, both live at home. 
 
 Mrs. Anna M. Lull was born in Albany, 
 N. Y. , August 16, 1827, a daughter of 
 the late Moses and Eliza Forbes, natives 
 of Massachusetts, who had born to them 
 eight children, three of whom survive: 
 Eliza, widow of John Richards, residing 
 in Watertown, Wis. ; Moses, in Oshkosh, 
 and AnnaM., widow of Albert G. Lull. 
 
 JACOB R. BLOOM, editor and pro- 
 prietor of the Evening Breeze, a 
 lively and flourishing daily news- 
 paper published in Menasha, Winne- 
 bago county, is a native of Pennsylvania, 
 born July 26, 1851, in Scranton, a son of 
 Owen R. and Elizabeth (Mahon) Bloom, 
 who were of German and Irish descent, 
 respectively. 
 
 Owen R. Bloom was by trade an edge- 
 tool maker, which he followed until about 
 the year 1854, when he engaged in gen- 
 eral mercantile business at Dunmore (now 
 a part of Scranton), conducting same till 
 1859, in which year he came to Wiscon- 
 sin, locating in Ripon, where he secured 
 the position of manager for Bowen & 
 Beynon's general store. In 1861 he 
 brought his family from their eastern 
 home to Ripon, and here his wife died in 
 May, 1865, he surviving her some twenty 
 years, passing away in or about 1S85. In 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGUAi'niCAL RECORD. 
 
 1027 
 
 his political preferences he was an ardent 
 Democrat, and held the office of deputy 
 sheriff of Fond du Lac count}' several 
 terms. 
 
 The subject of these lines was nine 
 years old when the family came to ^^'is- 
 consin, locating in Ripon, at the public 
 schools of which place, and subsequently 
 at the Episcopal parish school, he re- 
 ceived his education. At the age of 
 seventeen he commenced to learn the 
 trade of printer in the office of George 
 (later Governor) Peck, in Ripon, Wis., 
 in whose family he had his home, and at 
 the end of one year, during which time he 
 experienced all the joys and sorrows in- 
 cident to the life of a printer's " devil," he 
 worked in various printingofficesat Ripon, 
 till completing his regular apprenticeship. 
 In 1874, Mr. Bloom joined George W. 
 Peck in the establishment of Peck's Sun, 
 at La Crosse. On Mr. Peck moving the 
 paper to Milwaukee our subject, for his 
 interest or share in the concern, took the 
 job plant and office, conducting the same 
 two years, when he sold out and returned 
 to Ripon. Here he formed a partnership 
 with T. D. Stone in the publication of 
 the Free Press, but at the end of six 
 months sold his interest to Mr. Stone. 
 He followed the printer's trade until 1885, 
 when he became city editor for the Fond 
 du Lac/?(7/7)' Coininonzi'ealfh, passing five 
 years in that capacity, and resigning to 
 fill the secretaryship of the Y. M. C. A. 
 at Indianapolis, Ind. , which incumbency 
 he held one year and nine months, during 
 which period the Association was success- 
 ful in paying off its debt of $33,000. Re- 
 turning to Fond du Lac Mr. Bloom, in 
 1892, purchased the plant of the Fond du 
 Lac Journal, at that time a weekly paper, 
 the first published in the county, and to 
 this he added a daily issue, conducting 
 both until May, 1894, when he sold the 
 subscription list of the [oiirnal to the 
 Fond du Lac Reporter (removing his en- 
 tire printing and publishing plant to Me- 
 nasha, Winnebago count}'), and estab- 
 lished the Menasha Evening Breeze, a six- 
 
 column quarto, four pages, in politics in- 
 dependent with Protection-Republican 
 proclivities. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Bloom was married at 
 La Crosse, Wis., to Miss Catherine S. 
 Moore, and two children were born to 
 them, Clara and Anna, aged (1894) re- 
 spectively sixteen and fifteen years. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bloom and their children are 
 members of the Congregational Church. 
 
 JAMES BRAINERD, an honored and 
 respected citizen of Oshkosh, \^'in- 
 nebago county, where for the past 
 thirty-nine years he has been prom- 
 inently identified with the schools and 
 educational interests of the city, and, 
 since 1888, with the insurance business, 
 is a worthy member of a worthy family of 
 educators. 
 
 A native of the State of New York, 
 he was born August 30, 1830, at Leyden, 
 Lewis county, son of Asher and Clara 
 (Palmer) Brainerd, highly respectable 
 people of Connecticut birth, whose ances- 
 try can be traced to old-time Puritan 
 stock. They were the parents of eleven 
 children, ten of whom lived to be adults, 
 and nine of them, including the subject 
 of this sketch, engaged in the profession 
 of school teaching; of this large family 
 only four are now living, viz. : James, 
 Anson M., Carlos M., and Edsil M. The 
 parents are both deceased, the father 
 dying in 1854, in Jefferson county, N. Y., 
 the mother January 27, 1879, in Osh- 
 kosh. The subject proper of this sketch 
 received his education in part at the 
 schools of his native place, and in part at 
 Cleveland, Ohio, acquiring sufficient 
 knowledge of literature to qualify himself 
 for the profession of school-teacher, but 
 did not for some few years enter the 
 educational arena. At the age of twenty, 
 in 1850, he went to Ohio, and in 1853 
 came westward to Wisconsin, for three 
 years engaging in agricultural pursuits in 
 Winnebago county, after which, in 1856, 
 he moved into Oshkosh, where he com- 
 
I028 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 nienced teaching in the pubhc schools, 
 an occupation he was engaged in some 
 twenty years in the city. Resigning this 
 calling in 1888, he took up his present 
 insurance business, and has since been 
 closely associated with it, representing 
 several first-class companies. Life and 
 Accident. 
 
 In 1854, in the village of Neenah, 
 Wis. , Mr. Brainerd was married to Miss 
 Margaret Nickerson, a native of St. John, 
 New Brunswick, Canada, and to this 
 union were born two children, one of 
 whom, Clara, is yet living. Politically 
 our subject is a Republican, and for one 
 term he filled the position of school com- 
 missioner. Socially, he is a member of 
 Centennial Lod^e, No. 205, F. & A. M., 
 Oshkosh; past noble grand of Winnebago 
 Lodge No. 120, I. O. O. F., and also 
 past chief patriarch of Oshkosh Encamp- 
 ment No. 31. Mr. Brainerd enjoys the 
 reputation of a man of high moral char- 
 acter — upright, honorable and reliable in 
 all his business transactions and social 
 associations. Generous and benevolent, 
 he is a liberal dispenser of charit\' to all 
 worthy causes, and for these and many 
 other noble traits of character he is uni- 
 versally respected and esteemed by all 
 who know him. 
 
 REV. ROMAN SCHOLTER, rector 
 and dean of St. Mary's Church, 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 synodal examiner and member of 
 the Diocesan School Board, was born 
 April 28, 1847, in the City of Rottweil- 
 on-the-Neckar, Kingdom of Wuerttem- 
 berg, Germany. His parents, Valentine 
 and Clara (/n'c Uhl) Scholter, owned and 
 operated a large flouring-mill, called 
 " Voegelins-Muehle," and were counted 
 among the most respected families of the 
 city. They endeavored, of all things, to 
 give a good education to their many chil- 
 dren, regardless of e.xpenses, and the 
 father, being a good musician himself, 
 encouraged his children, above all, to 
 
 take delight in music — that is, he taught 
 them to love the art as a pastime, instead 
 of as a task. The subject of this sketch 
 received his primary and college educa- 
 tion in his native town, attending first 
 the parochial school, after which he took 
 a four-years' course at college (Realschule), 
 afterward assisting his father in business 
 until, at the age of eighteen years, he was 
 appointed superintendent of a large flour- 
 ing-mill. In the jear 1867 he came to 
 America, and to ^^'isconsin. After teach- 
 ing school for a term, he entered St. 
 Francis Seminary, near Milwaukee, re- 
 maining there until 1874. During the 
 time he pursued his philosophical and 
 theological studies, he also was organist 
 and director of the Seminary choir, and 
 took a leading part in the reformation of 
 Catholic Church music. A " Cfficilian 
 Society" for this purpore was organized 
 by him, plain chant and proper church 
 music generally being introduced. At the 
 special request of Dr. Salzmann, the 
 founder and rector of St. Francis Semin- 
 ary, the Catholic Normal School and Pio 
 Nono College, he was appointed professor 
 of music and plain chant at these institu- 
 tions. After serving in this capacity for 
 about two years, he entered St. Mary's 
 University of Baltimore, Md., to com- 
 plete his studies for the f)riesthood. On 
 May 7, 1873, at the first meeting and 
 organization of the " American Cscilian 
 Society" at the Catholic Normal School, 
 he was elected its president, but refused 
 the honor for various reasons, and ac- 
 cepted the office of first vice-president. 
 He wrote several articles for Catholic 
 papers (the Coluvibia of Milwaukee, and 
 the Katolisclic Volkshlatt of Chicago), in 
 the interest of church music, and was also 
 active as a musical composer. On August 
 10, 1875, he was ordained by Right Rev. 
 F. X. Krautbauer, in the Cathedral at 
 Green Bay, ^^'is. , where he remained till 
 spring, 1876. His first mission was at 
 Seymour, Outagamie county, with West 
 Freedom, Black Creek and Angelica 
 under his chartre. He built a new school 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1031 
 
 at Seymour and new churches at West 
 Freedom and Black Creek, and was then, 
 in 1878, transferred to Center, Outagamie 
 county, where he paid off the debts of the 
 congregation and bought land for a site 
 for a Catholic school-house. In March, 
 1879, he moved to Maple Grove, Mani- 
 towoc county, where he paid off the heavy 
 debt of the congregation, re-organized the 
 Catholic school, improved the church, 
 adorned the tower with a large and beauti- 
 ful bell, and was then transferred to St. 
 Mary's Church, at Oshkosh, September 
 17, 1 88 1. 
 
 When Father Scholter came to St. 
 Mary's parish he found everything in dis- 
 order, but with that business-like abilit}', 
 so characteristic of him, he immediately 
 began the work of reformation. The di- 
 lapidated old church building was reno- 
 vated and the parish school, which 
 enrolled but eighty children, was in- 
 creased in size and now accommodates 
 about 250 children. So he satisfied the 
 e.xpectations of his Bishop who sent him 
 to Oshkosh to elevate the standard of the 
 school and congregation. In a short 
 time the old church was found too small 
 to accommodate the growing congrega- 
 tion, and the able pastor set about pre- 
 paring a new edifice. In the year 1885 
 his Bishop, the late Rt. Rev. F. X. 
 Krautbauer, ordered him to build a large 
 church, for it was his intention to move 
 from Green Bay to Oshkosh and make 
 St. Mary's his Cathedral. So it came 
 about that the present St. Mary's Church 
 is not only the largest church in the 
 diocese, but also one of the grandest 
 monuments to the Catholic faith in the 
 State of Wisconsin. The church build- 
 ing is purely Gothic in style, and will com- 
 fortably seat I 200 people. The originator 
 of the pkns, Rt. Rev. F. X. Krautbauer, 
 died before the church was much under 
 way, and the corner stone was laid by 
 Rt. Rev. F. X. Katzer, Octobers, 1886. 
 In the year 1892 the inside of the church 
 building was finished, and it was dedi- 
 cated December 11, 1892. While this 
 
 grand edifice is a lasting credit to the 
 worthy Catholics of St. Mary's congrega- 
 tion, it is in no less degree a monument 
 to the untiring energies of the pastor, 
 who has worked a notable transforma- 
 tion in the congregation in which he has 
 officiated during the past years. In March, 
 1 89 1, he established St. Mary's Hosj)ital, 
 which has prosed a blessing to the citizens 
 of Oshkosh; and at present a large new 
 Hospital is being erected which will take 
 the place of the temporary established 
 one. In the year 1893 a residence for the 
 teachers of St. Mary's Parochial School 
 was built, and in 1894 a new parsonage 
 was erected. 
 
 ROBERT W. HOLMES. Among 
 the earliest settlers of Winnebago 
 count}', and now one of the oldest 
 aiul most highly respected resi- 
 dents of the city of Oshkosh, is the gen- 
 tleman here named. 
 
 Mr. Holmes was born March 7, 1819, 
 in Clarkson, Monroe C"o., N. \' . , a son of 
 Conrad and Elizabeth (Hoyj Holmes, 
 who were the parents of three children, 
 'two of whom are yet living, namely: 
 Elizabeth, widow of the late Charles 
 Dot}', and now residing in Clinton county, 
 Mich. ; and Robert W., of whom we now 
 write. Our subject was reared a farmer 
 boy, receiving a conmion-school educa- 
 tion in his native town, and he made 
 good use of these limited advantages, fit- 
 ting himself for the practical side of busi- 
 ness life, in which he won a success. He 
 followed agricultural pursuits in the 
 county of his birth until 1844, in which 
 year he removed from New York State to 
 Wisconsin, working on farms just across 
 the line in Illinois until 1846, when he 
 came to Winnebago county, and here 
 took up 1 20 acres of land, about one mile 
 outside the present city limits of Oshkosh. 
 Here he assisted in getting out the timber 
 and, in 1847, in building the first sawmill 
 erected in Oshkosh, which mill is now 
 owned by Mr. Payne. For some three 
 
I032 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE DIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 or four j'ears he was also engaged in mer- 
 cantile pursuits in partnership with his 
 son, but of late years he has lived a re- 
 tired life. 
 
 On November i, 1847, Mr. Holmes 
 was married to Miss Martha Ann Post, 
 daughter of Joshua and Emeline Post, of 
 Illinois, and their union was blessed with 
 five children, four of whom are yet living, 
 as follows: Newton C, residing in Wone- 
 woc. Wis. ; Emeline, wife of Frank A. 
 Leach, a prominent hardware merchant 
 of Os'.ikosh; Ruth Elizabeth, widow of 
 the late B. B. Farrow, and Miss Rose, 
 residing at home. Mrs. Holmes died 
 very suddenly August 30, 1 894, presuma- 
 bly of heart disease. She was an attend- 
 ant of the Methodist Church, as is also 
 Mr. Holmes, and enjoyed with her hus- 
 band the highest esteem of the commun- 
 ity at large. Politically he is a stanch 
 Republican, and he has served as treas- 
 urer of the town board, treasurer of the 
 township of Nekimi, also assessor for 
 same three years, and was clerk of the 
 school district of Nekimi several years. 
 He is an honored and valued citizen, one 
 who has ever taken an active interest in 
 all measures tending to promote the wel- 
 fare of the county of his adoption. His 
 success was due to tireless industry, 
 financial integrity, personal attention to 
 details, and to a dauntless courage tem- 
 pered with caution. 
 
 ARTHUR BISHOP, proprietor of 
 the well-known marble works in 
 Neenah, Winnebago county, 
 stands in the front rank of the 
 many self-made men of that county, and 
 in enterprise, energy and progressiveness 
 is second to none. 
 
 He is a native of Wisconsin, born in 
 the town of New Berlin, Waukesha 
 count}', February 19, 1849, a son of Rob- 
 ert Bishop, who in 1828 came from En- 
 gland, the land of his birth, making his 
 first New-World home in Massachusetts. 
 In 1834 Mr. Bishop was married, in Con- 
 
 necticut, to Miss Julia Ferris, who was 
 born in that State August 17, iSio, 
 daughter of Lemuel and Susan (Mead) 
 Ferris, the former of whom was a sea 
 captain, trading with the West Indies. 
 The Ferris family are to-day living on the 
 farm in Connecticut located by their an- 
 cesters in 1735. By this marriage were 
 born six children: Edward, Esther, Sarah, 
 Julia, William and Arthur. Robert Bishop 
 learned the trade of carpenter in En- 
 gland, which he followed in Massachu- 
 setts, building several mills. He was of 
 an inventive turn of mind, had constructed 
 silk looms in England, and after coming 
 to this country invented a machine for 
 weaving ingrain carpets. His daughter 
 Julia (now Mrs. Sayles, of Waukesha 
 county. Wis.) has in her possession a 
 piece of ingrain carpet from one of his 
 looms, said to be the first piece ever 
 woven in America. Indeed, the Bishops 
 may be said to be a family of manufact- 
 urers. Thomas, a brother of Robert, 
 and also a native of England, manufact- 
 ured the first writing paper ever made in 
 America, prior to which it was imported 
 from France; his paper mill was in South 
 Lee, Mass., and he was there actively 
 engaged in the business until 1837, the 
 financial crash of which year ruined him 
 among thousands of others. Robert 
 Bishop came in 1843 to the then Terri- 
 tory of Wisconsin, taking up a farm in 
 what is now Waukesha county, but in 
 1854 moving to Dodge county, where he 
 died in 1858; his widow departed this 
 life in 1865. Stephen Bishop, grand- 
 father of the subject proper of this sketch, 
 was a Baptist minister in England, whence 
 in 181 8 he emigrated to this country, 
 where, in Virginia, he patented some 
 land; but after a sojourn of about a year 
 returned to England to arrange his busi- 
 ness and died there, and the property in 
 Virginia has never been looked after by 
 his heirs. In 1828 his three sons — 
 Thomas, Stephen and Robert — and 
 daughter — Elizabeth — came to America 
 and settled in Massachusetts. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 1033 
 
 Arthur Bishop, whose name introduces 
 this sketch, was reared on his father's 
 farm, recei\ing his education for the most 
 part at the common schools of the neigh- 
 borhood of his home, and when he was 
 twenty years old he attended college at 
 Jefferson, this State. At the age of 
 seventeen he left his father's farm, and 
 proceeding to Minnesota, he there passed 
 some two years, in part engaged at driv- 
 ing stage, and in part in working as a 
 farm hand. Returning to Wisconsin, he 
 was alternately engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits and in milling until 1872, when 
 he came to Necnah, and in partnership 
 with his half-brother bought out the 
 marble business at that time conducted 
 by Bishop & Boyce. This co-partner- 
 ship, which was known as Bishop & 
 Brother, so continued until 1880, in which 
 year the half-brother retired in favor of 
 Thomas Cooke, the title becoming Bishop 
 & Cooke. In 1886 Mr. Cooke sold out to 
 E. H. Vanslyke, the style of the firm be- 
 coming Arthur Bishop & Co., whose in- 
 terest Mr. Bishop purchased in 1892, 
 since when the latter has conducted the 
 business alone. For eleven years the re- 
 spective firms handled wood and coal in 
 connection with their marble business, 
 but on Mr. Bishop taking entire control 
 in 1892, the wood and coal branch was 
 sold out and discontinued. 
 
 On October 21, 1873. Mr. Bishop 
 was united in marriage with Miss Margaret 
 Young, who was born in Canada Septem- 
 ber I, 1S49, a daughter of G. W. and 
 Ellen (Morrison) Young, the former a 
 native of Scotland, and a miller by trade, 
 the latter a native of Canada, of Scotch 
 parentage. They were married in Can- 
 ada May 24, 1843, and in 1867 came to 
 Neenah, where Mr. Young died in 1882, 
 and his widow is yet living; they had 
 born to them ten children, named, re- 
 spectively, Archibald, Marian, James, 
 Margaret, Ellen, David, John, Harvey, 
 Gavin and Henry. By this marriage of 
 Mr. Bishop there are four children, to 
 wit: Marian, Howard, Harvey and Grace. 
 
 A Republican in politics, our subject has 
 served his county in various offices of 
 trust, such as a member of the county 
 board, five years, and of the school board 
 seven years, at the present time filling 
 the latter incumbency. Socially he is a 
 member of the I. O. O. F. and I. O. G. 
 T. He carries on an extensive business, 
 his trade reaching to all parts of the State, 
 than which there is required no better 
 evidence of the superior class of work 
 turned out at his establishment. He 
 uses none but the very finest marble and 
 granite, and in the way of business has 
 traveled all over the eastern States and 
 in the West, visiting the great stone 
 quarries. 
 
 EPHRAIM ELDORUS STEVENS. 
 The State of Maine, against whose 
 rocky, iron-bound coast the tur- 
 bulent Atlantic dashes its waves 
 in every season of the year, has been the 
 cradle of man}' eminent men — political, 
 professional and literary — among whom 
 may be justly included the gentleman 
 whose name here appears. 
 
 Mr. Stevens was born January 31, 
 1 85 1, in Waldo county, Maine, son of 
 Hiram and Rosalie (Cross) Stevens, 
 natives of the same State, where they 
 were married, and whence, in 1852, they 
 migrated to Wisconsin, settling in the 
 then village of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county. Here for several years the father 
 was engaged in the wood and lime busi- 
 ness, having a lime-kiln at Clifton, in 
 which industry he met with considerable 
 success. In 1861 he enlisted, at Osh- 
 kosh, in Company B, Third Wisconsin 
 Cavalry, for three years, and was attached 
 to the Western army, in Missouri. From 
 exposure and hard service he was seized 
 with sickness which necessitated his re- 
 turn to Oshkosh, where he died March 8, 
 1863; his wife survived him till Novem- 
 ber 19, 1882. They were consistent 
 members of the Baptist Church. Twelve 
 children were born to them, of whom 
 
»034 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 four died in infancy, and a brief record of 
 the others is as follows: William O. 
 died in Oshkosh January 25, 1895 (he 
 enlisted in the same company as his 
 father, and served three years); E. P., a 
 contractor and builder, resides in Osh- 
 kosh (he enlisted in June, 1S62, in the 
 same company and regiment with his 
 father and brother, and served to the 
 close of the Civil war): Addie is the wife 
 of 1. L. White, of Milwaukee; Ephraim 
 
 E. is the subject of this sketch; Lilly is 
 the wife of F. B. Sims, of Missouri; 
 C. O. died April 10, 1886, in Suamico, 
 Wis. ; George, a lumberman, resides in 
 Menominee, Mich. ; F. B. is a resident of 
 Suamico, Brown Co., Wisconsin. 
 
 Ephraim E. Stevens received a liberal 
 education at the schools of Oshkosh, and 
 learned the trade of mason, working at 
 same until 1 868, in which year he moved 
 to Green Bay and commenced the study 
 of architecture in the office of D. M. 
 Harteau, with whom he in 1876 formed a 
 partnership in that business, the style of 
 the firm being Harteau & Stevens. This 
 continued until 1878, when the partner- 
 ship was dissolved, and Mr. Stevens re- 
 turned to Oshkosh, where he engaged in 
 contracting and building, later doing much 
 work as an architect, not only in Osh- 
 kosh, but in various outside places. 
 Among the numerous monuments that 
 stand as evidences of his skill, in Oshkosh 
 alone, may be mentioned the city school 
 buildings, two banks, and many resi- 
 dences, besides a number of the business 
 houses. 
 
 In February, 1876. Mr. Stevens was 
 married to Miss Maggie Jacobs, of New 
 York nativity, daughter of Evan and 
 Catherine Jacobs, who in 1874 came from 
 the East to Oshkosh, where they died. 
 Five children have been born to this 
 union, namely: \"iola Maude, Gracie 
 May, Catherine Rosalie, Allie D. and 
 Bessie. Mr. Stevens is a member of the 
 
 F. & A. M., Lodge No. 27, Oshkosh; of 
 the L O. O. F. , Winnebago Lodge No. 
 1 20, in which he has passed all the chairs. 
 
 and is past noble grand; and of the Royal 
 Arcanum. A Republican in his political 
 proclivities, he has held various offices of 
 honor and trust, including that of alder- 
 man from the Fourth ward during the 
 years 1881-82 and 1885-86. In 1889 he 
 was raised to the highest position of 
 honor in the gift of the city — the mayor- 
 alty — and it is no Hattery to say that he 
 filled the chair with becoming dignity and 
 ability. 
 
 CAPTAIN RUDOLPH JOSEPH 
 WEISBROD, chief of police, 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago countv, has 
 a record as a soldier, business 
 man and public ofificer, second to none 
 in the county. He is a native of Rhenish 
 Prussia, born August 21, 1837, in the 
 town of Simmcrn, Koblent/, and came 
 with his father's family to Oshkosh, Wis., 
 in 1851. 
 
 Grandfather Weisbrod was a minister 
 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, a 
 man of mark in his day, deeply read and 
 highly gifted, but was cut off in early 
 manhood. His son, Philip William, 
 learned the trade of baker in his native 
 land, and there married Miss Catherine 
 Mayer, by whom he had the following 
 named seven children, who reached the 
 years of maturity: Charles A. (now de- 
 ceased), Helena (Mrs. Schoen), Louisa 
 (now deceased), William A. (a merchant 
 of Weyauwega, Waupaca Co., Wis.), 
 Caroline (Mrs. Frent^), Rudolph J. and 
 Joseph M., all of who came to America 
 except Mrs. Helena Schoen, who resides 
 at St. Goar, Germany. On June 8, 
 1 85 1, they started from their native land 
 on a saihng vessel, and after a quick 
 passage of thirt_\-two days landed at New 
 York, whence they at once came direct 
 to Oshkosh, Wis. The eldest son, 
 Charles A., had settled here in 1849, 
 having left Germany along with many 
 others of his countrymen, imbued with 
 the spirit of liberty that was then per- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1035 
 
 vading all Europe, and in many places 
 burst out into civil war. Charles was 
 highly educated, a graduate of Berlin 
 University. In the Fatherland he was a 
 civil engineer, and a lieutenant in the 
 Landwehr. In Oshkosh he studied law, 
 becoming senior member of the law firm 
 of Weisbrod & Felker, and he is well re- 
 membered by his surviving confreres in 
 the bench and bar of Winnebago county 
 as a counselor of great ability and legal 
 acumen. He died in 1877. The father 
 kept the "Fox Kivcr House," a well- 
 known Oshkosh hotel, and here died at the 
 age of seventy-six years; his widow passed 
 away at the advanced age of eighty-four. 
 Rudolph J. Weisbrod, the subject 
 proper of this memoir, received the bene- 
 fit of the German schools until old enough 
 to learn a trade, the one of his choice be- 
 ing that of cabinet maker, which he 
 learned at Oshkosh. In 1859 he went to 
 New York, working at his trade there un- 
 til April, 1 86 1, when he enlisted in the 
 Eighth N. Y. V. I. He was mustered in 
 April 23, and proceeded with his regiment 
 to Baltimore, just two days after a Massa- 
 chusetts regiment had been attacked on 
 the streets of that city, and many killed. 
 From there they went to Washington, 
 thence to the front in Virginia. From 
 private he was promoted to corporal, and 
 after the first battle of Bull Run was 
 made sergeant. He participated in the 
 entire Virginia campaign, and after the 
 battle of Antietam was transferred, Sep- 
 tember 30, 1862, to Company E, Twenty- 
 first Wis. V. I., of which, through the in- 
 fluence of his brother, Charles A., he was 
 appointed second lieutenant. Immedi- 
 ately after his joining this regiment it was 
 marched to Perry ville, Ky., where at the 
 battle fought there October 8, following, 
 the captain of the company was killed, 
 and the first lieutenant wounded, leaving 
 Second-Lieutenant Weisbrod in command 
 of the company; subsequently he received 
 his promotion to first lieutenant. On 
 February 22, 1865, the captain resigned, 
 and Lieut. Weisbrod became captain by 
 
 August 
 
 commission, which rank he retained till 
 January 1, 1865, when he resigned, and 
 then returned to Oshkosh. His war ex- 
 periences were sometimes thrilling in the 
 extreme, and as he participated in no less 
 than tw'enty-eight battles and was in 
 Sherman's famous march to the sea, he saw 
 about as much service as any man in the 
 army. He had some narrow escapes from 
 death, and was four times wounded — the 
 first time by a saber cut at Bailey's Cross 
 Roads, Va. ; on the second occasion, at Fort 
 Republic, in the Shenandoah Valley, by 
 a bayonet thrust in the groin while charg- 
 ing on the old Stonewall brigade behind 
 a fence; the third wound he received at 
 Chickamauga, a piece of shell entering 
 his right side (during this battle the col- 
 onel of the regiment was taken prisoner, 
 and Capt. Weisbrod, being the next offi- 
 cer, had the command for the rest of the 
 engagement); the fourth time his left leg 
 was slightly injured in a charge on the 
 Rebel lines before Atlanta, 
 
 1 864. 
 After his return to Oshkosh, and to 
 
 the pursuits of peace, Capt. Weisbrod 
 embarked in the furniture and undertak- 
 ing business, and continued in the same 
 about fifteen years, since when he has 
 more or less interested himself in jjolitics. 
 In 1878 he was appointed chief of the 
 Oshkosh Fire Department, and held the 
 office six years, proving an efficient offi- 
 cer. He continued the undertaking branch 
 after his appointment to the Fire Depart- 
 ment, but had rented the store after be- 
 ing laurned out, and in 1887, when ap- 
 pointed chief of police of Oshkosh, he 
 discontinued the business. On Ai)ril 5, 
 
 1865, Capt. Weisbrod was married in 
 Oshkosh, to Miss Sophia S. Arnold, a 
 native of Cleveland, Ohio, born of Ger- 
 man parents, and two children have come 
 to this union: Clara A., and Edwin M., 
 the latter engaged in the real-estate and 
 insurance businesses in Oshkosh. Capt. 
 Weisbrod is a member of the G. A. R., 
 and has been associated with the F. & A. 
 M. over thirty years. His is a well-known 
 
1036 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 figure on the streets of Oshkosh, and no 
 one enjoys a greater or better deserved 
 popularity. 
 
 JOHN C. ZENTXER. This typical 
 German-American hustler, and wide- 
 awake, prominent and popular citi- 
 zen of Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 is a native of the "Badger State," born 
 in Black Wolf township, ^^'i^nebago 
 county, January 6, 1863. 
 
 After completing his education at the 
 public and high school of Oshkosh, he 
 for a couple of years worked at the print- 
 ing trade, at the expiration of which 
 time he was engaged as a salesman in a 
 grocery business some two years. In 
 1883 he formed a copartnership with his 
 brother in the grocer\' trade in Oshkosh, 
 which was carried on under the firm name 
 of Zentner Bros, for two years. In 1885 
 he bought out his brother's interest, and 
 conducted the business for his own ac- 
 count until May, 1893, at which time he 
 received into partnership his brother-in- 
 law, Charles Gunz, since when the style 
 of the firm has been Zentner & Gunz. 
 On May 6, 1884, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Martha, daughter of John 
 Godfrey and Katrina (Ihrig) Gunz, and 
 born in Oshkosh February 14, 1862. To 
 this union have come four children, their 
 names, dates of birth, etc., being as fol- 
 lows: Harvey G., born February 11, 
 1885; Walter, born April 29, 1886, died 
 May 29, 1886; Elsa, born October 3, 
 1888, died April 26, 1891, and Kurt, 
 born October 19, 1891. Mr. Zentner is 
 a member of the A. O. U. W. and of the 
 South Side Turnverein. He is a highly 
 esteemed and much respected citizen of 
 Oshkosh. 
 
 Peter Zentner, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Switzerland September 
 22, 1 83 1, a son of Friderlein and Bar- 
 bara Zentner. He came to this country 
 in 1845, and became one of the early 
 settlers of Winnebago county. Wis. He 
 was married in Black Wolf township. 
 
 March 18, 1855, to Margaret, daughter 
 of Gotleib and Margaret Horn, and they 
 had born to them four children, three of 
 whom survive: August, residing in Mil- 
 waukee; Frederick, in Oshkosh, and John 
 C., the subject of these lines. 
 
 JAMES AND GEORGE D. RYAN, 
 members of the enterprising firm of 
 R3an Brothers, builders of steam- 
 boats, sailing vessels, dredges, steam 
 launches, yachts, sailing and row boats, 
 etc., number among the most energetic 
 and highly respected citizens of Oshkosh. 
 
 The parents of our subjects were na- 
 tives of Ireland, whence they emigrated 
 to Canada, the father in 1831, the mother 
 in 1833, making new homes for them- 
 selves in Northumberland county. Pro- 
 vince of New Brunswick, where a few 
 years thereafter they were married, and 
 here they passed the rest of their lives in 
 the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, dying, 
 the father on May 12, 1879, the mother 
 on May 26, 1859. They were the par- 
 ents of nine children, five of whom sur- 
 vive, as follows: James and George D., 
 the subjects of this sketch; Mary, a Sister 
 of Mercy in the Convent of the Good 
 Shepherd, Milwaukee, Wis. ; John, a 
 farmer, living on the homestead in New 
 Brunswick; and ^^'illiam, a lumberman, 
 also residing in New Brunswick. 
 
 The subjects of this sketch were born 
 in the town of Newcastle, Northumber- 
 land Co., New Brunswick, March 31, 
 1842, and April 4, 1844, respectively, 
 were reared on the homestead farm, and 
 educated at the public schools of their 
 native town. On reaching early man- 
 hood they commenced learning the trade 
 of ship carpenter in Newcastle, N. B., 
 and in 1865 moved to Calais, Maine, 
 where they worked at their trade two 
 years, or until September, 1867, when 
 they came to Wisconsin, locating in Osh- 
 kosh. From that time they found em- 
 ployment in their line of business at 
 
COMMEMOHA TIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1037 
 
 various points on Lakes Wisconsin and 
 Michigan, until 1876, when the}' estab- 
 lished in Oshkosh their present shipbuild- 
 ing yard, the first and only one in the 
 city. The firm is and has been a busy 
 one, and numerous specimens of their 
 handicraft are to be found on the neigh- 
 boring rivers and lakes, they having built 
 all the steamers that now run on the Fox 
 river, all the dredges and steamboats used 
 in the improvement thereof by the govern- 
 ment, besides many fine sailing and steam 
 yachts. The brothers are both experts 
 at their business, having from early life 
 made a study of it in every detail, and 
 availed themselves of all modern improve- 
 ments and devices. As thorough, practi- 
 cal mechanics they give personal attention 
 to their work, and the vessels of all kinds 
 which they turn out give the best of satis- 
 faction, while many of the steam and sail- 
 ing vessels built by them have justly won 
 the praise and admiration of the public. 
 Upright, honest and industrious, the ad- 
 ministration of their affairs is character- 
 ized by wisdom and discernment, while 
 their treatment of their patrons has won 
 for them a wide popularity, and their 
 genial and affable dispositions have made 
 for them hosts of friends throughout the 
 whole county. The brothers are mem- 
 bers of the Catholic Church, and in their 
 political affiliations are stanch Repub- 
 licans. 
 
 James Ryan was married at Water- 
 town, Wis., in 1878, to Miss Ellen Fitz- 
 patrick, daughter of Terence and Margaret 
 (McGrath) Fitzpatrick, and to them have 
 been born four children, their names and 
 dates of birth being as follows: George 
 F., September 6, 1879; Margaret, Janu- 
 ary 28, 1 881; James D., February 17, 
 1883; and Mary J., November 14, 1884. 
 
 George D. Ryan was married at Osh- 
 kosh, Wis., May 20, 1873, to Miss Mary 
 A. Dowling, daughter of William and 
 Catherine (McPortlin) Dowling, and four 
 children were born to them, their names, 
 dates of birth, etc., being as follows: 
 Mary Catherine, June 16, 1874, died at 
 
 the age of seven weeks; Elizabeth Teresa, 
 October 16, 1876; William George, Au- 
 gust 15, 1879; and Generva Mary, De- 
 cember 23, 1885. 
 
 FRANK A. LEACH, president of 
 the Frank Leach Hardware Com- 
 pany, Oshkosh, \\'innebago coun- 
 ty, and prominently identified with 
 the representative, successful business 
 men of the city of his birth, was born in 
 South Oshkosh May 19, 1852. 
 
 Franklin Leach, the immediate pre- 
 decessor of his son Frank A. in the hard- 
 ware business now carried on by the 
 latter in Oshkosh, ranked in his lifetime 
 among the most progressive business men 
 of that city. He was born in 1826 in the 
 State of New York, sjn of Waterman 
 and Tryphena (Stratton) Leach, who 
 were natives of Bennington, Vt. , the 
 father born in 1792, the mother in 1798. 
 When the son Franklin was about six 
 years old the family mcned to Benning- 
 ton, Vt., where they had formerly lived, 
 and here the boy was reared to manhood. 
 In 1845 the family removed to Wiscon- 
 sin, locating in Dodge county for a couple 
 of years, and in 1850 they removed to 
 Winnebago county and located in Algoma 
 township, where they were engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits until 1S67, removing 
 thence to Oshkosh, where the father died 
 in 1869, the mother in 1884; they are 
 buried in Ellenwood cemetery. 
 
 Franklin Leach was reared to farm 
 life amid the Green Mountains of Ver- 
 mont, and received a fairly liberal com- 
 mon-school education. Coming with his 
 parents to Wisconsin in 1845, he in 1849 
 engaged in the grocery business in South 
 Oshkosh, later adding dry goods, in which 
 he continued until 1864, when he located 
 on a farm in Utica township, and there 
 resided until 1867. In that year he once 
 more came to Oshkosh, and resumed 
 business; but two years later, on account 
 of failing health, he returned to the farm, 
 
I03S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 there remaining until 1887, in which year 
 he finally settled in Oshkosh, having 
 bought of Abel Neff the hardware busi- 
 ness with which he was connected up to 
 the time of his death, and which is still 
 carried on by his son Frank A., the style 
 of the business being The Frank Leach 
 Hardware Co. In 1850 Franklin Leach 
 was married to Miss Arabella Hill, a 
 native of Massachusetts, and six children 
 blessed their union, two of whom are yet 
 living: Frank A., and Mabel, wife of 
 Frank J. McPherson, of The Frank Leach 
 Hardware Co. The father of this family 
 died May 22, 1893, the mother surviving 
 him and now residing on the old home- 
 stead. In his political views Mr. Leach 
 was a stanch Republican, and for three 
 years was a member of the Wisconsin 
 State Assembly; served as alderman of 
 the city of Oshkosh several terms, and as 
 supervisor of the township of Utica three 
 years. He was a live, loyal citizen, at 
 all times having at heart the prosperity 
 and welfare of the city and county of his 
 adoption. 
 
 Frank A. Leach, the subject of this 
 sketch, received his education at the pub- 
 lic and high schools of Oshkosh, after 
 which he engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 in the township of Utica until 1881, 
 when he became associated with his 
 father in the hardware business. He was 
 married October 14, 1874, to Emiline 
 Holmes, daughter of Robert W. and 
 Martha Ann (JPost) Holmes, and to them 
 have been born ten children, si.x of whom 
 survive, namely: Frank Wilson, Newton 
 Conrad, Magdalene, Charles Alonzo, 
 Annabell and Robert. Mr. Leach is a 
 member of Oshkosh Lodge No. 27, F. & 
 A. M., and of the Royal Arcanum. He 
 is highly esteemed by a host of friends 
 whom he has gathered around him by his 
 thorough business habits and social qual- 
 ities. He is free from all ostentatious 
 pride, is genial and affable in his manner, 
 always ready to bestow a favor, to speak 
 a kind word, or do a kind act, and, being 
 enterprising to an eminent degree, he 
 
 takes a lively interest in all measures tend- 
 ing to the welfare and prosperity of his 
 native city and county. 
 
 HON. JOHN PROCTOR. Among 
 the influential citizens of Neenah, 
 and, indeed, of the entire county 
 of Winnebago, none is more 
 honored or highly esteemed than the 
 gentleman of whom we now write, and 
 none is more deserving of special promi- 
 nence in the pages of this work. 
 
 Mr. Proctor was born in Rowley, Mass., 
 March 30, 181 8, and is decended from 
 good old New England patriotic stock, 
 his grandfather, Elijah Proctor, having 
 commanded a company in the memorable 
 fight at Concord, Mass., April 19, 1775. 
 Mr. Proctor has in his possession the 
 sword used by Capt. Proctor on that day, 
 and which was manufactured in England 
 in 1745. Col. Gage, the maternal great- 
 grandfather of Hon. John Proctor, was a 
 prominent officer in the French and Indian 
 war. Our subject is a son of Dr. Benja- 
 min and Anna (Lambert) Proctor, the 
 former of whom was a student of the 
 celebrated Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, of 
 Cambridge, and became an eminent 
 physician of Rowley. He was succeeded 
 in his practice by his son Charles, and 
 the time from the commencement of the 
 father's practice until the close of the 
 son's covered a period of eighty-five con- 
 secutive years. The early education of 
 the son John was secured at Dummer 
 Academy, Newbury, the oldest institution 
 of the kind in the State of Massachusetts, 
 having been incorporated in 1756. In his 
 eighteenth year Mr. Proctor began teach- 
 ing, a profession he followed twenty years, 
 during the last five of which he was at the 
 head of the Honesdale (Penn.) Academy, 
 an institution he found in almost a state 
 of collapse, but which under his manage- 
 ment was resuscitated and invigorated 
 until it was elevated to a high state of 
 popularity. 
 
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 ■m 
 
 i^ 
 
 p 
 
 *s^y*' 
 
 '-f 
 
 <i/^*-z? cJZ^-p^^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DWCnAPUIVAL RECORD. 
 
 1 04 1 
 
 On account of impaired health, how- 
 ever, he was obHged to resign his position 
 in the academy, and in December, 1856, 
 he came west to Wisconsin, with the in- 
 tention of going on a farm; hut in Febru- 
 ary of the following year he settled in 
 Neenah, and here formed a partnership 
 with Edward Smith as manufacturers of 
 flour. For twenty-seven years they 
 operated the \N'innebago Mills, doing a 
 steady, reliable and remunerative busi- 
 ness, and earning an honorable reputation 
 second to none in the county. On June 
 10, 1858, Mr. .Proctor was married to 
 Miss Mary Phelps, daughter of Myron 
 Phelps, of Lewiston, 111., and seven chil- 
 dren were born to them, three of whom 
 are deceased. Mrs. Proctor is a refined 
 and well-educated lady, a loving Christian 
 wife and mother. In his political affilia- 
 tions Mr. Proctor was originally a Whig, 
 and since the organization of the party 
 has been a stanch Republican. For three 
 3'ears — 1847-48-49 — he represented Row- 
 ley in the Massachusetts Legislature; in 
 1866-67 he served in the Assembly of 
 Wisconsin, proving a wise and prudent 
 legislator, and during the last session was 
 one of the most influential members of the 
 Lower House. He has frequently been 
 urged to accept other offices, but of late 
 years has uniformly declined everything 
 of that nature. In regligious faith he is 
 a member of the Presbyterian Church, of 
 the Sunday-school of which he has for 
 many years been superintendent, and in 
 benevolent and Christian work, in which 
 he is supported by the sympathy and co- 
 operation of his wife, he takes a very 
 active and substantial part. 
 
 Mr. Proctor was one of the founders 
 of the Fox River Sewer Pipe Company, 
 and in the Northwestern Sewer Pipe 
 Company, which was formed by the con- 
 solidation of the Fox River and St. Paul 
 Companies, he and his sons are largely 
 interested. A solid reputation, a good 
 name, a charitable heart, warmth of hos- 
 pitality and unstinting bounteousness have 
 endeared him to the hearts of his kinsmen 
 
 58 
 
 and friends, and have placed him among 
 the foremost in northern Wisconsin as an 
 exemplar worthy of imitation. 
 
 ERNEST R. GUSTAVUS, proprie- 
 tor of the Reliance Boiler Works, 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, and 
 ranking among the leading manu- 
 facturers of the city, is a native of that 
 county, born in Vinland township April 
 17, 1856. 
 
 He is a son of Henry C. Gustavus, a 
 native of Germany and by occupation a 
 farmer, who was married in Oshkosh to 
 to Miss Wilhelmina Ernst, and by her 
 had six children, all born in Winnebago 
 county. Wis., four of whom are yet liv- 
 ing, namely: Henry; Ernest R. ; Emma, 
 wife of Louis Bammersell, of Oshkosh; 
 and Amelia, married to Fred Kiser, and 
 residing at Stevens Point, Wis. In 1849 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gustavus immigrated to the 
 United States, locating in Vinland town- 
 ship, Winnebago Co. , Wis. , where he 
 carried on agricultural pursuits for several 
 years, but in 1868 sold the farm, and re- 
 moving into Oshkosh conducted a hotel 
 up to the time of his death; his widow 
 died in 1884. Ernest R. Gustavus re- 
 ceived his education in Oshkosh, and then 
 worked in a sawmill and at other occupa- 
 tions for about two years, at the expira- 
 tion of which time he commenced working 
 at the boiler-maker's trade, in which he 
 has since continued with eminent success. 
 In 1889 he embarked in business for his 
 own account in the rear of Marion street, 
 whence in 1893 he removed to his present 
 commodious premises. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Gustavus was united in 
 marriage with Miss Annie Hodge, daugh- 
 ter of John B. and Eliza Hodge, natives 
 of Scotland, the latter of whom is de- 
 ceased, the former at the present time re- 
 siding in Newark, N. J. Socially Mr. 
 Gustavus is a member of Union Lodge 
 No. 179, I. O. O. F., and of the K. of 
 P. ; politically he is independent. He and 
 his wife attend the Episcopal Church. 
 
1042 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 He is an industrious, enterprising and 
 successful business man, and a worthy, 
 valuable citizen. 
 
 RICHARD GUENTHER. In the 
 life history of this popular and 
 widely known gentleman, we find 
 another of ' those instances, of 
 which we have not a few in this volume, 
 of a man rising by the power of genius 
 and industry from comparatively humble 
 life, and filling exalted stations with a 
 gcace, ease and dignity difficult to surpass. 
 Mr. Guenther is a native of Prussia, 
 born in Potsdam, Brandenburg, in 1845, 
 a son of Theodore and Augusta (Lietze) 
 Guenther, natives of the same locality as 
 their son. The father, who was a musi- 
 cian in Potsdam, where he passed his en- 
 tire life, died in 1880; the mother is now 
 a resident of Stettin, Prussia. They 
 were the parents of eleven children, 
 three of whom are yet living, and two, 
 only, came to the United States: August 
 came here in 1865, and is in the mercan- 
 tile business in St. Louis, Mo. ; George 
 is a physician and surgeon in Stettin, 
 Prussia; the third survivor is the subject 
 of this sketch. 
 
 Richard Guenther received his educa- 
 tion at the schools of Potsdam, and at 
 the Royal Pharmacy studied for the busi- 
 ness of chemist and druggist. In i860, 
 at the age of twenty-one, he came to the 
 United States, remaining for some time 
 in New York, then going to Fond du Lac, 
 and in 1867 removing to Oshkosh where 
 he established a drug business on Main 
 street, successfully conducting same for 
 many years, or until elected to office, and 
 in 1873 erecting the two-story brick build- 
 ing which he still owns. He is now 
 largely interested in Mexican mines, hav- 
 ing made a most successful investment. 
 Mr. Guenther has always taken an act- 
 ive interest in the politics of this country, 
 and has been a prominent and zealous ban- 
 ner-bearer in the ranks of the Republican 
 party. In 1877 he was elected State 
 
 treasurer, and re-elected in i 879, serving 
 two terms. In 1880, while in Indiana 
 "stumping the country" during the Gar- 
 field campaign, he was nominated for 
 Congress in the old Sixth District of Wis- 
 consin, comprising the counties of Brown, 
 Door, Kewaunee, Outagamie, Waupaca, 
 Waushara, Green Lake, Calumet and 
 Winnebago, which was subsequently 
 changed to Waushara, Green Lake, 
 Adams, Outagamie, Marquette, Columbia 
 and Winnebago counties. This District 
 he represented three terms. In 1886 he 
 was nominated for the Second District, 
 composed of the counties of Fond du Lac, 
 Dodge, Washington and Waukesha, a 
 strong Democratic District, usually scoring 
 a majority of 5,000, which he triumphantl)' 
 carried by a majority of 4,200, the first 
 instance, in the political history of this 
 country, where a member of Congress 
 represented a District in which he did not 
 live, Mr. Guenther's home being in the 
 Sixth District. Declining a re-election 
 in the Second District, he was appointed, 
 in January, 1890, consul-general to the 
 City of Mexico, which position he re- 
 signed March 4, 1S93. While in Con- 
 gress, our subject, who served on the 
 committee on rivers and harbors, suc- 
 ceeded in securing free navigation on the 
 Fox river, and with the exception of the 
 amount obtained by Senator Sawyer, 
 secured the largest sum ($225,000) for 
 improvements, etc. ; and during his eight 
 years' Congressional life he labored assid- 
 uousl}' and untiringly in the interests of 
 the Fox River Valley. He also secured an 
 appropriation for the erection of a Fed- 
 eral building at Oshkosh. In municipal 
 affairs he served as school commissioner of 
 Oshkosh with his accustomed ability. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Guenther was married in 
 Oshkosh, Wis., to Miss Emelia Schloerb, 
 a native of the city, daughter of George 
 C. and Minnie Strangmann, who came to 
 Oshkosh, Wis., in 1849, where, for many 
 years Mr. Schloerb conducted a tannery, 
 and now a wholesale and retail leather 
 store. To this union have been born 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 1043 
 
 four children, the surviving two being 
 Richard, engaged in his father's mines 
 in Mexico; and Lillian, at school in 
 Baltimore, Md. The entire family arc 
 members of the First Congregational 
 Church of Oshkosh. Mr. Guenther is 
 associated with Oshkosh Lodge, I. O. O. 
 F. , and with the Knights of Honor. To 
 all the positions he has been called to fill 
 he brought a highly disciplined and well- 
 furnished mind. In public debate few 
 men are his equal in the clear, accurate 
 forcible presentation of a subject; nor 
 could he be excelled in the ardroitness 
 and power with which he convinced, and 
 frequently even compelled active support 
 from his opponents. He is a genial host 
 and pre-eminently a gentleman, as well 
 as a man of genuine and distinguished 
 ability. 
 
 HON. JOHN HICKS, LL. D., late 
 Envoy Extraordinary and Minis- 
 ter Plenipotentiary of the United 
 States to Peru, was born April 
 12, 1S47, in Auburn, New York. 
 
 John Hicks, father of our subject, was 
 a mason and weaver, trades he followed 
 both in New York State and in Wiscon- 
 sin. In 1 85 1 the family came west, and 
 settled in Weauwega, Waupaca Co. ,W^is., 
 where the father, in addition to his trades, 
 followed farming. In 1863 he enlisted 
 in the Thirty-second W'is. V. I., serving 
 under Gen. Sherman, and was killed 
 February 9, 1865, at Binnaker's Bridge, 
 South Edisto river. South Carolina. The 
 widowed mother remained in Weyau- 
 wega, here carefully rearing her children, 
 and was rewarded for her motherly solici- 
 tude by seeing her son John rise to posi- 
 tions of eminence in the world; she is 
 still living in ^^^e3■auwega. 
 
 John Hicks, the subject proper of this 
 sketch, received his education in Weyau- 
 wega, and at the age of fifteen com- 
 menced teaching school, attending Law- 
 rence University a portion of the time 
 until December, 1867, when he secured a 
 
 position as reporter on the Daily North- 
 ivestern, for which paper he had already 
 been a correspondent about two years. 
 He devoted his \\hole time and atten- 
 tion to the business, and worked his 
 way up till he became thoroughly con- 
 versant with the minutest details. In 
 October, 1870, he formed a partnership 
 with Gen. Thomas S. Allen, former Secre- 
 tary of State, in the purchase of the 
 Northwestern, the firm being known as 
 Allen & Hicks, which continued till June, 
 1884, at which time Mr. Hicks bought 
 out Mr. Allen's interest, and successfully 
 conducted the paper till March, 1889, 
 the date of his appointment as minister to 
 Peru. As he was to leave the country 
 for four years, Mr. Hicks deemed it ad- 
 visable to form a stock company for the 
 management of the paper, which was ac- 
 complished, Mr. Hipks being president 
 and chief stockholder, the office staff, all 
 young men, carrying the rest of the 
 stock. In August, 1893, he returned 
 from Peru, again assuming managing 
 control of the Xort/in'cstcni, and has so 
 continued to this day, also from time to 
 time engaging in other literary work, 
 which seems to be the bent of his nature, 
 for his ability and success in the fields of 
 literature have brought his name promin- 
 ently to the front as a clever all-round 
 writer. While residing in Peru he con- 
 ceived the idea of writing his well-known 
 novel, "The Man from Oshkosh," which 
 has attracted considerable attention 
 among literateurs of all phases, and has 
 been well and acceptably received. The 
 American edition was published in Chi- 
 cago, the English edition in London, and 
 the following are some of the Press com- 
 ments in both Europe and America: The 
 London (England) Morning Post said of 
 the work: "It wins both sympathy and 
 interest. If a more effective story might 
 have been composed from the material 
 which Mr. Hicks has had at his com- 
 mand, he has a straight-forward manner 
 of writing of men and countries with 
 which he is familiar that wins both svm- 
 
I044 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BlOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 patliy and interest. His hero bej^'ins life 
 at Oshkosh on the Fox river, and reaches 
 manhood at the close of the war of seces- 
 sion, and very curious are the pictures of 
 life in a rural community of the Far 
 West. Far more striking, however, are 
 the descriptions of Horace Juniper's ex- 
 periences in Peru. Incidentally as it were, 
 and while relating the different incidents of 
 the plot, Mr. Hicks gives more informa- 
 tion touching the cities, men and things 
 of the great South American Republic 
 than is to be found in many an ambitious 
 book of travel." The Oshkosh Times 
 says: " 'The Man from Oshkosh,' writ- 
 ten by John Hicks, of this city, and pub- 
 lished by the Charles H. Sergei Co., of 
 Chicago, has met with a very flattering 
 reception in Oshkosh. ' The Man from 
 Oshkosh' is a story of more than ordi- 
 nary interest — particularly to Wisconsin 
 people — well and attractively told. It is 
 a production of literary merit and a credit 
 to the author.'" From other Wisconsin 
 papers we also excerpt the following: 
 "Does the author great credit;" "En- 
 tertaining, racy and interesting;" "It 
 is very interesting; " " Well written 
 from start to finish;" "Unusual, curi- 
 ous, and painted in lively colors." — 
 [Milwaukee Sentincl\, "Very entertain- 
 ingly presented; " " He is a diffident and 
 pious young man," etc. The book has 
 found a ready sale in both Europe and 
 America, and has proven very attractive 
 to the English-reading public throughout 
 the world. In recognition of Mr. Hicks' 
 high literary attainments the Lawrence 
 University, Appleton, conferred on him 
 the degree of LL. D. on Commencement 
 Day, June, 1892. 
 
 On July 19, 1872, Mr. Hicks was 
 married at Oshkosh, Wis., to Miss Alice 
 J. Hume, daughter of William Hume, 
 and sister of John W. Hume, attorney- 
 at-law, of Oshkosh, and one child, now 
 (1895) a bright little eleven-year-old boy, 
 named John after his father, was born to 
 them. Mrs. Hicks is a charming hostess, 
 a lover of music and all the other arts, 
 
 and is president of the Leisure Hour 
 Club, of Oshkosh; is much given to deeds 
 of charity, and is prominently connected 
 with the First Congregational Church. 
 In his political predilections, it is almost 
 unnecessary to say that Mr. Hicks is a Re- 
 publican; socially he is a member of the 
 F. & A. M. and the Elks. In 1885 he 
 was appointed a member of Governor 
 Rusk's staff as aide de camp, with the 
 rank of colonel, in which capacity he at- 
 tended the funeral of Gen. U. S. Grant at 
 New York that year. 
 
 M 
 
 OSES HOOPER, who enjoys 
 an honorable and lucrative prac- 
 tice in his chosen profession, 
 and has long held, in the 
 opinion of those competent to judge, an 
 enviable place among the legal fraternity, 
 has been a prominent attorney at law in 
 Neenah and Oshkosh for the past thirty- 
 eight years. 
 
 He was born January 21, 1835, at 
 Lyman, York Co., Maine, the only son 
 of Moses Hooper, a farmer, and Mary 
 (Foss) Hooper, the former of whom was 
 of English descent, the latter of Scotch, 
 and a daughter of a well-known lumber- 
 man of Maine, who has long since passed 
 away. The father died when our subject 
 was fifteen months old, and for the next 
 few years the mother looked after the 
 lad's schooling and training, after which 
 he was launched on life's stream to ' ' pad- 
 dle his own canoe." From his father's 
 estate he received in the neighborhood of 
 six hundred dollars, with which and aid 
 from his mother he was enabled to pre- 
 pare himself for the profession of law. 
 He was educated at North Yarmouth 
 Academy, Amherst College (Freshman 
 year), and Bowdoin College (Sophomore 
 year), and after leaving the latter institu- 
 tion went into a machine shop. This, 
 however, he left on a "strike," and then 
 entered the office of John M. Goodwin, of 
 Biddeford, York Co., Maine, in order to 
 study law. In 1856-57 he attended Yale 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1045. 
 
 Law School, and in the latter year settled 
 in Neenah, Wis., in the practice of law, 
 but in 1863 he removed to Oshkosh, 
 where he has since remained in the active 
 practice of his chosen profession; since 
 1870 has confined himself almost ex- 
 clusively to real-estate transactions, and 
 since 1880 to riparian or water-rights 
 suits. Among the cases he has conduct- 
 ed, and which he brought to a successful 
 issue, may be mentioned the following: 
 1 863 — 133 suits against the owners of the 
 Neenah and Menasha dams at the foot of 
 Lake Winnebago — Lawson r'j. Mowry, 
 involving title to the Menasha Water 
 Power; West t'.v. Fox River Paper Com- 
 pany, involving apportionment of power 
 where there are islands in stream; and 
 Fox River Paper Company ts. Kelly, in- 
 volving to the company a considerable 
 part of the power at Middle dam in 
 Appleton. 
 
 His success in the 133 suits against 
 the owners of the Neenah and Menasha 
 dams led him to give particular attention 
 to the law of rights to water power. This 
 course on his part attracted to his office 
 a considerable number of water-right 
 suits. In 1880 he was employed by the 
 Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Co., and 
 has since acted as their attorney in all 
 matters pertaining to water privileges, 
 etc. He has either defended or prose- 
 cuted nearly all the water cases in the Fox 
 River Valley, and has been engaged in 
 water-power cases arising on the Sheboy- 
 gan, Oconto, Wisconsin, Flambeaux and 
 Chippewa rivers. He prosecuted three im- 
 portant suits that attracted more than a 
 passing notice, viz.: (i) The Green Bay 
 & Mississippi Canal Co. vs. the Kaukauna 
 Water Power Co. ; (2) the Falls Mnfg. Co. 
 vs. the Oconto River Improvement Co. ; 
 and (3) the Patten Paper Co. 7's. the 
 Kaukauna Water Power Co. He lost the 
 second to Mr. George G. Greene of Green 
 Bay, but won the other two. 
 
 In April, 1858, Mr. Hooper was mar- 
 ried to Miss Caroline Bailey, daughter of 
 John Bailey, Esq., of Parsonsfield, Maine, 
 
 by which union there were four sons and 
 one daughter. The mother of these died 
 in May, 1875, and May 1876, Mr. Hooper 
 wedded Miss Julia A. Lord, adopted 
 daughter of Rev. Thomas N. Lord, of 
 Limerick, Maine. In his political prefer- 
 ences our subject is mainly Republican, 
 but is in very many instances purely inde- 
 pendent. In 1876 he was appointed fish 
 commissioner, but resigned at the end of 
 the year. He is an enthusiastic fisher- 
 man, and one of the most persistent 
 " piscators " in the State; and while 
 roaming along the banks of streams and 
 lakes, rod in hand, he gathered not only 
 ingenuous members of the finny tribe, 
 but also, by quick observation, a consid- 
 erable amount of " o^s/ia/" iniorn^a.tion 
 that came of service to him in his pro- 
 fession when conducting water-right suits, 
 either /to or co/i. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM GUDDEN, for 
 over forty years a well-known and 
 respected citizen of the town of 
 Black Wolf, Winnebago county,, 
 is a native of Germany, born in Cleve, 
 Rhine Province, October 7, 1821. 
 
 BERNARD CHARLES GUDDEN, 
 M. D. Of the galaxy of medical 
 men for which this portion of 
 Wisconsin has gained no little 
 fame is to be found in the front rank, if 
 not in the very van, the gentleman whose 
 name is here recorded. The Gudden^ 
 family has an imperishable record of pro- 
 fessional worth — some as educators, others 
 as medical men, lawyers, or in the forum: 
 Two of our subject's uncles are members 
 of the German Reichstag, and the Dr. 
 Bernhard Von Gudden, who was drowned' 
 in the pond near the Bavarian palace 
 while unsuccessfully trying to save the 
 life of the late mad King of Bavaria, was 
 another uncle. 
 
 Dr. B. C. Gudden was born January 
 9, 1857, in Black Wolf town, Winnebago 
 
1046 
 
 COMMEirOHATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Co., AVis. , a son of Dr. William Gudden, 
 an honored pioneer of the \'alley, who 
 settled in the town of Black Wolf. Our 
 subject received his literary education in 
 his native county, and when of proper 
 age commenced the study of medicine 
 under the preceptorship of his father and 
 Drs. C. & F. H. Linde. of Oshkosh. both 
 now deceased. In 1 S76 he entered Rush 
 Medical College, Chicago, where he grad- 
 uated in 1879, at the same time securing, 
 by competitive examination, the position 
 of interne at Cook County Hospital. As 
 such he remained twenty-one months, 
 two more than was customary, leaving 
 the hospital in April, 1S81, in all respects 
 well-equipped to enter the medical pro- 
 fession. Soon afterward he established 
 himself in practice in Oshkosh. but at the 
 end of one year, being desirous of search- 
 ing deeper into the science of Hippocrates 
 and Galen, and familiarizing himself with 
 the most advanced medical science of the 
 Old World, he went to Europe, where, 
 at the hospitals of Vienna, Munich and 
 Berlin, he improved his studies under the 
 teachings of some of the most eminent 
 professors on the continent, among them 
 being: In Vienna — Profs. Billroth, Arlt, 
 Nothnagel, Wolfler, and Carl Brown; in 
 Berlin — Profs. \'on Bergmann, Schroeder 
 and Henoch: in Munich — Profs. Bollinger 
 and \ox\ Gudden, the last named being 
 his uncle. Few medical men of his age 
 have had so thorough and complete an 
 insight into the mysteries of the profes- 
 sion, and under such an array of learned 
 luminaries. Returning to Oshkosh in 
 18S4 Dr. Gudden resumed the practice 
 of his profession, for which he pre-emi- 
 nently qualified himself, and in which he 
 has since continued with enviable success. 
 Although his practice is a general one, he 
 makes a specialty of surgery. 
 
 In August, 1S84, Dr. Gudden was 
 united in marriage in Munich, Germany, 
 with Miss Sophia Gudden, daughter of 
 Prof. B. Von Gudden, of the Chair of 
 ner\ous and mental diseases, in the Uni- 
 versity of Munich. Our subject is a mem- 
 
 ber of the Consistory of the State of Wis- 
 consin: of the State Medical Association, 
 and the American Medical Association. 
 In his political affiliations he is a promi- 
 nent and influential Republican, while in 
 social life he is in the full enjoyment of 
 the respect and esteem of a wide circle of 
 friends and acquaintances. Some time 
 ago Dr. Gudden conceived the idea of 
 establishing a general hospital in the city 
 of Oshkosh. the doors of which institution 
 should be open to all creeds and nation- 
 alities, and with that object in view pur- 
 chased the real estate and buildings 
 necessary for the purpose. After this 
 was accomplished he, with characteristic 
 energy and push, secured the co-opera- 
 tion of some of the leading public-spirited 
 citizens of the city, and in January-, 1895, 
 the institution was incorporated as the 
 "Oshkosh Hospital Association," with a 
 capital stock of $25,000. The building 
 is situated on the corner of Kansas and 
 Seventh streets, is 74 x 200 feet in dimen- 
 sions, three stories in height, built sub- 
 stantially of brick with iron roof and 
 stairways, heated throughout by steam, 
 and lighted by gas. It contains about 
 fifty rooms, all well-lighted, exceedingly 
 cheerful and health-inspiring, and the 
 pleasant and airy sitting-rooms for the 
 use of patients are well supplied with 
 papers, books, periodicals, etc., for their 
 diversion and entertainment during con- 
 valescence. On the third floor are the 
 operating rooms, which are fitted with all 
 appliances necessary in modern surgical 
 work. The furniture and fittings of the 
 entire establishment are such as are used 
 in the best hospitals of metropolitan 
 cities, the best of trained nurses and 
 physicians are in attendance, and the hos- 
 pital is one of which the citizens of Osh- 
 kosh may well be proud, affording as it 
 does a refuge for afflicted humanity where 
 they can receive all the comforts of home, 
 the care of trained nurses, and treatment 
 by physicians known to be thoroughly 
 qualified by education and practical ex- 
 perience. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 1047 
 
 leading 
 
 JOSEPH STRINGHAM, a 
 influential citizen of Oshkosh, Win- 
 nebago count}-, was born in Santa 
 Cruz, Danish West Indies, in 18 10, 
 a son of Joseph Stringham, who was a 
 native of New York, and whose father 
 was a sea captain, dying in that city. 
 
 The father of our subject was a mer- 
 chant in both New York and Santa Cruz, 
 in which latter place he married Miss 
 Ann Stridiron, who was born in Santa 
 Cruz of English parents. Our subject 
 secured an elementary education at Naz- 
 areth Hall, Pennsylvania, whither he had 
 been brought as a boy of eight years of 
 age, and his first business experience was 
 clerking in banks at Canandaigua and 
 Albany, N. Y. , and as cashier at Rome 
 and Buffalo, N. Y. , in which later cit}' he 
 edited and published T/ic Buffalo Courier, 
 from 1842 to 1846, and afterward served 
 as cashier of the Patchin Bank and 
 Buffalo Cit}' Bank until, becoming inter- 
 ested in Oshkosh real estate, he relin- 
 quished that position. In i860 and 1861 
 he served as deputy treasurer of the 
 State of New York, and in 1862 and 
 1863 as secretary of the Western Insur- 
 ance Company, Buffalo. The ' property 
 in Oshkosh in which he had become in- 
 terested constitutes what is known as the 
 original Third ward of the city of Osh- 
 kosh, which was first put in the market 
 in 1856. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. Stringham came to reside 
 among the people of Oshkosh, and soon 
 came to be substantially identified with 
 the rise and progress of the place. He 
 conveyed about five hundred deeds or 
 titles for land in the Third ward, which 
 grew so rapidly that it now has a popula- 
 tion of some ten thousand inhabitants. 
 He never proved "a hard master," and 
 seldom foreclosed a mortgage, indeed, 
 only when circumstances absolutely com- 
 pelled him to. In political faith he was 
 early identified with the Democratic 
 party, casting his first vote for Andrew 
 Jackson, but in 1S56 he entered the 
 ranks of the Republicans in support of 
 
 Fremont. Howexer, after Andrew John- 
 son's succession to the Presidency, on the 
 the death of Lincoln, he returned to his 
 first love, in support of Horatio Seymour 
 for President, and has since then acted 
 with the Democratic party. In civic 
 affairs Mr. Stringham served as alderman 
 of the Third ward of Oshkosh several 
 times; was elected mayor two terms — first 
 time in 1870, second time in 1874, the 
 }ear of the great fire — and also filled that 
 office during the absence of Mayor James 
 Jenkins. Mr. Stringham is not identified 
 with any Secret Society; he enjoys the 
 respect and esteem of a wide circle of 
 friends. 
 
 In the year 1859 (after the disastrous 
 fire on the north side of Fox river), Mr. 
 Stringham, whose interests were on the 
 south side of the river, which was then 
 mostly vacant land, commenced the erec- 
 tion of the "Seymour House," for the 
 purpose of stimulating the sale of his 
 lots. The house was finished in 1S60, 
 and from that time to December 31, 
 1894 (when it burned down), was open to 
 the public as a hotel, for a large part of 
 the time under the personal care of the 
 owner. It is hoped that a new hotel 
 may be built on this site, but this is not 
 decided upon. In 1881 Mr. Stringham 
 wrote and published a pamphlet entitled 
 " Bi-Monetism," which attracted consid- 
 erable attention at the time. 
 
 COLONEL LUCAS M. MILLER. 
 Offspring of a long line of heroic 
 men and women, of that true 
 Grecian instinct that was born of 
 freedom, and snapped asunder the bonds 
 of servitude, this gentleman has need to 
 be proud of his ancestry. They were 
 great and patriotic in their day, shedding 
 their lifeblood for the freedom they se- 
 cured, which was the creation of the na- 
 tional spirit of the fair and classic land of 
 the Pelasgi and Hellenes. These Greeks 
 might not have been great but for the na- 
 tion which gave them birth, and imbued 
 
1048 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 them with their worth and spirit. In the 
 words of Byron: 
 
 Where'er we tread, 'tis haunted, holy ground ; 
 
 No earth of thine is lost in vulgar mold. 
 But one vast realm of wonder spreads around. 
 
 And all the Muses' tales seem trulj' told. 
 
 The history of the birth and early 
 boyhood of Col. Miller is more than in- 
 teresting — it is romantic. He was born 
 in Lividia, Greece, September 15, 1824, 
 the son of a Greek chieftain who was 
 killed by Turks during the Greek revolu- 
 tion, which ended with the battle of Sol- 
 ferino and the independence of the coun- 
 try, wrung from their old rulers, the Otto- 
 man tyrants. Soon after the death of 
 the father, the mother also passed awaj', 
 and the now orphan boy was cared for a 
 short time by a woman who claimed she 
 had found him in an abandoned town 
 soon after a fierce fight had taken place 
 in its streets between the Greeks and 
 Turks. On the side of the Greek patriots 
 was one Col. J. P. Miller, an American, 
 who had joined the Greek army at the 
 beginning of this revolution. He was a 
 private gentleman, but on uniting with 
 the revolutionists he was at once com- 
 missioned as colonel, and he distinguished 
 himself not only as a bra\-e and efficient 
 officer, but as a true friend to the cause 
 he was fighting for by e.xerting his influ- 
 ence in securing the donation, bv his own 
 countrymen, of several vessels laden ^\•ith 
 provisions and clothing for the destitute 
 people of Greece. To this generous- 
 minded man the woman, who had in the 
 goodness of her heart become the foster- 
 mother of the orphan boy, applied for 
 assistance, telling her story, and plead- 
 ing her cause with all the eloquence in 
 her power. The Colonel's heart was 
 touched, and he concluded there and 
 then to adopt the little waif, which he did. 
 
 On returning to his native country. 
 Col. Miller, with his adopted son in his 
 care, settled in Montpelier, Vt. , where 
 young Lucas M. (for such was the name 
 given him) attended school until he was 
 sixteen years of age, when, his foster- 
 
 father having been, through an injur}-, 
 incapacitated for business, the lad was 
 called upon to take charge of his business 
 affairs, consisting of law and real estate. 
 He studied law, and at the age of twenty- 
 one, having become a naturalized citizen 
 of the United States, was admitted to the 
 bar. Soon afterward he removed to the 
 then Territory of Wisconsin, settling in 
 1846 in Oshkosh, a mere settlement at 
 the time, but a busy one on account of 
 the lumbering operations and real-estate 
 speculations. Having purchased several 
 hundred acres of land, he engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits, in which he met 
 with considerable success. At one time 
 he owned 500 acres of land in the vicinity 
 of Oshkosh, four-fifths of the tract lying 
 within the city limits, thirtj'-eight acres 
 being where the courthouse now stands, 
 and his old homestead, now the North 
 Side Park, is a portion of this original 
 tract. 
 
 During his residence in Oshkosh, or 
 its neighborhood, of over half a century, 
 Col. Miller has witnessed the growth of a 
 hamlet of some half-dozen houses to a 
 beautiful thriving city of over twenty-five 
 thousand inhabitants; and during this 
 long period there has been, probably, no 
 man among the citizens of Oshkosh who 
 has been more closely identified with the 
 history of its enterprises, or who has done 
 more to promote the welfare of the pres- 
 ent city of Oshkosh. He was instru- 
 mental in securing the removal of the 
 county seat from Butte des Morts to Osh- 
 kosh in 1847, and donated six lots on 
 which to locate the county buildings. He 
 was also concerned in securing the land 
 office to Oshkosh in 1848, and assisted 
 very materially in securing the location 
 of the State Normal School in Oshkosh, 
 and the location of the State Asylum for 
 the Insane in the vicinity of the city. He 
 was one of a company who constructed 
 the first bridge over the Fox river, and 
 in fact has been closely identified with all 
 public movements having for their object 
 the improvement of the city, and the ad- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1049 
 
 vancement of the welfare of the citizens 
 generally. 
 
 Col. Miller has from the time he cast 
 his first vote been a stanch Democrat, 
 and as an able and zealous exponent of 
 the principles of that party has always 
 been accorded marked deference and re- 
 spect. In 1853 he was elected a member 
 of the Wisconsin Legislature, and during 
 his career in that honorable body proved 
 of valuable service to the, then, young 
 State. Among important measures in- 
 
 the 
 
 troduced or 
 Legislature 
 
 g, nnportant measures 
 advocated by him in 
 may be mentioned his reso- 
 lution to permit the Menomonee Indians 
 to remain in this State; and he also 
 favored a resolution transferring the Fox 
 and Wisconsin rivers from the State to a 
 company known as the Fox and Wiscon- 
 sin River Improvement Company. In 
 1892, during his absence in Vermont, 
 and quite unknown to him, he was nom- 
 inated for member of Congress, of which 
 event he heard nothing until the day after 
 the convention had adjourned. On his 
 return to Wisconsin, about two weeks be- 
 fore his election, he made known to the 
 people of the District that he had been 
 nominated contrary to his wishes, but 
 that, nevertheless, if elected, he would 
 attend to their interests, and if not elected 
 he proposed to attend to his own busi- 
 ness. He was elected to the LlInd 
 Congress on the Democratic ticket, re- 
 ceiving 15,573 votes against 13,409 for 
 Charles B. Clark (Rep.) and 1,156 for 
 George W. Gates (Pro.). The Colonel 
 also served as one of the commissioners 
 of the State Board of Public Works; for 
 ten years he was chairman of the board 
 of supervisors for Winnebago county, and 
 at various times was urged to run for 
 State office. In his official capacities, no 
 man knew better than he how to time his 
 efforts; while he never wasted his force 
 on worthless and unattainable objects, he 
 well knew how to take advantage of op- 
 portunities — and when once he decided 
 no man pursued his object with more 
 fearlessness or energy. During the Mex- 
 
 ican war, and not long after settling in 
 W'isconsin, he was appointed colonel of 
 militia by Governor Dodge. 
 
 Col. Miller resided, till May, 1894, 
 during the summer months, on the west 
 shore of Lake Winnebago, at the foot of 
 Merritt street. The grounds, which are 
 known as "Bonnie View Park," contain 
 some three hundred acres of beautiful 
 land, laid off in lawns, walks and drives, 
 and adorned with fragrant flowers and 
 magnificent shade trees, in the midst of 
 which is situated his handsome residence. 
 The park, the front of which borders on 
 the lake, contains a drive of over half a 
 mile, and for beauty and picturesqueness 
 far surpasses any other place in the city. 
 Through the kindness of Col. Miller this 
 park was for years thrown open to the 
 public, and was visited daily by thousands 
 of citizens and visitors, and in 1891 he 
 sold it to the city of Oshkosh. 
 
 Foremost in the ranks of those who 
 have won their way to success, and are 
 now living to enjoy the respect and honor 
 of their fellow citizens, stands the subject 
 of this sketch; and it may be truthfully 
 said of him that he remains to-da}' as one 
 of the few surviving links between the 
 pioneer days of hardships and trials and 
 the mighty present, teeming with won- 
 derful achievements, and foreshadowed 
 by the possibilities of still greater tri- 
 umphs in the future. 
 
 EDWIN A. WILLIAMS, mayor 
 of Neenah, Winnebago county, 
 and insurance and real-estate 
 agent, one of the thorough busi- 
 ness men of the place, of which he has 
 been a resident some five or six years, is 
 a native of the State of Wisconsin, born 
 at Lake Geneva, Walworth county, No- 
 vember 9, 1847, of Welsh descent. 
 
 Joseph L. Williams, father of our 
 subject, who is now passing his declining 
 years in retirement at Burlington, Wis., 
 was born December 5, 18 14, in Washing- 
 ton county, N. Y. He assisted on his 
 
lO^O 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 father's farm until 1842, when he came 
 to Wisconsin, where he remained one 
 year, in the meantime looking about him 
 for some suitable tract of land whereon to 
 settle. Finally he purchased a piece of 
 wild land near Lake Geneva, which he 
 commenced to clear in 1845, building a 
 dwelling thereon, but soon exchanged for 
 land in Kenosha county, and in course of 
 time converting a wilderness into smil- 
 ing fields of golden grain and rich pasture. 
 Here he resided, successfully following all 
 the branches of agricultural pursuits, until 
 
 1889, when he rented the farm and re- 
 tired into private life. In 1 846 he had mar- 
 ried Miss Elizabeth H. Howlett. who was 
 born in Toledo, Ohio, daughter of James 
 P. Howlett, a buyer and shipper of live 
 stock, and to this union were born ten 
 children, of whom are living Edwin A., 
 Julius P., Arthur L., Charles E., Willis 
 W., Herbert N. and Lillian; the deceased 
 are Clarence L. , Lyman E. and Ida. The 
 mother of these was called from earth in 
 
 1890. Joseph L. Williams in his political 
 preferences was originally a Whig, and 
 has been a stanch Republican since the 
 organization of the party. In his day he 
 was a typical representative man, a hard 
 worker, upright in all his dealings, and 
 now in his old age enjoys the respect and 
 esteem of all. 
 
 Edwin A. Williams received his ele- 
 mentar\" education at the common schools 
 of the place of his nativity, and at the age 
 of sixteen entered Hillsdale (Mich.) Col- 
 lege, with the intention of taking a full 
 course, but after two years, owing to his 
 father's failing health, he was obliged to 
 return to the farm, working thereon dur- 
 ing the summer months, and teaching 
 school in the winter time. In 1871, 
 however, he was enabled to resume his 
 studies, this time at the State Normal 
 School, Platteville, Wis., where he gradu- 
 ated in 1873. Again returning to the 
 farm, he continued to assist his father, at 
 the same time teaching as before. He 
 taught school in all nine years, eight jears 
 in Winnebago county, and for one year in 
 
 a private school in Apple River, 111. In 
 1 879 he accepted the position of principal 
 of the Menasha High School, filling same 
 with much ability three years, at the end 
 of which time he retired from scholastic 
 life, and engaged in the real-estate and 
 insurance business at Menasha. Prior to 
 this, it may be mentioned, he read law in 
 such time as he could spare, and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar, but did not practice. 
 In 1889 he moved to Neenah, where he 
 opened his present insurance and real- 
 estate office. He has now charge, as 
 State agent, of the business of the Ameri- 
 can Fire Insurance Company of New York 
 for the State of Wisconsin and the upper 
 peninsula of Michigan, besides being 
 agent for several other companies. 
 
 In July, 1874, Mr. \Mlliams was mar- 
 ried to Miss Maggie White, a native of 
 Wisconsin, one in the family of twelve 
 children born to Thomas and Margaret 
 (Marsh) White, English people who in 
 1849 settled in \\'isconsin, where, at 
 Shullsburgh, LaFayette county, they fol- 
 lowed farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Will- 
 iams has been born one child. In his 
 political predilections our subject is a 
 Republican, and while a resident of 
 Menasha he was elected a justice of the 
 peace and superintendent of schools. In 
 1894 he was elected mayor of Neenah, 
 and is now filling the office with dignity 
 and ability. Socially he is a member of 
 the F. & A. M., and he stands high in the 
 communitv at lartre. 
 
 JAMES LUTHER CLARK (de- 
 ceased). To the young men of our 
 land, the life of the subject of this 
 sketch is a fit example of the card- 
 inal virtues of industr)', uprightness and 
 frugalit}', of strict temperance and un- 
 wearied perseverance. 
 
 Mr. Clark was a native of New Hamp- 
 shire, born April 17, 1824, in the town of 
 Alton, Belknap county, son of Aaron and 
 Marcy (Hanim) Clark, well-to-do and 
 respectable farming people. He received 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 105 1 
 
 his education at tlic coiiimon schools of 
 his native place, and at an early age com- 
 menced learning the trade of carpenter 
 and joiner, which he followed there until 
 coming to Oshkosh, Wis., where he con- 
 tinued in same two years. He then em- 
 barked in the lumber business, but at the 
 end of two years abandoned this line to 
 act as superintendent of mills for differ- 
 ent parties. In 1862 he engaged in the 
 manufacture of match splints — having 
 previous to this assisted Daniel Ruggles 
 in perfecting a round splint machine — 
 and at the end of five years began the 
 making of matches in a small way, brand- 
 ing them " Western Matches; " in August, 
 1869, the establishment was destroyed by 
 fire, and after rebuilding Mr. Clark 
 changed the name to "Star Matches." 
 So widel}- were the products of this fac- 
 tory patronized, and so generally appre- 
 ciated was the superiority of the article, 
 that b}' 1875 *^^6 sales had increased from 
 $20,000 in 1867 to $350,000, the daily 
 capacity of the factory being two thousand 
 gross. "The factory consumed, among 
 other things, at the rate annually of 
 1 50 tons of brimstone, eleven tons of 
 phosphorus, 320 tons of straw board and 
 paper, and four million feet of lumber in 
 the manufacture of these matches, em- 
 ployment beinggiven to nearly 600 hands. " 
 In the conducting of this vast industry, 
 Mr. Clark was ably assisted by the inde- 
 fatigable labors of his faithful wife, who 
 was ever on the alert to further the best 
 interests of her husband's business, and 
 look after his health and comfort, until 
 the year 1876, when a serious accident 
 disabled her from further activity in the 
 work, her son, Herbert M. taking her 
 post, he occupying the position of super- 
 intendent. In addition to this, Mr. Clark 
 also operated a shingle factory, turning 
 out a superior brand, and his success also 
 in that direction was noteworthy, since 
 in two years he cut more shingles than 
 any mill on the Wolf river, the product, 
 in 1879, being nearly thirteen million, 
 and, in 1880, eighteen million. In De- 
 
 cember of the latter year, Mr. Clark 
 sold his match factory to the Diamond 
 Match Co., the sale being the largest 
 transfer of property ever made in Winne- 
 bago county. In the following spring he 
 began the erection r^f the largest carriage 
 works in the State, the machinery for 
 which was set in motion during the win-- 
 ter of 1881-82. The area of the ground 
 covered by the plant is se\'enteen acres in 
 e.xtent, and the main building has a front- 
 age of 200 feet, with two "Ls" running 
 back 325 feet each, the whole having a 
 total floor area of 125,000 square feet. 
 The plant is one of the most perfect in 
 the United States, nearly one hundred 
 thousand dollars having been invested in 
 buildings and grounds alone. The busi- 
 ness was a new one, and had to be built 
 up; but so well did Mr. Clark succeed 
 that before very long the product was 
 being sold all over the United States, 
 chiefly, however, in the West. His suc- 
 cess in this, as in all his other enterprises, 
 was the direct result of his indefatigable 
 industry, unimpeachable integrity and 
 irrepressible perseverance, and his quiet 
 unassuming manners and sterling busi- 
 ness qualities gained for him the firm 
 friendship of a large circle of acquaiiit- 
 ances. He was called from earth Febru- 
 ary 27, 1885, his son Herbert M. suc- 
 ceeding him in business; and now that 
 he is gone, it onlj" remains to pay him 
 the poor tribute of words; to say that his 
 was a well-spent life, that he was ener- 
 getic, firm, reliable in his dealings with 
 all with whom he was brought in contact 
 in business; helpful in all work tending to 
 the benefit of those around him, and 
 respected and trusted by all who knew 
 him. 
 
 On July 26, 185 1, James L. Clark 
 was married to Miss Sarah Flint, a native 
 of Vermont, born January 16, 1828, in 
 ^^'illiamstown, about twelve miles south 
 of Montpelier. Her parents, James and 
 Sally (Kelsey) Flint, were also Vermont- 
 ers, respectable farming people, and both 
 died on the old Vermont homestead. 
 
lOs 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 James Flint was a reader and thinker, as 
 was also his wife, who possessed many 
 qualities and graces of noble womanhood; 
 she was a native of Tunbridge, Vt., a 
 woman of great force of character, of 
 slight build, but very energetic and am- 
 bitious — the embodiment of will power 
 and firmness. She lived to be over four- 
 score years old. In the war of 1812 Mr. 
 Flint offered his services to his country, 
 but the lack of transportation prevented 
 him from participating in the battle of 
 Plattsburg. In religious faith he was a 
 Calvinist Baptist, taking an active part 
 in Church work, and giving liberally of 
 his means toward the erection of the 
 church building. He died at the age of 
 fourscore and thirteen years. After mar- 
 riage Mr. and Mrs. James L. Clark made 
 their home in Lawrence, Mass., about 
 four years, and then came west to \\'is- 
 consin. They were the parents of two 
 children, both sons, named respectively 
 Herbert M. and Harley Luther, the latter 
 of whom died at the age of four years. 
 
 Herbert M. Clark, only surviving 
 son of James L. and Sarah (Flint) Clark, 
 was born February 26, 1857, at Oshkosh, 
 Wis., and from the time he was si.xteen 
 years old was associated with his father in 
 the manufacture of matches until the sale 
 of that business, in December, 1880, dur- 
 ing the last four years in the capacity of 
 superintendent of the works. On the death 
 of his father in 1885 he succeeded him in 
 the carriage factory industry. James L. 
 Clark left to his successor the best of heri- 
 tages — a good and honest name. 
 
 JOSEPH HORATIO OSBORN (de- 
 ceased), one of the very early set- 
 tlers of this part of Wisconsin, and 
 closely identified with the primitive 
 struggles of the city of Oshkosh and 
 county of Winnebago, in the arena of 
 pioneer life, was born May 17, 1822, in 
 New York City. He was well educated, 
 and made a special record at Columbia 
 College in mathematics. He began life 
 
 as a civil engineer at seventeen years of 
 age on the Croton Aqueduct, still, how- 
 ever, continuing his studies, and when 
 the aqueduct was opened in i 843 by Gov- 
 ernor Seymour, Mr. Osborn, then twenty- 
 one years of age, stood by his side. 
 
 Mr. Osborn came immediately west to 
 Waukesha in that year, allured by the 
 stories of the great \Vest. Wisconsin was 
 then at the height of its early boom, and 
 its name was in everybody's mouth. He 
 had just inherited a thousand dollars, and 
 was anxious to invest it. At Waukesha 
 he bought a small farm, put up a country 
 store, and here traded with the Indians 
 for furs. After a year of this experience, 
 in which he supposed he had failed and 
 lost everything, he traveled on a rounda- 
 bout trip, mostly on foot, through north- 
 ern Illinois and Missouri, looking for an 
 opening, his chief object being to get an 
 eligible piece of land. After visiting the 
 Galena lead mines, he drifted back to 
 Milwaukee, then a very small village with 
 doubtful prospects. Hearing that the 
 government was opening up a large lot of 
 rich lands on the shores of Lake Winne- 
 bago, he borrowed a small sum of money, 
 and with stick and bundle tramped to 
 Oshkosh, arriving in the then frontier 
 hamlet with just fifty cents in his pocket. 
 After carefully looking over the place, he 
 concluded that here, at the mouth of the 
 Fox river, there was soon to be a great 
 city, and here he decided to settle. Ap- 
 plying to Webster Stanley, the first settler 
 of Oshkosh, who kept the ferry across 
 the river, and the only hotel. Stanley 
 took him in, and the young Knickerbocker 
 opened the first school in Winnebago 
 county, in Stanley's house, instructing the 
 children of the communit}' — those of the 
 Stanley, Gallup and Wright families. 
 After teaching for a short time, he unex- 
 pectedly realized a hundred dollars, and 
 a large load of goods from his Waukesha 
 \enture. With this money he purchased 
 the present Osborn homestead, on which 
 he died, and which is now the site of a 
 large settlement. 
 
 He walked to Green 
 
COMMEMORATIVK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '053 
 
 Bay and back, to enter the land in the 
 United States Land Office. With the 
 load of goods he opened an Indian 
 trading house on the site of the old 
 gang mill on the Fox river, near the 
 mouth, and traded up and down the river 
 for several years, always attending the 
 Indian payments at Butte des Morts, and 
 elsewhere. He had in his employ, as in- 
 terpreter, Augustin Grignon, the famous 
 old French fur trader, whose " Recollec- 
 tions of Early Wisconsin" is a feature of 
 the Wisconsin Historical Collections. 
 
 As Oshkosh grew, Mr. Osborn be- 
 came prominently identified with the 
 movement, and in 1S44 opened the first 
 general store in the young city, at the 
 lower end of Main (then called Ferry) 
 street. As a surveyor, he made the first 
 plat of Oshkosh; also of Menasha and 
 Neenah. He named all the streets on 
 the original Oshkosh plat. Becoming a 
 land agent for Governor J. D. Doty and 
 other gentlemen in Wisconsin and New 
 York, Mr. Osborn opened the first ab- 
 stract office in Winnebago county, and 
 personally made the first abstract. Some- 
 time after the great crash of 1856 he sold 
 out his abstract to Jones & Frentz, and 
 retired to his farm. He was county sur- 
 veyor from 1845 to 1848; county clerk 
 from 1852 to 1857, and alderman of the 
 city in 1860-61. In 1861 he opened a 
 soap factory which he afterward sold out 
 to J. R. Loper & Brother, when he again 
 retired to his farm. In 1874-76 he was 
 president of the State Railroad commis- 
 sion, under Governor William R. Taylor. 
 Upon him lay the chief burden of the 
 commission, during the exciting legal 
 struggle on the part of the railways to 
 beat the famous Potter law. The reports 
 of the commission, which were read 
 throughout the country, and betrayed a 
 masterful knowledge of railway affairs, 
 were alnr.ost wholly from his pen. In 
 1878 he ran for Secretar}- of State on the 
 Greenback ticket which was headed by 
 E. P. Allis, of Milwaukee, and was de- 
 feated. For several years he was grand 
 
 master, and later the State purchasing 
 agent, of the State Grange. About this 
 time he was also the a(i\'ising engineer 
 of the Stevenson Canal Traction i^ystem 
 Company, and visited New York several 
 times to obtain financial backing for this 
 Oshkosh enterprise. 
 
 Mr. Osborn was much interested in 
 co-operative and other social schemes, 
 and gave his time and means generously, 
 without expectation or receipt of reward, 
 to several enterprises for the betterment 
 of the economic condition of the working 
 man. He was the founder of the Work- 
 men's Co-operative store in Oshkosh, and 
 for two years devoted all his time, and 
 much of his means, to the enterprise, 
 only retiring when he saw it established 
 upon a sound financial basis. In June, 
 1890, he founded the Winnebago Ab- 
 stract Company (limited) for which he 
 labored with great skill and patience until 
 it was placed upon its feet. His intimate 
 acquaintance with early scenes in this 
 vicinity, and his natural historic turn of 
 mind, prompted him to attempt the organ- 
 ization of an old settlers' club to cover 
 the entire county for the purpose of gath- 
 ering together and writing out the remi- 
 niscences of the old pioneers as a legacy 
 to the historical literature of the county; 
 but was taken away before his favorite 
 project could be undertaken. In April, 
 1892, Mr. Osborn, released from his ab- 
 stract work, took a pleasure trip to New 
 Jerse}', Washington and Maryland. While 
 upon this trip he contracted malarial 
 fever, and hurried home, arriving in Osh- 
 kosh early in May. He took to his bed 
 at once, and troubled with a complication 
 of disorders, rapidly wasted away. 
 
 Mr. Osborn was married in 1866 to 
 Martha L. Thwaites, daughter of William 
 G. and Sarah (Bibbs) Thwaites, of York- 
 shire, England, and to them was born 
 one son, Delaware, at present residing on 
 the homestead with his mother. Dela- 
 ware W., a young man of twenty-two 
 years, was at the time of his father's 
 death making a tour around the world, 
 
^54 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 being then in South Africa, and did not 
 know of the sad news until a month later. 
 A few hours before his father's death, a 
 letter had been received from Delaware 
 announcing his safe arrival in Cape Town 
 after a long and tempestuous voyage from 
 Australia. This was a great solace to the 
 dying m&n. 
 
 Mr. Osborn came of a prominent New 
 ■York family long identified with educa- 
 tional and professional affairs in the me- 
 tropolis. His father, also named Joseph 
 Horatio, was one of the best American 
 philologists of his da\', and was particu- 
 larly well versed in Hebrew, Greek and 
 Latin. He was a professor of the classi- 
 cal languages in Columbia College, and 
 early in this century translated the Bible 
 from the original Greek for the Methodist 
 Book Concern. He was for a time, also, 
 tutor to the princes who were expelled 
 from France at the time of the great 
 Revolution. One of Professor Osborn's 
 sisters, Mary, was the wife of Gen. Joshua 
 Stark. Another sister was the wife of 
 the secretary of the famous Warren Hast- 
 ings. A brother of the Professor married 
 the only sister of John Howard Payne, 
 who wrote " Home, Sweet Home," while 
 other brothers were celebrated physicians 
 in New York City. The mother of the 
 subject of our sketch, and wife of Prof. 
 Osborn, was a Miss Ann Lent, who, as 
 one of the great Norwood family of mer- 
 chant princes and ship-owners, came from 
 good old Dutch Knickerbocker stock. 
 Dr. Samuel J. Osborn, formerly of Osh- 
 kosh, and now of Cincinnati, and Miss 
 Elizabeth Baron Osborn (since dead), 
 also of Cincinnati, were also brother and 
 sister of our subject. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was a man 
 of fine education, broad general reading, 
 and a genial sunny temperament, and 
 every pioneer of Winnebago county was 
 his warm personal friend. He passed 
 away in Oshkosh May 8, 1892, and was 
 buried in the South Side Cemetery. His 
 memory will long be cherished by all who 
 had the pleasure of his acquaintance. 
 
 CHARLES RISTOW. Among the 
 progressive, wide-awake and in- 
 dustrious young business men of 
 South Oshkosh, \\'innebago coun- 
 ty, stands prominent the gentleman whose 
 name is here recorded. He was born in 
 Prussia March 12, 1869, and is a son of 
 John and Augusta Ristow, of the same 
 nativity, the former of whom, whose busi- 
 ness was that of farmer, died in 18S8, and 
 the latter is still living in the Fatherland. 
 They were the parents of ten children, 
 eight of whom are 3'et living, as follows: 
 Matilda, Minnie, August, Henrietta, John, 
 Charles, Herman and Emma. The family 
 are all adherents of the Lutheran Church. 
 Our subject received his education in 
 his native land, and there also learned 
 his trade, that of blacksmith. In April, 
 1893, being encouraged to try his fortune 
 in the New World, he left the home of 
 his youth and scenes of his childhood to 
 cross the broad Atlantic. Arriving in 
 New York, he proceeded from there to 
 Wisconsin, and locating in Oshkosh re- 
 sumed his trade. Early in 1 894 he com- 
 menced business for his own account, in 
 South Oshkosh, having rented a com- 
 modious shop, well-equipped with every- 
 thing essential to the carrying on of a 
 first-class blacksmithing trade, and by 
 strict attention to the wants of his patrons 
 has established a profitable and rapidly 
 increasing business. 
 
 IREMONTE. GOTTSLEBEN has 
 
 the honor of being a native of 
 
 F 
 
 ■ Wisconsin, his birth having oc- 
 
 curred in West Bend, Washington 
 county, on the 27th of October, 1856. 
 His parents are Herman and Paulina 
 (Von Rohn) Gottsleben, both natives of 
 Germany, the former born at Hilde- 
 sheim, Germany, the latter at Leipsic. 
 
 They were both single when they 
 came to the United States, their marriage 
 being celebrated in the town of Polk, 
 Wis. While in his native land the father 
 occupied the position of manager in a dis- 
 
COMMEMOHATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 '055 
 
 tillery. His father (the grandfather of 
 our subject) held ofifice under the govern- 
 ment, and his brothers were members of 
 the legal profession. They were a family 
 of prominence and honor, and were 
 widely known in official circles. An 
 uncle of our subject, Antone Gottsleben, 
 for his addresses and labors in behalf of 
 the cause of United Germany that estab- 
 lished King William on the throne, was 
 honored by the erection of a public 
 monument to his memory in the city of 
 Hildesheim. After coming to the United 
 States Herman Gottsleben turned his at- 
 tention to agricultural pursuits, and was 
 numbered among the farmers of Wash- 
 ington county. Wis., his home adjoining 
 the city limits of West Bend. There he 
 devoted his time to the cultivation and 
 improvement of his land until in a run- 
 away he suffered the loss of a leg, and in 
 consequence is now living retired in 
 Kewaskum. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch ac- 
 quired his education in the public schools 
 of West Bend, and in the railroad depot 
 of that place learned telegraphy. At 
 the age of twenty-two years he became 
 identified with railroad work in Milwaukee, 
 at which time he secured a position as 
 telegraph operator in the office of 
 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul rail- 
 road. On May 14, 1880, he became 
 agent at Iron Ridge Junction, and July 
 7, 1892, was appointed general agent at 
 Winneconne, where he has since made 
 his home. His sixteen-years' continu- 
 ance in this line of work shows his adapt- 
 ability to it, and his e.xcellence is recog- 
 nized by his employers. 
 
 On the loth of October, 1881, at 
 Iron Ridge, Wis., was celebrated the 
 marriage of Mr. Gottsleben and Miss 
 Clara C. Nehls, daughter of John C. 
 Nehls, a hotel keeper at that place. He 
 afterward removed to Juneau, Wis., where 
 he engaged in hotel keeping four years, 
 and was then appointed postmaster, which 
 position he filled four years. At this 
 writing he is living retired. To Mr. and 
 
 Mrs. Gottsleben have come three child- 
 ren — Claudia Ida, born July i, 1884; 
 Helga Johanna T., born May 20, 1886; 
 and Meta Francisca, born November 25, 
 1888. Mr. Gottsleben is a member of 
 the Masonic Fraternity and the Knights 
 of Pythias Lodge, in which latter organi- 
 zation he has served as vice-chancellor. 
 In his political views he is a Republican, 
 but has never had time or inclination to 
 seek public office. On both the paternal 
 and maternal sides he comes from well- 
 known families. The Von Rohns of 
 Leipsic were prominent, wealthy and in- 
 fluential people, and remain so to the 
 present day. Mr. Gottsleben has two 
 brothers living in Wisconsin — Robert A., 
 a veterinary surgeon in Milwaukee; and 
 Franklin C., railroad station agent at 
 Kewaskum, Wisconsin. 
 
 JOSEPH T. RAYCRAFT, a wide- 
 awake, progressive young business 
 man of Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 is a native of Ireland, born in Dublin 
 July 14, i860, a son of Thomas and 
 Elizabeth (Raycraft) Raycraft, well-to-do 
 and highly respectable people of Scotch 
 descent, and who are still living in Dublin, 
 the father now retired from active life. 
 They are the parents of seven children, to 
 wit: John, a farmer; William, an archi- 
 tect and contractor; Thomas, a farmer; 
 Joseph T. , subject of this sketch; Mary, 
 Catherine and Elizabeth, all of whom, with 
 the exception of Joseph T., still reside in 
 their native land. 
 
 Our subject received a liberal educa- 
 tion at the public schools of his native 
 city, and after finishing his studies learned 
 the trade of carpenter, serving a regular 
 apprenticeship. He then took a three- 
 years' course at architectural drawing, 
 after which he was employed as foreman 
 of his brother William's business, in Dub- 
 lin, until 1882, in which year he came to 
 the United States, in reality merely to 
 visit some old friends of the family living 
 at Chippewa Falls, Wis., but was by 
 
1 056 
 
 COMMEMORA Tl I 'E BIOQRA PHICA L RECORD. 
 
 them persuaded to remain in the country. 
 After following contracting for a short 
 time as foreman, he embarked in business 
 for his own account at Chippewa Falls, 
 residing there until 1890, when he came 
 to Oshkosh and at once commenced busi- 
 ness for his own account as general con- 
 tractor. Since settling here he has erected 
 some of the most imposing private resi- 
 dences in the city, and at this writing has 
 contracts for the building of fifteen of the 
 largest dwelling houses ever erected in 
 Oshkosh. 
 
 In 1888 Mr. Raycraft was united in 
 marriage at Allenville, Winnebago county, 
 Wis., to Miss Clara Church, whose par- 
 ents, William and Delia (Spies) Church, 
 were among the early settlers of Winne- 
 bago count}', and are still worthy and 
 highly respected residents of Allenville. 
 To this union have been born three chil- 
 dren, two of whom are \'et living — Eliza- 
 beth, and an infant unnamed at this 
 writing. Mr. and Mrs. Raycraft are as- 
 sociated with the Presbyterian Church, 
 and for seven years he was a member of 
 the church choir at Chippewa Falls; in 
 his political views he is a Republican. A 
 thorough master of his business, his work- 
 manship shows proficiency in all its 
 branches, and it is no flattery to say that 
 he is a live, go-ahead business man, and 
 a most desirable citizen. 
 
 REUBEN M. SCOTT (deceased). 
 Among the representative men of 
 W'innebago county, none perhaps 
 ever exercised more influence on 
 the people, or more impressed them with 
 his own merits than the gentleman whose 
 name introduces this sketch. 
 
 Mr. Scott was a native of Canada, 
 born February 10, 1827, in Clarenceville, 
 Canada East (now Province of Quebec), 
 a son of Thomas and Mary (Bullis) Scott, 
 the former of Scotch-Irish descent, the 
 latter of English. Thomas Scott was 
 born May 2, 1788, and was reared to 
 
 agricultural pursuits amid the green hills 
 of his native State, \'ermont. In 1807 
 he married Miss Mar}- Bullis, who was of 
 Massachusetts birth, daughter of Joseph 
 Bullis, a farmer by occupation. After 
 marriage the young couple settled in 
 Clarenceville, Canada East, where he 
 bought and improved a heavily-timbered 
 tract of land. They reared a large fam- 
 ily of children, all of whom lived to man- 
 hood and womanhood, their names and 
 dates of birth being as follows: Susan, 
 November 14, 181 3; Mary, November 28, 
 181 5; Edward, March 12, 181 7; Milton, 
 April 18, 1 8 19; Rutherford, April 11, 
 1824; Reuben M., February 10, 1827; 
 Jane, March 2, 1829; Isaiah, July 16, 
 1 831; Lenora, November i, 1833; and 
 Thomas D., October 13, 1837. Thomas 
 Scott was a thoroughly progressive man, 
 successful in all his farming operations. 
 After improving his first land purchase in 
 Canada, and increasing its value, he sold 
 it at a good profit, and bought another 
 property situated about half a mile from 
 his first farm. Here he died April 6, 
 1 88 1, at the patriarchal age of ninety- 
 three years; he became a British subject, 
 and, during the war of 1812, fought 
 in the ranks of the Canadian militia; 
 he traveled but little, his only trip of 
 any degree of magnitude being to Wiscon- 
 sin, when he paid a visit to his sons. 
 His wife preceded him to the grave March 
 28, 1867, dying a consistent member of 
 the M. E. Church, which was also his 
 religious faith. 
 
 Reuben M. Scott passed his boyhood 
 in attending the winter schools of the 
 neighborhotid of his place of birth, and 
 assisting his father on the farm in sum- 
 mer time. At about the age of eight- 
 een he came to the United States, and 
 on farms in Vermont and New York 
 found work until coming to Wisconsin in 
 1848, just after the Territory had been 
 elevated to the dignity of a State. Set- 
 tling in what afterward came to be known 
 as Menasha, in Winnebago county, on 
 wild land which he had purchased with 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 559 
 
 what little money he had saved from his 
 earnings, he at once set to work to clear 
 up a farm and build a comfortable home, 
 all with his own hands, toil and skill. He 
 bought and sold lots, from time to time, 
 in his neighborhood, increasing his own 
 possessions in Menasha and other parts 
 of the county; in fact, in course of time 
 he became a regular dealer in real estate, 
 and so continued up to i860. In that 
 year, in company with a Mr. Fisher, he 
 purchased the Star Flouring Mill in Me- 
 nasha, which he operated many years, 
 while at the same time he was interested 
 in other lines of business. In 1869 he 
 built the "National Hotel," and several 
 brick blocks, which to-day are ornaments 
 to the town, standing as monuments to 
 his memory. In 1867 he erected one of 
 the finest residences in the city, where 
 his widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Scott, is still 
 living, and which for elegance and com- 
 modiousness is unsurpassed. Mr. Scott 
 manifested his great confidence in the 
 city and county by investing heavily in 
 farm lands as well as city property; also 
 owned stock in several manufacturing in- 
 terests, including, in its entirety, the first 
 paper-mill established in Menasha, and 
 during the winter months was largely en- 
 gaged in lumbering in the woods, many 
 men being employed by him. He was 
 one of the prime movers in securing the 
 railroads for Menasha, and was an exten- 
 sive contractor, building, in 1871, the 
 Wisconsin Central from Menasha to 
 Stevens Point, a distance of sixty-three 
 miles, and completing same in 120 work- 
 ing days. It can truly be said of him 
 that there was no busier or more enter- 
 prising man to be found in the county, 
 and up to his death, which occurred July 
 5, 1890, when he was sixty-three years 
 old, he was the same energetic business 
 man as in his younger days, noted far 
 and wide for his executive ability and 
 administrative powers, and it goes with- 
 out saying that he was atypical self-made 
 man, one who, unaided save by his own 
 
 willing hands, indomitable perseverance 
 59 
 
 and sound judgment, scaled the ladder of 
 success. 
 
 In February, 1861, Mr. Scott made a 
 trip east to Vermont, where he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Elizabeth Hanks, who v/as 
 born in that State in 1837, a daughter of 
 Philander and Martha (Ferris) Hanks, 
 well-to-do farming people who lived 
 within three miles of the city of Vergen- 
 nes, Vt. The father was born in 1800, 
 and died October 19, 1881; the mother 
 was born in 1804, and died June 19, 1872; 
 they were the parents of six children, 
 namely: Fidelia, Elizabeth, Philena, 
 Martha, and two that died in infancy, of 
 which family but two are now living, 
 Elizabeth, widow of our subject, and 
 Martha, now the wife of Thomas Scott, 
 of Menasha, brother of the late Reuben 
 M. Scott. Mr. Hanks was one of two 
 children born to his parents — one son and 
 one daughter. Mrs. Hanks was a daughter 
 of Benjamin Ferris, a farmer, who had 
 four children — two sons and two daugh- 
 ters — of whom one son, Peter, was a 
 physician, and practiced his profession in 
 Providence, R. I., where he died. In 
 politics Reuben M. Scott was a firm Re- 
 publican; for many years he served on the 
 county board as supervisor, and was 
 alderman of Menasha, although as a rule 
 his many business cares frequently pre- 
 vented his accepting office. In religious 
 faith he was a member of the M. E. 
 Church, as is also his widow, who is still 
 living in Menasha, where she is held in 
 the highest esteem and regard. 
 
 REV. EDWARD HENRY SMITH, 
 pastor of the First Congregational 
 Church at Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, is a native of England, 
 born December 14, 1843, in the town of 
 Northwich, Cheshire, where, for gener- 
 ations back, his forefathers were engaged 
 in mercantile business. 
 
 His paternal great-grandparents lived 
 to patriarchal ages — 106 and 104 years 
 respectively — and they lived a married 
 
io6o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 life of sixty years, rearing a large family 
 of children. One of their sons, Henry, 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
 inherited his father's mercantile business, 
 and became a prosperous, iniluential citi- 
 zen, honored and beloved by all; he died 
 at the age of over eighty years. His wife, 
 Sarah (Gibson), also a native of Cheshire, 
 became the mother of seven children — 
 five sons and two daughters. 
 
 John Henry Smith, son of Henry and 
 Sarah (Gibson) Smith, followed in the 
 footsteps of his forefathers as a merchant 
 in Cheshire, and like them was a success- 
 ful man, prominent in the community. 
 He married Mary Fletcher, a native of 
 England, born of Norman descent, a 
 daughter of Aaron Fletcher, of which 
 union eight children were born — three 
 sons and five daughters — all of whom 
 reached maturity, only one of them, a 
 son, being deceased. The mother was a 
 highly educated lady, herself a teacher, 
 and at the time of her marriage was pro- 
 prietor of a high-class boarding school in 
 England. She died when seventy-two 
 years old, the same age as was her hus- 
 band at the time of his death. He was 
 a man of great force of character, well- 
 read, and a disciple of the New Jerusa- 
 lem Church doctrine as taught by Swe- 
 denborg. He was a deep thinker, and 
 not in sympathy with the orthodox 
 Church of his day in England, which he 
 considered slow and non-progressive; on 
 the contrary, he was of the most ad- 
 vanced ideas, especially in matters re- 
 ligious and educational. He was thor- 
 oughly outspoken, fearless in the expres- 
 sion of his opinion, and, what was more, 
 had the courage of his convictions. 
 
 Edward Henry Smith, the subject 
 proper of these lines, and the eldest son 
 born to John Henry and Mary (Fletcher) 
 Smith, received a thorough elementary 
 education at the schools of his native 
 place, which was supplemented with a 
 course of study at the Peter Street New 
 Jerusalem Church School in Manchester. 
 On leaving this school he was apprenticed 
 
 to a dry-goods firm in Leamington, War- 
 wickshire, England, during which time 
 he found himself interested in the Con- 
 gregational Church, the result being that 
 on the completion of his apprenticeship, 
 for which he received no remuneration, 
 he entered the New College, London, 
 where he took a six-years' classical and 
 theological course, graduating in 1869, 
 and August 12, same year, was ordained 
 at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, En- 
 gland, a minister of the Congregational 
 Church. In Abergavenny he preached 
 the Gospel two years, but desirous of 
 making a radical change, he, in Febru- 
 ary, 1872, set sail for the United States. 
 Before leaving Abergavenny he was pre- 
 sented with a purse containing five hun- 
 dred dollars, by his parishioners with 
 many expressions of regret at his depar- 
 ture from among them, and of esteem for 
 him as a pastor. His intention was to 
 make his way to the Pacific coast; but 
 while staying over in Chicago, en route, 
 he met, by introduction, E. Chesebor- 
 ough, the city civil engineer, who pre- 
 vailed on him to preach in the New En- 
 gland Congregational Church, of which 
 he (Cheseborough) was deacon. This 
 led to Mr. Smith remaining as pastor of 
 the church one year, or until the regular 
 pastor, who was absent, should return. 
 After this he took a post-graduate course 
 at Yale University, and then for the fol- 
 lowing seven years was a resident of 
 Morrison, 111., during which time he was 
 pastor of the Congregational Church. In 
 1880, having received a call to the Con- 
 gregational Church at Michigan City, 
 Ind., he removed thither, and remained 
 there also seven years, at the expiration 
 of which time he was called to Oshkosh, 
 where he has since remained. 
 
 In theology Mr. Smith is classed with 
 the liberal wing of the Congregational 
 denomination. In the year 1889 charges 
 of heresy in theology were preferred 
 against him by the Winnebago Conven- 
 tion of Congregational Churches and Min- 
 isters, on the ground of which, and after 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 06 1 
 
 many protracted debates, he was disfellow- 
 shipped, by a vote of 16 to 14. Mr. Smith, 
 however, continues to enjoy the full confi- 
 dence and sympathy of his Church and 
 congregation at Oshkosh, and under his 
 ministry every department of the Church's 
 activities has become exceedingly pros- 
 perous. 
 
 On April 23, 1873, Rev. Edward H. 
 Smith and Miss Jennie Gray Woodward 
 were united in the bonds of matrimony, 
 in Chicago, by Rev. L. T. Chamberlain. 
 She is a native of Mansfield, Conn., a 
 daughter of Joseph Woodward, a promi- 
 nent merchant and former postmaster of 
 that town. To this union have been 
 born three children, namely: Albert 
 Fletcher, now ( 1 894; twenty years old, a 
 student at the Oshkosh State Normal 
 School; and Ruth E. and Joseph Wood- 
 ward, who died at the ages of sixteen 
 months, and five years four months, re- 
 spectively. Mr. Smith has written a 
 great number of sermons in his day, many 
 of which have been published. He is 
 now editor of the "Pilgrim," which was 
 organized by him and William J. Roe, 
 now associate editor. In political mat- 
 ters Mr. Smith is and has been identified 
 with the Republican party. 
 
 EDWARD G. KUSCHE, a well- 
 known and highly esteemed citi- 
 zen of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, where for the past twenty- 
 seven years he has been a manufacturer 
 of lime, etc., is a native of Silesia, Ger- 
 many, born January 26, 1845, in Jenk- 
 witz, a village situated some eighteen 
 miles from the city of Breslau. 
 
 Gottlieb Kusche, father of our subject, 
 and who was a dealer in oil in his native 
 Silesia, married Miss Elenora Kluge, also 
 a German by birth, and by her had a 
 family of ten children, all born in the 
 Fatherland, where two of them died in 
 infancy, and of the eight who came 
 to this country with their parents four 
 survive, viz.: Charles; Henrietta, widow 
 
 of Andrew Ackerman, late of Oshkosh; 
 Augusta, wife of Herman Hitz, captain 
 of the steamer "B. F. Carter;" and Ed- 
 ward G., of whom this sketch is written. 
 In 1854 the family immigrated to the 
 United States, and coming to Wisconsin 
 located in Oshkosh. In i860 the father 
 removed to Dubuque, Iowa, and there 
 resided until 1878, when he returned to 
 Oshkosh, of which city he has since been 
 a continuous resident, and although now 
 ninety years of age is still hale and hearty, 
 retaining to a wonderful degree all his 
 faculties. His wife was called from earth 
 in 1866, dying in Oshkosh. 
 
 Edward G. Kusche received part of 
 his education in his native land, and part 
 in the public schools of Oshkosh, after 
 which for some years he worked in a saw- 
 mill. In 1867, in connection with his 
 brothers John G. and Julius A , he com- 
 menced the business of lime burning, since 
 when the two brothers just named have 
 "joined the majority," and our subject 
 for the past few years has conducted the 
 business alone. 
 
 On December 19, 1868, in Oshkosh, 
 Mr. Kusche was married to Miss Emma 
 Kliemchen, daughter of Adolph and Do- 
 rothea Kliemchen, natives of Germany, 
 the former of whom is deceased, and the 
 latter is residing with her daughter, Mrs. 
 Kusche. To this union have been born 
 three children, viz. : Ella, Alfred F. H. 
 and Anna E. D., all yet living. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Kusche and family attend the First 
 Congregational Church of Oshkosh, and in 
 his political views he is a Republican. By 
 honesty and uprightness, hard work and 
 good management, he has made a success 
 of life, and to-day no citizen in the county 
 stands higher in the estimation of the 
 community, or has more friends. 
 
 JAMES BARBER, of Winneconne, 
 Winnebago county, was born in the 
 town of Siddington, Cheshire, En- 
 gland, February 18, 1826, a son of 
 Hugh H. Barber, who operated what was 
 
io62 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 called the "Blake House Farm," com- 
 prising 220 acres of land, which farm 
 had been in the possession of the Broad- 
 hurst family for nearly three hundred 
 years. 
 
 Sarah Broadhurst became the wife 
 of Mr. Barber, and unto them were born 
 five sons and five daughters. In 1847, 
 they came with their family to the United 
 States, and the following year located at 
 Ball Prairie, in the town of Winneconne, 
 Winnebago Co., Wis., where he pur- 
 chased 320 acres of land. Of this he im- 
 proved some 120 acres, and made it his 
 home until 1859, when he removed to 
 Kansas. There he purchased i , 500 acres 
 of land near Toledo, and upon that farm 
 spent his remaining days, dying July 14, 
 1869. His wife passed away June 2, 
 1885, and a large estate was left to the 
 family. Both Mr. and Mrs. Barber were 
 members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. 
 Barber had acquired a fine education at 
 Presbur}-, England, at which 'School his 
 uncle was principal, and was thus pre- 
 pared to enter the service of the Bank of 
 England, but his mother not wishing him 
 to leave home, he abandoned that idea. 
 The children of the family are Elizabeth 
 Jane, widow of Thomas Beardmore, and 
 a resident of Waupaca, Wis.; James; 
 Jane, wife of John Hughes, of Vinland; 
 John, who is married and resides in El- 
 sinore, Cal. ; Emma, who became the 
 wife of Edwin Lean, of Ball Prairie, but 
 is now deceased; and Ann, wife of John 
 Petford, a resident of Toledo, Kans. ; 
 Thomas, who married Rose Swingley, 
 and is living in Dunlap, Morris Co., 
 Kans. ; Charles Henry, who married Mar- 
 garet Loyde, and is now a resident of 
 Toledo, Ivans. ; George, who died on 
 the homstead farm in Kansas in March. 
 1885; and Sarah Maria, wife of Barthol 
 Barricks, of Americus, Lyon Co., Kans. 
 All of the children came to this country 
 with their parents, save James, who at 
 the time of the emigration was married 
 and living in a pretty little cottage sur- 
 rounded bv flowers and beautiful trees. 
 
 He did not desire to leave home until 
 three years after his father came to the 
 United States, when he was induced to 
 emigrate by the graphic accounts received 
 from his father of the beauty of America, 
 its natural advantages and the excellent 
 privileges which it offered. These letters 
 were published, and as a result not only 
 James but a number of his neighbors 
 came to the New World. 
 
 In Old England, Mr. Barber was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary Booth, 
 and, in 1850, with his wife he took pas- 
 sage on a westward-bound sailing vessel. 
 When he arrived in Winnebago county 
 he purchased a farm of forty acres at 
 Ball Prairie, to which he added until he 
 had a fine property of 215 acres. His 
 two sons now reside upon the old home- 
 stead, and to them he has deeded a por- 
 tion of the land, reserving 1 20 acres for 
 himself. A large part of his business was 
 market gardening. Mr. Barber now has 
 in Winneconne a very pleasant home, and 
 in conjunction has a fine garden which he 
 personally superintends, selling much of 
 his produce to the Oshkosh market. Mr. 
 Barber votes with the Republican party, 
 has served as school director, and has 
 filled other minor offices. He and his 
 family are members of the Episcopal 
 Church, but as there is no organized 
 society of Episcopalians in Winneconne, 
 they attend the Presbyterian Church. In 
 this community they have a wide ac- 
 quaintance, and in social circles hold an 
 enviable position. 
 
 Jvlrs. Barber is a daughter of George 
 and Mary (Dean) Booth, who, and a 
 brother, Thomas Booth, came to America 
 at the time of Mrs. Barber's emigration; 
 Thomas is supposed to have returned to 
 England. Mrs. Booth passed away at 
 the age of seventy-five years, and was the 
 first white woman who died in Winne- 
 conne. Some years later, when ninety- 
 one years of age, Mr. Booth's death 
 occurred, and his remains were interred 
 by the side of his wife. He followed 
 farming, and in England served as steward 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPnWAL RECORD. 
 
 1063 
 
 for Lord Stanley, of Cheshire. His ability 
 and honesty won him many tokens of 
 esteem from both Lord and Lady Stanley. 
 
 JOHN H. SCHNEIDER, one of the 
 early-day settlers of Winnebago 
 county, was born in the Rhine Pro- 
 vince, Prussia, July 28, 1836. 
 Jacob Schneider, father of our sub- 
 ject, also a Prussian by birth, followed 
 the trade of blacksmith in his native land, 
 but after coming to the United States 
 confined himself exclusively to agriculture 
 up to the time of his decease. He settled 
 on a farm which he had purchased in 
 Nekimi township, Winnebago county, 
 and here passed the rest of his days, dy- 
 ing in 1886, his wife in 1878. He was 
 married in Rhenish Prussia to Elizabeth 
 Schmidt, and five children were born to 
 them, viz.: Elizabeth, wife of F. Brandt; 
 Valentine; John H. ; Sarah, wife of Jacob 
 Miller, and Henry P. Schmidt, all of 
 whom, with the exception of John H., re- 
 side in Omro, Wisconsin. 
 
 Our subject was educated in his native 
 land, and as will be seen was twenty-one 
 years old when the family came to the 
 United States and to Wisconsin. In his 
 youth he learned blacksmithing with his 
 father, and followed the trade for some 
 time in the earlier years of his life, but in 
 this country he was engaged in farming 
 until commencing in the hotel business in 
 Oshkosh in 1872. In 1856 he was mar- 
 ried at Nekimi to Miss Pauline Bornshine, 
 and they have had born to them a family 
 of twelve children — one son and eleven 
 daughters — all yet living, as follows: 
 Lizetta, Ida (wife of George Cardiff), 
 Linda (wife of Chris Saura, Jr.), Clara, 
 Emma, Olga, Elsie, Lydia, Bessie, 
 Georgia, Ruby and John, Jr. Theyounger 
 members of the family are gifted with 
 musical attainment, both vocal and instru- 
 mental. Mr. and Mrs. Schneider and 
 family attend the services of the Lutheran 
 Church, politically he is a Democrat, 
 socially a member of the South Side 
 
 Turnverein, the Ancient Order of Druids, 
 the A. O. U. W. and Sons of Hermann. 
 He is a public-spirited worthy citizen, 
 and has many warm friends and acquain- 
 tances throughout the county. 
 
 HENRY J. WEGENER, a leading 
 pharmacist and prominent busi- 
 ness man of South Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, was born in 
 Oshkosh, Wis., January 15, 1862, a son 
 of John G.and Elizabeth (Gleis) Wegener. 
 Our subject was educated in the 
 public and high schools of his native city, 
 and in 1876 engaged as clerk in a drug 
 business. In 1883 he entered the College 
 of Pharmacy, in Philadelphia, from which 
 he graduated in the class of '85, during 
 which time he was also engaged as a 
 clerk in a drug business in that city. 
 After his graduation from college, he 
 clerked in New York and Chicago, and 
 in August, 1887, engaged in business for 
 himself in South Oshkosh, where through 
 careful study of the wants of his custom- 
 ers and strict attention to business, as 
 well as on account of the reliability and 
 purity of the drugs used, together with 
 the scientific service in the prescription 
 department, where the utmost caution is 
 taken in compounding medicines of all 
 kinds, his establishment has won the 
 well-merited distinction of being the lead- 
 ing pharmacy in this locality. Mr. 
 Wegener was married in Riverdale, 111., 
 September 28, 1893, to Kitty J. Adams, 
 daughter of Henry and Mary Adams, 
 who were among the early pioneer set- 
 tlers of Oshkosh, but are now residents 
 of Riverdale, 111. Mr. Wegener is a 
 member of the South Side Turnverein, and 
 in political views is a Republican. 
 
 John G. Wegener, father of our sub- 
 ject, and who was one of the early set- 
 tlers in Oshkosh, was born in Prussia, 
 March 10, 1826, a son of Louis and 
 Sophie Wegener. He was educated in 
 the public schools of his native country, 
 and after leaving school was engaged in 
 
1064 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 the grocery business until 1854, when he 
 emigrated to the United States and 
 located in Oshkosh. Here he again en- 
 gaged in the grocery business for eight 
 years, and was afterward, for some twen- 
 ty-four years, in charge of the lumber mill 
 of J. H. Weed; but since i 887 he has been 
 retired. Mr. Wegener has been married 
 twice, his first wife being Elizabeth, daugh- 
 ter of Gotfried and Katrina Gleis, and this 
 union was blessed with three children, 
 viz. : Emma, wife of George Kilp, yard- 
 master of the Northwestern railroad, with 
 residence at Oshkosh; Minna, and Henry 
 J., the subject of this sketch. John G. 
 Wegener was married, the second time, 
 July 20, 1872, to Augusta Peters, and to 
 this union have been born four children, 
 viz. : Clara, John S., Lydia and Walter. 
 Mr. Wegener has occupied many civic 
 offices and represented his ward as alder- 
 man one term. 
 
 WILLIAM HARVEY DOE (de- 
 ceased). The earnest life of 
 this gentleman presents many 
 features of interest, and suggests 
 to the writer words written many years 
 ago by Sir Walter Scott on learning of 
 the death of such another as was the sub- 
 ject of this sketch: "We are sent here, 
 in one sense, to bear and to suffer; but, 
 in another, to do and to enjoy. The 
 active day has its evening of repose; even 
 patient suffering has its alleviations, where 
 there is a consolatory sense of duty dis- 
 charged." 
 
 Mr. Doe was born March 6, 1818, in 
 New York State, of an Irish ancestry 
 that was noted for their courage, integ- 
 rity and love of religious freedom, close 
 adherents of the Presbyterian faith. 
 Grandfather Doe, who was born in the 
 North of Ireland, and was the first of the 
 family to immigrate to this country, be- 
 came a prosperous farmer in Crawford 
 county, Penn. His son, the father of the 
 subject of this sketch, was born on this 
 side of the Atlantic, probably in New 
 
 York State, where he followed farming, 
 later moving to Crawford county, Penn., 
 where he died at an advanced age, the 
 father of four sons and two daughters. 
 
 William H. Doe, of whom this sketch 
 is written, was a small boy when his 
 father's family removed to Pennsylvania, 
 and at the common schools of Crawford 
 county he received his education. Being 
 naturally of a religious turn of mind, he 
 early in life formed the resolution of be- 
 coming a worker in the vineyard of the 
 Master, and to this end prosecuted the 
 necessary studies, paying his own way 
 through the various educational institu- 
 tions. His first sermon, after he was or- 
 dained a minister of the Gospel, was 
 delivered in Erie county, Penn., and 
 for some seven years he preached at 
 Eldersville, Penn., five years after he 
 was married, and his heart and soul 
 being in the work, his efforts were 
 crowned with success, many wearied pil- 
 grims by the wayside being gathered into 
 the fold. Mr. Doe was married to Miss 
 Elizabeth Sawdey, whose acquaintance 
 he had formed in Conneaut, Erie Co., 
 Penn., where her father, Benjamin Saw- 
 dey, was a prosperous farmer, well- 
 known and honored in the communit)'. 
 He was a native of Oneida county, N. Y. , 
 and of Scotch and English descent. Mr. 
 Sawdey having removed to Oshkosh, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Doe were induced to follow 
 him, which they did in September, 1854, he 
 opening a general store in the then village, 
 in the course of time embarking in the 
 lumber business. John W. Miller be- 
 came a partner with him, and together 
 they conducted the business with signal 
 success for many years. In connection 
 with their lumbering interests they had a 
 saw-mill and a planing and shingle mill, 
 which, however, was burned and never 
 rebuilt. Mr. Doe went to Colorado, 
 where, in the city of Pueblo, after a resi- 
 dence of some years, he died August 6, 
 1884. He assisted in the establishment 
 of the bank at Idaho Springs (in which 
 his widow is still interested), and served 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 1065 
 
 as president of same; was at one time 
 owner of the famous Gunnel! gold mine 
 in Colorado, which afterward yielded 
 gold to the amount of millions of dollars, 
 and is to this day successfully operated, 
 and he was in all respects one of the most 
 influential men in the community. While 
 a resident cf Oshkosh he was elected to 
 the State Legislature, and when in Col- 
 orado he served as speaker of the House 
 of Representatives. He possessed the 
 executive ability requisite to office-hold- 
 ing, the courage of his convictions, and in 
 all things the strength of will that is sure 
 to bring success. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. William H. Doe 
 were born six children, a brief record of 
 whom is as follows: William H. is a 
 cigar manufacturer in Oshkosh; Margaret 
 is the wife of William T. Coffenn, of Osh- 
 kosh; Sylvana is married to Charles 
 Sangston, of Denver, Colo. ; Rebecca is 
 the wife of Andrew Jackson, of Oshkosh; 
 Cornelia married R. C. Brown, of Osh- 
 kosh; Flora Corinne, unmarried, is living 
 at home with her mother. Mrs. Doe is 
 a member of the First Congregational 
 Church, her daughter. Flora C, of 
 Trinity Episcopal Church, and the)' en- 
 joy the highest respect and esteem of the 
 communit}'. 
 
 JOHN GODFREY GUNZ, who 
 ranks among the pioneer settlers of 
 Northern Wisconsin, and has for 
 many years been closely identified 
 with the growth and progress of the city 
 of Oshkosh, was born in Wurtemberg, 
 Germany, April 21, 1819, a son of Paul 
 and Marguerita Gunz, also natives of Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Educated in Wurtemberg, Mr. Gunz 
 learned the trade of blacksmith, and fol- 
 lowed it in his native city until he was 
 twenty-eight years of age. In 1847 he 
 emigrated to America, and coming west- 
 ward to Wisconsin located in Waukesha 
 for about seven months, or until Novem- 
 ber of that year, when he removed to 
 
 Oshkosh, and here for about five months 
 worked at his trade for one Garrett. 
 From there he proceeded to West Troy, 
 Walworth county, where he resided some 
 eighteen months, at the expiration of 
 which time he returned to Oshkosh, and 
 commenced business for himself; on ac- 
 count of ill health, however, he sold out 
 in 1856, and for the next three years was 
 engaged in the lumber business. In 1859 
 he built another shop, and resumed his 
 trade of blacksmith, which he continued 
 until 1 88 1, the year of his retirement 
 from active business life, being succeeded 
 by his sons Godfrey and Albert. 
 
 Mr. Gunz was married, in 1850, at 
 Oshkosh, Wis., to Catherine, daughter 
 of Ludwig and Katrina Ihrig, and to them 
 have been born ten children, particulars 
 of whom is as follows: Marguerita, born 
 April 8, 185 1, is the widow of the late 
 Frederick Nolte, and now residing in Ne- 
 kimi, Wis.; Catherine, born June 6, 1852, 
 is the wife of August Nolte, a boot and 
 shoe merchant of South Oshkosh; Louisa, 
 born May 14. 1854, is the wife of Louis 
 Findeisen, a prominent hardware mer- 
 chant of Green Bay, Wis. ; Ida, born 
 January 2, 1856, is the wife of Julius 
 Herbst, a boot and shoe merchant of Mil- 
 waukee, Wis. ; Godfrey and Albert will 
 be spoken of more fully farther on; Mar- 
 tha, born February 14, 1862, is the wife 
 John C. Zentner, a prominent grocery 
 merchant of South Oshkosh; George and 
 Charles will be presently more fully re- 
 ferred to; Annie was born March 26, 1873. 
 John G. Gunz was the first German set- 
 tler in Oshkosh. He has been a liberal 
 donator to all charitable objects; has as- 
 sisted in the building of nearly all the 
 church edifices that adorn the city of 
 Oshkosh, and has been an active pro- 
 moter of all matters tending to the wel- 
 fare of the city and county generally. 
 
 Godfrey Gunz, eldest son of these 
 honored pioneers, was born October 5, 
 1857, in Oshkosh, and was educated at 
 the public and high schools and Business 
 College of the place. He learned the 
 
io66 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 trade of blacksmith in his father's shop, 
 and on the retirement of the latter formed 
 a copartnership with his brother Albert 
 in the same business, under the firm 
 name of Gunz Brothers, Godfrey contin- 
 uing a member of the firm up to his 
 death. In 1886 he married Miss Susan 
 Week, and two children blessed their 
 union, viz.: Lawrence E., born Febru- 
 ary 21, 1887, and Benjamin T. , born 
 March 4, 1890. On account of ill health, 
 Mr. Gunz went to California, but died at 
 Riverside a few days after his arrival 
 there. He was a loving husband, and a 
 kind, indulgent father. He was a mem- 
 ber of the A. O. U. W., and of the 
 Oshkosh Turnverein 
 
 Albert Gunz, the eldest surviving 
 son of John Godfrey and Katrina (Ihrig) 
 Gunz, was born in Oshkosh, Wis., Janu- 
 ary 10, i860. He was educated in the 
 public and high school of his native place, 
 and learned the trades of blacksmith and 
 wagon maker with his father, which he 
 has since followed with well-merited suc- 
 cess, at the present time conducting one 
 of the most e.xtensive business establish- 
 ments, in that line, in Oshkosh. Mr. 
 Gunz has been twice married; first time 
 in 1883 to Miss Alvina Streich, daughter 
 of John F. and Henriette Streich, but 
 who survived her wedding day but three 
 months, dying June 20 of the same year. 
 In October, 1887, for his second wife, 
 Mr. Gunz wedded Miss Agnes Week, 
 daughter of Theodore and Annie Week, 
 residents of Oshkosh. and three children 
 were born to them, their names and dates 
 of birth, etc. , being as follows: John God- 
 frey, August 29, 1888, died August 10, 
 1890; Frances, June 29, 1891; and Flor- 
 ence Susan, June 24, 1893. Mr. Gunz 
 is a member of the A. O. U. W., South 
 Side Turnverein, and the Loan and In- 
 vestment Association. In his political 
 views he is liberal, and at present he is 
 an alderman or member of the council. 
 
 George Gunz, the second surviving 
 son of John Godfrey and Katrina (Ihrig) 
 Gunz, was born at Oshkosh, Wis. , Sep- 
 
 tember 16, 1868. After completing his 
 education, which was secured at the pub- 
 lic schools of his birthplace, he was en- 
 gaged in various occupations until 1893, 
 when he formed a copartnership in the 
 present butchering business with W. E. 
 Riordan, under the firm name of Riordan 
 & Gunz. 
 
 Charles Gunz, youngest son of John 
 Godfrey and Katrina (Ihrig) Gunz, was 
 born in Oshkosh, Wis., July 9, 1870, and 
 received his education at the public- and 
 high schools and Business College of the 
 city of his birth. In 1884 he set out for 
 Nebraska, and in the city of York was 
 engaged as a salesman in a dry-goods es- 
 tablishment until 1893, when he returned 
 to Oshkosh. Here he entered into part- 
 nership with John C. Zentner, in the 
 grocery trade, the firm carrying on an 
 extensive and increasing trade under the 
 firm name of Zentner & Gunz. Mr. Gunz 
 is a member of the F. & A. M., South 
 Side Turnverein, and the Casino. 
 
 WILLIAM JAMES FLEMING, 
 J. P. This gentleman, who is 
 one of the most popular and 
 influential citizens of Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, highly respected for 
 his sterling qualities and strict integrity of 
 character, is a native of Wisconsin, born 
 in the city of Milwaukee August 22, i848.' 
 
 He is a son of George and Susan 
 (Hughes) Fleming, the former of whom 
 is a native of Virginia, born near Wheel- 
 ing, and the latter of St. Louis, Mo. 
 They had born to them nine chil- 
 dren, five of whom survive, namely: 
 John, clerk in the circuit court of Denver, 
 Colo.; William J., subject of sketch; 
 Annie, wife of H. Van Norton, of Osh- 
 kosh; Georgia, and Jennie, wife of D. E. 
 Bowen, residing in Black Wolf township, 
 Winnebago Co., Wis. The parents re- 
 moved from Milwaukee to Winnebago 
 county, settling March 6, 1856, in Black 
 Wolf township, where they yet reside. 
 
 Esquire Fleming, whose name intro- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 1069 
 
 duces this sketch, received his early in- 
 struction at the public schools of Black 
 Wolf township, and also attended the 
 high school of Oshkosh. After com- 
 pleting his education he was engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits for several years. 
 He then removed to Marshland, where 
 for four years he took charge of a cran- 
 berry marsh for William Butterick, Sr. , 
 during which time he was chairman of 
 the town board of Marshland, one year, 
 assessor, two years, and town treasurer, 
 one year. He then returned to Oshkosh, 
 and was engaged in the Postoffice Depart- 
 ment of that city four years, at the 
 e.xpiration of which time he resigned his 
 position and embarked in the marble 
 business, in which he was engaged three 
 years. Afterward he conducted a hotel 
 one year, and then represented the 
 Watertown Boot & Shoe Co. two years, and 
 John Tollman & Co. , of Chicago, one year. 
 In 1893 he was elected a justice of the 
 peace, the position he now holds, enjoy- 
 ing the distinction of being the only pub- 
 lic officer in Oshkosh elected on the 
 Republican ticket. 
 
 Mr. Fleming was married, in Black 
 Wolf township, to Miss Harriet M., 
 daughter of Charles and Mary Morgan, of 
 Black Wolf, and by her had seven chil- 
 dren, all living and named as follows: 
 Mary, Orissa (wife of Henry Fischer, a 
 merchant of Bayfield), Susan, Charles, 
 George, Hattie and William. Mrs. Flem- 
 ing died January 25, 1889. In his political 
 views Mr. Fleming is a stanch Republican. 
 He is noted for his progressiveness, per- 
 severance and loyalty, one whose energy 
 has overcome all obstacles, and who has 
 succeeded in placing himself upon the list 
 of successful men in the community in 
 which he lives. 
 
 JULIUS ASHBY is one of the honored 
 pioneers of Winnebago county, who 
 from an early day have been iden- 
 tified with the history of this com- 
 numity. He has now reached the age of 
 
 seventy-six, but his years rest lightly 
 upon him, and he seems more like a man 
 in the prime of life. Born in the town of 
 Chart Sutton, County of Kent, England, 
 July 21, 1 8 1 8, he is a son of Stephen and 
 Dorothy (Brett) Ashby, the former of 
 whom was a farmer, and with his wife 
 and family emigrated to America in 1831, 
 locating in the town of Marion, Wayne 
 Co., N. Y. Three years later, in 1834, 
 he became a resident of Strongsville, 
 Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, and securing a farm 
 he and his wife spent their remaining days 
 upon that homestead. 
 
 Our subject, who was reared in the 
 usual manner of farmer lads, devoted his 
 energies to the cultivation and improve- 
 ment of land until twenty-three years of 
 age, when he married Miss Hannah K. 
 Doty. He then followed teaming on his 
 own account between Cleveland and 
 Wooster, Ohio, for some years, and also 
 learned and carried on the carpenter's and 
 joiner's trade. The year 1846 witnessed 
 his emigration to what was then the Ter- 
 ritory of Wisconsin, accompanied by his 
 wife and two daughters, Martha Matilda 
 and Caroline Amanda, he making the 
 journey by team, crossing the river on 
 Stanley's ferry, and on the 5th of July, 
 1846, landing at Oshkosh. Mr. Ashby at 
 once pre-empted 120 acres of land, on 
 which he made his home for two years, 
 when he sold out to J. Fish; then entered 
 an eighty-acre tract, upon which he placed 
 a dwelling and other improvements, and 
 he subsequently added to this farm until 
 it comprised 160 acres. This he sold on 
 his removal to Winneconne, Wis. He 
 had previously sold meat from a wagon, 
 and on coming to Winneconne he estab- 
 lished himself in the same line of business 
 which he carried on for seventeen years. 
 He is now practically living a retired life, 
 but yet owns a good farm of eighty acres, 
 pleasantly situated three and a half miles 
 east of Winneconne, and four acres of land 
 in the city, on which stands his commod- 
 ious brick residence. 
 
 On February 21, 1885, Mr. Ashby 
 
1070 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was called upon to mourn the loss of his 
 first wife, who died leaving him three 
 children, the j'ounj^est being Major Ashby, 
 who was the first white boy born in the 
 town of Winneconne, the date of his birth 
 being September 10, 1846. Our subject 
 was married, for his second wife, to Miss 
 Ann Tipler. In politics Mr. Ashby takes 
 an active part, votes with the Republican 
 party, and has frequently served as dele- 
 gate to the Congressional and State Con- 
 ventions; he has been chairman of the 
 town board of supervisors several times. 
 He was one of the supporters of Philetus 
 Sawyer on that gentleman's first nomina- 
 tion for Congress. Socially, Mr. Ashby 
 is a member of the I. O. O. F. , but for 
 several years has not attended Lodge. 
 He has been a member of the Freewill 
 Baptist Church since eighteen years of 
 age, has served as deacon for four years, 
 and has lived an honorable, upright life 
 which has won him universal confidence 
 and esteem. In the early days he kept a 
 boarding house at Poj'gan, which was 
 then a government pay ground, and some 
 times had as many as 125 boarders, in- 
 cluding Indians and people from all over 
 the United States. He can relate many 
 interesting incidents of the frontier life of 
 Winnebago county, for here he has made 
 his home during almost half a century. 
 
 THEODORE LEONARD 
 S C H \V A L M (deceased), who 
 during his lifetime was an active, 
 enterprising and highly esteemed 
 young business man of Oshkosh, W'iime- 
 bago county, was a nati\e of that city, 
 born July 11, 1857, a son of Leonard 
 and Maria (Dahl) Schwalm. The father, 
 who died in 1873, was identified with the 
 brewing industry of Oshkosh, and was a 
 very enterprising, pushing business man; 
 the mother is yet living in Oshkosh. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 his native town, including a course of 
 study at the Business College. On at- 
 taining manhood's estate, he became as- 
 
 sociated with Mr. Home in the brewing 
 business, the style of the firm being Home 
 & Schwalm, now known as The Oshkosh 
 Brewing Co., and was thus engaged up 
 to his death, which occurred January 18, 
 1888. He was married, April 13, 1884, 
 to Miss Sophia, daughter of John P. and 
 Christina Sophia Schneider, the latter 
 dying a few hours after giving birth to 
 her daughter. One child was born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schwalm, named Arthur, 
 who first saw the light May 5, 1885. 
 Our subject was a member of the Osh- 
 kosh Turnverein, and was very popular 
 in all phases of society. 
 
 John P. Schneider, father of Mrs. 
 Sophia Schwalm, has been three times 
 married, and by his first wife there are 
 three children: John, residing in Osage, 
 Iowa; Christopher, in Monroe Center, 
 Adams Co., Wis., and Lena, wife of 
 Herman Steenburgh, residing in Walla 
 Walla, Wash. By the second marriage 
 Mrs. Schwalm was the only child. By the 
 third union there are children, as fol- 
 lows: Frank, a resident of Oshkosh; Otto; 
 Mary, wife of Emil Limkie, of Oshkosh; 
 Emma, wife of Charles Schounen, of 
 Oshkosh, antl Charles, residing in Chi- 
 cago; the mother of these had been pre- 
 viously married to a Mr. Gruenwald, by 
 whom she had one son, William Gruen- 
 wald, also a resident of Oshkosh. All 
 the family, as was also Mr. Theodore L. 
 Schwalm, are members of the German 
 Lutheran Church. 
 
 GEORGE REX ANDREWS (de- 
 ceased), well-known and re- 
 spected in his lifetime as an 
 e.xcmplary citizen and leading 
 business man of northern Wisconsin, and 
 who contributed substantially to the ma- 
 terial growth autl prosperity of the local- 
 ity where he lived some twenty years, 
 deserves more than a passing notice in 
 the pages of this work. 
 
 He was a native of New York State, 
 born September 8, 1808, in Kingsbury, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOIiAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1071 
 
 Washington county, of ancestry purely 
 American for many generations back, and 
 prominent in various parts of the New 
 England States, more especially in Con- 
 necticut. His father, Samuel Andrews, 
 was an attorney at law of no little repute 
 in Kingsbury, N. Y. , where he filled many 
 public offices and was held in the highest 
 esteem as a man of sterling worth. His. 
 son, whose name introduces this sketch, 
 received a liberal education at the schools 
 and academies of his native State, and 
 deciding to follow in the footsteps of his 
 father, in the matter of a life vocation or 
 profession, he commenced the study of 
 law in the office of Judge Burnett, in 
 Ticonderoga, N. Y. , and was admitted to 
 the bar in New York City. For some 
 time, and until coming to Wisconsin, he 
 practiced his chosen profession in Ticon- 
 deroga, where he established a reputation 
 for superior ability as a lawyer. About 
 the year 1853, having purchased a con- 
 siderable amotmt of timber land in Wis- 
 consin, he came hither, and judging 
 Oshkosh to be the point most convenient 
 for his new interests, located here. He 
 was eminently successful in the lumber 
 business, and being a man of much 
 energy, courage and acumen became one 
 of the most useful citizens in the then new 
 State which was rapidly developing its re- 
 sources under the guidance of such sound, 
 practical men as Mr. Andrews. In those 
 days he was exceedingly active and 
 healthy, and would think nothing of 
 traveling on horseback from Oshkosh to 
 his lumber camps in Shawano county, 
 where he had many landed interests. At 
 one time he was associated with Senator 
 Philetus Sawyer, and together they did 
 an enormous amount of business in lum- 
 bering. He was pre-eminently a man of 
 strong character, evidently born to com- 
 mand, and although necessarily strict in 
 his rules governing the discipline of his 
 small army of men in the lumber camp, 
 yet he was universally honored and be- 
 loved by them (as, indeed, he was by all 
 who knew him), and in him reposed im- 
 
 plicit confidence, looking upon him as a 
 trusty friend. Mr. Andrews, who, in 
 spite of his wonderful vitality, was pre- 
 disposed to consumption, died in Oshkosh 
 Decembers, 1873, aged sixty-five years, 
 deeply mourned by a large circle of friends 
 and acquaintances, who ever recognized 
 him as one eminently worthy of their re- 
 spect and confidence. 
 
 In 1839, prior to coming to Wiscon- 
 sin, Mr. Andrews was married to Miss 
 Louisa Patten, daughter of William B. 
 Patten. In his political affiliations he 
 was originally a Whig, and, afterward, 
 from the time of the formation of the Re- 
 publican party to the end of his days was 
 a stanch adherent thereof. Although ex- 
 ceptionally well qualified to fill any public 
 office that might be entrusted to his care, 
 he, nevertheless, uniformly declined to 
 accept of any nomination, excepting as 
 congressman once in his life, to which 
 position he was elected in 1850, from 
 New York State, while a resident of 
 Ticonderoga. It was while filling this in- 
 cumbency that his attention was drawn to 
 the great lumber regions of the then new 
 State of Wisconsin, with the results as 
 above recorded. His widow is still a 
 resident of Oshkosh, where she is passing 
 her declining years, peacefully looking 
 forward to a reunion with the departed. 
 She is honored and respected by all who 
 know her. One child, Mrs. ('athcrine 
 M. Rockwell, is now residing in the city 
 of Oshkosh. 
 
 JOHN ELIJAH MUNGERfdeceased). 
 Respected and trusted by all who 
 knew him; reliable in his dealings 
 with all with whom he was brought 
 in contact in business; helpful in all 
 work tending to the benefit of those 
 around him — the memory of John Elijah 
 Munger will endure longer than any tab- 
 let of brass or stone. For seventeen 
 years he was a resident of Winnebago 
 county, being a school teacher of high at- 
 tainments, beloved bv his scholars, and 
 
1072 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 later serving as superintendent of the 
 county schools. Born in Lewis count), 
 N. Y , in 1830, he died in Winnebago 
 county. Wis., January 23, 1870, at the 
 age of forty years. He was the son of 
 Elijah and Electa (Palmer) Munger, 
 whose ancestors were among the early 
 settlers of New England, where the name 
 of Munger is an honored one. Elijah 
 Munger, who was by trade a carpenter, 
 resided on the family homestead in Lewis 
 county, N. Y. , near the village of Copen- 
 hagen, where he died, the father of five 
 children, four of whom reached maturity. 
 The subject of this sketch received a 
 sound education in part at the schools of 
 his native county, in part at a neighoring 
 academy, which combined with his natu- 
 ral ability enabled him in after years to 
 take a useful part in the educational work 
 of the then new State of Wisconsin. 
 After teaching school in Lewis county 
 for several terms he came in 1853 to Wis- 
 consin, where his proficiency as an in- 
 structor was quickh' recognized, and a 
 school was placed under his charge, where 
 he soon made manifest his abilities as a 
 teacher and disciplinarian, practically en- 
 dorsing the high recommendations he had 
 brought from the East. Among the many 
 scholars who enjoyed instruction under 
 his preceptorship. and who remember 
 with feelings of affection their old tutor, 
 may be mentioned some of the business 
 men of Oshkosh of the present day — 
 Edgar Sawyer, Daniel Forbes, and 
 Samuel Shaw, who became county 
 superintendent of schools. Mr. Mun- 
 ger became county superintenent of 
 schools, and to the last maintained 
 his high reputation as an educator. 
 He lived on his farm of 170 acres in 
 Omro township till iS68, in which year 
 he moved into the village of Omro, where 
 he died, universally respected for his 
 many good qualities of head and heart. 
 He was a man of fine physique, over six 
 feet in height, of a studious, thoughtful 
 countenance, a devoted husband, indulg- 
 ent parent, and a man of sterling integ- 
 
 rity. On December 23, 1S56, he was 
 married in Oshkosh to Miss Harriet E. 
 Bray, daughter of Jefferson Bray, a na- 
 tive of Maine, who became a settler of 
 Oshkosh in 1854, his daughter following 
 him in 1S55. 
 
 Mrs. Harriet E. Munger was born in 
 the State of Maine, near Portland, and 
 at Bridgton. a neighboring town, she re- 
 ceived an academic education, becoming 
 in every way a fit companion for him with 
 whom she afterward united her fortunes. 
 At the age of fifteen she commenced 
 teaching in the public schools, in which 
 she continued four years with no little suc- 
 cess, and she then came west on a visit 
 to her uncle. Dr. Madison Bray, of 
 Evansville, Ind., with whom she resided 
 two and one-half years, at the end of 
 which time, in 1855, she rejoined her 
 family in Oshkosh, whither they had 
 come the previous year, as already stated. 
 Here she resumed teaching, and con- 
 tinued same until her marriage. Her 
 father, Jefferson Bray, who established 
 himself in the lumbering business, came 
 to \\'isconsin in a somewhat roundabout 
 direction. From Evansville, Ind., where 
 he had been visiting his brother. Dr. Bray, 
 he went down the Ohio river to the Mis- 
 sissippi, up which he navigated to the 
 Wisconsin river, which latter stream 
 brought him pretty near his destination. 
 Just north of ^^'innebago county he bought 
 lands, later owning timber land on the 
 Wolf river; but failing health compelled 
 him to abandon business and retire. He 
 was born in Minot, Maine, on New Y'ear's 
 Day, 1806, and died January 9, 1S90, 
 having just passed his eighty-fourth birth- 
 day. He was a well-read man of con- 
 siderable ability, one of a large family of 
 sons, all of whom were good business 
 men and acquired fortunes. He was 
 twice married, first to Julia Jones, of 
 Turner, Maine, who died when her only 
 child. Harriet E.. was five years old. 
 For his second wife Mr. Bray married 
 Miss Sophia W. Whitney, who survived 
 her husband something over three vears. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1073 
 
 dying May 18, 1893, at the age of eighty- 
 three. To this union there was one child, 
 George, who was called from earth when 
 but a fourteen-year-old boy. Mrs. Mungcr 
 is the mother of five children, as follows: 
 John E., Mrs. Lula M. Jones, Mary P. 
 (wife of Dr. L. D. Brose, of Evansvillc, 
 Ind.), Harry Bray and L. Belle (wife of 
 W. S. Paddock, of the Cream City Sash 
 & Door Company, of Milwaukee). The 
 sons, John E. and Harry B., are mem- 
 bers of a sash and door firm in Chicago, 
 known as the Foster- Munger Company. 
 Mrs. Munger was an influential and 
 prominent member of the First Methodist 
 Church of Oshkosh, and of the Benevo- 
 lent Society, enjoying the esteem and re- 
 spect of a wide circle of friends. In 1894 
 she moved to Chicago, where she now 
 makes her home. 
 
 CHARLES R. HAMLIN, one of 
 the oldest living citizens of Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, if not 
 the oldest, was born in Salem, 
 Washington Co., N. Y. , June 26, 1805, a 
 son of Jabez and Charlotte (Norton) 
 Hamlin, who were natives of the State 
 of Vermont. 
 
 Our subject received a part of his edu- 
 cation in the old log school-house of his 
 native town, and completed it in the 
 common schools of Ohio. In 18 16 he 
 removed with his parents to that State, 
 going by way of the Allegheny and Ohio 
 rivers, in what was called in those days 
 an "ark," which consisted of a scow 
 roofed over; and owing to the lowness of 
 the water in the rivers the journey occu- 
 pied four weeks, during which time many 
 laughable episodes occurred. Reaching 
 Marietta, the family at once proceeded to 
 Watertown, Ohio, a distance of twelve 
 miles farther west, and here they located 
 on school land for several years, after 
 which they removed to Summit county, 
 same State, where, at Cuyahoga Falls, the 
 father built a tannery, and he and the 
 son, Charles R. , for some years engaged 
 
 in the tanning and shoe-manufacturing 
 business. After the death of his father 
 our subject continued to carry on the 
 business alone for about six years, at the 
 expiration of which time he sold out the 
 concern and removed to Hudson, same 
 county, when he took entire charge of a 
 large stock of goods for W'illiam Dawes, 
 a wealth}- man, for years, who went to 
 England. In 1849 Mr. Hamlin aban- 
 doned this, and coming to Wisconsin 
 located in Winneconne, Winnebago coun- 
 ty, where he built and conducted the 
 "Winneconne Hotel," the first tavern 
 built in that then village. In i860, hav- 
 ing been elected sheriff, he sold out his 
 hotel business to Capt. Mapes, and re- 
 moved to Oshkosh. Prior to the expiry 
 of his term of office, he was appointed 
 deputy marshal by Marshal Fink, and his 
 duties in part was the arresting of desert- 
 ers from the army, who flocked to this 
 then new northern country, a duty he 
 found attended with no little danger. 
 This position he filled sixteen years, at 
 the expiration of which time he engaged 
 in the real-estate business, but of late 
 years he has lived a quiet, retired life. 
 
 Mr. Hamlin has been twice married, 
 his first wife being Lucilla Beekley. who 
 died in Summit county, Ohio; his second 
 wife was a Miss Cordelia Waite, who 
 died December 8, 1892, aged sixty-six 
 years, and by this union there were born 
 five children, the eldest of whom is Hettie 
 Maria, wife of Eugene A. Fisher, of Osh- 
 kosh; the other survivor of this family 
 is Irving L. , residing in Chicago. The 
 family attend the Methodist Church; in 
 his political preferences Mr. Hamlin has 
 alwaj's voted the Republican ticket. He 
 is the best bass singer in this part of the 
 State. 
 
 FE. WORDEN, senior member of 
 the firm of F. E. Worden & Co., 
 general information and employ 
 ment, bureau, real estate, collec- 
 tions and insurance, expert accountant 
 
I074 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 etc.. Oshkosh, Winnebago county, is a 
 n;iti\e of that cit\-, born in 1862. 
 
 Oliver W'orden, his father, was born, 
 of Dutch ancestry, in the Hudson \'alle}-, 
 N. V. , where he was reared and educated. 
 About the year 1854 he came west to 
 Wisconsin, locatin-^ in the village of Wey- 
 auwega, Waupaca county, where he con- 
 ducted a hotel, and in 1856 he was sheriff 
 of that county. In i860 he moved to 
 Oshkosh, and here for several years was 
 engaged in the wholesale and retail gro- 
 cery trade, after which, for some twelve 
 or fourteen years, he followed steamboat- 
 ing. He married Miss Agnes Shaw, a 
 native of Lancashire, England, and three 
 sons were born to them, viz. : F. E. , 
 subject of sketch; George, residing in the 
 West; and Oliver, a resident of Oshkosh. 
 The father died in 1892, a member of the 
 F. & A. M.. and of the Business Men's 
 Association of Oshkosh: the mother re- 
 sides in that city. 
 
 F. E. Worden, whose name opens 
 this sketch, received his education at the 
 common, high and Normal schools of his 
 native place, graduating from the latter 
 at the age of sixteen years. On leaving 
 school he entered the office, as book- 
 keeper and shipping clerk, of Webster i.*v: 
 Clark Manufacturing Co., in Cadott, 
 Chippewa county, and at the end of six 
 months was removed to the head office 
 in Menasha, where he served in a similar 
 position four and one-half years. In 
 April, 18S3, he returned to Oshkosh and 
 arranged an engagement with George W. 
 Pratt as bookkeeper and confidential 
 clerk, in which capacity he continued 
 with him till 1885, when he became 
 manager of the lumbering branch and 
 of his logging railroad. In 1888 he 
 assumed control of the sawmill of 
 Geo. W. Pratt, under the firm name of 
 F. E. Worden & Co., continuing said 
 business until 1891, in which year he was 
 appointed City Comptroller of Oshkosh. 
 the first one to fill that office under the 
 charter of April, that year. His term 
 was for two years, during which time he 
 
 instituted the various systems in the de- 
 partments of the city, planning the work, 
 opening the books, etc., as well as com- 
 piling an index of the city charter, and in 
 October, 1892, he made the first com- 
 plete annual report for the city of Osh- 
 kosh. Since the latter year he has been 
 engaged in his present business, having 
 his office in Opera House Square. 
 
 On March 28, 1888, Mr. Worden was 
 united in marriage, in Appleton, with Miss 
 Helena Adelaide \\'ayland, who was born 
 in Appleton, Wis., a daughter of C. C. and 
 Harriet (Weatherwax) W^ayland, natives 
 of the East, who came to Appleton, Wis., 
 where they yet reside. To this marriage 
 has been born one child, Loraine Jean- 
 nette. Mr. and Mrs. Worden attend the 
 services of the Congregational Church, of 
 which she is a member. Socially he is a 
 member of the Union Club and of Osh- 
 kosh Lodge No. 25, K. of P., of which 
 he is Deputy Grand Chancellor for Win- 
 nebago county, and also representative 
 to the Grand Lodge; was captain of 
 George W. Pratt Division, U. R. K. P., 
 and now aide de camp en Major-General's 
 staff with rank of major; also a member 
 of the Oshkosh Turnverein, and No. 843. 
 Order of Hoo Hoo. Politically he is a 
 Democrat, and has been chairman of the 
 Democratic County Committee and the 
 City Committee, two years each. 
 
 Mr. Worden, though yet a young 
 man. has made his mark in the world, 
 and his practical experience in the line of 
 business he is following out ranks him 
 among the leading accountants of this 
 part of the country. He is a thoroughly 
 representative man, widely popular, and 
 has as large a circle of friends and acquain- 
 tances as any one else in Oshkosh, or, in- 
 deed, in the entire countv. 
 
 H 
 
 origin. 
 
 ENRY G. SOLID AY is a native 
 of the town of Clinton, Hunter- 
 don Co., N. J., born May i, 1840, 
 and comes of a family of German 
 His grandfather lived in Doyles- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 1075 
 
 town, Penn. John N. Soliday, father of 
 our subject, was reared in the Keystone 
 State, and for many years resided in Clin- 
 ton, N. J. , his last days being there passed. 
 By trade he was a stone mason. He 
 married Rachel Ann Egbert, who was of 
 Irish lineage, the family having settled in 
 New Jersey at an early day. Mrs. Soli- 
 day also died in Clinton, New Jersey. 
 
 In the public schools of that place the 
 subject of this sketch pursued his studies 
 until fourteen years of age, after which he 
 followed farming and teaming until he had 
 attained his majority. He then learned 
 the blacksmith's trade at Pittstown, N. J., 
 where he was working at the time the 
 Civil war broke out. His patriotic spirit 
 was aroused when he saw his country in 
 danger, and eager to go to its defense, at 
 the age of twenty-two years he enlisted 
 in Company E, Thirty-First New Jersc}' 
 Volunteer Infantry, which company was 
 made up largely of his old friends. The 
 regiment went into camp at Flemington, 
 N. J., where it was stationed four weeks, 
 during which time Mr. Solidaj- had an at- 
 tack of measles. As soon as possible he 
 joined his regiment at Camp Warren in 
 the District of Columbia, and after three 
 weeks the troops marched to Aqua Creek, 
 and then to Belles Plaines Landing, Va., 
 where they remained until Burnside 
 marched to the Rappahannock river. 
 They took part in the attack under Gen. 
 Hooker at Fredericksburg, then returned 
 to Belles Plaines, after which they 
 marched to Warrenton, and to Alexandria. 
 They then went to Washington and onto 
 Flemington, where they were mustered 
 out, the term of enlistment having ex- 
 pired. .\s the result of the measles and 
 the unavoidable exposure in the service, 
 Mr. Soliday's eyesight was so impaired 
 that he could no longer continue at the 
 blacksmith's trade, and so began working 
 on a farm; but his eyesight gradually 
 failed, and for the past twenty-five years 
 he has been unable to see anything except 
 with the right eye, which is still able to 
 distinguish a very strong light. In his 
 
 younger years he was a man of fine phy- 
 sique, five feet, nine and a half inches in 
 height, with a high forehead, very dark 
 blue eyes and dark brown hair; but the 
 once brown locks are now white, and the 
 eyes are sightless; otherwise, however, he 
 enjoys good health and possesses a cheer- 
 ful and even jovial disposition. 
 
 On September 12, 1870, in Buchanan, 
 Mich., Mr. Soliday married Sarah Gor- 
 don, and after her death he wedded, on 
 July 22, 1 89 1, Mrs. Lucinda Conder- 
 man, daughter of Peter and Mary (Rouse) 
 Pickle, who were natives of Montgomery 
 county, N. Y. , afterward removing to 
 Steuben county, and taking up their resi- 
 dence in the town of Howard. Their 
 daughter, Lucinda, first married John 
 Conderman, who died in Alma Center, 
 Jackson county, Wis., May 24, 1889. 
 His grandfather owned a farm in Mont- 
 gomery county, N. Y., which he sold just 
 after the breaking out of the Revolution- 
 ary war, and was paid in Continental 
 money, some $300 of which is now in the 
 possession of Mrs. Soliday. During the 
 Revolution two of Mr. Conderman's 
 uncles, while working in the harvest field, 
 were ambushed by Tories disguised as 
 Indians. The young lads, whose names 
 were John and Jacob Dclfendorf, were 
 injured, but both escaped, taking their 
 undergarments off and bandaging their 
 heads. One of the boys recognizing his 
 antagonist vowed he would kill the man. 
 The Tory, however, went to Canada, but 
 afterward returned to the United States. 
 Mr. Delfendorf hunted him for seven days, 
 and finally shot him under a bridge, then 
 buried him with his feet sticking out of 
 the ground. ' ' One day, Marillys Belinger, 
 an aunt of Mr. Conderman, and a cow 
 belonging to her family, were captured by 
 the Indians ; but in the night she man- 
 aged to escape, taking the cow with her 
 by the handle, and the trusty animal with 
 true home instinct followed the path until 
 she was once more among friends." 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Conderman were 
 born four children: (i) Mary Melinda, 
 
1076 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 born June 17, 1843, became the wife of 
 Henry McCall, and at her death left six 
 sons — James M., George A., Andrew \V., 
 Harley O., John Foster and Marcus H. ; 
 these children were reared by Mrs. Soli- 
 day. (2) The eldest son, Marcus Henry, 
 died at the age of twenty-three. (3) John 
 Ezra entered the Union army during the 
 Civil war as a cavalryman when only 
 seventeen years of age; after his return 
 home he married Melissa Mills, and is 
 now living in Snohomish, Wash. (4) 
 George Albert entered the Union army at 
 the age of fifteen as a cavalryman, was 
 killed at Lime Creek, Ga. , and buried 
 at Columbus, that State Both Mr. and 
 Mrs. Conderman were members of the 
 Evangelical Church; they were descended 
 from old Dutch families of the Mohawk 
 Valley in New York. 
 
 Socially, Mr. Soliday is connected 
 with Azra Young Post, G. A. R., Winne- 
 conne, and his wife is a member of the 
 Woman's Relief Corps. In politics he is 
 a Republican, having supported that party 
 since its organization. For many years 
 after he lost his sight he steadily refused 
 to apply for a pension, but at length did 
 so, and now receives $72 per month. He 
 was a faithful soldier, has ever been a 
 loyal citizen, and those who know him 
 esteem him highly for his sterling worth. 
 
 NORBERT C. WERBKE. Al- 
 though this gentleman has but 
 recently become a citizen of Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, he is 
 already prominently identified with its 
 business, political and social interests. 
 
 He is a son of Charles and Minnie 
 (Gehbe) Werbke, and was born July 2, 
 1866, in Manitowoc, Wis., at the public 
 schools of which place he received his 
 primary education, afterward attending 
 the State University, at Madison, from 
 which institution he graduated with the 
 class of 1888. Immediately afterward he 
 removed to Oshkosh, where he engaged 
 as salesman with J. Bauman & Co.. drug- 
 
 gists; in the spring of 1892 he purchased 
 the present business from Charles G. 
 Horn and embarked in business for him- 
 self. He is a thoroughly practical phar- 
 macist, possessing a minute knowledge of 
 the drug business in all its branches, and 
 everything in connection with the estab- 
 lishment indicates the progressive spirit 
 of the proprietor, who has already built 
 up a large and rapidly increasing busi- 
 ness. Mr. Werbke was married, in Osh- 
 kosh, November 30, 1893, to Lena Rahr, 
 a daughter of Charles and Lena (Hoch- 
 greve) Rahr. Mr. and Mrs. Werbke at- 
 tend the Congregational Church. 
 
 PROFESSOR W. W. DAGGETT. 
 This gentleman, who is distin- 
 guished as one of the oldest in- 
 structors, as well as one of the 
 ablest members of the educational pro- 
 fession in northern Wisconsin, is a native 
 of Vermont, born in the town of Bakers- 
 field, Franklin county, August 24, 1833, 
 a son of Caleb and Harriet (Barton) Dag- 
 gett, also natives of the Green Mountain 
 State. 
 
 Grandfather John Daggett emigrated 
 from England to this country in an early 
 day, making a new home in Vermont. 
 In 1 86 1 the family came to Wisconsin, 
 settling in the town of Neenah, Winne- 
 bago county, where the parents of our 
 subject passed the rest of their honored 
 lives, the father, who was a farmer and 
 lumberman, dying September 13, 1871, 
 the mother at Neenah in 1886. They 
 were the parents of eight children, as fol- 
 lows: Henry B., who located in Neenah, 
 where he died in 1872; Harriet Melissa, 
 wife of John L. Dunham, of Neenah; 
 John, deceased at the age of eighteen in 
 Franklin county, Vt. ; W. W. , whose name 
 opens this biography; Mary Jane, who died 
 in Neenah at the age of twenty-seven; 
 Martha Ann, wife of E. Giddings, residing 
 in Neenah at the old home (he enlisted in 
 1 86 1 in the Third Wisconsin Infantry, 
 becoming captain of Company G, and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 1079 
 
 served till the close of the war); George, 
 who died in i86o\\hen fifteen years old, 
 of pneumonia, in New Haven, Ind., while 
 (•;/ roitlf to Wisconsin; and Marshall D., 
 residing in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 
 
 The subject projier of this sketch re- 
 ceived a liberal education at the schools 
 and academy of his native place, and 
 when old enough commenced learning 
 the trades of carpenter and carriage- 
 maker. At one time he taught school in 
 La Moille county, Vt., and he also at- 
 tended school one year at Johnson, in 
 the same county. In 1855, then twen- 
 ty-two years old, he came w'est to 
 Illinois, locating for a time in the 
 town of Lockport, afterward in Elgin, 
 same State, thence in 1858 moving to 
 Neenah, Wis., in all of which and other 
 places he taught school, eight years as 
 principal — from i860 to 1863, of Neenah 
 High School; from 1864 to 1865, of 
 Menasha High School; and, two years, of 
 Doty's Island School. In September, 
 1870, he came to Oshkosh, and on the 
 19th of the month, in company with Prof. 
 E. C. Atkinson (who founded the college 
 in 1867), conductcil the Oshkosh Business 
 College until January 30, 1871 (each hav- 
 ing a half interest), at which time Prof. 
 Daggett bought out his associate, and 
 since then has had absolute control of 
 the institution. Through all these years 
 Mr. Daggett has attended personally to 
 the college, and been its manager, de- 
 veloping it from a small affair to the 
 model business college of Wisconsin. He 
 is a thorough educator, teaching after the 
 latest and most approved system, and as 
 a disciplinarian he has few equals, to 
 which is in a large measure due the suc- 
 cess of the college. Since he opened the 
 Oshkosh Business College, he has had 
 nearly 5,000 pupils, a large number of 
 whom are filling responsible ]iositions in 
 business life, and the phenomenal progress 
 of the institution is mainly due to the in- 
 terest, energy and efforts of Mr. Daggett 
 in procuring the best teachers to take 
 
 charge of the various departments, and to 
 so 
 
 make prominent those principles and 
 fundamental rules necessary in ac(iuiring 
 a thorough business education. The prin- 
 cipal branches taught are bookkeeping, 
 business penmanship, correspondence, 
 forms, customs of trade, arithmetic, short- 
 hand, typewriting, commercial law, and, 
 when necessary, English grammar, read- 
 ing and spelling. The .school work is 
 thorough, systematic and practical, and 
 is conducted in such a manner as to in- 
 culcate into the mind of the student the 
 superior worth of a good education. 
 
 On April 10, 1858, Prof. Daggett was 
 married at Geneva, 111., to Miss Ann 
 Rogers, a native of Cooperstown, N. Y. , 
 daughter of Isaac Rogers, who was born 
 in New York State, where he passed his 
 entire life. By this union there were 
 born two children: Fred E., residing in 
 Oshkosh, and Willie Dc Forest, who died 
 at the age of three months. The mother 
 of these died, June 30, 1866, and our 
 subject was married in Menasha, in 1867, 
 to Miss Martha L. Bowman, a native of 
 New York, daughter of Oscar and Celista 
 (Thompson) Bowman, of New York birth, 
 who came to Wisconsin, residing for a 
 time in Menasha, Waupaca and New 
 London, but both dying at Brooksville, 
 Hernando Co., Fla. , some time in the 
 "seventies." To this last marriage of 
 Prof. Daggett were born six children, as 
 follows: Jennie M., wife of A. W. Weber, 
 both teaching at Ft. Atkinson, Wis. ; 
 Martha A., a teacher of vocal music; 
 Helen A., a graduate of the Oshkosh 
 High School, class of 1894, and now a 
 teacher of stenography in the Oshkosh 
 Business College; Belle S. and Wallace 
 H., attending Oshkosh Business College, 
 and Harriet C. , at high school. 
 
 In his political preferences Prof. Dag- 
 gett has been a lifelong Republican, and 
 while a resident of Neenah served as 
 town clerk, one year, and city clerk, six 
 years, and in Oshkosh was alderman from 
 the First ward in 1877. Socially he is 
 P. M. of Centennial Lodge No. 205, F. 
 & A. M., P. H. P. of Tyrian Chapter 
 
io8o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 No. IS, R. A. M., 
 Commandery No. 1 1 
 of the A. A. S. R. 
 is also a member 
 No. 1 20, I. O. O. 
 of the Eastern Star 
 Order of Rebekah. 
 
 P. E. C. Oshkosh 
 
 K. T. and member 
 
 Wisconsin Consistory; 
 
 of Winnebago Lodge 
 
 F. , a charter member 
 
 and a member of the 
 
 He and his wife and 
 
 four daughters are members of the First 
 Congregational Church, at Oshkosh, with 
 which the parents became united January 
 6, 1878, and in which the Professor is 
 serving his third term as deacon. He has 
 been actively connected with the Sab- 
 bath-school, and takes a lively interest in 
 Church work generally. His daughter, 
 Miss Helen A. Daggett, is librarian of the 
 Sunday-school. In his thirty-si.\ years' 
 residence in Oshkosh our subject has seen 
 it expand from a small village to a thriv- 
 ing, prosperous city, of which his far- 
 famed Business College is not only a 
 credit and a benefit, but also, as an edu- 
 cational institution, a sine qua non. 
 
 KITTLE KNUDSON. Among the 
 representative and enterprising 
 citizens of Winneconne, Winneba- 
 go county, is the gentleman whose 
 name here appears, occupying as he does 
 a position in the front rank among those 
 noted for success, integrity and honorable 
 business dealing. He is a descendant of 
 that brave and hardy race that has fur- 
 nished so many valued citizens to this 
 country — the Norwegians, his birth hav- 
 ing occurred April 25, 1851, in the cen- 
 tral part of Norway, in the District of 
 Lundharda, on a farm known as Borthe. 
 His parents were Knute Torgerson and 
 Betsy Ostenson, the former of whom was 
 a farmer and blacksmith, and was in com- 
 fortable circumstances; but hoping to 
 better his financial condition he crossed 
 the briny deep in 1854, coming west- 
 ward to Wisconsin, and locating in Dane 
 county, accompanied by his wife and six 
 children — Torger, Isabel, Osten, Nellie, 
 Svenug and Kittle. Of these Torger and 
 Osten both served as soldiers during the 
 
 war of the Rebellion, the latter being killed 
 in battle at Churchill, Ga. , where he was 
 buried. 
 
 Mr. Knudson remained on the home 
 farm until seventeen years of age, attend- 
 ing in the meantime the common schools 
 for about si.x monts, and then became a 
 student in the Lutheran College at De- 
 corah, Iowa, where he remained two 
 years, at the expiration of which time he 
 again came to Winneconne, and began 
 clerking in a general mercantile store 
 owned by T. Tunneson. For ten years 
 he remained in the employ of that gentle- 
 man, and then became proprietor of a 
 grocery and drug store which he carried 
 on eight years. In 1888 he bought his 
 present store and the building which he 
 occupies — a commodious structure 44 x 88 
 feet, the upper story of which is used as 
 an opera house. Mr. Knudson carries a 
 large and varied stock of general mer- 
 chandise, and by fair and honest dealing 
 has won a liberal patronage. 
 
 In 1S78, he married Miss Anna H., 
 daughter of Halvor Lee, of Clayton, 
 Wis., and they have four children, 
 namely: Herman, born in December, 
 1879; Clarence, born in October, 1883; 
 Ernie, born in April, 1885; and Gracie, 
 born in October, 1888. The family is 
 widely and favorably known in the com- 
 munity, and in social circles ranks high. 
 Mr. Knudson is a registered pharmacist, 
 having passed the required exmination 
 in Milwaukee, .and received a State di- 
 ploma. In connection with his large 
 general store he has a fine drug depart- 
 ment, in which he carries a full line of 
 drugs, medicines, paints, oils, etc. He 
 is recognized as one of the enterprising 
 and substantial citizens of Winneconne, 
 and takes an active interest in every- 
 thing pertaining to the welfare of the 
 communitN'. The cause of education 
 finds in him a warm friend, and he is now 
 serving on the school board; is also a 
 member of the board of supervisors. He 
 takes an active interest in politics, voting 
 with the Republican party, and in reli- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 loSi 
 
 gious faith he is a Lutheran. The ster- 
 Hng qualities of the Norwegian people are 
 found in him, and his many admirable 
 characteristics have made him a loyal 
 citizen, a good business man and faithful 
 friend. 
 
 HIIvAM RUSSELL (deceased) was 
 for about thirty years a resident 
 of the Fox River Valley, and was 
 closely connected with its business 
 interests, its upbuilding and its progress. 
 He was a large man, both mentally and 
 physically, al)ove the average height, 
 being six feet two inches tall, possessed a 
 clear and bright blue eye, a fair complex- 
 ion and dark brown hair. His j)leasant 
 appearance was an index to a pleasant 
 nature. He was always cheerful, in dis- 
 position was sanguine and generous, and 
 wherever he went made hosts of friends 
 who respected him for his sterling worth 
 and gave him their warm regard. 
 
 Mr. Russell was a native of Connecti- 
 cut, born in Wetang, December 4, 1828. 
 On attaining his majority he emigrated 
 westward, locating in Oshkosh, Wiscon- 
 sin, in 1 849, where he soon became iden- 
 tified with the lumber interests in various 
 ways, and for twelve years was the clerk 
 of the Wolf River Boom Company. Dur- 
 ing that time Mr. Russell was married in 
 Oshkosh, December 8, 1854, to Miss 
 Maria M. Sherburne, daughter of Alvah 
 and Jerusha (Stroud) Sherburne, who 
 located in Oshkosh in 1850. The father 
 prospected for land, and at last with a 
 land warrant secured 160 acres in the 
 town of Fremont. He afterward dealt in 
 land to a considerable extent, and during 
 the greater part of his residence in Wis- 
 consin owned and successfully operated a 
 farm of 200 acres. He was recognized 
 as one of the honored pioneers and repre- 
 sentative citizens of the community. He 
 had many friends and few enemies, if any, 
 and his home relations were especially 
 happy. He was a native of Keene, N. H., 
 and became a resident of Keene, N. Y., 
 
 where he served as justice of the peace. 
 From the Empire State he came to Wis- 
 consin. By trade he was a miller, and 
 for a short time after his arrival in this 
 State he operated a mill in Algoma. He 
 died in 1868, at the age of sixty-eight 
 years, his widow in 1 890, at the advanced 
 age of eighty-six. They were laid forest 
 in Ellenvvood Cemetery, Oshkosh, and 
 many friends mourned their taking away. 
 They held membership with the Metho- 
 dist Church, and in politics Mr. Sherburne 
 was a Republican. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Russell were born the following children: 
 George Webb, who married Sophronia 
 Smith, and now resides in Hermansville, 
 Mich. ; Ina Frances, wife of S. W. Rau- 
 denbush, who is living in St. Paul, Minn.; 
 John H., a traveling salesman; Clara 
 Sherburne, at home; and Webb S., now 
 (1895) a youth of sixteen years. 
 
 Hiram Russell possessed a patriotic 
 spirit in keeping with his grand physical 
 and mental qualities, and at the breaking 
 out of the Civil war he determined to offer 
 his services to the government. fn Sep- 
 tember, 1862, he joined the Union army, 
 was made first lieutenant of Company B, 
 Twenty-first Wis. V. L, and leaving his 
 wife and children went to the front. 
 There he participated in all the engage- 
 ments of his company until seriously 
 wounded. A month after his enlistment 
 he was in the battle of Perryville, and 
 later met the enemy at Stone River, 
 Champion Hills and Chickamauga. While 
 leading his company in the last named 
 engagement he was wounded in the right 
 leg above the knee, and was taken pris- 
 oner; but as he was so badly disabled he 
 was paroled by the Rebels thirteen days 
 later, and thus restored to the Union 
 lines. He was then sent to hospital, and 
 when he had sufficiently recovered re- 
 ported to his regiment, but soon after on 
 account of his great physical disability he 
 resigned, although he had been appointed 
 captain of his company. His sword and 
 revolver which he carried, and the bullet, 
 which was removed from his body nine 
 
io8z 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 months after the wound was received, are 
 now in the possession of his widow, and 
 though mute they are eloquent witnesses 
 of his patriotism and fideHty to the Union 
 cause. 
 
 On his return from the war, Mr. Rus- 
 sell became a member of the Weed Lum- 
 ber Company, and looked after the inter- 
 ests of the firm at Barnum on the Wis- 
 consin river. In 1879 he again removed 
 his family to Oshkosh, but the following 
 September he went into the forests to 
 look after the lumber and logging inter- 
 ests. W^hile there he was attacked with 
 inflammatory rheumatism, and taken to 
 Stevens Point, where, at the " Curran 
 House," he died November 17, 1879. 
 His remains were then brought back to 
 Oshkosh, and under the auspices of the 
 Masonic Fraternity were interred in the 
 Lodge Cemetery. Prominent in business 
 and social circles, he was both widely and 
 favorably known in this part of the State, 
 and his death was deeply and sincerely 
 mourned by many friends. 
 
 HENRY IRWIN WEED, the able 
 and well-read young lawyer, who 
 has already made for himself "a 
 local habitation and a name," in 
 these parts, being city attorney for the 
 city of Oshkosh, Winnebago county, is a 
 native of New York State, born in 1861 
 in Livingston county. 
 
 He is a son of S. H. and N. E. (Poland) 
 Weed, of the same nativity, the former 
 of whom was a soldier during the Civil 
 war, serving in Company I, First New 
 York Dragoons; he enlisted for the entire 
 period of the war, but was killed in 1864 
 at the battle of the Wilderness. In 1865 
 the widowed mother with her two sons 
 came to Wisconsin, and for a time made 
 her home in Utica. Winnebago county, 
 in 1 88 1 moving into the city of Oshkosh, 
 where she is at present residing. Her 
 son, Elbert D., is mayor of Helena, Mon- 
 tana. 
 
 Henry I. Weed, the subject of this 
 
 sketch, was about four years old when 
 his mother brought him to Wisconsin, 
 and at the district schools of Utica he re- 
 ceived his elementary education, after- 
 ward attending Lawrence University, 
 Appleton, Wis., and finally the State Uni- 
 versity, where he graduated with the class 
 of 1882. At once commencing the study 
 of law, he made such progress that in the 
 following year (1SS3) he was admitted to 
 the bar, and without delay commenced 
 practice in Oshkosh (whither he had come 
 in 1 881) in partnership with H. M. Eaton, 
 the style of the firm being Eaton & Weed. 
 In 1889 Mr. Weed was appointed to the 
 city attorneyship of Oshkosh, an incum- 
 bency he has since filled with commend- 
 able zeal and eminent ability, and his sta- 
 bility and worth in his chosen profession 
 receive well-merited recognition from the 
 bench and bar of Winnebago county. 
 Simple and unostentatious in manner, he 
 yet attracts attention in any gathering, 
 and being exceedingly popular takes 
 prominent place in social matters, and 
 enjoys the esteem of the community. He 
 is a member of the F. & A. M., Centen- 
 nial Lodge No. 205, Tyrian Chapter No. 
 15, and Oshkosh Commandery No. 11; a 
 member of Oshkosh Lodge No. 25, K. of 
 P. , and was grand chancellor of Wiscon- 
 sin, from March, 1891, to March, 1892; 
 also member of George W. Pratt Lodge 
 No. 14, Division Uniform Rank, K. of P. 
 In his political predilections he is a stanch 
 Democrat. Mr. \\'eed is wide-awake and 
 progressive, and in his lexicon, which fate 
 reserves for a bright future, the word 
 " fail " is not expected to be found. 
 
 DANIEL A. JONES, Sr., a pro- 
 gressive and highly esteemed citi- 
 zen of Oshkosh, and one of the 
 leading blacksmiths of the place, 
 was born at Brady's Bend, Penn., March 
 26, 1842, a son of William E. and Phcebe 
 (Phillips) Jones, natives of Wales, who 
 came to the United States in early life, 
 where they were married. In 1S65 the\' 
 
COldMEMORATIVR lilOORAPnWAL RECORD. 
 
 .083 
 
 moved from the East to Wisconsin, 
 locating in Oshkosh, whence after a 
 three-years' residence there they moved 
 to Clark county, where they purchased a 
 farm on which they resided the remainder 
 of their days, dying, the father in 1884 
 at the age of seventy-four years, the 
 mother on January 23, 1892, at the age 
 of sixty-five years. 
 
 When our subject was three years old 
 he was taken from Pennsylvania to Port- 
 age county, Ohio, there to live with his 
 grandparents, and at the age of six years 
 he removed with his grandfather to 
 Nekimi, Winnebago county, at the pub- 
 lic schools of which place he received a 
 limited education. On leaving school he 
 came to Oshkosh, where for one year he 
 worked in the old gang sawmill (recently 
 destroyed b}' fire), and then learned the 
 trade of mechanical engineer. His grand- 
 father was one of the first blacksmiths in 
 Winnebago county, a first-class mechanic, 
 and the first manufacturer of breaking 
 plows in the county. While residing 
 with him our subject learned blacksmith- 
 ing, and worked at same at stated inter- 
 vals, as journeyman, until 1874, when he 
 commenced the business for his own ac- 
 count in South Oshkosh, in later years 
 removing across the river into Oshkosh 
 proper. In 1861 he returned to Brady's 
 Bend, Penn., where he worked at his 
 trade until the spring of 1862, at which 
 time he took a journey to Ohio where he 
 enlisted in the United States service as a 
 brigade teamster, and after serving in 
 this capacity about four months returned 
 to Oshkosh. Here, in 1864, he enlisted 
 in the U. S. navy, and was assigned to 
 the ship " Siren" as a fireman, six months 
 after which he was promoted to petty 
 officer, and in that rank served to the 
 close of the war, receiving his discharge 
 at Mound City, about six miles from 
 Cairo, 111., and from there returned to 
 Oshkosh, where he has since continued 
 at his trade. 
 
 In 1868, at Omro, Wis., Mr. Jones 
 was united in marriage with Miss Mar- 
 
 garet Snowden, and five children were 
 born to them, as follows: Frederick Sim- 
 eon, Addie May (a teacher in the Indus- 
 trial School at Milwaukee), William E. , 
 Daniel A., Jr., and Albert E. The 
 mother of these died in Oshkosh, in 1878, 
 from the effects of burns caused by a 
 lamp explosion, and in 1886 Mr. Jones 
 married Mrs. Elizabeth (Iverson) Gee, 
 widow of Frank Gee. The entire fam- 
 ily attend the services of the Baptist 
 Church; socially our subject is a member 
 of Phil Sheridan Post No. 10, G. A. R., 
 and in his political views he is a stanch 
 Republican. 
 
 CARL SCHNEIDER, a prominent 
 architect, contractor and builder 
 of Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 is a native of Prussia, Germany, 
 born February 23, 1851, in the city of 
 Usht, Province of Posen. 
 
 The grandfather of our subject, Chris- 
 tian Schneider, died in November, 1865, 
 at the age of eighty-nine years, his first 
 wife passing away in 1S50 Their chil- 
 dren were Johann, Carl, Ludwig and 
 Theresa, of whom Carl, father of the 
 subject of this sketch, was married to 
 Miss Caroline Zierke. They had five 
 sons, namely: Julius, born December 
 12, 1845, connected with a railroad in 
 Berlin, Germany; Heinrich, born in 1848, 
 died in 1887 in Nebraska; Carl, subject 
 of sketch; Hugo, born March 23, 1853, 
 and Martin, born November 13, 1857. 
 The father of this family was born No- 
 vember 5, 1815, and died November 10, 
 18S9; the mother was born November 
 6, 1 819, and died October 21, 1889, both 
 having lived a year or so after celebrating 
 their golden wedding. They were both 
 natives of Germany. 
 
 Carl Schneider, of whom we write, 
 was reared to manhood and educated in 
 his native land, where he subsequently 
 learned architectural drawing, as well as 
 the trade of mason. He also spent con- 
 siderable time in a builder's office, 
 
1084 
 
 COMMEMORATIVK BIOGIIAPIIICAL RECORD. 
 
 acquiring a thorough knowledge of his 
 chosen profession. In 1872 he emigrated 
 to the United States, and after a resi- 
 dence in Chicago, 111., of about si.\ 
 months, came to Oshkosh, which city has 
 since been his home, with the exception 
 of occasional absence, for a year or so, at 
 intervals, on business. He has erected 
 some of the largest and most imposing 
 public and private buildings and other 
 structures — including breweries, hospitals, 
 bridges, etc. — in Oshkosh and vicinity, 
 besides at various distant points. In 
 1885 he built the courthouse at Brewton, 
 Escambia Co., Ala., and also a college; 
 in 1887 he erected a synagogue in Mil- 
 waukee, Wis., and taken, all in all, he 
 has well earned the enviable distinction 
 of being at the head of his profession. 
 As was his father and grandfather before 
 him. in religious faith he is an Evangeli- 
 cal Lutheran. Socially he is a member 
 of the F. & A. M. and the Turnverein 
 and Sons of Hermann, joining the former 
 order at Brewton, Ala., and the two 
 latter at Oshkosh. Wisconsin. 
 
 GEORGE H. CHARLESWOKTH 
 comes of one of the old families 
 of England. His parents, Samuel 
 and Mary (Manley) Charlcsworth, 
 resided in Middlewich, Cheshire, Eng- 
 land, where the father carried on business 
 as a merchant tailor until 1848, when 
 they crossed the Atlantic to the New 
 World, locating first in Buffalo, where 
 they spent the summer, in the autumn of 
 the same year coming to Omro. 
 
 George Charlcsworth was at that time 
 a child of four summers. He was born 
 April 15, 1844, in Middlewich, and the 
 days of his childhood and youth were here 
 passed upon the home farm at Omro. 
 His father had purchased a claim of sixty 
 acres, together with a number of lots in 
 the village of Omro, and was engaged in 
 farming. He also owned a third interest 
 in a shingle mill for several years, and 
 was recognized as one of the representa- 
 
 tive business men of the community. He 
 and his wife were both members of the 
 Church of England, and in that faith he 
 died. 
 
 The gentleman whose name introduces 
 this sketch acquired his education in the 
 public schools of Omro, and at the age of 
 eighteen, in connection with his brother 
 Thomas, now deceased, he built a tug 
 boat which he named the "Omro," and 
 operated it on the Fox and Wolf rivers in 
 towing logs. Three years were thus 
 passed, after which the brothers erected 
 a planing mill on the site of the new Odd 
 Fellows Hall. After a time Thomas sold 
 out, but George conducted the business 
 for about four years, and then he too 
 withdrew from that enterprise. His next 
 venture was in the line of cabinet making, 
 and for several years he conductetl a good 
 business, employing a number of work- 
 men. Having established a furniture 
 store he now keeps a large stock of that 
 line of goods, and receives a liberal pat- 
 ronage, of which he is well deserving. He 
 also carries a large line of house furnish- 
 ings, and does quite an extensive under- 
 taking business. 
 
 The lady who now bears the name of 
 Mrs. Charlcsworth was in her maiden- 
 hood Anna Dell Potter, of Omro. Three 
 children grace their union, Fred Henry, 
 and Lcnnie Dell and |ennie Bell, twins. In 
 his political views, Mr. Charlcsworth is a 
 stanch Republican, and has served as a 
 member and president of the village board 
 for about four years. He has been iden- 
 tified with the business interests of Omro 
 since his youth, and is recognized as one 
 of its solid and substantial citizens. His 
 long residence here has made him widely 
 known, and he is highly respected. 
 
 D M U N D J. L A C H M A N N. 
 
 Among the native-born business 
 
 F 
 
 1^^ men of Neenah, \\ innebago coun- 
 ty, none stands higher in the es- 
 teem of his fellow men than the gentleman 
 
COMMEMORAl'lVK B/OGUAI'lJ/CAL RECORD. 
 
 1085 
 
 of whom we now write. He was born in 
 Neenah, Wis., in January, 1857, a son of 
 Jacob Lachmann, a native of Germany, 
 born in 1823 in the Kingdom of Wurtem- 
 berg. 
 
 The father of our subject was by trade 
 a whitesmith, or maker of cutlery, as 
 was his father before him, which he fol- 
 lowed in his native land, afterward in 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut. He 
 also learned the brewing business in the 
 Fatherland, with a brother, who was a 
 practical brewer, and this he found of no 
 little service to him in after years. In 
 1848, during the feverish times in Europe, 
 when the people were getting tired of the 
 heavy taxes they were made to pay to 
 support effete monarchies, Jacob Lach- 
 mann was captain of a company of ' ' Frci- 
 schaar, " or "Free troops," and being 
 somewhat free-spoken in the matter of a 
 republican form of government, he had 
 to leave his native land, at the same time 
 as Sigel and other political agitators. In 
 this country, as already stated, he fol- 
 lowed his trade of whitesmith, and in 
 New York he engaged in the boot and 
 shoe business in which investment he lost 
 a considerable amount of money. He 
 traveled a good deal throughout the 
 United States in search of a suitable lo- 
 cality to settle in, and about the year 
 1854, just after his marriage, he located 
 in Milwaukee, Wis., but in 1856 came to 
 Neenah, where he embarked in the 
 brewing business, and continued in same 
 until 1873, when he retired from active 
 work. In Jul}-, 1854, he was married in 
 New York to Miss Catherine Niebling, 
 also a native of Germany, and si.\ chil- 
 dren were born to them, one of whom 
 died in infancy, those living being Ed- 
 mund J., Emily, Catherine, Louisa and 
 Emma. The father died in 1878, a con- 
 sistent member of the Lutheran Church; 
 socially he affiliated with the Turnverein 
 in Germany. 
 
 Up to the age of sixteen the son, Ed- 
 mund J. Lachmann attended the common 
 schools of Neenah, after which he took a 
 
 course at the Oshkosh Business College. 
 His first insight into the great mercantile 
 world was as a clerk and bookkeeper for 
 various firms in Neenah, which brings his 
 life up to 1 876, in which year he pro- 
 ceeded to Chicago, and there, in connec- 
 tion with a partner, opened out a hard- 
 ware business; but in October, 1878, his 
 father having died, he sold out his interest 
 to his partner, and returned to Neenah. 
 In 1880 he accepted a position as book- 
 keeper for Krueger & Davis, millers, the 
 latter of whom withdrew from the firm 
 in 1884, and in the following year Mr. 
 Krueger's son, who was a member of the 
 firm, died. Mr. Lachmann, having in 
 the meantime l)ecome Mr. Krueger's son- 
 in-law, took the deceased son's place, in 
 the firm, the style of which has since been 
 Krueger & Lachmann Milling Company. 
 They own two flouring-mills, having a 
 combined capacity of 400 barrels per day, 
 and employment is found for fifteen men. 
 In summer the mills arc run by water- 
 power, in winter time by steam. They 
 also own a large elevator in Neenah. 
 
 In December, 1883, Mr. Lachmann 
 was united in marriage with Miss Dora 
 Krueger, daughter of Frederick and Mary 
 (Hesse) Krueger. In politics our subject 
 is a Democrat; has served as a delegate 
 to the State Convention three times, and 
 as mayor of Neenah one term. He is a 
 32d Degree Freemason, a member of the 
 Knights of Pythias and the Sons of Her- 
 mann. No man is more faithful to his 
 friends or his obligations than Mr. Lach- 
 mann, and none more highly prized as a 
 true friend. His native city honors him, 
 and with reason, for he is one of her 
 products, a manly, noble man in all the 
 relations of life. 
 
 JAMES A. BARNES, who occupies 
 a conspicuous place among the 
 prominent manufacturers of Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, and for 
 several years has been proprietor of the 
 Star Foundry and Machine Shops, was 
 
io86 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 born June i6, 1849, in Suffolk, England, 
 as were his parents before him. 
 
 Robert Barnes, his father, was married 
 in the mother country to Miss Emma 
 Clark, and by her had three children, two 
 of whom, both daughters, died in in- 
 fancy, the subject of these lines being the 
 only survivor. In 1852 the little family 
 crossed the ocean to Canada, and in the 
 town of Guelph, Ontario, made a new 
 home; but about one year after their ar- 
 rival the father, who was a railroad man, 
 was killed by an accident. Here young 
 James received a liberal education at the 
 public schools, afterward engaging in a 
 general trading business. On May i , 
 1865, he and his widowed mother came 
 to Wisconsin, and after a nine-months' 
 residence there removed to Janesville, 
 Rock county, where our subject partly 
 learned the sash, door and blind making 
 business; but at the end of two years 
 again moved, this time to Oshkosh, where 
 they have since resided. Here Mr. 
 Barnes finished learning the trade he had 
 commenced in Janesville, by industrj', 
 good habits and perseverance working 
 his way up until he became foreman for 
 Gould & Hume, with whom he remained 
 several years. Afterward, for a short 
 time, he filled a sirnilar position in the 
 manufactory of McDonald & Stuart, 
 Fond du Lac; but returning to Oshkosh, 
 commenced his present business, which 
 through his energy and efficient manage- 
 ment has grown to be one of the most 
 important industries in the city. 
 
 Mr. Barnes has been twice married: 
 first time to Miss Mary Sutton, daughter 
 of Samuel and Mary (Llewellyn) Sutton, 
 and to them were born five children, two 
 of whom survive — Eva M. and Arthur 
 R. The mother of these departed this 
 life in April, 18S4, and in 1885 our sub- 
 ject was wedded to Miss Lizzie A. , 
 daughter of Eli and Elizabeth (Alexander) 
 Cartwright, the result of this union being 
 three children, named as follows: Bessie 
 C, Etta B. and Esther J. The family 
 attend the Congregational Church; in his 
 
 political views Mr. Barnes is a Republi- 
 can, and, socially, he is a member of 
 Oshkosh Lodge No. 27, F. & A. M. 
 Liberal, progressive, enterprising and en- 
 ergetic, he has always taken an active 
 interest in the advancement and building 
 up of the city of his adoption, and has 
 contributed freely of his time and means 
 to all worthy public enterprises. As a 
 gentleman in the true sense of the word, 
 and as a citizen of high moral worth, he 
 justly enjoys the esteem of a large circle 
 of warm friends and acquaintances who 
 one and all wish him continued pros- 
 perity and happiness. 
 
 GEORGE STAPLES, an active 
 and progressive young business 
 man of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, was born at Leysters, 
 Herefordshire, England, July 27, 1870, a 
 son of Thomas and Fannie (Phillips) 
 Staples, both natives of and still residing 
 in Leysters, where the father is a stone 
 contractor and manufacturer of monu- 
 ments. Their family consists of five chil- 
 dren, as follows: George is the subject 
 of this sketch; Thomas resides in Man- 
 chester, England; Edward, Alice and 
 William are still living in their native 
 town, Leysters. 
 
 The subject of this biographical sketch 
 was educated at the schools of his native 
 place until he was thirteen years of age, 
 when he was apprenticed to the trade of 
 blacksmith — a four-years' apprenticeship, 
 a thorough one indeed! — at the comple- 
 tion of which he emigrated to this conti- 
 nent, landing at Halifa.x, Nova Scotia, 
 from which city he at once proceeded to 
 Wisconsin, arriving in Oshkosh April 28, 
 1890. After working here two years at 
 his trade as journeyman, he entered into 
 partnership with Thomas Atkins, having 
 ]iiirchased a half interest in a general 
 blacksmithing business, but in the follow- 
 ing year he bought out his partner, since 
 when he has conducted it alone with emi- 
 nent success and utmost satisfaction to 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 1087 
 
 his numerous patrons. He is a thorough 
 expert at his trade, having made a study 
 of it in all its details from the time he 
 was a thirteen-year-old boy, and being 
 honest and industrious he is highly es- 
 teemed in the community. Politically he 
 is a Republican. 
 
 M 
 
 RS. MARY FRANCES TUCK- 
 ER, who for a (juarter of a 
 century has been a resident of 
 Omro, Winnebago county, was 
 for many years an active worker and 
 writer in the journalistic field, and a reg- 
 ular contributor to various literary publi- 
 cations. Her maiden name was Mary 
 Frances Tyler, and she was born, in 
 1837, in the town of York, Washtenaw 
 Co., Mich., a daughter of Otis and Mercy 
 Ann (Rose) Tyler. Her father, who was 
 a native of Boston, Mass., came of an old 
 New England family, and was possessed 
 of excellent musical ability. The mater- 
 nal grandfather of Mrs. Tucker, William 
 Rose, was a wealthy farmer, who lived 
 on the Hudson river near Poughkeepsie, 
 N. Y. Her grandmother, Elizabeth 
 Brown, was of English descent, and a 
 relative of Felicia Brown Hemans, the 
 poetess. 
 
 When Miss Tyler was twelve years 
 old her people removed to the town of 
 Fulton, N. Y. In writing of her some 
 years later an eminent biographer has 
 said: "When I first met her she was a 
 slight, winsome, vivacious girl of fifteen, 
 with curling brown hair and large, ex- 
 pressive gray eyes, which during conver- 
 sation fairly glowed and talked in unison 
 with her lips. Her command of language 
 was wonderful, and the right words 
 seemed to come at the right time without 
 hesitation or bidding." It was about 
 this time that she gave to the world the 
 two poems that are so well known — 
 "Going Up and Coming Down," and 
 
 Cometh a Blessing Down. 
 
 These 
 
 poems received fa\orable comments by 
 Morris, who copied them into 
 
 George T 
 
 the Home Journal, and they were widely 
 reproduced by the Press. 
 
 In 1 856 Miss Tyler was married to Dr. 
 Edward L.Tucker, a j'oung and rising phy- 
 sician of Fulton, N.Y., and whose parents, 
 David and Christine (Livingston) Tucker, 
 were members of prominent families 
 of New York City. Not long after their 
 marriage the Doctor and his wife re- 
 moved to Michigan. In 1863 he recruited 
 a company for the Fourth Michigan 
 Cavalry, and went with them into active 
 service as first lieutenant, but after about 
 a year he was fatally wounded by a bullet 
 from the gun of a Rebel sharpshooter, and 
 died in camp at Chattanooga, Tenn., 
 October 5, 1864. He was buried with the 
 honors of war, and now rests in the Na- 
 tional Soldiers Cemetery of that city. 
 The brief wedded life of Dr. and Mrs. 
 Tucker was one of exceptional harmony 
 and happiness, and their union was 
 blessed with three children: Ada, the 
 eldest, died some fourteen years ago in 
 Omro, Wis., whither the family had re- 
 moved soon after the death of the hus- 
 band and father, and where they now 
 reside. The son, Frank Tyler, is an at- 
 torney at law, a brilliant orator, and the 
 present representative from his District. 
 Grace, a charming and accomplished 
 young lady, lives at home with her mother 
 in a cozy cottage, almost hidden among 
 stately evergreens. 
 
 Mrs. Tucker was always a devoted 
 mother. After the loss of her beloved 
 daughter Ada she seemed to lose her 
 literary ambition, and has surrendered 
 her entire time and thought to the inter- 
 ests of her two remaining children, who 
 repay by their love and respect her self- 
 sacrificing devotion. At times, however, 
 her poetic spirit has burst forth in song, 
 although for the past eight years she has 
 taken little part in literary work. She is 
 the author of man)' prose and poetical 
 productions, prominent among the latter 
 being "Marjorie," "Indian Summer," 
 the "Grange Prize Song," "Prefigured," 
 "Our Heroes,"' and others well kno\vn 
 
io88 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to the literary world. As a journalist, 
 Mrs. Tucker was eminently successful, 
 and her retirement from editorial work 
 has been a regret to many who recognized 
 her ability. There are now "silver 
 threads among the gold," and the win- 
 some girl has become the loving, self- 
 sacrificing woman, time having ripened 
 the graces of a character which ever won 
 for her loyal friends, and the tender re- 
 gard of all who knew her. 
 
 HON. FRANK TYLER TUCKER, 
 a young attorney of Omro, Win- 
 nebago county, was born in 
 Macon, Lenawee Co., Mich., 
 June II, 1864, and is a son of Edward 
 L. and Mary F. (Tyler) Tucker. In 1869 
 he came with his mother's family to 
 Omro, and entered the high school, from 
 which he was afterward graduated. Sub- 
 sequently he completed a course of study 
 at the Indiana State Normal School, at 
 Valparaiso, and with the desire to enter 
 the legal profession began the study of 
 law with F. F. Wheeler, of Omro. Some 
 time afterward he was enrolled among 
 the students of the Indiana Law School, 
 at Indianapolis, and was graduated from 
 that institution in the class of 1888. 
 The same year he accepted the position 
 of principal of the Omro High School, 
 and acceptably served in that position 
 four years. 
 
 For the past year, Mr. Tucker has 
 acted as cashier of the Bank of Omro, 
 discharging the duties of this position in 
 connection with his legal work. He is 
 also a jiromincnt j'oung politician, identi- 
 fied with the Republican party, and as an 
 orator and speaker has supported the 
 principles of that party on many an oc- 
 casion. In 1892 he was nominated for 
 the office of State I-Jepresentative, and 
 was elected by a majority of 600 — the 
 only Republican candidate elected that 
 year on the county ticket. His fitness 
 and ability for the position is unques- 
 tioned, and his fidelity to duty is widely 
 
 recognized. He is certainly a prominent 
 and rising young man, and undoubtedly a 
 successful future lies before him. 
 
 JAMES R. DURFEE (deceased), 
 whose name figures prominently in 
 the early pioneer annals of Oshkosh 
 and Winnebago county as a citizen 
 of extended local celebrity, was born in 
 Volney, N. Y. , January 31, 1834. 
 
 His father, Ephraim Durfee, was 
 born October 8, 1785, in Providence, 
 Rhode Island, and died April 30, 1882. 
 He married Miss Lucy Kendall, who was 
 born in Salina, N. Y. , October 22, 1803, 
 and died in Poygan, April 16, 1882, pre- 
 ceding her husband to the grave by just 
 two weeks. In 1846, when our subject 
 was a lad of twelve summers, the family 
 moved from New York State to Illinois, 
 locating Un a time in McHenry county, 
 and after a residence there of two or 
 three years came to Oshkosh, being 
 among the earliest settlers of that place. 
 Here James R. Durfee followed the occu- 
 pation of bridge building during his al- 
 most continuous residence in the city. 
 On April 22, 1856, he was married in 
 Oshkosh to Miss Julia A. Roche, and 
 their union was blessed with eight chil- 
 dren, all living, as follows: Oscar S. , a 
 civil engineer of Carthage, Mo. ; Lucy, 
 wife of James O'Connor, residing in Fond 
 du Lac; Mary Frances, wife of William 
 Broderick, residing in Oshkosh; Thomas 
 H., bridge inspector W. C. R. R. ; Will- 
 iam E., residing in Prentice, Price Co., 
 Wis. ; Cornelia; Carrie Alice, a teacher 
 in the public schools of Prentice, Wis., 
 and James E., bridge carpenter W. C. 
 R. R. Of these, Thomas H., Cornelia 
 and James E. reside with their mother in 
 Oshkosh. 
 
 Mr. Durfee was an upright, active 
 business man, represented his district as 
 an alderman for one term, and enjoyed 
 the thorough confidence of all who knew 
 him. He passed away December 7, 
 1888, and through his death the city of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1089 
 
 Oshkosh lost an enterprising citizen, his 
 wife a loving husband and his children a 
 kind and indulgent father. 
 
 Mrs. Julia A. Durfee, a highly es- 
 teemed lady of the community in which 
 she resides, was born in the southern part 
 of Ireland November 3, 1837. She is a 
 daughter of William and Mary (Wheteson) 
 Roche, who when she was four and a half 
 years old came to America, locating first in 
 Philipsburg, Lower Canada (now Province 
 of Quebec), near the State line of Ver- 
 mont, and after a residence there of about 
 fourteen years, removed to Illinois. There 
 they resided but a few months, in 1854 
 removing to Oshkosh, where Mr. Roche 
 was engaged in mill work for a number of 
 years, and during his later years lived a 
 retired life. He passed away May 9, 
 1884; his widow is still residing in Osh- 
 kosh. They had born to them seven 
 children, six of whom are yet living, 
 namely: Julia A. (Mrs. Durfee); Thomas, 
 assistant chief of the Oshkosh Fire De- 
 partment; Mary, widow of the late 
 Thomas Delaney, of St. Paul, Minn. ; 
 Margaret, wife of John McCarty, of St. 
 Paul, Minn. ; Sarah, wife of Edward Mc- 
 Cormack, of Oshkosh, and Agnes, a 
 teacher in the Oshkosh public schools. 
 
 HECTOR H. HOWARD, an hon- 
 ored and highly esteemed settler 
 of Wiimebago county, and a uni- 
 versally respected citizen of Osh- 
 kosh, was born in Clinton county, N. Y. , 
 May 25, 1842, of English lineage. 
 
 His parents, William A. and Orrilla 
 (Lawrence) Howard, natives of Vermont 
 and New York State, respectively, came 
 in 1846 from the East to Wisconsin, 
 which at that time was still a Territory, 
 settling in Winnebago when it was a vast 
 wilderness. Here Mr. Howard bought 
 land, made a clearing, built a cabin for 
 himself and family, and engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits until 1873, when he re- 
 moved to Omro, and here in retirement 
 ended his days, his death occurring No- 
 
 vember 24, 1875; his wife died in Minne- 
 sota in 1890. To this honored pioneer 
 couple were born four children, three of 
 whom are yet living, as follows: William 
 P., residing in Olmsted county, Minn.; 
 Hector H., the subject of this sketch; 
 and Emma, wife of John H. Newell, of 
 Hurley, Wisconsin. 
 
 Hector H. Howard received but a 
 limited education at the common schools 
 of Utica township, Winnebago county, 
 of which county he was a resident from 
 1846 to 1873 (with the exception of the 
 time he was in the South), and where 
 from manhood he was for many years a 
 prominent agriculturist. In i860 he took 
 a trip to the State of Mississippi for the 
 benefit of his health, and the war of the 
 Rebellion breaking out not long afterward, 
 he was not allowed to return north, on 
 the other hand was compelled to serve in 
 the Sixth Mississippi Infantry, Confeder- 
 ate army, against his own people. It is 
 hardly necessary to add that he did as 
 little shooting as possible, frequently 
 throwing away his rifle and ammunition, 
 which he had on every occasion to replace 
 at his own expense, and he never failed to 
 be on the lookout for some opportunity 
 to desert, but none presented itself until 
 1865, when, after a service of five years, 
 he succeeded in "crossing the lines" and 
 reaching the north. At the close of the 
 struggle, in the fall of 1865, he returned 
 to Mississippi and resided there seven 
 years, or until 1873, when he again came 
 north, and to Wisconsin, taking up his 
 residence in Omro township, where he 
 made his home until 1892, and then came 
 to Oshkosh, where he has resided ever 
 since. On July i, 1894, he became con- 
 nected with his present creamery business. 
 
 On October 12, 1873, Mr. Howard 
 was married in Utica, Wis. , to Miss Jessie 
 F. Lewis, daughter of Charles S. and 
 Elizabeth Lewis, residents of Fond du 
 Lac county, Wis., and their union has 
 been blessed with five children, their 
 names and dates of birth, etc., being as 
 follows: Orville Lawrence, April 13, 
 
1090 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1876; Libbie L. , August 6, 1878; Edna 
 May, April 21, 1881, deceased May 16, 
 1882; Lulu Bell, May 25, 1883, and Roy 
 R. , March 5, 1886. The family attend 
 the services of the Methodist Church, and 
 in his political views Mr. Howard is a 
 Republican. Honorable, useful and up- 
 right, he is deservedly held in the highest 
 esteem by the community in general. 
 
 LAWRENCE McDonald, a well- 
 known resident of Oshkosh, Win- 
 nebago county, an honored and 
 valued citizen of over thirty years 
 standing, is a native of Ireland, born in 
 County Clare in November, 1842, a son 
 of Denis and Honora (Torpy) McDonald. 
 Our subject is one of ten children 
 born to his parents, five of whom sur- 
 vive, namely: Denis, residing at Fort 
 Howard, Wis. ; Bridget, wife of Albert 
 Kramer, living in Melbourne, Australia; 
 Lawrence, whose name opens this sketch; 
 Mary, a resident of Minneapolis, and 
 George, living in Chicago. Lawrence 
 was reared a farmer boj', and educated at 
 the parish schools of his place of birth. 
 When he was eleven years old his father 
 died, and two years later the widowed 
 mother and her children emigrated to 
 America, landing at Quebec, Canada, 
 from which picturesque city they pro- 
 ceeded westward to Wisconsin, landing 
 at Oshkosh in the fall of 1862. Here 
 Mrs. McDonald died October 4, 1891, 
 and our subject has since continuously 
 resided. For some time after making his 
 home here he worked in sawmills, later 
 learning the trade of stonemason which 
 he still follows with gratifying success, 
 ranking as a first-class mechanic in his 
 line, and enjoying the fullest confidence 
 of the community at large. Mr. McDon- 
 ald has never married, having with true 
 filial devotion cared for his mother up to 
 the time of her death. He is a member 
 of the Roman Catholic Church and of the 
 Catholic Total Abstinence Society; in his 
 political views he is a stanch Democrat. 
 
 Through industry, frugality and sound 
 judgment he has accumulated a consider- 
 ble amount of real estate, and is in com- 
 fortable circumstances, a happy condition 
 he well merits. 
 
 JOHN CALLAHAN, one of Wiscon- 
 sin's honored pioneers, was born in 
 County Leitrim, Ireland, in June, 
 1820. His father, John Callahan, 
 who was a farmer and owned a tract of 
 land, died when our subject was quite 
 young, leaving a widow and nine children, 
 namely: James, Miles, Thomas, John, 
 Patrick, Michael, Margaret, Mary and 
 Bridget. Of these, John remained at 
 home until his mother's death in 1844, 
 the other children in the meantime having 
 all left the parental roof, marrying or em- 
 igrating to the New World. 
 
 In 1 846 John Callahan also determined 
 to try his fortune beyond the Atlantic, 
 and having crossed the ocean settled in 
 the southern part of Wisconsin at what is 
 now Kenosha. The State had not then 
 been admitted to the Union, and much 
 of it was still unsettled. Our young trav- 
 eler sought and obtained a position as a 
 farm hand, and to that work devoted his 
 energies during the succeeding four years. 
 In 1850, he removed to Menasha, and 
 was placed in charge of a gang of men 
 working on the government canal. For 
 nine years he was in the employ of Gov- 
 ernor Dodge and Mr. Reed, being en- 
 gaged on public works. He then entered 
 a barrel factory where he remained four 
 years. He next sought a position with 
 the Chicago & North Western Railroad 
 Company, and for the long period of 
 twenty years was employed at the depot 
 in Neenah. He was ever faithful to the 
 trust reposed in him, and his duties were 
 discharged in a prompt and able manner. 
 At length he retired to private life, having 
 since 1888 engaged in no manual labor. 
 
 In 1852 Mr. Callahan was married to 
 Miss Bridget O'Malley, who was born in 
 County Mayo, Ireland, and they have six 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 109 1 
 
 children — Thomas E. and John M. (both 
 of whom are married), David, Patrick, 
 Mrs. Margaret Gray, and Mary. Both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Callahan are members of 
 the Catholic Church, and are well known 
 and prominent people of Neenah, where 
 for more than half a century they have 
 made their home. Mr. Callahan votes 
 with the Democratic party, and is a stanch 
 and inflexible adherent of the principles 
 laid down by that platform. In his busi- 
 ness dealings he has won success. He 
 began life in limited circumstances, but 
 has made the most of his opportunities 
 and advantages, and a resolute will and 
 earnest purpose have brougnt him the 
 competence which now enables him to 
 enjoy a well-earned rest. 
 
 JOHN M. CALLAHAN was born in 
 Menasha, Winnebago county, June 
 14, 1862, and was educated in the 
 public schools and the Catholic 
 School of Notre Dame. At the age of 
 fourteen he had become a good telegraph 
 operator, having picked up a knowledge 
 of telegraphy while with his brother, who 
 was an operator. At the age of eighteen 
 he was appointed operator at Appleton, 
 Wis. , where he remained two and one- 
 half years, at the expiration of which 
 time he came to Neenah, his present 
 home, and accepted a position as opera- 
 tor and ticket clerk with the Chicago & 
 North Western Railroad Companj'. Thus 
 he served for ten years, when he was 
 made ticket agent, and in July, 1893, he 
 was given full control at this point, serv- 
 ing both as ticket and freight agent. For 
 more than fifteen years he has been in 
 the employ of the company, a fact which 
 well indicates his fidelity to duty and his 
 faithfulness to all trusts. 
 
 In Neenah, on September 3, 1884, 
 Mr. Callahan married Miss Maggie Mc- 
 Craley, a native of Eagle, Wyoming 
 Co., N. Y. , born in April, 1864, a 
 daughter of George B. and Catherine 
 McCraley, also natives of the Empire 
 
 State. Her father, who was a farmer and 
 hotel keeper, died in New York, and 
 after his death the mother, in 1881, 
 brought the family to Wisconsin, and she 
 is still living in this State with her daugh- 
 ter Isabel, who is now the wife of E. W. 
 Thurston. In the family there were four 
 children — Margaret, Isabel, Anna and 
 William, the last named being now de- 
 ceased. The McCraley family is of Irish 
 origin, the grandparents of Mrs. Callahan 
 having been born on the Emerald Isle. 
 To our subject and his wife have been 
 born four children, namely: William 
 R. , E. J. Venturi, Margaret and John 
 M. Mr. and Mrs. Callahan hold mem- 
 bership with the Catholic Church, and 
 Mr. Callahan belongs to the Ancient Or- 
 der of Hibernians, and to the Catholic 
 Knights of Wisconsin, of which latter or- 
 ganization he is State Secretary. Politi- 
 cally, he votes with the Democratic 
 party, in which he takes a deep and 
 abiding interest, and is a member of the 
 County Democratic Central Committee. 
 On December 12, 1894, he was appointed 
 postmaster of the city of Neenah, by 
 President Cleveland. 
 
 HG. LOUIS PAUL. The pur- 
 suits and positions that have oc- 
 cupied the attention of this gentle- 
 man designate him as not only 
 one of the most proficient educators in 
 the country, but also as one whose exe- 
 cutive abilities entitle him to equally high 
 rank among the strong and useful men of 
 the day. He is a native of Germany, 
 born September 5, 1853, in Buckeburg, 
 Schaumberg-Lippe, where for generations 
 his ancestors had lived and died, many of 
 them holding responsible positions under 
 the government. 
 
 Henry Paul, father of our subject, was 
 born in 18 10, in the same part of the 
 Fatherland, and by appointment at the 
 hands of the ruler of the Province became 
 government forester, a high-grade posi- 
 tion which he filled with ability and 
 
1092 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 fidelity till coming to America. He was 
 married in Germany to Miss Caroline 
 Wagner, of the same nativity, and by 
 this union there were nine children, all 
 born in Germany, and all of whom came 
 with their parents to the United States in 
 i860, landing at New Orleans. They ex- 
 perienced all the hardships incident to the 
 Civil war in this country, including the 
 siege of New Orleans, but fortunately 
 escaped any serious misfortune. The 
 father was here assisting his son-in-law, 
 F. Kodlin, in the sale and repair of pianos, 
 Mr. Kodlin at that time being proprietor 
 of the largest store in the city, and the 
 most extensive importer of French pianos, 
 besides other musical instruments. The 
 mother died of yellow fever at the age of 
 fifty-one years, the father in 1869, aged 
 fifty-nine years, both at New Orleans, 
 where they are buried in Greenwood 
 Cemetery. 
 
 H. G. Louis Paul, the subject of these 
 lines, received a parochial and public- 
 school education in New Orleans, attend- 
 ing also the high school in Milwaukee, 
 Wis., and later a teachers' seminary, 
 where in 1873 he passed his examination 
 with high honors. He then set out for 
 Boston, Mass. , and for three years taught 
 a parochial school in that city, one of his 
 pupils being a relative of the poet Long- 
 fellow. He then secured a position as 
 teacher in a Chicago (111.) parochical 
 school, where he had under him 850 
 pupils. For ten years, or until 1885, 
 Mr. Paul continued teaching in this school, 
 when he resigned his position, and com- 
 ing to Oshkosh was given charge of the 
 German Lutheran Parochial School five 
 years. On January i, 1891, his many 
 qualifications and high order of merit 
 being justly appreciated, he received the 
 appointment as Second Assistant Secre- 
 tary of State, which he resigned in 1892 
 in order to accept his present position of 
 clerk of the courts of Winnebago county, 
 an incumbency he fills with characteristic 
 tact, ability and prudence. 
 
 As a teacher Mr. Paul acquired a 
 
 wide and well-merited reputation for good 
 and efficient work done in the several 
 educational institutions with which he was 
 identified. His standing with the Miss- 
 ouri Synod was of the highest order, and he 
 was regarded as one of the most efficient 
 and trusted teachers on their roll. From 
 the position of educator to that of Second 
 Secretary of State was a wide step, one 
 that few would have courage to take; but 
 our subject was equal to the emergency, 
 and proved himself well worthy 01 the 
 place. When he received the appoint- 
 ment to his present post, the Secretary 
 of State was loth to accept his resigna- 
 tion, and so highly were his services ap- 
 preciated that he was presented with a 
 handsome gold-headed cane by the clerks 
 of the Department, as a token of esteem. 
 Never before had the work of the De- 
 partment been better done, or with 
 greater dispatch, than while Mr. Paul was 
 in office, as his motto in all things was: 
 "Never postpone till to-morrow what 
 you can do to-day." In his boyhood he 
 had in reality no love for music, but hav- 
 ing determined to cultivate a taste for the 
 Divine art, he was not long in becoming 
 not only a lover of it, but also a master. 
 While a resident of Chicago he was di- 
 rector-general of the choirs of the Luth- 
 eran Churches of that city, for several 
 years prior to coming to Oshkosh, and 
 to-day he is a leader in the social and 
 musical circles of the city of his adop- 
 tion. 
 
 On July 15, 1874, Mr. Paul was mar- 
 ried, in Boston, Mass., to Miss Margaret 
 Harbach, a native of Bangor, Maine, 
 born of German parents, a lady of do- 
 mestic habits, a model wife, mother and 
 hostess. She is the mother of nine chil- 
 dren, namely: Four living — Henry, 
 Adolph, Herbert and Arnold; and five 
 deceased — Louis, at the age of four years, 
 an infant that died in Chicago, Otto, at 
 the age of eight years, Gertrude, when 
 six years old, and Margaret, who died at 
 Madison, Wis., of diphtheria after an ill- 
 ness of les§ than two days, Mr. and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1093 
 
 Mrs. Paul are members of the Lutheran 
 Church, and of great social influence in 
 the community in which they live. While 
 engaged in the profession of teaching, our 
 subject took no special interest in politics, 
 but the obnoxious Bennett law compelled 
 him to change his tactics from compara- 
 tive indifference to active opposition 
 against the leaders of this law, and he at 
 once enlisted under the banner of the 
 Democrats. So efficient was his work in 
 this respect that the party expressed a 
 desire to place him in some public office, 
 and he is, in fact, the first Democrat to 
 fill the office of clerk of the courts for 
 over thirty years. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM W. WARNER, 
 pastor of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church of Menasha, Winnebago 
 county, was born in the town of 
 Byron, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., on the 
 1st of February, 1856, son of William 
 and Sarah (Durand) Warner. The father 
 was born in Canada, in 1825, and was a 
 Wesleyan minister. The grandfather, 
 Ezra Warner, was also born in Canada, 
 of English descent, and with his family 
 came to the United States, settling on a 
 farm near Coldwater, Mich., where he 
 made his home for some time. Later he 
 removed to Spring Valley, Minn., where 
 his last days were passed ; his wife, how- 
 ever, died in Michigan. In their family 
 were five children — four sons and one 
 daughter. 
 
 William Warner, father of our subject, 
 was the eldest. He was twice married, 
 his first wife, whom he wedded in Michi- 
 gan, surviving their marriage less than a 
 year, and in 1853 he was joined in wed- 
 lock with Miss Sarah Durand, who was 
 born on the State line of Pennsylvania. 
 Four children graced this union, of whom 
 one died in infancy. The others are Will- 
 iam W. , Edwin D. and Orange J. In 
 1855 the father was called to the pastor- 
 ate of a church in Oakfield, and in 1857 
 he removed to Spring Valley, Minn., 
 
 being one of the pioneer ministers of 
 that State, through which he traveled quite 
 extensively, organizing churches. In 1877 
 he returned to Wisconsin, and in 1886 
 his death occurred. He devoted his en- 
 tire life to the work of the ministry, and 
 was a noble and upright man, who won 
 friends wherever he went and had the 
 respect of all with whom he came in con- 
 tact. His three sons all became minis- 
 ters and did good service in the field of 
 Christianity. One of the number, Edwin 
 D.. died in 1888. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch was 
 reared on a farm near Spring Valley, 
 Minn., and attended the common schools 
 until sixteen years of age, after which he 
 engaged in teaching school for one year. 
 When a young man of seventeen he en- 
 tered the college at Wheaton, 111., from 
 which institution he was graduated in the 
 class of 1878, and he also pursued a busi- 
 ness course in Fond du Lac, Wis. He 
 commenced special study for the ministry, 
 in Wheaton, under Dr. J. R. Walker, 
 author of "The Philosophy of the Plan 
 of Salvation," completing same after en- 
 tering the pastorate under the Wisconsin 
 Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist 
 Church, which he did in 1879. In 1888 
 he became identified with the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church. While connected 
 with the former organization he had 
 charge of congregations at Baraboo, 
 Byron and Oshkosh, and during his work 
 in the Methodist Episcopal ministry he 
 has labored with the churches in Elo and 
 Nekimi, and Menasha, having been at 
 the latter place four years. He served as 
 secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Con- 
 ference of Wisconsin for three years, and 
 was its president two years. 
 
 On October 23, 1879, Rev. William 
 W. Warner was united in matrimony 
 with Miss Mary, who was born in Wau- 
 pun. Wis. , daughter of Jedediah and Sarah 
 (Chapin) Amadon, the former a native of 
 Reedsboro, Vt., the latter of Utica, N. Y. 
 They came to the West in an early day, 
 and settled in Wisconsin, where the father 
 
I094 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 followed farming until his death in 1892. 
 In the family were eight children, six of 
 whom are yet living. Two children were 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Warner — Edith S. 
 and Mabel B. After a painful illness of 
 seven years, caused bj- a fall from a car- 
 riage, Mrs. Warner died September 22, 
 1894. She was a model pastor's wife, 
 and her beautiful life endeared her to 
 large numbers who were favored with her 
 labors of love. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Warner is 
 independent, voting his preference re- 
 gardless of party affiliations. His father 
 was a strong anti-slavery man and a 
 stanch Republican, and when the Civil 
 war broke out endeavored to enlist, but 
 his services were not accepted. In his 
 social relations our subject is a Freema- 
 son. He worked his own way through 
 college, leaving home when but seventeen 
 years of age, at which time he entered 
 school, pursuing his studies until his funds 
 were exhausted. He would then take up 
 some line of work which he would follow 
 until his exchequer was sufficiently replen- 
 ished to enable him to further continue 
 his studies. Thus he made his way 
 through school, and the same persistent 
 energy has characterized his life work, 
 and made his labors in the ministry- very 
 successful. 
 
 M 
 
 I>JS. ELIZABETH B. FOW- 
 LER, than whom no one is 
 more deserving of the esteem 
 and regard of the community, 
 is one of the early settlers of Oshkosli, 
 Winnebago count}-, having in June, 1846, 
 come here from Lowville, Lewis county, 
 N. Y. , where she had lived since the year 
 I 8 1 8, with the exception of a few months' 
 residence in Geneva, N. Y. , where her 
 father died. 
 
 Mrs. Fowler is a native of County 
 Monaghan, Ireland, born June 3, 18 17, a 
 daughter of Robert and Ann Belvidere 
 (Stuartj Jackson, both natives of the 
 North of Ireland, and of Scotch-Presby- 
 
 terian descent. Mrs. Jackson was a 
 daughter of Joseph and Jane (Moore) 
 Stuart, prominent North-of-Ireland Pro- 
 testants. Both sides of the house were 
 well connected and highly esteemed for 
 their integrity and uprightness. The 
 home of the Stuarts, during what was 
 know as the " Emmet Rebellion," in Ire- 
 land, was ransacked by a mob, but the 
 inmates were not molested. The Moore 
 family, with relatives, thirty-seven in all, 
 hired a ship, during that same rebellion, 
 and emigrated to America, settling near 
 Philadelphia, where they became pros- 
 perous. Grandfather Jackson was a 
 farmer in Ireland, and passed his entire 
 life there. His son, Robert Jackson, 
 father of Mrs. Fowler, married Miss Ann 
 Belvidere Stuart, and in 1818 they emi- 
 grated to America with their three chil- 
 dren — Joseph S., Jane M. and Elizabeth 
 B. — for a time making their home in 
 Lowville, Lewis county, N. Y. , but later 
 moving to Geneva, same State, where 
 the father died of typhoid fever in 1821. 
 The mother survived him several years, 
 dying when eighty-two years of age, at the 
 home of her daughter, Jane M., wife of 
 Dr. Charles P. Hastings, of Muscatine, 
 Iowa. 
 
 Elizabeth B. Jackson part of the time 
 taught school in Lowville, N. Y., and at 
 other times did needlework. In 1 846 she 
 came to Oshkosh, as already related, and 
 here bought land, building thereon a home 
 that is yet standing, though much im- 
 proved in appearance and comfort, on the 
 corner of Algoma and Light streets. Her 
 energy of bodj' and mind, and good will 
 to all with whom she came in contact, 
 quickly won her many friends, who re- 
 mained so through life. On July 11, 
 1854, she was married in Oshkosh to 
 Jabez Fowler, a native of Franklin, N. 
 Y., who came to Wisconsin in 1852, be- 
 coming a prosperous grocery merchant 
 and lumber dealer in Oshkosh, and in the 
 latter industry was for four years in part- 
 nership with E. L. and Andrew Knapp. 
 In some of the serious fires that visited 
 

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1097 
 
 the town he suffered much damage, but, 
 PhcL-nix-Hke, he rose again from the ashes. 
 He was as highly esteemed as he was 
 well known, and was a quiet, unobtrusive 
 man, who had many friends, whom he 
 made slowly but securely, their friend- 
 ship enduring for life. But the time came 
 when his well-known figure was missed on 
 the streets of Oshkosh, and his welcome 
 voice was silent forever. On Fel^ruary 
 20, 1883, at the age of sixty-four years, 
 deeply mourned by the community, he 
 passed from earth. 
 
 SEBASTIAN NOE, for the past 
 twenty-tive years well and favora- 
 bly known in Oshkosh and neigh- 
 borhood as the courteous and 
 competent superintendent of Riverside 
 Cemetery, is a native of Germany, born 
 in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, January 
 12, 1833. 
 
 His parents, Jopeph V. and Grace 
 (Schiffman) Noe, immigrated with their 
 family of children to the United States in 
 1846, settling on an eighty-acre farm in 
 Nekimi township, Winnebago Co., Wis., 
 where they followed agricultural pursuits 
 until 1870, in which year they moved 
 into the city of Oshkosh where, honored 
 and respected by all worthy citizens, 
 they passed their declining years, the 
 father dying at the age of eighty-four, the 
 mother when seventy-three years old. 
 Seven of their family of ten children are 
 yet living, to wit: Sebastian, Charles, 
 William, Joseph, Mina, Grace and Mary. 
 Sebastian Noe received the greater 
 part of his education in his native land, 
 being thirteen years old when the family 
 came to America, and for a short time 
 he attended school in Nekimi township, 
 Winnebago Co., Wis., in order to famil- 
 iarize himself with the English language. 
 Until 1868 he spent his time at different 
 employments, the greater part of the time 
 following agricultural pursuits, then work- 
 ing at the lumber business, for the greater 
 part of the time employed by the Paine 
 
 61 
 
 Lumber Co., of Oshkosh, and in 1871 he 
 was appointed to his present position. 
 On June 23, 1861, he was married to 
 Miss Madgalena Faust, daughter of Peter 
 and Barbara (I^arth) Faust, natives of 
 Bingen-on-the-Khine, Germany, and early 
 settlers of Winnebago county, Wis., to 
 which union were born eight children, 
 as follows: Katherina B., Lena M. (a 
 Sister of the Second Order of Domini- 
 cans, Mother house at Racine, Wis.), 
 Mary G. (wife of Frank J. Pingry, and 
 residing at Rhinelander, Wis.), John 
 P., Anna, William J., Phillip R., and 
 Roman C. A. 
 
 Peter Faust, father of Mrs. Madgalena 
 Noe, is an old and highly respected resi- 
 dent of Oshkosh, now at the advanced 
 age of eighty-six years; his wife, Barbara, 
 died seventeen years ago when sixty-seven 
 years old. Of their ten children eight 
 are yet living, named respectively: Peter, 
 Anna, Lawrence, Madgalena, Katherina, 
 Barbara, Casper and Phillip. 
 
 The entire family are members of the 
 Catholic Church, and Mr. Noe is asso- 
 ciated \\ith the Catholic Knights. 
 
 DANIEL WITZEL, the courteous 
 and efficient clerk of the city of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, has 
 proved himself eminently worthy 
 of the highest encomiums which can be 
 bestowed upon faithful public servants. 
 
 He is a native of the city of Oshkosh, 
 Wis., born in 1858, a son of Ernst and 
 Susannah ^Berger) Witzel, natives of 
 Silesia, Germany, who in 1852 immi- 
 grated direct to Winnebago county, 
 Wis. The}- settled in the city of Osh- 
 kosh, where the father worked in the 
 mills, and where he and his wife are yet 
 residing. They reared a family of eight 
 children, a brief record of whom is as 
 follows: John resides in Oshkosh; Will- 
 iam has charge of Edgar Sawyer's hunt- 
 ing resort; George resides in Oshkosh, 
 and is a compositor in the office of the 
 Northwc'steni; Eva is the widow of Adam 
 
1 098 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Kattenschnee, of Racine; Anna is the wife 
 of George Herkens, of LaCrosse, Wis. ; 
 Mary is the wife of Charles Sweet, of Osh- 
 kosh; Lizzie is the wife of John Herkens, 
 of Chicago. 
 
 Our subject received a liberal educa- 
 tion at the schools of Oshkosh and at the 
 German-English Academy. At the age 
 of fourteen he commenced to learn the 
 trade of cigarmaker, and in 1883 he em- 
 barked in the cigar business with M. H. 
 Goettmann, which they carried on under 
 the firm name of Witzel & Goettmann 
 till his first election to the position of 
 city clerk; he still has an interest in 
 the business conducted by his partner, 
 M. H. Goettmann, at No. t,j Ceape 
 street. In April, 1890, Mr. Witzel was 
 elected city clerk of Oshkosh, has been 
 continuously re-elected, and is now serv- 
 ing his fifth year, with acknowledged 
 ability. In 1882, in Oshkosh, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Lizzie 
 Straub, a native of Germany, daughter of 
 George Straub, now a resident of Osh- 
 kosh. Two children have blessed this 
 union, named respectively Harry and 
 Herbert. Our subject is a member of the 
 I. O. O. F., Union Lodge No. 179, Osh- 
 kosh; of the A. O. U. W., Lodge No. 
 105; of the Oshkosh Turnverein, and of 
 the Order of Rebekah. It may truly be 
 said of Mr. Witzel that he has risen by 
 his own merits from an humble, though 
 honorable and honest, condition, and that 
 through all he has maintained himself 
 with dignity, propriety and honor. 
 
 REV. JAMES O'MALLEY, pastor 
 of St. Peter's Church, Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, is a native of 
 Ireland, born July 25, 1838, in the 
 town of Westport, County Maj'o, and is 
 descended from respectable, well-to-do 
 farming people. 
 
 Michael O'Malley, father of our sub- 
 ject, and an agriculturist of prominence, 
 was married in Ireland to Miss Mary 
 O'Neil, a native of the North of Ireland, 
 
 and they became the parents of thirteen 
 children — nine sons and four daughters. 
 With such a numerous family, and so 
 many of them being boj's, the parents 
 naturall)' turned their eyes to the New- 
 World where advantages for bringing up 
 a large family were unbounded, and 
 ' ' where children are blessings, and he 
 that hath most, hath aid for his fortune 
 and riches to boast." In 1845 they left 
 behind the sweet Isle of Erin, their faces 
 turned to the vast continent of America, 
 and after landing at Quebec, proceeded 
 still farther westward to Wisconsin, from 
 Milwaukee traveling to Dane county, a 
 distance of one hundred miles, in a lum- 
 ber wagon drawn by a yoke of four-year- 
 old steers. The father bought 160 acres 
 of wild land in Dane county, to the clear- 
 ing of which the family immediately ap- 
 plied themselves, and soon had it con- 
 verted into fair and fruitful fields. Here 
 they prospered, the sons as they grew up 
 occupying farms of their own in the im- 
 mediate vicinity of their parents, and be- 
 coming an honor to the name, the daugh- 
 ters assisting in the various household 
 duties and in the dairy. A brief record 
 of this interesting family is as follows: 
 Of the sons, Thomas is a farmer; John 
 died in California; Patrick is deceased; 
 Martin and Dominic are farmers; James 
 is the subject of this sketch; Joseph 
 still lives on the old homestead; Mich- 
 ael died after reaching maturity. Of 
 the daughters, two reached maturity, 
 viz. : Mrs. Mary Kenney (since deceased), 
 and Mrs. Hannah Hogan, who resides in 
 Dane county. In 1849 John, Patrick, 
 Martin and Dominic went to California, 
 John preceding the others, making the 
 trip around the Cape, the others going 
 via Panama across the mountains with 
 mules, and while journeying on water all 
 the provisions they had each for twenty- 
 four days and nights was one biscuit and 
 a pint of water per day. Many members 
 of the party died 01 route, but the O'Mal- 
 ley brothers reached their destination in 
 safety. John died in California, the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 099 
 
 others, after an absence of four years, re- 
 turning to Wisconsin, and to their farms. 
 In their gold-mining efforts they were 
 successful; Martin, while in California, 
 took a trip to Australia, but, disliking the 
 country and its laws, returned to Ameri- 
 ca. John, who, as already related, died 
 in California, divided all his land and 
 gold among his parents, brothers and 
 sisters, which came to no small an 
 amount, as he owned a good deal of real 
 estate in Wisconsin. The father became 
 a man of prominence in the county, use- 
 ful in municipal affairs, and a reliable 
 adviser in the community. He was the 
 first chairman of the board of supervisors 
 of his township, to which township he 
 gave the name of Westport, in honor of 
 the place of his birth in Ireland. His son 
 Patrick was the first township treasurer, 
 and Dominic represented his District in 
 the halls of the State Legislature. 
 
 James O'Malley, the subject proper 
 of this memoir, received his elementary 
 education in an old log schoolhouse, one 
 of the humblest kind, where the three 
 proverbial " Rs" were taught, and little 
 more. He was reared to farming, but 
 from early boyhood evinced a penchant 
 for study. At a public school in 
 Madison, Wis., he was enabled to 
 improve himself in literary lore for 
 a short time, after which he entered 
 Sinsinawa Mound College in Grant county, 
 and while there was recommended by the 
 president. Rev. Father Power, to study 
 for the priesthood. To this end he at 
 once applied himself sedulously, giving 
 his studies close attention. On leaving 
 the college he concluded his course at the 
 Seminary of our Lady of Angels, at Sus- 
 pension Bridge, N. Y. , and there gradu- 
 ated June 3, 1 87 1. While a pupil at the 
 various institutions he attended, Mr. 
 O'Malley was quiet and studious, invari- 
 ably gaining the good will of his superiors. 
 The first church he was pastor of was in 
 Montello, Marquette county. Wis., and 
 here he faithfully labored three years and 
 three weeks; thence August 10, 1874, 
 
 came to Oshkosh, having been appointed 
 pastor of St. Peter's Church. The con- 
 gregation at that time comprised about 
 180 families, and the church building was 
 a small wooden structure; now there is a 
 large commodious church edifice; a mem- 
 bership of 250 families; and a good 
 parochial school of about 235 pupils, who 
 are taught by five Dominican Sisters. 
 He is a "great gun" in temperance work, 
 and utters no uncertain sound when he 
 dilates on the blessing of temperance and 
 the curse of liquor. It was while a 
 student, a young man of twenty, that he 
 became imbued with temperance ideas, 
 and formed the resolution that the cause 
 would be his lifework in connection with 
 his labors in the priesthood. He has or- 
 ganized a society of Temperance cadets, 
 and also a Sodality of young ladies. 
 
 Father O'Malley has so deported him- 
 self as to command the admiration and re- 
 spect of all who know him, both Catholics 
 and Protestants. He is a man of scholarly 
 attainments, and his life is one of con- 
 stant activity in his profession. To the 
 poor he is charitable, and to those who 
 differ with him in religion he is always 
 gentle and kind. As a pulpit orator he 
 ranks high, and it is said of him that on 
 all occasions, either in ecclesiastical or 
 temperance work, his eloquence flows 
 without a ripple. On November 6, 1886, 
 he was appointed vicar general of the 
 diocese of Green Bay by Bishop Katzer. 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN N. STONE, 
 editor and proprietor of the Nee- 
 nah Times, a spicy and newsy 
 daily and weekly newspaper pub- 
 lished at Neenah, is a native of New York 
 State, born March 4, 1835, in Rochester, 
 a son of Waldo and Catherine (Perry) 
 Stone, the former of Scotch descent, the 
 latter of Irish. Waldo Stone was an 
 edge-tool manufacturer in Rochester, N. 
 Y. , and died there; his wife passed from 
 earth in Detroit, Mich., in 1878. The 
 grandparents of our subject, on both 
 
IIOO 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sides, were natives of Canada, whence in 
 an early day they moved to New York 
 State, settHng in Batavia and Rochester, 
 respectively. 
 
 The subject proper of this notice 
 passed his boyhood in his native city, 
 where he secured a good substantial edu- 
 cation, his spare time, when not attend- 
 ing school, being spent more or less in 
 newspaper offices, to which fact, no doubt, 
 may in a great measure be attributed his 
 penchant for journalism. At the age of 
 fourteen he went to Buffalo, same State, 
 where he suffered a three-years' appren- 
 ticeship at the printer's trade, triumph- 
 antly passing through the trying ordeals 
 incident to that somewhat Protean period 
 of probation, at the close of which he de- 
 parted for Detroit, Mich., and here fol- 
 lowed his trade in the capacity of a fully- 
 qualified "comp." In the fall of 1S56 he 
 took up his residence in Romeo, Mich., 
 and became the founder of the Romeo 
 Argus, a weekly newspaper, which he 
 published about one year; then removing 
 to Wisconsin and locating in Manitowoc, 
 became one of the editors and publishers 
 of the ]]\-tkly Tribune, published at that 
 place. This was in 1857; but it does not 
 appear that Capt. Stone remained long 
 connected with that journal, for we find 
 him, in the following year, at Gravesville, 
 Calumet county, connected with the Calu- 
 met Republican, also a weekly, the edi- 
 torial chair of which paper he filled till 
 1 861, the 3'ear of the breaking out 
 of "grim-visaged war" in our fair 
 land. Fired with the spirit of patriotism 
 and the ambition to become an unit in 
 the " magnificently stern array, " of fight- 
 ing men for the Union, and although it is 
 said "the pen is mightier than the 
 sword," he laid down the one to take up 
 the other, without demur. On April 3, 
 1 86 1, he enlisted in Company K, Fourth 
 Wis. V. I., remaining in the ranks as a 
 private until the last day of that year, 
 when, his ability as a man and courage 
 as a soldier being fully recognized in the 
 proper quarter, he was commissioned 
 
 captain of Company G, Nineteenth Wis. 
 V. I., serving in that capacity until Au- 
 gust, 1863, at which time, owing to im- 
 paired health, he received an honorable 
 discharge at Suffolk, Va. In that State 
 he saw the greater part of his active ser- 
 vice, being stationed at Norfolk and Suf- 
 folk alternately, participating in the bat- 
 tle of Nansemond river, and in several 
 skirmishes. 
 
 Returning to Wisconsin immediately 
 after his discharge, he took up his resi- 
 dence at Neenah, Winnebago county, 
 where he founded the Neenah Times — at 
 that time a weekly, but since 1882 both 
 a weekl\' and daily — which (with the ex- 
 ception of four years, from 1871 tc 1875, 
 during which time he was publishing the 
 Appleton Times) he has since edited and 
 published with characteristic spirit and 
 ability. Capt. Stone is an able and ver- 
 satile writer, and, as a successful newspaper 
 man; his reputation extends throughout 
 the entire State. In his political leanings 
 he is a Democrat, and takes an active 
 part in the councils of the party whose 
 principles he maintains fearlessly and 
 honestly. He has served as a delegate to 
 many State and Congressional Conven- 
 tions of the party, in Wisconsin, covering 
 a period of some thirty j'ears or more, 
 and was chairman of the Democratic 
 County Convention of 1894. Socially 
 the Captain is a member of the G. 
 A. R., and of the F. & A. M., in 
 which latter organization he is a Knight 
 Templar. In civic affairs, he has 
 served in various offices of honor and 
 trust; was president of Neenah in 1868, 
 prior to which, in 1865, he was appointed 
 postmaster of that city. He is now, and 
 has been for the past four years, a mem- 
 ber of the board of education of the city 
 of Neenah. 
 
 In 1855 Capt. John N. Stone and 
 Miss Julia E. Abbott, daughter of Flavel 
 and Julia Ann Abbott, natives of near 
 Bennington, Vt., were united in marriage 
 at Detroit, Mich., and three children were 
 born to them, to wit: May, deceased in 
 
UOMUBMORATIVE BIOORAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 1 lOI 
 
 infancy; Herbert A., now connected with 
 his father's business; and Carrie, wife of 
 W. H. Studley, of Chicago, 111. Capt. 
 and Mrs. Stone are members of the 
 Episcopal Church, of which he has been 
 warden for the past fifteen years, and 
 they are held in the highest esteem by the 
 community in which they live. 
 
 CHARLES WILLIAM OVIATT, 
 M. D., of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, was born in Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, April 7, 1853, and was the 
 son of William C. and Parmelia L. (Hale) 
 Oviatt, the former of whom was a car- 
 riage manufacturer at Tallmadge, Ohio. 
 The subject of these lines received his 
 education at the Tallmadge Academy, 
 after which he attended Oberlin College, 
 Oberlin, Ohio, and the Collegiate Insti- 
 tute at Ft. Edward, N. Y. His vacations 
 were spent in the blacksmith department 
 of his father's factory, and at the age of 
 eighteen, when his father died, he was 
 considered a finished workman in that 
 department. He then spent a year at 
 the Collegiate Institue at Ft. Edward, at 
 the end of which time he entered a drug 
 store at that place, remaining there until 
 he entered Jefferson Medical College, Phil- 
 adelphia, in 1873. After this he worked in 
 drug stores in Cleveland, Ohio, and other 
 places, and spent some time traveling in 
 the interests of the drug trade. His med- 
 ical education was completed at the Col- 
 lege of Physicians and Surgeons, of Chi- 
 cago, in 1887, since which time he has 
 been a practitioner in Oshkosh. In 1890 
 Dr. Oviatt established a private surgical 
 hospital in the latter city, known as Maple 
 Lodge Sanitarium. This was done sim- 
 ply to provide a place where the demands 
 of modern surgery could be carried out. 
 In January, 1893, Dr. H. M. Mixer be- 
 came a partner in this enterprise, and is 
 now acting as surgeon in charge. The 
 institution is devoted exclusively to surgi- 
 cal work, and is in a flourishing condition. 
 On October 27, r88i, Dr. Oviatt was 
 
 married to Miss Petronella A. Gilbert, a 
 daughter of Marshall H. and Sarah Gil- 
 bert, of New London, Wis. One child, 
 Oneita, has been born to them. Our sub- 
 ject is a member of the Brainard Medical 
 Society of Milwaukee, of the State Med- 
 ical Society and of the Americal Medical 
 Association. He is medical director of 
 the American Mutual Accident Associa- 
 tion, and of the Security Savings Life As- 
 sociation, both of Oshkosh. In 1893 he 
 was elected instructor in surgery in Rush 
 Medical College, Chicago, which position 
 he filled until January, 1895, when he 
 was obliged to resign because of the in- 
 creased demands upon his time in his 
 work in Wisconsin. 
 
 HENRY C. HANSEN, member of 
 the enterprising firm of Davis, 
 Hansen & Co., well known not 
 only in the city of Oshkosh but 
 in the entire county for the sterling qual- 
 ity of the goods they manufacture, is a 
 native of Wisconsin, born June 20, i860, 
 in the village of Pickett, Winnebago 
 county. 
 
 Hans Christian Hansen, father of our 
 subject, by birth a Dane, was but a young 
 lad when he came from Denmark to the 
 United States, and numbered among the 
 early settlers of Winnebago county. Wis. 
 In Utica township he followed carpenter- 
 ing, his regular trade, until August, 1861, 
 when he enlisted in Company L, First 
 Wis. V. C. ; he died while in the service, 
 at Barnesville, Mo., January 4, 1863. 
 He was married January 7, 1854, to Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Vankeuren, widow of Eleazer 
 Vankeuren, and four children were born 
 to this union, three of whom are yet liv- 
 ing, viz. : Clara Amelia, wife of John E. 
 Chappel, residing in San Francisco, Cal. ; 
 Henry S. , subject of sketch; and Ellwood, 
 in Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Hansen, the mother 
 of our subject, is a native of Germany, 
 daughter of Michael and Phoebe Eimerich, 
 who came from the Fatherland to the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 United States when she was a seven-year- 
 old girl. They first located at Wooster, 
 Wayne Co., ()hio, whence in 1849 they 
 moved to Wisconsin, making a settlement 
 in Wiimebago county, where the mother 
 died November 26, 1863; the father 
 passed from earth January 8, 1864, in 
 New London, Wis., while on a visit there. 
 Their daughter Elizabeth has been twice 
 married, first time August 7, 1 846, in 
 Wooster, Ohio, to Eleazer Vankeuren, of 
 New York State, and by him had three 
 children, only one, however, now living — 
 B. E. Vankeuren, a prominent and suc- 
 cessful lawyer of Oshkosh. Eleazer \'an- 
 keuren died July 29, 1851, in Utica town- 
 ship, Winnebago county, of which local- 
 ity he had been a resident since 1847. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Hansen is now living in 
 Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch re- 
 ceived a liberal education, having attended 
 school at Ripon, Wis., one year, and Ap- 
 pleton College also one year. On com- 
 pleting his studies he commenced learning 
 the trade of machinist in the shops of 
 Perry Ransom. Oshkosh, after which for 
 a time he carried on business for his own 
 account on Light street, in that city. 
 Later he engaged in the manufacture of 
 pumps, and as a member of the Oshkosh 
 Pump Company continued in that line for 
 several years, (ir until in March, 1894, 
 was organized the present firm of Davis, 
 Hansen & Co., manufacturers of iron and 
 brass-lined force and lift pumps. Our 
 subject has from time to time made many 
 improvements, and has also invented sev- 
 eral new machines used in the manufac- 
 ture of pumps, all very ingenious and of 
 the greatest utility. The firm are wide- 
 awake, progressive and reliable, and have 
 been doing a rapidly increasing business 
 ever since their establishment. 
 
 In 1882, in Oshkosh, Wis., Henry C. 
 Hansen and Miss Lyda O. Barnes were 
 united in marriage, and five children have 
 been born to them, named respectively: 
 Harvey C, Lloyd E. , Russell, Percy and 
 Bessie. Mrs. Hansen is a daughter of 
 
 Tracey and Mary Barnes, natives of New 
 York State, and now residing near Antigo, 
 Langlade Co., Wis. The Hansens are 
 members of the Methodist Church, and 
 in his political views our subject is a Pro- 
 hibitionist. He is an energetic young 
 business man, a thorough master of his 
 trade, and, ever alive to the wants of his 
 customers, knows how to supply them 
 with absolute satisfaction to all concerned. 
 
 WILLIAM G. BRAUER (de- 
 ceased), who in his lifetime was 
 one of the most popular and in- 
 fluential business men of Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, noted for his 
 public spirit and sterling integrity, was a 
 native of Saxony, Prussia, l)orn in the city 
 of Bitterfeld, Merseburg, November 19, 
 1843. He was a son of Christopher G. 
 and Amile (Krommer) Brauer, both also 
 natives of Germany (the father born in 
 Bitterfeld, Saxony, May 2, 1812), who 
 were the parents of eight children, seven 
 of whom are still living. The parents are 
 also living, in the full enjoyment of the 
 respect and esteem of the community. 
 
 Our subject was ten years old when 
 his parents brought him to this country 
 and to Oshkosh, the year of their immi- 
 gration being 1853, consequently number- 
 ing among the early settlers of the county. 
 Here young William received the greater 
 part of his education, and in early youth 
 commenced the world in earnest bj- en- 
 gaging in various occupations until 1869, 
 in which year he opened out a tobacco, 
 book, stationery, music and piano estab- 
 lishment, which he successfully conducted 
 up to the time of his decease, by honest 
 business methods and strict attention to 
 the details of his trade building up a 
 trade that yielded him a lucrative income. 
 He was also agent for leading ocean 
 steamship lines, deputy revenue stamp 
 collector, and superintendent of the local 
 weather signal service station — a busy 
 man, indeed, one highly esteemed in both 
 commercial and social circles. He passed 
 
COMMEMORATIVE DIOORAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 103 
 
 from earth September 5, 1894, and by 
 his death Oshkosh lost a loyal and valua- 
 ble citizen, his wife a loving husband, and 
 his children a kind and indulgent' father. 
 On May 2, 1876, Mr. Brauer was 
 married in Oshkosh to Miss Alvina Paul- 
 ine Ernst, daughter of Conrad and 
 Freiderica (Reinhart) Ernst, both na- 
 tives of Germany, and their union was 
 blessed with seven children, their names 
 and dates of birth being as follows: 
 William Ernst, March 13, 1877; Freya 
 Alvina, December 20, 1878; Heinrich 
 Grover, August 19, 1880; Alfred Paul, 
 July 18, 1883; Max Richard, August i, 
 1886 (died May 27, 1893); Normal 
 Emilia, May 18, 1889 (died August 24, 
 1889); Felix Helmuth, July 28, 1891 
 (died August 28, 1891). Socially Mr. 
 Brauer was a prominent member of the 
 Knights of Pythias, Sons of Hermann, 
 Ancient Order of United Workmen, and an 
 honorary member of Crescent Club, Casino 
 Club and Turner Societies of Oshkosh. 
 
 RICHARD A. SPINK, a well-known 
 and highly respected citizen and 
 resident of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, was born January 8, 1844, 
 in Enniskillen, Ireland, his parents tem- 
 porarily sojourning there at the time, 
 though still residents of England. 
 
 Richard Robert and Caroline (Bowyer) 
 Spink, parents of our subject, were na- 
 tives of England, the former born June 
 22, 1806, in Leeds, Yorkshire, a civil en- 
 gineer by profession, the latter born Oc- 
 tober 28, 1822, in Macclesfield, Cheshire. 
 They were married at the old church in 
 Macclesfield, England, December 14, 
 1842, and in 1844, when their son Richard 
 was less than two months old, they came 
 to this country, spending a few months 
 in Virginia, from there moving to Canada, 
 locating in Hamilton, Canada West (now 
 Province of Ontario), where the father 
 entered the employ of the government as 
 a civil engineer. In that capacity he con- 
 tinued four years, or until 1849, at which 
 
 time he migrated with his family to Fond 
 du Lac, Wis., where for a number of years 
 he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, in 
 connection therewith following his pro- 
 fession to some extent, and doing a little 
 land surveying. Here he passed the rest 
 of his days, dying December 23, 1870, his 
 widow subsequently moving to Indian- 
 apolis, Ind. They had a family of nine 
 children, as follows: Richard Angelo, 
 subject of sketch; Alfred Bowyer, born 
 June 24, 1845, in the town of Hamilton, 
 Canada West, died in the city of Fond du 
 Lac, Wis., November i, 1872 (he served 
 in Companies I and B, Fifth Wis. V. I., 
 during the Civil war); Frances Thompson, 
 born August 2, 1847, in the town of 
 Hamilton, Canada West, married to 
 Philetus Russell Tiffany October 24, 1867, 
 at Taycheedah, Wis. ; Frederic William, 
 born September 22, 1849, at Fond du 
 Lac, W'is., and married to Hattie Math- 
 ews; Caroline Eleanor, born December 
 24, 185 1, at Fond du Lac, Wis., died 
 January 2, 1867, at Taycheedah, Wis.; 
 Charles Arthur, born February 7, 1854, 
 at Fond du Lac, Wis. ; Anne Eliza, born 
 November i, 1856, married to William 
 H. Spencer at Oshkosh September 19, 
 1 881; Mary Amelia, born September 7, 
 1858, died at the end of November, 1874; 
 Adelaide Helena, born March 5, 1862, in 
 the town of Empire, Fond du Lac county, 
 Wis., married at Oshkosh to La Fayette 
 Daniel Bishop March 15, 1888. 
 
 R. A. Spink, of whom this sketch 
 more particularly relates, received a thor- 
 ough common-school training up to the 
 age of fourteen, when he began clerking 
 in his father's store, and thus continued 
 until he reached the age of nineteen. On 
 February 3, 1863, he entered the service 
 of the Union army, enlisting in Company 
 A, Fourteenth Wis. V. I., for three years, 
 or during the war. His regiment was at- 
 tached to the army of the West, and par- 
 ticipated in the following battles: Shiloh, 
 Tenn. ; luka, Corinth and Vicksburg, 
 Miss. ; Fort De Russy, Pleasant Hill 
 Landing, Clouterville, Cane River, Marks- 
 
II04 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ville and Yellow Bayou, La. ; Tupelo, 
 Carinargo Cross Roads and Old Town 
 Creek, Miss ; Kenesaw Mountain, Ezra 
 Chapel, Lovejoy Station, Jonesboro and 
 Atlanta, Ga. ; Augusta, Ark. ; Nashville, 
 Tenn. ; Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, 
 Ala. Mr. Spink was honorably discharged 
 from the service October o, 1865, at 
 Mobile, Ala. , and returned home, reach- 
 ing Fond du Lac on the 28th of the same 
 month. He immediately commenced 
 learning photography, working until 1870 
 for other parties, after which, until 1886, 
 he conducted a business in that line for 
 his own account in the city of Oshkosh. 
 In the latter year he was elected city 
 treasurer, and he is now serving his ninth 
 consecutive year. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Spink was united in mar- 
 riage, in Fond du Lac, with Miss Margaret 
 Amanda Consaul, a native of Wisconsin, 
 born at East Troy August 23, 1849, 
 daughter of Joseph J. and Lydia P. 
 (Worthman) Consaul, early settlers of 
 Milwaukee, Wis., who are now living in 
 Lamar, Mo. To this union ten children 
 were born, their names and dates of birth 
 being as follows: Carrie May, Septem- 
 ber 16, 1 87 1; Frederick Milton, May 20, 
 1873, died November 5, 1878; Edward 
 Lyman, November 12, 1874; Walter 
 Angelo, August 25, 1876, died October6, 
 1877; Frank Arthur, April 2, 1878; Will- 
 iam Worthman, October 2, 1880; Hattie 
 Ella, January i, 1882; Robert, April 4, 
 1884; Harry Benjamin, November 4, 
 1886; Marguerite Abbie, January 27, 
 1890. They were all born in Qslikosh, 
 Wis., except Carrie May, Frederick Mil- 
 ton and Edward Lvman, who were born, 
 the first two named in Fond du Lac, the 
 latter in Taycheedah, Wisconsin. 
 
 In his political preferences Mr. Spink 
 is a Democrat, and has served in various 
 civic offices, including overseer of the 
 poor, two years (1884-85); and alderman 
 from the First ward of Oshkosh, three 
 years. Socially he is a member of John 
 W. Scott Post No. 241, G. A. R., and of 
 Winnebago Lodge No. 130, I. O. O. F., 
 
 and he stands high in the community both 
 as a private citizen and as a public offi- 
 cial. In 1878 he organized the famous 
 Arion Band and Orchestra, an organiza- 
 tion the people take a great deal of inter- 
 est in, and one they feel proud of. 
 
 NH. TEAL, D. D. S., for the 
 past seven years a prominent and 
 successful surgeon-dentist of Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, is a na- 
 tive of Indiana, born in the town of 
 Ligonier, Noble countj-. 
 
 DeWitt Clinton Teal, his father, was 
 born in Ohio, a son of George Teal who, 
 in an early day, came from Virginia to 
 Ohio, thence moving to Indiana, becom- 
 ing one of the first settlers of Perry town- 
 ship, Noble county, where he followed 
 agricultural pursuits, and passed the rest 
 of his days. DeWitt C. Teal embarked 
 in the boot and shoe business in Ligonier, 
 Ind. , later taking up the dry-goods trade. 
 He was there married to Miss Caroline 
 Fisher, who bore him three children, to 
 wit: N. H. (our subject), Morton De- 
 Witt (who resides in Toledo, Ohio, and is 
 with Woolson-Spicer Co.) and Caddie L. 
 (living at home with her parents in Ligon- 
 ier, Indiana). 
 
 Our subject was educated at the 
 schools of Ligonier, Ind., aid in early 
 youth commenced the study of dentistry 
 at Kendallville, Ind., under J. M. Teal, 
 afterward taking a course at the American 
 Dental College, Chicago, where he gradu- 
 ated, taking the first course, in 1887, and 
 afterward with the class of 1891. After 
 finishing his first course he came to Osh- 
 kosh, where he opened dental parlors, 
 and so successful has he been that he has 
 now two assistants, and a suite of five 
 rooms, at No. 9 High street, one of the 
 best localities in the city. In August, 
 1893, he was married, at Oshkosh, to 
 Miss Agnes E. McPartlin, a native of 
 that city, daughter of P. A. McPartlin, 
 a retired lumber merchant, and an early 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 pioneer of the locality. The Doctor is 
 popular and enterprising, and enjoys the 
 confidence of a wide circle of patrons. 
 
 DR. EDWIN M. BARNES, the 
 widely-known and highly-skilled 
 veterinary surgeon, who for the 
 past six or seven years has suc- 
 cessfully practiced his profession in Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, is a native of 
 Wisconsin, born in Kenosha county April 
 7, 1 861. He comes of English ancestry, 
 his parents, grandparents, etc., both 
 paternal and maternal, having been born 
 in England. 
 
 Samuel Barnes, father of our subject, 
 came to Wisconsin in 1855, ^"d was 
 a prosperous agriculturist of Kenosha 
 county, where he died in 1887. He was 
 married to Miss Catherine Hole, who is 
 now a resident of Chicago, 111. , and seven 
 children were born to them, of whom, 
 one died in infancy; another, John Henry 
 by name, was killed at the age of eighteen 
 by the accidental discharge of a gun, the 
 remaining five being Vicher v., a prom- 
 inent lawyer and strong advocate of 
 Prohibition, residing in Yankton, S. Dak. ; 
 Philip R. , also a member of the legal 
 profession, now in Chicago, 111. ; Carrie 
 Jane, wife of Dr. Ozanne, of Oshkosh; 
 William J., a dealer in patent rights, 
 whose residence is in Chicago; and 
 Edwin M. 
 
 Edwin M. Barnes, the subject proper 
 of these lines, received his education at 
 the public schools of Kenosha and Busi- 
 ness College of Oshkosh, Wis., after- 
 ward attending the American Veterinary 
 College at New York City, from which 
 institution he graduated with the class of 
 1885. In Marinette, Wis., he first com- 
 menced the practice of his chosen pro- 
 fession, which was in the same year as 
 his graduation, whence at the expiration 
 of three years he moved to Oshkosh, 
 where he has since remained, building up 
 a large and rapidly increasing business. 
 In 1882, in Kenosha, Wis., Dr. Barnes 
 
 was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
 Elizabeth Graham, daughter of William 
 and Phoebe Graham, natives of New 
 York State, now residents of Jackson, 
 Mich., and three children have come to 
 brighten their home: William S., Milton 
 P. and Wallace H. The Doctor is sec- 
 retary of the Wisconsin State Veterinary 
 Association, a member of the Ancient 
 Order of Foresters, and, with his family, 
 is identified with the Methodist Church, 
 although his parents were Baptists. He 
 enjoys an enviable reputation for skillful 
 treatment in the practice of his profes- 
 sion, and as a citizen he is highly 
 respected. 
 
 WILBER E. RICHARSDON is 
 one of the self-made men of 
 Menasha, Winnebago county, 
 now serving as chief engineer 
 for the Gilbert Paper Mills, the position 
 he holds being a responsible one, but his 
 ability is equal to it, and he has and merits 
 the confidence of the company. 
 
 He was born at Big Springs, Adams 
 Co., Wis., in May, 1859, and is a son of 
 Freeman Richardson, a native of Canada, 
 by occupation a carriage and wagon 
 manufacturer, who while yet a young 
 man came to Wisconsin, settling in Port- 
 age City at the head of the Fox river. 
 There he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Olive Sweet, a native of New York, 
 whose father was among the early settlers 
 of Wisconsin, where he cleared and 
 opened up a new farm. The paternal 
 grandfather, Reuben Richardson, was 
 born in Boston, and was a contractor and 
 builder. By the marriage of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Freeman Richardson were born eight 
 children, namely: Charles A., Wilber 
 E., Lemuel E., Mabel S., George, Ben- 
 jamin B., Nathan and Clara. The father 
 has always been engaged in the wagon 
 and carriage making business, and is now 
 successfully carrying on a shop in Duluth, 
 Minn. During the Civil war he mani- 
 fested his loyalty to the government by 
 
I io6 
 
 COMMEMORATIViS BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 enteriiif,' the Union arm)', and defending 
 tiic old ilat; on southern battle fields. 
 
 Our subject began his education in the 
 common schools and there pursued his 
 studies until eighteen years of age. At 
 that time he commenced learning the 
 machinist's trade at Big Springs, at the 
 Favorite Iron Works, previous to which 
 at various intervals he had worked in his 
 father's shop at carriage and wagon mak- 
 ing. For his first year's labor at Big 
 Springs he received only $6o. He served 
 a five-years' apprenticeship, during 
 which time he completely mastered the 
 business, and then went to Portage City 
 where, for about eighteen months, he en- 
 gaged in building and repairing marine 
 engines. He then secured a position with 
 the Marinette Iron Works, at Marinette, 
 Wis., as a machinist, and continued with 
 that company four years, during which 
 time he was made assistant foreman; 
 later he served as head engineer in a saw- 
 mill for a short time. In 1884 he went 
 to Duluth, Minn., where he had charge of 
 the Clyde Iron Works for two years, and 
 during the following two years he worked 
 as erecting engineer for the Lake Superior 
 Elevator Company. While in Duluth he 
 was a member of the N. A. S. E. Society, 
 an organization formed of the best en- 
 gineers of that locality for the purpose of 
 studying higher engineering. In the spring 
 of 1888, Mr. Richardson went to Montana 
 in the interests of Frazier & Chalmers, of 
 Chicago, to take charge of the machinery 
 of the Elkhorn Mining Company, and for 
 two years made his home in the West. 
 On the expiration of that period he re- 
 turned to the Mississippi Valley, and 
 entered the employ of the Edward P. 
 Ellis Company of Milwaukee, as erecting 
 engineer, superintending the erection of 
 their tiiachinery in various places from 
 Great Falls, Mont., to New Orleans and 
 Texas. In 1893 he became a resident of 
 Menasha, since which time he has served 
 as chief engineer of the the Gilbert Paper 
 Mills, having entire charge of all the ma- 
 chinery. 
 
 In November, 1886, Mr. Richardson 
 was united in marriage with Miss Lucinda 
 A. Lilly, a native of Fort Howard, Wis., 
 and a daughter of George W. and Mary 
 A. Lilly. Her parents were both born in 
 Maine, were married in the Pine Tree 
 State, and in 1864 came West; the father 
 was a shipbuilder by trade. In the family 
 were six children: Henry A., Frank E., 
 EllaM., William C, Lucinda A. and Janet 
 L. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson have two 
 interesting chiUlren: George F. and 
 Stewart I. 
 
 In his social relations, Mr. Richardson 
 is a member of the I. O. O. F. , and in 
 his political views he is a Republican, but 
 has never had time or inclination for 
 public office, preferring to devote his 
 entire energies to his business interests. 
 His life has been a busy and useful one, 
 and he has labored earnestly to obtain the 
 success which has crowned his efforts. 
 
 JOSEPH P. BEACH, M. D. Gifted 
 with a love for his chosen profession, 
 quick of intuition, and generous and 
 sympathetic in his work, this gentle- 
 man has won the respect and esteem of 
 the citizens of Neenah, Winnebago 
 county, where he has resided since 1889. 
 He was born in Ohio, first seeing the 
 light in the town of Sharon, in the year 
 1849, and is a grandson of a patriot sol- 
 dier who gave his life for the liberty of 
 his country. Isaac T. Beach, father of 
 our subject, was a native of the northern 
 part of Vermont, born in 1805, was there 
 educated at the common schools, and 
 reared to agricultural pursuits. In 1837 
 he was married, in Alton, N. H., to Miss 
 Alice Chamberlin, who was born in New 
 Hampshire in 181 i, a daughter of Elijah 
 and Mary Chamberlin, and by this mar- 
 riage there were six children, three of 
 whom are yet living, namely: Hannah 
 C. , Emily and Joseph P. The mother of 
 these died in Neenah, Wis., in 1890. 
 Immediately after his marriage Isaac T. 
 Beach took up his residence in Sharon, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWGHAPmCAL RECORL. 
 
 1 107 
 
 Ohio, and engaged in a mercantile busi- 
 ness which he successfully conducted till 
 1 iS50, when he came to Wisconsin, making 
 his home in Appleton. In 1 850-51 he 
 built the first gristmill in that then village, 
 operated it a short time, and then selling 
 out he took up the lumber business. He 
 built several bridges and mills on the Fox 
 river, and in 1865, while he was engaged 
 in erecting a large mill at Eau Claire, 
 Wis., he met with an accident which 
 caused his death. During the war of the 
 Rebellion he was employed by the gov- 
 ernment to construct bridges, and after 
 the battle of Lookout Mountain he built 
 one for the government across the Chat- 
 tanooga river. In his political sympa- 
 thies he was a Republican, and in relig- 
 ious faith a member of the Disciple 
 Church. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch was 
 a one-year-old infant when his parents 
 brought him to Wisconsin and to Apple- 
 ton, at the public schools of which place 
 and at Lawrence University he received 
 his literary education. At the age of 
 sixteen he commenced learning the trade 
 of printer in the office of the Appleton 
 Crescent, at which he worked some five 
 years. From 1869 to 1871 he was en- 
 gaged as principal of the schools at Fort 
 Smith, Ark.; from 1871 to 1873 he was 
 part owner of the Appleton Times, a 
 daily and weekly paper, Capt. Stone be- 
 ing associated with him. In 1873 he sold 
 his interest in Appleton, and assumed 
 management of his father-in-law's mer- 
 cantile business in Manitowoc, Wis. , 
 which he conducted four years. While 
 a resident of Fort Smith, Ark., he com- 
 menced the study of medicine. In 1885 
 he commenced practicing his profession 
 in Manitowoc, but after four years re- 
 moved to Neenah, where he has since 
 had his residence. He is a graduate of 
 Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago. 
 
 Dr. Beach has been twice married, 
 first time, in 1872, to Miss Ella V. Piatt, 
 born in Manitowoc, Wis., in 1854, daugh- 
 ter of J. E. and Mary (Vilas) Piatt, na- 
 
 tives of New York who came to Wiscon- 
 sin in an early day, settling in Manitowoc, 
 where the father died in 1890, and the 
 mother is yet living. They reared a 
 family of three children. By this mar- 
 riage of Dr. Beach there were six chil- 
 dren, named, respectively, Ella, Parnell, 
 Roy, Alice, Lillian and Edwin. The 
 mother of these died in i8go at Neenah, 
 and in October, 1892, the Doctor, for his 
 second wife, wedded at White Water, 
 Wis., Miss Verna S. Bullock, daughter of 
 Samuel and Mary (Elliott) Bullock, the 
 former of whom, originally a farmer, is 
 now interested in a creamery at Madison, 
 S. Dak. In his political sympathies Dr. 
 Beach is a Republican, and in Church 
 connection he is a Baptist. By his cour- 
 teous manner, sympathetic nature and 
 acknowledged ability he has secured an 
 enviable practice, and surrounded himself 
 with a host of warm friends. 
 
 THOMAS HIGGINS, one of the 
 most progressive and successful 
 business men of Winnebago coun- 
 ty, was born in County Roscom- 
 mon, Ireland, November 10, 1848, and 
 in infancy was brought to this country by 
 his parents. The family settled in New 
 Jersey, near Freehold, where young Hig- 
 gins spent his boyhood days up to the age 
 of fourteen, when the family moved to 
 Sterling, 111., and settled on a prairie 
 farm near that place, where the father of 
 our subject, now in his eighty-eighth year, 
 still lives. 
 
 Thomas Higgins, except during his at- 
 tendance at the common schools, and 
 taking a term in a Chicago business col- 
 lege, assisted on the farm till of age, when, 
 in company with his brother Henr}', he 
 took some contracts for grading wagon 
 roads through that new country, later en- 
 gaging quite extensively in railroad con- 
 tracting. In 1877 they built gas works 
 at Dixon, 111., and the following year at 
 Waterloo, Iowa, and Neenah, Wis., since 
 which time Thomas has made the latter 
 
iioS 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 city his home, and the brothers have de- 
 voted their time to the building of gas, 
 electric hght and street railway plants, 
 then after getting the plants in successful 
 operation selling out, and in all their en- 
 terprises they have been successful. In 
 1879 Thomas Higgins was married, in 
 Neenah, to Miss Mary Gaffney, who was 
 born in that city, daughter of Philip and 
 Anna Gaffney, both natives of New York 
 State. To this union have been born 
 three daughters named, respectively, 
 Eva, Amie and Helen. In politics Mr. 
 Higgins is a Republican, and was a dele- 
 gate at large from the State of Wisconsin 
 to the National Republican League Con- 
 vention held in Denver, Colo., in June, 
 1894. 
 
 His father, Thomas Higgins, Sr. , was 
 born in Ireland August 15, 1807, and has 
 always followed farming both in his na- 
 tive land and in America, the old Higgins 
 homestead near Sterling, 111., where he 
 still resides, being one of the handsomest 
 farms in the vicinity. In Ireland he mar- 
 ried Mary Gannon, who died in June, 
 1869, leaving a family of seven children 
 besides the eldest, who died in infancy. 
 The grandfather of our subject, James 
 Higgins, followed the profession of teacher 
 in the schools of Ireland, and could trace 
 his ancestry back to the O'Connors, the 
 early rulers of that country, his mother, 
 Bennett by name, being Scotch. 
 
 GEORGE BANTA, prominent and 
 well-known in insurance circles, 
 and for the past few years a resi- 
 dent of Menasha, Winnebago 
 county, is a native of Kentucky, born 
 July 16, 1857, in the city of Covington. 
 He is a son of David D. and Melissa 
 E. (Riddle) Banta, the former of whom 
 was born in Johnson county, Ind. , and is 
 descended from Holland ancestry who 
 settled in New Jersey in 1665. He is a 
 graduate of Indiana University; prac- 
 ticed law at Franklin, Indiana, and was 
 elected judge of the Sixteenth Judicial 
 
 Circuit of Indiana, in which incumbency 
 he served many years. He was elected 
 a member of the board of regents of In- 
 diana Universit}', at Bloomington, Ind., 
 served as president of the board several 
 years, and since 1890 has been dean of 
 the Law Department of the university. 
 The Riddles are of Scotch origin, the first 
 one to come to this country having, in 
 1662, made a settlement also in New 
 Jersey. 
 
 In early life the subject of this sketch 
 moved from Kentucky to Indiana, and 
 was reared in Franklin, in the common 
 schools of which place he received his 
 elementary education, which he supple- 
 mented with a course of study at the 
 Indiana University, where he graduated 
 in 1876. On leaving college he com- 
 menced the study of law in his father's 
 office, was admitted to the bar in 1878, 
 and engaged in the practice of his pro- 
 fession at Franklin several years, in the 
 meanwhile also conducting a local fire 
 insurance business, to which later he in 
 course of time exclusively confined him- 
 self, relinquishing the practice of law. 
 From 1 88 1 to 1883, he was State agent 
 of Indiana for the National of Hartford; 
 then became State agent for the Standard 
 Fire Office of London, England, and in 
 1884 State agent for the Phenix Insur- 
 ance Company of Brooklyn. From 1884, 
 the year of his coming to Menasha, 
 to the present time, he has been State 
 agent for the Phenix Insurance Company 
 of Brookl\n, having under his immediate 
 supervision about 450 local agencies. 
 
 Mr. Banta has been twice married: 
 the first time in 188 1, at Franklin, Ind., 
 to Miss Lillian C. Vawter, who died in 
 1883 in the same town, leaving one child, 
 a son, named Mark. In 1886 he was 
 married in Menasha, to M"iss Ellen Lee 
 Pleasants, by which union there are two 
 children: Eleanor Lee and. George Riddle. 
 Mr. Banta is a member of the Congrega- 
 tional Church; in politics he is a Demo- 
 crat, and has served as alderman of 
 Menasha two years, and as mayor one 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 109 
 
 term. Socially he is affiliated with the 
 F. & A. M., and is a Knif^ht Templar. 
 During his college days he became a 
 member of Phi Delta Theta, an intercol 
 legiate fraternity, which he served as 
 president from 1878 to 1880. 
 
 THOMAS J. BAIRD is one of 
 Winnebago county's native sons, 
 having been born June 16, 1854, 
 in the town of Vinland. He is of 
 Irish descent on the paternal side, his 
 father, Stephen Baird, having been born 
 in 1810 in Ireland, whence when a young 
 man of twenty-seven years he crossed the 
 briny deep to the New World. He lo- 
 cated first in Quebec, Canada, thence go- 
 ing to Vermont, where he met and mar- 
 ried Miss Ann Baird. In i 840 they mi- 
 grated westward, locating in Milwaukee, 
 Wis., and in 1849 came to Winnebago 
 county, where Mr. Baird purchased a 
 farm. Here he spent his remaining days, 
 devoting his time and energies to agricul- 
 tural pursuits up to the time of his death, 
 which occurred in November, 1891. In 
 the family were eight children — John A., 
 Samuel W., William H., Thomas J., 
 Stephen D. and Belle, li\ing, and Eliza 
 and Ella, deceased. 
 
 In taking up the history of Thomas J. 
 Baird we present to our readers the life 
 record of one who has spent his entire 
 life in Winnebago county, and has here a 
 wide acquaintance. In the usual manner 
 of farmer lads he grew to man's estate, 
 aiding in the labors on the home farm 
 during the summer months, while in the 
 winter season he attended the common 
 schools of the neighborhood. In 1882 he 
 was made station agent at Snell, a station 
 on the Chicago & North Western railroad 
 near Neenah, where he continued three 
 and a half years. On the expiration of 
 that period he came to Neenah, and here 
 he secured a position as check clerk in 
 the Chicago & North Western depot, 
 serving in that capacity seven years, or 
 until August, 1S93, when he severed his 
 
 connection with the railroad company. 
 He is now in the employ of the United 
 States Express Company at Neenah, 
 where he has made his home for about 
 eight years. 
 
 Mr. Baird was married in Neenah in 
 1877, the lady of his choice being Miss 
 Ellen Paine, who was born in that city, 
 a daughter of David and Eliza (Richards) 
 Paine. Seven children bless this union — 
 one son and six daughters: Albert J., 
 Jennie, Jessie, Aggie, Anna, Mary and 
 Stella. Politically Mr. Baird is a stal- 
 wart advocate of the men and measures 
 of the Republican party. While located 
 at Snell station he served as postmaster 
 there, and he has also filled other posi- 
 tions of public trust. In 1892 he was 
 elected treasurer of Neenah, and so ably 
 did he fill the office that he was re-elected 
 for a second term. In the campaign 
 of 1894 he was nominated for the office 
 of county treasurer, and was elected by a 
 majority of 2,913 votes, running over 700 
 ahead of his ticket. Mr. Baird was 
 reared in the Presbyterian Church, but is 
 not now a member. Socially he is con- 
 nected with the Masonic Fraternity and 
 the Modern Woodmen of America, and 
 for ten years has been secretary of Neenah 
 Lodge No. 41, I. O. O. F. Among his 
 business and social acquaintances he is 
 held in high i-egard, for he possesses many 
 excellencies of character which commend 
 him to all honorable people. 
 
 w 
 
 ILLIAM WAKEMAN, Sr. If 
 
 this venerable and honored 
 gentleman's right to a place 
 among the representative men 
 of Winnebago county does not rest upon 
 his birth, it is at least established by his 
 continuous and useful life here, and his 
 devotion as a citizen to the best interests 
 of the community. 
 
 He is a native of stalwart England, 
 and comes of a race of sturdy yeomen 
 well-known in Worcestershire, descended 
 from a titled family and distantly related 
 
mo 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to Sir Offley Wakeman, whose landed 
 estates lay near Droitwich, also near the 
 Malvern Hills, and not far from Eastnor 
 Castle, the county seat of Lady Henry 
 Somerset. Our subject was born May 
 18, 1 813, at Hockley Hill, Birmingham, 
 a son of Thomas and Phctbe (Robinson) 
 Wakeman, who were the parents of seven 
 children, three of whom are yet living, 
 narnel)-: Phfcbe, married to Thomas 
 Brown, and living in the parish of Hands- 
 worth, adjoining Birmingham; William, 
 the subject of this sketch, and George, 
 yet a resident of Birmingham. 
 
 William Wakeman received such edu- 
 cation as was customary with lads of his 
 period and sphere of life, which history 
 shows was better in England toward the 
 commencement of the century than in 
 any other part of the globe. After leav- 
 ing school, while yet a lad, he was ap- 
 prenticed by his father to the grocery 
 business in Birmingham, and on comple- 
 tion of his apprenticeship continued in 
 the same line as a salesman for several 
 years. In 1836, at the age of twenty- 
 three, he emigrated to this country, and 
 landing in New York City remained there 
 about a year, being employed as a clerk 
 in a manufactory, where money-belts, 
 pocketbooks, etc., were made. But there 
 being, probtibly, " metal more attractive " 
 in the land of rosy-cheeked and curly- 
 haired girls, he turned his face once more 
 toward old England, and recrossed the 
 ocean. And it seems as if we were not 
 wrong about "metal more attractive," 
 for a few years thereafter, in October, 
 1840, Mr. Wakeman was married in the 
 village of Handsworth, Staffordshire, to 
 Miss Esther Clulow, of Brierly Hill, 
 Staffordshire, a daughter of John and 
 Martha Clulow, all of England, The 
 ceremony was performed by Mr. Wake- 
 man's old schoolmaster and pastor. Rev. 
 John Hammond, who served the one con- 
 gregation for fifty years; a pair of heavily- 
 bowed silver spectacles which once be- 
 longed to him are now in Mr. Wakeman's 
 possession, and are highly prized as a 
 
 dear relic. To this union there were 
 born, at Brierly Hill, two children, 
 namely: Phcebe, November 12, 1841, 
 and William, June 6, 1843, the former 
 of whom died at Ives' Grove, Wis., 
 March 8, 1S50, and the latter is now a 
 resident of Oshkosh. In 1845, ac- 
 companied by his wife and two children, 
 Mr. Wakeman once more crossed the 
 Atlantic to make himself a home in the 
 "land of the free." From New York, 
 where the family landed, they proceeded 
 westward to Wisconsin, and located the 
 same year at Ives' Grove, Racine county, 
 our subject, with the sum of one hundred 
 dollars he then possessed, purchased 
 forty acres of land in the vicinitj', built a 
 cabin for the family, bought a cow, a 
 barrel of flour, stove, etc., and furnished 
 his house; after all of which he still had 
 some six dollars left for other purposes. 
 Mrs. Wakeman died August 16, 1846, in 
 Racine county, and was there buried, in 
 the cemetery at Yorkville, and on March 
 1 9, 1 849, Mr. Wakeman was married at 
 Yorkville, Racine county, for his second 
 wife, to Miss Anna Wilde Mathews, who 
 was born September 3, 1830, at Aliens- 
 moor, Herefordshire, England, daughter 
 of James and Jane (Bacon) Mathews, 
 also natives of that county. One 
 child was born to this marriage 
 in Racine county, and in 1850, after 
 a residence of five years on his farm 
 in Racine county, he removed with his 
 family farther north, on Indian land situ- 
 ated at Auroraville (nine miles from Ber- 
 lin). After a residence there of about six 
 months he removed to De Fere, Brown 
 county, where he opened out a meat mar- 
 ket, also carrying on farming operations, 
 renting a farm of 300 acres at $100 a 
 year, and conducted the farm five years 
 and the meat business some nine years. 
 Moving then to Waupun, he there so- 
 journed about 'six months, and on the 
 27th of January, i860, came to Oshkosh, 
 here purchasing the Brighton meat mar- 
 ket, which he carried on for one year in 
 partnership with Henry Devrill, at the 
 
COMMEMORA TIVE DIOGHAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 end of that time buying out his partner, 
 and continuing in the business until 1874, 
 when he retired from active Hfe. His son 
 WilHam, who had been a partner with 
 him during the last ten years of his busi- 
 ness, conducted the meat market until 
 1893. 
 
 To the union of William and Anna W. 
 Wakeman came ten children, a brief rec- 
 ord of whom is as follows: Jane, born 
 March 9, 1850, in Yorkville, Racine coun- 
 ty, was united in marriage February 17, 
 1869, with William Cook, and is now re- 
 siding in Nebraska; Mary, born Decem- 
 ber 29, 1852, at De Pere, Brown Co., 
 Wis., was married October 22, 1873, to 
 Francis Durkee, and lives in Alexandria, 
 S. Dak. ; Sarah, born December 29, 1854, 
 at De Pere, Brown county, married De- 
 cember 24, 1870, Andrew Cook, and re- 
 sides in Johnson county, Neb. ; Florence, 
 born April 24, 1857, at De Pere, was 
 married March 19, 1879, to Charles W. 
 Turner, at present a minister of the 
 Methodist Church; Henry, born May 30, 
 1859, at De Pere, was married June 18, 
 1879, at Helena, Neb., to Miss Anna 
 Jones, and lives in Tecumseh, that State; 
 Esther, born April 22, 1861, in Oshkosh, 
 was married September 24, 18S5, to L. 
 W. Briggs, a teacher in the State Normal 
 School at Oshkosh, where they reside; 
 George, born May 16, 1863, in Oshkosh, 
 died April 22, 1864; Alfred, born Febru- 
 ary 22, 1865, in Oshkosh, was married 
 October 27, 1885, to Miss Rose Massey, 
 and still resides in the city of his birth; 
 Charles Arthur, born January 8, 1868, 
 in Oshkosh, was married October 24, 
 1894, to Miss Frances Norton, of White- 
 water, W^is., and is a prominent druggist 
 of Monroe, Green Co., Wis.; Clara May, 
 bornMay 5, 1870, in Oshkosh, was mar- 
 ried October II, 1888, to Frank L. Bell, a 
 minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. Mabel, an adopted daughter, 
 whose father's name was George Weller, 
 was born at Butte des Morts, Wis., Sep- 
 tember 5, 1882. James Mathews, father 
 of Mrs. Wakeman, died at Oshkosh May 
 
 II, 1888, aged eighty-eight years, his 
 wife Jane having preceded him to the 
 grave December 9, 1875, when seventy- 
 one years old. 
 
 There is no one, probably, in Winne- 
 bago county, more widely or favorably 
 known than the subject of this sketch. 
 Coming to the county as he did, at an 
 early day, he has been closely identified 
 with its interests for a period of thirty- 
 five years, and he is held in the highest 
 esteem not only by his fellow townsmen, 
 but also throughout the county generally. 
 Descended from Quaker stock, he is a 
 lover of the peace principles advocated by 
 them, and believes in the song of the 
 angels: " Peace on earth, good will to 
 men." He has been identified with the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church of Oshkosh 
 for the past thirty-five years, and is highly 
 esteemed by his fellow members in that 
 body. 
 
 JOHN M. BOLTON was born in Ra- 
 leigh, N. C, in May, 1857, and is a 
 son of Nathan andN. C. Bolton, the 
 former of whom was a native of the 
 same State, a millwright by trade. His 
 death occurred in 1890, that of his wife 
 in 1882. Their family of children were 
 named as follows: James, Laura, Nan- 
 nie, Tish, John M.. Clem and Henry. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent the 
 days of his boyhood and youth in his 
 parents' home, his advantages along the 
 line of education being such as the com- 
 mon schools of the neighborhood afforded. 
 At the age of fifteen he began learning 
 the trade of a millwright under his father's 
 instructions, and when seventeen years 
 old he left home to enter a paper-mill 
 near Raleigh. There he remained about 
 two years, and then went south, spending 
 the two succeeding j'ears in Louisiana. 
 Nine months were then passed in Arkan- 
 sas, after which he made his way up the 
 Mississippi Valley to Moline 111., where 
 he worked in a mill with his brother 
 nearly four years. On the expiration of 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 that time Mr. Bolton returned east, 
 settling in Hilton, near Pittsburg, Penn., 
 where for nine months he was employed 
 as an engineer, going thence to Rialto, 
 Ohio, making his home there for two 
 j'ears. His next place of residence was 
 in Bloomington, 111. After si.x months 
 he went to South Bend, Ind., where he 
 had charge of a mill for three years; was 
 next in charge of a mill in Springfield, 
 111., for two years, and in 1888 he came 
 to Menasha, his present home. Here he 
 began work as an engineer in the Howard 
 Paper Mill, and in 1889 was made fore- 
 man, a position he still fills with credit to 
 himself and satisfaction to his employers. 
 In his political views Mr. Bolton is in- 
 dependent, supporting the candidate 
 whom he thinks best qualified for office, 
 regardless of party affiliations. Socially 
 he belongs to the Knights of Pythias. In 
 1890 he married Miss Lucia Thomas, and 
 they have one son, Harvey. Mr. Bolton 
 has traveled over much of this country, 
 and has gained thereby considerable valu- 
 able and interesting experience. 
 
 ANTON KOPLITZ (deceased), who 
 for over a score of years was a 
 well-known and highl}' esteemed 
 citizen of northern Wisconsin, 
 was a native of Germany, born in Hed- 
 desheim, Rheinland, in the year 1823. 
 
 In 1848 he emigrated to the United 
 States, and coming to Wisconsin made 
 his first New-World home in Waukesha, 
 whence after a year's sojourn he removed 
 to Black Wolf township, ^^'innebago 
 county, \\here he followed agricultural 
 pursuits until 1882. In that j-ear he 
 came to Oshkosh, and engaged in a gen- 
 eral grocery business up to his death, 
 July 14, 1888, at which time he was suc- 
 ceeded by his son John, who continued 
 the business alone until 1891, since when 
 it has been conducted b}' two other sons, 
 Theodore L. and Frank F., at the old 
 stand originally occupied b}- their father. 
 Anton Koplitz was twice married, 
 
 first time in 185 1 to Miss Augusta Hass, 
 who bore him three children, namely: 
 Edward, born May 15, 1852; Anton, a 
 Christian Brother, born December 5, 
 1855; and Charles, born March 6, 1857. 
 The mother of these died in i86i, in 
 Black Wolf township, Winnebago county, 
 and Mr. Koplit^, for his second wife, 
 wedded Miss Bertha Gustavus in 1861, 
 by which union were born seven children, 
 their names and dates of birth being as 
 follows: John, September 2, 1864; Will- 
 iam, May II, 1866; Theodore L , Janu- 
 ary 10, 1869; Frank F. , February 17, 
 1 871; Joseph B., April 30, 1873; Albert 
 G., July II, 1876; and Frances, October 
 21, 187S. During his honored lifetime 
 Mr. Koplitz made for himself an envi- 
 able reputation for honesty and integrity, 
 and when he died there departed into the 
 Unknown a loyal and just citizen, a lov- 
 ing, confiding husband, and an indulgent, 
 affectionate father. 
 
 Joseph B. Koplitz, son of Anton 
 and Bertha (Gustavus) Koplitz, was born 
 April 30, 1873, in Black Wolf township, 
 Winnebago Co. , Wis. He received his 
 education at the public schools of his 
 native township and at St. \'incent's 
 Academy and Oshkosh Business College. 
 In the spring of 1894 he embarked in the 
 liquor business in South Oshkosh in con- 
 nection with Mr. Henry Reifer, under 
 the firm name of J. B. Koplitz & Co., 
 and being popular, courteous, judicious 
 and wide-awake, there is ever)' prospect 
 before him of a successful business life. 
 Sociall}', he is a member of St. Vincent's 
 Young Men's Society. 
 
 ALEXANDER BARRY BURNS 
 (deceased), for twenty-three years 
 a prominent and useful citizen of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, was 
 born May 24, 1830, in Monifieth, Forfar- 
 shire, Scotland, where he received his 
 education and was reared to manhood. 
 He was a son of ^^^iIliam and Agnes 
 (Smith) Burns, who had a family of seven 
 
^^n77^-y0ca^r7^^^^^-<~ ^^t^t^ 
 
 /-»-^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPnWAL RECORD. 
 
 children, of whom survive WilHam and 
 James, both hving in Scotland, in Dundee 
 and Moniiieth respectively, and David, a 
 boiler-maker of prominencein Fort How- 
 ard, Wisconsin. 
 
 At the age of fourteen years our sub- 
 ject was apprenticed to the trade of 
 boiler-maker which he made his life 
 work, his thorough workmanship in every 
 detail establishing his name so that, in his 
 line of business, and wherever his lot was 
 cast, it became "familiar as household 
 words." In 1852, at the age of twenty-two 
 years, he emigrated to Canada, and first 
 locating in Montreal followed his trade 
 there two years; thence he proceeded to 
 Jersey City, N. J., but shortly afterward 
 returned to Canada, and in the city of 
 Hamilton, Ontario, had charge of Gunn 
 & Ivinman's locomotive works, at that 
 time the largest of the kind in Canada; it 
 was with Mr. Kinman that he had learned 
 his trade in Scotland. Later he spent 
 five years in the locomotive shops of the 
 Great Western Railroad Company, at the 
 same place; subsequently conducted a 
 machinist business for his own account 
 in New Haven, Conn. ; then worked in 
 the Continental Boiler Works at Green- 
 point, N. Y. Early in the spring of 1871 
 he came to Wisconsin, settling in Osh- 
 kosh, and here continuing his trade with 
 characteristic ability and energy up to 
 his death, which occurred February 20, 
 1894. 
 
 On May 14, 1852, Mr. Burns was 
 married, at Dundee, Scotland, to Miss 
 Annie McLauchlan, a native of that place, 
 born August 25, 1830, daughter of Will- 
 iam and Isabel (Elder) McLauchlan, who 
 were the parents of six children, of whom 
 the survivors are Annie (Mrs. Burns) and 
 Mrs. Mary Auchterlonie (a widow lady 
 now residing in Port Chalmers, N,ew Zea- 
 land). Mr. Burns in religious belief was 
 a stanch Presbyterian, as is his widow; in 
 his political affiliations he was a Republi- 
 can, and in social connection was a promi- 
 nent member of St. Andrew's Society 
 when it existed in Oshkosh. He was 
 
 62 
 
 always energetic and progressive, and his 
 liberalit}' toward all worthy enterprises 
 was one of his leading characteristics. 
 He was held in the highest esteem in the 
 community, and through his taking away 
 the city of Oshkosh lost an upright and 
 valued citizen, his wife a kind and de- 
 voted husband. 
 
 JOHN FITZGERALD (deceased). It 
 is a generally accepted truism that 
 no man of genius or acknowledged 
 ability can be justly or adequately 
 judged on the morrow of his death, chiefly 
 because time is needed to ripen the esti- 
 timate upon work which can only be 
 viewed on all sides in the calm atmos- 
 phere of a more or less remote period 
 from its completion. This remark is in 
 no sense inappropriate to the case of 
 the gentleman of whom we write, and 
 who occupies a conspicuous place in the 
 history of Winnebago county. 
 
 No man in the community had warmer 
 friends, or was more generally esteemed, 
 than John Fitzgerald. He was a man 
 of refined manners, of consummate bus- 
 iness ability, one who achieved emi- 
 nent success in his affairs. At one time 
 he was sole owner of the Wolf and Fox 
 rivers and Lake Winnebago line of steam- 
 ers. He was also a member of the firm 
 of Kellogg, Fitzgerald & Co., who estab- 
 lished the first bank of issue in Oshkosh, 
 which institution subsequently became the 
 First National Bank. In 1856 he repre- 
 sented Winnebago county as a senator in 
 the State Legislature, and in 1861 was 
 elected mayor of Oshkosh, a position he 
 filled with credit to himself and the satis- 
 faction of the citizens generally. In 1 862 
 he was nominated for Congress, by the 
 Democratic party, but declined the nom- 
 ination. 
 
 Mr. Fitzgerald was born, in 1825, in 
 Delphi, Ind., where he secured his ele- 
 mentary education, which was supple- 
 mented with a course of study at Green- 
 castle (Ind.) College. About the year 
 
r<).\nn.M<>t{.\ tivf iiihiium'iiicm icrronn 
 
 iSjio, cuHliii^ Ills ryiv. to llic ilicn i.ipidlv 
 ilfvnldpiiij- iii'w Stall- i>l WiNiniiMii, In- 
 CdlU'lllili'il In li\' liis tniliinc wlicii- al- 
 ifaily M> inany had lucl wiili siinc^s, 
 l''ii'.( liicalm^; in (in'cn l'..i\, lie lliru' 
 
 •.|iri nl.lli'll SlU'Ct'Sslllllv III v\ lie, ll .111.1 llnlll 
 
 iiiilil iSsi;, wlii'ii 111' n'mn\ I'll 111 0'.liKn-,li, 
 .Hill rii^ii^;i'il in |iiisiiirN!<. lie iliril in 
 lliiil I'ily Jainiurv y\ iS(i.|, In i.SiiS 
 Ml l'"il/m'raltl was nnilnl in inuiiiam', 
 I'll Piily's Island, \vill\ Miss Mar\ Duly, 
 
 and nllr il,Uli;llli'l, Ni'lllr, i .iiur In |i| iidllfll 
 tlicn llnlllt' 
 
 As an inlfllij'.i'iil m.in and ir.idii Mi 
 l^'il/^irrald was al\\.i\'. w.ll vrrrd m ilu- 
 rnircnt ommiIs and aOaip. nl ilir d.i\, 
 
 wllt'llu'l IliMll ,111 tdlli .Itinlial HI pnlll 
 
 ii'al sland|>iinil ,\iid wliilf hi', ■linin; 
 
 »rll-H'liani'»' n-iiniiod Inm in .idlirir wiili 
 Irnaiily to tlinso view, wliuli Ins ind;;- 
 nirni and iiwosti^ation It-d liini In adnpl, 
 his siiuciily was nndonlilfd, and liis in- 
 l<'),jiily nniiiif-liniu'd, llnldinn llir waini- 
 osl |»!ai 1' Ml ilir lii'urts of (hoso who know 
 him hi'st wlii'llii'i at Iho honu' liri'sidi', 
 or in ilii- ini'li' of Itit-ndship his lid- and 
 rhaiaili'i wt-ic a lowor of slii'n,i;lh, and 
 Ins ini'inoiy shall hi- a luMU'dirlinn In Ihnso 
 who lovt'tl him so well 
 
 Pim irr iii'in iv wuhth.-pms- 
 prinns and wi'il known nli.'ons of 
 t^-.hko'.h, \\'inni'ha,i;o i-onnty, this 
 jjrntliMnim is piomim-nlly idonti- 
 tird. lit' was horn in ilosscn on iho 
 Khino, ("nM'Miany, Anj-nsl -'o, iS.|S. and is 
 a son of Adan> and thristina (Hockor") 
 MtMnt/, holh also nalivrs of rn'iuiany, 
 
 t>m snhjt'it was n\uod and cihuatrd 
 at tho pnhlii- schools of his native towi\, 
 and ahont tho yoar iSr>r> intmijjrattHl U\ 
 .■\n\orii-a, Uvatini; in Milwankoc, wIumico 
 aftiM a low moi\ths' rosidonoo h<- ron\ovod 
 to Oshkosh, M«Mo hi> has losidod over 
 sinor, and for o\<m iwonly yoars was on- 
 KiVK^'d in tho tonsorial ait, h\\\ sinoo iS.S; 
 l>as livod a rotirod life, Mr, Hcint/ was 
 mariiod in VVshkosli m IViombiM, iS,-|, 
 In Miss |ivsophii\<' Jahash. a nativi- o'. 
 
 Hn-.inn, Mass., and Iht-ii' liavc luni l>niii 
 111 Ihrm I'ui' children, tliu-c nl wimni arc 
 yd living;, namely: riiilipp t ,iil I'lidcr- 
 
 lik, (ii'nifjr (>lln ,ilid (ail l.nilis, Ml'. 
 Ilriul- I', a ili.ulri nii'lilluT of ihc Snlllll 
 Side I'm ll\ ruin, ,iihl ,ilsn .1 mcilllu'r nl 
 I nilj;r Nn .', SnilS nl lli'iniaim. liic 
 l.imily alli'iid Ihc l.nlhciaii Chmcli, .ind 
 in his pnlilii.il virws Mi lleinl/ is a 
 Dcmnciat, 
 
 Br \ O I I 111' \ / V idcicasod). 
 .\iiiniii; llmsr w hn wiic closely 
 idilllllird Willi llie iuismcss intci'- 
 I'.l-. nl I )sliki isli,\\'i unci lai^o conn - 
 l\ , ,iiid ,iii' now f;onc In I heir loni; hnmes. 
 nniie .III' liinic ilcsci\in^ nl prnmiiienl 
 mentint\ within the leaves nl this wniU 
 than the late Mr. Ilen/y, 
 
 lie was hoin June n), iS.;i), in Swil/- 
 ei land, w here he w as reared and ediicated, 
 and in culy m.mliood he immii^iated 
 to this conntry, for some yens niakin,i; 
 his home in Ohio, where he was en,t;aj;eil 
 in Imildinj; and cnnlractinj,; till iSs^, the 
 year ol his cominj; tot^shkosh. Here he 
 followed the same line of hnsiness nntil 
 iS"! when lie hei ,ime pinpiiclnr nf th<' 
 I'nion I'lamni; Mill, which was destioyed 
 l>y lire in iS,-<;, hnt did not ,it all 
 Clippie his enterprise as .1 le.nlinj; 
 pnshinj; Inisiiiess man In 1SS7 he 
 ren\n\ed in l".i\ ciiev ille, N i",, ,iiid 
 emli.irkcil m a mamil.ictmm,!; hnsiness 
 there in paitneislnp with Samiud Snt- 
 ton; hnt he was not destined to con- 
 tinne it lonjj, for on l\-tober .'5, iSSo, he 
 departed this life, and his r<<mains were 
 luoni;ht to Wi.sconsin hy his snnnwini; 
 wife, whn was with him when he died, 
 and were intcncd m I he ccmcteix' at 
 Oshkosh. 
 
 In 1^50, in Oshknsh, Wis , Mi Ucn.-y 
 was nnited in maniai^e with Miss W'il- 
 helmina Sclianh, who was boii\ in Swit/- 
 tMluml September 1-. i8.>;, a dausjhter 
 of Jacob and ivirbara Schanb, and to 
 tl\en« were bnin live children, their n.»mes 
 and dates of bnth, etc , beini; .>s follows: 
 
Commi:m'ii! \ /III': iihk; i;.\riiic\i. itiiroitn 
 
 r 1 17 
 
 I. ilia, Jiiiii: /I, i«57, <lii''l I'l I'liiMty (>, 
 187J; M.illiildii, I'"cl)rii;iiy 1 ',, i«6o; 
 Williiiiii, July 22, \M)T,\ Ida, Iidiii July 
 17, 1K6O, (lii'd Aiijjiisl 16, iHCiK; and 
 ICiiiily, N(iV(;iiil)i:r IS, 1H6H, man iiul Oc- 
 Inl/c 1 :;«, 1H93, Id Aii|,'UkI Sclicihcl, Jr., 
 and now living,' ill Mailisoii, Wis, ('on |iiiic 
 23, 1H94, a daii^^'lilci was Imin In liirnj, 
 iiaincd Aiii'aj. Mi, llrnxy was liij;iily 
 ii's|ii'( li'(l in llii' I Diniiiiinily, and wlirii lie 
 dud a ir,i|id iifi; was IrMiiinatitd, a lnviii^ 
 linsliand, kind (alliii ami Iimc lii<iid was 
 caiird away, 
 
 AUGUS'I I I '.I.ICIilCKC;, ii Icful- 
 iiiK citi/iMi and pioininnit hiisiiicsH 
 man ol O siil^'iJi, Wmni;l)a(;o 
 county, and iIh' only living icp- 
 ii:si:nlalivir of lii'. lamily, was l)oril in 
 Wurli'iiilt(M(;, <iiiniaii\, Apiil H, 1S45, a 
 son of [olin and liamcs ("Dam-ki-i j 
 I''iif,di:l)(:i');, lln' loinni a iialivc of Den- 
 mark, 1 Im- I:iI III o( Wni li i/iIh 1 j; 
 
 Olll Sllllji'i I III I :i| I y |||r- I ;i mi: lo 
 Amciiia Willi lir. paiciil,, :iiid niitil 1H51; 
 was ioc.ati;d in Milwanki-r, Wis,, wiii'ic 
 his tiiotlicr dii'd in 1K51; in 1K55 tlic 
 fatliiT removed lo Olikosh. In iH62hc 
 enlisted in (.om|)aiiy II, 'rweiily-Cirst 
 Wis, V, I,, and was killed in his first 
 eiiKa^ement, tin- l,allle of I'eiiyville, Ky. 
 The son, Aiif^iisl, was ediiealiul in the 
 Ccrmari-J'JiKlish af:ad<;iiiy at Milwaukee 
 ;iiid at the |>iii)ii': seliool of Oshkosh. 
 After ' oiiiplelini; his ednration he ran a 
 H.'iiJiiifj vessel on Lake Winneba,K() for 
 several years, afterward (tn;^'a(;iriK in the 
 manufacture of viiie|,'ar for ahoiit lifleeii 
 years, since which time he has heeii eii- 
 Ka),;ed in the sale of vinegar, hut not in 
 the mamila' I niini; ol the article, 
 
 Mr, I'li^deheij; was married, in Osh- 
 kosh, to Miss Mary l''lisler, daii;;liter of 
 l-'erdiriand and l-'reflrica ^Wolfj I'lister, 
 and to thi:m have h<;en horn seven rhil- 
 dreri, their namcH and dates <>\ hirtli 
 heiii^^ as follows: Meta Louise, Se|)tem- 
 her 29, 1X74; William Aii^;ust, Decem- 
 ber 2y, 1875; Clara Maria, l'*ehruary <j, 
 
 \'i^'/y\ Alma I'.iiia, May 1, 1H79; ('ail 
 I'erdiiiand, Seplemher .?tJ, 18K1; I'laiik 
 Otio, Noveiiiher 15, lH«3; and MaiKiicr- 
 \U:, March 13, 189^, 'I'lir (jmily allend 
 the ('oiij;ret;atioiial ( Iniii li 
 
 01 IM,K W Sllh,l'AK'D, a lii(',lily 
 I e ,|>e( led (it i/e|i ol ' ) sllkosll, 
 Wimiejiaj^o ( oimly, ol wlm ii city 
 In |i;i , |,ien a lesiileiil since 
 I SS9, eii(;af^<:d III the hiisiiicss ol house, 
 si^ii and cariia^,'e |)aiiitiii^;, is a native of 
 Ontaiio county, N, Y,, horn Si|ilemlM-i 
 2«, iK4_', 
 
 His parentH were Whilinj^ S, and (Caro- 
 line nieach; Sliejiaid, natives of C",on- 
 necliciit, who, ill 1H45, moved liom the 
 State of New York lo Warren, Lake Co,, 
 III., and from there, in iHOt;, I" I'.lkliorii, 
 Walworth (^o,. Wis., win h- lli'-y resided 
 until lhes|)tinKof 1 KHo, moving,; tlii'ii lo 
 lieloit, Kaiis,, willi llieii son Olivitr W. 
 Whilinp; S, Shepaid '\\i'\ IIm- lollowin^ 
 Decemhirr, Oliver then iil m mn;; lo I'.lk 
 lioiii. Wis., with his family and iiiollwi, 
 soon afterward moving lo Neenali, Wis,, 
 win-re he remained until coinin^^ lo Osii 
 kosli. During; this time his mot her moved 
 lo Ohio, and died in 1890. 'I'lie iIiiim; 
 sons ol WhiliiiK S. and (aroline Shepard, 
 who constitute lluii fainily, are Ivlward 
 S., a resident ol I'.lkhorn, Walworth Co, , 
 Wis, ; janieH W., livin),' at St. I'anI, Minn,, 
 and Oliver W, WhiliiiK S. Sliepanl, 
 their father, was a lifelong; a|;riciilliinsl, 
 inakiiij;^ a siiccess of his vocation, and was 
 much esteemed in the community. 
 
 The siihjecl ))io|;c 1 of these lines was 
 tliiei; years ohi when his jjarents mov<;d 
 from the ICast to Warren, 111,, and he 
 there receiverl his education. On leavinf{ 
 school he commence'd to learn the trade 
 of painter, at which he worked until 1X63, 
 when he enlisted in Company D, One 
 Hundred anri l-'orty-sixth 111. V. I., with 
 which regiment he did garrison duty at 
 Springfield and ()uin< y. III., until the fall 
 of 1 8^4, when he was mustered out at 
 S|)rin({field, and ri:tiirned to his home at 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Warren, there resuming his trade. In 
 1865 he moved to Walworth county, 
 Wis., and thence in 1889 came to Osh- 
 kosh, where he has since made his home, 
 building up a prosperous and remunera- 
 tive trade as house, sign and carriage 
 painter, his strict attention to business, 
 e.xcellent workmanship and careful study 
 of the wants of his patrons winning for 
 him the confidence of his numerous pa- 
 trons. 
 
 On October 9, 1 864, Mr. Shepard was 
 married atElkhorn, Walworth Co., Wis., 
 to Miss Ella Rockwell, daughter of Le- 
 Grand Rockwell, and three children were 
 born to them, two of whom are yet liv- 
 ing — Frankie and Ino. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Shepard and familj' are members of the 
 Episcopal Church; in his political views 
 he is a stanch Republican; socially he is 
 a member of John Scott Post No. 10, G. 
 A. R., and the Modern Woodmen of 
 America. 
 
 JOHN WEBSTER. In Scotland, 
 "Caledonia, stern and wild, "and in 
 the county of Fife, at one time a 
 Kingdom itself, one of the most 
 beautiful shires in the land of Scott and 
 Burns, was born, about twenty miles from 
 the city of Edinburgh, on February 18, 
 1826, the subject of this sketch. 
 
 He is a son of Robert and Margaret 
 (Ward) Webster, both also of Scottish 
 nativity, who in 1831 emigrated with 
 their family to Canada, for some six 
 months sojourning in Montreal, then pro- 
 ceeding to Burlington, \i., thence to 
 Newbury, Orange county, same State. 
 In 1S42 they came to Wisconsin, then a 
 Territory, for some four years residing in 
 Sugar Creek Prairie, Walworth county, 
 where they made their home until 1847, 
 in which year they came to Oshkosh, 
 being among the early pioneer settlers of 
 the place. The regular occupation of 
 Robert Webster was that of a weaver, 
 chiefly of woolen goods, but after coming 
 to Oshkosh he took up agricultural pur- 
 
 suits, which he followed to within the 
 last si.x years of his life. He died in 1885, 
 his wife some years previously, and their 
 remains rest in the Algoma cemetery, 
 near Oshkosh. When they came to Win- 
 nebago county, nearly half a century ago, 
 the whole country around was a ' ' howl- 
 ing wilderness," out of which, or at least 
 a portion of it, Robert Webster carved 
 out a comfortable home for himself and 
 family. He and his wife had children as 
 follows: Margaret, who married William 
 Mackie; David; John, our subject; and 
 Isabelle, who married Otis Cross. 
 
 John Webster, whose name introduces 
 this sketch, received his school training 
 at Newbury, Vt. , and at the age of fifteen 
 moved to Boston, Mass. , where he learned 
 the trade of carpenter. After a residence 
 there of three years he rejoined his par- 
 ents at Newbury, Vt., and came with 
 them to Wisconsin, where for many 
 years he was engaged at lumbering, after- 
 ward acting as assistant surveyor. He 
 was one of a party of about forty who 
 cut the road through the wilderness from 
 Berlin to Stevens Point, an undertaking 
 that occupied some six weeks. For sev- 
 eral years he also followed farming, and 
 many a noble " monarch of the forest " 
 fell to the keen edge of his axe, to give 
 place to the plow and harrow, the imper- 
 ative avaiit-coiircurs of fruitful fields and 
 smiling gardens. In 1853 he embarked 
 in the draying business, and at times had 
 a large number of teams engaged in his 
 work. In 1867 he opened a flour and 
 feed store, which he conducted until 
 1870, and he also gave considerable at- 
 tention to the buying and selling of real 
 estate, but for the last fourteen years he 
 has not been active in business life. Be- 
 fore retiring, however, his was a most 
 active career, and he accumulated consid- 
 erable property, owning the Webster 
 block, situated at the corner of Church 
 and Main streets, besides other residence 
 property in Oshkosh. In politics Mr. 
 Webster is an ardent Republican. 
 
 Mr. Webster was married, July 5, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1853, to Miss Julia Cross, and to their 
 union was born one child, who died when 
 eighteen months old. In 1855, he mar- 
 ried, in Ripon, for his second wife. Miss 
 Sarah Jane Freese, by which marriage 
 there were born six children, five of whom 
 are living, as follows: Jane, wife of David 
 Brown, of Dickinson, N, Dak.; John; 
 Robert, a United States letter carrier; 
 Charles and Margaret, both residing in 
 Chicago. The deceased child was Jessie, 
 who died of diphtheria when six years old. 
 The mother of this family died nearly 
 twenty years ago, and is buried in Osh- 
 kosh cemetery. 
 
 SCOTT I. CHALFANT has been a 
 resident of Neenah, Winnebago 
 county, for but a comparatively 
 short period, yet is widely and 
 favorably known in the place, having by 
 his sterling worth gained many friends. 
 A native of Pennsylvania, he was born in 
 the city of Erie, December 29, 1861, a 
 son of Aaron Chalfant, who was born in 
 Chester county, Penn., August 15, 1826, 
 and when a young man studied medicine, 
 graduating from the University of Penn- 
 sylvania. He then entered upon prac- 
 tice, and continued in his chosen profes- 
 sion until called to the home beyond, 
 dying December 25, 1862, while in the 
 regular army, in which he had been com- 
 missioned surgeon. His wife, who bore 
 the maiden name of Mary McCreary, was 
 a native of Erie county, Penn. The 
 paternal grandfather, Jacob Chalfant, a 
 shipbuilder by occupation, was also born 
 in the Keystone State, and came from a 
 family identified with the Society of 
 Friends. 
 
 Our subject was reared and educated 
 in Erie, and when a youth of seventeen 
 left his home for Pittsburg, where he 
 learned the trade of a machinist, spend- 
 ing three years in that city. At length 
 he determined to try his fortune in the 
 West, hoping thereby to benefit his finan- 
 cial condition, and in 1881 he started for 
 
 Missouri. In Kansas City he entered the 
 employ of the Keith & Perry Coal Com- 
 pany, with whom he was connected for 
 nine years as bookkeeper and salesman; 
 afterward he was employed by the North- 
 western Fuel Company until May, 1892, 
 when he began business for himself as 
 dealer in coal and wood in Neenah, where 
 he has since resided. In that city, on 
 September 26, 1888, he was married to 
 Miss Cassie E. Huxley, a native of 
 Neenah, and a daughter of Henry E. and 
 Mary (Schaub) Huxley, the father born 
 in Connecticut, the mother in Lancaster 
 county, Penn., and who became early 
 settlers of Winnebago county. The 
 union of Mr. and Mrs. Chalfant has been 
 blessed with two children: Aaron Huxley 
 and Robert Grafton. 
 
 Our subject takes an active interest in 
 political affairs, and is an ardent adher- 
 ent of the principles of the Republican 
 party, which he has supported since at- 
 taining his majority, and he is now 
 efficiently serving as alderman; he was a 
 charter member and the first vice-presi- 
 dent of the Missouri Republican Club of 
 Kansas City, which was organized in 1 886. 
 Socially he belongs to the Knights of 
 Pythias. Mrs. Chalfant holds member- 
 ship with the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 FREDERICK BURGESS, secre- 
 tary and treasurer of the Oshkosh 
 Match Works, an honored and re- 
 spectedcitizenof Oshkosh, Winne- 
 bago county, of nearly thirty years' stand- 
 ing, is a native of Nova Scotia, born No- 
 vember II, 1833, in Lakeville, Corn- 
 wallis, Kings county- 
 Stephen Burgess, father of our sub- 
 ject, was also a Nova Scotian, born of 
 English ancestry, and for many years was 
 a prosperous agriculturist and respected 
 citizen of Lakeville, N. S., where he died 
 at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. 
 He married Miss Elizabeth Nesbit, a lady 
 of Scotch descent, and twelve children 
 were born to them, six of whom arc yet 
 
1 1 20 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 living, a brief sketch of them being as 
 follows: William lives in Canibridgeport, 
 Mass.; Charles R. , a prominent ship- 
 builder, who has built some of the largest 
 sailing vessels afloat, is a resident of 
 Wolfville, Nova Scotia; JohnE. is a well- 
 known farmer of Lakeville, Nova Scotia; 
 Stephen C. is a resident of Cincinnati, 
 Ohio; Abbie is the wife of C. \\'. Ber- 
 taux, a ship broker of New York; Freder- 
 ick is the subject of this notice. The 
 mother of these passed from earth at the 
 age of eighty years, the father when 
 eighty-eight years old, and they sleep 
 their last sleep in the cemetery at Lake- 
 ville, Nova Scotia. 
 
 Frederick Burgess, whose name opens 
 this sketch, was educated and reared to 
 manhood in his native town, and early in 
 life engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
 which he followed until September 3, 
 1856, the date of his leaving his native 
 country for the United States. Coming 
 westward to Wisconsin, he arrived in 
 Oshkosh on the 20th of the same month, 
 and for the first three years he followed 
 various occupations, one year as an 
 official in the prison at Waupun, Wis. 
 In the fall of 1859 he returned to Nova 
 Scotia, and for about ten j'ears was 
 engaged in gold mining at the Ovens 
 mines of Lunenburg county; but giving up 
 the search after wealth in that line he in 
 April, 1869, once more came to Oshkosh, 
 and embarked in mercantile pursuits, in 
 which he successfully continued some 
 eight years. In 1878 he was appointed 
 deputy county clerk and jailer, serving in 
 both offices during the years 1878-79-80- 
 81; in 1882-83-84 he served as deputy 
 collector of United States Internal Reve- 
 nue. In the fall of 1884 he was elected 
 sheriff, serving in 1885-86, and re-elected 
 in 1888, serving until 1891, with eminent 
 credit and honor. In 1891, after an ab- 
 sence of twenty-two years, he paid a visit 
 to his native country, and after his return 
 to Oshkosh in the fall of the same year 
 associated himself with the Oshkosh 
 Match Works, of which he is secretary 
 
 and treasurer. This industry was organ- 
 ized in the spring of 1892, and at present 
 employs about one hundred hands. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Burgess was married, in 
 Lynn, Mass., to Miss Anna A. Heckman, 
 and their union has been blessed with 
 three sons, namely: Charles F. and 
 and George H. (attending the State Uni- 
 versity at Madison, Wis., where they are 
 taking a course in electrical and civil en- 
 gineering), and Kenneth F. , residing at 
 home. The family attend the services of 
 the Baptist Church. In his political pre- 
 dilections Mr. Burgess is a stanch Repub- 
 lican; socially he is a member of Oshkosh 
 Lodge No. 27. F. & A. M., Tyrian Chap- 
 ter No. 15, Oshkosh Commandery No. 
 II, and Wisconsin Consistory; also a 
 member of Winnebago Lodge No. 120, I. 
 O. O. F. In all his public capacities he 
 discharged his duties with characteristic 
 fidelity and ability, and his genial and 
 courteous manners have won for him 
 many warm friends. 
 
 REV. FATHER WILLIAM DE- 
 KELVER, pastor of St. Patrick's 
 Catholic Church, Menasha, Win- 
 nebago county, was born in Ke- 
 waunee county. Wis., in April, 1843. 
 His father, Peter De Kelver, was born in 
 Belgium in 18 12, where in 1841 he mar- 
 ried Anna J. Kump, and the following 
 year they bade adieu to friends and 
 native land and sailed for America. On 
 reaching the shores of the New World, 
 they at once came to Wisconsin, and 
 here made their first location on a farm 
 in Kewaunee county, where five children 
 were born to them, namely: John B., 
 William, Frank, Kate and Angeline. The 
 mother died in January, 1888, the father 
 in April, 1894. He was a well-educated 
 man, and ser\ed in the army of Belgium 
 in 1 83 1 and 1832, at-the time when that 
 countrj- gained her independence from 
 Holland. The family is originally of 
 French origin. The grandfather of Peter 
 De Kelver moved from Paris during the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUWAL RECORD. 
 
 IT2I 
 
 time of the French revolution, and set- 
 tled in Belgium, where John De Kelver, 
 grandfather of our subject, was born. 
 He became a very wealthy man, but his 
 property was all confiscated, and he 
 afterward learned the trade of making 
 wooden shoes. 
 
 The subject proper of this memoir re- 
 ceived no school privileges, but his 
 mother being a highly educated lady, he 
 acquired a fair general knowledge under 
 her capable instruction. He remained 
 upon the home farm, aiding in its devel- 
 opment until fourteen years of age, when 
 he hired out as a farm hand, and at the 
 age of eighteen he went to Kewaunee, 
 where he worked in a lumber camp be- 
 longing to a Mr. Cary. During the Civil 
 war, he manifested his lo3'alty to the gov* 
 ernment and the Union cause by respond- 
 ing to the call for troops. In August, 
 18G3, he became a member of Company 
 A, Twenty-Seventh Wis. V. I., Capt. 
 Cunningham, and served until April, 1864, 
 when, being taken severely ill, in conse- 
 quence of which he was unfitted for further 
 duty, he was honorably discharged. 
 
 On his return home, he decided to enter 
 the priesthood, and for seven years was a 
 student in St. Francis Seminary, Mil- 
 waukee. In June, 1871, he was or- 
 dained as a priest of the Catholic Church, 
 and sent to Kilbourn City, Wis., where 
 he remained two years, at the expiration 
 of which time he was transferred to 
 Grand Rapids, where he remained for a 
 similar length of time. The following 
 year he passed in Green Bay, after which 
 he went to De Fere, Brown county, 
 where he continued some nine years, 
 and coming thence to Menasha, he has 
 since had charge of St. Patrick's Catholic 
 Church at that place. Father De Kelver 
 is a very earnest worker, thoroughly de- 
 voted to his calling, and has the confidence 
 and respect not onl}' of his own parish- 
 ioners but of the people of other denom- 
 inations. He manifests a commendable 
 interest in the affairs of the day, and is a 
 valued citizen as well as a faithful pastor. 
 
 REV. SAMUEL THEODORE 
 KIDDER, of Menasha, W^inne- 
 bago county, was born in Warsaw, 
 N. Y. , December 27, 1848, and 
 comes of an old English family. His 
 father, Corbin Kidder, was born in 
 Wardsboro, Vt., June i, 1801, and died 
 in Poplar Grove, III., December 29, 1874. 
 In 1828, he was graduated from Amherst 
 College, and in 1832 from the Theo- 
 logical Seminary at Andover, Mass. He 
 was then, July 30, 1834, ordained in 
 Saxonville, Mass., as a minister of the 
 Congregational Church, and was after- 
 ward pastor of churches in the Bay 
 State, in Vermont, New York, Indiana 
 and Illinois. 
 
 On December 22, 1840, Rev. Corbin 
 Kidder married Esther Lorena Wood, 
 who was born at Westminster, Mass., 
 June 17, 181 1, and was a daughter of 
 Ezra and Catherine (Jackson) Wood, and 
 a granddaughter of Abel and Phcebe 
 (Holden) Wood. Her grandfather was a 
 son of Nathan and Rebecca (Haynes) 
 Wood, and the parents of the former 
 were Abraham and Hannah Wood. Abra- 
 ham Wood was a son of Michael Wood, 
 whose father, William Wood, came from 
 England to this country in 1638. Rev. 
 Corbin Kidder was a son of Nathaniel 
 Kidder, who was born in Wardsboro, Vt., 
 May 2, 1765, and died in Brattleboro, 
 Vt., November 5, 1843. He was a shoe- 
 maker by trade, became one of the pio- 
 neer settlers of Windham Comity, Vt. , 
 and served as captain in the Wardsboro 
 militia. On February 12, 1792, he was 
 joined in wedlock with Polly Eddy, daugh- 
 ter of Capt. John Eddy, and s^randdaugh- 
 ter of Jonathan Eddy, who was a son of 
 Joshua Eddy, and a grandson of Zachariah 
 Eddy, whose father, Samuel Eddy, lived 
 in London, England, in 1630. Nathaniel 
 and Polly Kidder became the parents of 
 sixteen children. 
 
 In tracing back the ancestry of the 
 Kidder family we find that the grand- 
 father of our subject was a son of Samuel 
 Kidder, of Dudley, Mass., who was there 
 
I 122 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 born, February 8, 1734, and died in that 
 place in 1776. The previous year he 
 took part in the siege of Boston, one of 
 the first engagements of the Revolution- 
 ary war. By occupation he was a 
 farmer. He married March 30, 1758, 
 Miss Sarah Corbin, daughter of Elisha 
 Corbin. His father, Richard Kidder, was 
 born in Billerica, Mass., May 10, 1705, 
 and died in Dudley, Mass., in 1773. His 
 father, Ephraim Kidder, was born in the 
 same place, August 31, 1660, and died 
 September 25, 1724, in Billerica; he, too, 
 made farming his life work, and on the 
 4th of August, 1685, he married Rachel 
 Crosby. 
 
 The next ancestor, James Kidder, a 
 native of England, born at East Grin- 
 stead in 1626, founded the family in 
 America, settling in Cambridge prior to 
 1650, and died in Billerica in 1676. He 
 was married in 1649, to Anna Moore, 
 daughter of Elder Moore, of Cambridge. 
 James Kidder, his father, lived in East 
 Grinstead, England, and was a son of 
 John Kidder, of Maresfield, Sussex, Eng- 
 land, and a grandson of John Kidder, Sr., 
 of the same place. The father and the 
 grandfather of the last named both bore 
 the name of Richard Kidder, and lived in 
 Maresfield, England, and the great-grand- 
 father, also Richard Ividder, was a resi- 
 dent of Maresfield in 1492. 
 
 We have thus traced the ancestry of 
 the family back to the year in which 
 Columbus with his little Spanish fleet 
 started to find the western route to India, 
 but discovered instead the New World. 
 We now return to the personal history of 
 our subject, who was reared in the State 
 of his nativity, and in 1873 was graduated 
 from Beloit College. He then pursued a 
 course of study first in Yale Divinity 
 School, afterward in the Andover Theo- 
 logical Seminary, where his father had 
 previously been a student, and, after his 
 graduation with the class of 1877, was 
 ordained to the ministry of the Congrega- 
 tional Church, in Saugus, Mass., April 17, 
 1 878. Mr. Kidder served as pastor of the 
 
 church in Winnetka, 111., from 1880 until 
 1885, and then had charge of the church 
 in Fond du Lac until 1892. After one 
 year as principal of the North Wisconsin 
 Academy at Ashland, he was called to the 
 Congregational Church at Menasha in 
 October, 1893. 
 
 On the 28th of September, 1880, was 
 celebrated the marriage of Mr. Kidder and 
 Miss Martha Elizabeth Brainard, daugh- 
 ter of Martin and Agnes (Moorhead) 
 Brainard, and a grand-daughter of Isaac 
 and Alice Brainard. Like her husband 
 she, too, comes of an old famil}', being 
 able to trace her ancestry back to Daniel 
 Brainard, who lived in Hartford, Conn., 
 in 1651. 
 
 REV. JENS NELSON JERSILD. 
 The little Kingdom of Denmark — 
 little in size and population, but 
 great in history per marc per ter- 
 rain, by sea and land, her sailors and 
 soldiers having a record second to none 
 in the wide world for courage, chivalry 
 and prowess; great also in the fields of 
 science and literature, her schools, col- 
 leges and universities having sent into the 
 world some of the most learned men to 
 be found in the various professions, 
 among whom is to be numbered the rev- 
 erend gentleman whose name is here 
 recorded. 
 
 Mr. Jersild was born in Denmark in 
 March, 1855, a son of Nels Christian 
 Jersild, the date of whose birth is 1825, 
 and who has been a lifelong tiller of the 
 soil in his native land. In 1851 he mar- 
 ried Miss Karen Olson, who bore him 
 four children, viz. : Mary Anna, who died 
 at the age of seven years; Mary; Jens 
 Nelson, and one that died in infancy. 
 The mother of these died in 1S57, and in 
 1S58 the father wedded, for his second 
 wife. Miss Maren Thompson, by which 
 union there were eleven children; this wife 
 passed away in 1888. Mr. Jersild, who is 
 still living in Denmark, served his country 
 in the Holstein war between Denmark and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1123 
 
 Germany (1848-49), and lost a leg in 
 battle. He is a son of Jens Nelson, also 
 a farmer, and the entire family are well- 
 to-do, highl}' respected people. 
 
 The subject of this sketch lived on 
 the home farm until he was twenty-five 
 years old, in his boyhood and early youth 
 receiving a good public-school education, 
 and in 1880 he entered the university of 
 Copenhagen, where, after a four-years' 
 course, he graduated in 1884. In June 
 of that same year he came to America, 
 and for about eighteen months resided in 
 Chicago, 111., where he had charge of two 
 Danish Lutheran Societies or Churches. 
 In the fall of 1885 he moved to Minne- 
 sota, where, in Carlston township. Free- 
 dom county, he was engaged in pastoral 
 work three and one-half years, or until 
 May, 1889, when he came to Neenah to 
 assume the duties of pastor of the Danish 
 Church established here, an incumbency 
 he still fills. In June, 1892, he organized 
 the Jersild Publishing Co., of Neenah, 
 publishers of a weekly newspaper in the 
 Danish language, the only one of the 
 kind in Wisconsin, and the largest in 
 America, it having a circularion of over 
 three thousand copies. In connection 
 they have a job and book-printing office, 
 and facilities for turning out first-class 
 work in the English, German or Danish 
 language; the entire establishment gives 
 employment to an average of eleven 
 hands, and enjoys a wide reputation for 
 neatness and dispatch. 
 
 In 1884, just two days before sailing 
 for the New World, Rev. Jens Nelson 
 jersild was united in marriage in Den- 
 mark with Miss Laura Jensine Elizabeth 
 Yberg, who was born in Copenhagen in 
 1859, and six children have been born to 
 them, their names being Nels C, Carl 
 M.. Awald M., Holger, Eiler and Esther. 
 Politically our subject is a Republican, 
 and while he was a resident of Minnesota 
 he held the office of justice of the peace. 
 He is an able and faithful pastor, and a 
 chaste writer through whose vigorous 
 and thoughtful sentences the truth is 
 
 beautifully set forth; a genial and com- 
 panionable friend, having always a felici- 
 tous word upon his tongue, and a sympa- 
 thetic friend of old and young, of the 
 eminent and of the obscure. 
 
 WILLIAM KELLETT. Among 
 the honored citizens of Winne- 
 bago county, none are more 
 worthy of being commemorated 
 in its annals than the one whose name 
 here appears. For more than forty years 
 he has lived within its borders, during 
 which time he has been a prominent fac- 
 tor in its social, business and mercantile 
 affairs, fairly earning a reputation for 
 honorable dealing with his fellow citizens, 
 to such a degree as to make his name a 
 synonym for all that is honorable in busi- 
 ness and correct in morals. He is des- 
 cended from a race that has given to 
 America some of her most successful men 
 in every avenue of life. 
 
 County Cavan, in the North of Ire- 
 land, was the home of the ancestors of 
 William Kellett; but the only record ex- 
 isting is that of Robert Kellett, grand- 
 father of our subject, who being a younger 
 son, and thus not inheriting the paternal 
 estate, like many other younger sons in 
 the old country, found it necessary to 
 "hustle for himself." He was married 
 in Ireland to Miss Nancy White, a Scotch 
 lady, and subsequently they came to 
 America, where he followed his trade of 
 a saddler and carried on that business; 
 but during the later years of his life he 
 followed the occupation of a farmer in 
 Ulster county, N. Y. , where he died. 
 Robert Kellett became a loyal and patri- 
 otic citizen of his adopted country, and 
 on the breaking out of hostilities in the 
 war of 1812 he and his eldest son, Joseph 
 Kellett, shouldered their muskets and 
 served as soldiers in the ranks of the 
 United States army. Robert Kellett and 
 his wife were the parents of ten children, 
 of whom Anthony Kellett became the 
 father of the subject of this sketch. 
 
1 124 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Anthony Kellett was born on Long 
 Island, N. Y. , in 1808; in 1827 he mar- 
 ried Miss Jane Conley, who was a native 
 of Ulster county, N. Y. , a daughter of 
 Stephen Conley, a gentleman of English 
 descent and a well-to-do farmer of that 
 county; he died when his daughter Jane 
 was ten years of age, and she subse- 
 quently lived, until her marriage, with 
 her grandfather. Dr. Conley. To An- 
 thony and Jane Kellett were born ten 
 children, namely: William (our subject), 
 Mary J., Charles, Joseph, John, Mar- 
 garet A., Nancy, Emeline, Harriet, and 
 one that died in infancy. Anthony Kel- 
 lett was a farmer and lumberman, follow- 
 ing those vocations in Ulster county, N. 
 Y. , whence in 1852 he removed with his 
 family to Wisconsin, and locating on a 
 farm near Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 he there lived many years, engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. He died at Neenah, 
 Wis., in 1879, his wife passing away in 
 the same house in 1881. 
 
 William Kellett, the subject proper of 
 this sketch, was born August 2, 1828, in 
 the town of Olive, Ulster Co., N. Y., the 
 eldest of his father's family of ten children. 
 His youth was passed at the parental 
 home, his time being about equally divided 
 between assisting his father in his busi- 
 ness, and in attending the winter schools 
 of the neighborhood. He was an apt 
 scholar and a close observer, and when 
 nineteen years old began learning the 
 blacksmith trade at Kingston, N. Y. 
 After mastering his trade he formed a 
 partnership with Stephen Matthews, and 
 carried on the carriage-making business 
 at Olive, N. Y. , the style of the firm being 
 Stephen Matthews &Son. At this place, 
 in 1850, he was married to Miss Martha 
 Maria Matthews, daughter of his partner, 
 Stephen Matthews. For several years he 
 continued in the above business at Olive, 
 but finally, in 1855, sold his interest in 
 the carriage factory and moved with his 
 wife and one child to Wisconsin, where 
 he bought and located a farm in Win- 
 nebago county, near to Oshkosh and 
 
 close to the farm where his father 
 was settled. In 1857 he sold his 
 farm, and moved into Oshkosh, where 
 he conducted a grocery store until 
 1 860, when, owing to the failing health 
 of his wife, he again began farming on a 
 place not far from his first farm, and here 
 lived several years. In the meantime he 
 had the misfortune to lose his wife, who 
 died June 10, 1S65, so he subsequently 
 sold the farm, moved to the city of Nee- 
 nah, and established a dry-goods store 
 which he has conducted ever since, and 
 is now doing business under the name of 
 William Kellett & Co., for the past few 
 years having had a partner to whom he 
 leaves the details of the business, himself 
 paying more attention to financial mat- 
 ters. Although he is as keen and alert as 
 of yore, he yet takes, in his advancing 
 years, a well-earned and merited rest, 
 leaving to younger shoulders the harder 
 and more confining portion of labor. 
 The drj'-goods establishment, which car- 
 ries a heavy and varied stock, is the most 
 complete and extensive store of the kind 
 in the city of Neenah, and none in the 
 State bears a more honorable reputation 
 for fair and honest dealing. 
 
 Mr. Kellett was married, the second 
 time, October 14, 1867, to a most ami- 
 able young lady. Miss Augusta Maria 
 Kimball, daughter of Thomas Kimball, of 
 Neenah, and by this union there are four 
 children, as follows: Agnes Maria, now 
 the wife of Charles Gaffney, of Neenah; 
 Bertha, a talented young lady, graduate 
 of the Wisconsin State University, and 
 living at home; and Thomas Anthony 
 William and Richard Arthur Pearl, now 
 students at the St. John's Military Acad- 
 emy, Delafield, ^^'is. By his first marri- 
 age Mr. Kellett hadtwo children: Homer 
 Walton, who -died at the age of three 
 years, and Mary Isabella, who married 
 David R. Davis, of Neenah, but died 
 leaving one child, named Belle. Mr. 
 Kellett has always taken an active inter- 
 est in public affairs, and in politics has 
 been a stanch adherent of the Republican 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 1125 
 
 party. On several occasions he has served 
 his fellow citizens in offices of honor and 
 trust, among which may be mentioned 
 those of alderman, six years, and mayor, 
 one term; subsequent to holding the lat- 
 ter incumbency, although solicited to run 
 for various offices, he has most positively 
 refused to allow his name to be placed in 
 nomination. Socially he is a member of 
 the I. O. O. F. and K. of H., and in re- 
 ligious faith both himself and his noble 
 and amiable wife are members of the 
 Presbyterian Church. He may well be 
 termed a representative man; his has been 
 an honorable career, and is an example 
 of honest perseverance, successfully win- 
 ning the smiles of fortune and a handsome 
 competenc}'. 
 
 GEORGE WALLACE DODGE, 
 M. D. , one of the prominent 
 physicians of Winnebago county, 
 is successfully engaged in prac- 
 tice in Menasha. Skill and ability have 
 gained him a wide and enviable rep- 
 utation, and as a consequence he is now 
 enjoying a large and liberal clientele. A 
 native of Illinois, he was born in the 
 town of Milton, Du Page county, October 
 II, 1 84 1, and comes of good old Revo- 
 lutionary stock, his great-grandfather hav- 
 ing aided the Colonies in their struggle 
 for independence. He lived and died in 
 Vermont, where the Doctor's grandfather 
 was also born and reared, and married 
 Miss Matilda Lyon; by occupation he 
 was a farmer. In 1836, accompanied by 
 his family, he migrated westward, set- 
 tling in Du Page county. 111., where he 
 and his wife both spent their remaining 
 days. They had thirteen children — four 
 sons and nine daughters. The Dodge 
 family is of English origin. 
 
 Daniel D. Dodge, the Doctor's father, 
 was born in Brandon, Vt., January i, 
 1 8 16, and with the family came to 
 Illinois. Here, about 1836, he married 
 Miss Betsy Atwater, who was born near 
 Chenango Forks, N. Y., February 12, 
 
 1 82 1, and was of German lineage. Her 
 parents, Jesse and Lucretia Atwater, 
 were also natives of the Empire State, 
 and with their family they removed in 
 1836 to Du Page county. 111. Mr. At- 
 water carried on agricultural pursuits, 
 and he and his wife resided in Illinois 
 until called to the home beyond. Their 
 family numbered eight children. Not 
 long after his marriage Daniel D. Dodge 
 removed to Chicago, where he worked at 
 the carpenter's trade until 1 849, when he 
 sold his property in that city and came to 
 Neenah, where in company with his 
 brother William he built a hotel on 
 the present site of the First National 
 Bank. In March, 1852, he started 
 on an overland trip to California, and 
 spent four years on the Pacific slope. 
 He then returned to Neenah, but in 1864 
 again went to California, where in the 
 autumn of 1866 his family joined him, lo- 
 cating at Santa Cruz, where he still fol- 
 lows his trade. His wife died in March, 
 1 894. Their family numbered four sons — 
 George W^allace, Henry, William and 
 Edwin. 
 
 Our subject was yet an infant when 
 his parents removed to Chicago, and was 
 a youth of only eight years when he came 
 to Wisconsin. Here he attended the 
 common schools until eighteen years of 
 age, after which he spent one year work- 
 ing in a tin shop in Neenah. On the 
 breaking out of the Civil war in April, 
 1 861, he joined the first company that 
 left Neenah — Company G, Third Wis. V. 
 I., under command of Capt. Hubbard. 
 At Buckton Station, Va. , May 25, 1862, 
 while his company was doing guard duty, 
 he was wounded, taken prisoner and held 
 a captive for four weeks; was then pa- 
 roled and sent to Washington, where on 
 the 30th of June, 1862, he was dis- 
 charged. In the meantime he had been 
 made corporal. Mr. Dodge in the spring 
 of 1863 went to Missouri in the employ 
 of the government, but returned in the 
 autumn toAppleton, Wis., where he again 
 worked in a tin shop. It being his de- 
 
II26 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sire to enter the medical profession, and 
 buying a few books of a friend, he spent 
 his evenings in studj- until 1865, in which 
 year he went to Elgin, 111., where he 
 worked at his trade with a brother, and 
 also pursued his medical studies until the 
 autumn of 1866. At that time he en- 
 tered upon a course of medical study in 
 Chicago Medical College, and on its com- 
 pletion returned to Neenah. In May, 
 1868, he went to Winneconne, Wis., 
 where he took charge of a hardware 
 store, but a year later, in the fall of 1871, 
 he re-entered Chicago Medical College, 
 from which he was graduated in the spring 
 of 1873. He then began his professional 
 labors at Winneconne, where he practiced 
 until June 17, 1876, at which time he 
 came to Menasha. 
 
 In August, 1868, Dr. Dodge was 
 united in marriage with Miss Olivia Wal- 
 bridge, a native of West Randolph, Vt., 
 and a daughter of Philander and Lucinda 
 (Jones) Walbridge, also natives of the 
 Green Mountain State, whence they came 
 to Wisconsin in 1857 with their two chil- 
 dren, George and Olivia. The father 
 was a farmer, and while in Vermont 
 served as a colonel in the State Militia; 
 his death occurred in December, 1872, 
 his wife surviving him till May, 1893, 
 when she, too, passed away. The year 
 after their marriage Mrs. Dodge taught 
 school, while the Doctor resumed his 
 medical studies. They have only one 
 child, an adopted daughter, Carrie, who 
 is still with them. In his political views 
 Dr. Dodge is a Republican, keeps well 
 informed on the issues of the day, and 
 takes an active interest in the growth and 
 success of his party. He has labored to 
 secure office for others, but has never 
 sought political preferment for himself. He 
 belongs to the Fox River Valley Medical 
 Society, was previously a member of the 
 I. O. O. F. , and is now an honored 
 member of the Masonic Lodge of Mena- 
 sha. He was a loyal and able defender 
 of the Union during the Civil war, is now 
 a valued and faithful citizen, and the 
 
 best interests of the community in which 
 he makes his home find in him a friend. 
 In his profession he has steadily arisen 
 until he now occupies a foremost place in 
 its ranks. 
 
 REV. SIGMOND WOZNY, a 
 worthy representative of the min- 
 istry at Menasha, Winnebago 
 county, claims Austria as the land 
 of his birth, which event occurred in 
 August, 1 86 1. His father, Joseph Wozny, 
 who was a wholesale cattle dealer, was 
 born in 1S32, and in 1856 was joined in 
 wedlock with Miss Mary Faferko. Their 
 union was blessed with three children — 
 two sons and a daughter — yet living, and 
 three that died. The mother was called 
 to the home beyond in 1868, and in 1870 
 the father was again married, his second 
 union being with Mary Kowalczewski, by 
 whom he had four children. Mr. Wozny 
 was a man of good business education, 
 was very wealthy, and lived in a style be- 
 fitting his princely income. 
 
 The gentleman whose name intro- 
 duces this biography began his education 
 in the common schools of his native land, 
 and at the age of twenty years was grad- 
 uated with honors from the gymnasium. 
 He then received private instruction in 
 painting, for his father being a man of 
 wealth could provide him with excellent 
 advantages in the way of studies. In 
 1 88 1 he went to Italy, where he pursued 
 the study of painting some six months, 
 and at the expiration of that period he 
 traveled to Belgium, afterward over 
 almost all of Europe, excepting England 
 and Russia, during which time he was 
 engaged in teaching Louvain languages 
 and painting. In Belgium he pursued a 
 theological course, studying in both the 
 American and Jesuit Colleges and in the 
 Catholic University, from which institu- 
 tion he was graduated in 1885. On the 
 28th of June, same year, he was ordained 
 a minister, and then spent a month vis- 
 iting among friends, after which he sailed 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 137 
 
 for America, his future field of labor. 
 On August 12, he landed in Pittsburg, 
 Penn., and was sent to Kansas where he 
 was placed in charge of four missions; 
 but owing to failing health the following 
 April he was obliged to give up the 
 charge of this diocese, and take a vacation 
 in order to recuperate. In July, 1886, 
 he was received by Bishop Spalding into 
 the diocese, of Peoria, 111 , and given 
 charge of the congregation at La Salle, 
 111., where he remained about five j'ears, 
 or until January, 1891. At that time he 
 was transferred to Stevens Point, Wis., 
 where he continued three years, and then 
 in April, 1S94, came to Menasha, to ac- 
 cept the charge of St. John's Parish. At 
 the end of August, same year, he was 
 called to Cleveland, Ohio, to take charge 
 of a newly organized congregation, be- 
 sides being engaged in forming other 
 churches or congregations outside of the 
 city of Cleveland. 
 
 At various intervals during all these 
 years. Rev. Wozny has traveled quite 
 extensively in the United States and 
 Canada, visiting all the principal cities 
 and points of interest. He has three 
 times gone to the Pacific coast, where 
 each time he has spent six months. He 
 is a man of liberal mind and broad cul- 
 ture, whose studies along the various 
 lines of art and science have the more 
 ably fitted him for his pastoral work. 
 
 CORYDON P. NORTHRUP is the 
 leading insurance man of Mena- 
 sha, Winnebago county, and one 
 of its honored early settlers and 
 valued citizens. With its best interests 
 he has long been identified, and in its 
 development and upbuilding he has ever 
 borne a part. He is a native of Oneida 
 county, N. Y. , having first seen the light 
 there December 2, 1820, and is a son of 
 Cornelius Northrup, who was born in 
 Greene county, N. Y.. January 20, 1796, 
 the eldest in a family of three sons and 
 four daughters. The paternal grand- 
 
 father, Enos Northrup, was also born in 
 the Empire State, and was of English 
 and Dutch descent, by occupation a 
 farmer. His four sons were Cornelius, 
 Richard, Thomas and Enos, the last 
 named now living with a married daugh- 
 ter in California. 
 
 Cornelius Northrup learned the trade 
 of making spinning wheels, and as a nat- 
 ural mechanic could do almost all kinds 
 of wood work. He had no school privi- 
 leges, but by his own efforts obtained a 
 practical education, always keeping him- 
 self well-informed on the leading ques- 
 tions of the day. In his political views 
 he was first a Federalist, but soon joined 
 the Whig party, and upon its organiza- 
 tion was one of the first to espouse the 
 principles of the Republican party. In 
 1 81 7, he wedded Miss Mary E. Porter, 
 who was born in Onondaga county, N. 
 Y. , in 1800, a daughter of James and 
 Polly (Bullard) Porter, the former of 
 whom was a farmer, and also followed 
 carpentering. Mrs. Northrup had a sister, 
 Sallie, who died in girlhood, and a brother, 
 Seth J., who studied for the ministry, 
 and engaged in that work for many years; 
 afterward, however, he studied medicine, 
 and at the time of his death, which 
 occurred in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1834, 
 he was enjoying a large and lucrative 
 practice. To Mr. and Mrs. Northrup 
 were born seven children, three of whom 
 died in infancy, the other four — Cor3'don 
 P., Caroline, Amelia and Francis — all 
 growing to mature years. The father of 
 this family about 1827 removed to Me- 
 dina county, Ohio, and in 1830 went to 
 Michigan, -settling in Richland, Kalama- 
 zoo county, on a farm. Three years 
 later he removed to the village, where he 
 made his home for five years. In 1846 
 he went with his family to Neenah, and 
 in the spring of 1848, came to Menasha, 
 building a log house, the first dwelling in 
 the town. Here his remaining days were 
 passed, his death occurring in February, 
 1869. He served as one of the militia- 
 men at the time of the War of 1812, and 
 
II2S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was so near the scene of action that he 
 could hear the firing at the battle of Ben- 
 nington, but was never called into active 
 service. His sterling worth led him to be 
 the people's choice for many local offices 
 of honor and trust, and for one term he 
 served as chairman of the county board 
 of supervisors. He had the implicit con- 
 fidence of his fellow men, and his word 
 was as good as his bond. In business 
 circles he was ever active, and he suc- 
 ceeded in establishing several enterprises 
 in this community. Both he and his 
 wife were members of the Congregational 
 Church, and socially he was a Royal 
 Arch Mason. His wife, who was a most 
 estimable lady, died in 1874. 
 
 Corydon Northrup was a child of si.\ 
 years when his parents went to Ohio, and 
 a youth of ten on their removal to Michi- 
 gan, where he remained until 1841, dur- 
 ing which time he worked on a farm, at- 
 tended school and clerked in a store. In 
 1841, he returned to Cuyahoga county, 
 Ohio, where he engaged in the manufac- 
 ture of spinning wheels until 1846, when 
 he came to the Territory of Wisconsin, 
 locating in Neenah, which was then a 
 mere hamlet. During the succeeding 
 year and a half he built the first house 
 in Menasha, and on its completion it was 
 occupied by his father and his family. 
 Our subject worked in a sawmill and at 
 the carpenter's trade until 1852, when he 
 went to Two Rivers, where he was em- 
 ployed as shipping clerk for the lumber 
 firm of Aldrich, Smith & Co., until i860. 
 On April 15, 1845, he married Miss 
 Catherine A. Smith, a native of St. Law- 
 rence county, N. Y. , whose parents died 
 when she was quite small, and she was 
 then reared by an aunt. She died in 
 Neenah, January 8, 1847, and May 11, 
 1854, Mr. Northrup married Ellen A. 
 Knibbs, who was born in England, No- 
 vember 2, 1829. During her infancy her 
 parents emigrated to Canada, where 
 shortly after her father died, leaving a 
 family of seven children — John, Charles, 
 Isaac, Mary, Ann, Naomi and Ellen. To 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Northrup were born nine 
 children: Catherine A., Mary A., Henry 
 M., Hattie I., Carrie N., Alice A., Lucy 
 E. and two now deceased. 
 
 Mr. Northrup has been a resident of 
 Menasha since February, i860, at which 
 time he entered a sawmill, and soon 
 worked up to the position of superinten- 
 dent of the Menasha Wooden Ware Com- 
 pany. In 1875, he left that business, 
 and for a time followed carpentering and 
 farming. Since 1887, however, he has 
 given his entire time and attention to the 
 insurance business in which he has met 
 with good success. His life has been a 
 busy and useful one, yet he has found 
 time to devote to public interests. Some 
 years since he served as a member of the 
 board of county supervisors, and in 1888 
 was again elected to that office. In the 
 spring of 1881, he was appointed city 
 clerk of Menasha, but resigned the fol- 
 lowing fall. On May i, 1888, he was 
 again appointed to that position, and dis- 
 charged his duties with a promptness and 
 fidelity that won him high commendation. 
 He has filled the offices of justice of the 
 peace and alderman, and is ever true to 
 the trusts reposed in him. Those who 
 know him honor him for his sterling worth 
 and strict integrity, and their high esteem 
 he justly merits. 
 
 CURTIS REED. As the wood- 
 man in clearing his land leaves 
 here and there some stalwart elm 
 or oak, which long years after 
 stands alone in the midst of some green 
 and fertile field, a solitary representative 
 of the past, so the relentless Reaper, in 
 his grim harvest of men, has spared here 
 and there a pioneer who forms a connect- 
 ing link between the past and the present. 
 The subject of this sketch is one of 
 the very few surviving pioneers of Winne- 
 bago county, his life here running back 
 nearly half a century. He is of Massa- 
 chusetts birth, having first seen the light 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 1 1 29 
 
 near Lowell March 26, 181 5, eighty years 
 ago. His father, Seth Reed, was a na- 
 tive of the same State, born in Middlesex 
 county in 1781; in 1804 married Miss 
 Rhoda F"inney, a Vermont lady, and by 
 her had nine children — five sons and four 
 daughters, as follows: George, Julia, 
 Ann, Orson, Augusta, Harrison, Curtis, 
 Martha and Herbert. In Massachusetts 
 the father followed farming, and in 1823 
 he moved with his family to Vermont, re- 
 maining there until 1837, the year of his 
 coming to the Territory of Wisconsin. 
 In the " Green Mountain State " he kept 
 a hotel, and was also a shipper of stock — 
 horses, sheep and cattle — his market be- 
 ing Boston. On coming to what is now 
 sometimes called the " Badger State," he 
 first, for a time, conducted a hardware 
 store in Milwaukee, but in 1837 took up 
 farming in Waukesha county, where he 
 died in 1848; the mother was called from 
 earth in 1874, while residing in Menasha. 
 Only three of their children are now liv- 
 ing, to wit: Harrison, who lives in 
 Florida, and was governor of that State 
 five years after the war; Martha, wife of 
 Alexander Mitchell, the late railroad mag- 
 nate and millman of Milwaukee, Wis. ; 
 and Curtis; one son, George, lost his life 
 at the burning of the " Newhall House" 
 in Milwaukee some years ago. 
 
 Curtis Reed, the subject proper of 
 this sketch, attended regularly the winter 
 school of the neighborhood of his place of 
 birth, until he was sixteen years old, 
 at which time he commenced clerking in 
 a store in Vermont. Later he moved to 
 Troy, N. Y., where he was similarly em- 
 ployed until December, 1835, when he 
 came to Milwaukee, Wis., the entire trip 
 from Troy to Buffalo being made by 
 stage, he never leaving it that long dis- 
 tance except for meals. From Buffalo 
 they took stage-coach to Detroit by way 
 of Cleveland; thence stage-sleigh to Chi- 
 cago, and from there to Milwaukee, Mil- 
 waukee Co., Wis., by private lumber 
 wagon (hired for that purpose, as at that 
 time there were no public conveyances) 
 
 arriving December 28, 1835. Here Mr. 
 Reed boarded with Solomon Juneau, the 
 chief trader with the Pottawatomie Indi- 
 ans, and one of the first settlers in Mil- 
 waukee, of which locality, in its early 
 history, he was a prominent figure, and 
 Juneau Park in the city was named for 
 him, his statue adorning same. In Mil- 
 waukee Mr. Reed also clerked in a store, 
 and in July, 1836, the Territory of Wis- 
 consin being organized, he was appointed, 
 by Governor Dodge, under sheriff of Mil- 
 waukee county, the first appointment to 
 that office in the county, which at that 
 time comprised the territory afterward 
 divided into the counties of Ozaukee, 
 Washington, Waukesha, Jefferson, Keno- 
 sha, Racine, Dodge and part of Rock and 
 Dane. He was one of the committee 
 sent out to escort the Governor to Mil- 
 waukee from Iowa (which State the Gov- 
 ernor was appointed from), was chosen 
 chairman of the committee, and dele- 
 gated to deliver the customary address. 
 During his service as under sheriff he was 
 appointed a lieutenant in the State 
 militia, and placed on the Governor's 
 staff. In 1836 he took the first census in 
 Milwaukee county, and in the following 
 year he moved on government land in 
 the same county, lived thereon and culti- 
 vated a farm, from time to time improv- 
 ing it until by 1848 he had some 200 
 acres under good cultivation. During all 
 this time he was serving as supervisor of 
 Summit (now Waukesha) township, Mil- 
 waukee county, and in 1846 he was 
 elected Territorial counsel, in which capac- 
 ity he served two eventful years in the 
 development of the new State. In 1838 
 he served as postmaster at Summit, then 
 in Milwaukee, now in Waukesha, county. 
 Having, in 1846, been granted a char- 
 ter by the Territorial Legislature of Wis- 
 consin to build a dam across the north 
 branch of the Fox river, he came in the 
 spring of 1848 to where is now the city 
 of Menasha, and immediately setting to 
 work, completed the dam in 1849. To- 
 gether with Charles Doty he owned about 
 
II30 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 300 acres of land where Menasha now 
 stands, platted the \ illage, and both sold 
 and gave away lots, and was the first 
 white man to reside there after Wisconsin 
 had been organized as a State; indeed, he 
 is approiiriately called the "Father of 
 Menasha." About this time five State 
 commissioners were appointed to survej' 
 and furnish a plan to improve the Fox 
 and Wisconsin rivers, Mr. Keed being the 
 only resident appointee on the commis- 
 sion, of which he was also secretar}', anti 
 had charge of the surveys on Fox river, 
 ever after which time he was closely iden- 
 tified with the improvements on those 
 rivers. In spite of his enormous real- 
 estate and other interests, Mr. Reed yet 
 found time to serve his adopted State in 
 \arious offices of honor and trust, and to 
 further advance the interests of his 
 adopted State and county. In 1847, 
 when Waukesha county was organized, 
 he was elected chairman of the board of 
 supervisors. In 1S49 he built the first 
 canal at Menasha, and constructed the 
 first lock at that place, under contract 
 with the State; this he executed on a 
 certain plan, and spent $50,000 thereon 
 (he was sole owner c^f the water power at 
 Menasha, which he sold and leased, and 
 it should be added that it was entirely 
 through his infiuence and energy, and the 
 use of his capital, that Menasha secured 
 this invaluable power instead of Neenah; 
 in fact, he has ever been foremost in all 
 matters pertaining to the welfare and 
 prosperity of Menasha). In 1846-47 he 
 was contractor for the United States 
 Government to supply the Menominee 
 Indians with beef, pork and farming im- 
 plements; was one of the first directors of 
 the Wisconsin Central railroad, and spent 
 time and money unsparingly in securing 
 the grant from the United States. His 
 brother, George Reed, who was the first 
 president of that road, was a graduate of 
 Middiebury (Vt.) College, and practiced 
 law in Milwaukee and Manitowoc, Wis., 
 for a number of years. He was judge of 
 Manitowoc count \' two terms, and was 
 
 State senator from Manitowoc county four 
 terms. 
 
 In politics Curtis Reed has been a 
 lifelong Democrat, uncompromising and 
 firm in his views, but in elections he in- 
 variably had the support of both jxarties; 
 and the number of offices he has from 
 time to time been elected to would be 
 diflicult to enumerate. Besides those al- 
 ready mentioned, he has served as super- 
 visor of his town several times; was the 
 first president of the village of Menasha, 
 an office he filled frequently afterward; 
 was appointed postmaster at Menasha 
 during Cleveland's iirst term, served five 
 years, was reappointed in the spring of 
 1894, and is at present filling that incum- 
 bency. In 1 890 he was elected mayor of 
 Jilenasha, filling the office with dignity 
 and grace two terms. Twice he was 
 elected to the Legislature after Wisconsin 
 became a State, the first time in i860, 
 and during that period he did heroic ser- 
 vice for his constituency. While the 
 Civil war was raging he acted as chair- 
 man of the volunteer war committee of 
 Menasha, and was most active in clearing 
 the village from the draft, which he suc- 
 ceeded in doing at an outlay of a great 
 deal of time and private means. 
 
 Curtis Reed was married, in 1849, in 
 Jefferson county, N. Y. , to Miss Augusta 
 L. Ripley, ilaughter of Daniel and Cyn- 
 thia B. Ripley (the former of whom was 
 an agriculturist), all natives of New York 
 State. Mr. and Mrs. Ripley had a fam- 
 ily of two sons and one daughter, and 
 the mother dying when Mrs. Reed was a 
 young girl, the father married again, after- 
 ward moving to Wisconsin, where he 
 passed away at the advanced age of 
 eighty-six years. To Mr. and Mrs. Reed 
 were born four sons: Charles, William, 
 John and Harry, John being deceased. 
 The mother died at Menasha in February, 
 1893, a consistent member of the Baptist 
 Church; and although Mr. Reed is not a 
 member, he has been liberal toward all 
 denominations, donating a lot to each 
 whereon to erect their church building, 
 
COMMEMOItATIVE UIOGRAPIHCAL UECORD. 
 
 1 131 
 
 and he has been liberal of his means in 
 many other ways. This venerable and 
 honored pioneer, respected by all, and 
 beloved by many, is now patiently await- 
 the time when the all-sceinf( Pilot shall 
 guide his bark into the haven of rest, 
 whose waters wash the shores of Eternity. 
 
 FERDINAND HERRMANN, a ven- 
 cral)le and honored citizen of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, at 
 one time closely identified with 
 the mercantile interests of the place, but 
 now retired from active business life, is a 
 native of Saxony, Germany, born Novem- 
 ber 9, 1827. 
 
 His parents, Christian and Ida Herr- 
 mann, who were also of Saxony birth, 
 passed their entire lives in the Father- 
 land, dying there many years ago. They 
 had a family of three children, two of 
 whom are yet living: Ferdinand, and Ida, 
 wife of Carl Heite, who still resides in 
 Saxony. Our subject received a good 
 public-school education in his native 
 country, and when of proper age com- 
 menced working at the cabinet-making 
 trade, becoming quite an expert. In 
 1850, at the age of twenty-three years, 
 he emigrated to the United States, and 
 coming westward from the port of de- 
 barkation landed at Milwaukee, Wis., 
 where he worked at carpentry until 1852, 
 in the fall of which year he moved to 
 Oshkosh. Here he continued in that 
 line until 1861, at which time he em- 
 barked in the grocery business, continu- 
 ing in same until 1888, when he retired 
 from active life, having by industry, 
 economy and strict attention to business 
 earned a comfortable competence. The 
 business has since been conducted by his 
 son Rudolph A. and his son-in-law, 
 Richard Ernst, son of Conrad Ernst. 
 
 In 1855, in Oshkosh, Ferdinand Herr- 
 mann and Sidonia Suhl were united in 
 marriage, and three children have been 
 born to them, namely: Rudolph A. ; Ber- 
 tha, wife of William F. Grucncwald; and 
 
 63 
 
 Clara, wife of Richard Ernst, mentioned 
 above, all residents of Oshkosh. The 
 family are identified with the Lutheran 
 Church. Mr. Herrmann, socially, is a 
 member of the Turnverein, and for the 
 past thirty-nine years has been secretary 
 of the Sons of Herrmann, of which asso- 
 ciation he has been a member forty-three 
 years; in his political affiliations he is a 
 stanch Democrat. Mr. Hcrrman's suc- 
 cess in business may be said to have been 
 achieved by his consummate business 
 methods and sound principles. Always 
 conscientious in the extreme, he con- 
 ducted his affairs in the most honorable 
 manner, so much so that for years he 
 has found himself surrounded by hosts of 
 friends, both business and social. Pos- 
 sessed of broad and liberal views, he has 
 ever contributed freely to all enterprises 
 having for their object the advancement 
 and welfare of the community, the city, 
 the county and the country at large. 
 
 JAMES KANE, a well-known and 
 universally respected old-time citizen 
 of Oshkosh, Winnebago county, is 
 as closely associated with its history 
 as anyone, having been a resident of the 
 city for a period of over forty years. 
 
 Our subject is a native of Ireland, 
 born in County Wicklow February 14, 
 1825, a son of John and Mary (Burns) 
 Kane, who died in the Emerald Isle, the 
 land of their birth, when James was a 
 small boy. They were the parents of 
 seven children, only two of whom sur- 
 vive — James, and Ann, wife of Benjamin 
 Young, and residing in Boston, Mass. 
 After securing a fairly liberal education at 
 the schools of his native county, the sub- 
 ject of these lines commenced to learn 
 the trade of blacksmith, which he has 
 made his lifework. In 1850, at the age 
 of twenty-five, he emigrated to America, 
 and locating in the city of Boston, Mass., 
 resided there six years, or until 1856, 
 when he came west to Wisconsin, settling 
 in Oshkosh in July of that year, since 
 
1 132 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 when he has been a continuous resident 
 of the city, and is now one of the oldest 
 hving blacksmiths in the place. 
 
 On August 26, 1853, at Boston, Mass., 
 Mr. Kane was united in marriage with 
 Miss Catherine Castles, also a native of 
 County Wicklow, Ireland. They have 
 no family. In religious faith they are 
 members of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 and in his political affiliations Mr. Kane 
 is a Democrat. He has seen Oshkosh 
 grow from a little village of one or two 
 storekeepers and a sawmill to the im- 
 portant manufacturing center it is to-day, 
 and Mr. Kane has assisted \ery materially, 
 in his quiet way, in its upbuilding. He 
 is a man of the strictest integrity, of the 
 kind that endures long, and his rugged 
 honesty is well known. Mr. Kane is a 
 firm advocate of temperance, has been a 
 member of the Wisconsin Catholic Total 
 Abstinence Union for the past twenty 
 j'ears, and has attended not less than 
 seventeen State conventions of the society 
 as a delegate. By industry, good busi- 
 ness qualifications and thorough work he 
 has made a success of life, and won for 
 himself a connection in his line of work 
 second to none in the county. 
 
 WILLIAM DECKER, D. D. S. 
 Standing among the highest in 
 his profession, and enjoying a 
 not less exalted position in the 
 estimation of his friends, whose name is 
 legion, so numerous are the}", the gentle- 
 man whose name here appears is deserv- 
 ing of more than a passing notice in the 
 pages of this volume. 
 
 Dr. Decker is a typical "Green 
 Mountain Laddie," inheriting allthegood 
 qualities of the Vermonters, and bubbling 
 over with the good humor, geniality and 
 frankness so characteristic of the genuine 
 New England people. Born October i, 
 1827, in the town of Glover, Orleans 
 Co., Vt. , he traces his ancestry origin- 
 ally to Germany, and to, as far as can be 
 learned, a stalwart sea-faring people. 
 
 His grandfather, William Decker, was a 
 native of Maine, born near the town of 
 Waterville, and for sixty-six years sailed 
 the seas, fort\'-six years as captain or 
 "skipper," for the most part in the mer- 
 chant service. He was a remarkably 
 strong, able-bodied man, never kno\\n to 
 have been sick, and would have no doubt 
 lived even longer than the advanced age 
 he reached, eighty-seven jears, had it not 
 been for an accident, whereby his thigh 
 was broken, which resulted in his death 
 a short time afterward at Augusta, Maine. 
 His family numbered thirteen children. 
 
 Asa Decker, father of our subject, 
 was born in 1799 in Waterville, Maine, 
 from which localitj' at the age of twenty- 
 five years he went to Orleans county, Vt., 
 where he conducted a farm, married and 
 had a family of children. His wife was 
 Miss Betsy B. Graves, a native of Glover, 
 Vt., daughter of John Graves, a well- 
 known farmer who traced his ancestry to 
 the land of Erin, and whose wife reached 
 the patriarchal age of 106 years; when 
 104 she walked six miles to the village of 
 Barton and back, the same day. Seven 
 children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Asa 
 Decker, all of whom reached maturity, 
 their names being, respectively, William, 
 Mrs. Betsey B. Davis, Mrs. Harriet E. 
 Anger, Mrs. Lucinda G. Abbott, Gillman, 
 Mrs. Ella Abbott and Edward. The 
 mother of these died at her home in Troy, 
 Vt., in March, 1891. She was a thor- 
 oughly good. Christian woman, a noble 
 character, charitable and helpful to all 
 the needy and afflicted, a devoted mother, 
 and true type of American womanhood. 
 For nearly sixty years she was a member 
 of the Congregational Church. The 
 father, Asa Decker, died in Troy, Vt., in 
 December, 1864. at the age of sixty-five 
 years. He was a hard-working industrious 
 man, firmness and strong will power being 
 among his dominant characteristics, at 
 the same time tempered with a kind, mild 
 disposition and manners the most pleas- 
 ing. Politically he was a \\'hig. and in 
 his lifetime held township and county of- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWGRAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 1 1 33 
 
 fices of trust. He was a captain in the 
 State militia, and a deacon of the Con- 
 gregational Church. 
 
 Wilhan Decker, of whom this sketch 
 chiefly relates, received a common-school 
 and academic education at Brownington, 
 Vt., and at the age of twenty-five he was 
 engaged in New York as a salesman. Re- 
 turning to Vermont in 1853, he filled 
 similar positions in Danby, Rutland and 
 other places, at the same time learning 
 dentistry, which profession, having made 
 himself master of it, he commenced prac- 
 ticing at Danby, Vt. In June, 1854, he 
 came west to Horicon, Dodge Co. , Wis., 
 where he took up the real-estate business, 
 operated in stocks, and at the same time 
 manufactured furniture, becoming one of 
 the most active men in the place; he also 
 had stores in Waupun and Portage. After 
 a nine-years' residence in Horicon, he 
 went to Virginia City, Mont. , where he 
 followed his profession and was interested 
 in mines and mining for two years, at the 
 end of which time he returned to Hori- 
 con. In July, 1865, he came to Oshkosh, 
 and at once opened an office for the prac- 
 tice of dentistry, m which he has since 
 continued, winning for himself, by his 
 skill, courtesy and close attention to busi- 
 ness, the reputation of having one of the 
 best practices in this portion of Wiscon- 
 sin, and, moreover, by all odds the best 
 furnished dental parlors in the State, 
 equipped with the most elegant appoint- 
 ments and most comfortable furnishings. 
 He employs none but first-class assistants, 
 and his work and reputation have com- 
 manded the attention of the best people, 
 not only of the city, but of the entire 
 county; indeed, so great is the patronage 
 accorded him, that much of the time he 
 has found it necessary to open an extra 
 office in Oshkosh, and frequently a branch 
 one at Neenah. He has been a member 
 and stout supporter of the Wisconsin 
 State Dental Association twenty years, 
 and its president one year, the society 
 owing much of its prestige to his able en- 
 deavors in its behalf. 
 
 On January 24, 1849, Dr. Decker was 
 married at Stanstead, Lower Canada 
 (now Province of Quebec), to Miss Julia 
 A. Gilman, daughter of Samuel A. Gil- 
 man, a fanner and government official in 
 Canada. She is a cultured lady, of good 
 education, which she received in both her 
 native country and in Vermont. Six 
 children were born to this union, of whom 
 three are yet living, vi^. : Clara M., wife 
 of John H. Ritter; Mary, wife of William 
 A. Mclntyre; and Jessie A., wife of Carl 
 C. Finney; the deceased are Julia (the 
 eldest), who died at Burlington, Vt., at 
 the age of two years and one month; Fan- 
 nie, who died in Oshkosh when fourteen 
 3'ears old; and one that died in infancy. 
 Mrs. Decker and two of her daughters are 
 members of the Episcopal Church. Dr. 
 Decker has been a member of the I. O. 
 O. F. about forty years, and is also asso- 
 ciated with the K. of P. True to his an- 
 tecedents, he has always taken an active 
 interest in all that pertains to the welfare 
 and prosperity of the city of his adoption, 
 and has done his share toward maintain- 
 ing its high standard as one of the most 
 attractive and interesting places on the 
 map of Wisconsin. 
 
 HENRY STEARNS, a well-known 
 citizen of Omro, Winnebago coun- 
 ty, traces his ancestry back to one 
 of the early families of the Bay 
 State. Moses Stearns was born in Massa- 
 chusetts in 1 77 1, and early in life removed 
 to Chesterfield, Vt., where he married 
 Susan Clark. He subsequently for a short 
 time lived in Hampton, N. Y., and in 
 1806 went to Warsaw, that State, mak- 
 ing his home in the southeastern part of 
 the town for the long period of fifty-three 
 years. There he died in 1859, at the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-eight; his wife passed 
 away July 30, 1847, at the age of seventy- 
 six. They had a family of nine children, 
 namely: W^illard, George, Hiram, two 
 sons who died in earl)' life, Melinda, Har- 
 riet, Matilda and Betsy K. 
 
1 134 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Of this family George Stearns was 
 born May 31, 1802, and on September 
 27, 1827, was united in marriage with 
 Asenath Webster, who belonged to the 
 same family as Moses Webster. By this 
 marriage eight children were born, 
 namely: Lucy Ann, wife of John Aiken; 
 Henry, subject of this sketch; Cordelia, 
 wife of Chauncy Smith, of Castile, N. Y. ; 
 Emeline, wife of Sylvester Hitchcock; 
 Betsy, wife of Edward Marshall, ofOmro; 
 George, who died in infancy; Washing- 
 ton, who died April 16, 1864, at the age 
 of twenty-two years; and Julia, married 
 to William Fisk, who resides in Kansas. 
 
 Henry Stearns has for the past forty 
 years been a resident of Omro, coming 
 here when about twenty-three years of 
 age, and has been prominently' identified 
 with its interest and upbuilding — there- 
 fore, well deserves representation in this 
 volume. He was born May 31, 1830, in 
 Warsaw, N. Y. , and was educated in the 
 common schools. On coming to Wiscon- 
 sin he worked in the lumber regions for two 
 winters, and then built a mill; began spec- 
 ulating in land, buying and selling on his 
 own account, and also securing farms and 
 real estate for other parties. Mr. Stearns 
 has probably sold and handled as much as 
 one hundred thousand acres of land, and 
 now has extensive interests in Wisconsin 
 and Michigan, owning about five thous- 
 and acres in Wisconsin alone; in Lang- 
 lade county, Wis., he owns an eighty- 
 acre tract of land — on which is a beauti- 
 ful lake — pleasantly situated four miles 
 from the Bryant railroad. There, in con- 
 nection with two other gentlemen, he has 
 erected a cottage, and with their families 
 they spend a part of each year at the 
 place. The lake is full of fine trout, the 
 scenery around is very beautiful, and the 
 resort, therefore, is a remarkably pleas- 
 ant one. 
 
 In Castile, Wyoming Co., N. Y. , on 
 July 12, 1858, was celebrated the mar- 
 riage of Mr. Stearns and Miss Cornelia M. 
 Smith, who was born February 25, 1835, 
 daughter of Daniel and Louisa (Allen) 
 
 Smith, natives of Vermont. Their family 
 numbers six children, of whom Sylvia, 
 born April 26, 1859, is now the wife of 
 Hans Peterson, of Omro; Clara, born 
 August 12, 1 86 1, is the wife of Wallace 
 Merrill, of Appleton; Jennie, born April 
 5, 1868, married John Robbins, a former 
 resident of Omro, but moved to Amherst, 
 Wis., four years ago; and George H., 
 born November 13, 1870, Addie M., born 
 May 26, 1873, and Hiram W. Webster, 
 born November 19, 1879, are at home. 
 The Stearns family is one of prominence 
 in the community, and the household is 
 noted for its hospitality. Mrs. Stearns is 
 a member of the Methodist Church. Po- 
 litically Mr. Stearns is a stalwart sup- 
 porter of the Republican party, but has 
 never sought or desired office. 
 
 CONRAD ERNST. There is, prob- 
 abl}', no one in Winnebago county 
 more widely or favorably known 
 than this gentleman. Coming as 
 he did to Wisconsin in its infancy as a 
 State, and to what is now the city of 
 Oshkosh forty-five years ago, he ranks 
 among the oldest pioneer settlers and 
 worthiest citizens of the place. 
 
 Mr. Ernst was born October 10, 1822, 
 in the town of Way, near Wiesbaden, 
 Nassau, Germany, son of Christian and 
 Katherine Ernst, who died in the Father- 
 land. He was reared and educated in 
 the town of his birth, and when thirteen 
 years of age commenced to learn the 
 trade of butcher, working at same in all 
 the large cities of Germany till 1849, in 
 which year he immigrated to the United 
 States, and coming to Wisconsin took up 
 his first New- World residence in Mil- 
 waukee. Here for some four or five 
 months he followed butchering, and on 
 the lOth da)' of October, 1849, removed 
 to Oshkosh, which has since been his 
 abiding place, with the exception of a 
 few months, in 1850, he spent at Beaver 
 Dam, engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 and becoming acquainted with the Eng- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BfOGRAPmCAL RECORD. 
 
 I '35 
 
 ligh language. During his early business 
 career he had a host of difficulties to en- 
 counter, through lack of transportation 
 facilities and ordinary conveniences, a 
 condition of things but little appreciated 
 by the present generation; and it was not 
 an uncommon thing for him to travel on 
 foot to Omro, or other towns some forty 
 or fifty miles distant, purchase cattle, 
 drive them back to Oshkosh and slaughter 
 them the day of his return. He has also 
 had other serious drawbacks in his life- 
 time, one of his greatest foes being fire, 
 he having been burned out no less 
 than seven times. In no instance did 
 the fire originate in his own building — 
 always in adjoining ones — and he was 
 unfortunately insured only about half the 
 time; his first loss amounted to$i8,ooo, 
 and the insurance had run out but three 
 days before the fire. But his indomita- 
 ble will and energetic business methods 
 have enabled him to overcome all ob- 
 stacles, and through industry and perse- 
 verance he has succeeded in accumulat- 
 ing a snug competence for his declining 
 years. 
 
 On February 26, 185 1, Mr. Ernst 
 was married to Freiderica Wilhelmina 
 Reinhart, who was born October 26, 
 1829, in the village of Rosbach, on the 
 Sala river. Kingdom of Saxony, Ger- 
 many, and to this union were born twelve 
 children, a brief record of whom is as 
 follows: Four died in infancy; Alvina 
 Pauline, born November 15, 1852, is the 
 widow of William G. Brauer, who died 
 in Oshkosh September 5, 1894; Amelia 
 Liberta, born April 20, 1853, died May 
 27, 1 888; Richard, born January 31, 
 1855, is engaged in the grocery business 
 in Oshkosh; Oscar John Frederick, born 
 December 5, 1856, now conducts his 
 father's business; Edwin Herman Will- 
 iam, born October 15, 1858, died Febru- 
 ary 2, 1 891; Clara Kunigunde, born June 
 17, i860, is the wife of Henry Roenitz, a 
 wholesale boot and shoe merchant of 
 Oshkosh; Amanda Sara Anna was born 
 December 18, 1862; Ernestine Henrietta 
 
 Marie was born February 7, 1866. The 
 mother was called to her long home July 
 19, 1 891; her father was born December 
 22, 1799, and died September 3, 1878. 
 Mr. Ernst and family attend the Lutheran 
 Church; socially he is a member of the 
 Turnverein, and in politics he is inde- 
 pendent. 
 
 BE. VAN IvEUREN, for the past 
 fifteen years a distinguished mem- 
 ber of the bar of Winnebago 
 county, is a native of Utica town, 
 Winnebago Co., Wis., born in 1851. 
 
 He is a son of Eleazer Van Keuren, 
 who was born in New York in 18 17, and 
 was married in Ohio to Miss Elizabeth 
 Emerich, a native of Germany. In 1847 
 they came to Wisconsin, making a settle- 
 ment in Utica town, Winnebago county, 
 where the father for a time followed his 
 trade, that of shoemaker, and also en- 
 gaged in other kinds of work, such as 
 operating a pile driver, in addition to 
 which he opened up a farm, altogether 
 proving an active and useful man in the 
 early history of the county. He died in 
 1 85 1, and his widow, who is now living 
 in Oshkosh, subsequently married H. C. 
 Hanson, who served, during the war of 
 the Rebellion, in the First Wisconsin 
 Cavalry, and died in Missouri while in the 
 service. By her first marriage our sub- 
 ject's mother had two children: Abraham, 
 who died of diphtheria at the age of six- 
 teen, and B. E. ; by her second marriage 
 she had four children, three of whom are 
 yet living, namely: H. C, superin- 
 tendent of a pump factory at Oshkosh; 
 Clara, wife of John Chappel, of San 
 Francisco; and Elwood, a resident of 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 B. E. Van Keuren was reared on his 
 father's farm in Utica town, and received 
 his primary education at the district 
 schools of the neighborhood, afterward 
 attending Lawrence University (Apple- 
 ton), two years, and Ripon College, four 
 years. Having by this time concluded 
 
1 136 
 
 COHMEltORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 to make law his life profession, he com- 
 menced its study in the office of Hooper 
 & Buxton, Oshkosh, was admitted to the 
 bar in 1879, and to practice in the su- 
 preme court in 1 88 1. In the spring of 
 1879 he opened his office in Oshkosh, 
 and has since enjoyed a lucrative and re- 
 spectable clientage. In September, 1879, 
 he was married in Oshkosh to Miss Hat- 
 tie Thomas, who was born in Green 
 Lake, Wis., daughter of H. B. Thomas, 
 an early pioneer of Green Lake, and now 
 of Berlin, same State. To this union 
 have been born three children, named, 
 respectively, Emmett, Frank and Ethel. 
 Socially our subject is a member of the I. 
 O. G. T. , and he and his worthy wife are 
 members of the First M. E. Church at 
 Oshkosh. Mr. Van Keuren is cautious, 
 but firm in his legal judgments, and relia- 
 ble. In manner he is social and friendly, 
 and possesses qualities that readil}" win 
 admiration and respect. As a consistent 
 temperance man and unswerving Prohi- 
 bitionist, he is widely and prominently 
 known throughout his section, and has 
 been nominated on various occasions by 
 the Prohibition conventions as their can- 
 didate for some of the highest offices in 
 the gift of the people; these nominations 
 he has accepted for the good of the tem- 
 perance cause, knowing that his election 
 was impossible under present conditions, 
 but confidently believing that Prohibition, 
 like other great progressive movements 
 and reforms, must prevail in course of 
 time. 
 
 JENS P. JENSEN, one of the worthy 
 sons of Denmark now numbered 
 among the valued citizens of Nee- 
 nah, Winnebago county, was born 
 February 19, 1851, son of Jens Chris- 
 tianson, who was a farmer and land 
 owner in Denmark, and also served as a 
 soldier in the Danish army. In his 
 native land the father married Karen 
 Marie Pedersdatter, and they became the 
 
 parents of five sons and two daughters. 
 In 1863 they emigrated to the New 
 World and took up their residence in 
 Waupaca, Wis., in which locality the 
 father purchased a farm, where the 
 mother spent her last days; the father is 
 still living. 
 
 Our subject was a lad of twelve sum- 
 mers when with his parents he came to 
 the United States. For three winters 
 he attended school, and thus obtained a 
 fair knowledge of our language and the 
 common English branches of learning. 
 During the summer months he aided his 
 father on the farm, clearing and cultivat- 
 ing the land, splitting rails and doing 
 such other work as was necessary in the 
 transforming of the wild land into a tract 
 of rich fertility. When seventeen years 
 old he spent one winter working in the 
 lumber woods, and then secured a posi- 
 tion in a sawmill, remaining there two 
 years; at the age of nineteen he went to 
 Minnesota where he sojourned one sea- 
 son, and then returned to Waupaca, 
 where he was employed in various ways. 
 He lived frugalh', and as the result of his 
 enterprise and economy obtained some 
 capital which he invested in the hardware 
 business in Waupaca; a year later, how- 
 ever, he sold out his store. In the spring 
 of 1875, he was united in marriage witfi 
 Miss Anna M. Jensen, but she survived 
 her marriage only a short time. After 
 disposing of his property he then went to 
 Iowa, and worked on a farm until the 
 harvest season was over when he located 
 in Cedar Falls, that State. There he 
 was employed as a polisher of marble in 
 a stone yard for eighteen months, becom- 
 ing a good stone cutter, and on the expir- 
 ation of that period was employed in 
 that capacity by a bridge builder for five 
 months. He then visited his old home 
 in Waupaca, spending one winter there, 
 and in the spring of 1877 moved to Ap- 
 pleton, where he worked for a short time, 
 then came to Neenah, and during the fol- 
 lowing three years worked as a stone cut- 
 ter in Menasha. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 "37 
 
 In 1880 Mr. Jensen bought out his 
 emplo3'er, and removed the stone works 
 to their present location in Neenah, 
 where he has since continued the busi- 
 ness. He now gives employment to five 
 men, and has furnished the stone for 
 some of the best buildings in this local- 
 ity. He possesses excellent business 
 ability, is wide-awake and enterprising, 
 and through good management and dili- 
 gence has become the possessor of a com- 
 fortable competence. For his second 
 wife he married, in 1877, Miss Anna M. 
 Jensen, of the same name as his first 
 wife. In politics he is a Republican; 
 in religious faith he is connected with the 
 Danish Lutheran Church; socially he be- 
 longs to Neenah Lodge, No. 41, I. O. O. 
 F. , in which he has served as noble 
 grand, and in both business and social 
 circles he holds an enviable position. 
 
 AC. BRIGGS, now retired from 
 active life, and having his resi- 
 dence in Neenah, Winnebago 
 county, where he is respected and 
 esteemed, is a native of the State of 
 Maine, born March 9, 1826, at Monson, 
 Piscataquis county, son of Daniel and 
 Phebe (Thomas) Briggs. 
 
 When our subject w^s fourteen years 
 old his mother died, and the family — 
 consisting of five sons and one daughter — 
 became separated, our subject going on a 
 farm, afterward working in the lumber 
 woods. In 1850, at the age of twenty- 
 four, he came to Wisconsin, and in com- 
 pany with his brother David bought and 
 operated a sawmill at Hortonville, Outa- 
 gamie county, going into the lumber busi- 
 ness. In 1 86 1, having disposed of his 
 interest at Hortonville, Mr. Briggs pur- 
 chased a farm in Clayton township, 
 Winnebago county, which for ten or 
 twelve years he successfully conducted, 
 during the winter months working in the 
 lumber woods, and from 1872 was en- 
 gaged in looking up timber lands, etc.. 
 
 continuing thus until 1882, when he 
 moved to Wood county, same State. 
 Here, in company with a Mr. Sherry, he 
 built a sawmill, his interest in which he 
 sold to Mr. Sherry in 1886, but remained 
 as manager of the mill most of the time 
 until 1890, when he retired from the busi- 
 ness and moved into the city of Neenah, 
 where he has since had his home. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Briggs was married, in 
 the town of Clayton, Winnebago county, 
 to Miss Ann Eliza Bailey, who was born 
 in the town of Pike, Wyoming Co., N. Y. , 
 in 1836, daughter of William and Mary 
 (Emery) Bailey, natives of Vermont and 
 New York State, respectively, who, in 
 1842, came west, for a few years residing 
 in Illinois, and finally, in 1846, settling 
 in Wisconsin, where the father followed 
 his life vocation, that of farmer, and died 
 in 1877, the mother surviving him nine 
 years. They were the parents of eight 
 children — five sons and three daughters — 
 Mrs. Briggs being the only survivor. To 
 our subject and wife have been born three 
 children, named, respectively, Charles S., 
 Carrie L. and Emma May. The entire 
 family are members of the Presbyterian 
 Church. Politically Mr. Briggs was a 
 Whig originally, and has been a stanch 
 Republican since the formation of that 
 party. He has served with fidelity and 
 ability in several civic offices of trust, in- 
 cluding supervisor, at Hortonville; asses- 
 sor, at Clayton and Neenah; also, chair- 
 man of the town of Sherry (Wood coun- 
 ty) five years, and in all his election ex- 
 perience, so great was his popularity and 
 trustworthiness, and in such high esteem 
 was he held, on only one occasion did he 
 encounter any opposition, in running for 
 supervisor, when some seven votes were 
 cast against him. He is a much respected 
 citizen, and wherever he has lived has en- 
 joyed an enviable reputation for honesty 
 and uprightness. 
 
 The Briggs family is of English origin, 
 and the ancestor of that name, of whom 
 our subject is a direct descendant, was 
 among the first English settlers in Massa- 
 
1I3S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 chusetts, coming in a ship which reached 
 the shores of America not long after the 
 famous and historic "Mayflower. " 
 
 CHRISTIAN WALTER, member 
 of the recently established firm 
 in Menasha, Winnebago county, 
 known as the Walter Bros. Brew- 
 ing Co., is a native of Germany, born 
 March 14, 1856, in the village of Berg- 
 felden. Kingdom of Wurtemberg, a son 
 of Jacob and Elizabeth (Kipp) Walter. 
 
 On leaving school our subject drove a 
 milk wagon for two years in a neighbor- 
 ing city, and in 1872 emigrated to the 
 United States, coming in company with 
 a cousin, Fred Stein, who had served in 
 the American Civil war, in which he lost 
 an arm; he had been visiting old friends 
 and boyhood scenes in his native Ger- 
 many, and was now returning to the land 
 of his adoption. After landing at New 
 York Christian pushed on westward to 
 Wisconsin, arriving in Milwaukee June 
 12, 1872, with five dollars in his pocket. 
 On the 1 8th he commenced working in a 
 brewery, and at the end of four years, 
 having thoroughly learned the business in 
 the "Cream City," he set out as a jour- 
 neyman brewer, working in various cities 
 of Wisconsin — Madison, Racine, Ken- 
 osha, etc. In 1877 he came to Apple- 
 ton, and here opened a saloon which he 
 conducted two years, afterward engaging 
 in the same line of business in Freedom 
 and Apple Creek — in all ten years, at the 
 end of which time, in 1887, he rented his 
 saloon and worked for his brother George, 
 in Appleton, six months. In i 888 he and 
 his brother Martin, in company with 
 Frank Fries, purchased the brewery in 
 Menasha which the three conducted until 
 December, 1889, when Christian and 
 Martin Walter bought Mr. Fries' interest, 
 and established the Walter Bros. Co. ; 
 later they added a malt house and bot- 
 tling works, and in Jul}-, 1894, the con- 
 cern was incorporated as the Walter 
 Bros. Brewing Co., who turn out 20,000 
 
 barrels of beer per annum, and give em- 
 ployment to some fifteen hands. 
 
 In 1875 Christian W^ alter was united 
 in marriage, at Racine. Wis., with Miss 
 Amelia Buchsler, who was born in Ger- 
 many and in 1872 came to America, an 
 orphan, her parents having died in the 
 Fatherland. Five children have been 
 born to this union, named respectively, 
 Lizzie, John, Mollie, Katie and Freder- 
 ick. The entire family are members of 
 the German Lutheran Church; in politics 
 Mr. \\'alter is a Democrat, and has served 
 in various civic offices, such as town clerk 
 of Freedom, Outagamie county, three 
 and one half years, and postmaster five 
 years; as alderman for the Third ward, 
 Menasha, two years; and it was through 
 his influence that a postoffice was estab- 
 lished at Apple Creek. Socially he is a 
 member of the I. O. O. F. and Sons of 
 Hermann. 
 
 M.^RTiN Walter, brother of Chris- 
 tian Walter, and member of the Walter 
 Bros. Brewing Co., was born January i, 
 1862, in the village of Bergfelden, King- 
 dom of Wurtemberg, Germany. 
 
 In his native land he received a fair 
 education at the public schools of the 
 vicinity of the place of his birth, and at 
 the age of fourteen commenced learning 
 the brewing business in Wurtemberg, 
 passing a two-years' apprenticeship, and 
 receiving nothing in return for his services 
 in the meantime, his father, on the con- 
 trary, having to pay a premium or bonus. 
 On completion of his apprenticeship Mar- 
 tin worked in large breweries in various 
 parts of Germany, and in 1880 immi- 
 grated to America, landing July 18 in New 
 York, and coming at once to Appleton, 
 where his brother George, who was fore- 
 man of a brewery, gave him employment 
 in the establishment. After one year he 
 was employed in Schlitz's brewery and 
 malthouse, in Milwaukee, where he also 
 worked a year, after which he accepted 
 the position of foreman of a brewery in 
 New London, remaining there, however, 
 only one year. In the meantime his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 "39 
 
 brother George had cstabHshed a brewery 
 of his own in Af)pleton, Wis., so Martin 
 again joined him, and for five years more 
 worked under him. In 1888 he and his 
 brother Christian commenced their pres- 
 ent business in Menasha, as related in the 
 sketch of Christian Walter. In 1883 
 Martin Walter was married to Christine 
 A. Britten, daughter of Matthew Britten, 
 a native of Germany, and now a farmer 
 of near Appleton, Wis. ; she was about 
 one year old when her parents brought 
 her from the Fatherland to the United 
 States. To this union have been born 
 five children, all yet living, and named as 
 follows: Martin, Christina, Amelia, Lizzie 
 and Mary. Our subject in his political 
 affiliations is a Democrat; socially he is a 
 member of the Sons of Hermann. 
 
 The Walter Brothers are typical 
 German-Americans, enterprising, trusty 
 and progressive, and are essentially self- 
 made men, having from absolutely noth- 
 ing, save brain and brawn and willing 
 heart and hands, worked their way up- 
 ward, so that now they can enjoy a life 
 commenced and pursued with patient toil 
 and honest perseverance. 
 
 LEONARD H. KIMBALL. The 
 proprietor and editor of a news- 
 paper occupies a vantage ground 
 which may make or mar a reputa- 
 tion, build up or tear down a cause worthy 
 of public approval or support. Not only 
 the city of Neenah but the county at 
 large has reason for congratulation that 
 the Twin City News is in such safe, sa- 
 gacious and thoroughly clean hands. It 
 is considered one of the best general 
 newspapers for the family published in 
 the country, as well as an outspoken fair- 
 play exponent of the best elements of the 
 Republican party — in fact, it is in all re- 
 spects well worthy of the care and sound 
 judgment displayed in its columns, and 
 reflects credit on both editor and pub- 
 lisher. 
 
 The subject of these lines is a native 
 
 of Ohio, born May 23, 1840, at Elyria, 
 Lorain county, a son of Thomas and 
 Celia Ann (Crandall) Kimball, both of 
 New England ancestry, and of Rutland, 
 Vt. , birth, where the father carried on a 
 marble business. From there, about the 
 year 1837, he moved to Ohio, and in Lo- 
 rain county, near Elyria, followed farm- 
 ing eight years, or until 1845, when he 
 came to Wisconsin, locating on a farm 
 three miles north of Oshkosh, in the 
 township of Oshkosh, where he lived un- 
 til his retirement from active life, he and 
 his faithful wife taking up their residence 
 in Neenah, \\'here they celebrated their 
 golden wedding, October 6, 1875. Here 
 they passed the remainder of their hon- 
 ored lives, she dying in 1881 at the age 
 of seventy-three, a devout member of 
 the Episcopal Church, he in 1891, aged 
 eighty-six years. When he came to Wis- 
 consin half a century ago, he was in com- 
 paratively good circumstances, and was 
 the first one to establish a blacksmith 
 shop in this section, while his home was 
 general headquarters for the entire set- 
 tlement, religious and other meetings 
 for a long time being held there. He was 
 the owner of a team of horses — some- 
 thing uncommon hereabouts in those days 
 — and it is said they were frequently 
 loaned to the early settlers who wished 
 to make horseback trips to Green Bay, 
 for the purpose of entering land, or 
 transacting other business. In his po- 
 litical preferences Thomas Kimball was 
 originally a Whig, later a Republican, 
 and was always prominent in the ranks 
 of the part}'. 
 
 Leonard H. Kimball was five 3'ears 
 old when his parents brought him to Osh- 
 kosh township, and at the winter schools 
 of the locality of his new home he re- 
 ceived his education, during the summer 
 months assisting his father on the farm, 
 where he remained till he was twenty- 
 five years old. About that time he moved 
 into the city of Oshkosh, and engaged in 
 the cigar and tobacco trade until 1 871, in 
 which year he removed to Neenah, where 
 
1140 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPBIOAL RECORD. 
 
 he continued in the same Hne of business 
 (in 1876 adding jewelry thereto) until 
 1884, when he assumed the management 
 and publication of the Twin City Ah^zvs, 
 which had been established in Neenah 
 June 20, 1881. This Republican journal 
 is a flourishing, bright, attractive and 
 well-edited seven-column four-page daily 
 and weekly, enjoying a circulation of one 
 thousand. The office is fitted with all 
 modern appliances to be found in first- 
 class establishments, including steam 
 power and other accessories. The job 
 department is equally well equipped, and 
 turns out all kinds of job printing in first- 
 class style. 
 
 On November 20, 1867, Mr. Kimball 
 was united in marriage with Miss Sarah 
 M. Pierce, of Medina, Ohio, daughter of 
 Lorenzo M. and Emeline (Branch) Pierce, 
 of that city, and three children have come 
 to bless their home: Clyde, born Decem- 
 ber 25, 1870; Grace, born June 8, 1873, 
 and Helen, born March 18, 1883. Of 
 these, Clyde married Miss Elizabeth 
 Schwerbel, and lives in Neenah; the 
 other two are still at home. That Mr. 
 Kimball is a Republican, it is hardly nec- 
 essary to say, and that he is a hard and 
 earnest worker for his party's success re- 
 quires no proof here. He has served the 
 Second ward of Neenah, as supervisor, 
 four terms (three terms successively), and 
 is now poor commissioner for the city. 
 Socially he is a member of the Royal 
 Arcanum, and he is a wide-awake, sub- 
 stantial, well-esteemed citizen. 
 
 JOHN PETERSEN, the efficient chief 
 of police of Neenah, well deserves 
 in this volume representation, for he 
 is recognized as one of the valued 
 citizens of his county. He was born in 
 the city of Vordingborg, Denmark, Oc- 
 tober 6, 1842, and is a son of Peter Lar- 
 sen, bjf occupation a laborer, who never 
 left his native land, dying in Denmark in 
 1878. In the family there were but two 
 children — John and a daughter. An uncle 
 
 of our subject, Albenus Larsen, was an 
 officer in the Danish arm}', and served in 
 the war of 1848-49-50. 
 
 From an early age Mr. Petersen has 
 made his own way in the world. He re- 
 cei\ed but limited school privileges, for 
 when quite young, only ten years of age, 
 he began to earn his livelihood, and dur- 
 ing his later residence in I3enniark was 
 employed as a coachman. Attracted by 
 the advantages and privileges offered by 
 the New World, in 1872 he bade adieu to 
 home and friends, and crossed the Atlan- 
 tic to America, landing in Port Huron, 
 Mich., with no money with which to give 
 him a start in his new home. From that 
 place he came direct to Neenah, and dur- 
 ing the succeeding year worked on the 
 Milwaukee & Northern railroad, after- 
 ward upon a farm. In the fall of 1873, 
 he was united in marriage with Miss Jo- 
 hanna Hansen, also a native of Denmark, 
 and their troth was plighted before he left 
 that country. As soon as possible he sent 
 her the money to paj' her passage to 
 America, and on her arrival here their 
 marriage took place. Five children have 
 been born of their union: Frederick, 
 Carl, Anna, Mary, and Karz who died in 
 infancy. 
 
 Mr. Petersen was employed alongvari- 
 ous lines in Neenah until 1888, when he 
 secured a position on the police force, and 
 as a regular official served until 1894, 
 when he was elected chief of police. The 
 duties of that office he discharges with 
 promptness and fidelity, and his constitu- 
 ents are contented with their choice. 
 Politically he votes with the Republican 
 party, and is a warm advocate of its prin- 
 ciples. Socially, he is connected with 
 Neenah Lodge, No. 41, I. O. O. F. , also 
 the Encampment, and holds membership 
 with the Modern Woodmen of America, 
 Camp No. 612, and the Danish Brother- 
 hood. Although of foreign birth he is a 
 true American citizen, loyal to the insti- 
 tutions of the country, and by his straight- 
 forward, honorable course he has won 
 the respect and confidence of all with 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 141 
 
 whom he has been brought in contact. 
 He and his family belong to the Danish 
 Lutheran Church. He built a nice home 
 in Neenah, and is now comfortably situ- 
 ated. His life demonstrates what can be 
 accomplished by persistent effort and en- 
 terprise, fcr he came to this country 
 empty-handed and by good management 
 and ability has steadily worked his way 
 upward. 
 
 CHARLES F. AUGUSTIN, pro- 
 prietor of the Menasha SaUirday 
 Evening Press, is one of the 
 wide-awake progressive business 
 men of Menasha who have done so much 
 to make the city what it is. 
 
 He is a native of Prussia, born July 
 II, 1839. in the village of Rodden, near 
 Leipsic, a son of Godfrey and Frederica 
 (Tostleben) Augustin, who were the par- 
 ents of seven children, named, respec- 
 tively, Henrietta, Charles F., Gustave, 
 Christianna, Julius, Frank and Henry. In 
 1853, when Charles F. was a fourteen- 
 year-old boy, the family set sail for Amer- 
 ica, landing in New York in July, from 
 which city they came west to Milwaukee, 
 Wis., where they made their home two 
 years. In May, 1855, they settled on a 
 farm in Harrison township, Calumet 
 county, where the father died in 1866, 
 the mother afterward moving to Oshkosh, 
 where she passed away in 1891. 
 
 Our subject received a liberal educa- 
 tion at the public schools of his native 
 land, and after coming to this countrj' as- 
 sisted his father in the labors of the farm 
 until September, 1862, when he enlisted 
 in Company I, Twenty-first Wis. V. I. , 
 Capt. Smith commanding the company, 
 which regiment was mustered in at Osh- 
 kosh, and attached to the army of the 
 West. Mr. Augustin participated in the 
 battles of Perryville, Ky. (October 8, 
 1862). and Stone River, Tenn. (January 
 I, 1863), at which latter he was taken 
 prisoner. For three months he was con- 
 fined in Libby Prison, and then paroled; 
 
 rejoined his regiment at Murfreesboro, 
 Tenn., and participated in all its subse- 
 quent battles up to that of Resaca, Ga. , 
 May 14, 1864, where he lost his left leg; 
 in the spring of 1865 he was honorably 
 discharged. Shortly after his return home 
 he was married, in Chicago, 111., to Miss 
 Helen McGogo, a native of the North of 
 Ireland, born in 1838. Her parents, of 
 whom she knows nothing excepting that 
 they were farming people in Ireland, died 
 when she was four years of age, and 
 when she was fifteen she came to this coun- 
 try; the only relative she has any recol- 
 lection of was a sister who lived in New 
 Jersey. To this union were born five 
 children, namely: Charles J., owner of 
 the Glenvvood Tribune, at Glenwood, 
 Wis. ; William F. ; George E. , editor of 
 the Saturday Evening Press; Robert A. 
 and Thomas. In 1865 our subject came 
 to Menasha, and in a small way em- 
 barked in mercantile business, in which 
 he continued until the spring of 1884, 
 when he disposed of the store; in the fall 
 of 1883 he purchased his present paper, 
 of which he has made an eminent suc- 
 cess. In his political affiliations he is a 
 stanch Republican, and has served on the 
 county board, and as alderman from the 
 First ward of his city; under President 
 Harrison he was receiver of the United 
 States Land Office at Menasha. Socially 
 he is a member of Post No. 44, G. A. R., 
 and he and his wife attend the services of 
 the Congregational Church. 
 
 PLATT M. WRIGHT, editor and 
 proprietor of the Omro Journal, 
 an independent newspaper pub- 
 lished at Omro, Winnebago coun- 
 ty, is a son of Hoel S. Wright, one of 
 the honored pioneers of Wisconsin, and 
 the founder of A\'rightstown, Brown 
 county. The Wright family is of Scotch 
 origin, and was established in New Eng- 
 land in the early days of American his- 
 tory. The grandfather, Samuel ^^Vight, 
 settled in Washington county, N. Y., 
 
1142 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 where he reared his family and became a 
 prosperous farmer and an influential man 
 in church, political and social circles; his 
 death occurred when he was over eighty- 
 eight years of age. His wife, who bore 
 the maiden name of Rebecca Cleveland, 
 died at about the same age; she possessed 
 many excellencies of character, and was 
 beloved by all who knew her, and both 
 were industrious, energetic people; in 
 their family were four children. 
 
 Hoel S. Wright, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Pawlet, Vt., near the 
 Vermont State line, and died in October, 
 1875, at the age of seventy-five. In 
 early life he was a farmer, and also be- 
 came an expert woodsman. He learned 
 surveying, for many years was employed 
 as government surveyor, and located the 
 government land in Brown county. Wis., 
 to which place he removed in 1831. In 
 New York he had married Orrilla Cleve- 
 land, who died May 27, 1886, at the age 
 of eighty-four. On coming west, he 
 located his family in De Pere, and in 
 1833 removed to Wrightstown, soon be- 
 coming its leading citizen. He gave the 
 name to the village, which had previously 
 been called Bridgeport, and was promi- 
 nently identified with its upbuilding until 
 1865, when he removed to Greenville, 
 Mich.; in 1869, he became a resident of 
 Omro. While at Wrightstown he served 
 as postmaster for many years, as did his 
 son Samuel. He also held other offices, 
 was a member of the town board, and 
 represented his District in the State Leg- 
 islature, being chosen on account of his 
 sterling integrity and fidelity. Although 
 farming was his principal occupation, he 
 dealt extensively in government lands, 
 and on leaving Wrightstown he and his 
 sons sold nearly four thousand acres; he 
 was also interested in real estate in Green- 
 ville, Mich. After locating ih Omro, he 
 secured there a pleasant and comfortable 
 home, and near the town owned some 
 considerable property. 
 
 Mr. Wright was a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, and a con- 
 
 sistent Christian gentleman. He was 
 recognized as one of the typical pioneers 
 of the Fox River Valley, and had a most 
 extensive acquaintance. He went through 
 the experiences of frontier life, living in a 
 region so wild that it was not unfrequent 
 to look up and see Indians peering through 
 the windows into the cabin. At one time 
 an Indian was killed near Mr. Wright's 
 home in a drunken row, and the father 
 came to Mr. Wright with the request to 
 be rowed across the river. Our subject 
 complied, but all the time felt that he 
 was in great danger of his life; possessed, 
 however, of great personal courage, he 
 never shrank from any duty. He was a 
 man of medium height, but was well 
 built, possessed the dexterity of an ath- 
 lete and was a good shot. His wife was 
 his faithful companion and helpmeet in all 
 things, and she assisted in the education 
 of their children, seventeen in number, 
 instilling into their minds those traits 
 which have made them respected men and 
 women. The members of the family who 
 reached mature years are Clarinda S. , 
 Lucian B., Samuel C. , Fairchiid N., 
 Hoel J. and Piatt M. 
 
 Our subject was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of Wrightstown, and in the 
 high school of Greenville, Mich. In 1869 
 he came with his father to Omro, but in 
 the spring of 1870 returned to Rockford, 
 Mich., where he wedded Mary A. John- 
 son, by whom he had one son, George 
 H. He was married, the second time, in 
 Charlotte, Mich., March 12, 1878, to 
 Edie A. Archer, and they now have a 
 pleasant home in Omro. On his return 
 here, Mr. Wright engaged in clerking for 
 A. Pelton & Son for three years, and in 
 1876, purchased a half interest in the 
 Omro Journal, of which paper he became 
 sole proprietor April i, 1877. He has 
 since conducted it successfully, and it has 
 outlived three rival papers and secured a 
 large patronage. The Journal is a bright, 
 newsy sheet, full of interesting and gen- 
 eral information, and in politics is inde- 
 pendent. Mr. Wright has been a mem- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 143 
 
 ber of the county board, has served as 
 poHce justice of Omro, and has been 
 notary pubHc for many years. Socially 
 he belongs to the Odd Fellows Societ}', 
 is a champion of the Temperance cause, 
 and in religious belief he and his wife are 
 Methodists. 
 
 JOHN SCHNEIDER is one of the 
 leading representatives of the busi- 
 ness world of Menasha, Winnebago 
 county, especially prominent in man- 
 ufacturing circles, and he is now at the 
 head of a large sash, door and blind fac- 
 tory, which he established in 1868. This 
 is one of the leading industries of the 
 city, and furnishes employment to some 
 fifteen workmen, who being experts in 
 their line turn out an excellent grade of 
 goods. Mr. Schneider is wide-awake and 
 enterprising, and industry and good man- 
 agement have brought him prosperit}'. 
 
 He was born in the Province of Rhine- 
 Prussia, December 18, 1836, a son of 
 Stephen and Mary (Simon) Schneider, both 
 also natives of Rhine-Prussia, the former 
 born in 181 3, and by occupation was a 
 farmer. In 1S46 he brought his family 
 to America, and settling in the town of 
 Calumet, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., pur- 
 chased a partially improved farm, devot- 
 ing his energies to its further cultivation 
 until his death, which occurred in 1883; 
 his wife died the previous year. He 
 served in the Prussian army nine months, 
 and when he was released his brother took 
 his place. To Stephen and Mary Schneider 
 were born eight children, namely: 
 John, Jacob, Mary, Gertrude, Katie, 
 Anna, Peter, and one who bore the name 
 of Katie, now deceased. The paternal 
 grandfather, John Schneider, who also 
 carried on agricultural pursuits, married 
 Katie Koenigs, and had seven children, of 
 whom Stephen was the second in order 
 of birth; Jacob, the eldest, was drowned 
 at Little Chute, Wisconsin. 
 
 John Schneider, whose narng opens 
 
 this memoir, is the eldest child in his 
 father's family, and was a ten-year-old 
 boy when the parents brought him 
 across the Atlantic. With the family 
 he became a resident of Wisconsin, 
 and until sixteen years of age contin- 
 ued at home, working on the farm 
 through the summer months, while in the 
 winter season he attended a private Ca- 
 tholic school. He then came to Menasha, 
 and secured a position in a chair factory, 
 where he was employed for two years. 
 On the expiration of that period he re- 
 moved to Iowa, going to Blackhawk coun- 
 ty, where he worked at the carpenter's 
 and joiner's trade from 1853 until 1855. 
 Returning to the " Badger State," he then 
 resumed work in the chair factory, where 
 he had been previously employed, in Me- 
 nasha, and also worked in other factories, 
 and at carpentering until 1864. In the 
 winter of 1864-65, he did carpenter 
 work in the employ of the govern- 
 ment, at Little Rock, Ark., and on 
 his return was employed in a sash 
 factory until 1868, when he established 
 the factory which he yet operates. For 
 the past ten years he has been its sole 
 proprietor, and that the venture has proved 
 a successful one is due to his wise judg- 
 ment and good management. 
 
 In 1859, in Menasha, was celebrated 
 the marriage of Mr. Schneider and Miss 
 Anna Buichel, a native of Bohemia, Aus- 
 tria, and of the eleven children born of 
 this union, eight are yet living, namely: 
 Mary A., Katie, Joseph, Effie, William, 
 John and Lillie, twins, and Henry; 
 Louisa M. died at the age of twelve years, 
 John at the age of four, and Anna when 
 eight years of age. The parents hold 
 membership in the Catholic Church, and 
 Mr. Schneider is a member of the Ger- 
 mania Benevolent Society, of which he 
 has now served as president for five years. 
 He exercises his right of franchise in sup- 
 port of the Democracy, and has filled the 
 offices of assessor and alderman, serving 
 in the latter two terms, while for four 
 terms he served as county superintendent. 
 
1 144 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 J FRANK FORD, M. D. The Em- 
 pire State has given to the more 
 westerly part of the country, more 
 especially, perhaps, to the State of 
 Wisconsin, a grand array of professional 
 men — medical, legal or otherwise — among 
 whom, in the front rank, is to be found 
 the subject of this sketch. 
 
 The name Ford was originally spelled 
 Forde, and the family come of French 
 ancestry who in a very early day came to 
 Canada, where, in what is now the 
 Province of Quebec, the paternal grand- 
 father of our subject was born. From 
 there it was not difficult for the family to 
 drift into the State of Vermont, the bound- 
 ary line being more imaginary than real, 
 and here Lyman Ford, the father of Dr. 
 Ford, was born. From Vermont he 
 moved to New York State, and at Fort 
 Miller, in Washington county, he con- 
 ducted a farm; at one period of his life 
 was also captain of a canal-boat plying 
 between New York and Buffalo, as well 
 as on the Northern canal. He married 
 Miss Adelia Vanderwerker, whose parents 
 came from Holland, their native land, to 
 this country, settling in the vicinity of 
 Saratoga Springs, N. Y. , and by this mar- 
 riage there were seven children, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch being fourth in order of 
 birth. In 1858 the family came westward 
 to Illinois, and in Kendall county, near 
 the Bristol railroad station, and not far 
 from the city of Aurora, they lived until 
 1865, in which year they moved to Boone, 
 Boone Co., Iowa. In 1869 the father 
 proceeded to Carroll county, Mo. , where, 
 in Washington township, he bought a 
 farm of 120 acres whereon he lived till 
 1 888, at which time he retired from active 
 life, and he and his wife are now passing 
 their declining years with one or other of 
 their children, spending the winter months 
 with a son who is a practicing physician 
 at Kansas City, and the summers with a 
 daughter in Oklahoma. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch was 
 born May 25, 1856, at Fort Miller, Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y., and was therefore 
 
 two years old when the family came to 
 Illinois, and nine when they removed to 
 Boone, Iowa. At the common schools 
 of that place he received a liberal educa- 
 tion up to the age of fourteen, and then, 
 1869, commenced learning the printing 
 business at Gallatin, Daviess Co., Mo., 
 attending at the same time, during the 
 winter months, the high school of that 
 cit}'. At the end of two years he rejoined 
 his father in Carroll county. Mo., and 
 commenced working on a farm by the 
 month in order to earn sufficient money 
 to pay his way one term at Avalon Col- 
 lege, in Livingston count}'. Mo. Subse- 
 quently he taught a winter school in the 
 neighborhood of the college, at the same 
 time keeping up his studies until his grad- 
 uation, in 1877, at Avalon College, in the 
 scientific course. Having now decided to 
 make school teaching his lifework, he ac- 
 cepted the position of principal of the 
 Norborne (Carroll Co., Mo.) schools, 
 which he resigned at the close of four 
 years to fill a similar position in the 
 schools of Yorkville, Kendall Co., 111., 
 which he held three years. He organ- 
 ized the first graded school at both Nor- 
 borne and Yorkville, and at the first 
 named place he served as secretar}' of the 
 State Normal Institute, held annually at 
 Carrollton, Mo., during the summer va- 
 cations, three years, as well as one of the 
 instructors during the same period, or up 
 to the time of his moving to Yorkville. 
 Tiring, however, of scholastic duties, his 
 thoughts turned toward one of the other 
 professions, and nursing a preference for 
 medicine, he in the summer of 1883, 
 commenced studying in the office of Dr. 
 W. T. Murphy, at Aurora, 111. ; in the 
 fall of the same year entered Rush 
 Medical College, Chicago, from which in- 
 stitution he graduated February 15, 1887, 
 after which for a brief space he practiced 
 with his preceptor, Dr. Murphy, in Au- 
 rora, 111. In July, 1887, he came to 
 Omro, Winnebago county, and com- 
 menced the practice of his chosen pro- 
 fession, in which he has met with en- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I '45 
 
 viable success, having succeeded in win- 
 ning to an eminent degree the confidence 
 of the community. 
 
 On December ii, 1890, Dr. J. Frank 
 Ford and Miss Madge Shafer were united 
 in matrimony. She is the daughter of 
 George and Hannah (Underwood) Shafer, 
 the former of whom, now deceased, was 
 an early settler of Omro where he carried 
 on a drug business several years, and was 
 postmaster one term. The Doctor is a 
 member of the State Medical Society; of 
 the Brainerd Medical Society of Mil- 
 waukee, also of the Fox River Valley 
 Medical Society, at whose several meet- 
 ings he has frequently contributed papers 
 treating on a variety of subjects of inter- 
 est to the profession. He is a Royal 
 Arch Mason, a member of Winnebago 
 Chapter No. 43, at Omro; is also asso- 
 ciated with the I. O. O. F. and I. O. G. 
 T. In religious faith he is a member of 
 the Presbyterian Church, and in his polit- 
 ical predilections he is a stanch Republi- 
 can. He can be usually found identified 
 with all movements tending to the eleva- 
 tion of his fellowmen, while his voice and 
 pen have imiformly been at the service 
 of moral, temperance and social reform. 
 
 JAMES WILLOCK, for forty years 
 an industrious and well-respected 
 citizen of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, presents in his life experi- 
 ence a forcible example of what can be 
 reached by those who possess energy and 
 perseverance, coupled with willing heart 
 and hands. He is a native of Ireland, 
 born in the city of Londonderry July i, 
 1820, a son of Alexander and Sarah (Ful- 
 ton) Willock, of North of Ireland birth, 
 and of Scotch descent. They had a 
 family of four children, James being the 
 only survivor; the mother died in Lon- 
 donderry, Ireland, in 1848, having never 
 come to this country; the father passed 
 away in 1872, in Oshkosh, Wis., whither 
 he had come three years after his son. 
 The subject proper of this sketch re- 
 
 ceived his education at the schools of his 
 native city, and was then bound to a 
 seven-years' apprenticeship at the trade 
 of painter, on completing which he emi- 
 grated to the United States, arriving at 
 Boston, Mass., June 26, 1846. From 
 there he at once proceeded to Lowell, 
 same State, and here worked at his trade 
 five years; then another five years in New 
 York, or until 1856, the date of his com- 
 ing to Oshkosh, where he has since been 
 actively and prosperously engaged at his 
 trade — the long period of forty years. In 
 1843 he was married at Londonderry, 
 Ireland, to Miss Margaret Mason, a na- 
 tive of that historic city, and to this 
 union have been born three children, to 
 wit: Sarah J., wife of J. N. Ruby; An- 
 drew M. ; and Eliza A., wife of A. T. 
 Sutton, all residents of Oshkosh. Of 
 these, Andrew M. is partner with his 
 father in the business, and besides being 
 an expert house and sign painter is also a 
 scenic and landscape artist of no small 
 merit; he married Miss Margaret Wal- 
 lace, and they have a family of three 
 children: James W., Lettie and Ethel. 
 Mrs. Margaret (Mason) Willock was 
 called from earth September 30, 1892, 
 and October 17, 1893, Mr. Willock mar- 
 ried Miss Wilhelmina Rich, of Quebec, 
 Canada, at that time a resident of Chi- 
 cago, 111. Our subject and wife attend 
 the Presbyterian Church, and in his po- 
 litical views he is a stanch Republican. 
 His success in life has been made by 
 strict attention to buriness, by economy 
 and by the exercise of sound judgment in 
 all business concerns, and to-day in his 
 declining 3'ears he is reaping the reward 
 of years of honest toil. 
 
 IVI 
 
 ILO C. BUSHNELL. The 
 
 early settlers of our new States 
 and Territories are not, as is 
 often erroneously supposed, all 
 rough men in whom physical nature pre- 
 dominates over intellectual activity, and 
 who have little or no education. On the 
 
1146 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 contrary, many of the pioneers, though 
 no doubt men of brawn and muscle, are 
 yet possessed of no little talent and mental 
 culture; men thoroughly versed in all the 
 intellectual and political questions which 
 agitate the communities farther east; men 
 of great executive ability, and capable of 
 filling with honor and dignity any station 
 in the Republic. To this class belongs 
 the gentleman, a brief sketch of whom we 
 now propose to present. 
 
 Mr. Bushnell comes of old Connecti- 
 cut stock, his grandfather, Dowd Bush- 
 nell, having been born there of Welsh an- 
 cestry. Our subject is a native of Ver- 
 mont, and first saw the light in Waits- 
 field, Washington county. May 2, 1824. 
 His parents, Jeddiah and Abigail (Taylor) 
 Bushnell, were leading members of the 
 Congregational Church, in which Jeddiah 
 was a deacon. He was a farmer, a hard- 
 working, frugal, conscientious man, en- 
 joying among his neighbors a high repu- 
 tation for integrity and sound judgment, 
 and disposed to give his children the best 
 education his means would allow. His 
 son, the subject of this sketch, seconded 
 his father's efforts and wishes in this re- 
 spect, by a very decided taste for reading 
 and for study, which he took every op- 
 portunity to gratify. He received his 
 school training at the educational institu- 
 tions of his native town, and as a matter 
 of course was reared to agricultural pur- 
 suits on his father's farm. At the age of 
 twenty-one he left the paternal roof to 
 seek a livelihood in the wide, wide world, 
 his pockets not too well lined with either 
 gold, silver or bank notes, for his financial 
 inheritance was very small. When he 
 had about reached his twenty-first birth- 
 day, old enough to appreciate Horace 
 Greely's traditional advice to young men, 
 he turned his face to the golden West, 
 and proceeding first to the State of Illi- 
 nois remained there one year, teaching 
 school three winter months at eleven dol- 
 lars per month and "boarding round," 
 during the rest of the time occupying him- 
 self on farms, He then, in 1846, came 
 
 to Wisconsin while it was yet a Territory, 
 and a break having been made in the 
 wilderness by the first pioneer in those 
 parts, Edward ^^'est, Mr. Bushnell lo- 
 cated in Omro township, being among 
 the first to purchase land there from the 
 government for permanent settlement. 
 He entered 120 acres in the northwest 
 quarter of Section 27, paying $1.25 per 
 acre, all wild land consisting mainly of 
 what is known as oak openings — not 
 thickly timbered, but covered with trees 
 scattered here and there — except fifty or 
 sixty acres which were more like prairie; 
 in fact the land lay on the border of 
 what was known in earlier days as the 
 Butte des Morts Prairie. Consequently 
 there was not much clearing required, 
 and in 1847, the very next season, Mr. 
 Bushnell had forty-three acres fenced and 
 fifteen acres of sound wheat, which 
 yielded twenty bushels to the acre, part 
 of which he had ground into flour at Tay- 
 cheedah, a village situated near Fond du 
 Lac, afterward selling the flour and bran. 
 In 1 849 he built a frame house 16x24 feet, 
 with a ' ' lean-to " 1 2 x 24, the second frame 
 house erected in Omro township, and the 
 first one of any description to receive a 
 coat of paint; by 1850 he had the house 
 lathed and plastered. Money at that time 
 was such a scarce commodity in the young 
 State of Wisconsin that Mr. Bushnell had 
 to work out the cost of building his house, 
 toiling in the woods to pay for the lum- 
 ber, breaking ground with his team to 
 satisfy the carpenters, Jude F. Rogers & 
 Bros., and so on; in fact all commercial 
 transactions were done purely on the 
 trade and barter principle. In those days 
 land was ploughed up for the first time 
 for $1.25 per acre, and it would take two 
 men and five j'oke of cattle to break two 
 acres in one day. In 1846-47 families 
 began to come into the settlement rap- 
 idly; on the north side of the river was 
 the Menominee Indian Reservation, which 
 was heavily timbered, and for a long 
 time neighbors were ' ' few and far be- 
 tween. " The first school was held, in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I 147 
 
 1848, in George Beckwith's private resi- 
 dence, and about this time the Baptists 
 and Methodists began holding meetings, 
 sometimes in Mr. Bushnell's house; and 
 one of the old preachers that presided at 
 meetings held there, a Congregationalist, 
 died recently in Alabama at the patri- 
 archal age of about ninet\' years. In 
 1850, Mr. Bushnell being still a bachelor, 
 his widowed sister, Mrs. Orpha C. Skin- 
 ner, commenced housekeeping for him; 
 but in 1 85 I, concluding it was " not good 
 for man to be alone," he made a pilgrim- 
 age to his old home in Vermont, where 
 he was married, September 18, 1851, to 
 Miss Marcy G. Taylor, who died after 
 six months' wedded life. In 1854 he sold 
 his property in Section 27 and bought a 
 farm of 160 acres (twenty of which were 
 already ploughed up) in Section 19, all 
 fenced and ha\ing a log house thereon. 
 In 1856 he built a frame house on the 
 place, and here lived till 1866 when he 
 sold out and in the village of Omro bought 
 a snug little property of three acres on 
 which he raised small fruits and conducted 
 a nursery, which proved a good specula- 
 tion, as one year he gathered and sold 
 730 bushels of apples alone, and in an- 
 other year took in $600 in cash for the 
 product of these three acres. In 1853 
 Mr. Bushnell married Miss Mary S. Bid- 
 well, a native of St. Lawrence county, N. 
 Y. , by which union were born five chil- 
 dren, namely: Almeron C., AbbieJ., Lin- 
 nie A., Earnest and Milo A., only one of 
 whom, Linnie A., is now ('1895) living. 
 The mother of these died in 1866, and 
 the father, for his third spouse, wedded 
 Miss Mary J. Bradish, a native of New 
 Hampshire, but reared and educated in 
 Cabot, Vt. She is yet living. 
 
 Mr. Bushnell has enjoyed the confi- 
 dence and esteem of the community to 
 an eminent degree, and in his political 
 preferences has been a stanch Repub- 
 lican since the organization of that party, 
 prior to which he was an equally ardent 
 Whig. In 1848 he was elected assessor of 
 Omro township; in 1849 was chairman 
 
 64 
 
 of the township board, and for a good 
 many years acted as supervisor. In 1861, 
 under Lincoln's administration, he was 
 appointed assistant U. S. internal reve- 
 nue assessor for the western half of 
 Winnebago count}', a position he filled 
 with great acceptability seven years, or 
 until 1868. In 1867 he was elected to 
 the State Assembly, and re-elected in 
 1868, before taking his seat the second 
 time resigning his office of assistant in- 
 ternal revenue assessor, as in 1867 he was 
 filling no less than three offices at one 
 and the same time, to wit, those of chair- 
 man of the township board, assistant in- 
 ternal revenue inspector, and member of 
 the General Assembly. While he was 
 holding the last named incumbency, he 
 served on several important committees, 
 and was chairman of those on ' ' Prisons 
 and Insane Asylums " and "Agriculture." 
 Since 1868 he has been chairman of the 
 township board, and was a member of 
 the county board fifteen years, treasurer 
 of the township five years, and for 
 twenty-seven years had served on the 
 school board, most of the time as direc- 
 tor and treasurer, resigning from the 
 treasurership in 1892, although his term 
 had two years yet to run, since when he 
 has uniformly declined public office. In 
 addition to the above-mentioned services, 
 he has been a delegate to numerous Con- 
 ventions — Congressional, State and 
 County. For nearly thirty years he has 
 been engaged as executor and adminis- 
 trator in settling estates, numbering in 
 the aggregate some twenty or more, the 
 last of which was settled up in the spring 
 of 1894; has also, in connection, served 
 as guardian of wards, both old people 
 and minors, but he is now retired from 
 all active business, enjoying the ease and 
 comfort that comes to a life of industri- 
 ous toil and unblemished integrity. He 
 is a strictly temperance man, and attrib- 
 utes his excellent health, at the age of 
 over three-score and ten, to total absti- 
 nence from intoxicating liquor and to- 
 bacco in any form. 
 
I I4S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 For honorable and upright dealing 
 Mr. Bushnell has always been noted; as 
 a good citizen, no man has ever sustained 
 a higher character. With no means at 
 the outset, nothing save industry, perse- 
 verance, sound judgment and habits of 
 sobriety and economy, he has made a 
 happy success of life, and may with all 
 truth be named as the architect of his 
 own fortune. He resides in the village 
 of Omro, in a pleasant and commodious 
 residence, where he maintains the same 
 charming simplicity of rural life and 
 character, the same kind and genial spirit, 
 the same accessibility to all classes, which 
 marked his early years. 
 
 Thomas: STEPHENSON, for a 
 quarter of a century a resident of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, and 
 a pioneer settler of that county, 
 is, by virtue of his long and honored life 
 in a portion of the State he has seen grow 
 from infancy, entitled to a prominent 
 place within the leaves of this volume. 
 
 He is a native of England, born July 
 22, 1816, in one of her most beautiful and 
 fertile counties — Lincolnshire, in the vil- 
 lage of Corringhani. He is a son of 
 Matthew and Winifred Stephenson, who 
 were the parents of eight children, three 
 of whom survive: Thomas (our sub- 
 ject), and Charles and William, both of 
 whom live in La Porte county, Ind. In 
 his native land Thomas was educated, and 
 reared to agricultural pursuits, which he 
 followed in Lincolnshire till 1844, the year 
 of his coming to the United States. After 
 a residence of six years in La Porte coun- 
 ty, Ind. , engaged in farming, he removed 
 to Wisconsin, and in the township of 
 Utica, Winnebago county, continued agri- 
 cultural pursuits until 1870, when he re- 
 moved into the city of Oshkosh, where 
 he has since lived retired from active life, 
 full of years and honor. In 1850 he was 
 united in marriage, at La Porte, Ind., 
 with Miss Mary Ann Toyne, daughter of 
 John and Maria Toyne, natives of Lin- 
 
 colnshire, England, who had a family of 
 eight children, as follows: Mary Ann 
 (Mrs. Stephenson), Thomas, \\'illiam, 
 George, Susan (widow of William Law- 
 son), James (living in Indiana), Caroline 
 (wife of William Mitchell, residing in Mis- 
 souri), and Maria (wife of Nathaniel En- 
 glish, living in Kansas). To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Thomas Stephenson was born one child, 
 now deceased. They have been promi- 
 nently identified with the Methodist 
 Church for many years, and in his po- 
 litical proclivities Mr. Stephenson is an 
 active member of the Prohibition party. 
 Whatever of this world's goods Mr. 
 Stephenson has been enabled to surround 
 himself with he has won by an honest 
 and industrious use of the faculties be- 
 stowed on him by nature. Where others 
 have failed in the great and universal 
 struggle of life, he has succeeded, and his 
 industry, integrity and sagacity have been 
 so generously rewarded that now in his 
 declining years he and his faithful life 
 partner are enabled to live in comfortable 
 circumstances. Although in his seventy- 
 ninth year, our subject is in the enjoy- 
 ment of excellent health, is blessed with 
 a still rugged constitution and retains all 
 his faculties; he is as zealous and enthusi- 
 astic as in his younger years, in promot- 
 ing the welfare of his adopted city and 
 county. 
 
 JOHN THOMAS ORCHARD is one 
 of the most progressive and promi- 
 nent citizens of Omro, Winnebago 
 county, one who has prospered in 
 business, and has earned success by his 
 enterprise, natural sagacity, and well-es- 
 tablished reputation for integrity and up- 
 rightness. It is a pleasure to bear testi- 
 mony to his real worth, a testimony that 
 unmistakably voices the sentiments of the 
 entire community. 
 
 Mr. Orchard is a native of Plymouth, 
 Devonshire, England, born May 30, 1849, 
 but was reared in Week-St. Mary, Corn- 
 wall, a village situated some five miles 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 149. 
 
 from the seacoast, and about the same 
 distance from Bude, in the direction of 
 and not far from Land's End, Cornwall. 
 He is a son of John and Thomasine 
 (Orchard) Orchard, both now deceased. 
 At the Church of England parish school 
 of Week-St. Mary he received all the ed- 
 ucation he ever had, as far as book lore 
 was concerned; but being quick and ob- 
 servant he made ample amends in after 
 life for the sparseness of his school train- 
 ing. His education so far completed, our 
 subject was bound out by his parents to 
 learn the trade of tailor, completing his 
 five-years' apprenticeship March 25, 
 1869. On the 14th of the following 
 month he sailed from Liverpool for Amer- 
 ica on the steamer "City of Paris," land- 
 ing in New York April 26, and, immedi- 
 ately proceeding westward to Wisconsin, 
 arrived at Omro, Winnebago county, 
 Afay I. Here, in partnership with J. D. 
 Treleven (who had learned tailoring in 
 the same shop in England as Mr. Or- 
 chard, and had preceded him to the United 
 States four years) our subject opened out 
 a clothing and merchant-tailoring busi- 
 ness under the firm name of Treleven & 
 Orchard, which was conducted until 1886, 
 when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. 
 Orchard embarking in the grocery busi- 
 ness, in the same village, but selling out 
 at the end of one year. While the above 
 named firm was in existence, they erected 
 the brick block, containing three store 
 buildings, known as the "Orchard 
 Block," and still owned by our subject. 
 In 1888 he established his present Fire, 
 Life and Accident Insurance business, in 
 which he has met with eminent success, 
 having now control of nearly all the in- 
 surance in the village of Omro. He is also 
 filling prominent positions of trust and 
 honor, viz.: Supervisor (since 1888), rep- 
 resenting the village of Omro on the 
 county board; police justice for the vill- 
 age, and justice of the peace for the town- 
 ship of Omro; also clerk of the school 
 board for the past six years. 
 
 In his political preferments Mr. Or- 
 
 chard has been a straight Republican from 
 the time he became a naturalized citizen 
 of the United States, twenty-five years 
 ago. Since taking up his residence in 
 Omro he has been one of the most active 
 business men of the place, at all times 
 identified with every public enterprise 
 calculated to benefit the village and 
 the community, and has given his ser- 
 vices freely and willingly for the public 
 welfare. For four years he served as 
 trustee of the Winnebago County In- 
 sane Asylum, and at the present time is 
 a member of the building committee that 
 has charge of the erection of the asylum 
 buildings, the cost of which will not be 
 less than $85,000. The High School, 
 erected in 1S93 at a cost of $13,000, was 
 built under the direction of the board of 
 which he was a member, and to him is 
 due the credit of agitating the matter and 
 securing this valuable and much-needed 
 acquisition to the Winnebago county edu- 
 cational institutions; he was also a mem- 
 ber of the committee that had charge of 
 the erection of the Masonic Temple build- 
 ing at Omro, in addition to which he has 
 taken an active interest in improving the 
 cemetery at Omro, in systematizing, 
 platting it, etc. Among the several com- 
 mercial enterprises with which he is or 
 has been identified may be mentioned the 
 building of a woolen factory in Omro, 
 since used as a carriage factory ; also what 
 was known as the ' ' Northwestern Burial 
 Case Co.," afterward sold to Buckstaff, 
 Edwards & Co., and moved to Oshkosh. 
 This industry was organized and estab- 
 lished at Omro, in 1881, with a capital of 
 $10,000, Mr. Orchard being one of the 
 prime movers; he owned one half of an 
 undivided quarter interest in the corpora- 
 tion, and was secretary-treasurer from 
 the time of its organization till its re- 
 moval; the building is now occupied as a 
 sash, door and blind factory managed by 
 C. C. Morton & Co. He has been sec- 
 retary of the Business Men's Association 
 since its inception; is a member of the 
 F. & A. M., for the past five or six years- 
 
1 150 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 master of Omro Lodge No. 168, is a 
 Royal Arch Mason, and a member of the 
 Auxihary Eastern Star. 
 
 On May i, 1S74, John Thomas Or- 
 chard married Miss Elizabeth, daugh- 
 ter of William Ross, of Omro, an Eng- 
 lishman by birth, and one child was born 
 to this union, Frank, who is now living 
 with his grandmother, Mrs. Hannah Ross, 
 at Killingly, Conn., by whom he was 
 reared. This wife dying July i, 1875, 
 our subject was again married, this time 
 August 18, 1880, to Miss Lizzie C. 
 Peaslee, daughter of Wilbert N. Peaslee, 
 a native of Oshkosh, and one child, a 
 bright little girl named Daisy May, was 
 born to them June 6, 1882. For the 
 second time Mr. Orchard was bereaved of 
 his life partner, Mrs. Lizzie C. Orchard 
 being called to her rest April 6, 1894, 
 and his home in Omro is now under the 
 care of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Peaslee. 
 Mr. Orchard, as has already been stated, 
 did not have advantages either in wealth 
 or education, and to a great extent is a 
 self-educated man, in his earlier days 
 working at his trade by day and studying 
 by night. He is in the enjo\'ment of a 
 large and lucrative clientele in his busi- 
 ness, and his integrity is unquestioned. 
 No man stands higher in the estimation 
 of the people of Omro and vicinity, and 
 his present leading position, both as a 
 citizen and as the incumbent of public 
 offices of honor and trust, is a conclusive 
 proof of what pluck, ambition and honest 
 endeavor will accomplish. 
 
 WILLIAM R. KENNEDY. To 
 the old State of New Jersey the 
 county of Winnebago is in no 
 small degree indebted for some 
 of her most prominent citizens, either as 
 •distinguished professional men, successful 
 farmers or well-to-do manufacturers, and 
 in the van of the former is to be found the 
 gentleman whose name is here recorded. 
 Mr. Kennedy was born December 6, 
 
 1830, in Somerset county, N. J., a son of 
 William and Euphemia (Reading) Ken- 
 nedy, both also natives of New Jersey, 
 who had born to them two children: 
 William R.. and Jane, widow of L. M. 
 Hayes, and now residing in the city of 
 New York. The father was clerk of the 
 court of Somerset county at the same 
 time that Rev. De Witt Talmage's father 
 was serving as sheriff of the same county. 
 In 1 85 1 he came to Oshkosh, W^is., in 
 company with his two children (his wife 
 had died before in New Jersey), and here 
 for a time was in the grocery business in 
 connection with his son William R. , with 
 whom he passed his declining years, dying 
 in 1868 in the seventieth year of his age. 
 Our subject received a liberal educa- 
 tion at the schools of Somerset county, 
 N. J., and at the town of Somerville, in 
 that county, read law in the office of Hugh 
 M. Gaston. In April, 185 i, he came to 
 Wisconsin, where in the cit}- of Milwau- 
 kee he was admitted to the bar the same 
 year, in July following moving to Osh- 
 kosh, and here has since resided. In 185 i 
 he began the practice of his chosen pro- 
 fession in the city of his adoption, and in 
 1853 (about which time he was admitted 
 to the Supreme Court, at Madison) formed 
 a partnership with R. P. Eighme, later 
 with Col. John Hancock, which, how- 
 ever, at the breaking out of the Civil 
 war was dissolved. In 1864 Mr. Ken- 
 nedy raised Company C, Forty-sixth Wis. 
 V. I., and was elected second lieutenant 
 thereof, from which rank he was pro- 
 moted to captain; the company was en- 
 listed for three years or during the war. 
 While stationed at Huntsville, Ala., Capt. 
 Kennedy acted as provost marshal for 
 northern Alabama. In September, 1865, 
 he was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., 
 and returning to Oshkosh resumed the 
 practice of law, in which he has had a 
 distinguished career. He has also dealt 
 considerably in real estate, and at the 
 present time owns a fine two-story brick 
 block on Main street, 26x80 feet, the 
 upper part being used as a residence or 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 115* 
 
 offices, the lower portion for business 
 purposes. 
 
 In 1855, at Oshkosh, Mr. Kennedy 
 was married to Miss Matilda T. Nellis, 
 who was born in Utica, N. Y., and to 
 this union have come three children, viz. : 
 Mary E., a teacher in the public schools 
 of Oshkosh; William N., residing in 
 Berkeley, Cal., and Reading, living in 
 Minnesota. A Republican in politics, our 
 subject has been a strong supporter of 
 the party, and for some eight years he 
 served as city attorney with characteristic 
 ability. He has been now identified with 
 Oshkosh about forty-three years, during 
 which time he has earned for himself a 
 reputation as a professional man second 
 to none in the county, and proved him- 
 self in every respect worthy of the es- 
 teem and regard which he enjoys in the 
 community. 
 
 HENRY COURTNEY SCOTT. The 
 name of this gentleman is entitled 
 to be permanently associated, not 
 only with the industrial develop- 
 ment of northern Wisconsin, but also with 
 the military history of the country. He 
 is a native of the State of New York, born 
 at Greenfield, Saratoga county, October 
 4, 1843, a son of Henry and Nancy (Bell) 
 Scott, both of whom were of Scotch de- 
 scent. 
 
 Henry Scott, father of our subject, 
 came to Vinland township, Winnebago 
 Co. , Wis. , in 1 849. Here he dealt largely 
 in timbered lands — buying and selling — 
 proving in all his transactions to be one of 
 the most sagacious, judicious and honor- 
 able among the many pioneer land specu- 
 lators of his day in Wisconsin. He died 
 in 1855 of fever, while on a land-pur- 
 chasing trip to Minnesota, having with 
 him $1, 500 in gold for that purpose. His 
 demise occurred on the Canon river, 
 twenty-six miles west of Hastings, Dakota 
 county, immediately after having bar- 
 gained for some 500 or 600 acres on a 
 mill site, his sudden death terminating the 
 
 deal; his remains were brought back to 
 Wisconsin and given their last resting, 
 place two miles north of Butte des Morts, 
 Winnebago county. At this time, as will 
 be seen, our subject was twelve years old, 
 and after the burial of his father he went, 
 on a farm, where for the following seven 
 years he was engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits. 
 
 This now brings us to 1862, the sec- 
 ond year of the great Rebellion, and young 
 Scott, at that time an enthusiastic lad of 
 nineteen summers, fired with patriotism 
 and military ardor, enlisted in Company 
 B, Twenty-first Wis. V. C. , and the next 
 three years of his life were witnesses 
 to an experience of peril and hardship, 
 of "feats of broil and battle," that reads 
 more like a story of romance than a 
 "round unvarnished tale " of facts which 
 are ofttimes stranger than fiction. His 
 regiment was soon ordered to the front, 
 where it took part in some of the blood- 
 iest battles of the Civil War, including 
 Perryville, Ky., October 8, 1862, and 
 Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863, 
 our subject participating in every general 
 engagement, skirmish and action in which 
 his company took part. At Chickamau- 
 ga he was taken prisoner, and, in spite 
 of the vigilance of his captors, succeeded 
 same day in writing a letter to his friends 
 in the North, apprising them of the fact. 
 This letter he entrusted to the care of a 
 wounded Union soldier who saw it posted, 
 and it was duly forwarded to its destina- 
 tion. In his prison experiences Mr. Scott 
 had ample opportunity of investigating 
 some of the notorious southern war pris- 
 ons, including " Libby " and " Anderson- 
 ville." He was first confined at Atlanta, 
 Ga., for but a short time, however; 
 thence was removed to Libby prison, in 
 Richmond, Va. , where he was fortunate 
 enough to be incarcerated only a few 
 weeks; from there was taken to Danville, 
 same State, passing the winter of 1863-64 
 in the prison of that place. In March of 
 the latter year he was conveyed to And- 
 ersonville prison, where he was confined' 
 
II<2 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 till the fall, and the "horrors" of that 
 pen he says were "simply indescribable." 
 However, gifted as he was with natural 
 buoyancy of spirits, and never at any 
 time losing the hope that "springs eter- 
 nal in the human breast," he lost not 
 heart, nor in any degree was discouraged. 
 His native business ability he turned to 
 good account, enabling him to trade and 
 barter with outside parties so that 
 he made it possible to keep compara- 
 tively clean and healthy, and have him- 
 self supplied with better nourishment than 
 was furnished by the prison authorities. 
 On September 20, 1 864, he bade a not ver}' 
 reluctant farewell to " Andersonville, " 
 his removal having been ordered to a 
 prison in Savannah, Ga. ; but after a few 
 weeks' "visit" there he was conducted 
 to Charleston, S. C, thence, not long 
 afterward, to Florence. S. C, the prison 
 in which he was there confined being his 
 seventh since his capture in September, 
 
 1863, a period of about thirteen months. 
 As a wish is often father to a thought, so 
 the desire of a prisoner to escape, from 
 the very hour he loses his freedom, be- 
 comes in time his all-absorbing, para- 
 mount thought, and to this rule, as will 
 presently be seen, Mr. Scott was very 
 far from being an exception. Determined, 
 at any risk almost, to effect an escape to 
 liberty, he mentally plotted and planned 
 from day to day, keeping an eagle eye 
 on all the surroundings; but so closely 
 guarded was he that no favorable oppor- 
 tunity presented itself till his imprison- 
 ment at Florence, where in October, 
 
 1864, he made his first attempt. The 
 story of it is as follows: He and eleven 
 other Union prisoners were sent, under a 
 guard of soldiers, to procure water from 
 a stream that ran about a mile distant 
 from the prison, and here our subject 
 and a comrade, by name Charles A. Pet- 
 erson (now working in Mr. Scott's saw- 
 mill at Omro, Wis.), mutually agreed to 
 "make a break for liberty." On coming 
 to the stream, these two by stirring up 
 the mud, succeeded in making the water 
 
 so thick and dirty that they found it nec- 
 essary to go farther up the creek where 
 the water was clear (and where there 
 was a wood close /y), and as soon as a 
 favorable moment presented itself they 
 dropped their buckets or pails and made 
 a desperate rush for the timber, not un- 
 observed, however, by the guards, who, 
 ordering them to stop, cocked their guns, 
 but for some reason or another did not 
 fire on them. This bold dash for liberty, 
 successful at first, proved unfortunately the 
 reverse in the end, for two weeks after- 
 ward the wayworn fugitives were cap- 
 tured some si.xteen miles from George- 
 town, S. C. , and returned to their old 
 quarters in the Florence prison. Nothing 
 daunted or discouraged, our subject at 
 once commenced la3'ing plans for a sec- 
 ond attempt, and he began by securing a 
 Confederate soldier's uniform, which he 
 kept beside him in his cell against such 
 time as he might have occasion to use it. 
 An opportunity was not long in presenting 
 itself, for a short time afterward the 
 prison authorities commenced building a 
 stockade or "bull-pen," into which to re- 
 move the prisoners, and Mr. Scott and 
 five others decided that now was their 
 chance, and that they would be ' ' non est " 
 at some not far distant roll call in the 
 aforesaid stockade. It appears that on 
 the ground there was a well which, when 
 the stockade was completed, would be 
 outside the enclosure, and the six prison- 
 ers just mentioned proceeded to dig a 
 tunnel, a little above the level of the 
 water, back from the well, in which they 
 purposed to hide and remain while the 
 other prisoners were transferred to the 
 new quarters. Mr. Scott had his rebel 
 uniform by him in the now finished tun- 
 nel, and putting it on, everj'thing being 
 ready, started out on a reconnoitering 
 expedition. Emerging from the well, he 
 was observed by several Confederate 
 soldiers who were passing at the time, 
 but they simply " grinned " at him, think- 
 ing he was one of their own comrades 
 playing some trick about the well. Just 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 i'53 
 
 at this time someone commenced throw- 
 ing large sticks and other things into the 
 well which so alarmed the remaining five 
 prisoners concealed in the tunnel that, 
 fearing the well was about to be filled in, 
 and that they would be suffocated, they 
 clambered out one by one, and as 
 they came to the surface were at once 
 captured and marched off to the 
 stockade. In the meantime Mr. Scott, 
 thanks to his disguise, was never sus- 
 pected, and he freely mingled with the 
 Confederate soldiers; but he never lost 
 sight of the main chance, and concealing 
 himself among some bushes that grew near 
 a neighboring spring, patiently awaited 
 the issue. By and by a prisoner, who 
 was allowed outside the stockade on his 
 word of honor not to attempt to escape, 
 came toward the bushes on his way to the 
 spring for water, and Mr. Scott intercept- 
 ing him made himself known, and re- 
 quested him to bring his (Mr. Scott's) 
 haversack out of the prison to him. In 
 this haversack were several things that our 
 hero knew would be of incalculable service 
 to him in his attempt to reach the Union 
 lines again, should he succeed in eluding 
 immediate pursuit, among them being a 
 map of North and South Carolina which 
 he had drafted from memory while in 
 prison. The man of whom Mr. Scott 
 had made the request about his haversack 
 a short time afterward appeared with it in 
 his hand, and our subject, who was not 
 far off, heard him ask the officer of the 
 day if he might be allowed to get some 
 one to go into the town (Florence) and 
 purchase a few sweet potatoes. At this 
 moment (it was about nine o'clock in the 
 morning) Mr. Scott stepped forward, and 
 offering to do the errand was handed the 
 haversack, with which he speedily set off 
 to the town, where he remained until near 
 sundown. \\'alking, now,out of the place, 
 without being even challenged, he suc- 
 ceeded in placing some ten miles between 
 Florence and himself, and that night slept 
 in the fields near Darlington. While loiter- 
 ing about the town of Florence through 
 
 the day he had been careful to post him- 
 self as to the whereabouts of the dif- 
 ferent Confederate regiments, their num- 
 bers, etc., and on other essential points, 
 all of which confirmed him in the resolution 
 he had formed all along of impersonating a 
 rebel soldier; and to further carry out his 
 scheme he adopted the name, etc., of 
 "JohnW. Jenkins, a private of Company 
 E, Twenty-firsts. C. Regiment, C. S. A." 
 The very next morning he was arrested 
 by a Confederate, at Darlington, as a 
 deserter, but giving his name and partic- 
 ulars as above, and stating he was return- 
 ing to his regiment (which explanation 
 was accepted the more readily, perhaps, 
 because Jeff. Davis had recently promul- 
 gated an order to the effect that all de- 
 serters were to be pardoned who returned 
 to their commands by a certain date), he 
 was released with the advice to report to 
 the Confederate enrolling officer at Dar- 
 lington, who would doubtless furnish him 
 with transportation, which he did, and was 
 given transportation to Florence, S. C. 
 (where he had just come from!) He was 
 also armed with a letter to the command- 
 er of the Post at Columbia, S. C, which 
 he availed himself of first, and on arriv- 
 ing at Columbia and presenting the letter 
 was furnished with transportation to 
 Richmond, Va. At Columbia "Private 
 Jenkins" saw Jeff. Davis for the first time, 
 also heard him deliver an address, and 
 from that city they traveled together on 
 the same train, but at Salisbury, N. C, 
 the soi-disatit Confederate soldier left the 
 train without any ceremony, while Mr. 
 Davis went on to Richmond. At Colum- 
 bia Mr. Scott purchased a pen and paper 
 for $i.oo, and with these wrote out a de- 
 scription of himself, a grant of leave of ab- 
 sence, etc. , which is still in his possession, 
 and of which the following is a verbatim 
 copy: 
 
 Headquarters Conscript Camp, Dept. S. C. 
 
 Columbia. Oct. 8, 1864. 
 
 The bearer hereof. Jolin W. Jenkins, private 
 
 Co. E., 21st S. C. Reg-., light complexion, 5 feet 
 
 7 inches in height, born in Caldwell Co., N. C, 
 
 20 years of age, by occupation a farmer, is here- 
 
'J54 
 
 COldMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 by granted a leave of absence, from Oct. 4, 
 1864, to Oct. 24, 1864, at the expiration of which 
 time he will report at this place or be consid- 
 ered a deserter. 
 
 By command of Major C. D. Melton, 
 
 Robt. W. Shond, 
 Lieut. & Act. Adjt. 
 
 This counterfeit proved to him a most 
 useful document, as it was read and ex- 
 amined by hundreds of rebel officers and 
 soldiers. Only once after this was he 
 arrested, and that was by L. W. Pounds, 
 a Confederate enrolling officer, at Lenoir, 
 N. C. , who, after giving his prisoner a 
 searching examination, released him, and 
 endorsed the counterfeit "order," thereby 
 giving it its first authentic official charac- 
 ter, and it continued to be his safe passport 
 to the close of his adventures. But we 
 must return to our hero whom we left at 
 Salisbury, N. C. From there he struck 
 ont on foot for the Blue Ridge mountains, 
 which he crossed, then tramped onward 
 to the Alleghanies and Smoky mountains, 
 a journey of sixty-one days, during which 
 he subsisted on the hospitality of the 
 negroes and poor white mountaineers, 
 many of whom were stanch Union men. 
 When nearing the end of this long and 
 foot-weary peregrination, and while yet 
 on the Smoky mountains, he was an eye 
 witness to the battle of Bull's Gap, which 
 was fought on the plain below, and while 
 concealed in the top of an umbrageous 
 beech tree, he had the gratification of 
 seeing a company of Confederate cavalry 
 pass within four rods of his hiding place. 
 Soon after this he succeeded in getting 
 into the Union lines, at Knoxville, Tenn., 
 Gen.Stoneman commanding, who directed 
 him to report at Nashville. It happened, 
 however, that there were a number of 
 army paymasters there who were desirous 
 of conveying to Lexington a large amount 
 of money in their possession, and as 
 troops could not be spared them for an 
 escort, volunteers for that duty were 
 called on from among officers and men 
 who were at Knoxville, separated for some 
 reason or another from their respective 
 commands. Thirty-one of these officers 
 
 volunteered, as did also Mr. Scott, who 
 was the only private in the escort, and 
 was furnished with a horse and accoutre- 
 ments, in fact fully equipped to act as vi- 
 dette or advance scout the entire eleven 
 days' journey. On arrival at Lexington, 
 on recommendation of the thirty-one offi- 
 cers, he was given eighteen months' pay 
 and a furlough of thirty days at the hands 
 of Adj. -Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, and with 
 this furlough in his pocket he returned 
 home on a visit which was extended to 
 seventy days. He then reported to Mad- 
 ison, Wis., whence he was sent to New 
 York, thence to Morehead City, N. C, 
 and from there proceeded to Neuse river 
 (twenty-six miles from Raleigh, N. C), 
 where he rejoined his company and regi- 
 ment after an absence of about twenty 
 months, finding but few of his old com- 
 rades left — most of them having been 
 either killed, wounded or taken prisoners, 
 their places being filled by new men. 
 About a month afterward, in the latter 
 part of June, 1865, the company was 
 mustered out at Milwaukee, and Mr. 
 Scott returned to Winnebago county, 
 where he resumed the vocations of indus- 
 try and peace. 
 
 In addition to agricultural pursuits he 
 has for the past twenty-eight years been 
 more or less engaged in sawmilling, etc., 
 and at the present time he is owner of a 
 large saw and shingle mill at Omro. He 
 is also principal owner of a boat-building 
 plant at the same place, and employs al- 
 together in his business some seventy-five 
 hands. He has been twice married, first 
 time in 1866 to Miss Mary Rodgers, who 
 died in 1S81 leaving five children, named, 
 respectively. Alma, Amy, Charles H., 
 Russell and Susan. In 1892 he wedded 
 Miss Carrie Larzelere. Politically Mr. 
 Scott is a stout Republican though his 
 many business interests have not permit- 
 ted him to accept office, which is a loss to 
 the locality. He is not a member of any 
 Church, but contributes liberally to the 
 support of all in Omro, without denomi- 
 national preference. In addition to his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '55 
 
 mill property he owns the old homestead 
 (){ his father and over two thousand acres 
 of good timber and other lands in the 
 northern part of the State. He is a man 
 of marked individuality, the widest exper- 
 ience, and enjoys the well-earned fruits of 
 an honorable and successful career. 
 
 JAMES SCOTT DANIELS, M. D. 
 Among the able physicians of Win- 
 nebago county, whose lives are de- 
 voted to the benevolent work of alle- 
 viating the sufferings of humanity, none 
 stands more prominent than Dr. Daniels. 
 He is a native of Pennsylvania, born 
 in Montrose, Susquehanna county, March 
 3, 1 84 1, a son of James and Elvira (Fan- 
 cher) Daniels, and on the paternal side 
 is descended from "Mayflower "pilgrims 
 of the same name. The Fanchers were 
 of German origin, and early settlers dur- 
 ing Colonial days, in Herkimer county, 
 N. Y. On both sides of the house our 
 subject's people were Baptists and Whigs 
 of the old school, which accounts for his 
 predilections in these respects, in the 
 matter of politics having been a stanch 
 Republican since the time he was old 
 enough to vote. James Daniels, his 
 father, who was a lifelong agriculturist, 
 conducted a farm at Montrose, Penn., 
 until April 27, 1852, when he moved his 
 family to the township of W'aterford, 
 Racine Co., Wis., whence, after four 
 years, he came to Appleton, Outagamie 
 county, and here bought a farm of eighty 
 acres, whereon he passed the rest of his 
 busy life. When he was called from 
 earth, November 14, 1875, the commun- 
 ity felt that a good man had departed 
 from among them, a man of sound judg- 
 ment, cool, steady and thorough in all 
 his transactions and dealings, beloved for 
 his generosity and benevolence, and ad- 
 mired for his unqualified trust and confi- 
 dence in those whom he esteemed as 
 friends. Through this latter trait in his 
 character he suffered severe financial 
 losses by endorsing for others, yet, not- 
 
 withstanding this, he did not sit down 
 and repine, but bravely set his face to 
 the storm, and plodded steadily on his 
 way to repair his misfortune. He left a 
 nice property to his family, all of which 
 he had acquired after coming to Wiscon- 
 sin, and his widow and youngest son are 
 now living on the old homestead, three 
 miles south of Seymour, in Outagamie 
 county. 
 
 Dr. James S. Daniels, the subject 
 proper of this sketch, attended the com- 
 mon schools of his native place and Wis- 
 consin until he was eighteen years old, 
 when he commenced teaching the first 
 school ever taught in Osborn township, 
 Outagamie county. In the fall of i860 
 he entered Lawrence University, at Apple- 
 ton; but not being blessed with an over- 
 robust constitution only attended at inter- 
 vals until 1865, by which time he had 
 finished his classical course, but did not 
 graduate. On leaving college, where no 
 doubt in Virgil's "Georgics" he reveled 
 in the delightsof rural life, he placed him- 
 self on a farm with the view of recuperat- 
 ing his impaired health, and here during 
 summers he played the true Arcadian role 
 of practical farmer, cultivating, in the 
 winter season at the neighboring school- 
 house, the minds of the unsophisticated 
 rising generation. He taught school at 
 various points seventeen consecutive 
 terms, and while thus employed com- 
 menced and pursued the reading of medi- 
 cine and surgery. In the winter of 1874 
 he entered Hahnemann Medical College, 
 Chicago, where he gave his time exclu- 
 sively to study, graduating in the spring 
 of 1877, and he at once began the prac- 
 tice of his profession in Holland town- 
 ship. Brown Co., Wis., after five months' 
 sojourn there moving to Two Rivers, 
 Manitowoc county, where he " hung out 
 his shingle." But not being able to exist 
 entirely on fish, with which the inhabit- 
 ants (nearly all French) usually paid their 
 doctor's and other bills, our subject re- 
 solved not to tarry long among them; so 
 again " folding his tent " he departed into 
 
II56 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Winnebago county, where, in the village 
 of Winneconne, he remained three years. 
 We next find him in Seymour, Outagamie 
 county, taking charge of Dr. Strong's 
 practice in the winter of 1879-80, during 
 the latter's absence at College, and in the 
 following spring Dr. Daniels took up his 
 residence in Omro, where he at once began 
 receiving a fair share of clientele, which 
 has constantly increased until now he has, 
 probably, the largest practice in his sec- 
 tion of Winnebago county. He makes a 
 specialty of chronic diseases, also of the 
 diseases of women and children, and in 
 obstetrics he has a wider clientele than 
 any other physician in his immediate sec- 
 tion. Possessed of the best medical 
 library in the county, outside of Oshkosh, 
 he is a close student, continually reading 
 up in his profession, and since commenc- 
 ing practice has taken as many as nine 
 different medical journals or magazines, 
 thus keeping thoroughly in pace with 
 times, and well posted on all 
 discoveries and methods in medi- 
 and surgery. He is a member 
 of the Homeopathic Clinical Society of 
 Chicago, also of the Homeopathic State 
 Society of Wisconsin and the American 
 Institute of Homeopathy. Socially, he 
 has been associated with the Masonic 
 Fraternity since 1883, is a member of 
 Omro Lodge No. 168, of Winnebago 
 Chapter No. 43 (of which he has been 
 scribe), and Oshkosh Commandery No. 
 II, K. T. ; also a member of the I. O. O. 
 F. Deeply sympathetic by nature, and 
 possessed of the broadest guage of human- 
 ity. Dr. Daniels has surrounded himself 
 with many sincere friends, by whom he is 
 worthily esteemed and respected. 
 
 the 
 
 new 
 
 cine 
 
 RICHARD CHAUNCEY RUS- 
 SELL. The Russell family, of 
 which this gentleman is an hon- 
 ored representative, can be traced 
 in English history as far back as the sixth 
 century, and members thereof have been 
 conspicuous in various ways, notably as 
 
 warriors, financiers, and jurists. They 
 have from time immemorial been remark- 
 able as a hardy and aggressive race, 
 excelling in both mental and physical 
 qualities. 
 
 The first of this family in America 
 was Richard Russell, who was born in 
 Herefordshire, England, in 161 2, came 
 to this country in 1640; was a representa- 
 tive in 1646; speaker of the House in 
 1648-49, 1654, 1656 and 1658, assistant 
 in 1659 and later, and treasurer of Mas- 
 sachusetts from 1644 until his death, 
 which occurred May 14, 1674. His son 
 James (jurist) was born in Charlestown, 
 Mass., October i, 1640, and died there 
 April 28, 1709. James' great-grandson. 
 Chambers Russell (jurist), was born July 
 4, I "1 3, and died at Guilford, England, 
 November 24, 1767. Chambers's descend- 
 ant, David (congressman), was born in 
 Massachusetts in 1800; practised law, 
 and served in the legislature; died in 
 Salem, N. Y., November 24, 1861. His 
 son, David Allan (soldier), was born in 
 Salem, N. Y. , December 10, 1820, died 
 near Winchester, \'a.. September 19, 
 1864. 
 
 Alvin Russell, father of our subject, 
 was born in Massachusetts, one of a fam- 
 ily of five sons and two daughters, and 
 was there married to Miss Sarah Marsh, 
 by whom he had a family of six sons. 
 He followed the business of carriage 
 maker in Massachusetts, and died at Am- 
 herst, that State. Richard Chauncey, 
 youngest son of Alvin and Sarah Russell, 
 was born April 21, 1830, in Sunderland, 
 Mass. , and when he was seven years old, 
 in 1837, h's father, who had up to that 
 time been in good financial circumstances, 
 lost all his property, in consequence of 
 which the sons were in a great measure 
 thrown on their own resources. At the 
 age of ten years our subject was placed 
 in an academy at Amherst, Mass., where 
 he remained six years, all this time earn- 
 ing his own living by working on a farm 
 when not engaged at his studies. On 
 leaving the academy he for a time found 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 1157 
 
 employment on a farm at North Hadley, 
 Mass., and- then renewed his studies at 
 the same educational institution, at the 
 end of about twelve months entering Am- 
 herst College, where he attended lectures 
 three years. His education being now 
 completed, it behooved the now fast- 
 growing lad to seek some definite life 
 work, and he readily found an opening in 
 a gent's furnishings store at Amherst; 
 but overwork and too close an applica- 
 tion to business so impaired his health 
 that his physician's cheering decision was 
 that he must "either go west or die." 
 Of the two alternatives he naturally pre- 
 ferred the more pleasant one, and setting 
 out on his journey, he traveled consider- 
 ably throughout the west and south, visit- 
 ing, among other places, Oshkosh, Wis., 
 whither some of his eastern acquaintances 
 had already migrated. 
 
 This was in 1856, and in the fall of 
 that year Mr. Russell returned east, pro- 
 ceeding to Boston, Mass. , where a posi- 
 tion as purchasing partner in some promi- 
 nent mercantile house had been offered 
 him ; but on account of continued ill health, 
 he, in the spring of 1857, again found it 
 necessary to come west. Arriving at Chi- 
 cago, 111., he would have probably re- 
 mained there, but the climate of that 
 " windy city " not suiting him, he went 
 on to Minneapolis, where he commenced 
 arrangements for the opening of a bank- 
 ing establishment, which scheme, how- 
 ever, was abandoned, because of the 
 party with whom Mr. Russell was to be 
 associated in business failing to furnish his 
 share of the capital. From Minneapolis 
 our subject then for the second time came 
 to Oshkosh, where he at once decided to 
 locate permanently. 
 
 Here in the fall of 1858 he opened the 
 first grain warehouse in the place, doing a 
 large business, especially in the shipment 
 of grain to eastern points — New York, 
 etc. — via lakes and canals. In this line 
 he continued with encouraging success 
 until 1865, when his health again failing 
 he disposed of his business, and sought to 
 
 repair his constitution by a year's travel, 
 at the expirjof which time we once more 
 find him in Oshkosh. Proceeding, how- 
 ever, soon afterward to Manistee, Mich., 
 he was there largely engaged in the lumber 
 business in copartnership with others, 
 the style of the firm being Russell, 
 Leach & Co. , but at the end of two years 
 (1866-67) they sold out to Chicago par- 
 ties, Mr. Russell once more making his 
 home in Oshkosh. In 1869 he here es- 
 tablished a private bank, and in 1871 or- 
 ganized the Union National Bank of Osh- 
 kosh, with a capital of $100,000, of 
 which for some eighteen years he was 
 general manager and cashier. In the de- 
 structive fire of 1873 at Oshkosh the 
 bank was burned, but the assets being 
 saved the business was continued on the 
 following day on the same substantial 
 basis. In 1887 Mr. Russell, along with 
 George Whiting and others, organized 
 the First National Bank, of Menasha, 
 Wis. , of which he was elected first pres- 
 ident, Robert Graham, ex-State Super- 
 intendent of Public Institutions, being 
 cashier, Mr. Russell in the meantime re- 
 taining his position in the Union National 
 Bank; but in January, 1889, his health 
 again becoming impaired, he resigned his 
 position of manager and cashier of the 
 latter institution, and for another year 
 traveled abroad. In January, 1890, the 
 German National Bank of Oshkosh was 
 organized, Mr. Russell being given the 
 presidency; he is also president of the Cit- 
 izens National Bank, of Stevens Point, 
 Wis. ; vice-president of the Wisconsin 
 River Paper and Pulp Co., and of the 
 Foote-Cornish Milling Co. ; he is also a 
 director in the Fronteriza Silver Mining 
 and Milling Co., of Mexico; holds an in- 
 terest in the Plover Paper Co., in the 
 Alamo Heights Land and Improvement 
 Company, at San Antonio, Te.x., in the 
 Rapid Transit Street Railway of that city, 
 and in other enterprises of more or less 
 magnitude. 
 
 In his political preferences Mr. Rus- 
 sell was originally identified with the 
 
I.5S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGEAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Whig party, and in 185 1 he was a dele- 
 gate to the State Convention held at Bos- 
 ton, since when he has been a stanch 
 Republican in National matters; in mu- 
 nicipal affairs, however, he usually votes 
 and lends his influence independent 
 of party ties. In 1863 he was elected 
 superintendent of public schools in Osh- 
 kosh, being re-elected to the same posi- 
 tion in 1864, and it was under his direc- 
 tion that the schools were graded. In 
 1864-65 he represented his district in the 
 Legislature, and so popular did his e.xcel- 
 lent service there make him with his con- 
 stituents that he was subsequently offered 
 many other political honors and prefer- 
 ments, which he invariably respectfully 
 declined, preferring to devote his entire 
 time and energy to his multitudinous bus- 
 iness interests. A true patriot, and no 
 less brave than he is energetic, he offered 
 his services to the Union as a volun- 
 teer during the Civil war, but, on account 
 of his failure to pass the necessary medi- 
 cal examination, was not accepted. 
 
 In matters of religious faith Mr. Rus- 
 sell has always been a Congregationalist, 
 having united with that denomination at 
 Amherst, Mass. For literature he early 
 in life developed a taste, and, later, has 
 found time in his busy career to lecture 
 on various subjects of public interest. It 
 would not be an easy matter to determine 
 precisely whether he would have been as 
 successful in the field of literature as he 
 has been in that of commerce, had 
 he chosen to apply himself to the 
 former instead of the latter; but of 
 this there is a certainty that he would 
 equally well have distinguished himself. 
 He is best known, however, as a banker 
 and financier, and his knowledge of 
 commercial law is quite extensive. He 
 has ever taken an active interest in the 
 welfare of \oung men, always willing 
 to not only give them seasonable counsel, 
 and the benefit of his wide experience, 
 but also to extend financial aid to them 
 where deserving of such. 
 
 Mr. Russell has traveled somewhat 
 
 extensively over the United States, Canada 
 and Mexico, and the practical knowledge 
 of men and things thus gained, combined 
 with his eminent executive ability, has 
 enabled him to avail himself of every cir- 
 cumstance that presented itself to him, 
 and enlist each into his service for the 
 benefit and advancement of his various 
 business interests. Indeed it goes with- 
 out saying that his high business and 
 social standing is due wholly to his own 
 personal efforts, and he is justly entitled 
 to the oft much-abused but honorable 
 title of a "self-made man." 
 
 In July, 1858, at the residence of the 
 bride in Oshkosh, Mr. Russell was united 
 in marriage with Miss Maggie Riordan, 
 and three children were born to them, 
 two of whom are yet living, both married: 
 Richard, born March 19, 1861, married 
 Miss Lizzie Henderson, daughter of Judge 
 W. B. Henderson, of San Antonio, Texas; 
 Gertrude, married to Arthur A. Wake- 
 field, of Milwaukee; Hope, the eldest, a 
 a graduate of St. Mary's Academy Notre 
 Dame, Ind., and valedictorian of her class, 
 died November 17, 1880. 
 
 BRADLEY A. BOWEN, propri- 
 etor of one of the most complete 
 and best conducted livery stables 
 in Oshkosh, Winnebago County, 
 is a native of New York State, born in 
 Granby township, Oswego county, Octo- 
 ber 25, 1854. 
 
 He is a grandson of Asa Bowen, who 
 was a son of Lemuel Bowen, and de- 
 scended from three brothers of that sur- 
 name who came from Wales to Rhode 
 Island, settling during the Roger Will- 
 iams period in Coventry, near Bowen's 
 Hill, which received its name from them. 
 Down to Asa Bowen the family were all 
 Quakers, living faithfully up to the tenets 
 of that sect. Asa Bowen, who was a 
 native of Northfield, Mass., married Miss 
 Hannah Briggs, born in Washington 
 county, N. Y. , and of their seven chil- 
 dren only one survives — Sarah (widow of 
 
UOMMEMOHATTVE BIOQRAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 1159 
 
 T. S. Henry), now a resident of Fond du 
 Lac. Asa Bowen and wife came to 
 Black Wolf township, Winnebago Co., 
 Wis., in 1856, and here passed the re- 
 mainder of their honored lives, dying in 
 1857 and 1862 respectively. The Briggs 
 famil}' came of English ancestry, and 
 were early settlers of Washington county, 
 New York. 
 
 William Briggs Bowen. son of Asa 
 and Hannah Bowen, was born at White 
 Creek, Washington Co., N. Y. , June 7, 
 1820, and received his education at the 
 common schools of his native place. On 
 attaining his manhood, he and his parents 
 removed to Oswego county, N. Y. , where 
 he engaged in agricultural and mechanical 
 pursuits, chiefly carpentering, and also in 
 the profession of veterinary surgeon, 
 which he was led into through his inher- 
 ent love for horses. On March 9, 1847, 
 he was married at Rochester, N. Y. , to 
 Miss Clarissa Ann Curtis, a native of 
 Granby township, Oswego Co., N. Y. , 
 born April 9, 1S21, daughter of Artemus 
 and Clarissa Harlow (Lee) Curtis, and 
 to their union were born nine children, a 
 brief record of whom is as follows: Ellen 
 Louisa, born December 26, 1847, in 
 Wolcott, Wayne Co., N. Y. , died Sep- 
 tember 29, 1849; Asa Curtis, born April 
 28, 1850, in Wolcott, Wayne Co., N. Y., 
 married Miss Jennie Simmons, of Nekimi, 
 Wis., and now resides in Denver, Colo; 
 Marshall William, born July 24, 1852, in 
 Wolcott, is unmarried and lives in Osh- 
 kosh; Bradley A. is the subject of this 
 sketch; George Augustus, born March 7, 
 1856, in Fond du Lac, Wis., married Miss 
 Ida Lockwood, of Oshkosh, and makes 
 his home in the city of his birth, Frances 
 Clara, born June 30, 1S58, in Black 
 Wolf, is the wife of Frederick Shepard, 
 and resides in Milwaukee, where he is 
 cashier of the United States Express Co. ; 
 Dewitt E., born January 23, i860, in 
 Black Wolf, married Miss Jane Fleming, 
 also a resident of Black Wolf, and resides 
 on the homestead farm; Charles Lee, 
 born May 23, 1863, in Black Wolf, mar- 
 
 ried Miss Agnes Smith of Oshkosh, and 
 now lives in Omaha, Neb. ; Henry Grant, 
 born July 5, 1864, in Black Wolf, mar- 
 ried Miss Jennie Higgins, of Denver, Col., 
 who died December 18, 1894, and he 
 now makes his home in Hartford, Conn., 
 where he is leader of Pope's Military 
 Band, the most popular band of the 
 State, and one of the famous bands in 
 the country. The eldest and the two 
 youngest members of the family are pro- 
 fessional musicians, in fact they are all 
 more or less endowed with natural musi- 
 cal talents, which, no doubt, they inherit 
 from their father, who was a violinist of 
 more than ordinary merit, one who, had 
 an opportunity offered of cultivating his 
 talent, there is little doubt would have 
 decome a superior musician. The Bowen 
 family as a rule have always manifested 
 a great interest in horses, of which noble 
 animal they are great lovers. In 1855 
 William B. Bowen came with his family 
 to Wisconsin, locating for one year 
 at Fond du Lac, and then removing to 
 Winnebago county settled in Black 
 Wolf township, where he purchased 
 land and operated a farm for over 
 thirty years. Here he died September 18, 
 1888, honored and respected by all; his 
 widow, a highly esteemed lady, amiable 
 and benevolent, is still living on the old 
 homestead. Artemus Curtis, her father, 
 was born in Greenville, Greene Co., N. 
 Y. , and was descended on the father's 
 side from Holland ancestry who were 
 early settlers of Manhattan Island, and on 
 the mother's side he was of English line- 
 age. He married Miss Clarissa Harlow 
 Lee, who was born in 1791 in Sheshe- 
 quin, Bradford Co., Penn., daughter of 
 Ebenezer Lee, Jr., of Farmington, Conn., 
 a descendant of John Lee who came to 
 Boston from Europe in 1634, and follow- 
 ing year removed to Farmington, Conn. 
 He was born in Colchester, County of Es- 
 sex, England, in 1620, and was one of 
 the original proprietors of the town of 
 Farmington. In 1638 he married Miss 
 Mary Hart, daughter of Stephen Hart; he 
 
1 1 60 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 died April 8, 1690, and was buried in the 
 old Farmington cenieter_y, where has re- 
 cently been erected to his memory, by his 
 descendants, a handsome and imposing 
 monument. Grandfather Ebenezer Lee 
 was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
 Artemus Curtis died May 14, 1874, andon 
 January 22, following year, his wife fol- 
 lowed him to the grave. 
 
 Bradley A. Bowen, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, was, as will be seen, 
 two years old when his parents brought 
 him to Winnebago county and Black 
 Wolf township, and he was here reared 
 and educated. In early manhood he went 
 to Kansas, where in Ellis county he was 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits about two 
 years, at the end of which time he re- 
 turned to Winnebago county, and, locat- 
 ing in Oshkosh, for six years carried on 
 teaming, then embarked in his present 
 business. He conducts a fully-equipped 
 livery, and makes a specialty of always hav- 
 ing on hand elegant and substantial rigs 
 of all kinds, and careful drivers, while in 
 his stable are to be found some of the 
 best specimens of horse flesh to be found 
 in any establishment of the kind, either 
 as buggy, carriage or saddle horses, and 
 no livery is better deserving of public 
 patronage than that of Bradley A. Bowen. 
 
 Mr. Bowen was married at Topeka, 
 Kans., May 26, 1879, to Miss Annie Bo- 
 dine, daughter of William H. and Amey 
 V. Bodine, early settlers of Fond du Lac 
 county. Wis. , and their union has been 
 blessed with two children: Harry W. , 
 born October 13, 1S80, and Walter, born 
 August 8, 1S83. Our subject, as was his 
 father before him, is a stanch Republican, 
 and the family, as far back as they can 
 be traced, have ever been strong ad- 
 herents of the Protestant faith. 
 
 JAMES VOLNEY BARTOW. The 
 courage, grit, fertility of genius, pa- 
 triotism and other qualities which 
 enter largely into the composition of 
 this gentleman, are no doubt his inherit- 
 
 ance; and it becomes a pleasure to pen 
 the life of one whose energy has over- 
 come innumerable obstacles, and placed 
 him on the list of successful men in Win- 
 nebago county. 
 
 A native of New York State, Mr. Bar- 
 tow was born November 15, 1842, in 
 Freedom, Cattaraugus county, a son of 
 Thomas J. and Nancy (Nichols) Bartow, 
 well-to-do farming people, who came to 
 Wisconsin, locating in Winnebago county 
 in April, 1853. The family first settled 
 on a farm of eighty acres in Nekimi town- 
 ship, the land being partly improved, 
 and after seventeen years' continuous res- 
 idence thereon removed to another in 
 Omro township, which is still in the pos- 
 session of the family. The father, who 
 left a moderate estate, died in the village 
 of Omro in December, 1891, after a long 
 and useful life; his widow is still living, 
 and has her residence now in Oshkosh, 
 w^here she calmly and reverently awaits 
 the summons that comes to all. 
 
 As will be seen, our subject was twelve 
 years old when he came with the rest of 
 the family to Winnebago, and his educa- 
 tion was secured partly in Freedom, N. 
 Y. , and partly at his new western home. 
 At the age of nineteen, with the small 
 sum of fifty cents in his pocket, a large 
 quantity of sound sense in his head, and 
 brave resolution in his heart, he left the 
 parental rooftree, and setting his face 
 boldly to the world before him, com- 
 menced the battle of life singlehanded. 
 His first work was on farms, here and 
 there, by the month till he was twenty 
 years old, when, having married, he took 
 a farm on shares for one year. In 
 1864 he enlisted in Company G, 
 Thirty-si.xth Wis. V. I., and after reach- 
 ing the front participated in the battles of 
 North Anna River, Turner's Farm, Cold 
 Harbor, Deep Run, Deep Bottom, Peters- 
 burg and Boydton Roads, the last named 
 engagement being fought March 31, 
 1865. In the spring of 1864 the regi- 
 ment commenced active service with a 
 force of 960 officers and men, and, after 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 I161 
 
 the battle of Boydton Roads, only forty- 
 five non-commissioned officers and men 
 answered to roll call, the rest bein^j either 
 killed, wounded, taken prisoners, dead of 
 disease, or sent home on sick leave, such 
 being the fortunes of war and of those 
 who "seek the bubble reputation e'en at 
 the cannon's mouth." Mr. Bartow took 
 part in the last campaign before Rich- 
 mond, Va., and participated in the cap- 
 ture of the enemy's works there April 
 1-2, 1865, two days before the capitula- 
 tion of the city. He was also present at 
 the surrender of Gen. Lee, whom he saw, 
 accompanied by his staff, pass through the 
 line of Union soldiers, no demonstration 
 whatever being made, everything in fact 
 being as still as death, until all the nec- 
 essary papers of surrender had been made 
 out, and Gen. Lee had returned to his 
 own lines; then, and then only, the pent 
 up enthusiasm of the Union soldiers burst 
 forth into a perfect pandemonium of 
 exultation. The war ended, our subject 
 was honorably discharged at Jefferson, 
 Ind., mustered out of the service at Madi- 
 son, Wis., August 12, 1865, and returned 
 home to Winnebago county, where he 
 resumed agricultural pursuits. He now 
 bought a forty-acre farm in Nekimi town- 
 ship, but at the end of a year sold it, and 
 purchasing another of eighty acres dis- 
 posed of it in the same way, realizing 
 by the deal the sum of $900; but so 
 fickle is Fortune that the next farm he 
 bought and sold left him minus all he 
 had previously made, having lost posi- 
 tively everything except a wagon and 
 team of horses, and good health and 
 spirits. In 1872, accompanied by his 
 family, he set out for Minnesota, driving 
 the entire distance, and on arrival at the 
 southwestern part of the State entered 
 160 acres of government land in Nobles 
 county. Thereon they lived four years, 
 meeting with many hardships, privations 
 and misfortunes, including a plague of 
 grasshoppers that eat up everything that 
 grew on the face of the earth for hun- 
 hreds of miles around. This was the last 
 
 straw that broke the camel's back, speak- 
 ing figuratively, and all the settlers in 
 those parts concluded to sell out at what- 
 ever they could get, and migrate to some 
 more genial clime. Mr. Bartow, foresee- 
 ing, however, with his characteristic 
 shrewdness and sagacity, that there was a 
 better time coming for that part of the 
 country, bought considerable quantities of 
 the land about to be deserted, and after 
 the grasshoppers had departed sold again, 
 making large profits. He thus continued 
 buying and selling real estate in Minne- 
 sota for some years, or until 1884, when 
 he purchased a retail lumber yard at Ells- 
 worth, Nobles county, where, in connec- 
 tion with the lumber business, he operated 
 an elevator, and dealt in grain, farm im- 
 plements, etc. , at the same time conduct- 
 ing a thousand-acre farm. For two years 
 he carried on all these industries, then 
 selling out the lumber and grain branches 
 removed with his family to the farm in 
 Nobles county (prior to moving on it, he 
 lived in the village of Ellsworth), continu- 
 ing to reside there until 1888, the year of 
 their return to Wisconsin, where, in the 
 village or Omro, they took up their per- 
 manent home. 
 
 Mr. Bartow has been twice married, 
 first time in 1862, when he was twenty 
 years of age, to Miss Permelia Freeborn, 
 who died February 14, 1869, leaving two 
 children, namely: Mary Ann, who mar- 
 ried John Graves and lives at Sioux Falls, 
 S. Dakota, and Wallace Volney, married 
 in Nobles county, Minn., to Abbie Ingra- 
 ham, and conducting a farm in Kushford 
 township, Winnebago Co., Wis. On 
 September 19, 1870, our subject was 
 united in marriage with Miss Jennie Will- 
 iams, who was born in Neenah, bj' whom 
 he has four children, named, respectively: 
 Elvia R., Gertrude S., Blanche Pearl and 
 RoyO. Politically Mr. Bartow is a stanch 
 adherent of the Republican party, and 
 while in Minnesota served the people in 
 all the township offices, including that of 
 chairman. Socially he is a member of 
 the G. A. R. and I. O. O. F., of which 
 
1 l62 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 latter he is permanent secretar}' of Lodge 
 No. 125, at Oniro; he is a member of the 
 building committee, having charge of the 
 present (1894) erection in the village of 
 the Odd Fellows Hall. 
 
 The family residence, picturesquely 
 situated on the banks of the Fo.x river, of 
 which for some miles it comm.ands a pleas- 
 ing view, is one of the most elegant and 
 attractive in the \'alley. It is surrounded 
 with beautiful grounds which are orna- 
 mented with shrubbery, flowers, grape- 
 vines, fruit trees, etc., and adjoining there 
 are twenty-two acres of land, all com- 
 prising one property purchased by Mr. 
 Bartow a few years ago, at that time a 
 wild uncultivated spot, but transformed 
 into an earthly Paradise by its owner's 
 labor, thought and industry. 
 
 ALEXANDER W. PAUL is of 
 Scottish birth, a native of Aber- 
 deen, born in May, 1849, ^n^i is 
 a son of David Paul, who was also 
 a native of Scotland, and a paper maker 
 by trade. He, David, married Miss 
 Catherine Ewen, who came from an old 
 Scotch famil_v noted for their education 
 and refinement. Her father, Peter Ewen, 
 was a volunteer soldier. By the mar- 
 ria^je of Mr. and Mrs. David Paul were 
 born nine children, four of whom are yet 
 living, namel}': Joseph; David, who is a 
 stone cutter; Jane, who remains in Scot- 
 land; and Alexander, the subject of this 
 sketch. The father, who never left the 
 land of hills and heather, departed this 
 life there in 1857; his wife long survived 
 him, being called to the home beyond in 
 1890. 
 
 Mr. Paul, whose name opens this bi- 
 ography, received but a common-school 
 education, for at the early age of twelve 
 years he began learning the trade of 
 paper making. He began at the bottom 
 and steadily worked his way upward 
 through all the different departments un- 
 til he had thoroughly mastered the 
 business, and came to be recognized 
 
 as an expert in that line, so that when 
 when he came to America he was capable 
 of taking any position in a paper factory. 
 In 1869 he took passage on a westward- 
 bound ocean steamer, and in March 
 arrived in New York City. His brother 
 David had preceded him to this countrj-, 
 and was at that time employed as a stone 
 cutter in Massachusetts. Alexander there 
 joined him, and for two months worked 
 for Benjamin Butler in a stone quarry; 
 but, preferring the trade which he had 
 previously learned he made his way to 
 Unionville, Conn., where he sought and 
 obtained a position with the Platner & 
 Porter Paper Company, in whose employ 
 he continued for seven and one half jears. 
 Mr. Paul then, in 1876, returned to his 
 old home in Scotland, and spent four 
 months in visiting the scenes of his child- 
 hood and renewing the friendships of 
 youth. On his return to America in 
 the spring of 1877, he went to Holyoke, 
 Mass. , where he was placed in charge of 
 the rag room in a large paper mill, and 
 within six months was given charge of the 
 machine. In 1879 he became a resident 
 of Richmond, Va. , and manager of the 
 Richmond Paper Company mill; but, in 
 1880, he returned to Massachusetts and 
 made a contract to continue with the 
 Wauregan mill at Holyoke (in which he 
 had previously been employed) as mana- 
 ger and superintendent, for three years, 
 his stay, however, lengthening out to 
 seven years. In 1887 he moved to Mena- 
 sha. Wis., and took charge of the Gilbert 
 Mills at that place; following year was 
 admitted to a partnership in the business, 
 and continued his connection therewith 
 until 1893, when he left that position to 
 accept the presidency of the Paul Paper 
 Company of Menasha. 
 
 Mr. Paul was married at Gloucester, 
 Mass., in 1872, to Miss Catherine G. 
 Posser, who was born in Aberdeen, Scot- 
 land, whence in the year of her marriage 
 she came to this country. Her people, 
 all of whom are paper makers, later 
 crossed the Atlantic, and are now living 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 163 
 
 in Menasha. Mr. and Mrs. Paul have an 
 interesting family of five children, all of 
 whom are yet at home, namely: Arthur 
 D. , who is head book-keeper for the Paul 
 Paper Company; Catherine E. ; William; 
 Albert and Edward. The family is one 
 of prominence in the community, the 
 household is noted for its hospitality, and 
 its members hold a high position in the 
 social circles in which they move. Both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Paul hold membership with 
 the Congregational Church, and are act- 
 ively interested in its welfare. He is also 
 a member in good standing of the Masonic 
 fraternity. In politics he is a Republi- 
 can, and although he has never been an 
 active politician in the sense of office seek- 
 ing, he has served as alderman of the 
 Third ward of Menasha. He possesses 
 most excellent business and executive 
 ability, and in his undertakings has won 
 success. Overcoming the obstacles and 
 dif^culties in his path, he has steadily 
 worked his way upward, and is now in 
 very comfortable circumstances. 
 
 HERMAN C. DOMAN, proprietor 
 of the Union Iron Works, Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, and one 
 of the leading men of enterprise 
 in that county, is a native of Prussia, born 
 April II, 1857, a son of Frederick and 
 Mollie (Zusmar) Doman, the latter of 
 whom died in Prussia when our subject 
 was three years of age. 
 
 Shortly after the death of the wife and 
 mother, the bereaved husband and his 
 now motherless three-year-old son, Her- 
 man C, came to the United States and to 
 Oshkosh, Wis., where the father has been 
 engaged in horticultural pursuits ever 
 since. Here our subject received his ed- 
 ucation, proving an apt and diligent 
 scholar, and laid the substratum for a 
 career of successful enterprise. Setting 
 aside his books, he entered a sawmill and 
 worked therein until he was twenty years 
 of age, at which time he commenced 
 learning the trade of machinist, a line of 
 
 65 
 
 business he has made his lifework. In 
 1886 he entered into a partnership 
 with Herman Manuel under the firm 
 name of Doman & Manuel, proprietors 
 of the Union Iron Works, and so con- 
 tined until June, 1S94, when Mr. Doman 
 purchased his partner's interest, and has 
 since been sole proprietor. There are 
 now twenty-one men in his employ, 
 though at times he has as many as fifty. 
 In April, 1879, Mr. Doman was united 
 in marriage, in Oshkosh, with Miss Ber- 
 tha Breseimaster, and one child, Edward 
 B. , was born to them. This wife dying 
 in 1880, our subject, on May 16, 1884, 
 married Miss Augusta Behnka, who bore 
 him four children, three of whom are yet 
 living, named respectivel}': William P., 
 John A. H. and Harry B. In his politi- 
 cal preferences Mr. Doman is a Repub- 
 lican; socially he is a member of Winne- 
 bago Lodge No. 120, I. O. O. P., and in 
 religious faith he and his family at- 
 tend the services of the Lutheran 
 Church. Mr. Doman is one of the prom- 
 ising young men of the county, and his 
 excellent business abilities, coupled with 
 a high degree of integrity, have already 
 enabled him to build up an enviable repu- 
 tation, and lay an ample and secure foun- 
 dation for prosperity. 
 
 ELIAS F. GRAVES, than whom 
 there is no more highly respected 
 citizen in Winnebago county, 
 where, as in other parts of the 
 State, he is wall known and much esteem- 
 ed, is a native of Massachusetts, born in 
 1835 in the town of Sunderland, Frank- 
 lin county. 
 
 Cephas Graves, father of our subject, 
 was also of Massachusetts nativity, in 
 which State he passed his entire life. He 
 married a Massachusetts lady in the per- 
 son of Miss Miranda Church, daughter of 
 Dr. Church, a graduate of Harvard Uni- 
 versity, who took part in the battle of 
 Bunker Hill, and on both sides of the 
 house they were descended from old Pur- 
 
1 164 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 itaii stock. The surviving members of 
 the family born to Cephas and Miranda 
 (Church) Graves are five in number, to 
 wit: Alden, residing in Sunderland, 
 Franklin Co., Mass.; Ivoyal C, in Dor- 
 chester Heights (Boston), Mass. ; Esther 
 C. , wife of Levi J. Gunn, of Greenfield, 
 Mass. ; Edmund, whose whereabouts are 
 unknown, and Elias F. The parents 
 both died in Massachusetts. 
 
 The subject proper of these lines receiv- 
 ed a fairly liberal education at the schools of 
 his native town, and when old enough to 
 learn a trade passed a three-years' ap- 
 prenticeship at the carriage-paintmg busi- 
 ness. At the expiry of that time, in 1857, 
 he came west to Wisconsin, and in the 
 city of Oshkosh remained about ten 
 months, removing thence to Waupaca 
 county, where for three years he was en- 
 gaged in the lumber business, in the 
 woods and on the Wolf river. In 1862 
 he returned to Oshkosh, where he has 
 since continued to reside. 
 
 On December 24, 1879, Mr. Graves 
 was married to Miss Elizabeth Angelina 
 Greenlaw, daughter of Nelson and Prud- 
 ence (Stretch) Greenlaw, natives of Calais, 
 Maine, the former of whom is now living 
 in Outagamie county, Wis., where the 
 latter died some years ago. Three chil- 
 dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Graves, 
 two of whom are living: Frank Russell, 
 born June 9, 1 88 1 , and Harold VanBuren, 
 born January 26, 1883. The mother of 
 these died November 17, 1890. Mr. 
 Graves is an active promoter of all mat- 
 ters pertaining to the welfare of the city 
 and county generally, genial, quiet and 
 pleasant in manner, and he and his sons 
 enjoy the respect and esteem of a wide 
 circle of friends and acquaintances. 
 
 CHARLES DOOLITTLE BOW- 
 MAN is a wide-awake and enter- 
 prising young druggist of Omro, 
 Winnebago county, having estab- 
 lished his business at that place in June, 
 
 1891, in connection with Dr. Ford, the 
 partnership continuing for about a year, 
 Mr. Bowman in 1892 buying out the Doc- 
 tor's interest and becoming sole propri- 
 etor. At the same time he purchased the 
 business block and the land on which it 
 is located. The structure is a frame 
 building, large and commodious. He has 
 the largest drug stock in Omro, including 
 a complete line of drugs, paints, oils, var- 
 nishes and druggists' sundries, and an ex- 
 cellent prescription department. 
 
 Mr. Bowman is a native of Castile, 
 N. Y. , and during his infancy was 
 brought to Poygan, Wis., where he was 
 reared by his uncle, Horace Scofield. 
 His parents, Lowden K. and Mary L. 
 (Doolittle) Bowman, were natives of New 
 York; his mother died when he was onU' 
 six months old; his father is at present 
 county surveyor of Plymouth county, 
 Iowa, and city engineer of Le Mars. The 
 subject of this sketch was born December 
 I, 1866, acquired his primary education in 
 the town schools and the high school of 
 Omro, and afterward spent six years in a 
 commercial college, thus securing a very 
 thorough academic and commercial edu- 
 cation. On attaining his majorit}' he be- 
 gan farming in the town of Poygan, on 
 150 acres of land given him by his aunt, 
 Mrs. Adeline Scolield, and his grand- 
 mother, Mrs. Lydia W. Blackburn, both 
 of whom now reside in Omro, making 
 their home with Mr. Bowman. He con- 
 tinued to carry on the farm until 1891, 
 since which time he has devoted his ener- 
 gies to the drug business with good suc- 
 cess. He makes the most of his oppor- 
 tunities, and his courteous treatment and 
 earnest desire to please his patrons have 
 won him a liberal patronage. He votes 
 with the Democratic party, and takes 
 quite an active part in politics; has served 
 as school treasurer, and in 1892 was nom- 
 inated for the State Legislature, at which 
 time he ran far ahead of his ticket in this 
 place, although Omro is strongly Repub- 
 lican- — a fact which in itself indicates his 
 personal popularity. 
 
COMMEMOUA TIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 1 165 
 
 JOSEPH JACKSON (deceased). In 
 the life history of Mr. Jackson the 
 \oung may see what industry and 
 temperance can accomplish; the 
 farmer, the mechanic, the professional 
 man — all may learn the results of energy, 
 and the possibility of the combination of 
 a great success with an active benevo- 
 lence; while the rich may find that a wise 
 beneficence brings the larger revenue of 
 happiness. 
 
 One of the early settlers and promi- 
 nent citizens of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, our subject was for many years a 
 well-known figure on its streets, as well 
 as up and down the Fox River Valley; and 
 when death removed him, there was no 
 man more sincerely missed or more deeply 
 mourned. Born September 2, 1 812, in 
 Killagavanah, County Monaghan, Ireland, 
 of Protestant-Scotch ancestry, he was a 
 son of Robert and Anna (Stuart) Jack- 
 son, who, when he was a four-year-old 
 boy, emigrated to America, settling in 
 New York State, in Lewis county, where 
 the father died, the mother subsequently 
 coming to Oshkosh, Wis., later moving to 
 Muscatine, Iowa, where she passed away 
 at the home of her daughter, Jane, wife 
 of Dr. Charles Hastings. In 1838, at the 
 age of twenty-six, Joseph Jackson came 
 to Green Bay, Wis., where he made the 
 acquaintance of his future wife. Miss 
 Emeline T. Wight, who was born in Au- 
 burn, Cayuga Co., N. Y. ; and when, on 
 March i, 1838, she moved with her father 
 to Oshkosh, from Green Bay, the young 
 man followed her thither, and a week 
 later they were married, the ceremony 
 being performed by Rev. Stephen Peet, 
 a Presbyterian minister, the first marriage 
 ceremony among white people solemnized 
 in Winnebago county. Returning to Green 
 Bay, the young couple remained there 
 until 1840, Mr. Jackson following his 
 business, that of builder, and then made 
 their home in Oshkosh. Here he entered 
 over eighty acres of Government land, 
 which he disposed of, and once more 
 moving to Green Bay lived there two years; 
 
 then went to Kenosha (at that time called 
 Southport), where he engaged in the 
 lumber trade. He also bought land 
 there and built a house, but not liking the 
 place moved back to Oshkosh. Along 
 with Morgan L. Martin, of Green Bay 
 (each having an undivided interest), he 
 bought a quarter section of land which lay 
 along the river and reached to near Al- 
 goma, of which land so many acres were 
 given to any individual or company who 
 would build mills on same; and that ac- 
 counts for there being so many mills on 
 the adjoining river. Mr. Jackson settled 
 on a strip of land on the west side of Main 
 street comprising about twenty acres 
 which Mrs. Jackson received as part of 
 her share from her father's estate. Here, 
 determined to build up a city, he went to 
 work, and, constructing a wharf at the 
 foot of Main street, laid out the twenty 
 acres of land in lots, in which work he 
 was assisted by his brother-in-law, Will- 
 iam W. Wight. He also induced the 
 ferryman, Webster Stanley, to move his 
 ferry from the mouth of the river to the 
 foot of Main street by giving him a 
 couple of lots whereon a house was built, 
 which was used by Mr. Stanley as a tav- 
 ern—the first one in Oshkosh. Shortly 
 afterward Mr. Jackson bought an eighty- 
 acre tract commencing where the post- 
 office on Washington street now stands, 
 and running in a northerly direction, 
 which in course of time he laid out into 
 lots. He would have become the wealth- 
 iest man in Oshkosh, but for his re- 
 markable liberality, which was well- 
 known to all the early pioneers of the lo- 
 cality, and will be known by all their 
 descendants, as his life was one of unself- 
 ish deeds and noble aspirations. To 
 every artisan who proved himself useful 
 to the embryo city he gave a lot on con- 
 dition that he build a house on it, and 
 this was the means of bringing to the 
 place many useful workers who became 
 the bone and sinew of the town in later 
 years. Had his desire been to make 
 money, Mr. Jackson could have done so 
 
1 1 66 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE DIOORAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 easil}'; but his aim was a higher and 
 nobler one, hie soul being unfettered with 
 the allurement of wealth. He gave of 
 his means liberally and unstintingly as 
 long as it was in his power. On many a 
 hard winter night, accompanied by his 
 wife, he would set out with sleigh laden 
 with provisions, and on the doorstep of 
 some needy family would quietly and un- 
 ostentatiously leave a sack of flour, or 
 perhaps a ham, or other welcome charit- 
 able gift, and then drive on to the next 
 house whose inmates might be in want, 
 or perhaps sick, where in addition to food 
 they would leave necessary medicine. 
 A short distance from the city he owned 
 eighty acres of woodland, where he had 
 men employed to chop and split wood; 
 and many a cord of it did his old grey 
 team haul to the homes of poor people, 
 who had not a stick of firewood, and who 
 could only thank and bless him. Mr. 
 Jackson died May 31, 1881, and was fol- 
 lowed to the grave by a large cortege of 
 sorrowing friends. 
 
 Mr. Jackson was honored by the citi- 
 zens of Oshkosh b\' being elected to vari- 
 ous positions of trust, among which may 
 be mentioned those of treasurer of the 
 State Land Office in Oshkosh, justice of 
 the peace, which office he filled many 
 years and was re-elected to shortly before 
 his death; mayor, three terms; chief of 
 police, several years. He was an import- 
 ant factor in the building up of the Con- 
 gregational Church in his city, in fact 
 the Church was organized in his own 
 house, where for two years services were 
 held, Mr. Jackson, in the absence of any 
 preacher, often conducting them by read- 
 ing the Scriptures or sermon, by prayer 
 and exhortation. He was a good singer, 
 and he led the choir in the church and 
 Sabbath-school. His wife gave the lot 
 on which the first Congregational Church 
 edifice was built, and toward which he 
 furnished most of the money, going all 
 the way to Milwaukee on horseback to 
 borrow $300, at 1 5 per cent interest, 
 wherewith to buv the material. He drew 
 
 the plans, and his team hauled the lum- 
 ber, etc., to the church site. But in the 
 midst of his prosperity Mr. Jackson had 
 his adversities, for in addition to other 
 losses the great fires, which almost swept 
 Oshkosh off the face of the earth, materi- 
 ally crippled him, yet, like a wise man, 
 he kept bravely on, busying himself in 
 repairing his loss, and seeking how to 
 mitigate the misfortunes of others. 
 
 His widow is still a resident of Osh- 
 kosh, passing the later years of her life 
 in the companionship of her accomplished 
 j'oungest daughter, Martha \'irginia. Six 
 children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Joseph Jackson, as follows: Robert \\'. , 
 of Shawano, Wis. ; Mrs. Electa E. 
 Rhoades, of Denver, Col.; Joseph H., 
 of Creighton, Neb.; Helen M., wife of 
 Dr. W. A. Gordon, of Oshkosh; George 
 W. , of Sacramento, Cal. ; and Martha V. 
 Jackson. 
 
 JOSEPH PIERSON, one of the hon- 
 ored pioneer citizens of Oshkosh, Win- 
 nebago county, and closely identi- 
 fied with the growth of the city, 
 more particularl)' with the shipbuilding 
 interests, is a native of Canada, born June 
 2, 1827, in Montreal, Province of Quebec. 
 His father, Joseph Pierson, was born 
 in Canada, of English ancestry, married 
 Miss Agatha Gorsier, a Canadian lady of 
 French descent, and had by her eight 
 children, five of whom are yet living, to 
 wit: Josephine (married to Gilbert Gib- 
 bon, of Oshkosh), Joseph, Felix, Delia 
 and Frank. The father, who was a 
 farmer, died in Oshkosh October 16, 1862, 
 the mother passing away at the same place 
 January 30, 1S83. In 1836 the family 
 moved to the United States, locating in 
 Troy, N. Y. , and at the public schools of 
 that city and of Albany, our subject re- 
 ceived his education, on completing which 
 he commenced to learn the trade of ship 
 carpenter and caulker, and worked at 
 same on the Hudson river, also on the 
 lakes. In 1854 he came to W'isconsin, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 167 
 
 and after a residence of one year in Mil- 
 waukee removed to Oshkosh, where he 
 embarked in ship carpentering for his own 
 account, being, probably, the first in that 
 line in Oshkosh, which business he suc- 
 cessfully followed until 1887, when he 
 withdrew from active life, and is now 
 living retired, in the enjoyment of a well- 
 earned rest. 
 
 On April 8, 1855, Mr. Pierson was 
 married in Cohoes, N. Y., to Miss Vir- 
 ginia Lovely, and children, as follows, 
 have been born to them: Josephine, 
 wife of John Brasserd, residing in Osh- 
 kosh; Joseph, Jr., married to Miss Delia 
 Pellant, and residing in Menominee, Mich. ; 
 Albert, residing in Leadville, Colo. ; Vir- 
 ginia, wife of George Robins, residing in 
 Antigo; Clementena, a teacher in the pub- 
 lic school of Milwaukee; Louisa and Clara, 
 living at home; and Leander J., a steno- 
 grapher, residing in Milwaukee. The 
 family all attend the Roman Catholic 
 Church, and in his political views Mr. 
 Pierson is a Democrat. 
 
 HON. GEORGE H. BUCKSTAFF, 
 a prominent and influential citi- 
 zen of Oshkosh, Winnebaeo coun- 
 ty, well-known in lumbering cir- 
 cles, and universally respected, is a na- 
 tive of the Province of New Brunswick, 
 Canada, born March 8, 1837, in the Par- 
 ish of St. Patrick (now Parish of Dum- 
 barton), Charlotte county. 
 
 John Buckstaff, his father, was born 
 in the city of St. John, New Brunswick, 
 February i, 1799, and was descended 
 from English people of probably Sa.xon 
 origin. At about the age of fourteen he 
 enlisted in a British regiment which at 
 that time was doing duty in the Lower 
 Provinces of Canada. His enlistment was 
 for three years, at the end of which he 
 received a grant of one hundred acres of 
 land, all necessary farming implements, 
 and provisions for six months, for services 
 rendered the British government. He 
 was married shortly afterward to Lucy 
 
 McCurdy, and then settled on his farm 
 in Dumbarton Parish, Charlotte county, 
 New Brunswick. All his children, four- 
 teen in number, were born there, twelve 
 of whom grew to maturity, namely: Mar- 
 garet, Sarah, John, Rebecca, Lucy, Lydia, 
 James, George H., Mary, Robert, Ruth 
 and Frances, the last named dying at the 
 age of twenty-one years. The sons are 
 all married, and have their homes in the 
 Fox River Valley. Some of the neigh- 
 bors in New Brunswick, having removed 
 to the southern part of Wisconsin, wrote 
 frequently to the Buckstaff family, giving 
 glowing accounts of this portion of the 
 United States, so much so that the father 
 was induced in 1850 to sell his property 
 in New Brunswick and remove with his 
 family to the new State of Wisconsin. 
 Here he bought a farm of 160 acres in the 
 town of Algoma, four miles from Oshkosh, 
 which he improved; but at the end of six 
 years he sold it and moved into Oshkosh, 
 which city has been the home of the 
 family for the most part ever since. Hav- 
 ing brought some money with him from 
 Canada, and made a little off the farm 
 he cleared and improved in the town of 
 Algoma, he was enabled to embark in the 
 lumber business with quite a respectable 
 capital. He bought timber lands on the 
 Wolf river, his operations extending some 
 sixty miles up the river. In this indus- 
 try, in which he made a great success, he 
 was assisted by his sons John and James, 
 who increased the capital invested. About 
 the year 1879 the father sold out his in- 
 terest to his sons, George H. and Robert, 
 and retired into private life. The sons 
 continued the business till 1882, when 
 they also sold out and retired. John 
 Buckstaff, the father, passed the rest of 
 his days at the old family homestead on 
 Doty street, Oshkosh, where his daughter, 
 Mrs. Ruth Sherman, now resides. He 
 died in 1884, aged eighty-five years, gen- 
 erally esteemed for his systematic honesty 
 and integrity. He was of a social dispo- 
 sition, and a firm upholder of the broad 
 principles of Christian brotherhood, which 
 
i6S 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 did not interfere with his membership in 
 the Baptist Church; he was always a 
 strong temperance advocate. In his po- 
 Htical preferences in this country he affil- 
 iated with the Republican party, but never 
 sought office, which, however, was no in- 
 dication that he had not the interests of 
 his adopted city and county at heart. His 
 wife, Lucy (McCurdy), was a native of New 
 England, where she was reared and edu- 
 cated. She was possessed of remarkable 
 energy, and thoroughly domestic in her 
 ways, ever jealously watching over her 
 family and' looking after their interests. 
 She died in 1876, at the age of seventy- 
 two years. 
 
 The subject of these lines attended 
 the schools of New Brunswick up to the 
 age of thirteen years, at which time the 
 family came to Wisconsin and to Oshkosh, 
 where he renewed his education for a few 
 months, deriving, however, little or no 
 benefit from the schools here. Experience 
 in the world was, he avers, the best 
 schooling he ever had. His early life was 
 passed on a farm and in lumbering — 
 which latter pursuit he followed, especi- 
 ally in the winters, for many years, until 
 his brothers built a sawmill, with which, 
 after the war, he also became identified. 
 When the war clouds began to thicken, 
 and the safety of the country was in 
 danger, he enlisted, in the fall of 1861, 
 in Company A, First Wis. \. I., for 
 three years, and participated with his reg- 
 iment in many of its battles and skir- 
 mishes. In June, 1862, he was placed on 
 detached duty eight months, was wounded 
 September 19, 1863, at the battle of 
 Chickamauga, was mustered out October 
 14, 1864, the expiration of his term of 
 enlistment. Being honorably discharged, 
 he returned home, but soon afterward re- 
 ceived an appointment as chief clerk in the 
 the Commissar}' Department at Louisville, 
 Ky. , where he remained one year. A few 
 3'ears later he became identified, as a 
 partner, with the lumber firm of Buck- 
 staff Bros. & Chase, having charge of the 
 office work. In 18S7 the business was 
 
 wound up, and on account of ill health, 
 Mr. Buckstaff suffering much from inflam- 
 matory rheumatism, he retired from act- 
 ive life. 
 
 On October 21, 1868, our subject was 
 married to Miss Mattie Murray, daughter 
 of William Murra}', of New Brunswick, 
 Canada; of their children, one son and 
 one daughter died in infancy; a son, 
 George Eugene, a young man of seven- 
 teen, resides at home, and is now attend- 
 ing school in Oshkosh. Socially Mr. 
 Buckstaff is a member of the F. & A. M., 
 32nd degree, and of the Ancient Arabian 
 Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; he is 
 also a prominent member of the I. O. O. 
 F., and the G. A. R. , besides other Socie- 
 ties of less note. Politically he is a Re- 
 publican to the backbone, his first Presi- 
 dential vote having been cast for Abraham 
 Lincoln, and he has been honored by 
 nomination and election to various posi- 
 tions of trust. Twice was he elected a 
 member of the county board, and twice 
 to the State Assembly, in which latter he 
 did substantial work on the committees of 
 Ways and Means, and others. In the fall 
 of 1886 he was elected to the State Senate, 
 serving four \-ears, and during the last 
 session he filled with acknowledged ability 
 the position of chairman of the commit- 
 tee on Finance, Banks and Insurance, 
 throughout doing good, meritorious work 
 as a legislator. Under a law passed by 
 the U. S. Congress, Mr. Buckstaff was, 
 in 1884, appointed, by Circuit Judge Bur- 
 nell, as one of a oommission of three to 
 examine into and appraise damages against 
 the United States Government, for the 
 overflow and submergement of lands along 
 the Wolf and Fox rivers, and around the 
 shores of Lakes Winnebago, Butte des 
 Morts and Poygan, which overflow was 
 caused b\- the government dams built 
 across the Fox river at Menasha and Ap- 
 pleton. In this important official position 
 Mr. Buckstaff served from 1884 to 1888, 
 being in fact an officer of the United 
 States, from whom he received pay for 
 his services as U. S. Commissioner. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 169 
 
 As a business man and citizen Mr. 
 Buckstaff has always been identified with 
 the best interests of his city. He has 
 filled out a well-rounded career of official 
 life, and has honorably earned the respite 
 he now claims from such responsibilities. 
 He resides with his family at No. 210 
 Tenth street, Oshkosh, in a pleasant and 
 commodious residence. 
 
 ROBERT CLARK CAMPBELL. 
 The pursuits of industry are ad- 
 mitted by all civilized nations to 
 furnish the fairest field for the tri- 
 umphs of man; and the earliest and most 
 successful of its cultivators are entitled to 
 the most grateful remembrance of their 
 successors. The gentleman whose name 
 here appears is among the first of those 
 whose sagacity, industry and capital have 
 laid the foundation of the commercial and 
 manufacturing progress of northern Wis- 
 consin, more especially of Oshkosh, of 
 which beautiful town he has been a 
 prominent resident for over two score 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was born in Hebron, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., January 23, 
 1830, and is descended in a direct line from 
 sturd}' Highland-Scotch people, of the 
 Clan Campbell, and of the same House 
 as the Duke of Argyll. Grandfather 
 Roger Campbell was a tiller of the soil 
 in Scotland, a genuine type of the old 
 Highlanders whose war cry was " shoul- 
 der to shoulder and no surrender." He 
 came to this country when a young man, 
 and died in W'ashington county, N. Y. , 
 at the advanced age of eighty years, 
 although up to within a year or two of 
 his death he had been an inveterate 
 smoker. He was a strict member of the 
 United Presbyterian Church, as were also 
 his children, one of whom, Willam, or- 
 ganized and built the Presbyterian Church 
 at Oshkosh, Wis. Roger Campbell had 
 a family of seven children, four sons and 
 three daughters. 
 
 William Campbell, one of the sons. 
 
 and the father of the subject of this 
 sketch, was born in South Argyle, Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y. , and was reared to 
 agricultural pursuits, which he followed 
 some time. For many years he was a 
 merchant in Albany, N. Y. , whence in an 
 early day he came to Oshkosh, Wis., 
 where he embarked in the lumber busi- 
 ness in partnership with his sons, Robert 
 C, James D. and David M. Campbell, 
 and his son-in-law, George H. Cameron. 
 The}' bought the first shingle mill built in 
 Oshkosh, which from time to time they 
 enlarged, until it had a capacity of 125,- 
 000 shingles per day; it was located at 
 Jackson's Point. Several times they were 
 visited by fire, on more than one occa- 
 sion having no insurance, but each time 
 they bravely set to work and rebuilt ; the 
 shingle-mill burned in 1874, the sawmill 
 in 1883. In the first-named year the firm 
 built a sawmill on the south side of the 
 river, and after the fire of that year they 
 put up a new shingle-mill, which was 
 conducted very successfully. To the 
 sawmill and the shingle-mill the}' added in 
 1883 a bo.x factory and planing-mill, and 
 the vast concern has been running con- 
 tinuously ever since, giving employment 
 now to about 100 men. As soon as they 
 saw their way clearly, the firm invested 
 in timber lands, buying a large tract in 
 Waupaca county. Wis., where they also 
 own a beautiful farm of 700 acres, 
 whereon they erected a sawmill in which 
 some of their timber is cut. About 200 
 acres of this farm are under cultivation, 
 and it is fast being converted into a stock 
 farm, there being already a considerable 
 number of cattle reared and fattened 
 thereon, some of which in the form of 
 beef is supplied to the State Hospital. It 
 is the intention of the owners to continue 
 improvements on this property until they 
 have in fact as well as intention the finest 
 farm in the State. The senior member 
 of the firm, William Campbell, died in 
 Oshkosh November 17, 1878, at the age 
 of seventy-eight years, his wife, Eliza- 
 beth (Foyle), in September, 1890, aged 
 
1 170 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 eighty-four years. She was a native of 
 the North of Ireland, a daughter of John 
 Foyle, of the same locahty, and was a 
 devout Presbyterian, ^^'hen about sixty 
 years old Mr. Campbell met with an acci- 
 dent whereby his hipbone was broken, 
 but being a very temperate man he soon 
 recovered. He was a strict member of 
 the United Persbyterian Church, in which 
 for many years he was a deacon ; politic- 
 ally he was an Old-line Whig. He and 
 his wife were the parents of thirteen chil- 
 dren, seven of whom reached maturity 
 and are yet living, namely: Robert C, 
 the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Mary 
 Bell; William; Mrs. Susan Patton; James 
 D. ; Mrs. Kate Cameron and David M. 
 
 Robert C. Campbell was reared in 
 Albany, N. Y. , and there educated, learn- 
 ing also the trade of carpenter and 
 builder, which he followed for some time 
 in the East. In October, 1852, he came 
 to Oshkosh, with the growth and indus- 
 try of which place he has ever since been 
 identified, and he is an important factor 
 in the success and phenomenal prosperity 
 of the firm of which he has been the 
 senior member since the death of his 
 father. He is one of whom everybody 
 speaks well, and who has not, and does 
 not deserve to have, a single personal 
 enemy. As a man he is straightforward, 
 honest and aboveboard; as a friend he is 
 frank, warm-hearted and disinterested. 
 He is possessed of two things at least 
 which wise men account of all others the 
 most necessary to the well-being of a com- 
 monwealth — that is to say, a general in- 
 dustry of mind and hardiness of body 
 which never fail to be accompanied with 
 honor and plenty. 
 
 Mr. Campbell has been twice married, 
 first time to Miss Albina Bridge, who 
 died in Oshkosh, September 17, 1S83, 
 the mother of three daughters — Mary 
 and Elizabeth (twins), and Georgina, 
 who died at the age of eleven years. One 
 of the twins, Elizabeth, died after her 
 marriage, leaving two daughters, Mildred 
 and Elizabeth, who have been adopted 
 
 by their grandfather Campbell. For his 
 second wife our subject wedded Mrs. 
 Emma (Watts) Woodworth, a daughter 
 of Oscar J. and Ruba (Macomber) Watts, 
 settlers, in 1856, of \\'innebago county. 
 Wis., where he conducted a flouring- 
 mill; by her former husband she has one 
 son, Alonzo W'oodworth. 
 
 Mr. Campbell has been a stanch Re- 
 publican from the birth of the party, and 
 has ever taken a lively interest in its af- 
 fairs, though he has always declined of- 
 fice, preferring to use his interest for 
 friends, and it is a significant fact that he 
 is generally successful in having his man 
 elected. Though not a member of any 
 Church, he is liberal toward others, hav- 
 ing respect for their opinions. He is an 
 old fireman, having served as such in Al- 
 bany, N. Y. , eight years, and in Oshkosh, 
 Wis. , nine j-ears. in which latter place he 
 organized the first company. This organi- 
 zation bought the old " Niagara No. i," 
 the same engine Mr. Campbell once worked 
 in Albany. At the breaking out of the 
 first big fire in Oshkosh he was sleeping 
 in the engine-house, being assistant fore- 
 man at the time, and, alone, he pulled the 
 engine an entire block toward the fire be- 
 fore assistance reached him. He had 
 many remarkable escapes while engaged 
 in his duties as a fireman, and in the 
 mills; has been crushed and mangled by 
 falling walls, timber, etc., but always 
 succeeded in coming out ' ' all right. " Too 
 much can not be said in praise of the old 
 fire brigade that rendered in time of dire 
 need such valuable services, unremuner- 
 ated, for their work, carrying with it the 
 risk of life or limb, was purely a labor of 
 love and humanity. 
 
 CHARLES OELLERICH. the 
 courteous and popular ma)'or of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, was 
 born in the cit)' of Milwaukee, 
 Wis., December i, 1849, of Hanoverian 
 ancestry, who for many years lived and 
 flourished in Newhaus, a thriving town 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 171 
 
 situated about ten miles from the city of 
 Hamburg. For many generations the 
 family were owners of and operated on an 
 extensive scale a large shipyard on the 
 river Elbe, and they were not only pros- 
 perous and well-to-do, but people who 
 held high position in all circles. They 
 employed a large force of artisans, and 
 many families were dependent on the work 
 in the shipyard for their livelihood. 
 
 Claus Oellerich, grandfather of our 
 subject, lost his life at the age of eighty- 
 five years while attempting to show some 
 of his workmen how to hew a log. He 
 had a large family of children, all of whom 
 did well, the daughters marrying into good 
 families, and of these Mrs. Van Ahn and 
 Mrs. Meyers are yet living in Hamburg. 
 One son, John Jacob, learned the dyer's 
 trade in Germany, and followed same in 
 the town of Newhaus, above spoken of, 
 until coming to America and to Wisconsin 
 in November, 1848. Settling in Mil- 
 waukee, he during the first two years of 
 his residence there was in very poor health, 
 his hands being affected with blood pois- 
 oning, in consequence of which he had to 
 abandon his trade of dyer, and follow 
 other occupations. He was a well-known 
 and prominent figure on the streets of 
 Milwaukee for many years, dying at the 
 age of seventy-four years. In Germany 
 he married Miss Meta M. Binder, a Han- 
 overian by birth, who bore him nine chil- 
 dren, four of whom are yet living, to wit: 
 Mrs. Margaretta Meyer, Mrs. Doris Eiring, 
 Mrs. Emma Herman (all residents of Mil- 
 waukee) and Charles. The mother of 
 these passed from earth in 1888 at the 
 age of seventy-four years. 
 
 The subject proper of these lines re- 
 ceived a liberal education at the English 
 and German schools and academies of 
 Milwaukee, among the latter attending 
 the Peter Engleman Academy which is 
 said to have turned out more strong, rep- 
 resentative men than any school of its 
 size or pretensions in America. A quiet, 
 plodding, industrious student, young 
 Charles made satisfactory headway with 
 
 I 
 
 his books, and being of an ambitious dis- 
 position devoted a considerable amount 
 of his spare time to the perusal of such 
 legal lights as Blackstone and Coke, in 
 the law office of Austin & Percles, the 
 former of whom is now judge of the su- 
 perior court of Milwaukee. Later, at the 
 desire of his father, whom he revered, 
 and whose simple wish became in the 
 son's eyes a sort of law, he learned the 
 trade of carpenter, and followed same 
 until he was twenty years old, at the same 
 time continuing the study of law, although 
 opportunities were not so plentiful in those 
 busy days, his time being pretty well oc- 
 cupied with his trade. He then entered 
 the employ of Ira M. Davis, commission 
 merchant, Milwaukee, with whom he re- 
 mained five years. In 1875 he removed 
 to Oshkosh, and became chief instructor 
 of gymnastics for the North Side Turnve- 
 rein, remaining in that position until 1877, 
 when he received the appointment of 
 route agent in the U. S. mail service, 
 continuing as such for a period of four 
 years, during all of which time he never 
 abandoned his law studies, having ever in 
 view the goal he was persistently coursing 
 for. The mail clerkship he resigned in 
 1880, and then devoted himself exclu- 
 sively to his law study, this time in the 
 office of Weisbrod & Harshaw, a promi- 
 nent Oshkosh firm. In March, 1882, he 
 was admitted to the bar; in 1885 was 
 elected a justice of the peace, re-elected 
 in 1887 and 1889, and resigned in 1890 
 in order to be free to take a course at 
 the Columbia Law School in the city of 
 New York, which course he completed 
 June I, 1891. In June, 1892, he was ad- 
 mitted to the practice of law in the U. S. 
 courts, and at once commenced the prac- 
 tice of law in partnership with John W. 
 Hume, the present style of the firm being 
 Oellerich & Hume, and they have built 
 up a substantial, respectable clientage. 
 
 Mr. Oellerich was married June 14, 
 1877, to Miss Fannie Eckstein, daughter 
 of Samuel Eckstein, an honored pioneer 
 merchant of Oshkosh. Politically a life- 
 
1 172 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 long Republican of advanced views, he 
 has served his party well, and as an evi- 
 dence of his popularit}-, if for no other 
 reason, it is to be recorded that in the 
 spring of 1893 he was elected tothemaj'- 
 orality of Oshkosh by a majority of near- 
 ly 600 votes, the only candidate on his 
 ticket to be elected to any office in that 
 city, except one who was elected a jus- 
 tice of the peace. 
 
 Mr. Oellerich is a man of judicial 
 mind, instructive sagacity, strong mem- 
 ory, indomitable perseverance, as well as 
 great self-command; and he has proved 
 himself eminently worthy of the high po- 
 sition in which the people of the city of 
 his adoption have seen fit to place him. 
 
 WILLIAM WATERS. In the sec- 
 ond greatest Cathedral in the 
 world, St. Paul's, London, are 
 deposited the remains of its great 
 architect and builder. Sir Christopher 
 Wren; but no monument of brass or mar- 
 ble marks the spot save only a plain slab 
 of stone, whereon have been read, and 
 will yet be read, by millions of people, 
 the simple legend— "5/ inonitmcntum rc- 
 qidcris, circuinspicc ;'' (If you seek a 
 monument, look around). From that 
 majestic pile which "looms like a bubble 
 o'er the town," the city of London, the 
 greatest in the world, and one of the most 
 ancient, we transport ourselves to the 
 comparatively infant State of Wisconsin, 
 where lives a not unworthy disciple of the 
 immortal Wren, in the person of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. '' Si iiioniiuitntuni 
 reqiKsris " is not inappropriate to him in 
 one sense, for though William Waters 
 has promise of a long and useful future, 
 yet he can already point with pride to 
 many elegant and substantial public and 
 private edifices which stand as monu- 
 ments in various parts of the State to his 
 eminent skill as an architect of pro- 
 nounced ability. 
 
 Our subject was born in 1 843, in Dela- 
 
 ware county, N. Y. , a son of William and 
 Elizabeth (Thompson) Waters, of the 
 same nativity. The father, who was a 
 well-to-do merchant of Franklin, N. Y. , 
 died there in 1870; the mother passed 
 away in 1886. Their son William re- 
 ceived his literary education at the schools 
 of New York and Franklin, after which 
 he attended the Polytechnic Institute at 
 Troy, N. Y. , taking a thorough course in 
 architecture. Having thoroughlj- quali- 
 fied himself for the profession, he in 1867 
 came from Delaware county, N. Y. , to 
 Oshkosh, where he at once commenced 
 business, finding in the fast-growing 
 embryo city a fertile field for his tal- 
 ents as an architect. Among the many 
 buildings, the plans for which were 
 drawn by Mr. Waters, may be mentioned 
 the following: Courthouses at Phillips, 
 Wautoma and Waupaca; high schools at 
 Ripon, Sheboygan Falls, Shawano and 
 Marshfield; school buildings — two at Ash- 
 land, one at Phillips; four at Appleton; 
 two at Neenah; and two at Menesha; 
 banks — Citizens Bank, Phillips; Commer- 
 cial Union Bank, Oshkosh; Commercial 
 and National Bank. Appleton; and a bank 
 at Waupaca; opera houses at Watertown, 
 Appleton and Ripon; the Danish Hall at 
 \\'aupaca. In Oshkosh proper he made 
 the plans of the city hall; all the school- 
 houses; State Normal School; church 
 buildings — Trinity, Algoma Street Meth- 
 odist Episcopal, St. Peter's Catholic, and 
 another for the same denomination; the 
 Athearn Hotel. In Oshkosh (South Side) 
 he drew the plans for the Turner Hall, 
 the Opera House, and the Tremont 
 House, besides all which he was the arch- 
 itect for some ninety per cent, of the bet- 
 ter class of family residences on both 
 sides of the river. The County Asylum 
 and the Government buildings, as well as 
 many business houses and blocks, etc., 
 in various parts of the State, were also 
 from plans drawn by Mr. Waters. He 
 was the architect of the Wisconsin State 
 Building at the World's Fair in Chicago, 
 1 893 , and during that international exhibit 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBICAL RECORD. 
 
 '/j 
 
 took the prize at the competition among 
 the archirects of the State of Wisconsin. 
 In 1867, in Oshkosh, Wis., Wilham 
 Waters and Miss Catharine FoUett were 
 united in marriage, and two children, as 
 follows, have been born to them: Eliza- 
 beth, and William, an architect, assisting 
 his father in the office; he graduated at 
 Cornell University, New York, in 1889, 
 and spent one year in France, studying 
 high-class architecture. Mrs. Waters is 
 a native of New York, and a daughter of 
 Augustus Follett, who in 1850 came to 
 Oshkosh, of which city he was the sec- 
 ond mayor; he was killed in 1863 on 
 Main street bridge. Our subject during 
 his residence of nearly thirty years 
 in Oshkosh has seen some marvelous 
 changes in which, individually, he took 
 prominent part, and he has surrounded 
 himself with hosts of friends whose es- 
 teem and respect he has justly earned. 
 
 FREDERICK D. BROOKS. This 
 prosperous and highly esteemed 
 agriculturist of Oshkosh township, 
 Winnebago county, widely and 
 favorably known throughout the county 
 generall}', was born in that township Sep- 
 tember 4, 1S49, on the old homestead 
 farm which he has conducted since 1877, 
 and in the same house wherein he now 
 lives. 
 
 He received his education in part at 
 the district schools of Oshkosh township, 
 in part at the public schools of the city 
 of that name, and after completing his 
 studies learned the trade of tinner, at 
 which he worked for some time in Min- 
 neiska, Minn. Later he moved to Med- 
 ford, Taylor Co.. Wis., where he opened 
 out a hardware business; but at the end 
 of about one year, his store and its con- 
 tents being destroj-ed by fire, he returned, 
 in 1877, to Oshkosh township, Winne- 
 bago county, and settled on the family 
 homestead, where he has since devoted 
 himself exclusively to agricultural pur- 
 suits. 
 
 On January 4, 1883, at Neenah, Wis., 
 Mr. Brooks was married to Miss Mary 
 Forman, daughter of Benjamin and Re- 
 becca (Ward) Forman, natives of Lin- 
 colnshire, England, who immigrated to 
 this country in 1856, settling in Winne- 
 bago county, Wis., where Mr. Forman 
 died May 4, 1891 ; his widow is living at 
 the home of her son-in-law, F. D. Brooks. 
 To this marriage have been born three 
 children, all daughters, their names and 
 dates of birth being as follows: Julia R. , 
 October 14, 1883; Elpha E. , April 30, 
 1885, and Margaret Alta, November 19, 
 1891. In 1894 Mr. Brooks was elected 
 to the office of register of deeds for Win- 
 nebago county, by a majority of 2,232 
 votes. In municipal affairs he is one of 
 the live men of his county and township, 
 and for four years he represented Osh- 
 kosh township on the board of super- 
 visors. He is an honorable, upright 
 man, possessed of good business qualifica- 
 tions, and as a citizen his character is 
 above reproach. 
 
 Samuel L. Brooks, father of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, without mention of 
 whom any history of the pioneers of Win- 
 nebago county would indeed be incom- 
 plete, and whose advent in the county 
 dates back over a half a century, was a 
 native of New York State, born July 9, 
 1806. in Redfield, Oswego county. A 
 portion of his younger days was spent in 
 Ohio, but he returned to New York State, 
 and from there came to the then Territory 
 of Wisconsin, crossing Lake Winnebago 
 on foot (the lake being frozen over) from 
 the eastern shore to what is now the pros- 
 perous city of Oshkosh, at that time but 
 a small frontier village of a few hundred 
 inhabitants. Here, five miles north of 
 the place, he took up a farm in the wilder- 
 ness, on which he erected the first frame 
 dwelling house built on the west side of 
 Lake Winnebago, the lumber used in its 
 construction being hauled by team from 
 Watertown, Jefferson county, and the 
 shingles which covered its roof being made 
 by hand. This same house was this old 
 
"74 
 
 COMMKMORAriVK BIOGItAl'JllCAL liECOltD. 
 
 ]iioiiet'r's constant lionif from tlic day he 
 first took up his abode in it to tlic hour of 
 his death, a period of forty-five years, 
 (hirinj,' which time he was an eye-witness 
 to tile marvelous ciianfjes effected in the 
 county by the industry and {genius o{ man, 
 in the accomiJJishment of which, too, lie 
 himself took a more than prominent part. 
 In this home were born and reared all his 
 children, and it still stands jirecisely as he 
 built it, over half a centurj' a{j;o, save, 
 here and there, such repairs as were from 
 time to time rendered necessary by wear 
 and tear and wind and weather. His 
 tract of land, wild and rii;;|,'ed when he 
 first set foot on it, he succeeded by tire- 
 less perseverance and assiduous toil in 
 convertinj^ into a fertile farui, the same 
 being now occupied by his son bVederick 
 D. This farm originally stood in Vin- 
 land township, but some years ago that 
 section of the country up to the road run- 
 ning north of Mr. Brooks' projierty was 
 " gerr\inandered " into the presi-nt town- 
 shi]) of (^shkosh. The Indian trail, from 
 Ft. Winnebago to the chute of the lower 
 Fox river, at the time of his settling here, 
 ran about a mile south of his house, and 
 for months at a time he ne\er saw the 
 face of a white man. His home was the 
 stopping place for every ro\ ing band of 
 Indians that passed on the trail, and no 
 dusky visitor i-ver darkened its doors 
 without being well fetl and cared for. In 
 fact, Mr. Brooks became so well known 
 and l>el()ved by the aborigines, that, 
 yotmg and old, they took a delight in vis- 
 iting him and smoking the pipe of jieace 
 under his hospitable roof. .-\s explorers 
 and home seekers of his own color began 
 to come into the country, and travel in 
 the direction of his settlement, he threw 
 ojien his home to them indiscriminately, 
 ami many a settler or mere wayfarer en- 
 joyed his ]iroverbial hospitality, for which 
 he could never be induced to accept the 
 sli'.;lilest ri'nnmeration. In fact, in order 
 that no traveler might misuiuierstand the 
 welcome, he placed in a conspicuous posi- 
 tion a sign bearing the inscription " \'in- 
 
 land House; " and for years he and his 
 no less hospitable helpmeet spent a great 
 part of their time and labor in helping 
 others to find homes and settle in that 
 locality. In 1S47, for the benefit of the 
 neighborhood, fie secured the establish- 
 ment of Vinland jiostoflice at his house, 
 and for thirty-nine years he served as 
 postmaster without one cent remunera- 
 tion. A few years prior to his death he 
 was notified by the government at Wash- 
 ington that his accounts had been bal- 
 anced for the first time, and that the 
 government owed him three dollars and a 
 few cents; Mr. Brooks rei^lied to the 
 department that the "government could 
 keep it!" At the time of his death he 
 was the oldest postmaster in Wisconsin, 
 and, with one exception the oldest in 
 the United States. As the first county 
 surveyor, belaid out many of the roads in 
 Winnel)ago county, and also made the 
 original surveys of not a few of the farms 
 owneil in Oshkosh township, more espec- 
 ially in the northern part. In this in- 
 cuinlicncy he served from 1S44 to 1846; 
 was register of deeds in 1S47, ami was 
 frequently a member of the board of su- 
 pervisors of his townshi]!. Peacefully 
 content with all niankiiul, and reverenced 
 by all who knew him, this honored old 
 jiioneer passed his declining dajs in the 
 bosom of his family ami among friends, 
 the lamp of life Isecoming extinguished 
 simply because it had accomjilished its 
 part in the universal whole, and there was 
 no more claim on it. Mr. Brooks de- 
 parted this life Januar}' 24, 1SS7, at the 
 age of eighty-one years, after a long and 
 useful life. There are very few people 
 living within even a wide range of Osh- 
 kosh who have not known or heard of 
 "Uncle Sam Brooks," one of the most 
 honest and kind-hearted men ever molded 
 by nature, and one who in his long and 
 busy life did more for the good of others, 
 in proportion to his means, than probably 
 any other man in this section of the State. . 
 Samuel L. Brooks was twice married; 
 first time to Miss Lucy .Mden, who died 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWOBAPJIICAL RECORD. 
 
 "75 
 
 within a year or two after marriage leav- 
 ing one soil, Alden S. Brooi<s, who dur- 
 ing tile war of tfio Rebellion enlisted 
 in the Twenty-first Regiment Wis. V. I., 
 and died at Nashville, Tcnn., just after 
 the battle of Perry villa, Ky., which was 
 fought October 8, 1862. In 1846 Mr. 
 S. L. Brooks married, for his second wife, 
 Miss Julia A. Alden, and by her had chil- 
 dren as follows: Lucy, wife of Edward 
 Williams, of Neenah, Wis.; Frederick D., 
 subject jiroper of tiiis sketch, and Aden, 
 a hardware merchant of Haraboo, Sauk 
 Co., Wisconsin. 
 
 DEACON EDWARD EASTMAN 
 fdeccased). The Green Mountain 
 State has sent to the I''ar West 
 man}' of her best, most useful and 
 loyal (•,iti;^ens, not a few of whom came to 
 make their future home in the prosperous 
 State of Wisconsin, and not the least 
 among them, either physically, mentally 
 or niorally, was the subject of this sketch. 
 Deacon Eastman first saw the light 
 February 22, 1806, in the town of Ran- 
 dolph, Vt., a son of Rev. Tilton Eastman, 
 a college graduate, who for a quarter of a 
 century was a Congregational minister, 
 and when he died left the heritage of a 
 spotless reputation and a good name. He 
 was born August 15, 1773, in Amherst, 
 Mass., and died July 8, 1842. He was 
 not wealthy as far as this world goes; but 
 he was a close student, a powerful thinker, 
 and forcible sermonizer. The genealogy 
 of the family points to English Puritan 
 ancestry, prominent in New lingland early- 
 history, and the immediate forefathers of 
 Rev. Tilton Eastman, like himself, en- 
 tered the ministry, becoming noted labor- 
 ers in the Lord's vineyard. We are 
 enabled to give a brief record of the 
 family, commencing with the grandfather 
 of the subject of this sketch: Ebenezer 
 Eastman was f)orn May 31, 1749, and 
 died May 7, 1820; he was married Novem- 
 ber 12, 1772, to Mary Dickinson, who 
 was born December 27, 1746, and died 
 
 March 16, 1825. Their children were 
 Rev. Tilton Eastman; Mrs. Polly Dickin- 
 son; Elijah, born March 13, 1777, mar- 
 ried October 24, 1802, to Rebecca I-fall, 
 and died March 26, 1820; Zebina, born 
 September 28, 1780, a well-known politi- 
 cian and Abolitiom'st in his day, who was 
 given a consulship by his friend, Abraham 
 I^incoln (in the great Chicago fire he lost 
 a remarkably fine lil)rary; his death occur- 
 red in Elgin, 111.); Salome, born October 
 25, 1 78 1, died December 11, 181S (she 
 was married A])ril 14,1803, to Silas Adams, 
 and afterward to David Pestnam) ; Samuel, 
 born March 18, 1783, married December 
 20, 1 809, to Sally Pyncheon ; Clarissa, born 
 November 9, 1784, married November 27, 
 1801, to Asa Adams; Achsah, born Octo- 
 ber 19, 1786, married April 15, 1805, to 
 Josiah Warner; Theodore, born Decem- 
 ber 17, 1788, died May 27, 1816 (he was 
 married January 3, 181 1, to Susannah 
 Scott); and Ebenezer, Jr., born Novem- 
 ber 22, 1790. Rev. Tilton Eastman was 
 married October 20, 1802, to Miss Speda 
 Smith, a native of Plainfield, Conn., 
 whose brother-in-law, "Father Clark," 
 was a Congregational minister near Buff- 
 alo, N. Y. To this marriage were born 
 five children, viz. : Francis, Edward, 
 Eunice, George V. and Mary. 
 
 Edward Eastman, the subject proper 
 of these lines, received his jireparatory 
 studies for college in his native town, and 
 also gave his two brothers the advantages 
 of a college education. During his vaca- 
 tions he worked on a small farm owned 
 by his father, which healthy employment 
 tended to build up his constitution, much 
 undermined by close application to his 
 books. In 1846 he came west, sojourn- 
 ing first in Dodge county. Wis., but re- 
 moving to Oshkosh the same year, here 
 establishing himself in the general mer- 
 chandise business, and, later, opened the 
 Eastman bookstore, now conducted by 
 his son. Locating here at the first settle- 
 ment of the town, he was practically one 
 of its founders, and soon took a promi- 
 nent position in the affairs of the young 
 
1176 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 city; he was, the very year of his arrival 
 in the place, appointed postmaster under 
 President Polk's administration, held the 
 position until the change of government 
 in 1849, and was again appointed, in 
 1853, by President Pierce, his incum- 
 bency closing with the inauguration of 
 Lincoln in 1861. On the organization 
 of the city government, in 1853, Mr. 
 Eastman was chosen the first mayor of 
 Oshkosh. In the fall of 1850 he was 
 elected a member of the Assembly, and 
 represented Winnebago county in the 
 Legislature of 1851 with honor to himself 
 and his constituency; also filled the office 
 of alderman, and other positions of honor, 
 everywhere winning an enviable reputa- 
 tion for justness and uprightness. In his 
 day he was probably better known than 
 any other one man in Winnebago county, 
 and his never-failing fund of dry humor 
 was known and appreciated far and wide. 
 His last public appearance was in Novem- 
 ber, 1869, when he was candidate on the 
 Democratic ticket for supervisor. 
 
 On June 3, 1841, Deacon Eastman 
 was married to Miss Catherine Granger, 
 who was born April 25, 1814, in Ran- 
 dolph, \'t., daughter of John and Jane 
 (Peckhamj Granger. Her grandfather 
 Granger was a soldier in the Revolution- 
 ary war. Three children came of this 
 union, viz.: Sarah T. and Luke M., 
 born in Randolph, Vt., and Jennie K., 
 born in Wisconsin. Of these, Sarah T. 
 married Henry Bailey, an attorney at law, 
 who died June 13, 1892, at the age of 
 forty-nine years, leaving a widow and one 
 daughter, Jennie M. Luke M. was a 
 member of the firm of Eastman Bros., of 
 Oshkosh, and died at Macon Ga. , aged 
 thirty-five years ; he married Miss Hattie 
 Musser, and had two children, Edward 
 and Nannie. Jennie K., wife of H. C. 
 Ferguson, is a mother of five children: 
 Harry, Katie, Lulu, Samuel and George. 
 Another son of Deacon Eastman, by a 
 former marriage, George F. , conducts 
 the old Eastman bookstore in Oshkosh. 
 Deacon Eastman departed this life Feb- 
 
 ruary 23, 1870, amid the unqualified sor- 
 row of not only his family but also a 
 wide circle of neighbors and acquaint- 
 ances. A special meeting of the city coun- 
 cil was immediately summoned, at which 
 resolutions expressive of the sentiments of 
 the community were passed. The funeral 
 cortege that accompanied the remains to 
 their last resting place included members 
 of the Masonic Fraternity, the vestry of 
 Trinity Church, the mayor and common 
 council of the pity, the Fire Department, 
 and a vast following of sorrowing citizens. 
 He was a member and deacon of Trinity 
 Church, and a member of the F. & A. M. 
 His widow, now at the venerable age of 
 four score years, but as sprightly as 
 though twenty years younger, is yet liv- 
 ing at the old Eastman homestead, built 
 in 1846, and which escaped the great fire 
 of 1874. She is honored and respected 
 by all who know her, and their best 
 wishes are that she may yet live a good 
 few years in health and strength. 
 
 RICHARD R. CROWE is editor 
 and proprietor of T/w Local, a 
 lively, newsy paper published at 
 Winneconne, Winnebago county. 
 He was born November 3, 1839, at Corn- 
 wallis, Kings county. Nova Scotia, and 
 is the fifth in a family of nine children 
 born to Richard R. and Mary A. (Cogs- 
 well) Crowe. His paternal great-grand- 
 father served as colonel of an Irish regi- 
 ment under Burgoyne during the French 
 and Indian wars, and was present at that 
 General's defeat. The parents of our 
 subject were both natives of Nova Scotia, 
 and removed thence, in 1850, to Lamar- 
 tine, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., where they 
 made their home until 1855. I'^ ^^hat 
 year they became residents of Oasis, 
 Waushara county, where the father died 
 in 1885, the mother passing away the 
 following year. Mr. Crowe was of Irish 
 descent, and was a son of Ej-re E. Crowe, 
 who was born in Ireland, and died in 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGBAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 I177 
 
 Fond du Lac, Wis. During his younger 
 years he was a sailor, but in later life he 
 followed farming. On his maternal side 
 our subject is in the ninth generation 
 from Sir John Coggswell, who was born 
 in Westbury Leigh, County of Wilts, En- 
 gland, in 161 5, and emigrated to America 
 in 1635, one of whose descendants, Heze- 
 kiah Coggswell, emigrated from Say- 
 brook, Conn., to Nova Scotia, in 1761. 
 
 The subject proper of these lines re- 
 ceived but limited educational privileges. 
 He continued with his father splitting 
 rails and aiding in the development and 
 cultivation of the farm until he attained 
 his majority. When he reached man's 
 estate he began working at carpentering 
 and different kinds of mechanical work, 
 while at various intervals he was em- 
 ployed on the Wisconsin river. During 
 the Civil war Mr. Crowe entered the 
 Union service, enlisting at Madison, in 
 October, 1863, in Company F, Thirty- 
 second Wis. V. I., and after serving in 
 the ranks several months he was detailed 
 in the drum corps as fifer, but during 
 much of the time he did detached service, 
 and as an artilleryman, participated in 
 several battles of the campaign that ended 
 with the fall of Atlanta. He also took 
 part in the famous march under Gen. 
 Sherman from Atlanta to the Sea, and 
 then went to Columbia, S. C, when he 
 was sent back to Hospital at Beaufort, 
 S. C, and was soon transferred to Mc- 
 Dougal Hospital at New York, and from 
 there to Harvey Hospital, Madison, Wis., 
 where, in May, 1865, he was honorably 
 discharged on account of physical disa- 
 bility. 
 
 On his return home Mr. Crowe began 
 clerking, and also did light mechanical 
 work. Not long after, on July 10, 1867, 
 he was married in Plainfied, Wis., to Miss 
 Esther S. Weymouth, who was born in 
 Abbott, Maine, November 21, 1848, 
 daughter of Israel and Emily (Herren) 
 W'eymouth, the former of whom is still 
 living in Oasis, Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Crowe 
 have a family of three children: Arthur 
 
 W., born March 21, 1868, who became 
 an e.xpert at the jeweler's trade; Cora M., 
 born October 24, 1871, is now a student 
 at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis. ; 
 Ethel M., born May 19, 1880, is yet at 
 home. Mrs. Crowe is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church of Winne- 
 conne, and takes a very active part in 
 Church and Sunday-school work. She is 
 also connected with the Woman's Relief 
 Corps, in which society she has filled the 
 office of senior vice two years. Upon his 
 marriage Mr. Crowe located in Wood 
 county, Wis., where he worked as clerk 
 in a sawmill until 1 869, when he began 
 farming near Oasis, having previously 
 purchased eighty acres of wild land. 
 Being unfitted for the arduous work of 
 developing it, however, he sold out in 
 1872, and during the ten succeeding years 
 engaged in mechanical work,. In 1882 
 he bought a hotel in Plainfield, Wis., 
 which he conducted until 1887. In the 
 meantime he had invested all of his cap- 
 ital in the Gogebic iron mines; but the 
 venture proved a total failure, and in 
 1886 he lost nearly his last dollar. 
 
 In the spring of 1887 he came to 
 Winneconne, where he opened a restaur- 
 ant, which he conducted until December. 
 He then rented the present newspaper 
 office with press and twenty-five pounds 
 of type, for a year, with the privilege of 
 buying on the expiration of that period 
 if he so desired. The paper was at that 
 time all "run down," but he has placed 
 it on a solid financial basis, has increased 
 its circulation to 600, stocked his office 
 with an ample supply of material, pur- 
 chased a fine office building, and now has 
 one of the neatest five-column folio news- 
 papers to be found in the Fox River Val- 
 ley. Mr. Crowe embarked in this enter- 
 prise without any experience in the busi- 
 ness, but by enterprise and good manage- 
 ment has won a well-deserved success. 
 In politics he is independent; socially he 
 is connected with the Masonic Fraternity, 
 Blue Lodge, Winneconne, in which he 
 has served as senior warden; the Modern 
 
II78 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Wooilinen of America, in which he has 
 been clerk; and the G. A. R. , in which 
 he has served as adjutant for years. 
 
 OSCAR E. PEDERSON, the popu- 
 lar superintendent of schools of 
 \\'innebago county, is a resident 
 of the village of Winneconne, 
 where his birth occurred November 15, 
 1867. Although he is yet a young man, 
 his career is one well worthy of emulation, 
 and shows what can be accomplished by 
 commendable ambition, enterprise and 
 good management. He started out for 
 himself with no special advantages, and 
 has worked his way upward unaided to a 
 position which would be an honor to many 
 an older man. His success is a result of 
 merit, and arguing from the past he has 
 a very bright and prosperous future be- 
 fore him. 
 
 Mr. Pederson's parents, August M. 
 and Regena (Olsen) Pederson, were both 
 natives of the city of Christiania, Norway, 
 and in i860 came to the United States. 
 Subsequently the}' took up their residence 
 in \\'inneconne, where they were married, 
 and here the father still carries on carpen- 
 tering. The paternal grandfather, Peter 
 Pederson, also crossed the Atlantic to the 
 New World, but afterward returned to 
 Norway, where he died. 
 
 During his boyhood Mr. Pederson was 
 possessed of aspirations and ambition, and 
 early determined to neglect no opportunity 
 to obtain an education. With this end in 
 view he devoted all his energies, and ap- 
 plied himself assiduously to such work as 
 he could find that would yield him a suffi- 
 cient sum to enable him to pursue his 
 studies. The father was in quite moderate 
 circumstances, and until he was fifteen 
 years of age the boy could only attend the 
 district schools. At that time he found em- 
 ployment in a sawmill, where he worked 
 for two years, and during the two suc- 
 ceeding years he was employed as a sales- 
 man in a clothing store in Waukau, Wis. 
 During this time he continued his studies 
 
 as best he could, and at the age of eighteen 
 he returned to his native village, where he 
 attended school one year, during which 
 time he sufficiently qualified himself to 
 accept a position as teacher in the school 
 at Butte des Morts. In little less than a 
 year, however, he left that place and 
 during the succeeding year was a student 
 in thfc Normal School at Valparaiso, Ind. 
 On his return to \\'inneconne, he taught 
 for a time in the town of Winchester. 
 When his work there was completed he 
 again resumed his studies, entering Law- 
 rence University at Appleton, Wis., where 
 he remained about three years. During 
 that time he received the unanimous nom- 
 ination as candidate for the position of 
 superintendent of schools of Winnebago 
 county on the Republican ticket, and was 
 the only member of the party elected in 
 that year — 1892. He was re-elected for a 
 second term in 1894, receiving the largest 
 majority of votes ever given an\- superin- 
 tendent in Winnebago county. 
 
 Mr. Pederson's characteristics may be 
 briefly stated as unswerving honest}', 
 praireworthy ambition, untiring industry 
 and perseverance. He is enterprising and 
 progressive, and his work as superintend- 
 ent is making him many and fast friends. 
 He is the youngest man who ever held the 
 position of county superintendent in Win- 
 nebago county, but his able discharge of 
 the duties of the ofBce has won him high 
 commendation. 
 
 THOMAS GRUNDY. Foremost in 
 the ranks of the prominent and 
 prosperous agriculturists of Osh- 
 kosh township, Winnebago coun- 
 ty, who by indefatigable perseverance and 
 untiring energy have hewed their way 
 onward and upward, stands the gentleman 
 whose name is here recorded. 
 
 William Grundy, his father, was born 
 at Little Bolton, England, of English an- 
 cestry, and was a machinist by trade. He 
 was twice married, his first wife (Mrs. 
 Sarah Ann Grundy) being a lady of 
 
COMMEMORA TIVE BIOORAPUWAL UK CORD. 
 
 1 179 
 
 American parentage, by which marriage 
 there were born two children: Thomas, 
 the subject of this sketch, and John W., 
 a dealer in house-furnishing goods, Osh- 
 kosh. The mother of these died in 1852, 
 and Mr. Grundy afterward married Miss 
 Margaret Tennant, by whom there were 
 also two children: Adam T., who resides 
 on the homestead, and Mary, who lied 
 at the age of twenty-eight years. When 
 our subject was four years old, William 
 Grundy, the father, moved in 1850 to 
 Michigan with his children, taking up his 
 residence in Detroit, where he worked in 
 the Michigan Central railroad car shops. 
 In 1856 the family came to Oshkosh town- 
 ship, W^innebago county, where the father 
 purchased a farm, and up to his death in 
 1858 followed agriculture, as well as his 
 trade, in the fitting up of steamboats. 
 
 Thomas Grundy, the subject proper 
 of this memoir, was born March 27, 1846, 
 in Schenectady county, N. Y., and was 
 consequently four years old when the 
 family removed to Detroit, Mich., at the 
 public schools of which city he received 
 the greater part of his education. In 
 1856, as above recorded, the family came 
 to Oshkosh township, where on his father's 
 farm our subject learned agricultural pur- 
 suits, and thereon remained until 1880 
 when he purchased his present farm in 
 the same township. He was married in 
 Oshkosh December 22, 1870, to Miss Ann 
 Mackie, daughter of William and Margaret 
 Mackie (now deceased), natives of Scot- 
 land, formerly residents of Nekimi town- 
 ship, Winnebago count}', and by this 
 union there are six children, as follows: 
 Sarah Ann (wife of Frederick C. Jos- 
 lyn, of Oshkosh), William, Arthur, Cora 
 A., James V. N. and Phcebe. A Republi- 
 can in politics, Mr. Grundy takes a warm 
 interest in the success of his party, and 
 during his residence of nearly forty years 
 in Oshkosh township has maintained a 
 character for honesty and straightforward 
 dealing, which has insured the esteem and 
 respect of the community at large. He 
 has served his township well and faith- 
 
 66 
 
 fully in various capacities of trust and 
 honor, among which may be mentioned 
 those of assessor, ten years; treasurer, 
 four years; and chairman of the board of 
 supervisors, which office he at present 
 holds. The family attend the services of 
 the Methodist Church. 
 
 DeWITT EDWARD BOWEN, a 
 well-known and prosperous agri- 
 culturist of Black Wolf township, 
 Winnebago county, is a native of 
 same, born January 23, i860. He is a 
 grandson of Asa Bowen, who was a son 
 of Lemuel Bowen, and descended from 
 three brothers of that surname who came 
 from Wales to Rhode Island, settling 
 during the Roger Williams period in Cov- 
 entry, near Bowen's Hill, which received 
 its name from them. Down to Asa 
 Bowen the family were all Quakers, living 
 faithfully up to the tenets of that sect. 
 
 Asa Bowen, who was a native of 
 Northfield, Mass., married Miss Hannah 
 Briggs, born in Washington county, N. 
 Y., and of their seven children only one 
 survives — Sarah (widow of T. S. Henry), 
 now a resident of Fond du Lac. Asa 
 Bowen and his wife came to Black Wolf 
 township, Winnebago Co., Wis., in 1856, 
 and here passed the remainder of their 
 honored lives, dying in 1857 and 1862 re- 
 spectively. The Briggs family came of 
 English ancestry, and were early settlers 
 of Washington county, New York. 
 
 William Briggs Bowen, son of Asa 
 and Hannah Bowen, was born at White 
 Creek, Washington Co. , N. Y. , June 7, 
 1820, and received his education at the 
 common schools of his native place. On 
 attaining manhood, he and his parents 
 removed to Oswego county. N. Y. , where 
 he engaged in agricultural and mechanical 
 pursuits, chiefly carpentering, and also in 
 the profession of veterinary surgeon, 
 which he was led into through his inher- 
 ent love for horses. On March 9, 1847, 
 he was married at Rochester, N. Y. , to 
 Miss Clarissa Ann Curtis, a native of 
 
i8o 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Granby township, Oswego Co., N. Y. , 
 born April 9, 1821, daughter of Artemus 
 and Clarissa Harlow (Lee) Curtis, and to 
 their union were born nine children, a 
 brief record of whom is as follows: Ellen 
 Louisa, born December 26, 1847, in 
 Wolcott, Wayne Co., N. Y.,died Sep- 
 tember 29, 1849; Asa Curtis, born April 
 2 8, 1850, in Wolcott, Wayne Co., N. Y., 
 married Miss Jennie Simonds, of Nekimi, 
 Wis. , and now resides in Denver, Colo. ; 
 Marshall William, born July 24, 1852, in 
 Wolcott, is unmarried and lives in Osh- 
 kosh; Bradley A., born October 25, 1854, 
 in Granby township, Oswego Co., N. Y., 
 is a liveryman of Oshkosh; George Au- 
 gustus, born March 7, 1856, in Fond du 
 Lac, Wis., married Miss Ida Lockwood, 
 of Oshkosh, and makes his home in the 
 city of his birth; Frances Clara, born 
 June 30, 1858, in Black Wolf, is the wife 
 of Frederick Shephard, and resides in 
 Milwaukee, where he is cashier of the 
 United States Express Co. ; DeWitt E. 
 is the subject of this sketch; Charles Lee, 
 born May 23, 1863, in Black Wolf, mar- 
 ried Miss Agnes Smith, of Oshkosh, and 
 now lives in Omaha, Neb. ; Henry Grant, 
 born June 5, 1864, in Black Wolf, mar- 
 ried Miss Jennie Higgins, of Denver, 
 Colo., and has his home in Hartford, 
 Conn., where he is leader of Pope's Mili- 
 tary Band, the most popular band of the 
 State and one of the famous bands of the 
 country. The eldest and the two young- 
 est members of the family are profession- 
 al musicians, in fact they are all more or 
 less endowed with natural musical talents 
 which, no doubt, they inherit from their 
 father, who was a violinist of more than 
 ordinary merit, one who, had an oppor- 
 tunity offered of cultivating his talent, 
 there is little doubt would have become a 
 superior musician. The Bowen family as 
 a rule have alwa3's manifested a great in- 
 terest in horses, of which noble animal 
 they are great lovers. In 1855 William 
 B. Bowen came with his family to Wis- 
 consin, locating for one year at Fond du 
 Lac, and then removing to Winnebago 
 
 count}' settled in Black Wolf township, 
 where he purchased land and oper- 
 ated a farm for over thirty years. Here 
 he died September 18, 1888, honored 
 and respected by all; his widow, who 
 is a highly esteemed lady, amiable 
 and benevolent, is still living on the 
 old homestead. Artemus Curtis, her 
 father, was born in Greenville, Greene 
 Co., N. Y. , and was descended on the 
 father's side from Holland ancestry who 
 were early settlers of Manhattan Island, 
 and on the mother's side he was of En- 
 glish lineage. He married Miss Clarissa 
 Harlow Lee, who was born in 1791 in 
 Sheshequin, Bradford Co., Penn., daugh- 
 ter of Ebenezer Lee, Jr., of Farmington, 
 Conn., a descendant of John Lee, who 
 came to Boston from Europe in 1634, and 
 following year removed to Farmington, 
 Conn. He was born in Colchester, County 
 of Essex, England, in 1620, and was one 
 of the original proprietors of the town of 
 Farmington. In 1638 he married Miss 
 Mary Hart, daughter of Stephen Hart; 
 he died April 8, 1690, and was buried in 
 the old Farmington cemetery, where has 
 recently been erected to his memory, by 
 his descendants, a handsome and imposing 
 monument. Grandfather Ebenezer Lee 
 was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
 Artemus Curtis died May 14, 1874, and on 
 January 22, following year, his wife fol- 
 lowed him to the grave. 
 
 Our subject received a liberal educa- 
 tion at the common schools of his native 
 township, later attending Oshkosh Busi- 
 ness College. He was reared exclusively 
 to agricultural pursuits, which he has- 
 made his study in all its diversified phases, 
 and there is no better expert of his age in 
 farm work — whether practical or theoret- 
 ical — in the land. In 1889 he married 
 Miss Jane Fleming, also a native of Black 
 Wolf township, born March S, 1869, a 
 daughter of George and Susan Fleming, 
 of that locality, and two children have 
 come to brighten the home, named, re- 
 spectively, Agnes Gertrude and Nina 
 Isabel. In his political preferences Mr. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Bowen is a Republican, as was his father 
 before him; he is chairman of his town- 
 ship, and has held with honor several 
 other positions of trust in Black Wolf 
 township. The family, as far back as 
 can be traced, have been firm adherents 
 of the Protestant faith. 
 
 CHAI^LES REPE, a well-known 
 and highly respected citizen of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, in 
 which city he has resided over 
 twenty years, is a 'successful stone con- 
 tractor, and a thorough master of the 
 business in all its branches. 
 
 He is a native of Germany, born July 
 22, 1849, a son of Fred and Caroline 
 Repe, who, when Charles was a lad of 
 seven summers, emigrated with their 
 family to the United States, locating in 
 Milwaukee, Wis. Here the father worked 
 in a paper factory up to his death, which 
 occurred in 1859, and here the mother is 
 yet living. They had three children — 
 William, Ivobert and Charles. At the 
 public schools of that city our subject 
 received a fairly liberal education, and 
 then commenced learning the trade of 
 paper maker, at which he worked some 
 six years in Milwaukee. In March, 1865, 
 he enlisted in the United States navy, 
 and was assigned to the ship "Orion," 
 but was not destined to be long in the 
 service, for he was soon afterward so 
 severely wounded that he had to be sent 
 to the hospital boat "Red River." Later 
 on he was discharged for disability caused 
 by his wounds, and returning to Milwau- 
 kee, took up the trade of stone cutter, 
 which, after making himself master of it, 
 he worked at as a journeyman in different 
 cities of the United States until 1881, 
 when he came to Winnebago county and 
 assisted in the erection of the State Hos- 
 pital for the ^nsane until 1873, the year 
 of his locating in Oshkosh. Here for 
 several years he was foreman of Alfred 
 Chappie's stone yard, and, since the death 
 of the proprietor in 1887, Mr. Repe has 
 
 conducted it for his own account. He 
 takes contracts for the supply of stone for 
 all kinds of building work, including 
 cemetery stone, and has furnished the 
 material for some of the largest and most 
 prominent public as well as private build- 
 ings in Oshkosh. 
 
 In 1873 Mr. Repe was united in mar- 
 riage, in Oshkosh, with Miss Francelia 
 Thew (daughter of Seth Thew), a native 
 of New York State, and to them have 
 been born three children — William E., 
 Robert B. and Esther Ruth. The entire 
 family attend the services of the Congre- 
 gational Church. Politically Mr. Repe is 
 a Republican, and he is a member of 
 Lodge No. 27, F. & A. M., and of Win- 
 nebago Lodge No. 120, I. O. O. F. 
 
 EDWARD S. OSTERTAG, a wide- 
 awake and progressive young citi- 
 zen of South Oshkosh, Winne- 
 bago county, where he is proprie- 
 tor of a leading hardware store, was born 
 in the city of Oshkosh, Wis., March 15, 
 1865. 
 
 His father, Sebastian Ostertag, who 
 is now a prominent farmer of Algoma 
 township, Winnebago county, is a native 
 of Germany, born in 1839, '■'' Wurtem- 
 berg, a son of Valentine and Mary A. 
 Ostertag, who in 1847 emigrated with 
 their family from the Fatherland to the 
 United States and to Wisconsin, set- 
 tling in Nekimi township, Winnebago 
 county. They were people in com- 
 paratively poor circumstances, but made 
 for themselves an honest name, and 
 gained a fair share of this world's goods. 
 Sebastian was just eight years of age 
 when the family came to America, and in 
 the common schools of the vicinity of his 
 new home received his education. In 
 1865 he commenced business in Oshkosh, 
 conducting a general store about twenty 
 years, and then embarked in the hard- 
 ware line, two years later selling out and 
 removing to Algoma, where he has since 
 
1II82 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 been successfully eiifjaged in agricultural 
 pursuits, owning a well-improved farm 
 of upward of one hundred acres. During 
 the war of the Rebellion he enlisted in 
 Company E, Second Wis. V. I., Capt. 
 G. Bouck, three-years" service, and par- 
 ticipated in all the engagements in which 
 his regiment took part, inclusive of Bull 
 Run, Gainesville and up to Gettysburg, at 
 which latter engagement, which was 
 fought in 1S63, he was severely wounded, 
 his time e.xpiring before his recovery — in 
 fact he has never yet entirely recovered 
 from his injuries. In 1862 he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Sophia Ivuebler, who was 
 born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1842, and 
 they had five children, three of whom are 
 yet living, viz.: Albert J., Edward S. 
 and Theodore S. ; they also have an 
 adopted daughter, named Lydia. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Sebastian Ostertag are members 
 of the Catholic Church; in politics he is 
 a Democrat, and served as alderman from 
 the Third ward of Oshkosh two years. 
 
 Edward S. Ostertag received a liberal 
 education at the public and Normal 
 schools and ISusiness College at Oshkosh, 
 and after completing his studies engaged 
 as a clerk in his father's hardware store 
 in South Oshkosh, in 18S9 succeeding 
 him in the business. In the following 
 year he married Miss Mary Ellen Murphy, 
 daughter of Frederick and Anna Murphy, 
 of Janesville, Wis., which union has been 
 blessed with two children: George S., 
 born April 20, 1891, and Harry Mark, 
 born September 27, 1892. Mr. Oster- 
 tag is a member of the South Side Turn- 
 verein, attends the services of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and in his political 
 views is a stanch Democrat. While 
 never figuring conspicuously in public or 
 political life, he has always taken an act- 
 ive interest in the affairs of the city and 
 county, and at all times has been found 
 ready to contribute, of both his time and 
 means, toward the formation of worthy 
 enterprises tending to the advancement 
 of the welfare of the township, county 
 and city. 
 
 FREDERICK C. ARNOLD, a lead- 
 ing prosperous business man of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, is a 
 native of the city, born May 20, 
 1852, a son of George F. and Margaret 
 (Marks) Arnold, natives of Bavaria, Ger- 
 many. 
 
 They were married in their native 
 country, whence, in 1837, they emigrated 
 to the United States, settling in Oshkosh 
 in 1849. Here the father conducted a 
 prosperous butcher business, and also 
 manufactured soap and candles, the latter 
 article being almost entirely used for light- 
 ing purposes in those early days. He was 
 an upright, honorable businesss man, uni- 
 versally respected, and deeply mourned 
 when death called him hence in Septem- 
 ber, 1872 ; his widow, now at the advanced 
 age of seventy-eight years, is yet living in 
 Oshkosh in the fullest esteem of the com- 
 munity. They were the parents of nine 
 children, seven of whom are yet living: 
 Sophie E., wife of R. J. W^eisbrod, chief 
 of police for the city of Oshkosh; Joseph, 
 a manufacturer of aerated waters, in Osh- 
 kosh; Leonard G., a merchant of Me- 
 nasha. Wis. ; George, a manufacturer of 
 vinegar, in Oshkosh; Frederick C, whose 
 name opens this sketch; Lydia, who is 
 engaged in the millinery business in Osh- 
 kosh, and Lily, residing in Menasha, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Frederick C. Arnold, the subject 
 proper of these lines, received his educa- 
 tion at the public and high schools of Osh- 
 kosh, afterward taking a course at the 
 Business College of the city. He then 
 commenced the trade of butcher, which 
 he continued until 1873, when he opened 
 out a restaurant business and carried on 
 same till 1880, since which date he has 
 been engaged in his present thriving coal 
 and ice industry, doing an extensive trade 
 in each. He has three large ice houses 
 on the lake front, each 30 x 1 20 feet, with 
 a capacity of over nine thousand tons 
 of ice. 
 
 In 1873 Mr. Arnold was married to 
 Miss Mary Muth, daughter of Jacob and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BWOUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 .S3. 
 
 Mary Muth, natives of German}', now 
 residents of Fond du Lac, Wis., and five 
 children have been born to them, two of 
 whom survive, viz.: August J., book- 
 keeper in his father's office, and Frederick 
 F. The family attend the services of 
 Trinity Episcopal Church, Oshkosh. In 
 his political sympathies our subject is a 
 Democrat, and he is servinj,' as alderman 
 of the Eighth ward. In social affiliations 
 he is a member of Centennial Lodge No. 
 205, F. & A. M. ; past noble grand of 
 Union Lodge No. 179, I. O. O. F. ; grand 
 warden of the Royal Arcanum and Council 
 No. 769; and a member of the Sons of 
 Hermann, Turnverein and Casino. Mr. 
 Arnold is a man of advanced ideas, gifted 
 with sound judgment, a well-balanced 
 mind, and by industry and perseverance 
 has built up a prosperous business. Quiet 
 and unassuming in manner, and kind and 
 charitable in disposition, he has won gen- 
 eral respect and esteem, and is recognized 
 as a man of ability and more than ordi- 
 nary business qualifications. 
 
 SAMUEL BRECK ACKLEY.M.D. 
 The physician occupies one of the 
 most responsible, as well as con- 
 fidential, relations in our social 
 existence. To him are entrusted our in- 
 nermost secrets, as well as the lives and 
 welfare of our dearest friends. To worth- 
 ily and acceptably fill such a position is 
 one of the most difficult tasks ever im- 
 posed on man, and such a task we find is 
 assumed by the subject of this sketch 
 who, though yet a young man, is not 
 without considerable experience in his 
 profession. 
 
 He is a grandson of Garrett Ackley, 
 of New York, who commanded a regiment 
 of militia in the war of 1 8 1 2, and a son of 
 Hon. H. M. Ackley, of Oconomowoc, 
 Waukesha Co., Wis. The latter was born 
 in Ellisburgh, Jefferson Co., N. Y. , Janu- 
 ary 12, 1827, and in 1857 came to Wis- 
 consin, where he has held several offices 
 of trust and prominence. In 1880 he was 
 
 a delegate to the Democratic National 
 Convention, and in 1881 was elected sen- 
 ator (receiving 2,392 votes against 1,702 
 for Vernon Tichenor, the Republican can- 
 didate), in which incumbency he served 
 till 1883. For many years he was en- 
 gaged in the drug business, but now lives 
 retired in Oconomowoc. He was married 
 in 1865 to Miss Josephine M. Breck, also- 
 of New York State, daughter of Samuel 
 and Jane (Edwards) Breck, and to this 
 union were born five children, four of 
 whom are yet living, named respectively: 
 Samuel Breck, (kibriella, Elizabeth and 
 Charles, and the entire family are resi- 
 dents of Oconomowoc except Samuel B. 
 
 The subject proper of tliis^ biographi- 
 cal memoir was born July 18, 1866, in 
 Oconomowoc, W'is., at the public and high 
 schools of whicfi place he received his 
 primary education. Afterward he at- 
 tended Shattuck Military .\cademy at 
 Faribault, Minn., and, later, Wis- 
 consin State University, at Madison. 
 On leaving the latter institution he 
 commenced the study of medicine un- 
 der the preceptorship of Dr. J. H. Mc- 
 Bride, of Wauwatosa, Milwaukee county, 
 after which he took a course at Rush 
 Medical College, Chicago, from which in- 
 stitution he graduated in 1892, and then 
 at once commenced the practice of his- 
 chosen profession in ^^'hitewater, W^al- 
 worth Co., W^is. In the latter part of 
 July, 1893, he removed to Oshkosh, 
 where he has built up a lucrative practice 
 and secured a respectable clientele. 
 
 In December, 1892, Dr. Ackley was 
 united in marriage with Miss Emileta 
 Williams, a native of Victor, Ontario Co., 
 N. Y., born January i, 1867, a daughter 
 of Henry and Emily (Faville) Williams, 
 also of New York State birth, the former 
 of whom is still living in the town of Fair- 
 port, N. Y., the latter being deceased. 
 Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Williams, three of whom are yet living, 
 namely: Idella M., wife of Robert Cole, 
 a resident of Fairport, N. Y. ; Franklin 
 F. , in Omaha, Neb. ; and Emileta (Mrs.. 
 
IIS4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ackley). To our subject and wife was 
 born, April 20, 1S95, one son named 
 Henry Breck. The Doctor is a member 
 of the Fox River Valley Medical Associa- 
 tion, and in his political views he is a Re- 
 publican; in religious faith he and his 
 wife are members of the Episcopal 
 Church. They are highly esteemed in 
 the community, and the Doctor, by his 
 sterling integrity and gentlemanly bearing, 
 has drawn around him many warm 
 friends. 
 
 M 
 
 ORITZ NICOLAI, an old and 
 highly respected resident of 
 South Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, was born in Preussen, 
 Germany, November 11, 1832, and is a 
 son of Fredrick and Fredrica Nicolai, the 
 former of whom died in his native land, 
 the latter in Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 Our subject was reared and educated 
 in Preussen, and after leaving school learn- 
 ed the trade of baker, which he has been 
 engaged in ever since. In 1865 he emi- 
 grated to the United States and to Wis- 
 consin, locating in Oshkosh, where he 
 established a first-class bakery business, 
 and by prudence and industr}' has accumu- 
 lated a comfortable competency. In 1875 
 his bakery in Oshkosh was destroyed by 
 fire, and he removed to his present place 
 of business in South Oshkosh. 
 
 In November, 1869, Mr. Nicolai was 
 married, in Oshkosh, to Miss Josephine 
 Neis, and to them have been born four 
 children, two of whom survive, namely: 
 Gustave and Elizabeth, both residing in 
 Oshkosh. The family attend the services 
 of the Lutheran Church, except Elizabeth, 
 who is a member of the Episcopal Church. 
 In his political preferences Mr. Nicolai is 
 a Democrat; socially he is a member of 
 the South Side Turnverein. He has one 
 brother, Fred, living in Peitz, Germany; 
 another, Dr. Gustav, a resident of De- 
 troit, Mich., and a sister, Mary E., wife 
 of Robert Lasche, of Milwaukee, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 AUGUST HORN, one of the lead- 
 ing brewers of Winnebago county, 
 and whose business has been a 
 long established one in Oshkosh, 
 was born in Germany, August 6, 1835. 
 He is a son of Gottlieb and Barbara 
 (Meyerhoefer) Horn, and carne to Amer- 
 ica with his parents in 1852, being then 
 seventeen years old. 
 
 On reaching this country the family 
 journeyed to Winnebago count}', and lo- 
 cated in the town of Black Wolf. Very 
 early in his youth Mr. Horn learned the 
 trade of a stone and brick mason, and this 
 was his chief occupation up to 1866; he 
 also owned a farm, to the cultivation of 
 which he devoted a portion of his time. 
 In 1866 he engaged in the brewery busi- 
 ness in connection with Leonard Schwalm; 
 in 1875 Mr. Schwalm died, and being 
 succeeded by his son, Theodore, as part- 
 ner in the concern, the firm thus contin- 
 ued until dissolved by the death of Theo- 
 dore Schwalm, in 1888. Mr. Horn was 
 married in May, 1856, to Amelia 
 Schwalm, also a native of German}', born 
 August 24, 1834, and to them have been 
 born thirteen children, eight of whom are 
 yet living, as follows: Frederick C, 
 Emma M., Henry C. , Edwin A., Otto, 
 Charles G., Lydia and Amelia. Mr. Horn 
 is a member of the Sons of Hermann, 
 Turnverein, and the Casino; in politics 
 he is a Democrat. He is an enterprising 
 man, and one of the most substantial and 
 respected citizens of Oshkosh. 
 
 Charles G. Horn, a son of August 
 and Amelia (Schwalm) Horn, is one of 
 the most popular and wide-awake young 
 business men of Oshkosh, his native city, 
 where he was born May 6, 1865. He at- 
 tended the public schools and German 
 Academy of Oshkosh, then, after com- 
 pleting his education, learned telegraphy, 
 and was engaged as depot agent and for 
 about two years as operator at Norrie, 
 Wis. Returning to Oshkosh, he attended 
 the Business College at that place about 
 four months, after which he was engaged 
 in his brother's drug store for some two 
 
COMMEMORATIV}-: lUOGRAPIIWAL RECORD. 
 
 1185 
 
 years. He then attended the State Uni- 
 versity at Madison, Wis., two years, 
 graduating from that institution in the 
 class of '88. In that year he went to 
 Milvvaui<ee, where for eight months he 
 was engaged as a salesman in the drug 
 store of Widule & Conrad. In 1889 he 
 again returned to Oshkosh, and purchased 
 the drug business of P. A. Griffith, South 
 Oshkosh, conducting same until 1893, 
 when he sold out to N. C. Werbke, 
 and has since been connected with his 
 father's business as collector. He is also 
 manager of the Buyers & Merchants Ben- 
 efit Bureau. 
 
 On October 9, 1890, Mr. Horn was 
 married to Elizabeth Louisa Schmitt, 
 daughter of H. P. and Agnes Schmitt, 
 and they had born to them two children, 
 one of whom died ; the survivor is Ada, 
 born September 12, 1893. Mr. Horn is 
 a member of the South Side Turnverein, 
 and also of the Casino. 
 
 FRANK VOSBURG, a prosperous 
 farmer of Vinland township, Win- 
 nebago county, a worthy repre- 
 sentative of a worthy family, was 
 born August 9, 1851, on the old home- 
 stead farm of his father in Vinland town- 
 ship, Winnebago Co., Wisconsin. 
 
 His parents, Jeremiah and Maria 
 (Pryne) Vosburg, were natives of Herki- 
 mer' county, N. Y. , whence they came in 
 1847 to Wisconsin, settling on a farm in 
 Vinland township, Winnebago county, 
 where the mother died Jul}' 8, 1882, and 
 the father is yet living at the partriarchal 
 age of eighty-seven years, the owner of 
 300 acres of highly cultivated land in that 
 township. 
 
 Our subject received his education at 
 the schools of his native place, and early 
 in life commenced working on the home 
 farm, which he has never left. He was 
 married in Oshkosh, Wis,, January 18, 
 1876. to Miss Celia Dean, daughter of 
 Edwin and Harriet (Wilson) Dean, and 
 their union has been blessed with two 
 
 children — Hallie Gertrude, born June 28, 
 1880, and Chester Wilson, born August 
 20, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Vosburg in re- 
 ligious faith are members of the Baptist 
 Church, and in his political views he is a 
 Democrat. Honest and honorable in all 
 his dealings, a despiser of shams of all 
 kinds, and a hater of deceit and mendac- 
 ity, he has not only made, but secured 
 firm hold of, hosts of friends who respect 
 and honor him for his many virtues. 
 
 GEORGE H. VOSBURG, repre- 
 senting one of the oldest and 
 most honored families in Winne- 
 bago county, and _ who ranks 
 among the more prosperous and progress- 
 ive agriculturists of the county, is a native 
 of New York State, born in Herkimer 
 county January i, 1839. 
 
 He is a son of Jeremiah and Maria 
 (Pryne) Vosburg, also natives of Herki- 
 mer county, N. Y. , the latter of whom 
 died in Vinland township, Winnebago 
 county, Wis. , July 8, 1882. When our 
 subject was an eight-year-old lad his par- 
 ents brought him to Wisconsin (about the 
 year the Territory was elevated to the dig- 
 nity of a State), settling on a farm in Vin- 
 land township, Winnebago county. Here, 
 at the public schools of the locality, our 
 subject received his primary education, 
 which was supplemented with a two-year's 
 attendance at Hillsdale (Mich.) Academy, 
 whence on completion of his studies he 
 returned home. Soon afterward he took 
 up his residence in Oshkosh, and engaged 
 in the music and musical instrument bus- 
 iness for two years, at the end of which 
 time he embarked in lumbering and mill- 
 ing at Butte des Morts and Winneconne, 
 same county, which he continued ten 
 years, but for the past twenty years he 
 he has been engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits on the homestead farm in Vinland 
 township. 
 
 In 1866, in that township, Mr. Vos- 
 burg married Miss Louisa C. Allen, 
 daughter of Silas M. and Phoebe Allen, 
 
iiS6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 natives New York State, who came to 
 Winnebago county several years ago, and 
 to this union has been born one son named 
 Jeremiah. Our subject and wife are 
 members of the Baptist Church, and in 
 his poHtical affiHations he adheres to the 
 tenets of the Democratic party. He 
 takes an active interest in the affairs of 
 his township and county, and is a warm 
 advocate of all measures tending to the 
 advancement of educational interests, 
 and whatever may lead up to the peace 
 and happiness of his fellow citizens. 
 
 Jeremiah Vosburg, father of George 
 H., was probably the first one to settle 
 in Vinland township, and to-day is un- 
 doubtedly the oldest resident of the town- 
 ship. He was born in Herkimer county, 
 N. Y., in 1807, was reared to the voca- 
 tion of a farmer, and up to the time of 
 his retirement from active work a few 
 years ago was continuously engaged 
 thereat. In 1847, when forty j-ears old, 
 accompanied by his family, he came to 
 Wisconsin, and for one year lived on the 
 Gallup farm in Oshkosh township, Win- 
 nebago county, then moving into Vinland 
 township, where he had taken up land, he 
 literally hewed out for himself a new 
 home in the wooded wilds of this magni- 
 ficent region. With willing heart and 
 hands, stern resolutions, a vigorous con- 
 stitution, and, withal, indomitable will 
 power, he caused the giants of the forest 
 to bow the head and, retiring from their 
 "ancient solitary reign," give place to 
 fertile fields of golden grain and honey- 
 laden clover. Not only this, for he also, 
 with his own ungloved pioneer hand, and 
 without any outside assistance, cut his 
 own roads from the homestead to the 
 main thoroughfares, a herculean task 
 that few of the present generation can 
 correctly appreciate. His life, in fact, is 
 a history in itself, powerfully illustra- 
 tive of what can be attained bj' indomit- 
 able pluck and perseverance, and with 
 what fortitude the many privations and 
 hardships incident to pioneer life may be 
 endured by those who have the will to find 
 
 the way. Finis corona t opus — ' ' The end 
 crowns the work" — and Mr. Vosburg's 
 long life of toil and industry is rewarded 
 with 300 acres of the finest farming land 
 in Vinland township, all under cultivation. 
 He is still hale and hearty, though eighty- 
 seven years of age, forty-seven of which 
 he has passed on the scene of his pioneer 
 life in the wilds of \'inland township, Win- 
 nebago county. 
 
 FREDERICK MATHER McKEN- 
 ZIE, known in the business cir- 
 cles of Milwaukee and other por- 
 tions of the State of Wisconsin as 
 F. J. McKenzie (which change is due to 
 an accidental insertion of the initials " F. 
 J. " in an important legal document, at the 
 commencement of his business career), was 
 born May 24, 1836, in South Woodstock. 
 Vt. He is a son of Monroe and Clarinda 
 (Mather) McKenzie, also natives of Ver- 
 mont, and comes of Scottish ancestry, 
 one of his progenitors having been ' ' The 
 Monroe," chief of the McKenzie clan. 
 Our subject's grandfather McKenzie, who 
 was a 3-ounger son of this Highland chief- 
 tain, emigrated to America, in company 
 with two brothers, all three settling on 
 farms in \'ermont, near W'oodstock, Wind- 
 sor county. Coming of a traditional 
 hardy, long-lived race, they themselves 
 were robust, vigorous and stalwart, each 
 living to a good old age. Monroe Mc- 
 Kenzie, who was one of three children 
 born to his parents, the other two being 
 daughters, married Miss Clarinda Mather, 
 a descendant of the famous Cotton Mather, 
 of Salem, Mass., and by her had five chil- 
 dren, named respectively: Charlotte. 
 Frederick M., Pluma M., Monroe P. and 
 Eva G. The parents came west in the 
 summer of 1847, ^"^d settled near White- 
 water, Wis., where his father engaged in 
 business pursuits; he died at the advanced 
 age of sevent}-nine years, at Palmyra, 
 near Whitewater; the mother had pre- 
 ceded him to the grave, dying when 
 thirty-seven years old. 
 
^«J^s^l::i^l-v^^yti(\ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 189 
 
 Frederick M. McKenzie, the subject 
 of this sketch, received his primary edu- 
 cation at Palmyra, Wis., after which, at 
 the age of eighteen, he entered the Wis- 
 consin State University, and at the end 
 of two years took up the study of law, 
 which, however, he did not long continue, 
 as, becoming interested in a hardware 
 business in Milwaukee, it was some three 
 years before he found himself released 
 from the latter — too late, he realized, 
 to resume his law studies. He now 
 applied himself, heart and soul, to com- 
 mercial business, and in 1863 became a 
 partner in the wholesale house of Clar- 
 ence Shepard & Co., Milwaukee, he be- 
 ing the only active member of the firm, 
 to him alone falling due the credit of 
 building up the business, which rapidly 
 gained much prominence in commercial 
 circles. Mr. McKenzie had exclusive 
 charge of the entire business, which in 
 his hands grew to one of considerable 
 magnitude, and he became known as one 
 of the best buyers and business men in 
 Milwaukee; but at the end of his term of 
 co-partnership he sold out his interest and 
 withdrew from the firm, having accumu- 
 lated a well-earned competence. 
 
 Prior to this (and this was the main 
 reason of his retiring from business) he 
 by accident discovered that he possessed 
 remarkable power in the treatment of 
 disease, which so impressed him that 
 business and money-making lost to him 
 their charms. So he took the resolute 
 step of disposing of his interest in a grow- 
 ing and prosperous wholesale business, 
 which gave promise of making for him a 
 large fortune, to devote his time to the 
 relief and cure of the sick by the means 
 nature had given him. Before entering 
 this new field he spent two years in travel 
 in his own country, also nearly two years 
 in foreign travel, and for two years after 
 his return to America he held back, dread- 
 ing to break up the habits of his business 
 life and the associations of his social life, 
 both being necessar}' for the success in 
 his new field of labor. Rut finallv select- 
 
 ing Oshkosh, Wis., he commenced his 
 labors, working two years to make sure 
 that he really had the control over disease 
 which his first trials indicated, without 
 fee or cost to the patients, but exacting 
 the promise that his name should not be 
 given in connection with the treatment. 
 After performing many wonderful cures 
 his name got to the public through a cure 
 which was of more than ordinary interest 
 to the public, and from that day, now 
 seventeen years ago, to this he has been 
 overrun with practice, a great part of 
 which consists of what is medically con- 
 sidered hopeless cases: — Apoplectic par- 
 alysis, spinal paralysis, rheumatism in all 
 its protean forms, spinal curvatures, hip 
 disease, creeping paralysis, and many 
 others. 
 
 Courting free investigation and the 
 closest scrutiny of his curative power some 
 months ago, he had published in several 
 issues of the Daily Nort/nucstcni, of Osh- 
 kosh, the following card, which, with his 
 proposition made to the Wisconsin Med- 
 ical Society, shows his desire to be 
 judged onl}' on his merit: 
 
 My practice of si-xteeii years in Oshkosh 
 shows that I have helped ninety-nine out of one 
 hundred of those whom I have treated, and ex- 
 cluding deg'enerate diseases, such as pulmon- 
 ary consumption. Bright's disease and cancer, 
 have cured nine out of ten of those who have 
 given my treatment, as most have, reasonable 
 trial. My work of sixteen years is here to sus- 
 tain or refute this assertion, and, appealing to 
 it, I request those whom I have failed to help 
 or cure to inform the public of it; furthermore, 
 I ask those declaiuiers who seek to mislead the 
 public as to what I do, to name the cases where 
 I have failed to do what I have here asserted. 
 I disclaim in my treatment of disease any 
 agency or influence of a supernatural or myste- 
 rious origin, but that I impart to others a vital 
 force superior to their own, which organizes 
 and builds up diseased tissue, membrane and 
 bone to conditions of health, and whose action 
 is independent of the faith or belief of the 
 patient. That in neuralgic pain I give imme- 
 diate relief, and in rheumatic pain nearly im- 
 mediate. 
 
 To thi Prixideiit of t/ii Wisrimxin Mfilind Snriely: 
 De.'^R Sir: — As a finale to a discussion of 
 medical matters in the daily newspapers, I 
 have the honor of submitting to you the follow- 
 ing proposition: That I will treat any of the 
 
5 190 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 followinj,' acute diseases, viz.; Ouinsv, bron- 
 chitis, malarial, typhoid and scarlet fevers, 
 pleurisy, pneumonia, erysipelas, inllammation 
 of the bowels, measles, dysentery, whooping 
 coug-h, articular rheumatism and sciatica, in 
 any hospital in this State, or at anj' reason- 
 ably convenient place in the State, and that by 
 iny treatment I will brings the acute smyptoms 
 to a favorable termination in all of them in one- 
 half of the number of days given by Pepper in 
 his •■System of Practice," as the inevitable run, 
 whether treated bv drugfs, hydropathy, expect- 
 ant plan, or other known treatment, and in 
 several of said diseases I will abort them in 
 much less than one-half the time given by 
 Pepper, without the e.\hibition of medicine, but 
 by placing my hand upon the patients, and that 
 termination of acute symptoms will be reached 
 without complications or sequelae. That in 
 neuralgic pain I will give immediate relief, and 
 in rheumatic pain nearly immediate. "The 
 tnissiou of science is to studj" and sound every- 
 thing. All of us, according to our degree, are 
 creditors of investigation; we are its debtors 
 also. It is due to us, and we owe it to others. 
 To evade a phenomenon, to refuse to pay it 
 that attention to which it has the right, to bow 
 it out, to show it the door, to turn our back on 
 it, laughing, is to make truth a bankrupt, and 
 to leave the signature of science to be pro- 
 tested." 
 
 Awaiting your answer, I am. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 Oshkosh, Feb. 14, 1SS9. F. J. McKenzie. 
 
 The power Mr. McKenzie shows in 
 arresting and curing disease is truly won- 
 derful, and the work he is doing is bring- 
 ing him great fame wherever it is known. 
 
 JOHN R. DAVIS, Sr., was a man 
 loved and respected by all who knew 
 him. He was a native of Wales, 
 born near Aberystwith in April, 1817. 
 In Liverpool, England, he learned the 
 trade of carriage maker. On nearing his 
 majority he shipped on board a sailing 
 vessel bound for Canada, in the capacity 
 of carpenter. After landing in Quebec, 
 he worked there a few months as a pattern 
 maker. From this ' ' Gibraltar of Amer- 
 ica" he proceeded to New York, the 
 amount of money in his possession on 
 landing in that city being just si.v cents. 
 However, he soon found employment as 
 pattern maker, and, after working a time, 
 moved to Utica, N. Y., where he opened 
 a carriage and 'bus factory. Hearing, 
 
 however, of the bright prospects held out 
 in the West, more particularly in Wis- 
 consin, he pushed on westward, landing 
 in Milwaukee in 1846. Here he met and 
 married Miss Jane Jones, also a native of 
 Wales, to whom must be given no small 
 amount of credit for the patient industry 
 and economy which are such necessary 
 qualities in the helpmate of a man wish- 
 ing to attain to business success. She 
 is still living in Neenah at an advanced 
 age, respected by all who know her. 
 
 In Milwaukee, Mr. Davis carried on 
 a carriage factory till 1848, at which time 
 he came to Neenah. There he opened a 
 wagon shop, later engaging in mercantile 
 business. 
 
 In the course of time, he bought the 
 old government tlouring-mill, and, still 
 later, a half interest in a sawmill, both of 
 which were afterward destroyed by tire. 
 During the years 1872 and 1873 he was 
 also engaged extensively in lumbering on 
 the Wolf river. In 1873 he organized 
 the Winnebago Paper Co. , of which he 
 was president up to the time of his death. 
 When the mills commenced operations 
 they had a capacity of only 5,000 pounds 
 of paper per day, which output Mr. Davis 
 lived to see increased to nearly three times 
 that amount. The mills are owned en- 
 tirely by the Davis family. 
 
 Mr. Davis was a stanch Republican, 
 and held many ofifices of honor and trust. 
 In religious faith he was an adherent of 
 the M. E. Church. Socially he was a 
 Knight Templar. In 1882, he accom- 
 panied the Knights Templar of Chicago 
 in their European trip, and, among many 
 other places, visited his old home in 
 Wales, but found things so altered that 
 nothing could have prevailed on him to 
 remain. 
 
 John R. Davis, Sr., died June 7, 1885. 
 His funeral was one of the largest ever 
 seen in Neenah. Both great and small 
 came to pay tribute to him — the kind and 
 true friend — the good citizen — the pro- 
 gressive, energetic business man. To 
 him and his wife were born seven chil- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1191 
 
 dren, a brief record of whom is as fol- 
 lows: (i)JohnR. Davis.Jr., the eldest son, 
 is extensively engaged in lumbering; he 
 is the head of the John R. Davis Lumber 
 Co. (2) Myra, the only daughter, is the 
 wife of A. J. Whidden, and is living in 
 Omaha. (3) D. R. Davis, the second son, 
 is now living in Eau Claire, Wis. , and is 
 manager and president of the Dells Paper 
 and Pulp Co., who have just completed 
 extensive mills at that point. (4) Henry, 
 the fourth child, and third son, died at 
 the age of twenty-one; his life was not a 
 worthless one, however, as he left with 
 his brothers and sister the remembrance 
 and example of a beautiful uncomplain- 
 ing, unselfish Christian character. (5)Will- 
 iam L. , the fourth son, is the secretary 
 and treasurer of the Winnebago Paper 
 Mills at Neenah. (6) George A., the fifth 
 son, is secretary and manager of the Elec- 
 tric Light Co., of Neenah; and (7) Benja- 
 min W., the sixth and youngest son, is 
 secretary of the John R. Davis Lumber 
 Co. ; he was mayor of Phillips before its 
 burning, and had the honor of being the 
 youngest man ever elected to that of^ce 
 in the State. 
 
 THOMAS ROCHE, assistant chief 
 of the Oshkosh Fire Department, 
 and superintendent of the Fire 
 Alarm system, is a Canadian by 
 birth, having first seen the light May 17, 
 1842, in the Parish of St. George, Pro- 
 vince of Quebec. 
 
 His parents, William and Mary 
 (Wheatstone) Roche, who were natives 
 of County Kerry, Ireland, where they 
 married, immigrated May 7, 1 841, to Can- 
 ada, and about the year 1855 came to 
 the United States, ultimately to Oshkosh, 
 Wis., where the father died in 1884 and 
 the mother is yet living. They were the 
 parents of nine children — three sons and 
 six daughters — of whom two sons died in 
 Ireland and six are yet living, a brief 
 sketch of whom is as follows: Julia A., 
 widow of James R. Durfee, has her home 
 
 in Oshkosh; Mary, widow of Thomas 
 Delaney, resides in St. Paul, Minn. ; Mar- 
 garet, wife of John McCarthy, is also a 
 resident of St. Paul; Sarah, wife of John 
 McCormack, a railroad engineer, lives in 
 Oshkosh; Agnes is a teacher in the public 
 schools of Oshkosh; Thomas is the sub- 
 ject of these lines. 
 
 Thomas Roche was educated at the 
 schools of his native parish, and at the 
 age of thirteen years moved to the United 
 States with his parents, who, after so- 
 journing a short time in Kankakee, 111., 
 and Fond du Lac, Wis., came to Osh- 
 kosh. In early life he learned the trade 
 of a mechanical engineer, and for several 
 years was a steamboat engineer, filling 
 also various other positions on board 
 steamboats. In 1864 he enlisted in the 
 United States navy, and was assigned to 
 the steamship "Siren," on which he 
 served until the close of the war, when he 
 was honorably discharged at Mound City, 
 near Cairo, 111., then returned to Osh- 
 kosh, and for about four years followed 
 steamboating, afterward engaging in sta- 
 tionary engineering. In 1873 he joined 
 the Oshkosh Fire Department as engineer 
 of a steam fire engine, and under the ad- 
 ministration of Chief Weisbrod was pro- 
 moted to second assistant chief; in 1884 
 to assistant chief of the Department. For 
 the past fifteen years he has also been 
 superintendent of the Fire Alarm system, 
 and he is now the oldest continuous mem- 
 ber of the Fire Department under pay. 
 
 Mr. Roche has been twice married, 
 first time in Oshkosh, in 1869, to Miss 
 Elizabeth O'Leary, who bore him three 
 children, all yet living, as follows: Will- 
 iam, a resident of Phillips, Wis., Ger- 
 trude Elizabeth, a teacher in the public 
 schools of Oconto, Wis., and Beatrice 
 Mary, at home. In 1883 our subject 
 wedded Miss Augusta Dorothy Schultz, 
 by whom he has one child, named Dor- 
 othy Ellen. Mr. Roche is county presi- 
 dent of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, 
 and commander of John Scott Post No. 
 241, G. A. R. ; politically he is a stanch 
 
1 192 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOQUAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 Republican, and prior to the Civil War 
 was a pronounceci Abolitionist. He is, 
 taken all in all, a worthy, loyal citizen, 
 and in private life there is no man more 
 highly esteemed by the citizens of Osh- 
 kosh than Thomas Roche. 
 
 he 
 
 nil 
 
 Fki:i)i;kkk l. b.artlett, a 
 re|)resentative well-to-do agricul- 
 turist of V'inland township, Win- 
 nebago county, of which locality 
 has been an honored resident for well- 
 h half a century, is a native of Massa- 
 chusetts, born September 30, 1822, in 
 Hampshire count\-, of good old Puritan 
 stock. 
 
 Asa Hartlett, father of t)ur subject, 
 came to the then Territory of Wisconsin, 
 in 1843, locating in Walworth count\, 
 whence in about eighteen months he re- 
 mo\ed to Winnebago county, settling defi- 
 nitelv in X'inland township. He was a 
 wheelwright and wagonmaker by trade, 
 working at same for a consiilerable time 
 after coming here, but the later years of 
 his life were chiefly occupied in agricul- 
 tural pursuits. In Massachusetts he had 
 married Miss IClecta I'ease, and six chil- 
 dren were born to them, a brief record of 
 whom is as follows: Mar\' J., born Feb- 
 ruar\- 26, 1821, married Samuel I'ratt, 
 and died December 13, 1893; Frederick 
 L. is the subject of this sketch; Rhoda 
 Sojihia, born October 19, 1824, died 
 March 20, 1883; Harriet Sophronia, born 
 October 2},, i82('>, is the widow of Aretus 
 Crittenden, and resides in X'inlantl town- 
 ship, Winnebago county; Charles Henry, 
 born March 1, 1829, resides in Hund)oldt 
 county, Iowa (he served in the Federal 
 army during the war of the Rebellion, and 
 was severely wounded at the battle of 
 Gettysburg); Samuel Austin, born De- 
 cember 5, 1831, died in Ironton, Mo., 
 October 12, 1862, from hardships en- 
 dured while serving his country in the 
 Civil war. The father died in V'inland 
 township. Winnebago county, February 
 
 18, 1854, the mother in Granby, Mass., 
 September 30, 1841. 
 
 The subject proper of this biographi- 
 cal menioir received a liberal education 
 at the public schools of his native place, 
 and then for about one year worked in a 
 woolen mill in South Hadley, Mass., 
 later serving a four-year's apprenticeship 
 to the trade of blacksmith. In 1845 he 
 migrated westward to Wisconsin, and 
 locating in Fond du Lac, erected the 
 first blacksmith shop in that town, and 
 which was then owned by the Phinney & 
 Darling Stage Company. In this shop 
 Mr. Bartlett worked until coming, in 
 1848, to Winnebago county, settling in 
 V'inland township, where in 1846 he had 
 purchased 200 acres of land, building 
 thereon a frame dwelling house and a 
 blacksmith shop, which are still standing 
 on the farm. Here he has since made his 
 home, working at his trade (he being the 
 first blacksmith in this section of the 
 county) in connection with agricultural 
 pursuits until 1874, when, finding his farm 
 demanded his exclusive care and atten- 
 tion, he gave up blacksmithing and from 
 that day to'this has given his time entire- 
 ly to agriculture. 
 
 On June 22, 1848, Mr. Bartlett was 
 married at Fond du Lac to Miss Eliza- 
 beth Marilla Wilson, who was born Octo- 
 ber 13, 1828, at Whitesboro, Oneida 
 county, N. Y., daughter of Archibald S. 
 and Marilla (Stoddart) Wilson. No 
 children ha\e been born to this union. 
 Mrs. Bartlett came to V\'innebago coun- 
 ty June 22, 1848, and taught the hrst 
 school that was opened in the section of 
 the county in which they reside. Our 
 subject and his amiable life partner are 
 worthy members of the Presbyterian 
 Church, aiul in his political preferences 
 he was a Whig till the organization of the 
 Republican party, since when he has been 
 prominent in their ranks; he has served 
 his township as supervisor and treasurer, 
 one term each, and as clerk of the school 
 board several terms. Ever on the side of 
 progressiveness, he has done all in his 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 I '93 
 
 power to promote the welfare of his 
 township and count}'. He has won the 
 well-merited esteem and confidence of the 
 community at larye, and to-day ranks as 
 one of the leading and most worthy citi- 
 zens of Vinland township, where both he 
 and his wife are honored and respected 
 by all who know them. 
 
 WILLIAM PERRIN, for forty- 
 five years a well-known citi/;en 
 of Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 where for a long time he was 
 prominently identified with the hotel busi- 
 ness, but is now living retired, is a native 
 of England, born in Staffordshire, August 
 I, 1821. 
 
 He is a son of William and Mary (Grif- 
 fith) Perrin, of the same part of England, 
 who had a family of eight children, only 
 two of whom survive: William, and Jo- 
 seph, now a resident of Birkenhead, ling- 
 land. The parents, who were well-to-do 
 farming people, died in their native land, 
 the father in 1S77, the mother in 1851. 
 Our subject was educated at the schools 
 of his native place, and reared" to agricul- 
 tural pursuits on the home farm, a voca- 
 tion he followed in Staffordshire until 1S50, 
 when he emigrated to the United States, 
 landing in New York, whence he at once 
 proceeded westward via Erie canal to 
 13uffalo, thence steamship to Milwaukee, 
 and from there to Oshkosh by o.\-teams, 
 arriving in that then young city May 12, 
 same year. For the first three or four 
 years he was employed in sawmills, his 
 wages being paid in board, clothing, etc., 
 at exorbitant prices, but little cash be- 
 ing paid him. He then for eleven years 
 served as steward on steamboats, at the 
 e.xpiratioa of which time he commenced 
 the hotel business, first as landlord of the 
 "Seymour House," in South Oshkosh, 
 for two years; then of the "Adams 
 House," and "Grant House," two years 
 each, lastly the "Fowler House" until 
 the spring of 1S94, when he retired. 
 
 In 1 847 Mr. Perrin was married in 
 
 England to Miss Catherine Dobson, and 
 to them were born eight children, three 
 of whom survive, namely: Joseph (clerk 
 in the " Tremont Hotel," Oshkoshj, 
 Martha and Charles. The entire family 
 are identified with the Episcopal Church; 
 socially Mr. Perrin is a member of the 
 Knights of Pythias, in political prefer- 
 ences is a stanch Democrat, and in civic 
 matters he has served as alderman from 
 the First ward, one term. Now in his 
 seventy-fourth year, he is still hale and 
 hearty, retaining all his enthusiasm and 
 zeal of former years, in promoting the 
 welfare of his adopted city and county. 
 
 WILLIAM MONTROSE MOR- 
 GAN is a prominent well-known 
 figure on the streets of Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, his soldierly 
 well-proportioned frame, si.\ feet in 
 height, his frank and winning countenance 
 with brown thoughtful eyes, at once com- 
 manding the attention of passers-by. 
 
 Mr. Morgan is a native of Cuba, N. 
 Y., l)orn January 14, 1842, and is conse- 
 quently now in the heyday of advanced 
 manhood. As his name indicates, he 
 comes of Welsh ancestry, and his grand- 
 parents, who for a time lived in England, 
 emigrated from there to the United 
 States, making their first western home in 
 Vermont, later, in 181 2, moving to Alle- 
 gany county, N. Y. The grandfather, 
 whose name was Samuel Huntington 
 Morgan, was a colonel in the New York 
 militia, and his son, Charles, was a major. 
 On coming to western New York Col. 
 Morgan immediately took an important 
 part in the management of public affairs, 
 and for many years was a recognized 
 leader in the Whig party. He was a tall, 
 fine-looking man of commanding pres- 
 ence, and when in public was " the ob- 
 served of all observers." 
 
 His son, Charles, who was one of a 
 family of seven children, was born De- 
 cember 10, 1 81 3, in Rushford, Allegany 
 county, New York. 
 
1 194 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 William Montrose Morgan received a 
 liberal education at the schools of Osh- 
 kosh, was reared to agricultural pursuits, 
 and assisted his father in his business. At 
 the age of nineteen years, in the fall of 
 1 86 1, he enlisted in Company K, First 
 Wis. V. I., commanded by Col. John C. 
 Starkwether, of Milwaukee, which was 
 attached to the army of the Cumberland, 
 joining it at Louisville, Ky. Besides 
 being in numerous minor engage- 
 ments, he participated in the battles of 
 Murfreesboro, Stone River, Perryville, 
 and Chickamauga ; at Perryvillle twenty- 
 two men were shot down beside 
 him, but he escaped unharmed save a 
 slight bullet wound in the hand. At 
 Chickamauga he was captured, six thous- 
 and Federal troops having fallen into the 
 hands of the enemy. For a few weeks 
 our subject and the rest of the prisoners 
 were confined at Belle Isle, and were then 
 transferred to Richmond, Va., where 
 the rank and file were placed in various 
 buildings for security, such as warehouses, 
 etc.theofficersbeingincarceratedin Libby 
 Prison. The ensuing winter they spent 
 in Danville, Ky., and the following spring 
 were moved to Andersonville, whence 
 in September, 1864, they were sent to 
 Charleston, S. C,, and from there in a 
 few week's time to Florence, same State, 
 where they passed the winter of 1864-65. 
 On December i, 1864, Mr. Morgan and 
 twenty others were paroled to do outside 
 work, such as cooking the rations for the 
 rest of the prisoners. Things went on in 
 monotonous routine duties till February 
 28, 1865, when the impulse to make a 
 dash for the Union lines became so strong 
 that it culminated in our subject and the 
 twenty other paroled fellow prisoners plan- 
 ning their escape. At midnight they suc- 
 ceeded, in getting away from the prison; 
 but their absence was soon discovered, 
 and ne.xt morning bloodhounds were put 
 on their track. Mr. Morgan, however, 
 was far enough ahead to elude pursuit, 
 and for some ten days and nights slept in 
 the woods by day and cautiously pursued 
 
 his flight by night, every minute expecting 
 to be recaptured, and no doubt would 
 have been had he not been befriended by 
 negroes. On reaching the Pee Dee river, 
 he decided to work his way down that 
 stream, southward, but for a couple of 
 days aimlessly wandered about till 
 finally he discovered a boat, and throw- 
 ing himself into it he partly pad- 
 dled and partly drifted down the river. 
 Great was his joy when at last he 
 found the Union lines at Georgetown, S. 
 C. , and in a right ro3'al manner was he 
 welcomed back by his comrades in arms. 
 He was soon afterward taken on board 
 the flagship "Nipsic," Admiral Dahl- 
 gren, who after closely questioning him 
 had him cared for. and in a few dajs he 
 was put on board a transport ship bound 
 for Philadelphia, where he was placed 
 in charge of the provost-marshal who sent 
 him on to Washington, D. C, at which 
 city he got transportation to Milwaukee, 
 together with an honorable discharge. 
 Before closing the military record of Mr. 
 Morgan, it is but justice to say that he 
 desires to speak well of the kind treat- 
 ment he received at the hands of Confed- 
 erate officers during a portion of his im- 
 prisonment. He especially mentions 
 with gratitude the name of Col. Iverson, 
 of the Fifth Georgia Infantry, who placed 
 him in charge of the twenty men detailed 
 to do work for the rest of the prisoners; the 
 name of Adjt. Cheatam (brother of Gen. 
 Cheatam of the Confederate Army), who 
 treated him like a brother, and that of 
 Capt. Wirz (who was afterward hung), 
 who also showed him many kindnesses. 
 Altogether he was enabled to secure many 
 favors for not onlj- himself but the rest of 
 the unfortunate Union boys. He also re- 
 ceived provisions from home, as well as 
 clothing, all of which, and anything else 
 he might receive, either as a present or 
 in the way of compensation for odd jobs 
 done, he divided as far as possible among 
 the rest of the boys, and was even able to 
 give the friendly Confederate officers 
 something by way of a "treat." Mr. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I '95 
 
 Morgan avers that if the other twenty, 
 who made a break for Hberty with him, 
 had but followed his advice, they would 
 undoubtedly have reached the Union 
 lines in safety, as well as himself. 
 
 On his return to his old home our 
 subject followed agricultural pursuits on 
 his well-improved seventy-acre farm in 
 Black Wolf township, Winnebago coun- 
 ty, until the fall of 1892, when he was 
 elected on the Democratic ticket to the 
 office of register of probate. He was 
 married to Miss Isabella Harney, daughter 
 of John Harney, an honored pioneer of 
 Winnebago county, and nine children 
 have been born to them, to wit: Flora 
 M., Grace I., Libbie H., Charles F. , 
 Gertrude H., Harriet O., MoUie L. , 
 Neeley Emma and Carter Montrose. The 
 entire family are members of the Episco- 
 pal Church, and he is associated with the 
 A. O. U. W. and the G. A. R. 
 
 JACOB H. HEALY, junior member 
 of the firm of Cook & Healy, whole- 
 sale lumber dealers, is one of the 
 wide-awake and enterprising young 
 business men of Neenah, Winnebago 
 county. He has the honor of being a 
 native of Wisconsin, and well deserves 
 representation in this volume. Born in 
 Fond du Lac, April 2, 1863, he is a son 
 of Connor Healy, a native of Ireland, 
 born in 1832, and who came to America 
 when a lad of twelve years, becoming one 
 of the earliest settlers of Fond du Lac 
 county, having entered land from the 
 government near the city. There for a 
 time he followed farming, but, being by 
 trade a mechanic, he afterward became 
 foreman of a mill. At this writing he is 
 engaged in merchandising in Unity, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Connor Healy was united in marriage 
 with Miss Kate Cook, who was born in 
 Canada, in 1836, daughter of Andrew 
 Cook, one of the pioneer settlers of Fond 
 du Lac. Her mother was drowned when 
 the ill-fated steamer, "Lady Elgin," 
 
 went down in Lake Michigan. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Healy were born ten children: 
 Jacob H., Katie L., Hattie M., Lillie M., 
 Elmer W. , Edward and Ethel (all yet 
 living), and Henry, who died at the age 
 of eight years; Jennie, whose death oc- 
 curred at the age of three; and James M., 
 who passed away at the age of seventeen. 
 During the Civil war the father of this 
 family was numbered among the "boys in 
 blue" of the Second W'isconsin Cavalry. 
 When he first offered his services to the 
 government he was rejected, but after- 
 ward succeeded in enlisting and served 
 eighteen months. He votes with the 
 Republican party, and has held many 
 offices of trust, the duties of which he has 
 ever discharged with promptness and 
 fidelity. 
 
 The subject proper of this sketch ac- 
 quired his education in the common 
 schools of Fond du Lac, but his privileges 
 in that direction were somewhat limited 
 as he was only permitted to attend one 
 winter after attaining his thirteenth year. 
 He became familiar, however, with all the 
 duties of farm life, and to his father gave 
 the benefit of his services until sixteen 
 years of age, when he began clerking in 
 a general store in Unity, being thus em- 
 ployed for three years. Mr. Healy next 
 began learning the lumber trade in Spaul- 
 ding's lumber yard, where he continued 
 for one year, and, in 1885, he opened a 
 retail lumber yard in Revillo, S. Dak. , 
 continuing in business at that place until 
 1888. During that period he made use of 
 his government rights, securing three 
 tracts of land which he improved and sold 
 at a profit in 1888. In that year he again 
 changed his place of residence, locating 
 in Dawson, Minn., whei^e he also opened 
 a lumber yard. Eighteen months later 
 he sold this and returned to his native 
 State, locating in Neenah, where he has 
 since made his home. At first he took 
 charge of the wholesale lumber interests 
 of Henry Sherry, and efficiently managed 
 that business until 1S93, when he formed 
 a partnership with Mr. Cook in the same 
 
.96 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 line, under the firm name of the Cook & 
 Healy Lumber Company. 
 
 In 1 89 1 Mr. Healy was married to 
 Miss Fannie JBurton, a native of Plym- 
 outh, Wis., and a daughter of Isaac N. 
 and Louisa M. (Leach) Burton, the 
 former of whom, by vocation a car- 
 penter and farmer, was born in New 
 York, the latter in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Healy have one child. They are well- 
 known people in this community, and 
 have many warm friends who esteem 
 them highly. Mr. Healy takes consider- 
 able interest in civic societies, holding 
 membership with the Masonic fraternity, 
 the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, 
 and the Modern Woodmen of America. 
 In politics he is a Republican, and has 
 been elected to a number of public offices. 
 Ere he had attained his majority he was 
 chosen town clerk, and served in that 
 office and as deputy sheriff while in Unity. 
 At Dawson, Minn., he was a member of 
 the city council, and in the spring of 1894 
 was elected alderman of Neenah. In his 
 business dealings he has won the success 
 which is the reward of earnest and untir- 
 ing effort, and is now the possessor of a 
 comfortable competence. 
 
 HON. JOHN WATTAWA. In look- 
 ing around for men of vigorous 
 and forcible caliber who have taken 
 important and prominent part in 
 the affairs of men, the biographer is not 
 expected to deal only with valiant and 
 martial heroes, for in the world of science 
 and arts, the professions and politics of 
 the present day are found men of action, 
 capable and earnest, whose talents, enter- 
 prise and energy command the respect of 
 their fellow men, and whose lives are 
 worthy examples and objects of emula- 
 tion. That the life of such a person 
 should have its public record is peculiarly 
 proper, because a knowledge of men 
 whose substantial fame rests upon their 
 attainments, character and success, must 
 necessarily e.xert a wholesome influence 
 
 on the rising generation of the American 
 people. In this connection it is appro- 
 priate to review in this volume the cir- 
 cumstances of the life of John Wattawa, 
 of Kewaunee. 
 
 A native of Wisconsin, he was born 
 April 3, i860, in the city of Milwaukee, 
 a son of Matthias and Josephine (Havra- 
 nek) Wattawa, natives of Bohemia, the 
 father born in Milin, in 1818, the mother 
 in the village of Postezof, in 1S20. They 
 were married in Bohemia in 1837, and 
 came to the United States about the year 
 1855, making their first New-W^orld home 
 in Milwaukee. In i860, just after the 
 birth of their son John, they moved to 
 Kewaunee, where the family have since 
 made their home, the only death being 
 that of the much-beloved wife and moth- 
 er, who passed from earth in 1892, leav- 
 ing eight children: two sons — John, our 
 subject, and Charles Wattawa, an attor- 
 ney at Kewaunee — and six daughters. 
 
 John Wattawa is pre-eminently a self- 
 made man, one who in early boyhood 
 commenced life at the bottom round of 
 the ladder, and, unaided, worked his way 
 step by step to his present en\iable posi- 
 tion. At the age of ten years we find 
 him working in saw and shingle mills in 
 the summer seasons, and investing his 
 earnings and savings in an education at 
 the common schools of the locality. His 
 taste for reading in spare hours also 
 proved a strong motor in his after ac- 
 quirements, and at this day he stands 
 securely in the ranks of men whose hearts 
 are their books, events their tutors, and 
 great actions their eloquence. At the 
 age of sixteen years he succeeded in ac- 
 quiring an academic education, at which 
 time he commenced teaching, and for 
 several years thereafter he was principal 
 of the Ahnapee High School. When 
 twenty-one years old he was elected 
 county superintendent of the schools of 
 Kewaunee county, a position he filled 
 with eminent ability five years, during 
 which time he studied law, and in 1887 
 he was admitted to the bar, at once com- 
 
^^LyLtnS^ 
 
COMMEMOUA TI VE BIOaiiArU/CA L IlKCORD. 
 
 199 
 
 inencinp the practice of his profession in 
 in Kewaunee, where he soon became 
 prominent in the annals of the legal pro- 
 fession of the county. His legal business 
 has grown steadily, and he now enjoys the 
 most lucrative practice of any in the 
 county. Having come to Kewaunee in his 
 very infancy, Mr. Wattawa has grown up 
 with the city, and delights and prides him- 
 self in her growth and prosperity. As a 
 Democrat he has also always taken a deep 
 interest in the politics of both city and 
 county, each of which he has served in 
 various capacities, such as mayor of Ke- 
 waunee (1893-94), city attorney, member 
 of the council, county board (of which he 
 was chairman), etc. In the last Presi- 
 dential election he was a Presidential 
 elector, and, same election, was most 
 favorably considered before the conven- 
 tion, nominating the candidate for sena- 
 tor from his District, only lacking one 
 vote of securing the nomination. He 
 was president of the Young Mens' Dem- 
 ocratic Club of Kewaunee during the 
 campaign of 1888; was chairman of 
 the Democratic County Committee in 
 1886, a delegate to the State Con- 
 vention in 1888, and member of the 
 Democratic State Central Committee in 
 1894. He is recognized as an astute and 
 able leader of his party in Kewaunee 
 county, working faithfully for its success, 
 and, gifted as he is with a more than or- 
 dinary degree of energy and vigor, both 
 of mind and body, instinctive sagacity, 
 indomitable perseverance, great mental 
 resources and entire self command, he is 
 admirably constituted by nature to be a 
 leader of men, as is well exemplified by 
 his eminent success as a lawyer, public 
 speaker, legislator, and public official. 
 Of a generous, social and affable dispo- 
 sition, possessed of marked ability, and 
 physically of goodly proportions and com- 
 manding presence, he is one of the most 
 popular men in his part of the State, one 
 for whom, being yet a comparatively 
 young man, the future holds high honors 
 in store. His career in Kewaunee has 
 
 67 
 
 brought him in close contact and intimate 
 relations with the leading men of this 
 State, and it is safe to say that but few 
 men in Kewaunee retain the respect and 
 confidence of his fellow citizens in an 
 equal degree. 
 
 In the advancement of the commercial 
 and industrial interests of Kewaunee our 
 subject has been an earnest worker, and 
 was one of the organizers and the first 
 president of the Advancement Association, 
 the Kewaunee Furniture Company, and 
 Bohemian Printing Company. In Sep- 
 tember, 1893, he was appointed deputy 
 collector of United States Customs, and 
 is still serving in that office. Socially he 
 is a member of the I. O. O. F., Covenant 
 Lodge, No. 263, Kewaunee, and of the 
 C. S. P. S. 
 
 On January 8, 1887, at Manitowoc, 
 Wis., Hon. John Wattawa and Miss 
 Catherine Walsh, an amiable, talented 
 and highly educated lady, were united in 
 marriage. She was born April 24, 1861, 
 at Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Co., Wis., 
 daughter of Felix and Bridget (Comer) 
 Walsh, natives of Ireland, the father 
 born in County Armagh, the mother at 
 Castlebar, County Mayo; they were mar- 
 ried, in 1853, at Manitowoc Rapids, Wis., 
 and had a family of nine children, eight 
 of whom were educated to become teach- 
 ers — in which profession Mrs. Wattawa, 
 as an educator of great superiority, held 
 prominent place some five years — three of 
 the sons subsequently taking up law: 
 Henry C, now practicing in Redfield, S. 
 Dak.; Thomas J. in Helena, Mont., and 
 John in Kewaunee. Felix Walsh was one 
 of the earliest settlers of Two Rivers, hav- 
 ing removed thither about the year 1845, 
 then but a boy, becoming a prominent 
 business man and one of the most influ- 
 ential and highly honored citizens of the 
 place, and dying there in 1891. He was 
 a strong advocate of the public-school 
 system, and did much toward the building 
 up of Two Rivers, and the furthering of 
 all enterprises tending to the advance- 
 ment and prosperity of the connnunity at 
 
] 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD. 
 
 large. His widow is still residing at Two 
 Rivers. To Mr. and Mrs. Wattawa have 
 come four children, to wit: Virginia, born 
 August 12, 1888; John H.,born May 31, 
 i8gi; Katharine E., born December 21, 
 1892, and Esther, born December 29, 
 1894. 
 
 In 1894 Mr. Wattawa built his ele- 
 gant and commodious modern residence 
 in Kewaunee, which in its entirety, to- 
 gether with the surroundings, presents a 
 most pleasing and fascinating scene to the 
 eye. It is a model of good taste, both 
 within and without, and is situated on one 
 of the most picturesque locations in the 
 city, commanding as it does an enchant- 
 ing view of the harbor and Lake Michi- 
 gan — without doubt one of the grandest 
 sites on the lake shore for a home. The 
 grounds, which extend to the very edge 
 of the lake, are tastefully kept and orna- 
 mented with lawns, pathways and shrub- 
 ber}', in every respect presenting the re- 
 flex of the cultivated minds of the owners. 
 Here, released from the cares of business, 
 Mr. Wattawa retires to find a solace in 
 the companionship of his amiable and ac- 
 complished wife and four interesting little 
 olive branches. True to his family, faith- 
 ful to his friends, generous to his oppo- 
 nents, Hon. John Wattawa justly enjoys 
 the distinction of being esteemed by all 
 alike as an honorable, upright citizen. 
 
 GEORGE MAYER. Among the 
 solid representative self-made 
 men, for which the Fox River 
 Valley is famed, none stands more 
 prominent, especially among the typical 
 sturdy and intellectual German element, 
 than the gentleman here named. 
 
 He was born in Germany April 24, 
 1826, son of Joseph and Maria J. (Wild- 
 biller) Mayer, natives of Bavaria, Ger- 
 many, and in his native land secured a 
 good public-school education, on com- 
 pleting which he entered his father's shop 
 as an apprentice to the watch and clock 
 making business. The father being a 
 
 practical mechanic as well as a manu- 
 facturer of tower and steeple clocks, be- 
 sides a smaller grade of goods, the lad 
 readily became an expert mechanic, and, 
 in course of a short time, master of his 
 trade. In 1849, at the age of twenty- 
 three years, he emigrated to the United 
 States, landing at New York, whence he 
 at once came westward to Wisconsin, and 
 taking up his residence in Milwaukee 
 worked at his trade there for some twelve 
 months, or until 1850, in which year he 
 came to Oshkosh. Although the outlook 
 at that time for anj' business in his line 
 was far from encouraging, the place at 
 that time being little better than a frontier 
 town of a few hundred inhabitants, yet 
 Mr. Mayer had sufficient confidence in its 
 possibilities and prospects to cast his lot 
 with it; and not unwisel}', as it proved, 
 for he was neither deceived nor disap- 
 pointed, his labors, after a short time of 
 industry and close application to business, 
 being rewarded with a success far beyond 
 his most sanguine expectations. In 1858, 
 just eight years after coming to Oshkosh, 
 he erected the fine three-story brick build- 
 ing he still owns, situated at the south 
 end of Main street, and as he has now 
 been a resident of the city forty-five years 
 he has of necessity been closely identified 
 with the material growth and history of 
 what is now one of the finest and most 
 prosperous cities in the valley. He was 
 an intimate friend of the historic Chief 
 Oshkosh, and earned his eternal gratitude 
 by making him a present of a large brass 
 chain with which the Chief was intensely 
 delighted, taking great pains to display it 
 on all public and private occasions of any 
 importance. 
 
 In October, 1850, Mr. Ma3er was 
 married in Oshkosh to Miss Walburga 
 Unmuth, daughter of Nickolaus and Mar- 
 garet (Smith) Unmuth, also natives of 
 Germany and early settlers of Oshkosh. 
 To this union were born nine children, 
 of whom two died in infancy; one 
 daughter died January 25, 1881, aged four 
 years; and one son, Maximilian, passed 
 
COMMEMORAriVK BIOGRAPHICAL RliCOliD. 
 
 1 201 
 
 away at Appleton, Wis., January 25,1 892, 
 at the age of thirty-eight years; the remain- 
 ing five are as follows: Mary, wife of 
 Charles Ritter, a prominent merchant of 
 Ashland, Wis. ; George L. , a brief sketch 
 of whom follows; Albert, a resident of 
 Oxford, Mich. ; Robert, of Murphysboro, 
 III.; and Eugene G., a prominent jeweler 
 of Appleton, Wis., at present carrying on 
 the business of his deceased brother, 
 Ma.ximilian. In his political preferences, 
 our subject is a Democrat, but no aspir- 
 ant for office, and although frequently 
 tendered positions of trust and honor has 
 invariably declined them on the grounds 
 that his business requires all his attention; 
 nevertheless he has served the city faith- 
 fully as alderman one term, an incum- 
 bency he was elected to much against his 
 wishes. He has lived an upright, honor- 
 able and useful life, and has made many 
 warm personal friends, not to speak of 
 hosts of acquaintances all over the State, 
 by whom he is well known and respected. 
 By the substantial record he has made, 
 his character is beyond reproach, and as 
 a citizen he ranks among the best, most 
 loyal and most useful. Mentally, morally 
 and physically, he is a splendid specimen 
 of a man. An active, liberal, well-trained 
 mind; a noble, frank and generous dispo- 
 sition; and a heart full of honest impulse 
 and patriotic devotion to the right, are 
 united to a well-knit muscular frame, a 
 strongly-marked countenance, and a pres- 
 ence which commands respect, and chal- 
 lenges admiration and confidence. On 
 September 4, 1879, Mr. Mayer was called 
 upon to mourn the decease of his faithful 
 wife, who died of typhoid fever, and he 
 then gave up storekeeping, opening a 
 workshop, which he carried on until a 
 year ago. 
 
 Joseph and Maria J. (Wildbiller) 
 Mayer, parents of our subject, came to 
 the United States in 1853, and made 
 their home with their son George, in 
 Oshkosh. Here the mother died about 
 a year after their arrival, and about two 
 years later the father returned to his na- 
 
 tive land, where he passed away in 1876, 
 at the advanced age of eightN'-si.x years. 
 Of their family of three children two are yet 
 living — George, and Leonard, a promi- 
 nent, well-known and highly respected 
 grocery merchant of Oshkosh. John B. 
 Mayer (a brother of Joseph Mayer, and 
 uncle of our subject), an extensive cotton 
 manufacturer of Bavaria, Germany, is 
 yet living at the patriarchial age of ninety- 
 six years, still hale and hearty and ac- 
 tively engaged in business. 
 
 George L. Mayer, eldest surviving 
 son of George and Walburga (Unmuth) 
 Mayer, was born March 18, 1856, in 
 Oshkosh, Wis. , where he was reared and 
 educated, and where he is now carrying 
 on business as a leading jeweler and 
 watchmaker. Like his father he is a 
 natural-born mechanic, and a thorough 
 master of his business. He was married 
 in Oshkosh, in April, 1879, to Miss Annie 
 Huse, daughter of Jacob Huse of that 
 city, and their union has been blessed 
 with onfe child, Ernie W. , born Septem- 
 ber 10, 1880. George L. Mayer, as a 
 thoroughly enterprising young man, is 
 well and favorably known to the public, 
 and highly esteemed for his superior abil- 
 ity, keen intelligence and unswerving in- 
 tegrity. He brings an active experience 
 to bear on his business, and as a thorough 
 expert jeweler and watchmaker he has no 
 superior, unless it be his own father. 
 His store, which is situated in the busi- 
 ness center of Main street, is tastefully 
 and appropriately fitted up for the suc- 
 cessful prosecution of his business, and 
 his stock, which is a large and varied 
 one, includes every article to be found in 
 a first-class jewelry and watch-making 
 establishment. 
 
 CAPTAIN HENRY C. JOHNSON, 
 an (5ld pioneer settler of Oshkosh, 
 ^^'innebago county, with the rise 
 and progress of which city he has 
 been identified for the past forty-five 
 years, is descended from those old-time 
 
\ 
 
 1302 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BWOEAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 grim and warlike Norsemen who by their 
 prowess in arms were wont in their day 
 to make half the world tremble, either 
 on sea or on land. By reason of his 
 somewhat romantic association with, and 
 active work in, the early opening up of 
 trade in the Fox River Valley, Mr. John- 
 son well merits prominent place in the 
 pages of this Biographical Record. 
 
 He was born February 20, 1824, in 
 the seaport village of Farsund, Norway, 
 a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Hansen) 
 Johnson, who were the parents of nine 
 children, all of whom were born in Nor- 
 way, and si.\ of whom are yet living, a 
 brief record of them being as follows: 
 Jacob is a resident of Sturgeon Bay, 
 Wis. ; Henry C. is the subject of this 
 sketch; Amelia is the widow of C. F. 
 Reid, and is now living in Oshkosh; Eve- 
 line is the wife of E. L. Larsen, of Stur- 
 geon Bay; Kerna is the wife of Henry 
 Harris, of Philadelphia, Penn. ; Pavalena 
 lives in Chicago, 111. ; Philip served as a 
 soldier in the Union army, and died at 
 Sturgeon Bay; Peter is deceased; Martina 
 married Peter Berg, and died at Madison, 
 Minn. In 1848 the parents, accompa- 
 nied by one son, Philip, and five daugh- 
 ters, immigrated to the United States, 
 coming direct from the port of debarka- 
 tion to Wisconsin, and first locating in 
 Milwaukee, but in 1850, cholera having 
 broken out in that city, they moved to 
 Green Bay, thence, one year later, to 
 Sturgeon Bay, Door county, where the 
 father followed a seafaring life on the 
 lakes up to the age of sixty years, at 
 which time he retired from active labor. 
 He there died February 18, 1894, at the 
 patriarchal age of ninety-three years, 
 three months, being at the time of his 
 death the oldest man in Door county; 
 his wife Elizabeth passed away in Stur- 
 geon Bay when aged about eighty-five 
 years; both are buried in the Riverside 
 cemetery at Sturgeon Bay. 
 
 Our subject received but a limited 
 education at the public schools of his 
 native place, and at the age of fourteen 
 
 years went to sea, serving the customary 
 apprenticeship. When about fifteen 
 years of age, while out fishing with his 
 father and others in the sea north of Nor- 
 way, three whales came up under and 
 near their boat, which capsized, throwing 
 out the occupants. Mr. Johnson was 
 thrown on the back of one of the mon- 
 sters, which sank immediatelj', leaving 
 him struggling in the water, but he was 
 soon rescued. He is undoubtedly the 
 only man in Oshkosh who has ever taken a 
 ride on a whale's back in its native ele- 
 ment. When eighteen years old he was 
 cadet on a Norwegian man-of-war, the 
 "North Star," serving eighteen months. 
 He first came to New York in 1844, and 
 made three trips from that port and Phil- 
 adelphia to Ireland, carrying food to re- 
 lieve those suffering from the famine in 
 that country. In 1845 he was at Algiers 
 during the French and Turkish war there. 
 In 1846 he was serving as sailor on a 
 Spanish vessel, smuggling arms and other 
 munitions of war into Mexico, during the 
 war between that countrj' and the United 
 States. In 1 848 he was on a vessel in 
 the Gulf of Mexico which was wrecked, 
 but the crew clung to the wreck and were 
 finally rescued and taken to New York; 
 part of the cargo of the wrecked vessel 
 were thirtj' kegs full of Mexican dollars, 
 which had been taken in exchange for 
 bullets. During his career as a saltwater 
 sailor Mr. Johnson visited nearly every 
 part of the known world, experiencing 
 not a few thrilling escapes from death, 
 and having served on ships belonging to 
 the Norwegian, Danish, Spanish, English, 
 Dutch and American nations, he speaks 
 no less than five different languages, and 
 for many years acted as interpreter for 
 the early settlers of this portion of Wis- 
 consin, also frequently piloting them to 
 their own homes in the then wilderness. 
 In 1849 Mr. Johnson made his first 
 visit to Oshkosh, but after a short time 
 he went south to New Oreleans, from 
 there proceeding to New York, and thence 
 to Milwaukee, where he purchased a small 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 203 
 
 schooner of about twenty tons burden, 
 and having lo;»ded her with general mer- 
 chandise he set sail with her for Oshkosh, 
 intending to do some trading by the way. 
 The cruise was from Milwaukee, coasting 
 northward till he came to the northeast 
 extremity of Door county, thence up 
 Green Bay southwest to the city of that 
 name, then up the Fox river to Kaukauna, 
 where, felling some trees out of which 
 they made a truck and wheels, he got his 
 little vessel onto the improvised conve)- 
 ance, and then hauled her by means of 
 oxen twenty-one miles across country to 
 Appleton. Here they launched the craft 
 and proceeded on their voyage to Osh- 
 kosh, which was reached in June, 1849, 
 since when Mr. Johnson has made the 
 place his home. He afterward used his 
 schooner as a freight and passenger vessel 
 on Lake Winnebago, and for general trad- 
 ing purposes, at which time there was but 
 one other vessel in the business on that lake 
 In I 85 I, in company with Abel Neff and 
 John Williams, he built a much larger 
 vessel than the one he brought from Mil- 
 waukee, and this he sailed on Lake Win- 
 nebago four years; in 1855 he and Mr. 
 Neff constructed a steam tugboat, which 
 they used on the lake conjointly, and from 
 that date until 1879, our subject continued 
 steamboating; the three years following — 
 1 880-8 1 -82 — he followed agricultural pur- 
 suits in Omro township, where he still owns 
 a well-cultivated farm of 160 acres. Sub- 
 sequent to this he was baggage master for 
 the Lake Shore & Western Railroad Com- 
 pany, at Oshkosh, three years, and for 
 the past nine years he has been engaged 
 in the manufacture of tents, awnings, 
 flags, hammocks and articles of that na- 
 ture, in which business his son, David E., 
 has been a partner since 1889. 
 
 In 1 85 1 Mr. Johnson was united in 
 marriage, at White Water, Wis., with 
 Miss Margaret Helverson, also a native 
 of Norway, and six children, as follows, 
 have been born to them: Christ P., liv- 
 ing in Fargo, N. Dak. ; David E. , Henry, 
 George, Margaret ( wife of Joseph 
 
 McGuire) and Amelia (wife of George 
 Reeves), all residents of Oshkosh. Of 
 these, David E., who is in partnership 
 with his father in business, was born in 
 Oshkosh in i860, and September 22, 
 1884, was married in Omro to Miss Annie 
 Abram, daughter of John and Bridget 
 Abram, Americans by birth and of Irish 
 descent. Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. John- 
 son and family attend the Episcopal 
 Church, and in his political views he is a 
 stanch Republican. We have said in 
 the earlier part of this sketch that he ex- 
 perienced some thrilling escapes from 
 death during his adventurous career as a 
 saltwater sailor; but not the least Provi- 
 dential one of his life was after he had left 
 the sea. In the accident which, on Octo- 
 ber 29, 1859, befel the first excursion 
 train that ran from Oshkosh on the Chi- 
 cago & Northwestern railroad, he and 
 William Armstrong were the only two 
 persons out of eleven in the smoking-car 
 who escaped, all the others being either 
 killed or so seriously hurt as to die subse- 
 quently from the injuries received. Mr. 
 Johnson was so severely injured that it 
 took nearly three years to fully recover. 
 The accident was caused by the train 
 running into an ox on the track, and be- 
 ing thereby derailed. 
 
 JOHN PRATSCH, member of the 
 firm of Cornelius & Pratsch, propri- 
 etors of the Tin, Copper and Sheet 
 Iron Works, Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, is a native of that city, born Sep- 
 tember 9, 1859. 
 
 He is a son of John and Ann (Pres- 
 feund) Pratsch, natives of Vienna, Aus- 
 tria, who in 1850 immigrated to the 
 United States, and coming to Wisconsin 
 for a time resided in Milwaukee, whence 
 at the end of a year they removed to Osh- 
 kosh, where they passed the rest of their 
 lives, the father dying August 11, 1888, 
 the mother in October, 1869. The father 
 was a prominent hardware merchant and 
 tinsmith in Oshkosh, and a highly es- 
 
I204 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 teemed and useful ritizen, one who when 
 he died left beliind the heritage of a good 
 name and unsullied reputation. Eight 
 children were born to this honored couple, 
 seven of whom are yet living, as follows: 
 Gustavus G., a hardware merchant of De- 
 Pere, Wis.; Annie, residing in Oshkosh; 
 Alvina, wife of John C. Phelpps, residing 
 in Antigo, \\'is. ; John, the subject of this 
 sketch; Mary and Victoria, living in Osh- 
 kosh, and Josephine, wife of George E. 
 Gillen, now residing in Racine, Wiscon- 
 sin. 
 
 John Pratsch, whose name opens this 
 sketch, received a liberal education at the 
 public schools of his native city, after- 
 ward learning his trade of tinsmith. In 
 January, i8gi, he commenced business 
 for himself in Oshkosh, and in August, 
 1892, formed a co-partnership with Frank 
 B. Cornelius in their present prosperous 
 business. On June 5, 1885, Mr. Pratsch 
 was united in marriage with Miss Caroline 
 Mueller, daughter of William and Caro- 
 line Mueller, and four children have come 
 to brighten the home, their names and 
 dates of birth being as follows: Edna 
 Mary Esther, May 2, 1886; John Henry, 
 August 13, 1888; Victoria Annie, October 
 31, 1890; and Alvina Louisa, November 
 2, 1893. Possessed of industry, honesty, 
 integrity and other qualities, Mr. Pratsch 
 has made a success of life, and as a genial 
 friend and loyal citizen there is none more 
 ])opular in Oshkosh. 
 
 FRANK B. CORNELIUS, of the 
 firm of Cornelius & Pratsch, pro- 
 prietors of the Tin, Copper and 
 Sheet Iron Works, Oshkosh, Win- 
 nebago county, one of the most energetic 
 and progressive business men of the city, 
 was born March 5, 1855, at East Mead- 
 ows, Long Island. He is a son of Ben- 
 jamin and Lucy (Andrews) Cornelius, 
 both also natives of Long Island, the 
 former of whom died in Philadelphia in 
 April, 1894, the latter now residing in 
 Oshkosh, Wis. Their familv consisted 
 
 of two children: Frank B., and Sarah, 
 wife of Hamilton Beardley, agent for 
 Bradstreet's- Mercantile Agency in Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Our subject was reared and educated 
 in Hoboken, N. Y. , and after completing 
 his school training came to Oshkosh, ar- 
 riving May I, 1870, having now been a 
 continuous resident of the place for over 
 twenty-four years. Immediately upon 
 his arrival here he engaged as a salesman 
 in the hardware store of K. M. Hutchi- 
 son, in whose employ he remained until 
 1892, a period of twenty-two years, at 
 which time the business was closed up, 
 owing to the death of Mr. Hutchison. 
 During his last eight years in that store 
 our subject had sole charge, attending to 
 both buying and selling, and, after the 
 death of the proprietor, the settling up 
 of the estate. In August, 1892, he 
 formed a co-partnership with John Pratsch 
 in their present business, which is one of 
 the most prosperous industries in Oshkosh. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Cornelius was married in 
 Oshkosh to Miss Lizzie M. Hine, daugh- 
 ter of Douglas and Sarah Hine, natives 
 of New York State, who came to Osh- 
 kosh in 1 87 1, and this union has been 
 blessed with two children, to wit: Ben- 
 jamin, born February 26, 1880, and Roy 
 Douglas, born December 17, 1884. By 
 strict attention to business, and thorough 
 workmanship, the firm of Cornelius & 
 Pratsch have succeeded in building up, 
 within a very few years, a large and rap- 
 idly increasing trade, and they well merit 
 the liberal patronage bestowed upon 
 them. 
 
 HARRY LIVINGSTON BATTIS, 
 ]^roprietor of the Union Boiler 
 Works, in the city of Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, where he is 
 recognized as one of her most progressive 
 and prosperous citizens, is a native of 
 the place, born October 4, i8i;7. 
 
 Martin Tu.xbury Battis, his father, 
 was born October 28, 1832, in Boston, 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1205 
 
 Mass., and there learned the trade of 
 boiler maker. In 1849, being seized with 
 the "gold fever," so prevalent in those 
 days, he set out for California, where he 
 passed his time for the next seven years 
 — three in the gold fields and four at his 
 trade in San Francisco. In August, 1856, 
 he came to Oshkosh, and was a resident 
 of the place nearly thirty years, during 
 which time, in addition to the manufact- 
 uring of boilers, he was for five years a 
 member of the firm of Beckwith & Co., 
 manufacturers of agricultural implements, 
 and for several years he conducted a saw- 
 milling business. He died September 23, 
 1885, and after his death his business was 
 continued by his sons, Harry L. and Allen 
 P., under the firm name of Battis Bros., 
 till May 16, 1894, when the partnership 
 was dissolved, our subject conducting the 
 business from that time forward as sole 
 proprietor. 
 
 On July II, 1854, Martin T. Battis 
 was married in Boston, Mass., to Miss 
 Sarah Ellen Osgood, a native of Salem, 
 Mass., and four children were born to 
 them, three of whom are yet living — 
 Harry Livingston, Allen Prescott and 
 Martin T. , Jr., all residents of Oshkosh, 
 where they were born. Mr. Battis, dur- 
 ing his residence in Oshkosh, was chief 
 of the Fire Department about fifteen 
 years, and member of the City Council 
 many years. He was prominently iden- 
 tified with the F. & A. M. as member of 
 St. John's Lodge, No. 27, having attained 
 the 32nd degree, and he was also a mem- 
 ber of the K. of P. A most exemplary 
 man, he was honored and respected for 
 his many noble traits of character and 
 upright business principles, and his widow 
 is one of the most esteemed citizens of 
 Oshkosh, beloved by all who know her. 
 The entire family are identified with the 
 Episcopal Church. 
 
 Harry L. Battis received his educa- 
 tion at the public schools and Business 
 College of Oshkosh, and, having com- 
 pleted his literary training, commenced 
 learning the trade of boiler maker in his 
 
 father's shop, in which line of business he 
 has ever since remained. A Republican 
 in politics, he served his fellow citizens 
 as alderman from the First ward of Osh- 
 kosh six years, with credit to himself and 
 satisfaction of his constituents. Socially 
 he is a member of Centennial Lodge No. 
 205, F. & A. M., and of Wisconsin Con- 
 sistory; is also affiliated with the K. of 
 P. He is an energetic, sound business 
 man, prominently identified with the 
 manufacturing industries of his native 
 city, and taking a lively interest in all 
 things pertaining to its welfare. 
 
 WILLIAM PHILLIPS. The ro- 
 mantic and rugged home of the 
 Welsh people, the land of the 
 ancient C3'mri, who from their 
 wild mountain fastnesses for centuries de- 
 fied the hordes of foreign invaders, has 
 produced some of the best citizens of 
 which this broad land can boast. Not 
 the least of these is the subject of this 
 sketch, who is one of the earliest settlers 
 of Winnebago county, and for the past 
 twelve years has been living a retired life 
 in Oshkosh. 
 
 Mr. Phillips was born November 13, 
 1828, in Pembrokeshire, Wales, son of 
 Daniel and Sophia (Phillips) Phillips. 
 When he was yet a boy his parents emi- 
 grated to the United States, he accom- 
 panying them, and for a time they so- 
 journed in Utica, N. Y. , from there re- 
 moving to Portage county, Ohio, and 
 thence, in about the year 1849, coming 
 to Wisconsin, making a final settlement 
 in Nekimi township, Winnebago county, 
 where they both ended their days, the 
 father dying in 1866, the mother in No- 
 vember, 1869. 
 
 Our subject received a conmion-school 
 education in Utica, N. Y., and there 
 learned the trade of blacksmith, which he 
 followed until within the last twelve years, 
 when owing to ill health he had to abandon 
 it; in fact, he has not been engaged in any 
 laborious occupation since. While a resi- 
 
[2o6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 dent of Nekimi township he followed agri- 
 culture to some extent, in connection with 
 his blacksmithing business. In 1874 he 
 removed into the city of Oshkosh, where 
 he has since had his home, now keeping 
 a store at No. 247 Angor St., in South 
 Oshkosh. On Christmas Day, 1868, Mr. 
 Phillips was married to Mrs. Hannah Hol- 
 land {ne'e Phillips), widow of John Hol- 
 land. She was born in Cardiff, Wales, 
 May 27, 1826, daughter of John and Mary 
 (McConky) Phillips. They have no chil- 
 dren. 
 
 AUGUST C. VOSHARDT, editor 
 and proprietor of the Kewaunee 
 lintcrprisc. It is one of the most 
 encouraging facts which can any- 
 where exist that, in this country, a large 
 proportion of those individuals, who by 
 professional acquirements and talents 
 have attained a greater or less degree of 
 prosperity, have risen by their own exer- 
 tions. In the lives of such men as the 
 subject of this sketch there is always to 
 be found something to encourage the ex- 
 ertions of those youths who, without for- 
 tune or influential friends, are struggling 
 to overcome obstacles in the acquire- 
 ment of position and independence. 
 
 Mr. Voshardt was born February 14, 
 1859, at Robden, near Minden, Germany, 
 son of Henry and Louisa (Buschmann) 
 Voshardt, who had a family of nine chil- 
 dren — six sons -and three daughters — six 
 of whom are yet living, our subject being 
 the eldest son. In 1861 the family emi- 
 grated to America, arriving at New York 
 May I, whence they immediately journe3'ed 
 farther westward till they reached Wis- 
 consin, where, at Two Rivers, Manito- 
 woc county, they made their new western 
 home. August C. was at that time two 
 years old, so all his education, which was 
 limited to but a few years' attendance at 
 the conmion schools, was received in this 
 country, substantially backed by his ex- 
 perience in the printing office. At the 
 age of thirteen he moved to Kewaunee, 
 
 and commenced learning the printing 
 business in the office of the Enterprise, 
 published at that town and then owned 
 by the late John M. Read. After serving 
 an apprenticeship of three years he re- 
 turned to Two Rivers, and again attended 
 public school, but after six months en- 
 tered the office of the Mani/on'oe County 
 Clironiclc, at Two Rivers, where, with 
 the exception of one year, he worked un- 
 til the close of 1882. 
 
 On January 5, 1883, he again came 
 to Kewaunee, and purchased the Enter- 
 prise printing plant and newspaper of E. 
 Decker and V. Mashek, who had secured 
 possession of the paper a few months 
 after the death of the previous owner, 
 Mr. Read. Mr. Voshardt continued to 
 publish the paper as an eight-column 
 folio until August 14, 1 891, at which time 
 it was enlarged to a six-column quarto. 
 In March, same year, a new latest-im- 
 proved cylinder press was purchased to 
 supplant the old Washington hand press, 
 steam power being also added to the 
 plant, and the Enterprise, under the able 
 management and editorship of its propri- 
 etor, has taken prominent rank among the 
 ambitious newspapers of northern Wis- 
 consin. It is one of the oldest papers in 
 the State, the first issue having been pub- 
 lished June 22, 1859, and has been con- 
 stantly increasing in circulation. It man- 
 fully supports the principles of the Demo- 
 cratic party, and moreover is a bright, 
 newsy all-round home journal. 
 
 On September 22, 1883, Mr. Vos- 
 hardt was married to Miss Katie L. Apel, 
 who was born at Two Rivers, Wisconsin, 
 and one son, Orme, was born to them 
 January 5, 18S5. Socially our subject is 
 a member of Key Lodge, F. & A. M., 
 Covenant Lodge, No. 263, I. O. O. F., 
 and Kewaunee Valley Council, No. 981, 
 Royal Arcanum. As will be seen, Mr. 
 Voshardt is a typical self-made man, one 
 who by his own ability, perseverance and 
 acumen has risen from a comparatively 
 obscure and poor boyhood to his present 
 condition of independence, being now, 
 
■<^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEWAL RECORD. 
 
 1209 
 
 apart from his business, the owner of an 
 elegant and comfortable modern home, 
 overlooking the lake. For years he has 
 been looked up to as one of the city 
 fathers of Kewaunee, having served for 
 several terms as member of the city coun- 
 cil, and he enjoys to an enviable degree 
 the respect and esteem of the community. 
 
 GMERRIMAN WRIGHT, M. D., 
 a practicing physician at Win- 
 neconne, Winnebago county, is 
 a native of Galesville, Wis. , 
 and a son of William and Eva A. (Hager- 
 man) Wright. 
 
 His maternal grandfather, P. J. Hager- 
 man, who was a manufacturer of gloves 
 and mittens, in an early day migrated to 
 Wisconsin and established a glove and 
 mitten factory in Sparta. He was de- 
 scended from an old family which for two 
 hundred years has been identified with 
 the history of America, and a complete 
 record of whom is preserved; one of his 
 ancestors was Anake Jans Bogardus, and 
 the Trinity Church property in New York, 
 now worth millions, will probably come 
 to the descendants of that man. The 
 litigation over what is known as the 
 "Anake Jans estate " is familiar through- 
 out this country. On the paternal side 
 the Doctor is of English descent. His 
 father is a native of Kingston, Canada, 
 and his mother of Gloversville, N. Y. 
 The former was a Methodist preacher, and 
 came to the United States about 1865, 
 after which he engaged in the work of the 
 ministry at Sparta, Black River Falls, 
 Galesville, Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire. 
 After being at the latter place four years, 
 he was for four years presiding elder of 
 the Chippewa District, and then spent 
 two years in Oregon, Wis. Later he 
 was pastor of the Church in Dodgeville 
 two years, and died in that place of 
 typhoid fever at the age of forty-nine. 
 He was a fine scholar and thorough 
 linguist, reading intelligentl}' and trans- 
 lating Hebrew, Greek and Latin; was also 
 
 the author of a pamphlet on the immor- 
 tality of the soul. He was possessed of 
 an energetic, sanguine temperament, was 
 an untiring worker, and left a comfortable 
 property to his widow, who now re- 
 sides in Brookings, South Dakota. In 
 the family were four children, a brief 
 sketch of whom is as follows: Mary 
 Elizabeth is now the wife of Will- 
 iam Hocking, a druggist of Florence, 
 Wis. ; Dr. C. D. A. is married to Kate 
 Keating, and resides in Norway, Mich., 
 being the owner of the B. M. W. Hos- 
 pital at that place, district surgeon for 
 the Chicago & North Western Railroad 
 Company, and surgeon for the Aragon 
 Mining Company; our subject is the third 
 in order of birth; William B. died at the 
 age of five years. All of the children 
 were given collegiate educations, and the 
 daughter is a graduate of the University 
 of Wisconsin. 
 
 The subject proper of this memoir ac- 
 quired his education in the common 
 schools and in the high schools of Brook- 
 ings, S. Dak. He was also for three 
 years a student in the South Dakota 
 Agricultural College, and then spent one 
 year in his brother's hospital in Norway, 
 Mich., after which he entered the Ken- 
 tucky School of Medicine at Louisville, 
 from which he was later graduated. Sub- 
 sequently he took a special course in the 
 State University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; 
 then attended the clinics at Rush Medical 
 College, Chicago, since which time he 
 has given his entire attention to the prac- 
 tice of his profession, entering upon his 
 work in his brother's hospital, already re- 
 ferred to. On September 2, 1893, he 
 came to Winneconne, where he succeeded 
 to the business of Dr. George B. Noyer, 
 and from the beginning he has done a 
 good business, now enjoying a very lib- 
 eral clientele. 
 
 On March 30, 1894, at the Methodist 
 Church of Winneconne, Dr. Wright was 
 married to Miss Ella M. Kelly, the cere- 
 mony being performed by Rev. William 
 Botzer. She was born in Winneconne, 
 
12IO 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 July 29, 1873, and is a daughter of Ed- 
 ward Kelly. Both the Doctor and his 
 wife are widely known in Winneconne, 
 and have many warm friends. Our sub- 
 ject is a charter member of Badge Lodge, 
 No. 121, K. P., in which he is now ser- 
 ving as chancellor commander. He is 
 also terminal surgeon for the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, 
 is a member of the Fox River Valley 
 Medical Association, is physician to the 
 poor, and health officer for the village. 
 
 PF:TER CHARBONNEAU, a prom- 
 inent and progressive artisan of 
 the city of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, numbering among the 
 early settlers of the place, was born June 
 29, 1836, in the Parish of St. Remi, near 
 Montreal, Canada, a son of Theodore 
 and Julia (Butler) Charbonneau, natives 
 of Paris, France. 
 
 On leaving the parish school of his 
 native place, which he attended but eight- 
 een months, our subject learned the 
 trade of blacksmith which he has since 
 continuously followed, partly in Canada 
 and partly in the United States, in fact 
 ever since coming to Oshkosh in 1859. 
 In April, 1862, he commenced business 
 for his own account, and has year by year 
 increased his facilities for carrying on his 
 trade until for a long time back he has 
 been one of the best equipped and most 
 skilled blacksmiths, not only in Oshkosh 
 but in the entire county. 
 
 On January 22, 1868, Mr. Charbon- 
 neau was married in Oshkosh to Miss 
 Catherine Carey, a native of County 
 Mayo, Ireland, and four children were 
 born to them, three of whom are yet liv- 
 ing, viz.: Theodore; Mamie, wife of 
 Arthur Le Point, of Montreal, Canada; 
 and Thomas. The entire family are 
 members of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 and Mr. Charbonneau is affiliated with 
 the Catholic Knights. His life has been 
 an industrious one, characterized by in- 
 tegrity and honesty, and to this, coupled 
 
 with his strict business methods and prin- 
 ciples, is to be attributed his enviable 
 success. 
 
 FLORIAN LAMPERT. This wide- 
 awake, progressive citizen, at the 
 present time city comptroller of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 which position he has held since April, 
 1893, was born in West Bend, Washing- 
 ton Co., Wis., July 4, 1863. 
 
 Florian Lampert, father of our sub- 
 ject, was a native of Switzerland, where 
 he learned the trade of mason and con- 
 tractor. Sometime in the "forties" he 
 emigrated to the United States, and com- 
 ing westward to Wisconsin settled in 
 Washington county, near the present city 
 of West Bend, being one of the pioneers 
 of that locality. Here he followed his 
 trade, building the greater part of that 
 city, and amassing a comfortable compe- 
 terice. He was married, at West Bend, 
 to Miss Anna Lampert, also a native of 
 Switzerland, and four children were born 
 to them, namely: Martha, wife of Peter 
 Bernard, a flour miller of Holton, Jackson 
 Co., Kans. ; Leonard, married and resid- 
 ing at Centralia, \\'is., where he is con- 
 nected with the Jackson Milling Co. ; 
 Matthew, member of the firm of M. Lam- 
 pert & Co., dealers in boots and shoes in 
 Oshkosh; and Florian. The father re- 
 visited Switzerland, and in 1865 returned 
 with his relatives to West Bend; be died 
 in that city in 1872, and in 1875 his 
 widow moved to Oshkosh, where she died 
 in 1890. 
 
 Florian Lampert, of whom this sketch 
 more particularly relates, up to the age of 
 twelve years was reared and educated in 
 West Bend, and, after moving to Oshkosh 
 with his mother in 1875, attended the 
 high school of that place one year. En- 
 tering the arena of commercial life, he 
 commenced clerking in a boot and shoe 
 store in Oshkosh, which he continued in 
 till 1880, when he opened out in the same 
 line of business for his own account, on 
 
COMMEMORA Tl VE BlOUHAPliWAL RECORD. 
 
 Main street, his brother Matthew being 
 associated with him, and the style of the 
 firm being M. Lamport & Co. ; they do a 
 lucrative business, commanding a safe and 
 conservative trade. 
 
 On May 7, 1885, Mr. Lampert was 
 married, in Sheboygan, Wis., to Miss C. 
 Vetter, a native of the town of Scott, 
 Sheboygan count}-, daughter of John A. 
 and Philopena (Hauch) Vetter, both of 
 German nativity. Mr. Vetter at the age 
 of seven years immigrated to the United 
 States, and coming to Wisconsin in the 
 early " forties " first located in Milwaukee 
 county, afterward in Sheboygan, finally 
 coming in 1888 to Oshkosh, where he and 
 his wife are now residing. He served in 
 the Civil war as a soldier in Company M, 
 Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lampert have been born three chil- 
 dren, all sons, named respectively: James 
 Blaine, Benjamin Harrison and Lester 
 Leland, after recording which it is al- 
 most unnecessary to add that their father 
 is an enthusiastic Republican. In 1892 
 he was a candidate for county treasurer, 
 coming within forty-three votes of being 
 elected, and running ahead of his ticket. 
 In April, 1893, he was appointed, by 
 Mayor Oellerich, to his present position 
 of city comptroller. Socially he is a 
 member of the Turnverein; of Oshkosh 
 Lodge No. 25, K. of P., and of George 
 W. Pratt Lodge No. 14, Division Uni- 
 form Rank, K. of P. ; of Union Lodge 
 No. 179, I. O. O. F. ; and of Centennial 
 Lodge No. 205, F. & A. M. He is popu- 
 lar among all parties — political or social — 
 and is eminently well qualified to fill with 
 credit to himself and satisfaction of his 
 constituents the honorable position in 
 which he has been placed. 
 
 CHARLES HEIM, widely and fa- 
 vorably known as a sculptor of 
 ability, and manufacturer of gran- 
 ite and marble monuments, stat- 
 uary, etc., in Oshkosh, Winnebago coun- 
 
 ty, is a son of Antoin and Gertrude Heim, 
 natives of Germany, the former of whom 
 is now dead, the latter still living in the 
 Fatherland. 
 
 Our subject, who is the younger of 
 two children born to his parents, the elder 
 being Bertha, wife of George Sentel, of 
 Oshkosh, is a native of Wurtemberg, 
 Germany, born Februarys, 1851. After 
 careful school training he learned the 
 trade of monument making and building 
 work, in Wurtemberg, and at the age of 
 si.xteen went south to Switzerland, thence, 
 after two years moved to France, from 
 which land of art he proceeded at the end 
 of a year to the mother country of all arts 
 — "fairand fruitful Italy." Here, in the 
 classic city of Rome, he remained some 
 time and then returned to his native land. 
 Shortly after his arrival he was drafted for 
 service in the Franco-German war, which 
 had just broken out; but being possess- 
 ed of no very ardent penchant for military 
 duty, he eluded the officials and made his 
 way to the United States and to Wiscon- 
 sin, making his first American home in 
 Watertown, Jefferson county. Here for 
 •about a year he worked at his trade, and 
 then removed to Columbus, Columbia 
 county, where he remained till the spring 
 of 1874, the date of his coming to Osh- 
 kosh, and the establishment of his present 
 works. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Heim ^vas married in 
 Columbus, Wis., to Miss Mary Miller, 
 and to their union have been born five 
 children, all still at home, and named, 
 respectivel}': George, Laura, Francis, 
 Alphonse and Gertrude. The entire fam- 
 ily are members of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, and Mr. Heim is affiliated with 
 the United Brothers and St. Vincent's 
 Society; in his political preferences he is 
 a stanch Democrat, and he is a member 
 of the cemetery board. He is a man of 
 sterling enterprise, as well as artistic abil- 
 ity, which is manifested in every detail of 
 his business, and during his long experi- 
 ence he has made a careful study of each 
 branch of his profession; all of which. 
 
r2i2 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 combined with the strictest integrity and 
 honorable dealing, have won for him in- 
 numerable friends and a wide business 
 connection. 
 
 DANIEL MIERSWA, for forty 
 years an honored and well-re- 
 spected resident of Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, during nearly 
 all of which long period of time he carried 
 on the business of general blacksmithing, 
 is a native of Prussia, born August 8, 
 1828. He is a son of Gottfried and Su- 
 sannah Mierswa, who were the parents of 
 seven children, four of whom are yet liv- 
 ing, viz.: Gottfried, Jr., a retired black- 
 smith now residing in South Oshkosh, 
 Wis.; Daniel; Carl, living in Oshkosh; 
 and Ernest, who never left his native 
 Prussian home. 
 
 The subject of this memoir received 
 his education at the public schools of the 
 neighborhood of his place of birth, and 
 then was apprenticed to learn the trade 
 of blacksmith, which he worked at after- 
 ward in Germany for a few years. In 
 1852, at the age of twenty-four years, he 
 emigrated to the United States, and, after 
 a few weeks' residence in New York, pro- 
 ceeded to Philadelphia and from there to 
 New Jersey, whence after about nine 
 months he moved to St. Louis, where he 
 resided some two years. From the latter 
 city he came direct to Oshkosh, arriving 
 at what has proved to be his permanent 
 home May 28, 1855, and here established 
 a general blacksmithing business which he 
 conducted with signal success the long 
 period of thirty-seven years, retiring from 
 active business life in 1892. 
 
 In i860 Mr. Mierswa was married, in 
 Oshkosh, to Miss Maria Louisa Behrand, 
 also a native of Prussia, and nine children 
 were born to them, eight of whom are 
 yet living, to wit: Louisa, Jennie, Daniel, 
 Augusta, Frederick, Otto, Clara and Mada 
 T. The entire family attend the services 
 of the Congregational Church, and in 
 social affiliations Mr. Mierswa is a mem- 
 
 ber of the Turnverein, Druids and Sons 
 of Hermann. In all his long, active and 
 busy life his dealings were characterized 
 by honesty, integrity and thoroughness, 
 and no citizen bears a more honorable 
 reputation, and none is more highly es- 
 teemed amontr his fellow citizens. 
 
 SAMUEL SUTTON, proprietor of 
 the Oshkosh Iron Works, and one 
 of the most progressive and suc- 
 cessful business men of the city of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, is an En- 
 glishman by birth, having first seen the 
 light in Liverpool, England, March 17, 
 
 1835- 
 
 George Sutton, father of the subject 
 of this sketch, was born in 1792, married 
 Margaret Maheffy, and by her had a 
 family of ten children, three of whom now 
 survive, namely: Margaret (widow of 
 Mathew Atkinson), living in Fayetteville, 
 N. C. ; Mary, wife of Joseph Moore, in 
 Liverpool, England; and Samuel. The 
 parents both died in England, their native 
 country, the father October 24, 1872, at 
 the age of eighty years; the mother pre- 
 ceded him to the grave. 
 
 The subject proper of these lines re- 
 ceived but a limited education in the city 
 of his birth, and at the age of fifteen 
 years immigrated to the United States, 
 landing in Baltimore, Md., where he 
 learned the trade of machinist, and 
 worked at same some ten years. In 1 860 
 he came west to Wisconsin, and settling 
 in Oshkosh resumed his trade in the 
 works of J. F. Morse & Co., with whom 
 he remained about nineteen years, or 
 until 1880, when he formed a partnership 
 in the same line with J. A. Barnes, under 
 the firm name of Sutton & Barnes, which 
 at the end of five years was dissolved, 
 Mr. Sutton removing to Fayetteville, N. 
 C. Here in 18S7 he formed a partner- 
 ship with Benoit Henzy, which was 
 dissolved in 1889 by the death of the lat- 
 ter, and a year or two later, after settling 
 up the affairs of the estate, Mr. Sutton 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1213 
 
 proceeded to Denver, Colo., whence in 
 about a year he returned to Oshkosh and 
 estabhshed the Oshkosh Iron Works. 
 
 While a resident of Baltimore, Md., 
 our subject was married to Miss Mary 
 Llewellyn, who was born December 
 8, 1837, daughter of Thomas and Mary 
 Llewellyn, natives of Wales, and to 
 this union eleven children were born, 
 their names, dates of birth, etc., being as 
 follows: Mary Ann, December 27, 1854, 
 died April 12, 1S84; Samuel, May 8, 
 1857, died August 13, 1858; Sarah Eliz- 
 abeth, November 19, 1858, died August 
 16, i860; Louisa Jane, February 2, 1861; 
 David Anail, March 6, 1863, died August 
 21, 1864; Elizabeth Lydia, September 
 30, 1866; George William, August 30, 
 1867; Thomas Llewellyn, October 28, 
 1868; Samuel Henry, November 18, 
 1872; William James, March 25, 1875; 
 Margaret Bell, September 23, 1876. Of 
 these, Louisa Jane is the widow of Fred- 
 erick Seldon, and is now residing in Den- 
 ver, Colo. ; Elizabeth Lydia is the wife 
 of Ellwood Hansen, and also resides in 
 Denver; and George William is a machin- 
 ist in his father's works. The family at- 
 tend the services of the Methodist Church, 
 and in his social affiliations Mr. Sutton is 
 a member of Cross Creek Lodge No. 4, 
 I. O. O. F. of Fayetteville, N. C, and 
 district deputy grand master of that or- 
 der; was financial secretary of the A. O. 
 U. W. , of which he is still a member. 
 In his political views he is independent 
 and liberal. 
 
 JOHN W. GRUNDY, of the f^rm of 
 Rudd & Co., dealers in house fur- 
 nishing goods, Oshkosh, is a native 
 of the State of New York, born 
 August 28, 1848, and for nearly forty 
 years has been a resident of Winnebago 
 county. 
 
 William Grundy, his father, was born 
 in England of English parentage, and was 
 a machinist by trade. He was twice 
 married, his first wife, Mrs, Sarah 
 
 Grundy, being a lady of American parent- 
 age, by which marriage there were born 
 two children: Thomas and John W. 
 The mother of these dying in 1852, Mr. 
 Grundy afterward married Miss Margaret 
 Tennant, by whom tliere were also two 
 children, viz.: Adam T., who resides on 
 the homestead, and Mary, who died at 
 the age of twenty-eight years. When 
 our subject was quite a lad, and after the 
 death of his mother, William Grundy, 
 the father, moved in 1850 to Michigan 
 with his children, taking up his residence 
 in Detroit, where he worked in the Mich- 
 igan Central railroad car shops. In 1856 
 the family came to Oshkosh township, 
 Winnebago county, where the father pur- 
 chased a farm, and up to his death in 
 1858 followed agriculture, as well as his 
 trade, in the fitting up of steamboats. 
 
 John W. Grundy, the subject proper 
 of these lines, received his education in 
 part at Detroit and in part at Oshkosh, 
 after which he was on the homestead 
 farm until 1880. In that year he moved 
 into the city and worked in a flour and 
 feed mill until 1888, when he embarked 
 in his present prosperous business. He 
 married Eva Booth, daughter of Robert 
 Booth, by which union there are four 
 children, named respectively: Rodella, 
 Robert, Lula and Walter. The family 
 attend the services of the Methodist 
 Church. In his political preferences Mr. 
 Grundy is a Republican, and he is a 
 member of the Knights of the Maccabees. 
 He and the family are highly respected, 
 and no one is better or more favorably 
 known in the county than John W. 
 Grundy. 
 
 THOMAS LETT. To our peaceful 
 and industrious neighbors on the 
 north of us, the Canadians, Wis- 
 consin is indebted for many of her 
 most prosperous, progressive and loyal 
 citizens, and the subject of this sketch, 
 as is well known, is no exception to the 
 rule. 
 
I2I4 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPniCAL RECORD. 
 
 He was born November 28, 1849, in 
 Canada, a son of Robert and Mary Lett, 
 and received his priuiar}- education at the 
 common schools of his place of birth. In 
 i860 the family came to Wisconsin, and 
 in the citj' of Oshkosh, where they settled, 
 Thomas continued his education at the 
 public and high schools. During the Civil 
 war he enlisted in the First Regiment 
 Wis. V. I., in which he served about one 
 year, participating in se\eral engagements, 
 in one of which, the battle of Cedar 
 Creek, \'a. , he was wounded. On his 
 return from the seat of war he completed 
 his education, and afterward engaged in 
 the lumbering business, working in the 
 woods and on the river, which has since 
 been his occupation, for the past twelve 
 years on his own account, doing a suc- 
 cessful trade. On September 28, 1871, 
 Mr. Lett was married to Miss Marion B. 
 Fletcher, an old schoolmate, born No- 
 vember 17, 1851, a daughter of David J. 
 and Perlina (Bush) Fletcher, and this 
 union has been blessed with si.\ children, 
 whose names and dates of births are as 
 follows: Edna (wife of William J. Le- 
 land, of Oshkosh), December 27, 1873; 
 Arthur J., January 8, 1878; Jennie May, 
 June 30, 1880; Mamie, June 15, 1883; 
 Dorothy, July 16, 1888; and Phcebe, 
 January 18, 1893. The entire family at- 
 tend the services of the Methodist Church. 
 Mr. Lett is a member of John Scott Post 
 No. 241, G. A. R., and of the Knights of 
 Pythias. 
 
 David J. Fletcher, father of Mrs. Lett, 
 was born July 28, 1826, in Canandaigua, 
 N. Y. , and at the common schools of that 
 town received a limited education. On 
 his father's farm he learned the business 
 of an agriculturist, and for a number of 
 years worked there, later learning the 
 trade of carpenter. In 1848 he came to 
 Wisconsin, first taking up his residence 
 in Nekimi, and in 1862 removing to Osh- 
 kosh, where he passed the rest of his 
 days, dying January 22, 18S7. In Steu- 
 ben county, N. Y., he was married, April 
 9, 1846, to Miss Perhna Bush, who was 
 
 born November 28, 1849, daughter of 
 Jacob and Betsy (O'Dellj Bush, and five 
 children were born to them, to wit: Henry, 
 February 9, 1847; Isaac, October 9, 1849; 
 Marion B., November 17, 1851; Leonard, 
 March 11, 1857; and Adelbert, in Neki- 
 mi, February 17, 1861, all yet living, 
 Mr. Fletcher was a progressive and highly 
 respected resident of Winnebago county, 
 and an active promoter of all enterprises 
 tending to the ad\'ancement of the inter- 
 ests of the county as well as the city of 
 Oshkosh. His widow resides with her 
 son-in-law Mr. Lett, in Oshkosh. 
 
 CHARLES G. BAUMANN, 
 a well-known, influential citizen 
 and progressive business man of 
 South Oshkosh, Winnebago coun- 
 ty, was born in Plymouth, Sheboygan 
 county, Wisconsin. 
 
 He is a son of Augustus and Frederica 
 (Sandman) Baumann, who had born to 
 them seven children, four of whom sur- 
 vive, as follows: Frederick, a merchant 
 of South Oshkosh; Charles G. ; and Em- 
 ma, wife of John Tibbetts, and Ida, wife 
 of Ezra Mechelbacher, both residing in 
 Riverside, Cal. The parents of our sub- 
 ject came from Saxony, Germany, to the 
 United States about the year 1852, locat- 
 ing first in Sheboygan county. Wis. , where 
 they resided for about ten years, after 
 which they removed to Milwaukee county, 
 whence, after a sojourn of about three 
 years, they in 1866 returned to Oshkosh. 
 Here the father was engaged in the butcher 
 business for over twenty years, and died 
 in 1890; his widow, Mrs. Frederica Bau- 
 mann, is now residing in California. 
 
 Our subject was educated in the pub- 
 lic and high school, the German-English 
 Academy, and Business College of Osh- 
 kosh, and after completing his education 
 engaged in the butcher business with his 
 father, which he has followed ever since. 
 In 1S50 he was married in Oshkosh to 
 Amanda, daughter of Gottlieb and Char- 
 lotte Ecke; no children have been born 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPnWAL RECORD. 
 
 to them. Mr. Baumann is an honorable, 
 uprifjht man, thoroughly reliable in all his 
 business transactions and social associa- 
 tions. Alive, thoroughly progressive citi- 
 zen, he is erecting a new building oppo- 
 site the site of his present place of busi- 
 ness, which when completed will be one 
 of the finest and most imposing business 
 blocks in South Oshkosh. 
 
 ALEXANDER BAILEY, a resident 
 of Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 for over thirty years, and one of 
 the oldest living settlers, a man 
 highly esteemed for his high sterling quali- 
 ties and strict integrity of character, was 
 born in Williamstown, N. Y. , January i, 
 1816, a son of Solomon and Cynthia 
 Bailey. He received but a limited edu- 
 cation in the common schools of his na- 
 tive town, and after leaving school en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits, which occu- 
 pation he followed until within the past 
 few years, when he retired from active 
 business life. 
 
 In 1 861 he removed from Williams- 
 town to Wisconsin, and located in Osh- 
 kosh, where he has resided ever since. 
 He was married in June, 1844, to Miss 
 Melinda Hyamtz, a daughter of Increase 
 and Annie (Kelley) Hyamtz, and to them 
 have been born six children, only two of 
 whom survive, viz. : Eleda, wife of Au- 
 gustus |ones, of Oshkosh, and Minnie, 
 wife of Frank Van Doran, residing in 
 Brown's Valley, Minn. The family be- 
 long to the Methodist Church, and in his 
 political views Mr. Bailey is a stanch Re- 
 publican. 
 
 DUNNING P. JONES, pianist and 
 teacher of music, pupil of Leipsic 
 Conservatory, Germany, has his 
 studio at No. 177 Main street, 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, of which 
 city he is a native, having been born there 
 April 13, 1866. 
 
 Ansel Jones, his father, was born in 
 
 New York, whence he came west to Wis- 
 consin, settling in Oshkosh, where, as a 
 member of the firm of Jones & Frentz, he 
 conducted an abstract business, at that 
 time the only one in the city. He mar- 
 ried Miss Lucy Mosier, a native of Sara- 
 toga county, N. Y. , daughter of William 
 D. Mosier, who in an early day moved 
 from his native State, New York, to Ohio, 
 whence, in 1848, he migrated to Wiscon- 
 sin, settling in the town of Vinland, Win- 
 nebago county, where he opened out a 
 farm from the wild woods, and where he 
 and his wife passed the rest of their days. 
 No one was better known in Winnebago 
 county than Ansel Jones, and when he 
 died in Oshkosh, in 1 888, the city mourned 
 him as one who had deservedly earned the 
 goodwill and respect of all. In his poli- 
 tical associations he was a sterling Demo- 
 crat. His widow is still living in Osh- 
 kosh, the mother of three children, two 
 of whom are yet living, viz. : Arthur E., 
 married, and living in Milwaukee, W'is., 
 where he is connected with the theatre; 
 and Dunning P. 
 
 The subject proper of these lines re- 
 ceived his schooling in Oshkosh, after 
 which he resided in Milwaukee one year, 
 and his whole soul being imbued with 
 music, the " art divine, " he resolved to 
 make himself master of it, with the view 
 of its becoming his life profession. During 
 the years 1883 and 1884 he attended 
 the Conservatory of Music at Chicago, 
 graduating from there in the latter year, 
 then returning to Oshkosh gave lessons 
 till 1 891, the year he went to Germany. 
 Here he entered the Conservatory of 
 Music at Leipsic, and after a two-years' 
 attendance received a teacher's certificate. 
 Finally returning to his native city, he has 
 since been engaged in teaching, chiefly 
 the piano, of which in his frequent public 
 performances he has proved himself be- 
 yond criticism a perfect master, the Press 
 generally giving him flattering notices. 
 A Republican in politics, he takes a lively 
 interest in the affairs of his party. Soci- 
 ally, he is a member of the F. & A. M., 
 
I3l6 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 Centennial Lodge No. 205,Tyrian Chapter 
 No. 15, R. A. M., and he is one ©f the 
 most popular and active young men in 
 Oshkosh. 
 
 H.\RLEY CLOUGH, senior mem- 
 ber of the firm of Clough & Tyres, 
 manufacturers of double and sin- 
 gle action force pumps, Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, is a native of Ver- 
 mont, born about sixty miles from Mont- 
 pelier. His grandparents were also na- 
 tives of the "Green Mountain State," 
 whence in 1 864 they came to Oshkosh, 
 Wis., and here passed the rest of their 
 days, the grandfather d\ing in 1879, the 
 grandmother in 1886. Willard Clough, 
 father of our subject, was born in 1837, 
 in Vermont, where he was educated, and 
 in 1 864 came to Oshkosh with his par- 
 ents. He was the first pump manufac- 
 turer in the city, and is the patentee of 
 the double and single action force pump 
 which is now manufactured in five States 
 in the Union. Returning to Vermont in 
 1 89 1, he is now there engaged extensive- 
 ly in marble quarrying. He married Miss 
 Emma F. Phillips, who bore him three 
 children, viz. : Harley; Chester, a resident 
 of Superior, Wis., and Mable A., living 
 with her parents in Vermont. 
 
 Our subject received a liberal educa- 
 tion at the public and Normal schools of 
 Oshkosh, after which he attended the 
 State University at Madison, Wis., and 
 on completion of his college course be- 
 came bookkeeper for Robert McMillan, 
 in Oshkosh. At the end of one year he 
 resigned this position to accept a similar 
 one in the employ of Ruddle & Spence, 
 of Milwaukee, but he afterward gave up 
 bookkeeping, and proceeding to South 
 Dakota embarked in farming and stock 
 raising, also the pump and windmill busi- 
 ness. Shortly after his father's removal 
 to Vermont in 1891, our subject returned 
 to Oshkosh, where he and Mr. Tyres 
 formed the partnership referred to at 
 the commencementof the sketch. 
 
 In 1889 Mr. Clough was united in 
 marriage with Miss Carrie Hewlett, 
 daughter of William and Hattie Hewlett, 
 of Black Wolf township, and two chil- 
 dren — Cecil and Gertrude — have come to 
 brighten their home. In his political 
 preferences Mr. Clough is a Republican, 
 but, his influence being always for the 
 right, intelligent and good, he exercises 
 his judgment in all matters pertaining to 
 the welfare of the people, regardless of 
 party. Popular and frank in all things, 
 he possesses the entire confidence of his 
 fellow citizens. 
 
 JACOB LANDGRAF (deceased), was 
 a native of Hessen, Germany, born 
 April 7, 1825, a son of Henry and 
 Theresa (Maurer)'Landgraf, farming 
 people in the Fatherland, whence in 
 1850 they emigrated to America. Their 
 famil}- numbered ten children, as follows: 
 Jacob, Mary, Theresa, Andrew, John, 
 Valentine, Christ, Catherine, Margaret 
 and \'alentine, of whom two are yet liv- 
 ing: Valentine and John, the latter of 
 whom resides in Kansas. 
 
 Jacob Landgraf spent the days of his 
 boyhood and youth in the Fatherland, 
 working on the home farm and attending 
 school. In 1850, when twenty-five years 
 of age, he accompanied his parents to 
 America, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing 
 vessel, the family making their way to 
 Milwaukee, where the father purchased 
 ten acres of land. Our subject worked 
 as a common laborer, following any pur- 
 suit which would yield him an honest liv- 
 ing, thus securing a start in life. In 1855 
 he was married, in Sheboygan, Wis., to 
 Miss Mary J. Sensenbrenner, who was 
 born in Lorraine, France, now a part of 
 Germany, and by this union was born a 
 large family of children, of whom are 
 yet living: Lizzie, Anna, John P., Valen- 
 tine, Emma, Barbara and Eleanor; those 
 deceased are Henry, who died at the age 
 of one year; Theresa, at the age of twelve 
 years; Joseph, when four years old, and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1217 
 
 Lena, at the age of six years. After his 
 marriage Mr. Landgraf estabUshed a 
 grocery store in Sheboygan, and con- 
 ducted same for a year and a half; then 
 Sold out and, in the fall of 1856, removed 
 to Menasha. For the three succeeding 
 years he again worked as a common la- 
 borer, and then became connected with 
 E. D. Smith's lumber yard; afterward 
 -entered the employ of P. V. Lawson, in 
 whose service he continued until the 
 death of Mr. Lawson, when he retired to 
 private life. His widow is yet living in 
 Menasha, now at the advanced age of 
 eighty-seven \ears. Mr. Landgraf always 
 made the most of his opportunities, was 
 industrious and energetic, and as a result 
 secured for himself and family a com- 
 fortable home and good property. 
 
 John P. L,\ndgkaf, son of Jacob and 
 Mary J. Landgraf, is one of the wide- 
 awake and enterprising young business 
 men of Menasha, and is numbered among 
 her native sons, his birth having here oc- 
 curred December 16, 1864. He was 
 educated in the public schools and Ger- 
 man Catholic School of Menasha. At 
 the age of fifteen he began learning the 
 trade of cabinet making, at which he served 
 a three-years' apprenticeship, since when 
 he has been dependent entirely upon his 
 own efforts. At the age of eighteen he 
 began contracting and building, and he 
 followed that business until twenty-eight 
 years of age, during which time his pat- 
 ronage steadily increased, owing to his 
 faithfulness to all contracts and to his 
 excellent workmanship. 
 
 In the spring of 1893 Mr. Landgraf 
 was elected to a prominent city office, and 
 at the spring election of 1894 was again 
 chosen to that position, a fact which in- 
 dicates his fidelity to duty and his popu- 
 larity. A trust reposed in him is never 
 betrayed. He is always true and faithful, 
 and his sterling worth and strict integrity 
 have gained for him high regard. He 
 votes with the Democratic party, and takes 
 a warm interest in its growth and success. 
 In religious faith he holds membership in 
 
 68 
 
 the Catholic Church; socially, he is affili- 
 ated with St. Joseph's Society and the 
 Germania Society. In May, 1888, Mr. 
 Landgraf was united in marriage with 
 Miss Catherine Mayer, a native of Osh- 
 kosh. Wis., whose parents were both born 
 in Germany, but came to America ere 
 they had arrived at years of maturity, 
 and were married in this country. Her 
 father, J. L. Mayer, is now living in 
 Kaukanna, Wis., where he carried on a 
 general store. Two children grace the 
 union of Mr. and Mrs. Landgraf, named 
 respectively: Raymond and Zephrena. 
 Our subject and wife are well known and 
 highly respected in the community in 
 which they live, and in social circles hold 
 an enviable position. 
 
 M 
 
 AX M. SCHOETZ, attorney at 
 law, Menasha, occupies a prom- 
 inent place at the bar of Win- 
 nebago county. He was born 
 in Milwaukee, Wis., September 18, 1856, 
 and comes of an old German family. 
 
 Our subject's paternal grandfather, 
 who was born, reared and married in 
 Germany, was a wagon maker by trade, 
 and his only son, Michael Schoetz, father 
 of Max M. , was born in Bavaria, Ger- 
 many, about the year 1829, and had three 
 sisters. With his father he learned the 
 trade of wagon making, which he made 
 the business of his life. About 1847 he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Theresa 
 Stoger, who was born in the Province of 
 Bavaria, in 1825, daughter of well-to-do 
 farming people who had a large family, 
 of whom five daughters crossed the ocean 
 to America. After marriage, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Michael Schoetz came to the United 
 States, and to Milwaukee, where for a 
 time he worked at his trade. Later he 
 opened a wagon shop at Cedarburg, Wis. , 
 and subsequently made a permanent loca- 
 tion in Boltonville, Washington county, 
 where he still resides. His business is 
 now conducted by his son John. During 
 the Civil war Mr. Schoetz enlisted in the 
 
I2l8 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOOBAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 army, and did service in Tennessee as a 
 member of Company A, Forty-fifth Wis. 
 V. I. He comes of a highly educated 
 family, and he himself is a man of wide 
 reading, always keeping well informed on 
 the issues of the day. In his family were 
 five children — Rosa, John, Max M., Au- 
 gusta and Anna, of whom Rosa is the 
 wife of Joseph Schafer, of Kaukauna, 
 Wis. ; Augusta is the wife of William 
 Breier, also of Kaukauna; and Anna is 
 married to Frank Rice, of Sheboygan 
 county, Wisconsin. 
 
 The early life of Max M. Schoetz was 
 principally passed in Boltonville, Wis., 
 where he acquired an academic education. 
 His first experience in business was as 
 clerk in a store, and later he for two 
 terms was engaged in teaching school. 
 In the meantime he began the study of 
 law with I. N. Frisby, of West Bend, 
 Washington county, and afterward in the 
 office of Collins & Pierce, Appleton. On 
 November 12, 1877, he was admitted to 
 the bar; on March 13, 1883, was ad- 
 mitted to practice in the supreme court 
 of the State, and July 11, 1888, in the 
 United States circuit and district courts. 
 He first opened an office in Menasha in 
 partnership with the Hon. John Potter, 
 the connection continuing until Mr. Pot- 
 ter's death in I879, after which Mr 
 Schoetz practiced alone for three years, 
 and the existing partnership with Elbridge 
 Smith was then formed. 
 
 On June 2, 1880, Mr. Schoetz was 
 married to Miss Barbara Landgraf, who 
 was born in Louisville, Ky., daughter of 
 Andrew and Catherine (Walters) Land- 
 graf, who were natives of Germany but 
 were married in the United States. Dur- 
 ing the war her father enlisted and served 
 in the navy as master of a vessel, and 
 after the cessation of hostilities turned 
 his attention to hotel keeping and mer- 
 chandising. Mr. and Mrs. Landgraf have 
 three children: Catherine, now the wife 
 of W. Simons; Barbara, wife of our sub- 
 ject, and Mrs. Theresa Jagnogig. The 
 parents are numbered among the honored 
 
 early settlers of Washington county. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schoetz have been born 
 four children: Andrew L., Max A., 
 Fleeta K. and Lula A. The last named 
 died in childhood. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
 Schoetz hold membership with the Roman 
 Catholic Church, and in his political 
 views he is a Democrat. He has been 
 honored with a number of public offices. 
 For two years he served as a justice of 
 the peace, and in 1882 was- elected a 
 member of the board of county supervis- 
 ors, which position he filled for seven 
 consecutive terms in a most acceptable 
 manner. In 1886 he was elected super- 
 intendent of the public schools of Mena- 
 sha, and two years later was again chosen 
 to that position. In 1887 he organized 
 the Menasha Building and Loan Associa- 
 tion, one of the best beneficial societies 
 in the city, it having been the means of 
 providing homes for a large number of 
 people both in Menasha and Neenah. 
 Mr. Schoetz is one of the stockholders of 
 the First National Bank of Menasha, and 
 of the Winnebago Anzeiger Publishing 
 Company, of which he is secretary and 
 manager. He possesses most excellent 
 business and executive ability, is a valued 
 citizen, alive to the best interests of the 
 community, has ever proved a trustworthy 
 official, and is a man whose public and 
 private life are alike above reproach. He 
 has made the most of his opportunities 
 and privileges, and merits the prosperity 
 which has come to him. 
 
 THOMAS E. CALLAHAN was 
 born in Menasha, Winnebago Co., 
 Wis., July 9, 1855, a son of John 
 Callahan, who is one of Wiscon- 
 sin's honored pioneers. 
 
 John Callahan was born in June, 1820. 
 in County Leitrim, Ireland, son of John 
 Callahan, a farmer who owned a tract of 
 land, and who died when John was quite 
 young, leaving a widow and nine children, 
 namely: James, Miles, Thomas, John, 
 Patrick, Michael, Margaret, Mary and 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I2IC 
 
 Bridget. Of these, John remained at 
 home until his mother's death in 1844, 
 the other children in the meantime hav- 
 ing all left the parental roof, marrying or 
 emigrating to the New World. In 1846 
 John Callahan also determined to try his 
 fortune in the land beyond the Atlantic, 
 and having crossed the ocean settled in 
 the southern part of Wisconsin, at what 
 is now Kenosha. The State had not then 
 been admitted to the Union, and much of 
 it was still unsettled. Our young traveler 
 sought and obtained employment as a 
 farm hand, and during the succeeding four 
 years devoted his energies to that work. 
 In 1850 he removed to Menasha, and was 
 placed in charge of a gang of men working 
 on the government canal. For nine years 
 he was in the employ of Governor Dodge 
 and Mr. Reed, being engaged on public 
 works, and then entered a barrel factory, 
 where he remained four years. He next 
 sought a position with the Chicago & 
 North Western Railroad Company, and 
 for the long period of twenty years was 
 employed at the depot in Neenah. He 
 was ever faithful to the trust reposed in 
 him, and his duties were discharged in a 
 prompt and able manner. At length he 
 retired to private life, having since 1888 
 engaged in no manual labor. 
 
 In 1852 Mr. Callahan was married to 
 Miss Bridget O'Malley, who was born in 
 County Mayo, Ireland, and they have six 
 children: Thomas E. and John M. (both 
 of whom are married), David, Patrick, 
 Mrs. Margaret Gray, and Mary. Both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Callahan are members of the 
 Catholic Church, and are well-known and 
 prominent people of Neenah, where for 
 more than half a century they have made 
 their home. Mr. Callahan votes with the 
 Democratic party, and is a stanch and in- 
 flexible adherent of the principles laid 
 down by that platform. In his business 
 dealings he has won success; beginning 
 life in limited circumstances, he has made 
 the most of his opportunities and advant- 
 ages, and a resolute will and earnest pur- 
 pose have brought him the competence 
 
 which now enables him to enjoy a well- 
 earned rest. 
 
 Thomas E. Callahan was reared in 
 the county of his nativity, acquiring his 
 education in the public and high schools 
 of Menasha. At the age of fifteen he 
 began the study of telegraphy in the Chi- 
 cago & North Western railway depot at 
 Neenah, and in 1871, when only sixteen 
 years of age, was placed in charge of the 
 office in Menominee, Mich. A year later 
 he went to Oconto, Wis., as bill clerk, 
 and had entire charge of the office at that 
 place for one year. His next place of 
 residence was in Appleton, whither he 
 went in 1874 to act as agent of both the 
 Railroad and Western Union Telegraph 
 Companies. In 1875 he again came to 
 Neenah, and during the succeeding decade 
 was employed in the Chicago & North 
 Western railroad office, but on the expira- 
 tion of that period he resigned his posi- 
 tion and opened an office for the Western 
 Union Company, by whom he is still 
 employed. 
 
 In November, 1876, Mr. Callahan was 
 married, in Neenah, the lady of his choice 
 being Miss Kittie Hunt, who was born in 
 Fort Howard, Wis., and is a daughter of 
 John and Mary (McLaughlin) Hunt. Her 
 father, a native of Sligo, Ireland, was 
 born in 1 822, and on coming to the United 
 States located in New York, where he 
 wedded Miss McLaughlin, who was born 
 in the Empire State. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Callahan now have a family of four chil- 
 dren, a son and three daughters, who in 
 order of birth are as follows: John D., 
 Maria, Nellie and Kittie. The family 
 circle yet remains unbroken by the hand 
 of death, and the children are still under 
 the parental roof. 
 
 Mr. Callahan holds membership with 
 the Catholic Church, and exercises his 
 right of franchise in support of the Re- 
 publican party and its principles. He 
 takes quite an active interest in political 
 affairs, has been a member of the Repub- 
 lican Central Committee of the county, 
 and in 1894 was elected treasurer of 
 
I220 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Neenah, which position he is now credit- 
 ably filling. He is a man of sterling 
 worth, and enjoys the confidence and 
 respect of all with whom he has been 
 brought in contact. 
 
 M 
 
 ATTHEW BECKER, the well- 
 known photographer of Winne- 
 conne, Winnebago county, was 
 born in the town of Winne- 
 conne, October 24, 1859, and was reared 
 in Butte des Morts. His parents, Peter 
 and Magdalene (Wood) Becker, were na- 
 tives of Germany, but in an early day in 
 the history of this community took up 
 their residence in Winnebago county. On 
 their arrival in Wisconsin, they first set- 
 tled in Sheboygan and then removed to 
 Calumet. They are now residents of 
 Butte des Morts, where Mr. Becker fol- 
 lows gardening. The parents hold mem- 
 bership with the Catholic Church, but 
 their children are all Protestants. 
 
 Our sul)ject was educated in the pub- 
 lic schools, and when a young man earned 
 his livelihood by hunting ducks for about 
 twelve seasons during the months of Aug- 
 ust, September and October. He would 
 usually go in a boat with two guns, and 
 has sometimes killed as many as twenty- 
 five teal ducks at a shot. He usually 
 "bags" from two thousand to three 
 thousand ducks each season. At about 
 the age of eighteen he began the busiiiess 
 of building hunting skiffs, row boats and 
 small sail boats, working at this through- 
 out the year e.xcept during the hunting 
 season. In 1890 he went to Omro, and 
 for five months was in the employ of the 
 E. R. Leaman Boat Company. Having 
 obtained some insight into photography, 
 at Oshkosh, he decided to open an art 
 gallery in Winneconne, and this intention 
 he carried out in May, 1892, since which 
 time he has successfully conducted the 
 business, working up an excellent trade. 
 His gallery is supplied with all the mod- 
 ern appliances and conveniences neces- 
 sary to the business, and the excellent 
 
 grade of work which he turns out gives 
 universal satisfaction. Not only his 
 photographs but also boats of his manu- 
 facture are scattered throughout the 
 country. "Matt," as he is familiarly 
 called, is a practical sportsman, and 
 therefore knows exactly what is required 
 in a boat to be used by a hunter, and in 
 consequence his manufactures have be- 
 come very popular among the followers 
 of the rod and gun. 
 
 On July 14, 18S0, Mr. Becker wedded 
 Miss Emma, daughter of Ole and Mar- 
 garet (Wilson) Kittlesen, natives of Nor- 
 way, who now reside in Shawano county, 
 Wis. Three children grace the union 
 of our subject and his wife, viz. : John, 
 A., Milo E. and Amy G., all at home. 
 Mr. Becker is a Democrat in politics; a 
 member of the F. & A. M., Blue Lodge, 
 and secretary of the Lodge at Winne- 
 conne. His father, Peter Becker, served 
 for three years in the German army, and 
 after coming to this country, and on the 
 breaking out of the Rebellion, he enlisted, 
 in 1861, in Company F, Nineteenth Wis. 
 V. I., in which he served three years and 
 four months, taking part in several bat- 
 tles. He received some slight wounds, 
 suffered other injuries which have to some 
 extent since disabled him, and was honor- 
 ably discharged with the rank of cor- 
 poral. 
 
 ORIN PUTNAM. "Talent alone 
 can not make a book; there must 
 be a man behind the book," 
 writes Emerson, and, had the 
 American philosopher been discussing 
 agricultural matters as well as those per- 
 taining to literature, he might have 
 added: "Plowing alone can not make a 
 farm; there must be a man behind the 
 plow," a man, too, possessed of the nec- 
 essary qualifications; a man of brain and 
 brawn and industrious habits that are 
 bound to lead to success and comfortable 
 competence, as in the case of the subject 
 of these lines. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I22I 
 
 Mr. Putnam is a native of New York 
 State, born November 9, 1833, in Broome 
 county, a son of Rosweli and Millie 
 (Parks) Putnam, the former a native of 
 New Hampshire, the latter of Vermont. 
 They had a family of seven children — 
 six sons and one daughter — three of whom 
 are yet living, to wit: Clarissa (widow 
 of Hiram Fernham), now a resident of 
 Minnesota; David, a prominent agricul- 
 turist of Omro township; and Orin. In 
 185 1 the parents came from New York 
 State to Wisconsin, locating in that part 
 of Vinland township that is now included 
 in Oshkosh township, and here the father, 
 who had previously been engaged in 
 lumbering and milling, purchased a farm, 
 whereon, till the time of his death, he 
 carried on agricultural pursuits. He was 
 called from earth in the fall of 1887, dy- 
 ing honored and respected by all who 
 knew him. His wife Millie (l-'arks) had 
 preceded him to the grave in 1S51, her 
 death having occurred at Milwaukee, 
 Wis. , on board the steamship that brought 
 the family from the East. 
 
 The subject proper of this conmiem- 
 orative record received only a limited 
 education at his native place, but his taste 
 for reading in early years provetl a strong 
 motor in his after acquirements, and 
 amply compensated for any lack of school 
 facilities. He was reared to agricultural 
 pursuits, and in 1855 he came to Wis- 
 consin, where, in the township of Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, he purchased 
 his present property, which to-da\' is rec- 
 ognized as one of the best cultivated 
 and most productive farms in the county. 
 During the summer of 1894 he further 
 improved the place by the erection of a 
 neat and attractive frame dwelling. By 
 strict attention to his farm duties, coupled 
 with economy and thrift, he has made his 
 own success. 
 
 Mr. Putnam has been thrice married; 
 first time to Mrs. Julia Barnes, widow of 
 Stephen Barnes, by which union there 
 was one son, George, who died of typhoid 
 fever at the age of twenty-four years. 
 
 This wife dying, our subject wedded, for 
 his second wife, Miss Elizabeth Lane, of 
 Oshkosh, who bore him three children, 
 two of whom are yet living, viz. : Millie 
 and Frank. The mother of these also 
 passed away, and in 1886 Mr. Putnam 
 married Miss Emma Kuhn, daughter of 
 Henry Kuhn, a native of Switzerland, 
 the result of this union being two chil- 
 dren — Chester and Harold. Our subject 
 and wife are members of the Methodist 
 Church; socially he is affiliated with the 
 A. O. U. At., and politically he is an ar- 
 dent supporter of the Kepublican party. 
 For honesty and uprightness he bears an 
 enviable reputation, and he is an honor 
 to his adopted county and township, as- 
 well as a desirable acquisition to the com- 
 munity at large. 
 
 ROBERT BUCK STAFF, than 
 whom no one is better or more 
 favorably known in the business 
 circles of Oshkosh, Winnebago 
 county, is a native of the Province of New 
 Brunswick, Canada, born in 1841, in the 
 Parish of St. Patrick (now Parish of Dum- 
 barton), Charlotte county. He is a son 
 of John Buckstaff, a sketch of whom ap- 
 pears elsewhere in this volume. 
 
 Our subject was nine years old when 
 the family came to Wisconsin, where he 
 received the chief part of his education. 
 When old enough he commenced to assist 
 his father in the lumbering business, in^ 
 course of a year or two overseeing the 
 work in the yard, and taking charge of 
 the shipping department. Some time 
 after the civil war the firm of ISuckstaff 
 Bros. & Chase was formed, he being a 
 member of same, and continued until 
 1887, when the business was wound up. 
 Since then Mr. Buckstaff has been engaged 
 in farming and gardening, raising small 
 fruits, etc. , a recreation in which he takes 
 great pleasure. His home is beautifully 
 situated about one and one half miles 
 south of Oshkosh, on Doty street, facing 
 Lake Winnebago, and there in the midst) 
 
1222 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of clustering vines and luxuriant flower 
 beds is snugly ensconced his residence. 
 
 Mr. Buckstaff has been twice married; 
 first time to Miss Sarah D. Abrams, who 
 died, the mother of three children: Fran- 
 ces M. (deceased at the age of nineteen 
 years), Robert H., and James W. (who 
 died when one year old). For his second 
 wife Mr. Buckstaff was married to Miss 
 Mary Shepard, daughter of an honored 
 pioneer of the Fox River Valley, who 
 settled in Winnebago county about the 
 year 1845. By this union three children 
 have been born, named, respectively, 
 Daisy M., Noel H.,and a son unnamed at 
 this writing. Mr. Buckstaff is a member 
 of the F. & A. M., I. O. O. F. and Daugh- 
 ters of Rebekah, besides various Temper- 
 ance societies. Politically he has been 
 true to the principles of the Republican 
 party, but has neither held or sought office. 
 
 ROYAL J. DERBY, secretary of 
 the Phoenix Creamery, Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, is a native of 
 New York State, born August 15, 
 1847, in Cattaraugus county, a son of 
 Peter C. and Alvina (Mclntyre) Derby, 
 who were of English and Scotch ances- 
 try, respectivel}-. 
 
 The paternal grandparents of our sub- 
 ject were long residents of Cattaraugus 
 county, N. Y., dying there, the grand- 
 father at the age of ninety-three, the 
 grandmother when ninety-one. Peter C. 
 Derby, their son, and father of Royal J., 
 was engaged in the milling business in 
 that county up to the time of his death. 
 He had a family of ten children, eight of 
 whom are yet living, to wit: Lyddol; 
 Lucy, wife of M. M. Crandal; Royal J.; 
 John; Morgan; Peter; Amos, and Ella, 
 wife of G. M. Burton, inspector of the 
 Lake Erie railroad, all of whom, with 
 the exception of our subject, reside in 
 Cattaraugus county. New York. 
 
 Royal J. Derby received his educa- 
 tional training at the schools of Erie 
 county, N. Y., and then followed agri- 
 
 cultural pursuits in that county until 1863, 
 in which year he moved to McKean 
 county, Penn., where he resided some 
 seven years, during two of which — 1866- 
 6^ — he served as sheriff of the county. 
 In 1880 he came to Oshkosh, where he 
 was engaged in the carpentering and 
 building trade until June, 1894, at which 
 time he organized the Phcenix Creamery, 
 of which he is secretary. 
 
 In 1 87 1 he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Janet Austin, daughter of John 
 and Catherine (Poole) Austin, residents 
 of McKean county, Penn., and three chil- 
 dren have blessed their union, viz. : Ar- 
 chibald Leon, Elfie Adelia and LulaBell. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Derby and children attend 
 the Episcopal Church at Oshkosh; social- 
 ly he is a member of the F. & A. M., 
 Lincoln Lodge, No. 48, of Rhinelander, 
 Wis. ; politically he is a Republican, and 
 takes an active interest in the affairs of 
 his part}'. He possesses more than aver- 
 age business qualifications, and as a citi- 
 zen is highly respected. 
 
 JOHN F. CHASE, an honored and 
 worthy pioneer citizen of Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, who is now re- 
 tired from active life, is a native of 
 the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, 
 born in the Parish of St. Patrick, Char- 
 lotte county, October 19, 1827. 
 
 William Chase, father of our subject, 
 was also born in Charlotte county, and 
 was reared to agricultural pursuits which 
 he made his life vocation. He was five 
 times married; first time to Miss Sarah 
 McPherson, by whom he had three chil- 
 dren, two of whom are yet living: John F. , 
 subject of sketch, and Elizabeth, wife of 
 Huper T. Farrell, their home being in 
 Marshfield, Wis. The second marriage 
 of William Chase was to Miss Mary Kee- 
 zer, by which union there were born six 
 children, three surviving, namely: Wil- 
 liam, residing in Omro, Winnebago coun- 
 ty; Ann, wife of Jonathan Long, now in 
 Colorado; and Samuel, a resident of Osh- 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 1323 
 
 kosh. There is no issue by the other 
 three marriages. The mother of our sub- 
 ject died when he was quite young, the 
 father in 1886 at the residence of his son 
 \\'iHiam, in Oniro. 
 
 John F. Chase, the subject proper of 
 these lines, received his education at the 
 schools of his native place, and after- 
 ward, during the summer months, worked 
 for his father on the farm, his winters 
 being occupied at lumbering in the 
 woods. This continued up to 1850, 
 when he left the scenes of his boyhood, 
 and coming west in the • United States, 
 located in Michigan, engaging in the lum- 
 bering business on Black river. In May, 
 185 1, he came to Oshkosh, Wis., whence 
 after a year he removed to Grant county, 
 same State, and in June, 1855, he revis- 
 ited New Brunswick, remaining there un- 
 til October i, following, returning then 
 to Wisconsin, and embarking in the lum- 
 ber business in Oshkosh. On August 10, 
 1862, he enlisted in Company K, Twen- 
 tieth Wis. V. I., three years' service, and 
 participated in the battle of Prairie Grove 
 (Ark.); siege of Vicksburg, battles of 
 Morganzia and Chattleard (La.), Dog 
 River (Miss.) and Spanish Fort (Ala.), 
 besides numerous minor engagments and 
 skirmishes. On July 15, 1865, he was 
 mustered out at Galveston, Texas, was 
 finally discharged at Madison, Wis., 
 August 10 following, and at once resumed 
 the lumbering business, from which he 
 retired some ten years ago. 
 
 In September, 1855, while visiting his 
 old home in New Brunswick, Mr. Chase 
 was united in marriage, at St. Stephen, 
 with Miss Margaret A. Kaine, daughter 
 of Henry and Jane (Buckstaf^) Kaine, and 
 two children came to bless their union: 
 Carrie C, born August 13, 1S56, and 
 John Henry, born August 15, 1859, both 
 still living at the parental home. The 
 father of Mrs. Margaret A. Chase was a 
 soldier in the One Hundred and Fourth 
 Regiment, British service, and in the 
 war of 1 8 1 2 was taken prisoner by the 
 Americans at the battle of Sacket's Har- 
 
 bor; he died May 19, 1870, at the resi- 
 dence of his son-in-law, our subject. 
 Mrs. Jane (Buckstaff) Ivaine was born in 
 1S03, and died at Omro, Wis., in 1869. 
 Mr. Chase is a member of John Scott 
 Post No. 241, G. A. R. , in politics is a 
 Republican, and, with his wife and son 
 and daughter, is a member of the Sec- 
 ond Baptist Church of Oshkosh. 
 
 ISAAC MILES. From " Merrie En- 
 gland, " a very garden in herself, where, 
 by the roadside, on the river bank, 
 
 grows the fragrant wild-thyme in 
 loving companionship with the sweet- 
 smelling honeysuckle, the nodding violet 
 and blushing wild-rose, comes the subject 
 of this sketch, whose reputation as a flor- 
 ist and lover of flowers is wide-spread. 
 
 He was born October 14, 1825, in the 
 village of Moreton-in-the-Marsh, Glouces- 
 tershire, a son of Robert and Mary Ann 
 (Fife) Miles, also natives of that county. 
 They were the parents of seventeen chil- 
 dren, the greater portion of whom reached 
 maturity, three of them yet surviving, 
 namely: Isaac, the subject of this sketch; 
 Jonathan, still living in Gloucestershire; 
 and Sarah, wife of Richard Fox, residing 
 at Dorking, Surrey, England. Isaac Miles 
 received but a limited education, chiefly 
 by his own exertions, at the schools of his 
 native place, and early in life commenced 
 to learn the occupation of gardener under 
 the tuition of his father, himself a disciple 
 of our common ancestor, Adam, the first 
 of all gardeners. In May, 1853. our sub- 
 ject emigrated to the United States, land- 
 ing in New York, whence he at once pro- 
 ceeded to Wisconsin, settling in Oshkosh, 
 where for the next sixteen years he was 
 engaged in lumbering, sawmilling and 
 other kindred industries, and then, in 
 1869, twenty-five years ago, embarked in 
 his present business. His greenhouse — 
 where is to be seen a complete and beau- 
 tiful collection of plants, including some 
 of the rarest and choicest exotics — is 
 equipped with all the latest improved 
 
1224 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 heating appliances and other facilities 
 requisite for the careful nurturinj^ of potted 
 plants and flowers, a complete assortment 
 of which he has on hand at all times, be- 
 sides grasses, mosses, ferns, roots, bulbs, 
 etc., as well as rustic baskets and em- 
 blematic floral designs, in great variety, 
 for all occasions and purposes. 
 
 On April i6, 1853, Mr. Miles was 
 married in Gloucestershire, England, to 
 Miss Mary Ann Gleed, who was born 
 April 9, 1825, at Hodson, near Swindon, 
 Wiltshire, England, daughter of Maurice 
 and Sarah Gleed, and by this union there 
 are si.\ children, as follows: Annie, wife 
 of E. Grant, and living in Mexico; and 
 Minnie, Sarah, Hattie E., Emma, and 
 George Isaac, all in Oshkosh. A thor- 
 oughly practical florist and gardener, Mr. 
 Miles possesses a minute knowledge of 
 the floral industry in all its branches; 
 gentlemanly and courteous, he is well 
 worthy of the eminent success his enter- 
 prising spirit and honorable and upright 
 business methods have brought to his 
 labors. 
 
 FREDERICK PITT, whose long 
 and honorable career we are about 
 to sketch briefly, has for years 
 been conspicuous in the corps of 
 pioneers of Winnebago count}'. Few cit- 
 izens now living here have been for so 
 long a time residents of Wisconsin, or 
 more prominently connected with its ag- 
 ricultural interests, or with its social and 
 educational welfare. 
 
 Mr. Pitt is a native of Prussia, born 
 in the town of Gollnow, October 8, 1819, 
 a son of John and Elizabeth Pitt, who 
 were of English and German parentage, 
 respectively. At the schools of his native 
 place he received a liberal education, and 
 was reared a farmer bo}', by industry and 
 filial duties laying the foundation for his 
 future success. In 1853 he came to the 
 United States and to Wisconsin, making 
 his first New- World home in Milwaukee, 
 whence after about two vears he removed 
 
 to a farm he had purchased on Rat river, 
 in Winchester township, Winnebago 
 county. In 1862 he enlisted in Company 
 F, Nineteenth Wis. \'. I., and after gal- 
 lantly serving with his regiment two years 
 was honorably discharged on account of 
 disabilities occasioned by hardships and 
 exposure. He then returned to his farm 
 in Winchester township, but shortly after- 
 ward removed with his family into Osh- 
 kosh, where he has since had his home. 
 To Frederick Pitt and his wife, Eliza- 
 beth, were born ten children, seven of 
 whom are yet li\ing, as follows: Tena, 
 wife of John Miller; Minna, wife of Chris- 
 tian Heizer; Augusta, wife of Frederick 
 Hauckbauch; Yetta, wife of Ernest Thin- 
 ert; Amelia, wife of Ira Moody; William, 
 and Otto. The family all attend the ser- 
 vices of the Lutheran Church; Mr. Pitt 
 is a member of John Scott Post, G.A.R., 
 and in his political preferences he is 
 a solid Republican. By industry and 
 honest toil he has prospered in life, 
 achieving more than ordinary success in 
 his field of activity, and now in his declin- 
 ing years he enjoys the esteem and confi- 
 dence of his fellow townsmen in an emi- 
 nent degree. 
 
 JOHN EVANS, for nearly half a cen- 
 tury a prominent and highly es- 
 teemed resident of Oshkosh, where 
 for a long time he was engaged at 
 the carpentry trade, afterward, for twenty- 
 two years, as a merchant, and latterly as 
 a millwright, was born in Wales March 
 2, 1822. 
 
 His parents, John and Catherine Ev- 
 ans, had a fatnily of seven children, only 
 two of whom sur\i\e — John, the subject 
 of this sketch, and Catherine, wife of 
 John Jones, residing in Oneida county, 
 N. Y. The mother died in Wales, and 
 in 1831 the bereaved husband, accom- 
 panied by his son John, came to the 
 United States, locating in Oneida county, 
 N. Y. , where the latter received a limited 
 common-school education. For a time^ 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1225 
 
 or until 1844, he there worked at farming 
 and carpentry; then came west to Wis- 
 consin, taking up his residence in Mil- 
 waukee, where for five years he followed 
 the trade of carpenter, removing at the 
 end of that time to Oshkosh, of which 
 city he has since been a continuous resi- 
 dent. Here his life has been a busy one, 
 and during his long residence he has been 
 closely identified with the growth and 
 prosperity of the city. 
 
 Mr. Evans was married in Waukesha 
 county to Miss Harriet Clark, daughter of 
 Elisha Clark, a native of New York State, 
 and to their union have been born nine 
 children, eight of whom are yet living, a 
 brief record of them being as follows: 
 Winfield S. is a farmer in Mower county, 
 Minn. ; Cordelia, i-\lbert, Nellie and Henry 
 reside in Lincoln, Neb. ; David P. lives 
 in Red Oak, Iowa; Charles is a resident 
 of Nebraska; Mary J., wife of I. M. Conk- 
 lin, lives in Milwaukee. The entire family 
 are Episcopalians in their religious faith. 
 In politics Mr. Evans originally was a 
 Whig, and since the organization of the 
 party has been a stanch I^epublican; in 
 former days he served as school commis- 
 sioner and school clerk several years, and 
 he has always been a useful, loyal citizen, 
 esteemed and respected by all. 
 
 CHRISTIAN M. GENAL, a well- 
 known and respected citizen of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, was 
 born in Switzerland, January 6, 
 1 845. He is a son of Joseph and Frances 
 fBeatau) Genal, who had born to them a 
 family of ten children, eight of whom are 
 yet living, as follows: Jacob, Louis and 
 Antoine, residing in their nati\e land 
 Joseph, who resides in Madison, Wis. 
 Annie; Elizabeth, wife of Antoine Baur 
 
 Bridget, wife of Taur, and Christian 
 
 M. The parents of both died in Switzer- 
 land after a useful and well-spent life, 
 the father at the age of sixty-five, the 
 mother when seventy-two years old. 
 
 The subject proper of these lines was 
 
 educated in his native land, and after 
 leaving school drove a team for some time, 
 later learning the carpenter's trade. In 
 1866 he emigrated to the United States, 
 and coming to Wisconsin located in Madi- 
 son, where he resided for over four years, 
 during which time he learned the black- 
 smith business. In 1870 he removed to 
 Oshkosh, where after working five years at 
 the latter trade he commenced business 
 for himself, and for the last twenty-five 
 years has been a continuous resident of 
 this city. Here, by his energetic business 
 habits, combined with careful attention 
 to the wants of his patrons, he has estab- 
 lished a trade second to none in the city. 
 His genial manner has also won for him a 
 host of friends, and both he and his family 
 are highly esteemed in the community in 
 which they reside. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Genal was married, in 
 Oshkosh, to Annie Unmuth, daughter of 
 Nicholaus and Margaret (Schniid) Un- 
 muth, natives of Wurtemberg, Germany 
 — the former born December 6, 1801, in 
 Daugendorf — who were among the early 
 pioneer settlers of Oshkosh, where both 
 passed away, he at the age of eighty-nine, 
 she at the age of sixty-eight j'ears. Both 
 were well known and worthy citizens. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Genal came eight children, 
 as follows: John L. . born December 31, 
 1874; Louis W'. , born October 12, 1876; 
 George N., born October 4, 1878; Chris- 
 tian M., born August 25, 1880; Joseph 
 G. , born November 6, 1882; Robert R., 
 born August 12, 1885; Louis Joseph, born 
 September 7, 1881, died in infancy, and 
 Joseph, born in December, 1872, died 
 August 7, 1874. Mr. Genal is a member 
 of the Druids, the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, and the United German Benev- 
 olent Society. 
 
 PRESTON KISNER is a represent- 
 ative of an old family which his- 
 tory says originated in Holland. 
 At an early day some of its mem- 
 bers emigrated to New York, and were 
 
1226 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 numbered among the old Mohawk Dutch 
 of that State. The great-grandfather of 
 our subject, WiHiam Kisner, Hved in 
 Lewis county, N. Y. , where he followed 
 farming. The grandfather, Isaac Kisner, 
 resided on that old homestead near Low- 
 ville until 1852, when he came with his 
 family to Wisconsin, locating on a farm 
 of eighty acres in Calumet county, where 
 he spent his remaining days. He was a 
 soldier of the war of 1S12. 
 
 Abram and Matilda (Kenfield) Kisner, 
 parents of our subject, were natives of 
 the Empire State, the former having 
 been reared on a farm near Lowville. In 
 November, 1854, he came to Wisconsin 
 and took up his residence near Brother- 
 town, Calumet count}-, but in 1855 went 
 to Fox Lake, where he carried on black- 
 smithing for three 3'ears. He then re- 
 turned to Calumet county, and for a time 
 had charge of his father's farm, but sub- 
 sequently removed to Deerfield township, 
 Waushara county, where he owned and 
 operated land. He died January 12, 
 1 89 1, at the age of sixty-eight years, and 
 his wife on the 26th of December follow- 
 ing, her death occurring verj' suddenly, 
 occasioned by heart disease, while visit- 
 ing her sister near Randolph, Columbia 
 county. They were laid to rest side by 
 side in a cemetery in Deerfield township, 
 Waushara county. 
 
 Preston Kisner was born near Low- 
 ville, N. Y. , October 22, 1847, was edu- 
 cated in the schools of that neighborhood 
 and at the age of nineteen began farming, 
 which he followed some fourteen years. 
 He owned one farm of eighty acres in 
 Columbia county. Wis., then purchased 
 a sixty-acre tract adjoining, and after- 
 ward bought forty acres at Oak Grove. 
 He was married August i, 1868, to Miss 
 Sophronia Clough, daughter of Obediah 
 and Doroth}' (Morrison) Clough, who re- 
 moved from New Hampshire to Dodge 
 county. Wis., and settled at the Rolling 
 Prairie railroad station in Oak Grove 
 township. On June 22, 1880, Mr. Kis- 
 ner came to Winneconne where he en- 
 
 gaged in grain dealing for a time, having 
 charge of the railroad elevator for seven 
 years. During the last three years of that 
 time he also conducted a general store 
 which was established in the spring of 
 1885. He was then alone in that busi- 
 ness for a few months, but October 10, 
 1885, admitted to partnership Lewis 
 Lund, under the firm name of Kisner & 
 Lund. They carry a general stock of 
 dry goods, groceries, hardware, etc., and 
 do a good business. Mr. Kisner is also a 
 half owner of Piacenza Point, a pleasure 
 resort on Lake Winneconne. This place 
 offers all the advantages of a beautiful 
 body of water and fine shade trees, and is 
 located on the north shore of Lake Win- 
 neconne, on a point of gravelly hard soil 
 which slightly juts into the lake. A nice 
 sandy beach extends for about eighty 
 rods, affording excellent bathing oppor- 
 tunities; there is a constantly flowing 
 fountain of pure spring water, giving forth 
 a two-inch stream, cold and sparkling, 
 and the fishing is excellent. This place is 
 quiet and retired, being especially suited 
 for those who wish to get away from heat 
 of cities and business cares. It can be 
 reached by sail, row or steamboats, as well 
 as by a fine carriage drive. Several cot- 
 tages have already been erected, and the 
 Point is fast becoming one of Wisconsin's 
 most beautiful summer resorts. 
 
 On the failure of the Citizens Bank of 
 Winneconne, July 7, 1893, Mr. Kisner 
 was appointed assignee. This bank was 
 established by Zimri Dwiggins, the 
 founder of so many of the banks of the 
 same kind, and went down in the crash 
 of the Columbian National Bank of Chi- 
 cago. Socially, Mr. Kisner is a member 
 of the Modern Woodmen of America, has 
 served as clerk and counsel and was dele- 
 gate to the council at Springfield in 1890, 
 at which time new general officers were 
 elected and the entire management 
 changed, making the workings of the 
 order much more satisfactory to its mem- 
 bers. In politics our subject is a Repub- 
 lican, and he served as chairman of the 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1227 
 
 village board before its incorporation, 
 after which he represented Winneconne 
 in the county board three years, and at 
 the present time he is a member of the 
 village board. He and his wife are ad- 
 herents of the Free Baptist Church, in 
 which he has served as trustee for some 
 time, and in its work takes an active in- 
 terest. Mr. Kisner is prominent in both 
 business and social circles, and is a valued 
 citizen. 
 
 NELSON ROUSE, the well-known 
 and popular proprietor of one of 
 the leading flour and feed stores 
 in Oshkosh, Winnebago county, 
 is a native of Steuben county, N. Y., 
 born October 1 1 , 1 840. 
 
 His parents, Newcomb and Pollie 
 Rouse, when he was yet a child, moved 
 to Allegany county, same State, and 
 from there, about the year 1855, migrated 
 to Ashtabula county, Ohio, finally in i860 
 coming to Wisconsin, where in the town- 
 ship of Omro, Winnebago county, the 
 father purchased a farm, and was engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits up to the time of 
 his death, which occurred in 1869; his 
 wife passed away in 1873. The son Nel- 
 son acompanied them in all their journey- 
 ings from the place of his birth, and in 
 Allegany county, N. Y. , received the 
 greater part of his education, completing 
 same in Ashtabula county, Ohio. After 
 his arrival in Winnebago county Mr. 
 Rouse was engaged in the lumber busi- 
 ness for several years, both on the river 
 and in the woods, and later followed 
 agricultural pursuits some ten years. In 
 1883 he removed to Minnesota, whei"e 
 for ten years he continued farming opera- 
 tions, and then returning to Wisconsin 
 embarked in his present business, in 
 which he has met with well-merited suc- 
 cess, having by close attention to the 
 wants of his customers, together with fair 
 and liberal dealings, secured a wide and 
 lucrative trade. 
 
 On October 11, 1866, Mr. Rouse was 
 
 married, at Oshkosh, to Levina J. Miles, 
 daughter of Clarke and Esther Miles, and 
 si.\ children have been born to them, 
 three of whom survive, named, respect- 
 ively: Dewey N., Madie and Harlow. 
 Politically Mr. Rouse is a stanch Repub- 
 lican, his first vote having been cast for 
 Abraham Lincoln, and he and his family 
 attend the services of the Baptist Church. 
 An honest, upright man, a worthy and 
 esteemed citizen, our subject enjoys the 
 respect and good-will of his fellow citi- 
 zens. 
 
 JAMES M. SIMONS, a highly re- 
 spected citizen of Oshkosh, Winne- 
 bago county, by occupation a marine 
 engineer and machinist, second to 
 none in his line of business, is a native of 
 New York State, born March 18, 1857. 
 His father, James Simons, also a na- 
 tive of the "Empire State," came in 
 1823 to the then Territory of Wisconsin, 
 and took up land in Winnebago county; 
 but after a few years' residence here re- 
 turned to his old home in the East. He 
 was a carpenter by trade, and worked at 
 the same in New York State till about 
 the year 1859, when he once more came 
 to Wisconsin, and locating in the village 
 of Brothertown, Calumet county, contin- 
 ued his trade there till 1872, in which 
 year he removed to Kaukauna, where he 
 has since resided, of late years retired 
 from active life; for the past seven years 
 he has been a justice of the peace for 
 Kaukauna, and he is held in the highest 
 esteem. He married Miss Martha Schei- 
 zeck, also a native of New York State, 
 and several children were born to them. 
 The Simons family, of whom this sketch 
 treats, are of Brotherhood Indian extrac- 
 tion, and are of great stature and bulk, 
 the grandfather of our subject having 
 weighed 3 89 pounds, the father, who is 
 now seventy-nine years old, weighing 240 
 pounds, and our subject, who stands six 
 feet two inches in his stockings, also tip- 
 
1228 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPUICAL RECORD. 
 
 ping the scale at 240 pounds — each one, 
 verily, a modern Goliath. 
 
 James M. Simons, whose name opens 
 this sketch, was two years old when his 
 parents brought him to Wisconsin, and at 
 the common schools of the period he re- 
 ceived a fairly liberal education. At the 
 age of fifteen years he left the parental 
 roof and engaged in steamboating in the 
 engineer department, and so assiduous 
 and diligent was he that at the early age 
 of twenty he found himself chief engineer 
 of a steamboat called the "Adrionack," 
 then plying between Green Bay and north- 
 ern ports. This vocation he followed 
 during the season of navigation for about 
 twenty years, in the winter months work- 
 ing at his trade of machinist on shore, 
 and since giving up steamboating has con- 
 tinued the latter, e.xclusively, in Oshkosh. 
 
 Our subject has been twice married, 
 first time to Miss Ada Grignon, afterward 
 in February, 1893, to Miss Laura Miles, 
 of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Simons are 
 consistent members of the Methodist 
 Church, and socially he is affiliated with 
 the Society of Marine Engineers. He is, 
 probably, the only one now holding cer- 
 tificates as chief engineer on all lakes, 
 bays and sounds, and his name in steam- 
 boat connection is "familiar as household 
 words." 
 
 WILLIAM H. BOYD, proprietor 
 of the box factor}' in Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, known us 
 the Boyd Manufacturing Co. , 
 and one of the leading prosperous busi- 
 ness men of northwestern Wisconsin, is a 
 native of Winnebago county. Wis., born 
 at Stony Beach, Oshkosh, in 1840. 
 
 William A. Boyd, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born at Atwater, Ohio, a son of 
 John Boyd, a native of Alexandria, Va. , 
 but in an early day moved to Ohio, and 
 was in business in Licking count}'. W. 
 A. Boyd received his education in Ohio, 
 whence in 1838 he came to Wisconsin, 
 landing at Green Bay, the trip being made 
 
 by water from Cleveland. He was by 
 trade a shoemaker, which he followed in 
 Green Bay until burned out, losing nearly 
 all his effects, in the fall of which unlucky 
 year he moved to Oshkosh by water, the 
 vessel which conveyed him being known 
 as a "dug out." At that time there were 
 but a few families residing in the place, 
 and here he continued at his trade, work- 
 ing for years at one dollar per day. Later 
 he settled on a farm, in Black Wolf town- 
 ship, which he cleared and cultivated and 
 in addition to agricultural pursuits carried 
 the mail on horseback to Ripon, and also 
 to Green Bay; for several years he was 
 township treasurer. He and his wife 
 passed from earth in 1890, the parents of 
 five children, viz. : Emma, wife of G. W. 
 Merritt, of Black Wolf township, Win- 
 nebago county; William H., our sub- 
 ject; Mary, wife of John Merritt, of Osh- 
 kosh; Edgar, who enlisted in 1862 in the 
 Twentieth Wisconsin Infantry, three 
 years' service, and died of typhoid fever 
 at Fayettville in 1863, and J. F., in busi- 
 ness at Marinette, Wisconsin. 
 
 William H. Boyd, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch, was reared and edu- 
 cated at Oshkosh, and assisted his father 
 until he was of age. In 1861 he enlisted 
 in Company E, Second W^isconsin In- 
 fantry, for three }-ears, or during the war, 
 was mustered in at Madison, and his reg- 
 iment attached to the army of the Po- 
 tomac, " Iron Brigade." He participated 
 in all the battles from that of first Bull 
 Run up to the battle of Gettysburg, where 
 he was wounded \\\i\\ a rifie ball the first 
 day, July i, 1863, causing his confine- 
 ment to hospital at Gettysburg till the 
 following November. F"rom there he was 
 sent to York, same State, in which city 
 he received his discharge from the army 
 in 1864, and returned to his home in Osh- 
 kosh, where he was elected city treasurer, 
 serving one year. On his retirement from 
 that office he engaged in the grocery, 
 flour and feed business on Main street, 
 and subsequently in other enterprises, till 
 in 1 89 1 he opened his present box factory 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPIIIVAL RECORD. 
 
 1229 
 
 in which he has met with well-merited 
 success, at the present time giving em- 
 ployment to from twelve to twenty hands. 
 In June, 1876, Mr. Boyd was united in 
 marriage, in Oskhosh, with Miss Libbie 
 Barden, who was born at Sheboygan Falls, 
 Wis., daughter of William Barden, of 
 that place, and two children have been 
 born to them, both sons, named respect- 
 ively Clyde B. and R03'. The family are 
 members of the M. E. Church, and so- 
 cially Mr. Boyd is connected with the 
 I. O. O. F. , Lodge No. 120, Oshkosh. 
 For enterprise, industry, integrity and 
 loyalty, there is no more respected citizen 
 in Oshkosh or indeed in the entire county 
 than William H. Boyd. 
 
 LOUIS BALDAUF, a thoroughly 
 practical machinist and manufac- 
 turer of tools, who has been a 
 well-respected resident of Osh- 
 kosh, Winnebago county, for the past 
 eight or nine years, is a native of Ger- 
 many, born in the town of Altenburg, 
 February 19, 1857, a son of Frederick 
 and Rose Baldauf, both, also, natives of 
 the Fatherland. 
 
 The subject of our sketch received a 
 limited education at the schools of his 
 native place, and early in life commenced 
 to learn the trade of machinist, later that 
 of mechanical tool manufacturer, which, 
 after serving his apprenticeship, he fol- 
 lowed a few years as a journeyman in 
 Germany. In 1878 he was drafted into 
 the German army for a three-years' serv- 
 ice, but on account of superior good 
 conduct received his discharge at the end 
 of two years. He then continued his 
 trade, this time in his own name, until 
 1 88 1, in which year he immigrated to the 
 United States, and, coming west from 
 the port of debarcation to Wisconsin, 
 made his first New- World home in Mil- 
 waukee, whence, in 1886, he removed to 
 Oshkosh, where he has since been suc- 
 cessfully engaged at his trade, and known 
 
 as one of the most skillful artificers in the 
 county. 
 
 Mr. Baldauf was married to Miss 
 Maria Wilchen, who was born in Wis- 
 consin, of German ancestry, and to this 
 union were born three children, all of 
 whom died in infancy. Mr. Baldauf is 
 possessed of the qualities of industry, 
 honesty and integrity, attributes essential 
 to an upright and successful business life, 
 and as a sociable and genial man he is 
 one of the most popular citizens of 
 Oshkosh. 
 
 DOCTOR SETH A. BO WE, well 
 and favorably known as a highly- 
 skilled and successful veterinary 
 surgeon, who for the past fifteen 
 years has been a prominent resident of 
 Oshkosh, Winnebago county, is a native 
 of New York State, born in Watertown, 
 Jefferson county, February 20, 1837. 
 
 Horace Bowe, father of our subject, 
 and of Massachusetts birth, was reared to 
 the trade of currier and tanner, which he 
 followed at various points for some years, 
 but the greater portion of his life was 
 passed in agricultural pursuits. He 
 married Miss Susan Clark, who was born 
 in the State of New York, and by her had 
 a family of seven children, four of whom 
 are yet living, as follows: Asenath, wife 
 of A. B. Taft, resides in Bangor, Mich. ; 
 Seth A. is the subject of this sketch; Dor- 
 cas, wife of Edward Boyer, also lives in 
 Bangor, Mich. ; Prosper is a resident of 
 Watervliet, Mich. In 1854 the parents 
 moved with their family to Michigan, and 
 in that State passed the rest of their days, 
 the father dying in Watervliet, Berrien 
 county, the mother in Bangor, Van Buren 
 count}'. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received the 
 groundwork of a thorough education at 
 the public schools of his native place, 
 which a one-year's attendance at Water- 
 town Academy completed. As will be 
 seen he was seventeen years old when he 
 
I230 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPEICAL RECORD. 
 
 accompanied his parents to Berrien coun- 
 ty, Mich. , and having from boyhood 
 evinced no little skill in the treatment of 
 horses — often while yet attending school 
 being called upon to prescribe for the re- 
 lief of some sick or injured animal in the 
 neighborhood — he was, soon after his 
 arrival in Berrien county, given charge 
 of the horses, thirty-two in number, 
 owned by the Chicago Wood Com- 
 pany, a wealthy corporation doing an 
 extensive business in Michigan at that 
 time. With them he remained one 
 year, adding materially to his already 
 high reputation as a veterinarian, and 
 then entered into an agreement with Dr. 
 P. J. Gardiner, a veterinary surgeon of 
 Dowagiac, Mich., to act as his assistant 
 for twelve months, at the expiration of 
 which engagement, in order to perfect 
 himself in what he had now resolved to 
 make the profession of his life, he pro- 
 ceeded to New York, and at the Columbia 
 Veterinary College of that city took a full 
 course, graduating in the class of 1859. 
 Returning to Michigan, he associated 
 himself with his former patron. Dr. Gard- 
 iner, in the conducting of a large infirm- 
 ary for invalided horses, etc. , in Dowag- 
 iac, which partnership existed until the 
 spring of 1S61. At that time, the war 
 of the Rebellion having broken out in full 
 force, Mr. Bowe enlisted in "Burgess' 
 Sharpshooters," a military company com- 
 posed entireh" of volunteers then living in 
 Michigan. In 1862 this company was 
 attached to the Sixty-sixth 111. V. I., and 
 sent into northern Missouri for the pur- 
 pose of exterminating or suppressing the 
 blood-thirsty guerrillas who were doing a 
 vast amount of mischief; it also partici- 
 pated in the engagement at Mt. Zion 
 (Mo.), Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson 
 (Tenn.), the battle of Pittsburg Landing 
 or Shiloh (Tenn.), siege of Corinth 
 (Miss.), etc. While in camp near Cor- 
 inth our subject was mustered out of the 
 service, receiving an honorable discharge, 
 and, returning to Michigan, resumed his 
 profession at Lawrence, Van Buren coun- 
 
 ty, but at the end of three years sold out his 
 practice and removed to South Bend, Ind. , 
 where he was fully engaged at his profes- 
 sion till the spring of 1 867. At this time he 
 was offered, and accepted, the post of 
 veterinary surgeon for the Stone Bros. 
 Circus Co., and traveled with their estab- 
 lishment in that capacity till the fall of 
 the same year; then, resigning his posi- 
 tion for a time, he returned to South Bend 
 and resumed practice there, remaining till 
 the spring of 1869. Again connecting 
 himself with the Stone Bros. Circus Co., 
 he found himself once more "on the 
 road," and in October of same year the 
 "route" brought the establishment to 
 Wisconsin and, some time in that month, 
 to Stevens Point, where Dr. Bowe was 
 taken so ill that he had to be sent to 
 hospital. When convalescent, he was 
 offered the superintendency of Walker's 
 stage line, which he accepted, filling the 
 position for about one year with his char- 
 acteristic care and diligence. This was 
 at Stevens Point, where his marriage took 
 place, which event will be presentlj' re- 
 corded, and Dr. and Mrs. Bowe then 
 made their new home in Berlin, same 
 State, where he practiced his profession 
 two 3'ears, at the end of which time they 
 removed to Ripon, Fond du Lac county, 
 whence, after a residence there of six 
 years, they in October, 1879, came to 
 Oshkosh. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Dr. Bowe was married at 
 Stevens Point, Wis., to Miss Nellie M. 
 Walton, daughter of William and Jane 
 Walton, of that place, the former of whom 
 served in the war of the Rebellion, and 
 died from hardships and exposure experi- 
 enced in the field; his widow passed away 
 in Oshkosh, at the home of our subject. 
 Mrs. Bowe is a member of the Episcopal 
 Church. Dr. Bowe is past commander 
 of Phil. Sheridan Post No. 10, G. A. R. , 
 and past master workman of the A. O. U. 
 W. ; politically he is a stanch Democrat, 
 and in his profession he stands second to 
 none in the front rank of veterinary sur- 
 geons. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1231 
 
 ANNA HORSFELD, of Oshkosh, 
 Winnebago county, of which city 
 she has been a resident some 
 fifteen years, is a native of Sax- 
 ony, Germany, born April 23, 1863. 
 
 She is a daughter of James and Mary 
 Horsfeld, and the elder of two children 
 born to them, the younger being Mary, 
 wife of Thomas Moore, also a resident of 
 Oshkosh. The father died when' Miss 
 Horsfeld was a young girl, and the mother 
 was afterward married to Ferdinand Hopp, 
 who was also of German nativity, by 
 which union were born three children, two 
 of whom are yet living: Ferdinand and 
 Max. 
 
 In 1 87 1 the family came to the United 
 States and to Wisconsin, in which State 
 they resided some six years, and then re- 
 moved to Wausau, whence, in 1S79, after 
 about a year's sojourn there, they came 
 to Oshkosh, w^here Mr. Hopp followed 
 the trade of paper-hanger and decorator, 
 also conducting a grocery, up to his death, 
 which occurred January 19, 1893. Since 
 his decease Miss Horsfeld has carried on 
 the business with eminent ability, and by 
 her amiable disposition has made hosts of 
 friends in Oshkosh, where she enjoys the 
 distinction of being one of the most re- 
 spected citizens of the place. 
 
INSIDE 
 
 PACE. 
 
 Abrams, Hon. W. J 114 
 
 Ackley, S. B., M. D 1183 
 
 Adkins, Charles G 515 
 
 Adriaenssen, A. A. L. . . . 37N 
 
 Adrians, John 815 
 
 Adrians, N. H 815 
 
 Aebischer, Charles N 176 
 
 A.,Aebischer, Mrs. Marg-"t.. 175 
 
 Aebischer, Samuel 175 
 
 Albee, Prof. Georg-e S....1018 
 
 Albee Family 1018 
 
 Aldrich.Chauncy N 121 
 
 AUender, W. B 597 
 
 Ames, Milo 367 
 
 Andersen, Dedrick 384 
 
 Andersen, Hans P 274 
 
 Anderson, Andrew 346 
 
 Anderson, A. M 677 
 
 Anderson, W. B 181 
 
 Andrews, Georg-e Rex. . . . 1070 
 Andrews, Mrs. Louisa. . . .1071 
 
 Ansorge, Eug-ene K 199 
 
 Armstrong, William 119 
 
 Arndt, John P 213 
 
 Arndt, John Wallace 213 
 
 Arnold, F. C 1182 
 
 Arveson,Arve 256 
 
 Ashby, Julius 1069 
 
 Aspin'all, Alfred 780 
 
 Atkinson, Thomas 118 
 
 Aug-ustin, Charles F 1141 
 
 Babcock, Augustin H. . . . 176 
 
 Baer, Capt. Jolin M 470 
 
 Bailey. Alexander 1215 
 
 Bailev, Dwight B 642 
 
 Bailey. Patrick 341 
 
 Bailey Family 642 
 
 Baird', Thoma's J 1109 
 
 Baker, Charles 514 
 
 Baker, E. A 800 
 
 Baldauf , Louis 1229 
 
 Ballard, Anson 717 
 
 Ballard, Clinton B 836 
 
 Balliet, Stephen 853 
 
 Banta, George 1108 
 
 Barber, James 11161 
 
 Barker, James M Sill 
 
 Barker Family 810 
 
 Barnes, Dr. Edwin M 1105 
 
 Barnes, James A 1085 
 
 Barrett, Benjamin, .Ir. . . . 575 
 
 Barteau, Morris F 739 
 
 Bartelme, John 343 
 
 Barth. Martin 345 
 
 Bartlett. F. L 1192 
 
 Bartow, J. V 1160 
 
 60 
 
 P.VGE. 
 
 Ba.sche, F. W 938 * 
 
 Batev, John 159 
 
 Battis, H. L 1204 
 
 Baumann, Chas. G 1214 
 
 Baumgart, August, Sr. . . 238 
 
 Baumg-art, August 236 
 
 Baumg:art, Edward 345 
 
 Baumgart. Paul.' 238 
 
 Baxter. Elisha 534 
 
 Beach. Jos. P., M. D 1106 
 
 Beach. Orville 996 
 
 Beaupre. Dr. Wm 309 
 
 Becher, John 212 
 
 Becher, Joseph 212 
 
 Beck, H. M.. M. D 229 
 
 Becker, Ernest 950 
 
 Becker, Frank F 819 
 
 Becker, Frederick 883 
 
 Becker, Henry 883 
 
 Becker, Louis 875 
 
 Becker, Matt 1220 
 
 Becker, Peter J 316 
 
 Behrend. Robert 599 
 
 Beissel, Eseius 307 
 
 Bennett, Rev. Philo S.... 818 
 
 Berringer, George 872 
 
 Berringer, John R 873 
 
 Beth. John 13 
 
 Beveridge, Charles A ... 684 
 
 Bigford, Henry L 727 
 
 Bingham, Webster A.... 40 
 
 Bishop. Arthur 1032 
 
 Bissett, Ambrose 669 
 
 Bissing, Herman 617 
 
 Black. Andrew C 508 
 
 Black, James 933 
 
 Black, R. J 161 
 
 Bleick. John 506 
 
 Blesch. Francis 160 
 
 Blesch. Frank T 160 
 
 Blood. Frederick H 720 
 
 Blood. Henrv L 719 
 
 Bloom, Jacob R 1026 
 
 Bodenheimer. Morris 783 
 
 Boehm, Joseph 344 
 
 Boehm, Sylvester 332 
 
 Bolton, John M 1111 
 
 Bone, Leonard 167 
 
 Bongers, Rev. Matthew.. 323 
 
 Boon, George W 967 
 
 Borman, Gregforie 371 
 
 Borman, Henry 371 
 
 Bottensek, John 505 « 
 
 Bottrell, Richard 849 
 
 Bouck, Col. Gabriel 977 
 
 Bouck Family 978 
 
 PACK. 
 
 Bowe. Dr. S. A 1229 
 
 Bowen, Mrs. Ann C 1158 
 
 Bowen, B. A 1158 
 
 Bowen, D. E 1179 
 
 Bowen, Wm. B 1159 
 
 Bowman, C. D 1164 
 
 Bowring, Thomas D 118 
 
 Boyd, W. H 1228 
 
 Boyden, Elbridg-e G 248 
 
 Bozmack, Rev. Jacobus. . 154 ' 
 
 Bradley, D 933 
 
 Brahan, Edward 561 
 
 Brainerd, James 1027 
 
 Brauer, Mrs. Alvina 1103 
 
 Brauer. William G 1102 
 
 Brauns, A 934 
 
 Breier, William 847 
 
 Breitrick, Charles 684 
 
 Breitruck, Friedrich 784 
 
 Breitung, Albert A 576 
 
 Brennan, Jeremiah 259 
 
 Brett. B. C, M. D 37 
 
 Breyer. Edward W 635 
 
 Breyer, George 635 
 
 Brice, O. J. B 452 
 
 Bricot. Solomon 890 
 
 Briggs, A. C 1137 
 
 Briggs. Daniel 819 
 
 Briggs. Lewis A 817 
 
 Briggs, Samuel F 819 
 
 Brigg-s, Theodore W 846 
 
 Briggs, William H 797 
 
 Briggs, William W 632 
 
 Brill, John 512 
 
 Britton, David W 132 
 
 Broeren, John 326 
 
 Brokaw, N. H 560 
 
 Bronson Family 1017 
 
 Brooks, F. D...' 1173 
 
 Brooks, Oscar J 741 
 
 Brooks, Samuel L 1 173 
 
 Brothers, Capt. D. J 572 
 
 Brower, A.J 622 
 
 Brunette, Doininick 186 
 
 Brunette, Manuel 186 
 
 Huchholtz, Carl 688 
 
 Buck, Charles F 730 
 
 Buck, Herman T 654 
 
 Buck, J. P 834 
 
 Buck, J. S 486 
 
 Buckmaiin, Ahrend S. . . . 324 
 
 Buckmann, H. F 324 
 
 BuckstaflF, Hon. Geo. H. . .1167 
 
 Buckstaff. John 1167 
 
 Buckstaff . Robert 1221 
 
 Bungert, Michael 757 
 
1234 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Burdeau, Willard E 190 
 
 Burg-ess, Frederick JH9 
 
 Burns, Mrs. Annie 1115 
 
 Burns, Alex. B 1112 
 
 'Burton, John H 668 \ 
 
 Bushnell, Milo C 1145 
 
 Callahan, John 1090 
 
 Callahan, John M 1091 
 
 Callahan, Peter 334 
 
 Callahan, Thomas E 1218 
 
 Caiman, John 390 
 
 Caiman, Mrs. Kate 390 
 
 Camm, Herbert F 297 
 
 Campbell, H. Porter 453 
 
 Campbell, Robert C 1169 
 
 Campbell, Thomas W 601 
 
 Campbell, William 1169 
 
 Cardinal, Frank 830 
 
 Carlin, P. H 418( 
 
 Carnej', Jeremiah 722 
 
 Carney, Patrick 723 
 
 Carpenter, ElnathanG.. 772 
 
 Carter, Arnold A 667 
 
 Carter, Mrs. Jane C 667 
 
 Casey, W. J 179 
 
 Cashman, James 585 
 
 Cashman, William 953 
 
 Cautereels, Rev. P. J 362 
 
 Chalf ant, Scott 1 1119 
 
 Champion, Seth W 150 
 
 Charbonneau, Peter 1210 
 
 Charlesworth, F. M 908 
 
 Charlesworth, Georp^e H..1084 
 
 Chase, Jasper S 420 
 
 Chase, John F 1222 
 
 Choate, Leander 994 
 
 Clack, Charles 771 
 
 Clarev, M. J 945 
 
 Clark, Herbert M 1052 
 
 Clark, James L, 1050 
 
 Claspill, J. W 709 
 
 Cleeremans, Alex 125 
 
 Cleeremans, Charles. ... . 403 
 
 Cleeremans, Frank 263 
 
 Cloug-h, Harley 1216 
 
 Cody, John 211 
 
 Coenen, John 287 
 
 Coenen, Theodore 287 
 
 Coffeen, W. B., M. D 446 
 
 Colburn, Theodore 421 
 
 Coleman, Cyrus E 756 
 
 Collar, D. A 766 
 
 Collar, Lucius 766 ■> 
 
 Comerford, William, M.D. 884 
 
 Conen, William 368 
 
 Conkey, Asa H 691 
 
 Conkey, Mrs. Cynthia F.. 539 
 
 Conkey, Mrs. J. M 691 
 
 Conkey, Theodore 536 
 
 Couklin, Louis 762 
 
 Conklin, Nathan S 559 
 
 Conley, Horace J 145 
 
 Connelly, John 127 
 
 Cook, John 123 
 
 Cook, John (deceased) .... 303 
 
 Cook, William 303 
 
 Coonen, George W. 526 
 
 Coonen, James L 526 
 
 P.\GE. 
 
 Coonen, Martin 525 
 
 Corbett, M. J 416 
 
 Cordes, Carl 912 
 
 Cormier, David 357 
 
 Cormier, Joseph 357 
 
 Cornelius, Frank B 1204 
 
 Corstens, Arnold. , 386 
 
 Corstens, John 386 
 
 Cotton, Charles A 438 
 
 Craanen, Christian 265 
 
 Craanen, Jacob 265 
 
 Craanen, John 360 
 
 Crabb, Frank 184 
 
 Crabb, Joseph 148 
 
 Crane, Clifford 887 
 
 Crane, C. E., M. D 950 
 
 Crocker, Ephraim 416 
 
 Crowe, R. R 1176 
 
 Cuff, Alexander 651 
 
 Culbertson, Alexander. . . 858 
 
 Culbert.son, James 856 
 
 Culbertson, John 857 
 
 Culbertson Familj- 855 
 
 Curran, Martin..' 279 
 
 Curtis,' Moses S 550 
 
 Cutler, A. W 529 
 
 Dag-g-ett, Prof. W. W 1076 
 
 Daix, Constant 961 
 
 Dambruch, George 865 
 
 Daniels, Mrs. Alvira 646 
 
 Daniels, James 647 
 
 Daniels, J. S.,M.D 1155 
 
 Daniels, Lorenzo 647 
 
 Dardis, Thomas 513 
 
 Darling, Hon. Lorenzo E. 610 
 
 Davis, Charles L 451 
 
 Davis, John R., Sr 1190 
 
 Davis, Daniel H 210 
 
 Davis, E. B 451 
 
 Dawson, George H 532 
 
 Dawson, Richard, .Sr 532 
 
 Dawson, Richard, Jr 533 
 
 Day, Charles W 48 
 
 Dean, Philip 921 
 
 Decker, Edward 42 
 
 Decker, W., D. D. S 1132 
 
 Degal, John 541 
 
 Degal, Mrs. Mary A 542 
 
 De Jonghe. Constant 220 
 
 De Kelver,Rev.FatherW.1120 
 Delano, Dr. Herbert C... 963 
 
 Delaney, George A 179 
 
 Delaney, James C 179 
 
 De Lou w. Rev. Father C. 91 
 
 Demp.se V, Philip 882 
 
 Denis, Charles R 290 
 
 Denis, Gregorie 88 
 
 Denis, Capt. Joseph 147 
 
 Derby, R. J 1222 
 
 Desnoyers, Frank B 947 
 
 Devine, James 549 
 
 De Wilt, Rev. Elsear 425 
 
 Dev, John 822 
 
 Dickerson, Fred 809 
 
 Dickerson, Henry J 808 
 
 Diener, Henry J 845 
 
 Diestler, Hermann O. E.. 866 
 Dittmer, Francis R 696 
 
 P.\GE. 
 
 Dodge, G. W., M. D 1125 
 
 Doe, Mrs. Elizabeth 1064 
 
 Doe, William H 1064 
 
 Dohn. Adam 229 
 
 Dollard, John 373 
 
 Dollard, Patrick E 373 
 
 Doman, H. C 1163 
 
 Douner, H. W 801 
 
 Doolan, Bartholomew. . . . 240 
 
 Doran, Terrence 250 
 
 Dougherty, Cornelius. . . . 324 
 
 Douglas, Dr. Byron 844 
 
 Downer, George R 494 
 
 Downey, John 830 
 
 Drake, James 406 
 
 DriscoU, John 848 
 
 Droeger, George 7.53 
 
 Droog, Felix 146 
 
 Duaime, Joseph E 336 
 
 Dubois, F. E 945 
 
 Ducat, Jacques 372 - 
 
 Duchateau, Abelard 454 
 
 Duchateau, F. J. B 454 
 
 Duffy, James 330 
 
 Duffv, Thomas 330 
 
 Dumke, E. A 887 
 
 Dumke, Ferdinand 886 
 
 Duncan, Archibald M. . . . 935 
 
 Duncan, John 935 
 
 Durfee. James R 1()88 
 
 Durfee, Mrs. Julia A 1089 
 
 Durkee, Albert S 562 
 
 Dwyer, Anthonj- 267 
 
 Dwj'er, Patrick 267 
 
 Earles, John 777 
 
 Eastman, Deac. Ed ward. 1175 
 
 Ebeling, J. H 47 
 
 Edwards, Mrs. Harriet S. 717 
 
 Ehle, Herrman 239 
 
 Ei.senman, Andrew A. . . . 322 
 Eisenman,Mrs. Apollonia 381 
 
 Eisenman, John 381 
 
 Eisenriian, John C 322 
 
 Ellis, Albert G 55 
 
 Ellis, Eleazer H 55 
 
 Ellis, William 756 
 
 Ellswprth, Dr, Albert H. 313 
 Ellsworth, H. E., M. D. . . 82S 
 Elmore, Hon. James H.. 21 
 
 Enderbv, John 280 
 
 Enderby, William R 280 
 
 Engels, Edward 461 
 
 Engler, Mrs. Margaret.. 653 
 
 Engler. Nicholas 652 
 
 English, Mark 349 
 
 Ericksou, Niels 249 
 
 Ernst, Conrad 1134 
 
 Ernst, Oscar 1135 J 
 
 Esmann, John D 192 
 
 Evans, John 1224 
 
 Fairbanks, Irving S . . . . 814 
 Fairfield, W. E., M. D... 434 
 
 Falck, Jacob 364 
 
 Falck, Phillip (deceased) 294 
 
 Falck, Phillip 295 
 
 Fannon, William A 584 
 
 Fassbender, Peter 570 
 
 Faville, Rev. John 621 
 
INDEX. 
 
 1235 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Fieweger, Charles A 809 
 
 Fillmore, John A .... 892 
 
 Findeiseu Bros 364 
 
 Fiiideisen, John G 363 
 
 Finkle, John H 478 
 
 Finneffan, Barnard 185 
 
 Finne^an, Hug^h 332 
 
 Finnegan, John C 186 
 
 Finneg'an, Patrick 332 
 
 Finneg-an, William 96 
 
 Finnert)', Hon. Patrick.. 73 
 
 Fisk, W. J 70 
 
 Fitzgerald, John 1115 
 
 Fizgerald, Mrs. Mar3' D..1116 
 Fitzmaurice, Rev. W. J.. 881 
 
 Flatley, D 321 
 
 Fleming, Wm. J 1066 
 
 Fletcher, David J 1214 
 
 Flynn, Edward 402 
 
 Flyun, John 403 
 
 FoUett, Mrs. Rosamond.. 14 
 Ford, J. Frank, M. D....1144 
 
 Foster, Arthur E 674 
 
 Fountain, John 706 
 
 Fowler, Mrs. E. B 1094 
 
 Fowler, Jabez 1094 
 
 Franibach, Col. H. A 466 
 
 Freeman, Hiram G 464 
 
 Freeman, Sidney 534 
 
 Freiburger, George 748 
 
 Frisque, Florentine 432 
 
 Frosch, Frank 277 
 
 B^rosch, George. 277 
 
 Fuerst, Frederick 670» 
 
 Fuerst, Julius 669 
 
 Fugelberg. August 1117 
 
 Fuller, F. H 384 
 
 Fuller, M. B 930 
 
 Gage, Dr. C. O 459 
 
 Gagnon, M 955 
 
 Gallagher. Rev. Chas. J... 427 
 
 Galpin. Alfred 472 
 
 Gardner. Solomon 676 
 
 Gardner, Walter E 959 
 
 Gary, Hon. George 987 
 
 Gas5)er, Rev. Peter L 582 
 
 Gauche, Father James... 289 
 
 Gaylord, Capt. G. A 4,55 
 
 Gehring-, C. Frederick. . .. 587 
 
 (iehring, Gottlieb 579 
 
 Gehring, John 593 
 
 Geissler, Rev. Joseph A. . 785 
 
 Genal, Christian M 42-S 
 
 Gensike, Rev. Johannes. .837 
 
 Georgi, Ottoman 221 
 
 Gerechter, Emanuel 493 
 
 Gerlach, August 702 
 
 Gerry, Mrs. Clara A 640 
 
 Gerry, George W 639 
 
 Geurts, George 211 
 
 Gilbert, M. H 675 
 
 Gillingham, James 1024 
 
 Gilmore, Beverly T 577 
 
 Gilmore, James 577 
 
 Gitter, Wenzel 682 
 
 Glover, Rev. A. Kingsley 475 
 
 Goeraans, Anthony 168 
 
 Goemaas, Mrs. Joanna. . 168 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Goepfert, Rev. P.,C. S. Sp 36 
 
 Gofl'art, Ferdinand 124 
 
 Goffart, Zacharie 142 
 
 Gold.smith, Christoph 252 
 
 Gonion, A. B 383 
 
 Goodell, C. F 174 
 
 Goodland, Judge John.. 490 
 
 Goodrick, Edward W 826 
 
 Gotfred-sen, Mrs. L 261 
 
 Gotfredsen, Niels H 261 
 
 Gottsleben, F. E 1054 
 
 Gow, William 437 
 
 Gowey, Archie L 193 
 
 Grant, Avery C 672 
 
 Grant, John 673 
 
 Gratza, Father John 306 > 
 
 Graves, Capt. Charles A. 937 
 
 Graves, E. F 1163 
 
 Greb, Conrad 721 
 
 Greb, Louis 721 
 
 Greely, W. S 961 
 
 Greiling, August 217 
 
 Grignon, Charles A 565 
 
 Grignon, D. H 437 
 
 Grignon, Mary E 566 
 
 Grignon Family 565 
 
 Griswold, Mrs. Persis J. . 559 
 
 Griswold, Ransom P 557 
 
 Groessl, George 949 
 
 Grcss, Fred P 122 
 
 Gro.ss, John G., Sr 414 
 
 Gross, John G., Jr 423 
 
 Grundy, John W 1213 
 
 Grundy, Thomas 1178 
 
 Gudden, Dr. B. C 1045 
 
 Gudden, Dr. W.. 1045 
 
 Guenther, Richard 1042 
 
 Gunz, Albert 1066 
 
 Gunz, Charles. ... 1066 
 
 Gunz, George 1066 
 
 Gunz, Godfrey 1065 
 
 Gunz, John Godfrey 1065 
 
 Gustavus, Ernest R 1041 
 
 Haas, G. E 834 
 
 Haese, August 138 
 
 Haese, Rev. Hermann.. . . 592 
 
 Haf erbeker, John 844 
 
 Hagemeister, Henry F. . . 106 
 Hagemeister, Louis W. . . 106 
 
 Hagen, Ed. S 765 i^ 
 
 Hagen, Hugh 765 
 
 Hagen, Walter T.. M. D.. 27 
 
 Halsey , Prof. R. H 1023 
 
 Hamlin, Charles R 1073 
 
 Hamm, Wenzel 674 
 
 Hammel, Jacob 706 
 
 Handeyside, William 136 
 
 Hanna, Thomas 724 
 
 Hanselnian, William 761 
 
 Hansen, Christ 295 
 
 Hansen, Hans 389 
 
 Hansen, Henry C 1101 
 
 Hansen, Niels 130 
 
 Hardacker, H. D., M. D. . 571 
 Hardacker, Herman T. . . 687 
 
 Harp, Ernst 884 
 
 Harriman, Frank W 685 
 
 Harriman, Hon. Jos. E.. 685 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Harrington, Jeremiah . . . 796 
 
 Hart, Capt. C. B 65 
 
 Hart, Edwin 53 
 
 Hart, Capt. H. W 54 
 
 Harteau, D. M 162 
 
 Hastings, Hon. S. If., Jr.. 52 
 
 Hawk, Philip ....,.• 963 
 
 Hawley, Joseph P 477 
 
 Hawthorne, George H 962 
 
 Hay, Samuel M 1000 
 
 Hayden, George W 391 
 
 Hayden, Hiram P 958 
 
 Hayes, F. H 612 
 
 Hayford, S. W 181 
 
 Healy, J. H 1195 
 
 Hebel, Joseph 180 1 
 
 Hebert, Joseph 387 
 
 Heckel, Charles 666 
 
 Heger, Fred 759 
 
 Held, Mrs. Walle 612 
 
 Heim, Charles 1211 
 
 Heim, Lorenz 193 
 
 Heimen, Henry 781 
 
 Heintz, Philipp 1116 
 
 Helf, Jacob 591 
 
 Helm, Carl 919 
 
 Henrigilles, Joseph 163 
 
 Henzv, Benoit 1116 
 
 Herber, Peter 126 
 
 Herrmann, Ferdinand. . .1131 
 
 Hess, George B 96 
 
 Hettinger, Alois 747 
 
 Hettinger, John L 748 
 
 Heule, Henrv M 533 
 
 Hewitt, Rev" John L 107 
 
 Heyrman, Charles L 129 
 
 Hey rman, Frank 128 
 
 Heyrman, John B 410 
 
 Hibberd, Andrew 278 
 
 Hicks, Hon. John 1043 
 
 Hied, Theodore 690 
 
 Higgins, Thomas 1107 
 
 Hills, Alfred R 705 
 
 Hinsdale, William C 110 
 
 Hittner, H. M., M. D 385 
 
 Hobbins, James 308 
 
 Bobbins, John 309 
 
 Hoberg, John 707 
 
 Hochgreve, August ''26 
 
 Hodgins, David 880 
 
 Hoefer, Frederick W 689 
 
 Hoeff el, Joseph 168 
 
 Hoffman, John E 854 
 
 Hoffman, William 397 
 
 Hogan, Hon. John M 49 
 
 Hollembaek, Wilber M.. . 793 
 
 Holmes, Albert G. E 105 
 
 Holmes, Robert W 1031 
 
 Hooper, Moses 1044 
 
 Hopkins, Daniel 605 
 
 Horn, August. 1184 
 
 Horn. Charles G 1184 
 
 Horsfeld, Miss A 1231 
 
 Hoskens, Peter 130 
 
 Hoss. Nicholas 735 
 
 Howard, Hector H 1089 
 
 Howland, Major Levi. . . . 399 
 HoT(vl?.nd, Thomas 399 
 
1236 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGliAPIIICAL HE CORD. 
 
 I'AGE. 
 Hiidd, Hon. Thomas R. . . 109 
 
 Huisenfeldt. Georfje 237 
 
 Huisenfeldt, Stephen,... 237 
 
 Huitink, Rev. A. H .%3 
 
 Hunt, Hanilinc T 725 
 
 Hunt, M. A 494 
 
 Hunter, Alvin 165 
 
 Huse, Frank .^511 
 
 Huse, George 551 
 
 Hus.sin, Jo.seph 362 
 
 Hutchi.son, Harry 694 
 
 Hutchi.son, Robert, Sr. . . 693 
 
 Hvde, I)e P'ore.st M 493 
 
 Hyde, Fred M 881 
 
 Hyde, Capt. Welcome 480 
 
 Jackson, Mrs. K. T 1165 
 
 Jackson, Joseph 1165 
 
 Jacksof, Robert 400 
 
 Jacobsen, Jacob 292 
 
 Jacquot, John 594 
 
 Jacquot, Martin .595 
 
 Jansen, John 649 
 
 Jensen. Jens P 1136 
 
 Jensen, Lars 31.") 
 
 Jersild, Rev. Jens N 1122 
 
 Jeske, Fred A 546 
 
 Jeske, Frederick 546 
 
 Jewell, Henrv A 994 
 
 Jewell, Hon. Henry C 990 
 
 Joannes. Charles 76 
 
 Joannes. Mitchell 78 
 
 Joannes, Thomas 81 
 
 Johann, Capt. John W. . . 354 
 
 Johnson, A. W 200 
 
 Johnson, Carl A 909 
 
 Johnson, Capt. H. C 1201 
 
 Johnson, Mag'nus 457 
 
 John.son, Randall 827 
 
 Johnson, William 902 
 
 Johnston, John F 616 
 
 Johnston, Michael B 668 
 
 Johnston, Thomas E. ... . 541 
 
 Johnston. William 668 
 
 Jonen, Mrs. Elizabeth... 773 
 
 Jonen, Jacob 773 
 
 Jones, Daniel A., Sr 1082 
 
 Jones, Dunning P 1215 
 
 Jones, Hon. George C. . . . 484 
 
 Jones Family 484 
 
 Joo.sten, Joseph 837 
 
 Jordan, Woodford D.. .. 516 
 .lorgensen, Mrs. Elsie. . . . 385 
 
 Jorgensen, Hans 385 
 
 Jorgensen, John L 11 
 
 Kalb, Joseph 940 
 
 Kalb. Louis 941 
 
 Kanips, Gerhard 628 
 
 Kamps, John H 691 
 
 Kane, James 1131 
 
 Keener, Fred 889 
 
 Kellett, William 1123 
 
 Kellogg, William E 82 
 
 Kendley. Edward A... , 738 
 
 Kenned'y , William 3.S8 
 
 Kennedy. W. R 11.50 
 
 Kenyon', William O., M. D 911 
 Kerksieck, Herman n,M.D 7.53 
 J\ern, A. .\ 683 
 
 I'ACE. 
 
 Kerr, Jajiies 439 
 
 Kersten,AlphonseM.,M.D 241 
 
 Kettenhofen, Jacob 225 
 
 Kettenhofen, John 907 
 
 Kettenhofen, Peter 905 
 
 Kidder, Rev. Samuel T..1121 
 
 Kidder Family 1121 
 
 Kimball, Alonzo 24 
 
 Kimball, Charles T 94() 
 
 KimbaU, Leonard H 1139 
 
 Kimbarf. N. S 113 
 
 King, Daniel W 749 
 
 King, John B 1025 
 
 Kisner, Preston 1225 
 
 Kitchen, Joseph 615 
 
 Kitten. Orin S 379 
 
 Klaus, Henry P 103 S 
 
 Klaus, Philipp 102 
 
 Kline, Joseph 650 
 
 Kloeckner, Joseph 1022 
 
 Klumb, William 839 
 
 Kluwin, Joseph 1024 
 
 Knapstein, Henry 692 
 
 Knapstein, John 764 
 
 Knapstein. Theodore 524 
 
 Knudson, Kittle 1080 
 
 Knuth, Lewis 269 
 
 Kofl'end, Joseph 711 
 
 Kohl, John 737 
 
 Kolb, Peter 392 
 
 Koplitz, Anton 1112i 
 
 Koplitz, Joseph B 1112 J 
 
 Koplitz, Theodore L 1112 
 
 Kortz, Theodore 891 
 
 Kozlowsky, Frank 231 i 
 
 Kozlowsky, Frank. Jr 232 
 
 Kranz, Philip 671 
 
 Kreiss, George 618 
 
 Krentzberg, Conrad 747 
 
 Krueger. Hon. a: H. F...1010 
 
 Kuehn, Julius 851 
 
 Kunitz, John C 754 
 
 Kuntz, Christian 409 
 
 Kurasch, Henry 579"^ 
 
 Kurz, A . G 361 
 
 Kurz. Frank G 712 ' 
 
 Kusche. Edward li 1061 V 
 
 Kustermann, Carl 23 
 
 Kusterniinn, Gustav 22 
 
 Kuvpers, John A 428 
 
 Kj'ber, G. E. T Ill 
 
 Lachmann, Edmund J. ...1084 < 
 
 Lamarre, Alphonse 24() 
 
 Lamarre, John L 246 
 
 Lampert. Florian 1210 
 
 La Mure. Hon. William.. 496 
 
 Lancaster, Henry 370 
 
 Landgraf. Jacob 1216 
 
 Landgraf . John P 1217 
 
 Lange, Eberhardt A 176 
 
 Larkin, George 545 
 
 Lar.-.en, William 232 
 
 Last, J. B 123 
 
 Lau, Rev. Clement 252 
 
 Lau, Jacob 9,V> 
 
 Lau Family 9.W 
 
 Lawe, (Jeorge W 543 
 
 Lawe, John 543 
 
 P.VCIC. 
 
 Lawe, John D 544 
 
 Lawlor, Thomas 419 
 
 Lawrence, G. S 319 
 
 Lawson, Hon. P. V W)13 
 
 Lawson, P. V 1011 
 
 Lawton, Capt. Joseph G . 28 
 
 Lawton Family 28 
 
 Laymon, Samuel P 801 
 
 Leary, Cornelius 310 
 
 Leach, Frank A 1037 
 
 Leach, Franklin 1037 
 
 Lebal. John 247 
 
 Lecnian, Charles S 658 
 
 Leeman, Hibhard S 759 
 
 Leeman, M. D 6,58 
 
 I.,eeman, Mrs. Permelia.. 759 
 
 Le Fevre, George H 522 
 
 Lehmann, Louis 804 
 
 Leimer, Frank X 578 
 
 Leitermann, Joseph 331 
 
 Lembcke, Christian J. . . . 672 
 
 Le Micu.x, Lucius A 741 
 
 Leonard, Bernard A 209 
 
 Leonard, J. H 296 
 
 Leppla, Henry 602 
 
 Leppla, John 569 
 
 LeRoy,J. H 66 
 
 Le Rov, Jonas 66 
 
 Lett, Thomas 1213 
 
 Ley, Joseph, Sr 177 
 
 Lev, Joseph 177 
 
 Libbey, Daniel L 997 
 
 Libert. William 611 
 
 Liebmann, Edmund F.... 215 
 
 Liebmann, Franz 191 
 
 Liebmann. Louis 215 
 
 Lindauer. Luther 498 
 
 Linssen. Henry 2.36 
 
 Linssen. Matthias 236 
 
 Lohrenz, Edward 880 
 
 Lomas, C. W 289 
 
 Lonkey, John . . 764 
 
 Lord, 6. G., M. D 714 
 
 Louw, Rev. FatherC.de 91 
 
 Loy.sen , Peter 11 803 
 
 Lucia. Charles J 314 
 
 Ludwig, Carl 642 
 
 Lneke. William 12 
 
 Lull, Albert G 1026 
 
 Lull, Mrs. Anna M 1026 
 
 Lurquin, Felix 140 
 
 Lutsey, George E 722 
 
 Lyons, Mark 909 
 
 McAbee. John L 951 
 
 McAbee. Lambert 951 
 
 McAllister, James D 149 
 
 McCartnev. David 60 
 
 McComb. Matthew 528 
 
 McCormick, Martin 587 
 
 McCormick, M. J 454 
 
 McCormick. Patrick 4.55 
 
 McCiiun. John N 270 
 
 McDonald. Lawrence. ... 1090 
 Mc(ieelian. Hon. Rob't. J. 94 
 
 McGillon, Bernard 967 
 
 McGillon, John H 966 
 
 McGrath, Thomas J 112 
 
 Mclntvre, J. D., M. D. . . . 6.55 
 
INDEX. 
 
 12 37 
 
 PACK. 
 
 McKenzie, F. M 1186 
 
 McKnig-ht, John 135 
 
 McKoiie, James 226 
 
 McLean. Thomas 340 
 
 McMeekin. James M 726 
 
 McMurdo, Mrs. Elizabeth 775 
 
 McMurdo, John, Sr 775 
 
 McMurdo, Mrs. L. P 4W 
 
 McMurdo, John, Jr 447 
 
 McMurdo, Robert .S63 
 
 McNaniee, Georfje 813 
 
 Maas, Edward .Sl)7 
 
 Maass, Christian 699 
 
 Mailer, Andrew C, M. D. 427 
 
 Manser, H^ry 535 
 
 Manthey, Carl 197 
 
 Marcussen, Peter 362 
 
 Martin, Christian 964 
 
 Martin, Constant 39 
 
 Martin. Daniel H 433 
 
 Martin, Mrs. Mary 350 
 
 Martin, Michael 350 
 
 Martin, Hon. Morjjan L. 7 
 
 Martin, P. H 19 
 
 Martin,' Xavier 38 
 
 Marx, J acob 904 
 
 Mason, Jared D 361 
 
 Massonet, Michael 864 
 
 Matz.ke, Fred 218* 
 
 Mayer, George, 1200 
 
 Mayer, George L 1201 
 
 Meehan, John 408 
 
 Meehan. Thomas 408 
 
 Meidam, Dennis 868 
 
 \ /Meister, Charles 386 
 
 ' Meister, Christoph 1.58 
 
 Menning. Christ 601 
 
 Merkel, Charles 695 
 
 Merkel. Leonard 871 
 
 Merrily, Owen 820 
 
 Messenger, Francis O. ... 757 
 
 \Messmer, Bishop S. G 242 
 
 Meyer, Henry W 623 
 
 Michelson, John 248 
 
 Michelstetter. William... 799 
 
 Mierswa, D 1212 
 
 Miles, Isaac 1223 
 
 Mill, August 7.S0 
 
 Miller, Charles L 965 
 
 Miller, Godfrey 302 
 
 Miller, J. V 791 
 
 Miller, Col. Lucas M 1047 
 
 Miller, Richard 910 
 
 Millington Family 304 
 
 Minahan, J. R.. M. D 36 
 
 Mitchell, Curtis 894 
 
 Moeskes, Judge G. T.. . 518 
 
 Montgomery. John 893 
 
 Moran, James T .378 
 
 Moraux, J. D., M. D 196 
 
 Morgan, Capt. N. E 90(> 
 
 Morgan, William M 1193 
 
 Morrill, Seth W 663 
 
 Morrow, Elish;i 104 
 
 Mory, Charles H 6.59 
 
 Mory, Frank J 774 
 
 Mowers, H. E 353 
 
 Muelil, F., Sr 510 
 
 P.\GE. 
 
 Muehl, W. M 509 
 
 Mueller, Carl G...' 137 
 
 Mueller, Charles W 138 
 
 Mueller, Louis 767 
 
 Muench, Carl 612 
 
 Mulholland, H. J 879 
 
 Muller, Philipp 50 
 
 Mullov, Michael H 792 
 
 Munger, Mrs. H. E 1072 
 
 Munger, John E 1071 
 
 Murphy, John 202 
 
 Murphv. Simon J., Jr. . . . 204 
 
 MurphV, Timothy 202 
 
 Murphy, William P. 708 
 
 Murray, James 630 
 
 Muttaft, Jervis I'?'! 
 
 Nachtwey, Anton 154 ( 
 
 Nachtwey, Henry 154 
 
 Nagreen, Joseph 564 
 
 Nash, Norman 876 
 
 Nash, Mrs. Sarah M 876 
 
 Neff, Capt. Edwin M 920 
 
 Nelson, Neils 268 
 
 Neville, John C 95 
 
 Neville, Jules C 947 
 
 Newcoinb, Patrick 968 
 
 Newell. C. A 448 
 
 Newton, Abel D 208 
 
 Nickel, Edner 799 
 
 Nickel, Jacob 799 
 
 Nickerson, Mrs. Abbie R. 557 
 Nickerson, Lorenzo D. .. . 554 
 
 Nicolai, Moritz 1184 
 
 Nieland, John 562 
 
 Nieman, Christ 782 
 
 Nieman, Rudolph W 783 
 
 Noe, Sebastian 1097 
 
 Nolan, M H 160 
 
 Northrup, Cornelius 1127 
 
 Northrup, Corydon P 1127 
 
 Norton , Joseph 358 
 
 Nuss, W. W 944 
 
 Oatley, Albert B 424 
 
 O'Brien, Rev. M. J 262 
 
 O'Keefe, Thomas 703 
 
 O'Mallev. Rev. James. .. .1098 
 
 Oellericii. Charles 1170 
 
 Oldenburg, Gerhard 405 
 
 Oldenburg, Otto N 405 
 
 Olmsted, Aus. F., M. D. . 18 
 
 Orchard, John T 1148 
 
 Osborn, Jo.seph H 1052 
 
 Osborn, Mrs. Martha L. .1053 
 
 Ostertag, E. S 1181 
 
 Ostrander, E. H.. M. D. . . 917 
 
 Oviatt. C. W., M. D 1101 
 
 Ovitt, L. S 850 
 
 Page, David, Sr 958 
 
 Page, Hiram D 959 
 
 Palmer, E. S 670 
 
 Paltzer, Jacob 598 
 
 Pamperin, Wilhelni 956 
 
 Parker. George W 704 
 
 Patton, John 228 
 
 Patton, Michael 227 
 
 Paul, Alex. W 1162 
 
 Paul, H. G. Louis 1091 
 
 Pauli, Herman 861 
 
 P.\GE. 
 
 Paulsen, Peder 813 
 
 Pearson, Thomas 479 
 
 Peder-son, O.scar E 1178 
 
 Peerenboom, Arnold 922 
 
 Peerenboom, Julius, .... 900 
 
 Perrin, William 1193 
 
 Peter, John C 746 
 
 Petersen, John 1140 
 
 Peterson, Niels 351 
 
 Peterson, W. H 418 
 
 Pew, Patrick H 574 
 
 Phelps, Henry 321 
 
 Phillips, Augustus 874 
 
 Phillips, William 1205 
 
 Pierce, Humphrey 463 
 
 Pierson, Joseph 1166 
 
 Pingel, Frederick 779 
 
 Pitt, Frederick 1224 
 
 Popp, Rev. C. A. F 448 
 
 Popp, Godfrey G. L 4.50 
 
 Pratsch. John 1203 
 
 Pratt, Hon. George W...1014 
 
 Prentice, Mrs. V. B 542 
 
 Pride, Charles B 660 
 
 Priest, A.W 606 
 
 Proctor, Hon. John 1038 
 
 Prunty, Peter 887 
 
 Prust,' Charles 414 
 
 Putnam, Orin 1220 
 
 Putney, George W 768 
 
 <Juat.soe, Ferdinand 374 
 
 Quatsoe, Peter 374 
 
 Radoe, August F 408 
 
 Randall. Ryer H 899 
 
 Rasmussen, Niels 139 
 
 Raught, C. E 524 
 
 Raught, G. M., M. D 923 
 
 Raycraft, Jo.seph T 1055 
 
 Ravmakers, Hermann.. . . 369 
 
 Reed, Curtis 1128 
 
 Reese, Thomas 600 
 
 Repe, Charles 1181 
 
 Reuter, Peter 732 
 
 Rexford. Eben E 530 
 
 Revnen, Matthias 74 
 
 Reynolds, E. A. D 613 
 
 Rhode, Henrv, M. D 273 
 
 Rice, W. D. .'. 228 
 
 Richardson, F. 1 523 
 
 Richard.son, Wilber E 1105 
 
 Richey. William 890 
 
 Rickert, George 926 
 
 Ripp, Mathew 331 
 
 Ristow, Charles 1054 
 
 Ritchey. James 1 833 
 
 Ritger, Anton 708 
 
 Roche, Michael 675 
 
 Roche, Thomas 1191 
 
 Roden, Bernard 964 
 
 Roderniund, M. J., M. D. 710 
 
 Roemer, Christian 705 
 
 Rogers, Herbert H 755 
 
 Rogers, William H 861 
 
 Rohde, Rev, Julius 71S 
 
 Roloft", Julius H 597 
 
 Rondou. A 1% 
 
 Root. Philo 603 
 
 Rouse, Nelson 1227 
 
1238 
 
 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 
 '.\GE. 
 
 
 I'.\GE. 
 
 
 P.\GE. 
 
 Rowbotham, Rev. Win.. 
 
 . 320 
 
 Sensiba, George W 
 
 .. 359 
 
 Stutzman, Michael 
 
 .. 638 
 
 Rowell, Dudley G 
 
 . 916 
 
 Servotte, Ernst W 
 
 .. 941 
 
 Sullivan, John 
 
 .. 47 
 
 Rowell, Guiltord D 
 
 . 916 
 
 Servotte, Joseph H 
 
 . . 942 
 
 Sutton, Samuel 
 
 ..1212 
 
 Kuckdasliel, Lorence H. 
 
 . 581 
 
 Seymour, Frank B 
 
 .. 462 
 
 Sweeiiev, B. P 
 
 .. 404 
 
 Runkel, Rev. John L.. 
 
 . 478 
 
 Sharp, Thomas E 
 
 67 
 
 Sweeney, Peter 
 
 .. 404 
 
 Rush, Hon. John D 
 
 . 989 
 
 Shaugfinessy, John.... 
 
 . 312 
 
 S\veet.ser, Charles E . 
 
 .. 640 
 
 Russell, Hiram 
 
 .1081 
 
 Shepard, Oliver W 
 
 ..1117 
 
 Sylvester, Charles 
 
 .. 865 
 
 Russell, Mrs. Maria M. 
 
 .1081 
 
 Shepherd, H. T 
 
 .. 928 
 
 Tanner, H. B., M. D... 
 
 .. 487 
 
 Russell. Richard C 
 
 1156 
 
 Sherlock, Andrew 
 
 .. 431 
 
 Tate, John G 
 
 .. 717 
 
 Ryan. Georg-e D 
 
 .1036 
 
 Sherlock, James 
 
 .. 368 
 
 Tayler, J. H 
 
 .. 415 
 
 Ryan, James 
 
 .1036 
 
 Sherlock, Philip 
 
 .. 431 
 
 Teal, N. H., D. D. S .. 
 
 ..1104 
 
 Ryan, Cc>l. Samuel 
 
 . 465 
 
 Sherman, John J 
 
 .. 624 
 
 -Tecklin, Fred 
 
 .. 892 
 
 Ryan, Hon. Samuel. . . . 
 
 . 465 
 
 Sherman, Wright 
 
 .. 553 
 
 Thiel, John 
 
 .. 754 
 
 Rj'an, Thomas 
 
 . 173 
 
 Sherwood, Edison 
 
 .. 424 
 
 Thiel, W. C 
 
 .. 736 
 
 Ryan, Timothy 
 
 . 219 
 
 Sherwood, Mrs. Olive I 
 
 .. 424 
 
 Thiele, August 
 
 .. 401 
 
 Saecker, F. E 
 
 . 629 
 
 Sicfart, Henrv 
 
 .. 802 
 
 Thiessenhusen, Otto. . 
 
 . .. 648 
 
 Saecker, H. G 
 
 . 629 
 
 Simons, Andrew 
 
 .. 313 
 
 Thiessenhtisen, Christ'er. 648 
 
 Saecker, W. F 
 
 . 630 
 
 Simons, James M 
 
 ..1227 
 
 Thilmany, Oscar 
 
 .. 588 
 
 Saiberlich, Edward W... 
 
 . 640 
 
 Simpson. James 
 
 . . 552 
 
 Thompson, Charles S. 
 Thompson, Rev. H. W. 
 
 .. 927 
 
 Sanders, Evert 
 
 . 535 
 
 Singler, George 
 
 . . 777 
 
 .. 942 
 
 Sargent, O. D 
 
 . 660 
 
 Slaughter, A. W., M. D. 
 
 .. 395 
 
 Thornton, Matthias. . . 
 
 .. 957 
 
 .Sasman, Fred 
 
 . 665 
 
 Smet, Ferdinand 
 
 . . 241 
 
 Thornton, John H 
 
 .. 957 
 
 Sawall, August 
 
 . 711 
 
 Smith, Mrs. Agnes.. . . 
 
 . . 511 
 
 Tolversen, Niels C. . . . 
 
 .. 840 
 
 Sawyer, A. P 
 
 . 285 
 
 Smith, Alexander 
 
 . . 397 
 
 Touhey , James 
 
 .. 157 
 
 Sawyer, Edgar P 
 
 . 986 
 
 Smith, Charles F 
 
 . . 676 
 
 Towsley, F. A 
 
 .. 517 
 
 Sawyer, Hon. Philetus.. 
 
 . 980 
 
 Smith, David 
 
 . . 510 
 
 TracY, Hon. John 
 
 .. 531 
 
 Sawyer, Thomas 
 
 . 285 
 
 Smith, Don F 
 
 222 
 
 Treml, Joseph 
 
 .. 183 
 
 Scanlan. Tlioiiias H 
 
 . 198 
 
 Smith, Rev. Edward H. 
 
 ..1059 
 
 Trettin. Cliarles F. . . . 
 
 .. 700 
 
 Scarborough, W. R 
 
 Schaden, Casper 
 
 . 786 
 . 293 
 
 
 . . 382 
 
 Tucker, Hon. Frank T 
 Tucker, Mrs. Mary F. 
 
 . . 1088 
 
 Smith, Frank T 
 
 . . 59 
 
 ..1087 
 
 
 . 871 
 . 692 
 
 Smith, James 
 
 Smith, J. M 
 
 . . 396 
 
 . . 57 
 
 Under^vood, Prof. L. W 
 Van Abel, Martin 
 
 .. 614 
 
 Scheibe, Edward 
 
 .. 275 
 
 Schiller, L. G 
 
 . 183 
 
 Smith, John 
 
 . . 269 
 
 Van Beek, Martin 
 
 .. 41 
 
 Schlafer, Otto P 
 
 . 701 
 
 Smith, Michael B 
 
 . . 382 
 
 Van Calster, Einile. . . . 
 
 .. 141 
 
 Schmidt, Alex. P 
 
 . 200 
 
 Smith, Oliver 
 
 . . 929 
 
 Vanden Berg, L. E... 
 
 .. 729 
 
 Sclimit, John M 
 
 . 635 
 
 Smitz, Father Adolph . . 
 
 . . 268 
 
 Vandenberg, William. . 
 
 .. 843 
 
 Schmit. Nicholas 
 
 . 636 
 
 Snyder, Frank 
 
 . . 380 
 
 Vandenhoy, John 
 
 . . '593 
 
 Schmit, N. A 
 
 . 816 
 
 Solar, F. J 
 
 . . 763 
 
 Vanderheiden, Peter... 
 
 .. 148 
 
 Schmit, Peter 
 
 . 863 
 
 Soliday, Henrv G 
 
 . . 1074 
 
 Vanderkinter, Frank. . . 
 
 .. 144 
 
 Schneider, Carl 
 
 - 11)83 
 
 Spaulding, R: W 
 
 . . 523 
 
 Vanderkinter, Peter. .. 
 
 .. 143 
 
 Schneider, F. W 
 
 . 114 
 
 Spear, George O 
 
 . . 936 
 
 Van Deuren, P. J 
 
 . . 460 
 
 Schneider, John 
 
 .1143 
 
 Spencer, Elihu. 
 
 . . 619 
 
 Van De Wyngaard, M. . 
 
 .. 260 
 
 Schneider. John H. . . . . . 
 
 . 1063 
 
 Spencer Family 
 
 . . 619 
 
 Van Doren, Samuel W. 
 
 .. 568 
 
 Schneider, Julius 
 
 . 867 
 
 Spengler. William H... 
 
 . . 795 
 
 Van Dycke, Julius J. . . 
 
 .. 949 
 
 Schoenrock. Cliarles. . . . 
 
 . 665 
 
 Spicer, Charles E 
 
 . . 778 
 
 Van Dycke, Louis C. 
 
 .. 948 
 
 Schoe.ssow, Carl 
 
 . 803 
 
 Spicer, Edward 
 
 . . 778 
 
 Van Dyke, Anton 
 
 .. 339 
 
 Schoetz, M. M 
 
 .1217 
 
 Spink, Richard A 
 
 ..1103 
 
 Vanheuklom, J. C 
 
 .. 548 
 
 Scholter, Rev. Roman. . 
 
 .1028 
 
 Sprague, A 
 
 . . 944 
 
 Vanheuklom, Otto 
 
 .. 548 
 
 Schommer, Casper 
 
 Schroeder, Charles 
 
 . 583 
 
 Spuhler, Adam 
 
 . . 20 
 
 Van Keuren, B. E 
 
 ..1135 
 
 . 158 
 
 Stammer, Frederick .. . 
 
 . . 869 
 
 Van Nortwick 
 
 .. 500 
 
 Schroeder. Ludwig 
 
 . 908 
 
 Stammer, William 
 
 . . 869 
 
 Van Nortwick, John . . . 
 
 .. 503 
 
 Schuetter, Henry 
 
 . 637 
 
 Staples, George 
 
 . . 1086 
 
 Van Nortwick, John S. 
 
 .. 505 
 
 Schuh, John 
 
 . 793 
 
 Stearns, Henry 
 
 ..1133 
 
 Van Nortwick. William 
 
 M 504 
 
 Schult;;. Carl 
 
 . 924 
 
 Steffen, Francis 
 
 .. 930 
 
 Van Patten, Cornelius 
 
 J. 585 
 
 Schultz, Peter Han.son. . 
 
 . 203 
 
 StefFcn, Mrs. Isabella.. 
 
 . . 930 
 
 Van Roosmalen, Rev.W 
 
 F 458 
 
 Scliulz, Friederich 
 
 . 654 
 
 Steffen, John 
 
 . . 828 
 
 Van Seggern, H. D. . . . 
 
 .. 264 
 
 Schulze, Daniel 
 
 . 885 
 
 Steffen, Louis 
 
 . . 829 
 
 Van Voiidercn, John. . . 
 
 .. 388 
 
 Schulze, Frank 
 
 . 885 
 
 Steffen, Peter 
 
 . . 829 
 
 Van Wyk. William 
 
 .. 546 
 
 Schwalm, Mrs. Sophia.. 
 
 .1070 
 
 Steidel, Charles 
 
 . 596 
 
 Vaughn, William L. . . . 
 
 .. 567 
 
 Schwalm, Theodore L. . 
 
 .1070 
 
 Steidel, Joseph 
 
 . . 596 
 
 Verberk, Rev. A. J 
 
 .. 71 
 
 Schwarz. Christian 
 
 . 288 
 
 Stephenson, Thomas.. . 
 Stevens, Ephraini E... 
 
 ..1148 
 
 Verboort, Albert 
 
 .. 255 
 
 Scott, Mrs. Elizabeth. . . 
 
 . 1059 
 
 . . 1033 
 
 Verstegen, Arnold 
 
 . . 901 
 
 Scott, Henrv C 
 
 .1151 
 
 Stewart. Robert D 
 
 . 68 
 
 Verstegen, Rev. John. . 
 
 .. 290 
 
 Scott, Reuben M 
 
 .1056 
 
 Stewart, William M. . . 
 
 .. 69 
 
 Ver Straten, Mrs. Ann 
 
 a. 195 
 
 Seapbler, Jacob 
 
 . 659 
 
 Stone, Capt. John N. .. 
 
 ..1099 
 
 Ver Straten, John 
 
 .. 195 
 
 Search, Casper F 
 
 . "^IS 
 
 Straubel. Henry A 
 
 . . 405 
 
 Ver Straten, Martin... 
 
 .. 194 
 
 Selbach, J. A 
 
 ..666 
 
 Streckenbach. C. W 
 
 .. 144 
 
 Vosburg, Frank 
 
 ..1185 
 
 Sellers, Malcolm 
 
 . 92 
 
 Striujjham, Joseph 
 
 . 1047 
 
 Vosburg, G. H 
 
 ..1185 
 
INDEX. 
 
 1339 
 
 PACK. 
 
 Vosburg-, Jeremiah 1188 
 
 Voshardt, August C 1206 
 
 Wachenreiter, Dr. Chas. . 960 
 
 Wayg, Solomon R 740 
 
 Wagner, William P 456 
 
 Wakeman, William, Sr..ll09 
 
 Walter, Christian 1138 
 
 Walter, George 664 
 
 Walter, Martin 1138 
 
 Walton, Jesse 59S 
 
 Warner, Hon. William S.. 678 
 
 Warner Family 678- 
 
 Warner, Rev. Wm. W 1093 
 
 Washburn, Calvin 816 
 
 Watermolen, Henry .Vi 
 
 Watermolen, John F 220 
 
 Waters, Henry T 852 
 
 Water.s, William 1172 
 
 Wattawa, Hon. John 1196 
 
 Weber, M 953 
 
 Weber. Nicholas 395 
 
 Webster, Capt. H. W 450 
 
 Webster, Hon. Hiram W..100S 
 
 Webster, John 1118 
 
 Webster,Mrs. Louise M. .1006 
 
 Webster, Lucius 1007 
 
 Webster, Warren M 639 
 
 Weed, Henry 1 1082 
 
 Wegener, Henrj- J 1063 
 
 Wegener, John G 1063 
 
 Weisbrod, Capt. R. J 1034 
 
 Weise, Albert 434 
 
 Weissenberg, F. X 773 
 
 Wellens, Lambert 335 
 
 Wendt, John H 528 
 
 Werbke, Norbert C 1076 
 
 Werner, George W 888 
 
 West. Edward 969 
 
 Weter, James P 214 
 
 Weyenberg, Martin 903 
 
 Whitcomb, W. S 372 
 
 Whitman, Alexander B.. 633 
 
 Whitman, Sylvester S.... 633 
 
 Whitney, Daniel 83 
 
 Whitney, Harriet H 87 
 
 Wliitney, Joshua 87 
 
 Widger, Cyrus 831 
 
 Wieckert, A. H 704 
 
 Wiese, F. H 266 
 
 Wiese, Henry 925 
 
 Wiese, William 266 
 
 Wieseler, George 762 
 
 Wilber, Julius A 702 
 
 Wilcox, Chester G 298 
 
 Wilcox. Levi S 301 
 
 Wilharms, John D 713 
 
 Williams, Albert 311 
 
 Williams, Edwin A 1049 
 
 Williams, Weslev B 760 
 
 Willock, James 1145 
 
 Wilson, William 832 
 
 Wilt, Rev. Elsear de 425 
 
 Wing. H. D 547 
 
 Winslow, Rush, M. D 526 
 
 P.AGE. 
 
 Winslow Family 526 
 
 Winton, CM 166 
 
 Wirth, Philip M 257 
 
 Witt, William 744 
 
 Witt Family 745 
 
 Wittig, Ferdinand 251 
 
 Wittlin, John 726 
 
 Witzel, Daniel 1097 
 
 Wolf, Hubert 580 
 
 Wood, John R 474 
 
 Woods, John 966 
 
 Woods, Mich.iel 965 
 
 Woolford, William B 316 
 
 Wordeu, F. E 1073 
 
 Workman, William 155 
 
 Workman, W. M 216 
 
 Wotter; H. A., M. D 458 
 
 Wozny, Rev. Sigmond. . .1126 
 
 Wright, Frank 712 
 
 Wright, G. M., M. D 1209 
 
 Wright, Piatt M 1141 
 
 Wright, William W 1008 
 
 Wright Family.:. 1008 
 
 Wunderlich, John 775 
 
 Wurl, Louis 885 
 
 Young, Captain William. 656 
 
 Zahrt, John W 653 
 
 Zeh. Henry 926 
 
 Zentner, John C 1036 
 
 Ziegler, Frederick C 728 
 
 Ziehm, William 835 
 
 Zimdars, David 201 
 
\^. 
 
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